Episode #415
#415 – How Amarjot Singh picks his focus so he never has to justify the value
A story about saying no to good, paying work. This episode is for founders whose deals keep stalling, no matter how hard the team works. A typical mantra in business software is that you build products that technically everyone can use - simply because that creates the biggest market opportunity. Amarjot Singh, founder and CEO of Skylark Labs, doesn't. He grew up watching his father serve in the Indian Army infantry, in combat. His first project after his PhD was software that helped rescue children from brothels. This has turned into a mindset where he only builds products for situations where someone's life is on the line. Everything else he says no to - even if there's good money associated with it. And this inspired me to invite Amarjot to my podcast. We explore how choosing problems by risk to human life changes who does the selling. He shares who and what he walked away from, and how that helped him to build something the right customers cannot live without. We also zoom in on two of the 10 traits that define remarkable software companies: Acknowledge you cannot please everyone Sell the idea, not the product Both are chapters in The Remarkable Effect. Here's one of Amarjot's quotes that captures how he thinks about demand: "The beauty of this kind of technology is that you don't actually have to sell. The user will sell you … Once you are able to get to that point, then the sky is the limit.” By listening to this episode, you'll learn: Why the size of the problem matters less than what it costs the buyer to leave it unsolved What changes in a deal when the buyer has no fallback When to tell a customer "this is the maximum we will do" How to tell whether a pilot will lead anywhere before you commit the team For more information about the guest from this week: Guest: Amarjot Singh , founder and CEO, Skylark Labs Website: skylarklabs.ai
