Akshar Tripathi

Legacy freelancing platforms in India are basically: “Don’t negotiate, don’t change scope, trust strangers.” 😂 India’s default is facilitation + negotiation + evolving scope + payment safety. So we built Xlancr around it. Join our waitlist: xlancr.com

If you're in college reading this: Start now. Not after placement season. Not after your degree. NOW. Your biggest regret at 30 won't be a failed startup. It'll be never trying because you thought you needed permission. You don't.

Now building Xlancr. Still in my 20s. No MBA. No corporate "experience." Just pattern recognition from building, failing, and doing it again. College gave me a network. The real world gave me an education.

College is a Scam I tried to raise 8 figures while my batchmates were preparing for placements. Now they're in corporate jobs making ₹8L/year. I've exited and now focusing on my 2nd startup. College didn't teach me shit about real business. Here's what actually mattered:

@First_AI_Agent @itsrealranky @laminalabs @ycombinator Like your landing page dude

@itsrealranky @laminalabs @ycombinator Exactly what i need , i see how these tools help me accelerate what i'm building , but at the same time i have to cut costs. Building Visual Layer for Transparent and Controllable AI reasoning. noexis.tech

You don't need a $2M pre-seed to start building deep tech. When I started building @laminalabs (@ycombinator P26), I had no funding, no team of 10 engineers, and a vision that required serious GPU compute and AI infrastructure. So I did what any desperate founder would do. I cold emailed. I wrote to @agupta , who was building the YC student credits program. I told him I was going all in on building a deep tech project, why it needed serious compute, and the commitment I was putting behind it. I sent that email at 10:50 AM on November 14th. He replied at 10:52 AM. Two minutes. That reply changed everything. Thank you Ankit, that early access was the unlock. From there, it was months of grinding through architecture after architecture. Rewriting core pipelines more times than I can count. Shipping, breaking, rebuilding. Just me, Claude Code, and Codex running in parallel, the closest thing an early founder has to a 10-person engineering team, except they never call in sick. AI coding agents are the single greatest force multiplier available to founders right now. I'm not exaggerating. The leverage is unreal. Here's the thing most people get wrong: you don't need a massive round to get something real off the ground. You need compute credits, the right AI tools, and the willingness to grind through hundreds of iterations until the architecture clicks. If you're a student or early founder sitting on an idea that feels too ambitious, just start. Email the people building the programs. Apply for every credit you can find. Reach out to people you think won't respond. They will. The infrastructure to build serious things as a solo or two person team has never been more accessible. The funding comes after you've already started building something real. Because someone gave me that first unlock, I want to do the same: I'm giving away 5 x $50 Claude Code credits. And whoever ships the best project with that gets $200 in Claude credits from me personally. I know firsthand how much potential $200 in credits has for a builder who's willing to grind. Just comment below with the link to the coolest thing you've built. I will DM you myself.

@yubzen Absolutely dude, send me a DM

@Aktrip05 Keep building on public. Let's connect 🔥

Legacy freelancing platforms in India are basically: “Don’t negotiate, don’t change scope, trust strangers.” 😂 India’s default is facilitation + negotiation + evolving scope + payment safety. So we built Xlancr around it. Join our waitlist: xlancr.com

@vinodgansan @peakbengaluru Bro this is crazyyyy

Bengaluru is full of surprises. Even SF can’t keep up.

@OnTheGrapevine Thats amazing Saumil, btw would it be possible if i could connect with you. i had some pointers that i would like to discuss with you.

@Aktrip05 Ah, will definitely look into this. Thanks for sharing Akshar.

chat, we made it! Marketing team can go to sleep satisfied.. Engineering team can't..

Building @xlancr - a freelancing platform so simple even our parents can use it. And we’re looking for Web Developers and Social Media Strategists for a monthly retainer freelance engagement with consistent work and pay. Web Dev: ₹25k–₹40k/month Social Media: ₹20k–₹35k/month Agency pay: variable Fast-moving team, limited spots, and long-term work for the right people. Only people who join our WhatsApp community will be given consideration. So please join from below👇

@OnTheGrapevine The responses that it was generating were not that consistent and informed, i really liked the product itself but some product development - specifically gap analysis can be done.

@Aktrip05 Hey Akshar, sorry to hear that, can you share what went wrong? Will work on it!

Bro all the startups are suddenly in YC😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄

@aakrit @177pc i am building @xlancr - a freelancing platform built with an invisible AI layer to make the journey so simple that even our parent can use it. We are going to launch in April and have 600+ users on our waitlist.

In the 3 weeks since the IndiaAI Summit, @177pc and I have met 43 founding teams. Deeply technical, most in their mid-late 20s, and building for India or with a strong India-edge. Some common themes we saw and like: - AI-led IT Services: What does the Palantir for India look like? Reimagining Infosys/TCS/Wipro AI-first. - Compute for India: As enterprise demand ramps up, the country needs more sovereign inference and infra capabilities. - AI for the "real world": Purpose-built models for material sciences, biotech, manufacturing, security & defence. - Healthcare AI: Both India's AI doctors and AI agents that transform primary care. - Physical AI: More than just the end robots, can India provide the data infrastructure for the world? (Scale AI for robotics) - Voice AI: Everything from foundational research to vertical agents to full stack solutions in what will probably be the largest Voice AI market globally. Indian AI startups will look different and have their own lane. We’re just starting to see the first signs.

@dazzeloid lolll

me when suddenly all w26 companies are fundraising and no one wants to do office hours anymore

@aidaniil SF is built different

7 days until YC demo day at the landing

@aidaniil Bro this is absolutely hilariousssss

@avipat_ Hey dude thats amazingggg, am a founder building @xlancr and would love to connect with you and take some insights from you.

a few more investors were just added to our cap table, kled has officially raised $10 million in total

@rohil_ag Bro is this how it begins?

Bot vs bot