Tanishk Sharma
AI Product Leader · 4× Startup Founder
4x founder and AI-native product leader with 10 years of startup experience. I built one of the first AI SaaS products in 2021, powered by GPT-3 during its private beta. Shipped social media and e-commerce to 35M users.
Work experience
Upskilling full-time by building with AI — products, tools, and this site — and sharpening a hands-on, AI-native product craft for what's next.
- Left a Head of Product role to go all-in on building with AI full-time
- Ship AI-native products and tools end to end — this site, the Facet design system, and a library of installable mini apps
- Deepening a hands-on craft in agentic orchestration, LLM evaluation, RAG, and AI cost engineering
Leading AI and product strategy for a conversational robotics startup, scaling chatbots to 25M users.
- Shipped AI chatbots across social apps, scaled to 25 million users with 30m avg. daily usage and 45% D30 retention
- Developed AI-powered creator platform for personalised content generation and fan monetisation, pivoted away due to PMF risk
- Pivoted to AI powered conversational toys platform, reached $1M ARR within first 2 months of launch
- Patent pending: developed cutting edge cost efficiency techniques, reducing AI inference costs from $45/month to $5/month per user
- Built MVPs and defined product vision; resulted in $3M raise through a Google-backed fund
- Headed product, engineering, and growth functions, leading a team of 10 people with a hands-on approach
Owned payments and patient experience products for a US dental practice management SaaS.
- Grew integrated POS offering by 400%; to $5M per month
- Launched and scaled payment product for existing users, processing over $1M in volume in first week of launch
- Built product knowledge base from scratch, reducing employee onboarding time from 6 weeks to 2 weeks
- Strategic integration of inventory & procurement products to expand offering and drive mutual adoption
- Localised and expanded to AUS, NZ, & UK markets with a coordinated GTM strategy
- Owned B2C patient app; increased self-booked appointments by 30%
Senior Product ManagerAug 2021 – Oct 2022First PM hire at a US B2B AI sales tool; introduced product culture and led the company's pivot to AI.
- Joined as the first PM; introduced product management culture to the organisation
- Owned Product & Engineering (sprint efficiency 97%); led engineering team of 7
- Implemented product processes: requirement gathering, PRDs, and hand-offs
- Implemented engineering processes: sprint planning, grooming, and retrospectives
- Established product communication via sprint demos, internal release notes, and all hands meetings
- Set up product analytics from scratch; built a data-driven culture
- Implemented PLG practices by building a referral program and driving adoption, directly leading to 20% growth of the highest subscription tier
- Built the world's first AI powered sales intelligence tool using the private beta release of GPT-3
- Led company pivot from corporate gifting into an AI sales intelligence platform; guided all 30+ employees through transition into new roles
- Conducted hiring for product, tech, and design; processed 200+ candidates and made 10+ offers
Founding Product ManagerJan – Aug 2021Sole product contributor during Koo's 0 → 10M user growth in 6 months.
- Joined as the first member of the Product function; reported directly to COO
- Sole contributor for product, design, and frontend during growth from 40k to 10M users in 6 months; then hired to build the team
- Hired and trained frontend engineering team from scratch; contributed as sole IC at the level of senior engineer for 3 months while hiring
- Hired and trained UI/UX design team from scratch; contributed as sole IC at the level of lead designer for 4+ months while hiring
- Owned entire Android, iOS, and Web release cycle (15 member team); ran weekly releases
- Ran 20+ experiments monthly resulting in: TSOA by 80%, D2 retention by 50%, engagement by 20%, D5 network size by 100% (over 3 months)
- Built scalable system for content tagging to classify and recommend relevant topics to users
- Built scalable system for content rating to detect and promote viral content
- Coordinated a full UI overhaul across all products; created end-to-end design system, component libraries, and icon library
- Got innovative features copied by Twitter & Instagram
Founded a hyperlocal marketplace for Bengaluru SMBs, reaching 10K users and 200+ stores.
