Startup Stream

Ever reached the airport too early and got bored?

What if, instead of scrolling your phone, you ended up meeting a bunch of interesting folks?

At eChai, we love startup mixers. So we thought - why not bring that experience to the airport?

Few months back, our friend Jaydip Parikh was attending the India SEO Conference in Pune. On his way back, he called and said, “Remember that airport mixer idea? Let’s do it right now.”

And just like that, eChai’s Airport Startup Mixer was born.

Jaydip, along with Amit from AllEvents, Rakesh Patel from SpaceO, Himani from Missive Digital, and many others, turned their wait time into a great networking session. The feedback? Amazing!

Of course, there’s one tiny risk - getting so deep in conversation that you almost miss your flight! But hey, great connections are worth the adventure.

So, next time you’re at the airport early, let us know. We’ll give a shoutout on eChai and see if we can pull off another eChai’s Airport Startup Mixer.

Would you be up for it? Let’s make layovers exciting :-)

https://x.com/jatin10/status/1885196469751423431

There’s something quietly radical about a film that centers a 65-year-old widow launching a startup with her group of homemaker friends. No incubators. No accelerators. No jargon. Just instinct, lived experience, and a refusal to accept that their time has passed.

Auntypreneur, an upcoming Gujarati-language film, taps into a kind of founder energy we rarely acknowledge in India — the resilience of middle-aged women who’ve spent decades managing homes, families, and finances, but have never been called “entrepreneurs.”

And that’s exactly why I’m excited to watch it.

It’s not just the premise. It’s the intent.

In a startup culture dominated by youth, blitzscaling, and pitch decks, Auntypreneur offers a cultural reset — one where ambition arrives late, quietly, but just as powerfully.

https://youtu.be/Y254cTYFVO0?si=XjTpuCz4a1Z2xL3R

Reframing the Archetype of a Founder

The protagonist of Auntypreneur is Jasuben, a 65-year-old widow who decides to start a business with her close-knit group of homemaker friends. There are no venture capital pitches, no disruption models, no accelerator backstories. Instead, there’s lived experience, resourcefulness, and an instinctive understanding of value — the kind that isn’t taught, but earned through decades of managing households with surgical precision.

In India, where the startup narrative still largely revolves around youthful aggression and scale-at-all-costs ambition, this film inserts a different kind of founder into the cultural vocabulary — one who is older, female, and rooted in middle-class realism. It’s a portrayal that reframes entrepreneurship not as a career choice, but as a human need for agency and reinvention.

The Team Behind the Film Echoes the Story’s Spirit

Auntypreneur is helmed by Pratik Rajen Kothari, a young filmmaker making his Gujarati feature debut. It is produced by Deepali and Aryan Mhaiskar, a mother-son duo whose own collaboration across generations mirrors the film’s central theme. The project is presented by Abhishek Jain, a pivotal figure in modern Gujarati cinema, known for his work in bringing local stories to wider audiences.

There’s a meta-layer here that cannot be ignored. The film isn’t just about late-blooming entrepreneurship — it is, in many ways, a startup in itself. From the risk in storytelling to the choice of a largely regional setting and language, the film’s creators are practicing the very courage they aim to portray on screen.

A Lead Performance Anchored in Quiet Defiance

Supriya Pathak, long admired for her work across genres and languages, leads the cast as Jasuben. Her performance in the trailer alone hints at a role grounded in restraint and emotional authority. She doesn’t announce her intentions — she negotiates them. Her quiet command, dry wit, and firm resolve offer a believable portrayal of a woman stepping into her own, not with arrogance, but with earned certainty.

She is joined by a supporting cast of acclaimed regional actors including Brinda Trivedi, Kaushambi Bhatt, and Yukti Randeria. Their ensemble energy is less about comic relief or tokenism and more about collective transformation — women building not just a venture, but a version of themselves that had been long suppressed.

A Marketing Campaign that Mirrors Early-Stage Hustle

What sets Auntypreneur apart from typical film launches is the nature of its promotional campaign. The producers have bypassed conventional media routes and adopted a grassroots, community-first approach that resembles how early-stage founders market their products.

From local meetups to street activations in Ahmedabad, to real-life panels like “Reel Meets Real” featuring Supriya Pathak in conversation with actual women entrepreneurs like Pabiben Rabari, the film’s outreach strategy has been intimate and deliberate. These are not just promotional events — they are dialogue starters.

https://x.com/ama_ahmedabad/status/1913980028133707976

On social media, the messaging is sharp and culturally tuned. The tagline — “Why should boys have all the funds?” — is both a provocation and a positioning statement. It places the film directly within India’s ongoing conversation around funding disparities, gender bias, and the shifting contours of leadership.

