For founders in India making tech calls alone
Technical judgment,before you can afford a hire.
$2,000/month · same price for everyone
$2,000/mo · one price
You've got funding, an idea, or a fast-growing side project - and no one to make the product and tech calls with. I'm Ankit, one person, not an agency, with 20+ years building products and a habit of coding every day. No equity. No full-time hire. No agency markup.
No one to make the tech calls with? I'm Ankit - one person, $2,000 a month, no equity, no agency markup.
Who you'd be working with
Straight talk, not a sales pitch. Ask me anything before you commit.LinkedIn →
The Price?
$2,000/month
No hourly billing. No surprise add-ons.
The Scope?
Judgment, not the build.
Reviews and decisions - not sitting in your codebase.
The Cadence?
One call, then async.
I reply within 24 business hours.
The Fit?
A few founders at a time.
Past that, replies get slow - and slow replies aren't the point.
01 - What Changes
After month one, you'll be able to:
Four calls that used to need a guess. This is what the retainer is actually for.
Judge a quote
Read a freelancer's or agency's quote and know, specifically, where it's padded.
Choose a stack
Pick the stack for your MVP without picking the one a salesperson pushed.
Scope an AI feature
Tell which part of your "AI feature" is real, and which needs a better prompt instead of a rebuild.
Hire or pick an agency
Decide, with a reason you can defend, whether it's time to hire, outsource, or wait.
02 - What You Can Build
Six kinds of product I help you get right.
I help you decide, scope, choose the stack, de-risk, and review. You or your builders ship it - hands-on coding isn't part of this retainer.
AI products and agents
An agent that handles a repeat workflow end to end.
Voice agents
A Hindi/English voice assistant for support or sales calls - the kind built in a day at The 13th Voice.
WhatsApp bots and assistants
Where your customers already are.
Knowledge assistants (RAG)
Search and answers over your own documents.
Workflow automation
Integrations, MCP, and the internal tools that remove the busywork.
SaaS, marketplace, mobile MVPs
The non-AI product basics, done right.
Which of these you actually need, and when a better prompt would do instead of a rebuild - that's the judgment call I'm here for.
03 - Why This
What ChatGPT, a freelancer, or an agency won't quite do.
Each one gets you part of the way there. This is for the part that's left. I built it the way I wished someone had built it for me - not a course, not an agency, someone who'd tell me straight.
Twenty years of calls like this one
I've spent 20+ years in product and engineering - as an engineer, then a founder, then a product lead. I still code every day. That's not a line on a resume, it's why I recognize a bad plan before it turns into an expensive one.
AI won't tell you when you're wrong
AI is built to agree with you. If there's a hole in your plan, I'll tell you, quietly, before an investor finds it.
No meter running
A freelancer bills by the task, an agency by the sprint. I charge the same amount whether the month is quiet or not - so there's no incentive to invent work.
AI and automation is my specialism
Every pitch has an "AI feature" now. I tell you which parts are real and which are hype, before you spend on either.
04 - Who This Is For
This works if…
For you
- YYou're a founder in India making product or tech calls alone(funded or bootstrapped, doesn't matter to me)
- YYou don't have a technical co-founder yet, or want a second opinion on the one you have
- YYou're about to make your first tech hire or your first agency decision
- YYou want a straight answer, even when it's not the one you were hoping for
Not for you
- NYou want someone to build the product full-time(I'll point you to someone who can)
- NYou want to pay in equity, not cash(I only take cash, so I have no reason to tell you what you want to hear)
- N$2,000 a month isn't in the budget yet(a fine reason to wait, not a rejection)
05 - The First 30 Days
What actually happens when we start.
Week 1
The audit
I go through your product, your stack, and your roadmap with you.
Week 2-3
The decisions
I work through the calls you've been putting off with you: build vs. buy, hire vs. outsource, which AI feature is real.
Week 4
The plan
You leave month one with a steady rhythm for what comes next.
06 - What You Walk Out With
Four things that are yours, not mine.
A plain-language audit map
Of what's solid, what's risky, and what's missing in your product and stack.
A written decision log
Every build-vs-buy, hire-vs-outsource call, in writing - not a slide deck.
A 90-day roadmap
One you trust enough to run without me in the room.
Vetted builder intros
Introductions to developers or agencies, for when you need hands, not just judgment.
