Posted by Writing about Vaayu’s 4th angel round to share our journey – cz there’s lots of hearsay in market about AI.
Founders are chasing lots of money. Investors say – they aren’t able to see differentiator & market is changing very fast.
I cover ground 0 report – no fluff, no theory.
This is how we recently closed our angel round for AI Employee Kavya by Vaayushop 🤝🙏
The Underdogs
Tbh, We don’t have any Stanford/IIT degree or not even all the skills, not even a single C-suite in our n/w when we started.
We didn’t even know word “pitch deck”, when we got first offer from a stranger for our first round. You may read MVP in 15 days & how strangers became angels in our first round. (🧠Curiosity > Strategy)
Plus given the goal we setup – To be alternative to Salesforce Agentforce & IBM Watson – that’s too big an ask. In normal, world this will need millions, if gone by playbooks.
I have gatecrashed to CIO events, where US & Indian startups give 7 start stays to C-suite to lure them. They are literally burning money & throwing money at a problem.
High Agency is key than resources
Despite being underdogs, But things keep moving, somehow. May be with well wishes of all of you. 🙂 🤝
We raised another round. Yep! With 0 connections to begin with.
Recently we filed an RFP worth 10cr with a bank, where we were among only 5-7 product players. Hugely funded companies & around 10-15 IT services companies…some larger than life.
All with limited budgets, small team.
I am still getting pings now from investors…but realized – fundraising is distraction…not a sure shot formula to win
What worked while Vaayu raised 4th angel round
High agency – Keep moving even when the conditions are too unfavorable.
I have realized very deeply that – scoping the problem very narrow – to prove that a product or GTM works – needs far less money than playbooks tell, founders think. I too thought that way.
Here’s what Vaayu has been doing
We ditched every single rule book, no fancy strategies….Our first round was done with Curiosity > Strategy.
This round, we are more structured. Foundation is compounding
3 Things that work beyond crappy playbooks
Offer Value-First to others – however small;
Stubbornness to mission & ambition;
First order principals.
I wrote – our first round came with Curiosity > Strategy from strangers.
By this – we have structured communications – eg through blogs, deepened relations, have ICP & more.
We clearly see the mission & vision with AI – beyond what market is saying
Offer Value-First to others
Cold pings to CEOs been getting us meetings with offer Value-First to others…People helped us on everything – Product, customers, fundraise, marketing. Sales…Others told us gems of experience – we took instant action which made sense.
It’s not Philanthropy; It’s best business model,
Be Mission First & You have all the will power in the world despite rejections, ghosting by clients as well as investors.
Stubbornness to go all-in what matches our ambitious mission
We have built Salesforce Agentforce & IBM watson like product…I know we are nowhere…neither in results nor in resources. And there are people who advise us to be practical, rationale….sorry but our strength, mission, ambition is different….and we are clear about it.
Stubbornness to go all-in what matches our ambitious mission & which is “First order principals”. no matter what the consequences
….& reject anything that doesn’t – no matter who says it & what they offer.
Product positioning
Today ours is among handful proprietary platforms like Salesforce Agentforce, IBM Watson for select sectors. It’s nowhere what I call as an outcome….But surely it’s foundation that’s compounding with every step….Accepting all the risks & opportunities.
Excited to solve Biggest GTM problems – with Vaayu’s 4th angel round
Harder the problem, bigger the fun of solving & bigger the reward.
With fundraise – we focus on repeatable GTM Engine, Sales & delivery infra……
Some mouth water problems we wish to solve & are solving with first order principles
not with blame, not with running away…not relying on lock
Absolutely not with older playbooks or Tweet & Linkedin posts by others.
1. Free PoCs – as market calls it
2. Differential GTM need for Innovative products
3. Proving that GTM for new products isn’t about throwing money at it
We been studying first order principals of biggest AI firms…fundamentals are same…no rules, just what makes sense, go all in & offer value to others.
Tx all of you for your well wishes & support at ABAIA & beyond.
Let’s work together & collaborate. 🤝💪