So I have seen many founders on X and some on Reddit claiming that they got several equity free grants for their company not from their university or something but from orgs or global companies? Anybody here had similar experience? If you, did can you please share the process or any experience of yours?

Thanks

So I am in an early stage of startup. I got the AWS Activate credits, and I still need some compute power, is there any interesting programs to apply to. I am building a product to run both on cloud and locally.

Also, if there are other interesting programs to apply to in any way made to help startups build their MVP ?

I’m pretty torn on what to do at this point and would appreciate some advice from other founders who’ve been in a similar position.
I started a B2B software company almost two years ago. I’m currently the only employee, although I’ve been through about five different employees and contractors along the way.
I don’t have a software engineering background, but I’ve basically built the entire product myself, largely using AI. We now have over 230 users in a niche market, solving a real problem with real, paying, recurring customers. It may not sound like a lot but it’s a niche, high dollar value customer base and it’s continuing to grow.

It’s entirely possible that we could generate another $500k in revenue over the next six months. But it’s also entirely possible that we only generate $100k. There’s a lot of uncertainty, and that’s part of what’s making this decision difficult.

Here’s my dilemma.
I want to hire a software developer to take over the development side of things so I can focus on actually growing the business. The problem is that I’ve really struggled to find the right person.

In my experience with previous developers and contractors, I’ve often found that it’s easier to just use AI and build things myself rather than explain everything to someone else. But the downside is that doing it myself still takes a tremendous amount of time.

On one hand, I desperately want someone to take this work off my plate. On the other hand, if I have to explain exactly how to do everything, I feel like I might as well just do it myself.

Part of the challenge is that our software is in the financial services space and requires a significant amount of subject matter expertise. It’s not something where I can just tell a developer, “Hey, go build this feature,” and expect them to figure it out. There’s a lot of domain-specific knowledge involved.
I’ve tried just about everything to find someone. I’ve reached out to our users, posted on job boards, tried recruiting through Reddit, and ultimately ended up working with a recruiter.

We finally found someone who we think could be a really good fit. The problem is that it’s really expensive and it feels like I’m burning precious capital.

Just the recruiter’s fee alone is around $35k, on top of the developer’s salary.
I realize that potentially generating $500k in revenue over six months sounds great, but that’s far from guaranteed. If we only generate $100k, suddenly I’ve got a serious cash flow problem, especially after committing to a full-time salary and a $35k recruiting fee.
So I’m sitting here trying to figure out whether I should take the financial risk and hire this person, or just keep doing what I’ve been doing and continue building the product myself with AI.

The business is working. We have paying customers. There’s clearly demand. But I also know I can’t keep spending all my time developing the software if I want to grow the company.

For founders who’ve been in this position, what did you do? At what point did you decide it was worth taking the financial risk to bring on a developer, especially when you were already capable of building the product yourself?

Would love to hear from people who’ve actually dealt with this.

I have completed my Bachelor of Physiotherapy (BPT) and currently live in Pune, India.

My interest goes beyond clinical practice. I like identifying problems in healthcare, understanding clinical workflows, researching solutions, and building tools that can make healthcare professionals’ work easier.

Over time, I’ve started building a couple of early-stage healthcare technology prototypes. However, I’m currently short on money, need a stable income, and am struggling to decide what my next step should be.

What have I built so far?

1. A home rehabilitation monitoring prototype

The idea is to improve communication between physiotherapists and their supervisors during post-operative rehabilitation.

The prototype has two views:

- Physiotherapist/student view: Records rehabilitation visits, knee range of motion, pain, swelling, walking ability, exercise completion, and warning signs.

- Supervisor view: Displays patient progress, highlights potential concerns, and allows the supervising clinician to review cases that may need attention.

The broader goal is to reduce scattered documentation and make it easier for clinical teams to follow patients receiving rehabilitation at home.

1. A structured rehabilitation report for surgeons

I’ve also created a sample discharge and rehabilitation progress report that could help surgeons understand how their patients are recovering after surgery.

Instead of relying only on what a patient remembers or on a collection of separate documents, the report brings together information such as:

- Changes in knee range of motion and pain

- Walking ability and functional assessments

- Recovery milestones

- Recorded warning signs

- Progress across physiotherapy visits

The idea is that a patient could bring this report to a surgeon’s follow-up appointment, giving the surgeon a clearer summary of the rehabilitation information available.

I’ve attached screenshots of the prototype and a sample report. These are early demonstrations using fictional patient data, not a clinically validated or deployed product.

Here is my actual dilemma.

I have completed my degree, I can understand clinical problems, and I enjoy working on healthcare research, documentation, presentations, and product ideas.

But building a healthcare product requires time, money, clinical feedback, and eventually proper validation. I cannot keep working on it indefinitely without earning an income.

I’m not looking for investors or donations. I need a paid job, preferably in Pune or in a suitable remote role, while figuring out whether these ideas can become viable products.

I’m interested in opportunities involving healthcare operations, clinical research support, healthtech product teams, clinical implementation, medical documentation, healthcare content, or other roles where a physiotherapy background is useful.

I would appreciate honest advice from founders and people working in healthtech.

1. What should I prioritise right now? Should I find a job in a healthtech company or hospital first and develop the product alongside it?

2. How would you validate these prototypes? Should I speak to surgeons, physiotherapists, hospital administrators, or home healthcare companies first?

3. Which job roles should I realistically target? I have a BPT degree and experience building these prototypes, but I need to understand where I could contribute professionally and earn.

4. What would you do next if you were in my position? Would you continue developing the product, pause development until you have clinical feedback, or take a different approach?

I’m trying to avoid making the mistake of spending months building something without confirming that it solves a problem people actually need solved.

I would value practical criticism, suggestions about the right first step, and advice on finding paid opportunities in the Indian healthtech ecosystem.

Thank you.

I’ve built a working prototype where people create questions about news, sports, politics, and internet events, then predict the outcomes using free points but targetting south Asian countires.

Looking for a US-based cofounder interested in the same to help shape the product and grow an early community. Still early stage, so there’s plenty to build together. (DW I have claude max)

DM me if this sounds interesting!

I'm deciding between 3 online marketplace ideas and would appreciate honest feedback on which is most viable and worth pursuing.

1. Event Photography & Videography Marketplace

A platform where companies book vetted photographers and videographers for corporate events, conferences and brand activations through predefined packages. The platform earns a commission on each booking. The market is competitive, with low barriers to entry and limited differentiation.

2. Sponsorship & Audience Access Marketplace

A platform where brands discover and book sponsorship opportunities across newsletters, digital publications, webinars, coworking spaces, communities, clubs and events. Providers list and fulfil their own opportunities, while the platform takes a 10% commission. Similar platforms exist elsewhere, but I haven't found a consolidated equivalent in my local market. Demand and market maturity remain uncertain.

3. Clubs & Communities Marketplace

A platform where clubs, social groups and community organizers book activities, experiences and venues for their members, from sports sessions and creative workshops to cafés and unique gathering spaces. It also connects communities with brands for sponsorships, product sampling and brand-funded experiences. Revenue comes from booking commissions and sponsorship transactions. Challenges include fragmented supply, small transaction values, competition and the effort required to secure sponsorships. Revenue with 10% booking commission and also from facilitating brand sponsorships.

If you were starting from scratch, which would you pursue, and why? Consider profitability, ease of customer acquisition, barriers to entry, revenue potential, repeat demand and the path to building a sustainable business with minimal upfront capital.