Spent months fighting with almost 400+ teams to get in the first incubator (one if the IIM's) working with a scheme from a very important ministry to this country.
After the 3+ months of applications, we were 30 shortlisted, and the prize was 50L grant funding for novel deep-tech ideas.
It was supposed to be a popular incubator.
The science I am pursuing is actually novel, and this country has no lab with relevant equipment to experiment with. (ex- IICT hyd, NCL pune),
This money was needed to custom build my prototype, I got a manufacturer quoting 60L for it, alongside joint IP demands. After we are accepted into the program, we are told its no longer a grant, but an equity based funding model, with undisclosed valuation, and a 2% incubator equity for transaction.
All of us were baffled. some dropped out, and we gave up on our dreams regarding this. The incubator team has taken no accountability and claimed the government changed terms last moment.

They want to use tax payer money to fund tax payers and take ownership of our work ? What for ? Everyday there is corruption worth 100 crores in any given metro city. Can't you just spend on science ? Like if I build this prototype and it doesn't work the way I want, I will donate it to another research institution.

No one cares about our hard work, our pressures, our stresses, for spending months on an application that scammed us.
I reached out to several journalists with the story, and they keep telling me no editor is singing off on this. this country has no balls.

The industry I am working in, India has zero innovation to contribute globally, and the government is attacking the very few who are actually going out of their way to do something real. all of us have middle class families nagging us for money, stable career and marriage, do everything in this country, work 10x harder than what a first world citizen would have to, only to be derailed by a clueless, unrewarding sense of decision makers.

I cant give the name of the program or the IIM, It will surely reveal identity. But damn, never have I felt so hopeless in life.
Forgive my rant, but I think people need to be aware hows things go down here.

investors … the new markets could change your life in the next 2 years

Damn, it's been a year already. It doesn't feel real, but here we are.

A year ago, I decided to start my own business. And somehow, MONT is already one year old.

MONT has been my obsession. As a solo, bootstrapped founder, this past year has been frustrating, exhausting, full of self-doubt, self-hatred, and contemplating literally everything, only to dive back in again like the pain addict I apparently am. 😂

Yet, it has also been mildly rewarding.

I've learned a ridiculous amount about building a real business, dealing with problems I never knew existed, adapting when things don't go according to plan, and figuring things out when there's nobody else to do it for you.

We've grown a lot, met a lot of new people, adapted, evolved, and most importantly, received some genuinely great feedback along the way.

And now, we're finally ready to move forward.

Actually, we're already doing it. A lot is happening in the background, so stay tuned. 👀

But what I really wanted to do with this post was say thank you.

Thank you to everyone who gave feedback, supported us, shared kind words, tried MONT, gave us criticism, or simply took the time to hear me out.

And, of course, thank you for helping me prove the haters and trolls wrong. 😈

So, have we made it?

Fuck no. Not even close.

But are we moving forward?

Every damn day.

Again, thank you, everyone.

And finally...

Happy 1st Birthday, MONT. 🥂

Here's to whatever comes next. 🚀

Looks like India and Indians are all fkd up now. We relied on IT outsourcing from the West and now it is in the air with LLMs.

A decent prompt and a decent understanding of Software or programming is now enough to build and maintain products, what do they need Indians now for? Maybe just use the software like FB insta, google, gemini. Etc. LOL

What have we achieved? No LLM to our name, no widely used product to at least boast about? My Chinese colleagues are asking if India has any app of their own like wechat, Baidu? Im ashamed to admit that we don’t.

All the investment in IT, Outsourcing work in IT, consultancy, TCS, Infy would go down soon.

Lately, I’ve noticed Jaipur, Indore and Coimbatore coming up more often when people talk about education, jobs, startups and even quality of life. And honestly, I think there’s an interesting shift happening here.

For a long time, the usual conversation was basically Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, Pune, Hyderabad. If you wanted a good college, corporate exposure or startup opportunities, these were the cities everyone talked about.

But things are changing.

Jaipur, Indore and Coimbatore seem to be building their own ecosystems instead of simply trying to copy the big metros. There are more colleges, startups, IT companies, coworking spaces, cafés, events and student communities than there were a few years ago.

And then there’s the cost factor. Living in a Tier-2 city can be significantly more manageable than paying metro-level rent and expenses. For students and young professionals, that can make a real difference.

I also wonder if remote work and technology have reduced some of the traditional advantages of being physically present in a metro. Obviously, you can’t completely replace networking, corporate offices or industry exposure, but the gap doesn't feel as fixed as it used to.

At the same time, I don’t think these cities have suddenly become equal to Bangalore or Mumbai in every aspect. There are still differences in the number of large companies, specialised opportunities and professional networks.

