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For a long time, I told other people’s stories for a living — brands, products, companies. This blog is where I start telling my own.

I’m Simran. I’m a marketer and entrepreneur based in Mumbai, and I spend most of my days as Co-Founder & CMO of BeyondChats, where we’re using AI to change how businesses talk to the people who visit their websites. But this space isn’t really about BeyondChats. It’s about the thinking, and the taste, behind the building.

What you’ll find here

• Marketing — what actually moves people, minus the buzzwords.
• Brand & storytelling — how companies come to mean something.
• Entrepreneurship & startups — the real, unglamorous mechanics of building.
• Food — because the best ideas, like the best meals, come from a few good ingredients and a lot of care.
• Life — the part that doesn’t fit neatly into any of the above.

Who this is for

Mostly, I’m writing for two kinds of people. Builders and marketers — because I learned almost everything I know from people who shared openly, and I want to pay that forward. And anyone curious about how I think — including the founders, partners, and investors I’ll work with over the coming years.

I won’t always get it right. I’ll change my mind in public. That’s the point. So let’s begin — pull up a chair.

Thanks for reading. If something here resonates, say hello.

Many founders know how to build software. Very few know how companies actually buy software. The first time a technical founder tries to sell their product, something strange happens. The conversation does not go the way they expected.

You show the product.
You explain the features.
You even solve the problem in front of them.

And the customer says: “Looks interesting. Let us think about it.”

Then nothing happens.

If this has happened to you, you are not doing anything unusual. Almost every technical founder goes through this phase.

The first few B2B sales conversations feel awkward because companies do not buy software the way founders expect them to.

You Expect the Product to Do the Selling

When you build software, you spend months thinking about the product.

You improve the UI.
You refine the features.
You fix edge cases.

Naturally you assume that when someone sees the product, they will understand its value immediately. Most companies don’t make decisions right after a demo. Even if they like the product, they still need time to process it.

There are questions that do not appear during the demo.

• How hard will this be to implement?
• What happens if something breaks?
• Who inside the company will own this tool?

These questions slow down the decision.

You Think You Are Talking to the Buyer

In your first few conversations, you often speak to the person who discovered the product.

They may like it.
They may even say they want to use it.

But they are not the one making the final decision. Inside most companies there are multiple people involved.

Someone controls the budget. Someone checks security. Someone evaluates risk. So even when the first conversation goes well, the process continues inside the company.

For founders this feels confusing. The meeting felt positive, yet nothing moves forward.

This is normal.

You Talk Too Much About Features

Technical founders love explaining how their product works.

They talk about architecture.
They talk about AI models.
They talk about integrations.

“Customers rarely care about these details at the start. They care about their problem.”

Imagine a hospital struggling to manage patient inquiries. If you start explaining vector databases or model accuracy, the conversation becomes abstract.

But if you ask questions like these, the discussion becomes clearer.

• How are you handling patient queries today?
• How many calls do you receive every day?
• What part of the process frustrates your team?

Now the customer starts describing the real situation.

Good sales conversations usually look like this. The customer talks more than the founder.

You Expect Fast Decisions

Founders are used to moving quickly. You build a feature in two days. You fix a bug in one hour. You release updates every week.

B2B sales does not follow that pace.

Even when a company likes your product, the process can take weeks or months.

• Someone needs to evaluate the tool.
• Someone needs to approve the budget.
• Someone needs to check whether it fits the current workflow.

In the beginning this delay feels frustrating. Later you realize it is simply how companies operate.

You Realize Trust Matters More Than the Demo

During early conversations founders often focus on the demo. They want the product to look impressive. Customers are often evaluating something else.

They want to understand the person behind the product. They are asking quiet questions in their head.

• Will this founder respond when we need help?
• Do they understand our industry?
• Will this product continue improving?

These questions shape the decision more than most founders expect. Trust grows slowly through conversations.

The Conversation Changes Over Time

Your first few sales conversations feel uncomfortable.

You may explain the product poorly. You may talk too much. You may miss important questions. After several conversations, patterns begin to appear.

Customers start describing the same problem in similar ways. You learn which questions lead to deeper discussions. You notice where people hesitate during the demo.

Gradually the conversation becomes easier. You begin to understand how customers think.

