Developer to Founder

Presented to 200 developers at the Coding Ninjas 10X Club, this talk is a journey from being a developer to becoming a tech entrepreneur. Anand shares insights from his experience as an engineer, designer, and entrepreneur who co-founded ventures like San Francisco-based FirstQuadrant, backed by Y Combinator. Drawing on his accomplishments, including features in Forbes 30 Under 30 and GitHub Stars, the talk emphasizes leveraging open source, standing out in the job market, and career growth strategies. It inspires developers to identify opportunities, embrace innovative ideas, and take actionable steps to transition into leadership roles while addressing market and technology trends.

Transcript

1. Developer to Founder Anand Chowdhary Engineer, designer, and tech entrepreneur January 3 2025
2. I’m Anand, an engineer, designer, and tech entrepreneur from New Delhi, India, living in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Building San Francisco-based AI sales platform FirstQuadrant, funded by Y Combinator. Written about in TechCrunch, CSS Tricks, HuffPost, Time Out, Hindustan Times, BusinessWorld Disrupt, blogs of GitHub & BrowserStack. Featured in Forbes 30 Under 30 and awarded the GitHub Star in 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024.
3. P+T=O S3 Δ Our experience and tools empower us to create new opportunities. Seek, screen, seize. Changes in people, markets, and knowledge enable new opportunities.
4. P+T=O S3 Δ Our experience and tools empower us to create new opportunities. Seek, screen, seize. Changes in people, markets, and knowledge enable new opportunities. Create opportunities Discover opportunities
5. P+T=O S3 Δ Our experience and tools empower us to create new opportunities. Seek, screen, seize. Changes in people, markets, and knowledge enable new opportunities.
6. CLASS REBELS
7. CLASS REBELS
11. Education should be collaborative Study material should be available to all students Free and open tech platform
16. Discover great music Download and share for free Open source and community-driven
22. Information should be freely accessible Enabling technology for everyone Nonprofit to B2B SaaS
23. Problems + Tools
24. Problems + Tools Why? How?
25. Problems + Tools The relationship between form and purpose—How and Why—is symbiotic. But despite this link, Why is usually neglected, because How is more easily framed. It is easier to recognize failures of technique than those of strategy or purpose, and simpler to ask “How do I paint this tree?” than to answer “Why does this painting need a tree in it?” Frank Chimero, The Shape of Design
26. Problems + Tools Why? How?
27. Problems + Tools Open education Music discovery Access to information Technology Technology Technology
28. Problems + Tools Open education Music discovery Access to information Class Rebels Saga Music Oswald Labs
29. Problems + Tools Open education Music discovery Access to information Teach For All Spotify W3C WAI WCAG
30. Problems + Tools Open education Music discovery Access to information Khan Academy SoundCloud Americans With Disability Act
31. Problems + Tools Open education Music discovery Access to information ?
32. Problems + Tools
33. Problems + Tools = Opportunities
34. P+T=O S3 Δ Our experience and tools empower us to create new opportunities. Seek, screen, seize. Changes in people, markets, and knowledge enable new opportunities.
35. P+T=O S3 Δ Our experience and tools empower us to create new opportunities. Seek, screen, seize. Changes in people, markets, and knowledge enable new opportunities.
36. Seek Screen Seize
37. Seek Screen Seize How do we help people with disabilities access content on the web?
38. Seek Screen Seize How do we help people with disabilities access content on the web? Web browser extension for dyslexia Smartphone for users with disabilities B2B SaaS web accessibility platform
39. Seek Screen Seize How do we help people with disabilities access content on the web? Web browser extension for dyslexia Smartphone for users with disabilities B2B SaaS web accessibility platform
40. Seek Screen Seize How do we help people with disabilities access content on the web? Web browser extension for dyslexia Smartphone for users with disabilities B2B SaaS web accessibility platform
41. Seek Screen Seize How do we help people with disabilities access content on the web? Web browser extension for dyslexia Smartphone for users with disabilities B2B SaaS web accessibility platform Sales team with a digital marketing focus, growth partnerships with governments, nonprofits, corporates