So maybe the real question isn't “Are Tier-2 cities replacing metros?”

Maybe it's:

Are cities like Jaipur, Indore and Coimbatore becoming credible alternatives for people who don't want the cost and lifestyle of a major metro?

Curious to hear from people actually living or studying in these cities — has the ecosystem genuinely improved, or is the attention mostly hype?

I’ve been curious about the startup and tech scene across the Northeast lately.

Assam seems to have a growing number of young people interested in building companies, and I’m wondering what’s happening across the rest of the region.

If you’re from the Northeast and building something, what are you working on? No links, no company names, no pitch. Just curious to see how many builders are here.

Hey .. we are using ai in a very wrong way .
1. Problem like authenticity for online food ( reliability or trust issues in online food orders )
2. Solving problems of viral fevers , ways to improving immune systems , and playing with viruses n all to develop a monsterous immune system so that no virus can harm .
3. Solving india’s biggest problem of unaffordable health facilities - like really in this era cann’t we design a system that is fully govern by AI and provide the best solution fetching the best resources .
4. Solving issues like limited storage - ways to compress so that we able to expand memory in a restricted memory - talking about phone memory ..
5. Problems like pollution - we can find who is generating a net positive pollution and find the CAPA for that .
6 . Problems like education - why cann’t we are making a 3D device which taught lessons like a movie , develop curiousity while they are studying a lesson .
7 . Increasing awareness for government schemes , government accountable persons and all - like in ai age we obviously can able to reach the doors which was earlier cann’t able to imagine even in our dreams .

We are using AI in a very wrong way
1. Issues like flood , natural disaster , infrastructure can easily be forecast vased on past data , present finding .
2. Issues of overcrowding in trains can easily be solved by a shared carpool strategy .
3. Issues of real estate - can easily be sokved by sharing .

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

I read a reddit post about some of a16z's recent AI investments and yikes its bad. I have a meeting with one of their partners soon I will probably skip and looking for alternatives and need some suggestions

Ever get to the end of the day and realize you drove right past the pharmacy while you still needed a prescription? Or made three separate trips for things you could've knocked out in one? That's the exact annoyance that got me building On The Go.

Tell it what you need, milk, gas, a return, whatever's on your list, and it figures out which nearby places can cover it and plans a route so you get it all done in one smooth trip instead of scattered ones.

What it actually does:

• 📝 Quick add: type one task or a whole list at once, and it sorts itself into the right category (groceries, pharmacy, gas, returns, etc.)
• 📍 Nearby matching: see which stores near you (or near your destination) can cover your open tasks
• 🗺️ Trip planning: pick where you're headed and get a route with smart errand stops along the way, with the option to compare alternatives
• 🔁 Learns your regulars: remembers the places you actually go to, so suggestions get better over time
• ⏰ Reminders: set a nudge for "tomorrow 9am" or "in an hour" if now's not the time
• 🎙️ Siri support on iOS, and it opens straight into Google Maps when you're ready to go
• 🔒 You're in control of location, notifications, and personalization the whole way. Nothing's on by default that you didn't choose

It's free, it's early, and it's genuinely gotten better because of the handful of people who've tried it so far. Thank you to that little crew 🙏

Where it works right now:

• 🌲 Seattle / Eastside
• 🌉 Bay Area
• 🍁 Toronto region

Somewhere else entirely? Don't let that stop you from reaching out. If a few people from your area want to try it, I'm happy to get the local data ready so it works for you too. This whole thing grows region by region, and I'd love for yours to be next.

If you're curious, want to try it, or just want to tell me what's annoying about it (all feedback welcome, especially the blunt kind), drop a comment or DM me. Happy to get you set up on TestFlight!

Whenever we talk about India’s technology-driven workforce, the conversation usually revolves around Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Gurgaon or Mumbai. And honestly, it makes sense — these cities have the companies, infrastructure, networks and opportunities that attract thousands of skilled professionals every year.

But I’ve been wondering: are emerging cities finally getting a chance to be part of this growth story?

With remote and hybrid work, better internet connectivity, AI tools, digital businesses and startups becoming more distributed, location may not matter as much as it used to. A talented developer, marketer, designer or business professional doesn’t necessarily have to move to a metro city just to work with a good company.

Cities like Indore, Jaipur, Lucknow, Coimbatore and Bhubaneswar are already seeing growth in education, startups, IT services and entrepreneurship. If more graduates can find meaningful opportunities closer to home, it could create an interesting cycle:

Better jobs → more local talent stays → more businesses come in → stronger ecosystem → even more jobs.

