Prateek Sharma // Ahead VC

Managing Partner @Aheadvc. First checks in AI infra, voice, physical & vertical AI. 60+ investments. @_groww pre-seed→IPO. Founded Mygola (acq. MakeMyTrip).

[Prateek Sharma // Ahead VC @prateeks]

"I am willing to take as much time as needed between projects to find my next thing. But I always want it to be a project that, if successful, will make the rest of my career look like a footnote."

words to live by, thanks @sama

[Prateek Sharma // Ahead VC @prateeks]

@athomasq "AI beta is global alpha" - fantastic way to capture this allocation phenomenon

[Prateek Sharma // Ahead VC @prateeks]

@zmwang LFG!

[Bipasha Sen ✈️ CoRL 2026 @bipashasen31]

We are hosting CoRL 2026 afterparty @tangiblerobots.

Join us at https://t.co/AnKgCFaBxE.

We are reaching capacity soon! You're invited.

[Prateek Sharma // Ahead VC @prateeks]

Token burn totally worth it

[अपना Bollywood🎥 @Apna_Bollywood]

Who made this?

[Prateek Sharma // Ahead VC @prateeks]

@bamitsmanas I think about this often - https://t.co/miGtI6kJuW

[Prateek Sharma // Ahead VC @prateeks]

@pitdesi Did you see it? I have had no interest at all. I am sure it is fine but I actually don't get the obsession people feel about the movie.

[Prateek Sharma // Ahead VC @prateeks]

@venturetwins @stephen_wolfram was the OG (pic from 2019)

[Prateek Sharma // Ahead VC @prateeks]

So good it is scary

[anabology @anabology]

Universal High Income

The most likely outcome

[Prateek Sharma // Ahead VC @prateeks]

Stay safe people

[Eito Miyamura | 🇯🇵 @Eito_Miyamura]

Lots of Security incidents today, here's some practical tips for those who just wanna protect yourself:

1) UPDATE EVERYTHING - main targets are:
a) Browsers - Chrome, Safari, Firefox
b) OS: : Settings -> General -> software update; Linux: sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade; Windows: I think there's a button. Do this for any remote home servers & Openclaw/hermes boxes
c) Phones: Update it all
d) Desktop apps (Slack, Cursor, Discord, etc)

2) Limit web browsing this week: Stay within walled gardens (twitter, youtube, etc); don't click random links this week. Just wait until the patches go through. Do step 1 again after a week.

3) Avoid untrusted Wifi networks until your devices are updated

4) Stay vigilant about phishing emails offering "certificate fixes" or fraud updates

5) Have an iPhone 11-16? TURN BLUETOOTH OFF for the time being until apple patches come through.

6) Code/Dev: UPDATE ALL YOUR REPOS - @charliermarsh has already updated uv 0.13.4 which reacts to the eMudra incident for uv (Python), Typesript according to Claude has equivelant. Tell your agents to go and update all your active repos to update package manager across uv, npm, bun, cargo, etc etc

What advice did I miss?

[Prateek Sharma // Ahead VC @prateeks]

@ajeets @different_ai @htaneja @generalcatalyst @ravi_lsvp @lightspeedvp Congrats @ajeets !

For us oldies, we need another version of the launch video inspired by Jaaved Jaffrey's "It's different" ads :)

https://t.co/b4gVbBtjYC

[Prateek Sharma // Ahead VC @prateeks]

@raodyboy 100% agree about creators being the big drivers. At the same time, Seinfeld is not the same with George or Elaine or Kramer. Even if they were just key employees, I think that if they had the esop / carry equivalent, they would be a lot more aligned.

[Prateek Sharma // Ahead VC @prateeks]

This type of misalignment between partners is a BIG reason why very successful VC firms implode.

[GOSH @gosh_sol_eth]

Seinfeld's reruns have made Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David hundreds of millions of dollars. Jason Alexander, who played George, says he has made less than $200,000 from them.

That gap is part of why the show ended.

In the video below, Alexander explains why George, Elaine and Kramer stopped wanting more seasons.

In 1997, Seinfeld was the biggest comedy on TV. NBC offered Jerry $5 million an episode, about $110 million, for a tenth season. He said no.

Every year before the Christmas break, Jerry asked his three co-stars if they wanted to keep going. In season 9, they all said it was done.

Alexander, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Michael Richards were not partners in syndication. The reruns would pay Jerry and Larry for life. Not them.

"Seinfeld wasn't going to be the annuity for us that it was going to be for Jerry and Larry," Alexander says.

Every new season tied them tighter to one character. "We were going to contribute to our own eventual demise as actors."

The case for Jerry: he and Larry created the show and owned it. The cast signed their deals and were paid well, reportedly $600,000 an episode by the end.

Before the final taping, the four of them held hands backstage like every week. They called it the circle of power.

Jerry said: "For the rest of our lives, when anyone thinks of one of us, they will think of all four of us."

Alexander says they walked out looking like they'd been hit by a truck.

So should Jerry have shared the reruns with George, Elaine and Kramer?

[Prateek Sharma // Ahead VC @prateeks]

Hosting @shashanknd for a fireside chat this Thursday in Palo Alto.

Shashank founded and scaled @Practo and is now building Cent, a preventive healthcare startup in India. I am very curious to dig into how medical imaging, genetic testing and biomarkers are changing longevity and what role AI plays in all of it.

If you’re interested in longevity, healthcare or building in India, please join us.

Thursday, October 15, 6pm
Palo Alto

Register here - https://t.co/ETXgCTZSjs

[Shashank ND @shashanknd]

Thanks, @prateeks. Looking forward to the chat and meeting fellow builders tomorrow.

