Akash Vishwakarma

Operator @ Early Stage VC. Talks about Startups, Kiranas, Retail, Non-profits, Marketing, & Humans.

#SeekingEleganceInChaos

[Akash Vishwakarma @reallyakash]

"Can you remember who you were, before the world told you who you should be?"

- Charles Bukowski.

#mondaythoughts

[Kpaxs @Kpaxs]

There are two ways to win a race. The first is to run faster than everyone else. The second is to run somewhere no one else is running.

[Pavel Durov @durov]

Unfair that CEOs who aren’t into Asian girls get fewer dating options from spy agencies.

Where are the French/Russian/Iranian honeypots? Not one spy girl sent my way. Are they even trying?

France is excused — their decision-makers aren’t into girls. Everyone else: try harder!

[Akash Vishwakarma @reallyakash]

@VaibhavLab @AnzalAbidi apne account se ao

[Akash Vishwakarma @reallyakash]

This is what differentiates a Great and a Good Leader.

Clear Vision for the company & product, probably as good as a strategic goal towards which the team can rally behind and execute.

It doesn't matter if he's right, it's the direction that does.

[Kunal Shah @kunalb11]

I am nearly 4+ Months In WhatsApp

I think of WhatsApp like a shared language, spoken by 3bn+ people. Sometimes we use words, and sometimes it’s a voice note to a parent, a sticker that ends an argument, or a "that was a fun dinner” at the end of the night. Language is at the heart of everything we as people do. We write letters, tell stories, get things done and make plans for the future. A WhatsApp chat is often where we start. 

Like any language, the people who use it shape it. They don't wait for permission. They find new things to say, and new ways to say them. Often, our users show us what should come next based on how they’re using the app and communicating in the world. 

I’ve spent the last few months listening and understanding what our users want from us and what I heard is simple: help people stay close to those who matter to them, and get more done on WhatsApp. So that's what we'll build.

First, we want to make connections richer.

Sometimes hearing someone's voice, sending a joke, agreeing on a plan or knowing they're safe is the whole point. People send over 10 billion voice messages and over 4 billion stickers on WhatsApp every day. As the way people communicate evolves, we will evolve these experiences with them. We'll make voice notes, groups, stickers and video simpler and more expressive, because how people feel close keeps changing.

Second, we want anything you do on WhatsApp to be as simple as sending a message. Too many things start in a chat and end with many more steps somewhere else: paying a bill, borrowing money, staying connected when you travel. Each handoff to another task costs time. We're working with financial services and telecom partners so that finishing something feels as easy as starting it.

Third, we want to make this all more efficient with AI. It should quietly find what you need, get things done and make sure you never miss a booking or an appointment. The best technology saves you time, so you can get back to the connections that matter.

None of this works without trust. WhatsApp handles over 100 billion messages and 2 billion calls every day. Trust takes years to earn and a moment to lose, and I don't take that lightly. Whatever we build, WhatsApp must remain simple, reliable and private. These principles we’ve had for years aren’t changing. Your personal messages and calls stay end-to-end encrypted. This and our quality bar stays the same.
What happens inside WhatsApp only matters for what it makes possible outside it: more time together, stronger communities, and fewer barriers between people and the lives they want to live.

Onwards.

[Akash Vishwakarma @reallyakash]

I used to believe numbers can't lie, then i started reading DRHPs 🤣

[Akash Vishwakarma @reallyakash]

@hardik @SocialOffline Cashfree? I remember they had this solution earlier.

[Akash Vishwakarma @reallyakash]

@AnzalAbidi @designwkarthick Itne bade data center ki cooling kaha se karoge Anzal? 😂

[Akash Vishwakarma @reallyakash]

The amount of fires I am hearing about in Mumbai this Diwali is insane.

Hope everyone's had a safe and sound Diwali 🪔

[Akash Vishwakarma @reallyakash]

@pratiknagariya Or you can just use Pulse?

Cheaper and more efficient than buying a Windows VPS.

[Deep Ganatra @DeepXP]

So, finally time to reveal.

Say hello to Pulse, our AI agent that sits on your WhatsApp and takes care of your business finances.

It connects to Zoho Books and Tally, and gives you insights about your business that you still rely on people or your own judgement for. It follows up with customers on overdue payments, and you can assign work to it.

In a few days, it will also be able to post accounting entries, reconcile GST, file returns and a lot more.

And yeah, all right from your WhatsApp.

More here: https://t.co/0RT3NqFGy4

[Akash Vishwakarma @reallyakash]

Everyone who's gone big in life has done so by going against logic.

[Akash Vishwakarma @reallyakash]

@AmritaW The buildings are getting taller, the roads are getting narrower.

Unplanned turnover everywhere we see.

[Akash Vishwakarma @reallyakash]

Someone in the @Swiggy design team deserves a Diwali Bonus.

[Akash Vishwakarma @reallyakash]

Which is the best newsletter you religiously read everytime or look forward to?

[Akash Vishwakarma @reallyakash]

@GulatiSinghJ @agNishchay @misbahspeaks Aspirational but affordable is very sharply put! Congrats to you and the team at Jar!

[Dear Son. @DearS_o_n]

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘉𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘔𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘜𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘍𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳

[Akash Vishwakarma @reallyakash]

Jab bardaasht se bahar ho jayegi bhook,
Hum apne sapne kha lenge.

[Akash Vishwakarma @reallyakash]

@SaajJain Happy Friday 🤣

[Akash Vishwakarma @reallyakash]

You can't outwork a room which doesn't know you exist.

[Akash Vishwakarma @reallyakash]

@SandeepMall +1 my father used to say.
"Agar aap besharam hoke apne aap ko nahi bechoge toh kaun bechega?"

[Shivam Dwivedi @DwivediJohn]

Aap pehle resign karo.