Bootstrapping a Generative AI Venture Using Services: Abhinav Girdhar, Founder CEO of Appy Pie (Part 7)

Sramana Mitra: You have about a $12-$15 million company right now, is that right?

Abhinav Girdhar: I would say north of that, but i don’t have the real numbers on top of my head.

Sramana Mitra: And it’s a bootstrapped company?

Abhinav Girdhar: That’s correct.

Sramana Mitra: Do you want to continue bootstrapping?

Abhinav Girdhar: I like it that way.

Sramana Mitra: I like it too. It’s great!

Abhinav Girdhar: I’m comfortable and I prefer it like that, but we’ve got a lot of good offers. We were very tempted at some point. During Covid, one of the leading VC funds from California approached us. We were very close to a deal, but something didn’t seem right. So I did not go ahead with it. Then they invested in one of my competitors as well.

So far so good; I might think about it at a later stage but not at the moment. All the AI thing is at an inflection point. I’m very excited when I wake up. Every single day, I see so much innovation happening right now.

The next two years are going to be very exciting. I’m really keen on seeing where we can take the product. Once we have a bigger scale, then maybe we’ll reconsider it.

Sramana Mitra: When I listen to the architecture of your company, a few thoughts come to my mind. So an AI app that can create a mobile app and website. It can do all its design in a generative framework and can integrate with other workflow elements and can actually complete work in an agent format just like you ask an agent to go do stuff.

Those are the components of full-scale automation in any domain. You can pick a vertical process and if you can fully go through its automation chain. So if you can really build out that full chain where apps can be built that can do all the design work as well as the automation function within the same stack, that’s very valuable.

I know there’re a lot of gaps still in terms of functionality and in terms of R&D, there’s still work to be done. But I think that is the Holy Grail of a DIY AI automation app agent of sorts. So I think you do have a very promising company and I actually think that doing R&D  in a bootstrapped context is better than doing it on VC dime.

If you can crack this nut and if you can fully build out this product or the suite of products that you’re trying to build out, you can get financing very easily. But the R&D needs to be in place.

Abhinav Girdhar: Financing is never a problem, because we are very profitable.

Sramana Mitra: Profitability is not the key to financing; the key to financing is velocity, especially Venture financing. You can get private equity financing with profitability, but you need to be a little bit larger. But you will get there. With what you have, you will get to those larger numbers and you can get private equity financing. You have profitability and you will continue to have profitability, you will be able to get that. But if you want to go on that high velocity trajectory, for that you need to get the velocity and that’s a different trajectory.

Abhinav Girdhar: Makes a lot of sense.

Sramana Mitra: Very good. Congratulations. I really enjoyed listening to you and we will look forward to covering the story.

This segment is part 7 in the series : Bootstrapping a Generative AI Venture Using Services: Abhinav Girdhar, Founder CEO of Appy Pie
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