The Real Purpose of Early Sales Conversations

Many founders treat sales as a task.

In the early stage it is something more useful. Sales is how you learn what problem you are actually solving.

Customers explain how they work today. They show where things break. They reveal constraints you never considered.

Sometimes the biggest product insights come from these conversations.

Without them, founders often build features that nobody truly needs.

Why These Conversations Are Necessary

The first ten sales conversations rarely close deals. They do something more important. They teach the founder how customers make decisions.

You learn who inside the company influences the purchase. You learn what problems customers care about most. You learn how to explain your product in language they understand.

None of this comes from reading books about sales. It only comes from talking to people. For most technical founders, those first conversations feel strange.

That feeling disappears once you realize something simple. “You are not trying to convince people. You are trying to understand them.”

Originally published on Medium.

Namaste everyone!

If you are reading this, chances are you are trying to make sense of B2B sales. Maybe you are building a product and struggling to close your first few customers, or maybe you are realising that selling B2B feels very different from everything you expected.

We were in the same place.

While building BeyondChats, a B2B SAAS product selling to hospitals, we made almost every early mistake possible. We believed that if we explained the product clearly, showed enough features, and priced it reasonably, things would move forward on their own. That assumption did not last very long.

We learned many things the hard way. Through this blog, I want to share those learnings so that the journey becomes a little easier for you.

Sales Before Product-Market Fit Is Not a Process

Early B2B sales does not feel like a clean funnel. There is no predictable playbook. You are constantly testing assumptions.

• Who actually feels this problem?
• Who has budget authority?
• Who needs to sign off?
• Who can block the decision even if everyone else agrees?

In the beginning, we treated sales like a linear process. Over time, we realised it was closer to exploration. Every conversation was teaching us something new about how hospitals function, where friction exists, and why some problems stay unsolved for years.

Until we talked to the stakeholders, we kept making the product perfect.

Founders Have to Do Sales Themselves

We thought hiring salespeople early will help. But we learned that this work could not be delegated early on.

Not because others are incapable, but because founders carry something essential into these conversations. We understood the problem deeply because we had seen it first-hand. We believed in the solution because we had built it to solve very specific pain points.

That conviction shows up in subtle ways. It changes how you listen, how you respond, and how honestly you talk about limitations.

Before product-market fit, sales is not a role. It is a responsibility.

Talking to the Wrong People Feels Like Progress

One of the easiest traps to fall into early is talking to anyone who is willing to talk.

We did this too. Doctors, junior staff, friendly stakeholders who had opinions and feedback. These conversations were encouraging, and they gave us the feeling that we were moving forward.

But many of them could never actually buy.

That was a hard lesson. Easy conversations are not always useful ones. If the person you are speaking to does not feel the problem deeply enough, the authority to act, or the budget to spend, their feedback can be misleading.

Real progress started only when we became disciplined about who we spoke to.

Healthcare Taught Us Something Very Specific

Talking to doctors was invaluable for understanding the pain points. But deals did not move until operations teams, IT, and leadership were involved.

Hospitals are complex systems. Adoption requires coordination across departments, not just excitement from one group. This forced us to rethink how we positioned BeyondChats and how we structured conversations from the start.

The First Call Is About Listening, Not Pitching

In the early days, we made the mistake most founders make. We jumped straight into explaining what we had built.

Over time, we learned to slow down.

The first call is about understanding the problem, not selling the solution. Asking how long the issue has existed. How it affects patients and staff. What happens if it is not solved. How software purchases actually get approved.

Sometimes these conversations revealed that the problem was not urgent or important enough to justify a purchase. Walking away early saved everyone time, including us.

A Demo Should Feel Like Their Story

The demos that worked best were never feature walkthroughs.

They were stories.

We framed the demo around the hospital’s real workflow, their actual constraints, and their daily challenges. When people could see themselves using the product in their environment, the conversation shifted from curiosity to seriousness.

Good demos do not show everything. They show what matters to the stakeholders.

Pricing Is an Experiment

Pricing was uncomfortable in the beginning, and that was a good sign.

There is no perfect formula early on. Each pricing conversation is a learning opportunity. If everyone says yes immediately, you are probably underpricing. If everyone walks away, you may be too early or solving the wrong problem.