42. Seek Screen Seize 2020
43. Seek Screen Seize How do we make beautiful living affordable for millennials?
44. Seek Screen Seize How do we make beautiful living affordable for millennials? Affordable interior consultations Rent furniture instead of purchasing Interior design & furniture subscription
45. Seek Screen Seize How do we make beautiful living affordable for millennials? Affordable interior consultations Rent furniture instead of purchasing Interior design & furniture subscription
46. Seek Screen Seize How do we make beautiful living affordable for millennials? Affordable interior consultations Rent furniture instead of purchasing Interior design & furniture subscription
47. Seek Screen Seize How do we make beautiful living affordable for millennials? Affordable interior consultations Rent furniture instead of purchasing Interior design & furniture subscription In-house interior designers, well-funded marketing and technology teams
48. Rent-to-own furniture with interior design Get your apartment furnished by a professional interior designer and rent high-quality furniture on a monthly subscription.
49. Bigger tickets The average Pabio customer spends around $20k on their apartment interior. These are very big tickets compared to industry benchmarks. Minimal logistics We order furniture on-demand, without the need for warehouses. Transportation and installation is handled by our retail partners. No retail space Traditional furniture stores require big, expensive retail spaces. Pabio offers an online experience without the need for physical space.
50. Interior design service Self-service “add to cart” Traditional online retail Rental or rent-to-buy
51. Seek Screen Seize How do we make beautiful living affordable for millennials? Affordable interior consultations Rent furniture instead of purchasing Interior design & furniture subscription In-house interior designers, well-funded marketing and technology teams
52. P+T=O S3 Δ Our experience and tools empower us to create new opportunities. Seek, screen, seize. Changes in people, markets, and knowledge enable new opportunities.
53. P+T=O S3 Δ Our experience and tools empower us to create new opportunities. Seek, screen, seize. Changes in people, markets, and knowledge enable new opportunities. Well-evaluated Profitable New and innovative Idea
54. Our experience and tools empower us to create new opportunities. Seek, screen, seize. P+T=O S3 Δ Changes in people, markets, and knowledge enable new opportunities. Well-evaluated Profitable New and innovative Idea * *
55. Our experience and tools empower us to create new opportunities. Seek, screen, seize. P+T=O S3 Δ Changes in people, markets, and knowledge enable new opportunities. Well-evaluated Profitable New and innovative Idea * * eventually, with positive unit economics
56. Our experience and tools empower us to create new opportunities. Seek, screen, seize. P+T=O S3 Δ Changes in people, markets, and knowledge enable new opportunities. Well-evaluated Profitable New and innovative Idea * * eventually, with positive unit economics
57. Our experience and tools empower us to create new opportunities. Seek, screen, seize. P+T=O S3 Δ Changes in people, markets, and knowledge enable new opportunities. Well-evaluated Profitable New and innovative Idea * *
58. Our experience and tools empower us to create new opportunities. Seek, screen, seize. P+T=O S3 Δ Changes in people, markets, and knowledge enable new opportunities. Well-evaluated Profitable New and innovative Idea * *well-timed and well-executed
59. Our experience and tools empower us to create new opportunities. Seek, screen, seize. P+T=O S3 Δ Changes in people, markets, and knowledge enable new opportunities. Well-evaluated Profitable New and innovative Idea * *well-timed and well-executed
60. Our experience and tools empower us to create new opportunities. Seek, screen, seize. P+T=O S3 Δ Changes in people, markets, and knowledge enable new opportunities. Well-evaluated Profitable New and innovative Idea * *well-timed and well-executed
61. Our experience and tools empower us to create new opportunities. Seek, screen, seize. P+T=O S3 Δ Changes in people, markets, and knowledge enable new opportunities. Well-evaluated Profitable New and innovative Idea * *well-timed and well-executed
62. Our experience and tools empower us to create new opportunities. Seek, screen, seize. P+T=O S3 Δ Changes in people, markets, and knowledge enable new opportunities. Well-evaluated Profitable New and innovative Idea * *
63. P+T=O S3 Δ Our experience and tools empower us to create new opportunities. Seek, screen, seize. Changes in people, markets, and knowledge enable new opportunities.
64. Δ Market trends Demography Technology Industry Values Market size Fashion
65. Δ People are used to subscriptions Netflix, Amazon, etc. People desire beautiful environments Airbnb, WeWork, etc. Technology has caught up AR, 3D, etc.