[Prateek Sharma // Ahead VC @prateeks]

Hosting @shashanknd for a fireside chat this Thursday in Palo Alto.

Shashank founded and scaled @Practo and is now building Cent, a preventive healthcare startup in India. I am very curious to dig into how medical imaging, genetic testing and biomarkers are changing longevity and what role AI plays in all of it.

If you’re interested in longevity, healthcare or building in India, please join us.

Thursday, October 15, 6pm
Palo Alto

Register here - https://t.co/ETXgCTZSjs

[Prateek Sharma // Ahead VC @prateeks]

@dweekly @united Same but Schwab

[Prateek Sharma // Ahead VC @prateeks]

@dittycheria https://t.co/mKZqjasIRS

[Prateek Sharma // Ahead VC @prateeks]

I agree that outcomes in the US are large. Hell, we have many trillion dollar companies when the whole stock market in India is a few trillion dollars.

That said, a builder is not motivated by just where the biggest outcomes are possible. Even to maximize outcome size, you have to think about founder market fit and right to win. If you can build a path to win in the US, absolutely do it. If it is not clear, then build a path to win in India. 1 in a 1000 shot at 20B is worse than 1 in 10 at 2B.

And tbh, there are motivations beyond money. Most founders are missionaries. They care far more deeply about the problems that move them. They are not pure mercenaries motivated just by big dollar numbers. Dollar success is important as a scoreboard, but it is not the only driver for the best founders. Markets you understand deeply and customers you connect with are far more meaningful to build for.

We have to choose the life that we want to live. Economic opportunity, community, public infrastructure and family all matter in that decision. The choice is a package deal, not just a maximization of one. Founders and builders who build in India are choosing a different package. That does not make them any less smart.

[Prateek Sharma // Ahead VC @prateeks]

I agree that outcomes in the US are large. Hell, we have many trillion dollar companies when the whole stock market in India is a few trillion dollars.

That said, a builder is not motivated by just where the biggest outcomes are possible. Even to maximize outcome size, you have to think about founder market fit and right to win. If you can build a path to win in the US, absolutely do it. If it is not clear, then build a path to win in India. 1 in a 1000 shot at 20B is worse than 1 in 10 at 2B.

And tbh, there are motivations beyond money. Most founders are missionaries. They care far more deeply about the problems that move them. They are not pure mercenaries motivated just by big dollar numbers. Dollar success is important as a scoreboard, but it is not the only driver for the best founders. Markets you understand deeply and customers you connect with are far more meaningful to build for.

We have to choose the life that we want to live. Economic opportunity, community, public infrastructure and family all matter in that decision. The choice is a package deal, not just a maximization of one. Founders and builders who build in India are choosing a different package. That does not make them any less smart.

[Deedy @deedydas]

The smartest Indians continue to come to build in the US for the simple reason that the economic incentives are far far better.

Perplexity ($20B), Skild ($14B+), Baseten ($13B), Together ($8B), Glean ($8B), Modal ($5B), Rubrik ($25B), Harness ($5B), Blacksmith, Parallel, Greptile, CodeRabbit, Composio, Distyl ($2B), Resolve, Luma, Cartesia, Wispr, dMatrix, Arize and many more - all started by at least one Indian-born founder.

The US is a far easier to raise capital in with far less dilution. Most Indian companies are switching where they're domiciled to get access to the US capital markets. Every single Indian venture firm is trying very hard to invest in the US or risk not participating in the AI race (ironically, the management fees of venture firms are so high in India relatively that this is the one group that net of carry actually has incentive to be in India because they take home well north of a living wage whether or not funds perform do)

While Zomato ($35B now, $8B at IPO) might be the biggest outcome in Indian venture, Cursor ($60B), Reflection (potentially $20B+), World Labs ($8B), OpenRouter ($8B), HuggingFace ($12B) and of course the $1T+ big labs quickly make those outcomes seem small and happen on a much smaller time scale, with much higher IRR.

Engineers at these startups regularly get paid $1M/yr, and make $10M+ on exit. Even in BigTech, it is trivial to pull up levels fyi and see that if you're L6/L7+ with ~10 years of experience, you're making $1M/yr there too. And of course, we all know the slew of Indian CEOs of companies here, not to mention a huge bench of lesser known executives across the board in public and private companies.

I say all this because every time there is a slight immigration hiccup in the US, I hear the online pleas to "build in India", I struggle to understand why most engineers, academics or founders would do that net of desire to be close to family, failure to obtain visa and devout patriotism.

This is not a superiority thing or a US v India thing. The economic incentives at least for technologists to being in the US outweigh India by at least an order of magnitude.

[Prateek Sharma // Ahead VC @prateeks]

I agree that outcomes in the US are large. Hell, we have many trillion dollar companies when the whole stock market in India is a few trillion dollars.

That said, a builder is not motivated by just where the biggest outcomes are possible. Even to maximize outcome size, you have to think about founder market fit and right to win. If you can build a path to win in the US, absolutely do it. If it is not clear, then build a path to win in India. 1 in a 1000 shot at 20B is worse than 1 in 10 at 2B.

And tbh, there are motivations beyond money. Most founders are missionaries. They care far more deeply about the problems that move them. They are not pure mercenaries motivated just by big dollar numbers. Dollar success is important as a scoreboard, but it is not the only driver for the best founders. Markets you understand deeply and customers you connect with are far more meaningful to build for.

We have to choose the life that we want to live. Economic opportunity, community, public infrastructure and family all matter in that decision. The choice is a package deal, not just a maximization of one. Founders and builders who build in India are choosing a different package. That does not make them any less smart.

[Prateek Sharma // Ahead VC @prateeks]

Elon Vs Mukesh Bhai feud was not on my bingo card for 2026 but I guess here we are.