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Sharath Kuruganty

I'm Sharath πŸ‘‹πŸΌ I sold a startup while hustling at a full-time job. AMA.

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Hello there! I'm Sharath, founder, community builder, and content creator. Currently, I work at Threado as Head of Community, but in my free time, I build products, host a podcast, advise founders and help makers launch on Product Hunt! In the past, I built 15+ side projects using no-code tools and got the opportunity to work with prolific people like Naval Ravikant. I accidentally built a startup called Shoutout in my maker journey which grew to $30K ARR and eventually, I sold for 6 figures. All this happened when I was hustling at full-time jobs. As a startup operator, I got the opportunity to work for the most prominent brands in tech like Product Hunt, and On Deck where I nurtured community. Right now I’m tinkering with a couple of side-projects: - Blubi, a permanent home for your social content where you can use AI to remix it. - Next Step, a tight-knit community for first-time founders figuring out the next steps. I'm here to answer questions about SaaS, building in public, audience building, community, bootstrapping, no-code, and anything startups! AMA πŸ‘‡
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Raiyan Yahya
Do you have a newsletter ? What ideas can you give for some trying to provide value and get a larger audience.
Sharath Kuruganty
@raiyanyahya that's something I wanted to do this year. It's on my radar. I got a good name too - Sharath's Cliff Notes :) Check it out: https://5harath.substack.com Newsletters are a great way but I might not be the right one to advice here. But I would also actively tweet and interact on Twitter.
Akshat Jain
Hey Sharath - Was Shoutout still based on no-code infrastructure when you sold it?
Sharath Kuruganty
Hey @akshat_jain28 No, it's fully coded now. I used no-code to validate the MVP in the initial days.
David J. Kim
Between
Hi Sharath, thanks for doing this AMA. What side project are you most passionate about right now? Next Step looks super interesting.
Sharath Kuruganty
@between_team Hey David. I'm super excited about blubi.ai for two reasons: 1. I'm building for myself. Hopefully, find people like me who can use it. 2. I'm excited to create a platform that helps content creators create content without worrying about the platform.
AndrΓ© J
DiffSense
Love the tinkering mentality. What particular attributes show up when you feel your on to something while tinkering?
Sharath Kuruganty
@eonpilot Market response + my excitement to build it for them.
Aldo Petruzzelli
what would you suggest we do as a two sided marketplace with limited to no marketing resource to find a scalable channel of acquisition as fast as possible (with users on the waitlist pre-launch)?
Sharath Kuruganty
@aldo_petruzzelli It seems like you want things fast with less effort - in my experience, that's like finding a bigfoot sitting in a city. It's not real lol Not to be rude but you have to put in the work and play the long game. Some advice: 1. Figure out supply and demand for your marketplace. 2. Start building in public - solves marketing and needs $0 to spend on. 3. Use Twitter as your distribution channel. 4. Launch the product and get some revenue. 5. Be impatient with actions and patient with results.
Rashid Khasanov
Angel Match
Which no-code tools you think are the best to build side-projects? I am a non-technical founder myself and I want to try no-code to build my next app. Thanks
Sharath Kuruganty
@rashid_khasanov depends on the idea you have. - Bubble is good for building a platform - Softr is good for curation projects - Glide is good for mobile projects - Carrd is good for launching and validating ideas
Michael Cho
Joybird AI
With so many side projects (15+!) - how do you decide what to share/feature on your social media?
Sharath Kuruganty
@michael_cho1 All my projects are executed one after the other. Best to focus on one thing at a time so you get to give your best.
Richard Gao
Evoke
Love seeing some smaller startups get sold. We always hear about the million dollar sales, but these are great as well
Sharath Kuruganty
@richard_gao2 For sure. Thanks for the kind words.
Mei
Where did you sell your start-up and how did you navigate discussions around pricing?
Sharath Kuruganty
@thisismeihere the interest came from Twitter. It would be best to have clarity on what you want - that decides how discussions will go. We wanted a specific number, and we crafted a story supporting it.
Svitlana Palamarchuk
Hi Sharath, This is really inspiring to hear! Juggling a full-time job with side projects is no small feat, and achieving such success is truly commendable. I'm particularly interested in your experience with no-code tools. Could you share a bit about how these tools have helped in your startup journey, especially when it comes to prototyping and iterating quickly? Also, how did you manage your time between your full-time job and your side projects? Any tips or strategies you'd recommend for those of us trying to balance a similar load?
Sharath Kuruganty
Thanks for the kind word @svitlana_palamarchuk Idea validation - Used Carrd to build the landing page MVP validation - Used Bubble to build the first MVP They massively helped me move fast. And the community supported me when I got stuck. I wrote a thread on some tips to balance a full-time job and side projects: https://twitter.com/5harath/stat...
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