Pre-PMF AI startups
You have a working product, but the ICP, wedge, positioning, activation moment, or strongest use case is still unclear.
AI Growth Advisory | US and Global Startups
Find product-market fit. Build the GTM motion that scales it.
I work with AI startup founders on the hard growth decisions: who to win first, how to position the product, which distribution motion deserves investment, and how to turn early pull into durable growth. Based in Bengaluru, advising US and global teams remotely.
$20MARR at Emergent in 120 days
10M+Users across products scaled
15+AI and SaaS companies advised
12+Years building growth systems
Who this is for
Founders with a strong product and an unresolved growth question.
The work is most useful when the answer is not simply more campaigns, but a sharper choice about market, product, distribution, or sequencing.
Post-PMF teams that have stalled
You have traction, but no repeatable growth motion, weak channel economics, or too many disconnected experiments.
AI companies entering the US
You need a market entry and distribution strategy built around trust, proof, category context, and the way US buyers discover AI products.
What we solve
A zero-to-one growth playbook built around your product.
No generic channel checklist. The work starts with the constraint that is actually blocking growth and builds an operating sequence around it.
Product-market fit and positioning
Define the highest-pull segment, sharpen the product promise, identify retention signals, and build a feedback loop between customers, positioning, and product.
Zero-to-one GTM strategy
Choose the first market, channel, and message. Sequence founder-led sales, creators, content, community, partnerships, and product-led distribution around evidence.
Influencer-led growth
Build a creator and expert distribution engine that earns trust through third-party demonstrations, category education, and repeatable content systems.
Product-led growth systems
Improve activation, referral, collaboration, conversion, and expansion so the product carries more of the acquisition and growth burden.
Selected proof
The advice comes from operating experience.
EMERGENT | US MARKET
WEB TO FIGMA
COHESIVE AI
$0 to $20M ARR in 120 days
Architected an influencer-first GTM motion for a YC-backed AI product, with $0 spent on Google and Meta ads.
Read the full case study →100K+ users and $200K ARR
Built a bootstrapped product-led growth motion in six months.
Co-founder | 2024 to present$500K ARR in 60 days
Owned zero-to-one GTM, growth, and product-market fit for US market entry.
Head of Growth | 2023 to 2024“Gaurav was the go-to GTM and growth guy for our product. With his help we made positive ROI. Without him we would be burning thousands of dollars.”
“After working with Gaurav, we got tremendous support in re-branding Mailmodo into the first-ever email marketing AI agent, along with our revised launch and GTM for growth.”
How the engagement works
Close to the founder. Focused on the constraint.
I take on a small number of advisory engagements so the work can stay specific to the product, market, and decisions in front of the team.
01
Start with the product, customer evidence, funnel, current channels, and the founder's most important growth question.
02
Turn the diagnosis into a prioritized GTM plan with clear hypotheses, sequencing, ownership, and success signals.
03
Work through the decisions with the founding team as evidence arrives, adjusting positioning, channels, and product loops.
04
Leave the team with a repeatable operating system, not a slide deck that depends on the advisor forever.
Frequently asked
Before we talk.
What does an AI growth advisor help with?
An AI growth advisor helps founders identify the right market wedge, validate product-market fit, design a repeatable go-to-market motion, and build growth systems around the channels that show real pull. My focus is zero-to-one GTM, influencer-led distribution, product-led growth, positioning, activation, and retention.
Do you work with US-based AI startups?
Yes. I am based in Bengaluru, India and work remotely with AI and SaaS founders across the United States and globally.
When should an AI startup hire a growth or GTM advisor?
The best time is when you have a working product but the target customer, positioning, activation loop, or repeatable distribution motion is still unclear. It is also useful when early traction exists but growth has stalled or the company is entering the US market.
How is a growth advisor different from a marketing agency?
An advisor works with founders on the underlying growth decisions: market selection, positioning, channel strategy, product loops, sequencing, and operating priorities. The goal is to build the right system and help the team execute it, not to sell a fixed menu of campaign services.
How do we start?
Send me a concise LinkedIn message or email with your product, current stage, target market, traction, and the growth problem you need to solve. I take on a small number of select advisory engagements.
Select advisory conversations
If the product is working but the growth motion is not, let’s find the constraint.
Share the product, stage, target market, current traction, and the decision keeping you stuck. I will tell you quickly whether I can help.