building startups creatively and conscientiously, through the power of communities @build3 🤗
Goa, India
Joined October 2008
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Varun Chawla retweeted
Think in probabilities
Bayes’ theorem is probably the single most important thing any rational person can learn.
So many of our debates and disagreements that we shout about are because we don’t understand Bayes’ theorem or how human rationality often works.
Bayes’ theorem is named after the 18th-century Thomas Bayes, and essentially it’s a formula that asks: when you are presented with all of the evidence for something, how much should you believe it?
Bayes’ theorem teaches us that our beliefs are not fixed; they are probabilities. Our beliefs change as we weigh new evidence against our assumptions, or our priors. In other words, we all carry certain ideas about how the world works, and new evidence can challenge them.
For example, somebody might believe that smoking is safe, that stress causes mouth ulcers, or that human activity is unrelated to climate change. These are their priors, their starting points. They can be formed by our culture, our biases, or even incomplete information.
Now imagine a new study comes along that challenges one of your priors. A single study might not carry enough weight to overturn your existing beliefs. But as studies accumulate, eventually the scales may tip. At some point, your prior will become less and less plausible.
Bayes’ theorem argues that being rational is not about black and white. It’s not even about true or false. It’s about what is most reasonable based on the best available evidence. But for this to work, we need to be presented with as much high-quality data as possible. Without evidence—without belief-forming data—we are left only with our priors and biases. And those aren’t all that rational.
Varun Chawla retweeted
unpopular opinion: if a startup is constantly launching new features its a red flag
strong PMF== one core behavior loop, then ruthless focus on reducing friction, fixing bugs, adding users, and firefighting as scale breaks things
the more features, the weaker the startup
Varun Chawla retweeted
When you sell hard money you don’t sell it to buy or build garbage, ugly, disposable infrastructure. You sell it to build beautiful, long-lasting, low time preference architecture. Bitcoin is a return to greatness ⚡️
The tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan unveiled renderings for its new airport. #Bitcoin mining has paid off
Varun Chawla retweeted
THOUGHTS create FEELINGS
Feelings develop ATTITUDE
Attitude comes into ACTION
Repeated Actions form HABIT
Habits create PERSONALITY
Personality shapes our DESTINY
Thoughts – Feelings – Attitude – Action –
Habit – Personality – Destiny
Can we afford to create ONE Wrong Thought?
Varun Chawla retweeted
In 2023, Argentina was dying:
• Central Bank $12B in debt
• 50% poverty rate
• 7,500% inflation
Then Javier Milei became President.
11 months in, he's pulling off the greatest economic turnaround ever.
In a 2-hour pod with Lex Fridman, he revealed exactly how he did it🧵
Varun Chawla retweeted
"I have never seen ordinary effort lead to extraordinary results."
— Alexandr Wang
Varun Chawla retweeted
Tourism in Goa is down in dumps
Foreign tourists have abandoned the state already. Look at 2019 v 2023 numbers. Russians and Brits who used to visit annually have opted for Sri Lanka instead.
Indian tourists still visiting, but soon likely to ditch it as word spreads about exploitation of tourists while there are so many cheaper comparable locations abroad
Varun Chawla retweeted
Look at these guys.
One works 16 hours a day. One works 4 hours a week.
2 billionaires. 1 mind-blowing lesson about success:
(I can't believe no one has connected the dots) 🧵
Varun Chawla retweeted
An unexpected benefit of having a writing culture is that certain docs you wrote will outlive your tenure at the company.
e.g. I get pinged about 2X a year with a thoughtful question on docs I wrote 3+ years ago within Stripe (and this is true for other alum too).
In a proper writing culture, past docs preserve nuanced thinking and can help accelerate time-to-insight for current employees in ways that slides cannot.
Varun Chawla retweeted
Believe it or not, it's dangerous for a startup to raise too much at too high a valuation. This sounds like a good problem to have, but it isn't. Both make your next round harder.
Varun Chawla retweeted
I'm European.
I recently visited the USA for the first time since 2018, hitting up Las Vegas and New York City.
What I witnessed left me stunned.
15 American oddities I still can't wrap my head around:
Varun Chawla retweeted
Today, I turn 46.
Here are the 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗱𝗲𝘀,
Someone should teach you in your 20s:
Varun Chawla retweeted
🎓📚 India is making waves in the education sector with an allocation of nearly ₹73,500 crore in the recent Union Budget — the highest in the country's history!
But, despite this ambitious funding, challenges persist. With an unspent balance of ₹7,000 crore from the previous budget, there’s an urgent need to channel resources effectively and drive impactful change – a responsibility that some exceptional startups have come to shoulder.
While the likes of BYJU'S and upGrad continue to be at the forefront, let us look at 3 trailblazing startups reshaping the country’s educational landscape in line with UNSDG 4: Quality Education!
🌾 Hippocampus Learning Centres: Founded by Umesh Malhotra, a former Infosys employee, Hippocampus strives to provide quality early childhood education to underprivileged children in rural India. Established in 2011, this social enterprise has secured over ₹20 crore in venture capital backing and focuses on three years of pre-school education before grade 1.
⌨ Thinkerbell Labs: Co-founded by Aman Srivastava, Sanskriti Dawle, Dilip Ramesh, and Saif Shaikh, Thinkerbell Labs is breaking barriers for the visually impaired. Their innovative device, Annie — the world’s first self-learning Braille literacy tool — acts as a personal tutor, helping visually impaired students master Braille. Annie’s success, with accolades from international markets like the U.S. and support from Anand Mahindra, underscores its revolutionary impact.
🌍 Multibhashi: Founded by Anuradha Aggrawal, Multibhashi is revolutionizing language learning for those who speak only Indian languages. By enabling blue-collar workers and marginalized communities to learn English through their native languages, Multibhashi is opening doors to better job opportunities. With support from Dr Aniruddha Malpani and RareJob, this platform is making English learning accessible and effective.
Do you also have an idea that can make the world a better place by helping more people access quality education? If the answer is a resounding YES, reach out to us and we’ll be happy to help.
At build3, we're passionate about supporting founders who build for profit AND purpose – all while pushing progress on the UNSDGs.
Wondering how? Through the build3 Impact Accelerator designed to help impact founders –
🤝 Find their entrepreneurial soulmate aka a co-founder
🛠️ Sharpen their skills
🌱 Learn from industry experts and
🚀 Secure the funding you need to make an impact
Are you ready to join this transformative journey?
#Impact #Education #Startup #UNSDG4