Pujun Bhatnagar dropped out of Stanford, Harved, and MIT to build startups. He decided to build in an unsexy industry and it worked. He doubled Kintsugi’s valuation to $75M in 3 months.

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In this conversation we discuss:

Kintsugi

(00:00) — Intro
(00:57) — What Kintsugi does & why it's successful
(14:22) — What Kintsugi means

Founder Mode

(03:15) — Why Pujun did an "unsexy" business
(09:40) — AM frequency vs. Pujun's FM frequency
(12:29) — What happens to ambition when success comes
(26:20) — Pujun's mindset shifts over time
(32:20) — Pujun's toughest situation with co-founders
(59:10) — Dropping out of academia 3x
(1:07:20) — What Pujun does when not performing at his best
(1:10:00) — Pujun's spices

AI & Technology

(05:36) — What problems AI can solve
(19:44) — Successfully building AI PLG
(21:44) — The future of AI models
(51:14) — Differences between the ML & LLM gold rush
(54:46) — How to identify AI snake oil

Growth & Strategy

(17:06) — Focusing on building good software
(24:31) — Tradeoffs that come with scale
(34:51) — Having conviction & discipline
(36:11) — Who Pujun & Kintsugi looks for in teammates
(38:09) — Doubling valuation in 3 months time
(42:04) — Optimizing for minimal dilution
(43:53) — Ruthless prioritization when scaling

Rapid Fire

(1:12:09) — Who is one investor you’d recommend?
(1:13:33) — One thing you'd change about startups?
(1:16:22) — Advice for first-time founders?
(1:16:55) — Something you believe that most disagree with?

How Pujun Bhatnagar Doubled His Startup’s Valuation to $75M… in 3 Months