Another standout piece features real-life women entrepreneurs — from founders to changemakers — sharing the spotlight and spirit of Auntypreneur. It’s not just a shoutout; it’s a celebration of women who’ve already turned ideas into impact, blurring the line between reel and real.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DIqTQYFMYgE/

Why This Film Matters Now

Auntypreneur arrives at a time when India’s founder landscape is undergoing both expansion and reckoning. While unicorn counts rise and venture capital flows deepen, questions around inclusivity, representation, and sustainability remain unresolved. In this context, a film that centers older women as capable, ambitious builders is not just refreshing — it’s necessary.

It is not a story about scale. It is a story about self-worth. And that, in many ways, is the foundational capital of any entrepreneurial journey.

Why I’ll Be Watching

I’m not watching Auntypreneur because I’m curious about what happens next — the trailer already outlines that arc. I’m watching because I want to witness what starting looks like when you’ve spent a lifetime being told your time is up.

The film may be predictable in its structure, but its intent is rare. And its emotional currency — the desire to reclaim one’s narrative — feels authentic.

For anyone who has ever thought, “ab kya naya shuru karun?”, Auntypreneur seems to offer a reply that is both gentle and urgent:

Start now. You’re not too late. You’re right on time.

In this edition of eChai’s Books for Entrepreneurs series, I want to explore a question that’s been on my mind:

What if AI doesn’t replace us—but helps us become more of who we already are?

That’s the central idea behind Superagency, and it hit home.

The book is co-authored by Reid Hoffman — co-founder of LinkedIn, partner at Greylock, and someone who’s been at the heart of Silicon Valley’s most transformative moments, from PayPal to OpenAI. What makes his perspective stand out is that he’s not observing AI from the sidelines — he’s actively shaping it.

His co-author, Greg Beato, adds a sharp cultural and editorial lens. Together, they make Superagency feel less like a tech manual, and more like a thoughtful invitation to build more consciously — and more responsibly — with AI.

I picked up Superagency one quiet evening, thinking I’d skim through it.

But somewhere between page 10 and 30, I realized… this wasn’t just a book about AI.

It felt like a mirror — one that made me reflect on how I think, design, and build in tech. And more than anything, how we show up as founders and product people inside this massive wave of change.

Reid talks about something he calls “superagency” — the idea that AI, when built right, doesn’t replace us.

It amplifies us.

It helps individuals — not just institutions — make faster decisions, navigate systems better, and express themselves more fully.

That clicked instantly for me.

As a product strategist and community builder, I’ve seen how badly we need that kind of tech. Not just smart. Not just scalable. But human-first.

One metaphor that stuck with me was this:

You still set the destination.

You’re still the driver.

But the AI helps you navigate faster, with fewer wrong turns, and more context.

That’s how I now look at GenAI tools.

Not as a replacement. Not as magic.

But as possibility multipliers.

Another line I underlined:

I paused after reading that.

Because in our race to integrate the latest models, plug in AI features, and use the right buzzwords…

we rarely ask: What kind of agency are we actually giving the user?

Are we designing for decision-making?

Or just for dopamine?

Reading Superagency made me more intentional.

Because here’s the thing: founders and PMs may not control the whole AI narrative —

But we do decide how it lands in the hands of users.

This book won’t give you 10 frameworks or a product checklist.

But if you lead product, build startups, or simply think about what tech should mean in the next 5–10 years, it will reframe your mental model.

I closed the book feeling more responsible — and more optimistic.

And that’s a rare combo in this space.

I’ll leave you with Reid’s line:

If you’re building AI-first, AI-lite, or even just AI-curious — I’d say: read this one.

It’s thoughtful. Grounded. Real.

And it’ll stay with you longer than your average AI blog post ever could.

PS: If you're curious to hear Reid Hoffman unpack these ideas himself — this conversation with DJ Patil at Commonwealth Club World Affairs is worth your time. 

It’s not just about AI trends — it’s about what kind of future we want to design.

They explore everything from AI tutors and healthcare breakthroughs to the moral responsibility of builders.

If you're a founder shaping with tech, this one’s for you.

https://youtu.be/y0zsSR0r3BM?si=yYa2zwcgqY1WOo_f

What folks are talking about it

https://x.com/krynsky/status/1895291445206229366

Superagency!

https://x.com/reidhoffman/status/1913265771087626547

When most people talk about startups in India, they talk about unicorns, VC rounds, blitzscaling, and metros.

But what if the real magic — the real potential — is waiting in districts we rarely hear about?

That's what M. Nagarajan, IAS officer and currently the Vice Chairman and Managing Director of GSRTC, laid out in his recent TEDx talk at Anant National University.

A talk that doesn’t just inspire — it offers a blueprint.