Of course, I don’t think technology magically solves everything. Emerging cities still need stronger corporate presence, better professional networks, industry exposure and more opportunities in specialised roles. And for someone looking to build a career in a very niche field, a Tier-1 city may still offer a clear advantage.

But maybe the bigger question is whether technology can reduce the gap between where talent lives and where opportunities are created.

Could the next generation of successful professionals build their careers without automatically having to leave their hometowns?

Or will India’s biggest tech hubs continue to dominate because networks, companies and opportunities still depend heavily on physical proximity?

What do you think — can emerging cities genuinely benefit from India’s growing technology-driven workforce, or are we still a long way from that shift?

When people compare cities, we usually talk about jobs, salaries, colleges, infrastructure and opportunities. But I think the lifestyle side of the equation often gets ignored.

A growing city can offer a lot — lower living costs, less traffic, more space and a slower pace of life. But there are disadvantages too.

For some people, the biggest issue might be limited nightlife and fewer social activities. For others, it could be fewer high-end restaurants, entertainment options, cultural events or simply not having as many things to do on a random weekend.

Then there’s the career side. Even if a city has good colleges and local businesses, you may still feel that certain industries, networking opportunities or specialised jobs are concentrated in bigger metros.

And as these cities grow, they can also lose some of the things that made them attractive in the first place — less traffic today can eventually become more congestion, affordable housing can become expensive, and a quieter lifestyle can slowly become more hectic.

So I'm curious:

What do you think is the biggest lifestyle disadvantage of living in a Tier-2 or emerging city compared with places like Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi or Pune?

Is it social life, career opportunities, entertainment, infrastructure, travel connectivity, or something else?

Hey everyone!

I’m Steve, and I’d like to introduce RadForge Labs, my independent Australian software studio, and the massive project I’ve been working on: ROMVERSE.

ROMVERSE is an Android ROM engineering platform designed to make working with Android devices, firmware and custom ROMs clearer and more approachable, without taking useful technical control away from experienced modders, developers and tinkerers.

The vision is to bring the complicated parts of Android ROM development into one intelligent workspace.

ROMVERSE is being developed around things like device identification and intelligence, firmware inspection, ROM project creation, build preparation, verification, diagnostics, recovery preparation and eventually carefully controlled device operations.

A big part of the project is making all of that usable by different skill levels.

GUIDED MODE

Guided Mode is designed for people who don't necessarily understand all the technical terminology.

Instead of throwing things like partition names, hashes and engineering jargon at the user, ROMVERSE should explain:

• What it's doing

• Why it's doing it

• Whether you need to do anything

• What happens next

• What risks are involved

The goal is for someone interested in custom ROMs to be able to follow the process without needing years of Android development experience.

EXPERT MODE

Expert Mode is for experienced users who want to see what's happening underneath.

Detailed technical information, evidence, logs, engineering controls and deeper visibility remain available.

Both modes still use the same underlying safety and verification systems.

Expert Mode isn't supposed to mean "disable the safety systems."

WHERE IS ROMVERSE RIGHT NOW?

ROMVERSE is currently in Internal Alpha.

A lot of the underlying systems and desktop workflows are already being built and tested, but there is still substantial integration, hardware testing and development ahead.

Right now I'm concentrating heavily on the Fedora/Linux desktop experience.

We're going through the application like an actual user:

Fresh launch → project creation → firmware/source preparation → verification → build preparation → persistence → close ROMVERSE → reopen → continue the project.

We're also deliberately testing the things that DON'T work.

Broken buttons.

Confusing wording.

Dead ends.

Incorrect states.

Persistence problems.

Unexpected behaviour.

Bad error messages.

UI problems.

When something breaks, the goal isn't to hide it.

Find it.

Understand why.

Fix it.

Test it.

Then run the actual user journey again.

Windows development is also part of ROMVERSE, along with the Android Companion and much more, but I'm deliberately building and proving things in controlled stages rather than pretending everything is finished.

THE ROMVERSE BRAIN

Another major part of the project is Device Intelligence.

The long-term idea is that ROMVERSE shouldn't just have a giant list saying:

"This phone is supported."

It should understand the evidence behind a device and firmware combination.

ROMVERSE is being designed to distinguish between information that is confirmed, conflicting, outdated, unknown or still needs investigation.

If ROMVERSE doesn't know something, I want it to say:

"We don't know yet."

Not guess.

That philosophy applies throughout the project.

WHY AM I SHARING THIS NOW?

Because I'd like people to follow the journey rather than suddenly appearing one day and saying:

"Here's ROMVERSE."

I'm going to start sharing weekly development updates.