07 - Who You'll Work With
One person. No account manager.
What I bring first is technical understanding - I know how the technology actually works (AI, voice, agents, stacks, architecture), and I can turn that into a plain product or business decision. I can tell you why an agency's quote is 3x what it should be, or whether that AI feature needs fine-tuning or just a better prompt.
I work alone. There's no team behind this, no account manager - just me. That keeps the price honest and means I can move fast. It also means I'm not the right fit for everything: hands-on building isn't part of this retainer, and I won't take it on just to say yes. I'm not available around the clock. If I'm not the right person for what you need, I'll say so and point you somewhere better.
- -In practice, often faster - but 24 business hours is the promise.
- -If I don't know something, I say so, and find you someone who does.
- -If this stops being useful, tell me and we stop at the end of the month - no exit call needed.
- -I read what you send before the monthly call, not during it.
0+
Years building products - tech roles, founder, product leader
0
Coaching cohorts I've run since 2023, bootstrapped, no VCs
0
PMs coached, from 111 companies across 8 countries
0
Person doing the work - I personally vet every participant
"My proudest number, because every PM in it I know by name." - on the 139, not a vanity metric.
If you show up with the real problem, not the polished version, I'll show up with a straight answer, not a deck.
You don't need to have it all figured out before you message me - a text is enough to start.
Thanks for reading this far. - Ankit
08 - The Real Stuff
In their words, not mine.
The Sidekick is new. I don't have client logos for this exact retainer - this is the first time I'm selling my time this way. What I do have is three years of coaching product managers, since 2023. Here's what people I've coached say, verbatim.
From product managers I've coached - not Sidekick clients
"Ankit is hands-on and patient with every topic, even with zero AI background going in."
Lakshmi Prasanna
in/lakshmi-prasanna-33449879"He helped me understand how to apply AI to the right use cases instead of chasing trends. The way he broke down what actually goes on under the hood of AI made everything click."
Raunak Pandey
in/pandeyraunak"The balance between technical depth and product thinking gave me the confidence to collaborate better with engineers."
Pallavi Rajmohan
in/pallavi-rajmohan"As someone non-technical, the discussions genuinely helped me understand how AI applies to real product design and launch decisions."
Anup Gunja
in/anup-gunjan- Want to talk to one of them? Ask me and I'll check if they're happy to chat.
09 - Pricing
One number. No tiers.
$2,000/month
≈ ₹1,92,000/month at today's rate. Billed in USD.
Two ways to pay: USD wire (check with your CA if it counts as an export) or INR invoice (18% GST applies). Either way, the number above is what I charge - the rest is between you and your accountant.
- -One 60-90 minute strategy call every month
- -Two reviews, written, with a call if needed
- -Async support on WhatsApp and email
See everything that's included →
No custom quotes, no back-and-forth on scope.
Month-to-month, cancel anytime. Your first month is lower while we see if it works - ask me.
What this doesn't include
- -Hands-on coding or building (I'll tell you who should do it)
- -Full-time or on-call availability
- -Managing your team for you
The honest version: I'm one person. If you need more than this scope, I'll say so before you pay for a month you didn't need.
10 - How To Start
The real process.
WhatsApp me
One message. No form.
I reply within 24 business hours
With a few questions, not a sales script.
A short call, only if we both want one
Not required to start.
We start, or I tell you honestly it's not a fit
And point you somewhere better.
11 - Questions
Before you message me.
AI is built to agree with you. It won't tell you if your TAM slide is wrong or your architecture has a hole in it. I'll tell you, plainly. Use AI to draft. Use me to check.
A founding engineer in India comes with a full-time salary and equity, plus months spent hiring well. This is $2,000 a month, no equity, and you can stop anytime it's not working. Use it until you're ready to hire - then I'll help you hire well.
Equity is a permanent cost with no off-switch. Cash is fixed, predictable, and you can stop paying it whenever you want.
Agencies build. This is the judgment layer above that: what to build, and who should build it. No mark-up on anyone else's work.
No. It's the same number for every founder, so you know the cost before we talk. The one exception is for everyone too: your first month is lower while we see if it works.
Fair question - I don't have Sidekick client logos yet, this offer is new. Scroll up to the coaching numbers, since 2023, no funding. Ask me and I'll see who's willing to talk to you directly.