Not a motivational monologue, but a detailed roadmap of how India can become a Startup Nation by 2047, powered by every district, every school, and every aspiring founder.

The Big Idea: Every District as a Venture Studio

Nagarajan calls for something revolutionary —
What if every district in India worked like a venture studio?

Not just symbolic incubation centres.

But real platforms where local talent, schools, colleges, and industries come together to turn grassroots problems into scalable solutions.

Why Now? Because India’s Moment Is Now

By 2030, India will have the largest working-age population in the world.

65% between the ages of 15 and 65. That’s a billion people with potential.

But potential without support leads nowhere.

Nagarajan argues that the cost of nurturing ideas is near zero — design thinking, business model canvases, even mentorship — these are tools that don’t require heavy infrastructure.

The 1000-Day Startup Journey

Nagarajan outlines a powerful truth: most ideas fail not because they’re weak, but because they don’t survive the early journey.

That’s where a district-level venture studio can step in.

From ideation → prototyping → early-stage support → go-to-market → scale.

All of this, done locally. Backed by HNIs from the region, colleges, district administrators, and even local industries who can be the first customers.

Forget Unicorns. Build Impact Unicorns.

Nagarajan flips the script on startup ambition.

Why chase a $1B valuation when you can build for a billion people?

Imagine a rural health solution built by a student in Mehsana.

Or a logistics product coming out of Rajkot that ends up serving global markets.

These aren’t pipe dreams. These are already happening.

This Vision Has Been Lived Before It Was Spoken

This isn’t just policy-speak.

M. Nagarajan has built this from the ground up:

> As Collector of Mehsana, he turned the district into a real-world pilot zone for startups.

> At Surat Smart City Mission, he was recognized nationally for tech-enabled urban governance.

> He was honoured by the Election Commission of India for his innovative tech work during Gujarat’s 2012 elections.

> As the Executive Director of i-Hub and Commissioner of Higher Education, he’s helped fund over 6000 student startups and supported 800+ patent filings.

Today, as Vice Chairman and MD of GSRTC, he continues to champion technology as a great enabler of social change — both in mobility and mindset.

What Makes This TEDx Talk Stand Out

Because it’s not just a “speech.”

It’s a manual for India’s next big leap — where grassroots talent meets systemic support.

Because it speaks not just to founders, but to teachers, administrators, local investors, and policy-makers.

And because it shows that the path to Startup India doesn't run only through metros — it runs through schools, colleges, bus depots, farms, and district offices.

Last night, I walked into a room in San Francisco filled with founders, designers, and product folks — and walked out with a front-row glimpse of what the future of software might feel like.

As someone who hosts eChai meetups here in SF, I’ve been to my fair share of GenAI gatherings. But this one hit different. It was the launch of Thesys, in collaboration with The GenAI Collective, and the focus wasn’t just on agents or LLMs — it was on a bold new idea: Generative UI.

The Startup: Thesys

Thesys is what happens when two brilliant minds — Rabi Shanker Guha and Parikshit Deshmukh — decide that the way we design software hasn’t kept up with the way we build intelligence.

Instead of creating screens in Figma and handing off to engineers, they’re building a system where AI generates the UI itself. Their platform, C1, lets developers feed in context, and the frontend adapts — forms, charts, tables, inputs, cards — all rendered dynamically by AI.

They call it Generative UI. And they’re not wrong — it’s not just faster than design. It skips the whole traditional workflow.

https://x.com/thesysdev/status/1912915044800618668

They've raised $4M from Together Fund and 8VC, and what they’re building feels like the frontend equivalent of what Stripe did for payments.

The Night: A Room Full of Product Possibility

https://x.com/thesysdev/status/1913061367772234078

The event — hosted by Thesys and the GenAI Collective — had all the right energy. Real conversations. Sharp minds. People not just networking but building mental models together.

Rabi and Parikshit kicked it off with a keynote and live demo of their engine. The UI actually responded to an AI agent’s intent in real-time. It was wild.

https://youtu.be/R5MZub3PzSw?si=7zOpoh2m0OSYyr70

Then came the fireside chat:
 Girish Mathrubhootham (Freshworks) on stage with Marty Kausas (Pylon), breaking down why product and UI innovation will define the next generation of SaaS.

https://x.com/thesysdev/status/1913057329966166192

This didn’t feel like a product launch. It felt like a new chapter.

Why This Matters

If you’re a founder building AI-first apps, you need this on your radar.

Because just like LLMs changed how we write code, Generative UI will change how we build products.

Thesys is betting big on this shift. And judging by the buzz in that room — they’re not alone.

Final Takeaway

San Francisco isn’t just about models anymore. It’s about interfaces that think.

And this week, Thesys made that future feel real.