Accidentally becoming a founder with two exits under his belt

Sharath Kuruganty didn't intend to monetize any of his products, but his users demanded it and he "accidentally" became a founder.

Since then, he has had two small exits. And recently, he teamed up with Alex Friedman on a newsletter, Founder Gigs.

Here's Sharath on how he does it. 👇

Accidental founder

I accidentally became a founder.

In 2018, I started building products, but the goal was to launch on PH — that's it. I had no intention of monetizing. I just wanted to build my founder muscle.

But in 2020, when I launched Shoutout’s landing page, people started saying they would pay for it. So I built an MVP using no-code tools, validated the idea, found a tech co-founder online, grew it to $40k ARR, and sold it for between $110k - $150k. All while working a full-time job.

Recently, I sold my second SaaS product called GuestLab AI. This was a small sale, as we only had about $200 MRR. I sold it for $3.2k.

Partnering up

This year, I took the leap and left my full-time job. To pay the bills, I started doing consulting work.

It's difficult to find gigs, so I decided to start a newsletter called Fractional Gigs. I tweeted about it and my good friend, Alex, DM’ed saying we should collab.

Alex started Founder Gigs in 2021 and sold it. But then she got the assets back and wanted to launch it again. So, we teamed up and launched it in July, combining our ideas.

Now, Founder Gigs is a weekly newsletter that sources fractional gigs for ex-founders and startup operators. We set it up on beehiiv because we wanted to launch quickly.

We now have more than 5k subs. We've made more than $1k in sponsorship revenue and we also offer $5 monthly subscriptions that unlock exclusive fractional roles. It's currently at $74 MRR.

Grow by focusing on people

Here's what I learned from growing Shoutout.

Grow an audience

Build an audience before building a product.

I can't tell how much I preach and live this ideology! When I launched Shoutout, I had a decent audience on Twitter which helped me validate the idea, get initial feedback, and eventually, gave me the push to build an MVP!

Build in public

Build aggressively in public.

With Shoutout, we were transparent from day zero, which resulted in building a solid community, momentum, and so much word of mouth.

Hands down, the best way to earn trust is by being transparent and doing things in public. It’s an unlock and an unfair advantage not every founder has tapped into.

Focus on customer service

Your users are kings and queens.

Instead of scheming how to win, always focus on how you can create value for your users. In a way, it removes a lot of pressure and allows you to be creative!

Doing insane customer service is also one of the best ways to win trust. Be available to them and genuinely do things that add value to them. Treat them equally. They sense the care and reflect it out in public.

Focus on distribution channels.

To keep the momentum alive, keep targeting channels like Product Hunt, Indie Hackers, HN, and Reddit. Soft launch on Twitter first followed by launching on these channels. The more eyeballs, the more chance for growth.

Here are some tips I wrote on the topic.

Keep your momentum

And once you have momentum, keep it. Momentum is the oxygen for any startup.

How to build in public

Not everyone is good at building public. You have to develop it as a skill.

To do it well, you have to handle interactions with intention and not as transactions. Building a community means creating a safe space where people — potential customers, investors, and future employees — can be vulnerable and find ways to help each other.

Be authentic. Vanity metrics, for example, cheapen your brand. They lack substance, and the audience can easily smell that.

Share your journey openly. Treat it like you're writing your autobiography and keeping your draft open to others.

From there, use DMs, amplify the community, and share your playbooks. Do everything to create value, and they will come.

And no matter whether you're posting, DMing, or commenting, make sure you're producing high-value content.

Don't fail, but be okay with failing

Here's my advice:

1. Put every ounce of your energy and focus into not failing.

2. But don't be afraid to fail!

3. Make speed your friend so you can build ridiculous momentum.

4. Build a personal brand from Day 1. It’s a massive advantage to have a presence on the internet.

5. Trust yourself. I wish I hadn't doubted myself so much when I started. Self doubt drains your energy and points you in the wrong direction.

Other than that, remember that you don't need to figure out everything before you start. Just start!

What's next

Currently, I'm exploring my next moves. In an alternate world, I would be building my next startup and working on it full-time — there is something beautiful about creating something from an idea and seeing others benefit from it. That feeling is why I do what I do.

But stay tuned and follow me on X and check out Founder Gigs for more updates.