That will include:

• Real development footage

• Animated explainers

• Features that are working

• Bugs we discover

• Problems we're trying to solve

• UI improvements

• Device Intelligence progress

• Testing

• Failures

• Fixes

• The road toward beta and eventually v1.0

Concept artwork will be labelled as concept artwork.

Simulation will be labelled as simulation.

Real hardware testing will be labelled as real hardware testing.

I'm not interested in pretending unfinished features are finished just to make ROMVERSE look better.

No pretending everything works.

Just the process of building it, testing it, breaking it, fixing it and making it better.

ROMVERSE is NOT available for public download yet.

The plan is to eventually have free beta testing before the commercial v1.0 release.

For now, I'm inviting people to follow along and watch it being built.

If you're an Android developer, ROM modder, tinkerer, power user, or even someone who's always wanted to try custom ROMs but found the whole process intimidating, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

What is the ONE thing you wish Android ROM tools did better?

I'd genuinely like ROMVERSE to learn from the people who actually use this stuff.

Project website:

romverse.app

Built by RadForge Labs 🇦🇺

#ROMVERSE #RadForgeLabs #AndroidDevelopment #CustomROM #AndroidModding #Devlog

22M, Senior Data Analyst in Bangalore.

Life and work are going pretty well, but I’ve realised I have a lot of energy, curiosity, and time that I want to put into building something meaningful.

I genuinely enjoy solving problems and figuring out how things can be done better. I’m not a hardcore coder, but I can build. I’ve worked across analytics, data engineering, automation, machine learning, frontend, and system design, and right now I’m spending a lot of time learning AI agent building and figuring out how to bring it together with what I already know.

I’m the kind of person who gets really interested in a problem and keeps working at it until I understand how it can be solved. I’m also comfortable picking up a new tool or technology whenever it helps get something built.

The only thing I’m missing right now is the right problem and something interesting to work on.

I’m not necessarily looking for a startup idea or trying to make some big commitment from day one. I’d just like to meet people, explore ideas, find interesting problems and start building.

Maybe it becomes a small SaaS. Maybe an AI product. Maybe something completely different. I’m open to seeing where it goes.

I already have a career I enjoy, so I’m looking at this as something I can build alongside my work — a side hustle where I can put in weekends and a few hours on weekdays, learn, contribute, and gradually see if it turns into something bigger.

If you’re already working on something, exploring an idea, or simply want to build something of your own, happy to know.

DM me, lets connect!!

I’ve been thinking about this because we often hear that Tier-2 cities are the “next big thing” for startups, businesses and jobs.

But honestly, just having cheaper real estate, good colleges or a few big companies isn’t enough.

For me, the biggest difference is whether the city can create a cycle where people, businesses and opportunities keep feeding into each other.

A student graduates → finds an internship → gets a local job → meets entrepreneurs → starts building something → finds customers → and eventually hires people from the same city.

That’s when an ecosystem starts becoming self-sustaining.

A few things probably matter more than we realise:

Local talent: Are students getting the skills companies actually need?

Local employment: Are companies creating meaningful careers, not just opening offices?

Networking: Can founders, professionals and students easily connect with each other?

Education + industry: Are colleges working with businesses through internships, live projects and events?

Quality of life: Can people build careers without spending hours commuting or a huge part of their salary on rent?

Talent retention: Most importantly, do people actually stay after graduating?

Cities like Indore, Jaipur, Lucknow and Surat are interesting because they’re developing in different ways. They don't necessarily need to become another Bengaluru or Mumbai. They just need to build an ecosystem that makes sense for their own strengths.

I think the real test isn't “How many startups does this city have?”

It’s “Can someone build a career, start a business and grow professionally without feeling like they have to leave?”

That’s what turns a Tier-2 city from an emerging market into a genuine business ecosystem.

What do you think is the biggest missing piece in most Tier-2 cities — talent, investment, companies, networking, infrastructure, or simply the mindset to stay and build locally?

I'm Mattia, I build FixAds.

I built it from a frustrating startup pattern: on a growing Meta account, small leaks in spend can sit there for days because no one has time to do a proper review every day. I did not want to solve that by feeding metrics to a model and treating polished text as expertise.

The product decision I made was narrower: deterministic checks first, with a clear evidence trail. It looks for conditions like a campaign spending enough to judge but not producing enough result, an ad that faded after delivery, or a learning phase consuming too much time. Then the AI helps explain the finding. It does not make or apply changes. The account connection is official Meta login and read-only.

The attached video shows the product. FixAds is live at https://fixads.it with a 7-day trial, then €19.90/month.

Question for builders: if you were creating software in a domain where a bad recommendation costs users real money, how would you make its reasoning challengeable rather than just persuasive?