66. Δ Growth without adding headcount Competition, economy, etc. Data signals are now abundant Triggers, crawlers, etc. The technology didn’t exist 2 years ago LLMs, agents, etc. 2023
67. Δ Growth without adding headcount Competition, economy, etc. Data signals are now abundant Triggers, crawlers, etc. The technology didn’t exist 2 years ago LLMs, agents, etc. Why now?
68. Personalized outreach Deliver hyper-personalized sales emails at scale, driving higher engagement and conversion rates without adding headcount. Intelligent qualification Instantly qualify, prioritize, and route inbound interest with AI, ensuring your team focuses on the most valuable opportunities. Relationship nurturing Stay top-of-mind by leveraging AI to detect key triggers and send timely, context-aware outreach that strengthens relationships effortlessly.
69. Δ Growth without adding headcount Competition, economy, etc. Data signals are now abundant Triggers, crawlers, etc. The technology didn’t exist 2 years ago LLMs, agents, etc. Why now?
70. P+T=O S3 Δ Our experience and tools empower us to create new opportunities. Seek, screen, seize. Changes in people, markets, and knowledge enable new opportunities. Why now?
71. Problems + Tools Beautiful homes Sales automation Pabio FirstQuadrant
72. Problems + Tools Beautiful homes Sales automation What do you want to work on? Pabio FirstQuadrant You can just build things.
73. Problems + Tools Beautiful homes Sales automation What do you want to work on? Pabio FirstQuadrant You can just build things. You have the tools
74. Problems + Tools Beautiful homes Sales automation What do you want to work on? Pabio FirstQuadrant You can just build things. You have the tools Start now
75. Problems + Tools Beautiful homes Sales automation What do you want to work on? Pabio FirstQuadrant You can just build things. You have the tools Start now The non-obvious ideas will follow
76. Problems + Tools Beautiful homes Sales automation What do you want to work on? Pabio FirstQuadrant You can just build things. You have the tools Start now The non-obvious ideas will follow Start now Start now Start now Start now Start now Start now Start now Start now Start now Start now
77. P+T=O S3 Δ Our experience and tools empower us to create new opportunities. Seek, screen, seize. Changes in people, markets, and knowledge enable new opportunities.
78. …but I don’t want to start a company (yet) 3 tips from a developer- turned-founder Leveraging open source Standing out in today’s job market Career growth strategies
79. Tip 1 of 3 Leveraging open source Why open source matters Industry shift towards open-source technologies Real-world skill development beyond certifications Building credibility through public work Network effects and community learning
80. Tip 1 of 3 Leveraging open source Getting started in open source Choose your tech stack strategically and set up your development environment Join relevant communities (Discord, GitHub Discussions, etc.) and follow top maintainers Make your first pull request #good-first-issue
81. Tip 1 of 3 Leveraging open source Build your open source portfolio Start with docs contributions, and progress to bug fixes and small features Create portfolio projects using open source tools Document your learning journey Maintain your own open source projects or contribute to major frameworks
82. Tip 2 of 3 Standing out in today’s job market Essential skills beyond code System design and architecture Performance optimization Security and accessibility Technical writing
83. Tip 2 of 3 Standing out in today’s job market What CTOs look for Problem-solving approach Code quality and documentation Communication skills Learning agility, especially leveraging AI coding tools Team collaboration abilities
84. Tip 2 of 3 Standing out in today’s job market Red flags to avoid Focusing solely on trending technologies Neglecting fundamentals Poor version control practices Lack of testing mindset Ineffective communication
85. Tip 3 of 3 Career growth strategies Short-term actions (0–6 mo) Build foundational knowledge Create 2-3 significant portfolio projects Make first open source contributions Use AI coding tools like Cursor & GitHub Copilot day-to-day
86. Tip 3 of 3 Career growth strategies Medium-term goals (6–18 mo) Specialize in specific technologies Lead small open source projects Build an online presence Contribute to larger projects
87. Tip 3 of 3 Career growth strategies Long-term vision (18 mo+) Develop architectural expertise Become a project maintainer Speak at conferences & meetups Mentor others in your network
88. P+T=O S3 Δ Our experience and tools empower us to create new opportunities. Seek, screen, seize. Changes in people, markets, and knowledge enable new opportunities.
89. Questions? Personal website: anandchowdhary.com Angel investments: chowdhary.co Nonprofit work: chowdhary.org 𝕏, LinkedIn, etc.: @AnandChowdhary