Abhishek Kankani - Getting into YC, $11.6M seed funding, building Dyte, a dev-friendly video SDK!

👉🏼 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:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/5harath
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@5harath
• Website: https://5harath.com/
• Newsletter: https://5harath.substack.com/