When we quoted a higher price, it helped us identify customers who truly needed the solution rather than those who were just exploring.

What B2B Sales Changed for Us

B2B sales fundamentally reshaped how we think about BeyondChats.

It forced us to slow down, ask better questions, and stop assuming that interest automatically leads to adoption. It made us more disciplined about who we speak to, more honest about what we can and cannot solve, and more patient with the realities of complex organisations like hospitals.

Over time, we stopped thinking of sales as a sequence of steps and started seeing it as a long-term responsibility. Responsibility towards the customer, the problem they are trying to solve, and the outcome they expect after choosing us.

Originally published on Medium.

Simran Jain reflects on 2025 as a transformative year for BeyondChats, their AI chatbot startup launched in late December 2023.

Key Highlights

The year marked BeyondChats’ transition from experimental venture to sustainable business:

• Converted 10+ enterprise clients
• Achieved profitability
• Secured major hospital clients (JJ Hospital and KEM Hospital)
• Relocated headquarters from Lucknow to Mumbai

Major Client Wins

JJ Hospital & KEM Hospital: Initially pitched a generic appointment-booking chatbot, but discovered clients actually needed solutions for hospital navigation and managing staff overload during peak hours.

Elefant (Shark Tank startup): Required managed services rather than just chatbot technology, demanding clear ROI before investment.

Cordelia Cruises: India’s premium cruise line—significant for both deal size and brand credibility.

Setbacks

• Failed to close 10 anticipated deals through affiliate marketing
• Realized the company was attempting too many initiatives simultaneously

Founder Lessons

Jain emphasizes these key learnings:

• “Follow-ups are not desperation. They are discipline.”
• Different clients need tailored solutions to their specific problems
• In-person meetings provide clarity that calls cannot
• Listen more; overbuilding less

The piece concludes with advice for fellow founders about perseverance through messy growth.

Originally published on Medium.

A Stanford, Northeastern, and West Virginia University research team discovered a simple prompt modification that unlocks greater AI creativity without compromising safety or accuracy.

The Simple Discovery That Changed Everything

The researchers found that asking models to “Generate 5 responses to this query with probabilities” dramatically improves output quality. This eight-word prompt engineering technique requires no retraining or complex system adjustments.

What They Found

Analysis of nearly 7,000 human feedback samples revealed that people prefer familiar, predictable, and easily processed responses. This psychological preference inadvertently trained AI systems to be conservative rather than creative.

The 8-Word Fix

Requesting multiple responses with probabilities encourages models to sample from their full capability range. Instead of defaulting to a single safe answer, models explore unusual and surprising ideas they would normally suppress.

The Results Were Wild

The technique doubled creativity across GPT, Claude, and Gemini models. Human testers preferred outputs 25% more frequently, while factual accuracy remained unchanged. Larger models showed the greatest improvement.

Why It Matters

Better questioning unlocks existing intelligence rather than retraining models. The approach reframes prompt engineering from “tricking” models into being creative toward asking more effective questions.

The Bigger Lesson

Safety and creativity coexist. The intelligence was present throughout—users simply needed improved prompting strategies.

Try It Yourself

Compare these approaches:

• “Generate 5 creative startup ideas for 2025 with probabilities”
• “Generate 5 creative startup ideas for 2025”

The first produces noticeably more varied and engaging results.

Originally published on Medium.

Every builder aspires to create a product that simply works—one requiring no lengthy tutorials, startup guides, or confused user inquiries. Products like WhatsApp, Notion, and Canva exemplify this ideal; users intuitively understand them upon first interaction. This isn’t coincidence but rather intentional design excellence.

A personal anecdote illustrates the problem: the author’s friend launched a feature-rich SaaS tool with powerful analytics and automation capabilities. Despite its technical prowess, the author abandoned it after three clicks due to cognitive overload. The core issue wasn’t poor quality but rather demanding excessive user thought before action—”the biggest crime a product can commit.”

Core Design Philosophy

The most successful products remain imperceptible during use. Users don’t learn them; they simply operate them. This invisibility stems from empathy-driven design, not ego-driven features.

The fundamental principle: “What would my user expect to happen here?”

Simplicity differs from feature reduction—it means purposeful clarity. Each button performs one function. Design communicates in the user’s language. Empty screens educate rather than perplex. Subtle guidance nudges without overwhelming.

