Hey everyone, it’s been a few weeks! I was a bit busy learning how to build LLM-powered features at Mathema.
This is my first experience shipping something AI-related in production, and I’m pretty amazed—building with OpenAI-level models is quick and relatively cost-efficient. We managed to save 104 days of manual labor by spending just $1.65 on tokens. Great value for money.
I’ll write a separate edition on what I learned while building AI-powered features. I’ve already shared some details here.
Meeting Siddhi Mittal
I first discovered Siddhi on LinkedIn.
Siddhi is a former trader at Barclays, studied AI at Columbia University, built a fast-growing marketplace business focused on the UK market, got into YC, and scaled her company to millions in GMV.
She is one of those founders who have nailed content creation on LinkedIn. She shares her startup journey openly, including the ups and downs. Since she’s building a marketplace business, I dropped her a message, and we met for coffee.
I ended up working at yhangry’s office for the rest of the day and was excited to meet their London team. We brainstormed together, and I learned a lot from them.
Overall, the episode dives deep into entrepreneurial resilience, marketplace dynamics, fundraising hacks, and the mental game of being a founder.
No time to listen?
Here are my takeaways.
1. Leaving a High-Paying Job for Entrepreneurship
Siddhi, a co-founder of yhangry, left a $500K+ salary as a Barclays trader to start a private chef marketplace.
Initially, people thought she was crazy for leaving finance to build what seemed like a catering company.
Her motivation was the desire to create something meaningful and impactful.
2. yhangry’s Growth and Marketplace Dynamics
The platform has 5,000 chefs across the UK, growing 10% month-on-month organically.
Last year, 5,500 bookings were completed, serving over 60,000 guests.
The average order value (AOV) is £700-800, much higher than traditional food delivery.
3. The YC Journey and Fundraising Hacks
YC partners saw yhangry as a category-defining business, similar to early Airbnb.
Siddhi and her co-founder had to push YC to accept them, ultimately using a strategic crowdfunding deadline as leverage.
They recently raised funding (during a tough market for consumer marketplaces) by demonstrating strong B2B2C potential.
Siddhi emphasizes fundraising as a process of discovery, rather than begging for capital.
4. Pivoting from Ops-Heavy to Pure Marketplace
Early on, yhangry had a big operations burden, handling groceries and logistics.
At YC, they removed ops completely and made it a pure marketplace (like Airbnb).
The realization: their real customers were willing to pay more, allowing chefs to handle groceries and logistics themselves.
5. Founder Mindset and Overcoming Stagnation
Siddhi experienced a tough period of stagnation, questioning if the business was worth building.
To get through it, she:
Focused on profitability as a fallback strategy.
Read books like "The Surrender Experiment", which helped her detach emotionally from short-term struggles.
Practiced visualization and meditation to maintain clarity and motivation.
6. Business Wisdom: Avoid Generic Advice
Siddhi believes most generic business advice is useless because every situation is unique.
Founders should seek contradicting perspectives to make informed decisions.
7. AI and the Future of Marketplaces
Current focus: using AI internally for workflow optimization and better customer/chef matching.
Long-term: AI could fundamentally reshape how marketplaces function.
8. Visualizing Success
Siddhi swears by guided visualization techniques to stay aligned with her goals.
She recommends following Maya Raichoora, Nike’s first mental fitness coach.
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