Hey y’all - Great startup ideas don’t arrive in perfectly wrapped pitch decks. They show up in messy Google Sheets, hacked-together WhatsApp groups, and improvised sticky note workflows. Real users solve real problems every day they’re not waiting for you to build a product. They're already building one in their own chaotic, creative way.

Today’s sprint is all about tuning into these signals.

When a user hacks together a solution, they’re not just solving a problem they’re broadcasting an opportunity. They’re telling you what they need, what they’re willing to tolerate, and where the pain truly lives.

Your job? Decode the duct tape. Look at the hack and ask: What if I could turn this into a habit? What if I could make the workaround invisible, seamless, maybe even delightful?

Some of the world’s best products were born this way. Your next one might be, too.

Here’s today at a glance:

PS - Become a member to get access to my founder membership including an engaged community, fundraising support, fireside chats and more.

🔗 Mohit’s Picks

My favourite finds of the week 

• India's biggest AI startup, $1B Sarvam, launched its flagship LLM two weeks ago [Link]

• Apple Founder’s Journey from Rags to Riches [Link]

• How doing nothing can really make you more productive [Link]

• How to build and launch your startup using AI (in 15 mins) [Link]

• Rick Rubin Explains Why AI Won’t Replace Artsists [Link]

• Funding and acquisitions in Indian startup Last week [Link]

• Apple’s new study questions the ‘reasoning’ in large reasoning models [Link]

💡Opportunity: Hyperlocal Inventory Tracker for Kirana Stores

Kirana shops are still the beating heart of Indian retail. But behind the cash counters and plastic jars of candy lies an outdated workflow that’s crying out for disruption.

Here’s the problem: most Kirana owners have zero real-time visibility into what’s on their shelves. They rely on memory, gut instinct, and rough notebook math to manage inventory. Fast-moving SKUs go out of stock. Expiry dates get missed. Sales trends? No clue.

Enter a voice-enabled, hyperlocal inventory assistant built specifically for them.

🛠 Core Features:

• Update inventory via voice command or barcode scan

• Real-time alerts: “Your Maggi stock is low”

• Daily summary dashboards delivered via WhatsApp

• Smart reorder reminders synced with local suppliers

🎯 Why Now?

• The government is nudging stores toward GST-compliant digital systems

• Organized retail is eating into Kirana margins tech is the only equalizer

• Voice-first UIs make sense for store owners who may not be app-savvy

Think: “Ola Play meets Zoho Inventory” designed for the corner store uncle, not Silicon Valley.

There’s a massive whitespace here. The TAM is real. The urgency is rising. If you're looking to build something simple, local, and high-impact this might be your moment.

🧠 Framework: The 4Qs for “Idea Gravity”

Before you double down on that shiny new feature or half-built MVP, try this 4-question litmus test. I call it the Idea Gravity Check—a simple way to see if your product direction has natural pull.

Ask yourself:

1. Is someone already solving this manually?
(If yes, you’ve spotted a real-world workaround.)

2. Is their hack painful or frustrating?
(If yes, there’s emotional urgency baked in.)

3. Have they already tried paying for a fix?
(If yes, there’s proven willingness to spend.)

4. Would 5 more people say “I need this too”?
(If yes, there’s scalable demand.)

If you say “yes” to 3 or more don’t overthink it. Gravity is already doing the work. The idea wants to exist. Your job is to bring structure, elegance, and consistency to something that’s already trying to happen.

Let your users’ behavior pull the product into reality. That’s where magic meets product-market fit.

🛠️ Tool: MarkUp.io

MarkUp.io lets you drop comments directly on live websites, PDFs, and designs without sending files or screenshots.

Perfect for:

• Landing page iterations

• Copy tweaks between dev & marketing

• Async product feedback from beta users

📈 Trend: B2B Founders Are Launching Ghost Communities First

Forget flashy launches and massive waitlists.

The smartest B2B founders I know are starting ghost communities private, small, and under-the-radar spaces on WhatsApp, Slack, or Telegram. Before they write a single line of code, they gather 20–50 ideal customers into a group chat.

Inside this low-pressure lab, they:

• Run weekly pain point roundtables

• Share observations or workflows

• Soft-test prototypes directly in chat

• Track which ideas spark the most organic buzz

The results are incredible:

• Immediate feedback (no surveys required)

• Higher trust, deeper insights

• And, often, your first 10–20 paid users

In 2025, “pre-launch community” is replacing “email waitlist.” It’s faster, cheaper, and far more honest.

Take the case of a UX researcher who launched a Figma-based side tool. She invited 70 power users into Discord, shared weekly builds, and within 12 days converted 18 into paying customers.

MVPs born inside real communities behave differently. They’re sticky from Day 1.

So before you build, gather. Before you scale, listen. And before you pitch, prototype in group chat.

💬 Quote: Ben Horowitz

It’s one of those quotes that hits harder the longer you’ve been building.

Founders don’t get rewarded for avoiding difficulty. They grow by leaning into the tough stuff firing that wrong hire, walking away from bad revenue, scrapping a product you’ve already sunk 6 months into.

Hard decisions are lonely. They rarely trend on Twitter. But they compound. Courage is like compound interest for leadership: the more you choose it, the more it shows up when you need it most.

Being a founder isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about making decisions before they’re comfortable and staying true to your gut when the data is fuzzy, the pressure is real, and your self-doubt is loud.

So next time you’re staring down a hard decision, remember Ben’s words.

It’s not about being fearless.

It’s about doing the right thing before it feels easy.