The Critical First 30 Seconds

Initial impressions determine retention. If users cannot accomplish something meaningful within thirty seconds, they’ll leave. Designers must optimize that opening moment: make the first screen obvious, reward the initial click, eliminate early confusion.

“A good product tells users what it can do. A great product quietly shows them.”

Trust Over Features

Products requiring manuals demand user effort. Self-explanatory products build trust—the actual driver of user loyalty and retention.

Mini Tip: “If you ever need to explain your product twice, simplify it once.”

Originally published on Medium.

Namate dear reader!

Have you ever felt like you always need to be perfect? Like everything you do, say, or look like needs to be just right?

For a long time, I felt that way. I thought if I just tried hard enough, controlled everything, and made no mistakes, I could have a perfect life. But guess what? It didn’t work. All it did was make me tired, worried, and unhappy.

We see perfect things everywhere. On social media, everyone’s life looks amazing. Books and gurus tell us how to be “better” or “optimized.” Slowly, this idea can make us feel like we’re not good enough until we reach some ideal state. I believed it completely.

For me, this struggle with perfection wasn’t about everything. It was about certain parts of my life. If I wanted to be healthy, I felt I had to be perfectly healthy, never eating anything “bad.” If I was doing something creative, like writing or painting, every single part had to be just right. My mind was always checking, always finding mistakes. This often meant I’d start things and then stop because they weren’t turning out “perfect” in my head. It meant I’d avoid going out with people if I didn’t feel confident or smart enough. This led to constant, low-level stress, because I was always afraid of not being good enough.

This need to be flawless, I now see, was a way to protect myself. I thought if everything was perfect, nothing could go wrong, and no one could judge or hurt me. It felt like a shield, but it was actually a cage. It stopped me from truly living, trying new things, and connecting with others. It took away the joy of doing something and made me only focus on an outcome that I could never reach.

How Light Gets In Through the Cracks

Changing this didn’t happen in one day. It was a slow process of breaking down the idea of “perfect.” It started with small acts of rebellion: a painting I chose to leave unfinished, a meal I cooked that didn’t look like the picture but tasted great, or a talk where I let myself mess up my words instead of staying quiet.

What I found in these moments of “not being perfect” was amazing: freedom.

When I stopped needing everything to be spotless, I found real happiness in what I was doing. When I accepted that something could be “good enough” instead of “perfect,” I actually finished it. When I allowed myself to be messy, open, or unsure, I found that people didn’t turn away; they often felt closer to me.

It’s like an old Japanese art called Kintsugi. This is when broken pottery is fixed with special glue mixed with gold. The idea is that the breaks and repairs are part of the object’s story. They are not hidden; they are celebrated, which makes the object even more beautiful and unique.

Your Own Golden Repairs

So, how can we start to embrace our own “Kintsugi”? It begins with a choice, just like choosing happiness over sadness.

1. Find Your Perfection Traps: Where in your life do you feel the most pressure to be perfect? Is it how you look, your job, your friendships, or your hobbies? Just knowing these areas can help a lot.
2. Try “Good Enough”: For one task today, try to do it “good enough” instead of perfect. Maybe send an email without reading it ten times, or clean a room without making it spotless. See how it feels to let go of that pressure.
3. Enjoy the Doing, Not Just the End Result: Focus on the experience of creating, learning, or working, not just on the perfect final product. Find joy in the effort, the small mistakes, and unexpected turns.
4. Listen to How You Talk to Yourself: When you make a mistake or don’t meet your own impossible standards, what do you say to yourself? Challenge that harsh inner voice. Talk to yourself with the same kindness you’d show a good friend.
5. Seek Imperfect Connections: Share something personal and a little vulnerable with a friend you trust. Let them see you when you’re not at your very best. You might be surprised how much closer you feel when you stop trying to appear flawless.

Life isn’t a perfect song; it’s more like a messy, beautiful jazz jam. There will be wrong notes, surprising rhythms, and moments that are wonderfully chaotic. And it’s in these imperfections, these unique parts, that the real magic happens.

Choosing to let go of the need for perfection isn’t about lowering what you expect or becoming lazy. It’s about changing your energy from a tiring chase to a fulfilling journey. It’s about accepting your true worth, even with all your flaws, and finding the deep joy that comes from just being, doing, and growing imperfectly, but beautifully.

