👉🏼 About the Guest:
Abhishek Kankani is the founder of Dyte (YC W21), building the future of real-time communication. He is on the Forbes 30 Under 30 and has been featured on GQ, Cup Noodles To Career, and Sequoia! Listen to his founder and career journey here.
👉🏼 About the Host:
Sharath is a founder, creator, and community builder. He is also a serial maker who built and shipped 15+ projects using no-code tools. His SaaS product
Shoutout generates $30k ARR which was sold to a UK-based product studio. Prev, Sharath worked for world-changing startups like Product Hunt and On Deck, where he helped build and nurture communities. He also grew his audience on Twitter from 200 to 20,000 using give-first principles and creating high-value content. Currently, he is the Head of Community at Threado and runs a newsletter called
Sharath's CliffNotes alongside hosting this podcast.
👉🏼 Description:
Listen in as Sharath and Abhishek discuss founding Dyte (YC W21) during the pandemic, communication in a remote world, and building conviction in yourself as a newbie founder.
Dyte (YC W21) is building the future of real-time communication. Integrate programmable, and easily customizable live video and voice into your web, mobile, and desktop applications with just a few lines of code.
Timestamps:
- 00:00: Episode Highlight
- 2:10: Introduction to Abhishek, founder at Dyte (YC W21)
- 3:14: Dyte's backstory: founding, first customers, cofounders
- 7:46: Creating Dyte: Drive and conviction as first-time founders
- 15:02: Quitting full-time jobs for Dyte - pre-YC!
- 18:50: Dyte's first MVP and finding the very first customer
- 21:54: Dyte's journey: Zero -> YC -> One
- 25:53: How to apply for YC pre-PMF
- 35:08: Learnings from YC
- 41:25: Dyte's mission and pivots from YC
- 44:10: Prioritizing long-term product vision vs immediate customer needs
- 48:15: Different methods of reaching PMF
- 1:00:03: $12M in funding: Goals, targets, methods
- 1:05:43: Ryan Hoover as a board member
- 1:08:10: Handling competition in a crowded market
- 1:12:58: Next steps and a pivot at Dyte
- 1:14:47: Using Dyte as a non-technical builder
- 1:16:37: Closing thoughts for founders
- 1:19:24: Outro
👉🏼 Where to find Abhishek Kankani:
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/KankaniAbhishek
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abhishekkankani
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abhishekkankani/
- Dyte (YC W21): https://dyte.io/
👉🏼 Where to find Sharath:
What is The Undefeated Underdogs?
The Undefeated Underdogs is a podcast unpacking the underdog stories you never heard of!
It highlights the underdog mentality and brings authentic conversations with people who play the long game, take action with a chip on their shoulders, and convert obstacles into opportunities!
Buckle up, as I will be bringing some authentic founders, VCs, community builders, and content creators who got underestimated their whole life, and yet they beat the odds and became insanely successful!