Hey y’all - Most startups fail, not because the idea is bad, but because they spread themselves too thin chasing everyone.

When you aim to please everyone, you end up delighting no one. The result? A generic product no one loves enough to pay for or tell a friend about.

Look at the early days of Airbnb they didn’t build for every traveler. They built obsessively for budget backpackers who trusted strangers’ couches over hotels.

Same with Slack it wasn’t made for all companies at launch. It was a hack for dev teams tired of scattered email chains.

Great startups don’t start by serving the masses. They start by solving one burning problem for the few who feel the pain most.

Here’s today at a glance:

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🔗 Mohit’s Picks

My favourite finds of the week 

• India fintech funding falls to five-year low at $889M in H1 2025 [Link]

• How to Build a Side Hustle That Stands on Its Own Without Burning Out [Link]

• Cool vibe building/marketing tools you can try this weekend [Link]

• How HyperVerge taps AI to streamline KYC, simplify user onboarding [Link]

• Soham Parekh gave a podcast interview after going viral. He admitted working 3–4 jobs at once since 2022 [Link]

• The Rise, Fall, and Reinvention of Anil Ambani: From Bankruptcy Claims to Building Jets [Link]

• Top 10 Cloud Kitchen Franchise Opportunities in India in 2025 [Link]

💡Opportunity: Instant “Home Maintenance Wallet” for Gated Communities

Ask any apartment dweller what they dread most and they’ll mention the tiny breakdowns that pile up: the leaky tap, the dying fridge, the AC that never cools just when guests arrive.

Every gated community is a micro-market of residents who face the same hassle yet everyone juggles random WhatsApp vendors, stray receipts, and last-minute calls to the security gate.

Here’s an overlooked opportunity: Build a Home Maintenance Wallet app. One command center that handles the chaos of everyday repairs and servicing.

Core idea:

• Save every service record: AC repairs, pest control, kitchen plumbing all in one place.

• Store trusted vendor contacts: The plumber your neighbor swears by. The electrician who actually shows up.

• Auto-reminders: When your fridge AMC is due or the water filter needs a check get a ping and book instantly through WhatsApp.

How to win distribution:

• Partner with Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs).

• Put QR codes on society gates and lift notice boards.

• Offer co-branding to local facility managers they love tools that reduce complaints.

Why this sticks:

• The pain is constant and recurring.

• Local trust loops build habit.

• Annual servicing = annual engagement = annual upsell.

🧠 Framework: “S.P.O.T.” for Early PMF Checks

Every founder wants to shout, “We’ve found Product-Market Fit!” But PMF is easy to fake in the early days. Vanity metrics, polite users, or friends who sign up but never come back can fool you into believing you’re there.

So here’s a simple gut-check: the S.P.O.T. Framework four quick tests before you claim PMF glory.

S - Solves: Does your product clearly fix one real, painful problem? If you can’t state the pain in a tweet, it’s too vague.

P - Pays: Are people already paying for a workaround? A real pain usually has real spend, even if it’s messy. If they won’t pay now, they probably won’t pay later.

O - Onboards: Can someone use it with zero hand-holding? If your first 10 users need a Zoom tutorial, you don’t have PMF you have a consulting project.

T - Talks: Do users tell others unprompted? True PMF spreads by word of mouth, not just ads. If no one’s sharing it in their groups or Slack channels, you’re not sticky enough yet.

If you don’t check at least three of these four, keep iterating. PMF isn’t polite applause it’s a pull so strong you can’t slow it down.

🛠️ Tool: LoomieLive

LoomieLive lets you create a real-time virtual avatar for video calls and syncs your facial movements.

Who uses this:

• Founders tired of showing up camera-ready 24/7

• Remote teams who want to stay ‘on’ without burning out

• Async video explainers for early user onboarding

Looks casual. Saves mental energy.

📈 Trend: “Proof-of-Concept Sales” Before Product Exists

The rise of Proof-of-Concept Sales is reshaping early-stage traction. Instead of shipping a finished product, they test demand with just:

• A clickable Figma prototype

• A one-take video demo

• A clear promise with a refund guarantee

We’re seeing this especially with:

• B2B SaaS tools for niche industries

• Local marketplace experiments

• Custom AI workflows for internal ops

Why buyers say yes:

They want to bet on speed. They like founders who show urgency, not decks. And they know early pilots mean influence on the roadmap.

Why founders love it:

• You lock in early cash and proof.

• You test pricing before you over-engineer features.

• You build only what the first paying customers scream for — not what you think they want.

💬 Quote: Casey Winters (ex-Pinterest)

Casey Winters, one of the sharpest growth operators around (ex-Pinterest, Eventbrite), nailed what most founders forget: the real magic happens when early users feel like insiders.

Those first 20–50 users don’t just use your product.
They shape it. They break it. They nag you in Slack DMs at midnight about what’s not working. And in doing so, they refine the roadmap better than any fancy advisor could.

Early power users sell you to the next wave. They brag in their communities that they found you first. They send screenshots to friends. They pull you into channels you’d never crack alone.

When you treat them like co-builders giving them early access, listening intently, shipping tiny fixes fast you build loyalty that money can’t buy.

Your early power users are your secret growth team.
So spend more time with them than with the investor who won’t even log into your app.