Growthmind Blog
Insights on AI-powered growth, product design, and building focused experiments for startups
Stop 'Speaking to Users' — Why You Need Desperate People Who Speak to You First
Most startup advice says 'speak to users'. This is often wrong. You need a strategy to identify desperate users who speak to you first. Here is how we and our customers did it.
6 min read
Feb 11, 2026
Forget SaaS. YC's New Bet is Service-as-a-Software — And We're All In.
Y Combinator's recent RFS highlights the shift to 'Service-as-a-Software'. Here is how Growthmind is applying this thesis to replace the traditional growth agency.
5 min read
Feb 5, 2026
The Shortcut to Getting into Y Combinator: We Built an AI That Benchmarks You Against S25 & W26 Cohorts
Applying to YC is a black box. We cracked it open. Our new free tool analyzes your startup against thousands of successful applications to tell you exactly where you stand—before you hit submit.
4 min read
Feb 5, 2026
Why 90% of Founders Skip Validation (And Die For It)
The graveyard of startups is filled with founders who were 'too busy building' to validate. There is a reason 90% of startups fail, and it's not lack of talent—it's lack of honesty.
7 min read
Jan 30, 2026
The $5k/mo Retainer is Dead: Why We’re Betting on "Agency Replacement"
Our internal assessment flagged 'Agency Fatigue' as our single biggest market opportunity. The market is tired of high retainers for low results.
6 min read
Jan 30, 2026
We Let Our Own AI Roast Our Business Model. It Was Brutal.
Most founders lie to themselves about their startup's flaws. We decided to let our own AI do the judging. It gave us a 53/60 score—but it also highlighted three existential threats we were trying to ignore.
5 min read
Jan 29, 2026
The B2B Paradox: Why Your Buyer and Your User Are at War
In B2B, the person signing the check often has opposite incentives to the person using the tool. Here is how to bridge the gap between 'Control' and 'Speed'.
5 min read
Jan 29, 2026
Painkiller vs. Vitamin: If Your AI Startup Is Just "Nice to Have," You Are Already Dead.
In our Business Assessment, the most important field isn't the score—it's the Classification. Why tools that don't solve 'death of the company' problems will see massive churn.
5 min read
Jan 28, 2026
3 Uncomfortable Questions We Had to Answer Before Launching Growthmind
The hardest part of our own AI assessment wasn't the market data—it was the 'Uncomfortable Questions'. 'Why would a founder trust an AI with their brand voice?'
7 min read
Jan 25, 2026
Why Progressive Interrogation UX will be the End of Chat-Based UX in AI Apps
Every product manager in AI knows the rule: reduce friction. Make onboarding seamless. Drop them into the chat interface as fast as possible. I believed this completely. Until I realized it was killing our product.
8 min read
Jan 20, 2026