- Founded the company; grew core team to 11 members
- Raised initial capital by delivering product management and development projects to EU-based clients (worth EUR 50,000) before pivoting to the product full-time
- Won Startup Karnataka Elevate Grant in 2019 (Rs. 50 lakh cash grant, besting 1000+ startups); raised a further similar amount from a friends and family angel round
- Built fully featured cross-platform mobile apps hands-on as the primary full-stack developer using Apache Cordova
- Created a platform for SMBs to create online stores and sell products/services to local consumers
- Signed up 10,000+ users in South Bengaluru and onboarded 200+ stores across categories
- Revamped vendor onboarding process, driving success rate from 3% to 28% in 2 months
- Increased retention and repeat orders by designing and implementing a scratch card reward system
- Fulfilled over 50 orders per day during COVID lockdowns from just one of three planned localities
Co-founded India's first commercial helicopter taxi between Electronic City and Bengaluru airport.
- Validated business model and estimated demand by conducting field studies
- Partnered with a local charter company to fulfil flights on a profit-sharing model
- Studied DGCA regulation and drafted 6 months of operational flight plans; got plans verified by national defence forces (IAF), KIAL, and the DGCA chairperson
- Got necessary flight clearances from KIAL, HAL, DRDO, DGCA, and Yelahanka Air Force Base
- Signed on 50 operational helipads across Bengaluru and Karnataka
- Oversaw construction of 2 heliport lounges in Bengaluru and 7 other helipads across the state
- Set up on-ground operations: luggage logistics, lounge staffing, security, and safety
- Operated daily helicopter taxi service between Electronic City and BIAL Heliports
- Company valued at $8 million by investors
Product and tech consultant for e-commerce, ERP, and Salesforce integrations across India and Europe.
- Successfully completed 10+ projects; built e-commerce websites, ERP systems, and Salesforce integrations
- Managed offline-to-online journey of a sanitary-ware importer: consolidated supply chain, built e-commerce website, created Flipkart and Amazon seller accounts; grew sales 2x and reduced warehousing costs by 80%
- Worked with a health-focused vegan cookies manufacturer: competitor analysis, target market identification, online sales channels, and closed 15 clients for B2B distribution
- Consulted on design, UX research, and UI for various organisations
- Consulted as project lead and PM on contract for product development projects
AR platform for location-based hyperlocal services.
- Explored location-based data storage and its applications in AR and hyperlocal services
- Presented findings to the Thiel Fellowship program in 2015; placed in the top 8 internationally
- Pivoted to building an AR platform to standardise advertising and signage for AR spaces
- Engaged several investors through the Thiel Fellowship evaluation process
Side projects & advisory
Mentoring an AI productivity startup for the education sector.
- Set up the business division including sales, marketing, and logistics channels
- Represented the company in discussions with government organisations, defence forces, and contractors
- Set up internal processes for manufacturing, packaging, and inventory
- Mentored the team on GTM strategy and business planning for the prediction market platform
- Moved to Dubai to co-found the blockchain and Web3 advisory firm
- Represented the company and won contracts with prominent clients including local banks and government organisations
- Consulted with 15+ clients in the first year, successfully implementing blockchain solutions across 6 months
- Set up the on-campus startup incubator and mentored 4 startups
- Conducted classes on "AI in Business" and entrepreneurship for MBA students
- Delivered keynotes at 2 international conferences
- Planned and developed a website and app for ticketing and event management
- Planned and developed a social media platform for Arsenal footballer Johan Djorou
- Led a team of 5 developers (1 Android, 2 iOS, 1 frontend, 1 backend)
- Made visual design and information architecture for mobile apps and website
- Took concept to working product across all platforms within 2 months
- Designed new features to shift consumer behaviour after initial traction showed the Indian market wasn't ready for traditional gift registries
Skills
Awards
- Startup Karnataka: ELEVATE Grant2019 · Winner
- IIM-A Masterplan Startup Competition2018 · Winner · National top 5
- IIT-M Elevate-X Startup Competition2016 · Winner · National top 8
- Thiel Fellowship Finalist2015 · Top 8 internationally
Education
Bengaluru, India · tanishksharma.com