So, what about you? Is there one small thing you can let go of “being perfect” about today? Share your thoughts in the comments below, or feel free to connect with me if this resonated with you.

Let’s explore more ways to live a more peaceful and authentic life together!

Originally published on Medium.

When I first started building a product, I thought being complex meant being impressive.

The more features I talked about…
The more jargon I used…
The more “visionary” my pitch sounded…
… the more serious people would take me.

I was wrong.

What actually happened was this:
People nodded, smiled politely and forgot what I said.

The Simplicity Test Most Founders Fail

Ask a random person, “What does your startup do?”
If you can’t answer in one clear sentence, that’s a red flag.

Most early founders fumble here.

You’ll hear lines like:

“We’re kind of like Notion meets Shopify for AI-first communities, but also exploring decentralized health data…”

By the time they’re done, no one knows what they’re selling.

Not their customers.
Not their investors.
Sometimes, not even their own team.

Why This Matters More Than You Think

If people don’t understand what you do, they won’t:

• Buy it
• Recommend it
• Invest in it
• Join you

It doesn’t matter how brilliant your product is if the story around it is fuzzy.

Here’s the hard truth:

“If your idea only makes sense inside your head, it doesn’t exist in the real world.”

Startups live or die based on communication.
And communication starts with clarity.

What Actually Works

1. Write a One-Liner. Then Make It Simpler.

A good one-liner should answer:

• Who is it for?
• What problem are you solving?
• How are you solving it?

Bad:
“We are an end-to-end solution for optimizing consumer intent and driving omnichannel automation using NLP.”

Better:
“We help clinics turn website visitors into paying patients using an AI chatbot.”

2. Test It with Non-Technical People

Can your friend who works in HR explain your startup to someone else?
Can your parents get what you do without squinting?

If not, rewrite it.

3. Cut Every Extra Word

Your first draft will be messy. That’s okay.
But treat every word like luggage on a budget airline—if it’s not essential, it stays behind.

4. Use This Simple Structure

We help [audience] solve [problem] by doing [your solution].

That’s it.
No fluff. No buzzwords. No ego.

A Quick Gut Check for You

Go to your LinkedIn bio, your website, or your pitch deck.

Now ask yourself:

“If someone reads this, can they explain my startup to someone else without asking a follow-up question?”

If the answer is no—that’s your next task.
Keep rewriting until it becomes obvious.

Final Thought: Simplicity ≠ Small Thinking

Don’t confuse “simple” with “basic.”
A simple pitch doesn’t make your startup small—it makes it memorable.

Remember:

Complexity hides. Simplicity sells.

So if you’re stuck, ask yourself:

• What are we really solving?
• Who really needs this?
• And how would I explain this to a 10th grader?

If you can get those three answers right, you’re already ahead of most founders.

Want feedback on your one-liner?
Drop it in the comments or DM me—happy to give quick feedback.

Clarity is step one.
Momentum follows.

Originally published on Medium.

Why Founder Loneliness Hits Hard

Building a startup is supposed to be chaotic. But for most first-time founders — it’s quiet. Really quiet.

It’s not the noise that breaks you. It’s the silence.

What no one tells you:

• You’ll be surrounded by people early on… and then, suddenly, no one.
• Everyone is excited in the first 2 weeks. Very few stick around in month 6.
• Your closest friends won’t understand what you do.
• Your family will ask how long you’re going to “try this.”

And when things don’t move fast — You’ll start thinking maybe it’s just me.

What doesn’t work:

• Pretending everything is fine
• Waiting for motivation to return
• Overloading on podcasts/books hoping for clarity
• Comparing your chapter 2 to someone’s chapter 20

What actually works:

• Talking to other early-stage founders (they get it)
• Saying out loud: “This is hard, and that’s normal.”
• Structuring your week even when things feel stuck
• Keeping a tiny promise to yourself every day (write, ship, reach out)

You’re not weak for feeling lonely. You’re just doing the part no one claps for.

Final thought:

The middle is always messy. But it’s also where real builders are made.

Stick with it. Even when it’s quiet.

PS: What’s something you wish someone told you before you started? I’ll try to cover it in future article.

Originally published on Medium.