How To Build (& Get Funding For) A Sleep Tech Startup As An International Student - w/ Supreeth
In this episode featured not-expert is Supreeth Reddy. Supreeth is the co-founder of Serene AI, which is an sleep-tech startup.
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We discuss two tightly coupled themes in today’s discussion - primarily how Supreeth built this start-up and secured investment for it; but also the fact that he did this WHILE being a Master’s student on an F-1 visa. For those uninitiated, this is fairly rare as the F-1 isn’t exactly the ideal visa status to be able to start a company on. We go over the exact problem that Serene AI solves, the tech behind it, and Supreeth’s journey thru finding mentorship, shipping the first version, building in stealth mode and collaborating with lawyers and regulatory bodies and think-tanks in Silicon Valley to finally go public. Any person who is interested in starting a company will find a lot of value in this episode. Resources: https://www.linkedin.com/in/supreeth-reddy-738808120/ https://sereneai.org/ Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction + Background (02:16) What is Serene AI? (05:24) Original vision of Serene AI before pivots and iterations (07:59) Building the MVP: From Concept to Reality (11:10) User Feedback and Iteration (14:01) The NABC Framework and Market Positioning (16:52) Understanding User Sleep Patterns (20:10) Real-World Testing @ Stanford Research Institute (22:58) Finding an unexpected user-base in veterans (25:45) Balancing Complex Features and User Experience (29:52) Challenges in Development and Future Vision (31:45) Navigating the Investor Landscape (35:30) Leveraging Legal Resources (38:01) The Stealth Mode Strategy (39:51) Utilizing University Networks (40:49) The DUNS Number Process (42:41) Preparing for Public Launch (43:46) Balancing Work and Startup (46:58) Comparing Startup Ecosystems: India vs. USA (49:22) The Art of Customer Empathy (50:26) Outro + Gratitude
