Simar Singh

Founder | YC alum

[Simar Singh @hellosimar]

Had a fun discussion with my friend @thedanielmazur; @pritika_mehta recorded it at YC Reboot (a @ycombinator alumni retreat)

We talked about
- How to get into YC and lessons learnt
- why Jews are so successful
- how Indians can become more creative

Also discussed about high agency, Taliban+ girls’ education, importance of communication skills and other random stuff.

Mix of Hindi and English. Lmk if you like it :)

[Simar Singh @hellosimar]

It’s a bloodbath in Bay Area. Thousands of layoffs, more to come.

Met a founder this morning who mentioned his AI tech is laying off 2000 call center workers.

Not sure if society is ready for such upheaval. Gut wrenching

[Simar Singh @hellosimar]

My uber driver had a box of candies and a cheerful attitude.

No wonder, he has over 10k 5-star trips.

If you’re an uber driver, be like him.

[Simar Singh @hellosimar]

This is gonna hit harder than Covid

[Nassim Nicholas Taleb @nntaleb]

Wake up.
Every profession deemed white-collar, the middle class dream, is about to be decimated by AI, at a much faster pace than anticipated, with monstrous social consequences.

[Simar Singh @hellosimar]

Risk taking comes at a cost. To your health, family, sleep, relationships.

If you’re adopting a risky path, know this. Internalize this. Don’t take risky paths for fun, it’s not roses all the way down.

[Simar Singh @hellosimar]

It rains and all the trees become greener. Dirt vanishes away. Cars get brighter, outdoor furniture gets a good splash. Hot food becomes desirable. Clouds dance and flirt with earth, can send showers down anytime. Nature at play.

When such a phenomena exists, how can you go around with belief that life is meaningless as AI is going to take over everything? Look up in the sky, away from your phone.

[Simar Singh @hellosimar]

@prasann_pandya This is awesome

[Simar Singh @hellosimar]

@prasann_pandya Will release a creative soon. One shot made on Claude. Basically replaced photoshop for me.

[Simar Singh @hellosimar]

I’m using Claude to edit pics and videos these days. It’s magic.

If I were the founder of Canva, Adobe and other video/pic editing companies, I’d run to mountains and think hard. V hard.

[Simar Singh @hellosimar]

@alexdanilowicz What’s the lesson?

[Simar Singh @hellosimar]

talking to ai is better than talking to a human. give it a prompt and it gets shit done.

abundance is already here. AI is gonna free humans from boring work.

the biggest challenge is - finding white collar work fast enough for humans to do. the displacement due to AI is leading to so much change, so so fast.

[Simar Singh @hellosimar]

the interesting things about humans is that we're capable of altering our environments. however, it takes tech + leadership.

look at singapore. it has such a bad weather. same with dubai. but we used science and technology to make sure weather doesn't stop people from enjoying life.

economic opportunities can be created in any country if the leadership is great. lee kuan yew make singapore a first world nation from third world. in one generation. in a parallel society, he'd be called a god but rational humans understand that was an exceptional leader.

so, lesson is :
- choose great leaders
- if you don't have great leaders in your country, demand great leaders OR be one
- if you don't see change happening, move to a place that has great leaders

great leaders determine the destiny of a company, country and community.

[Simar Singh @hellosimar]

creativity isn't constrained. a creative person will be creative in multiple domains.

you can see it in their clothing or content or painting or cooking or unconventional living. it becomes a way of life.

[Simar Singh @hellosimar]

bad stuff happens to all. but if you start thinking you're unlucky, more bad stuff happens to you.

great stuff happens to all. if you start thinking you're lucky, more luck happens to you.

[Simar Singh @hellosimar]

ask a genius what's the secret of their creativity, they'll mumble stuff like:

- walking in woods
- nature
- thinking deeply
- psychedelics
- retreats
- meditation
- hanging out with other creative people

ask an ultra genius and they have two answers:
- I don't know
- God/nature/universe

[Simar Singh @hellosimar]

For some reason, I don’t get excited at all by startup launch videos.

They all seem FAKE.

Did you need to see a video to use WhatsApp, Insta, Instinct, TikTok or ChatGPT?

No.

Startups would be better off building great product than great videos.

If your video is too polished, people can smell bullshit from miles away.

[Simar Singh @hellosimar]

Something super calming about this painting

[Simar Singh @hellosimar]

Dessert without sugar is like milk without lactose. Like coffee without caffeine. Like coke without fizz. Like chocolate without cocoa.

It works but you know it’s not real.

[Simar Singh @hellosimar]

@iamgunti Rich and fun ;)

[Simar Singh @hellosimar]

broke and fun > rich and boring

[Simar Singh @hellosimar]

Birth and death is the biggest mystery.

Why are we sent for a limited time to this planet? We come from thin air and escape in thin air. How do we come and where do go? Is anything left of ‘us’ after we’re gone?

To avoid thinking about this, we numb ourselves with work, chores, societal rituals, food, jobs, business, travel and general busyness.

[Simar Singh @hellosimar]

If you want to have a healthy social life, you’ve to remove your Apple Watch and don’t worry about Whoop score