I Left Meta to Build an AI Startup

After 15 years climbing the ladder at Microsoft, Meta, and Discord, Apurva had everything - a dream job, resources, and a title. Then she left it all to build an AI startup from scratch.

In this episode, Apurva breaks down:
- Why she left her "dream job" at Discord and Meta to become a solo founder
- How AI removed her biggest excuse: "I have an idea but can't build it"
- The brutal reality of 75 investor meetings in 6 weeks
- Why solo founder loneliness almost broke her
- How she repositioned Discord back to gaming (and the insights that made it work)
- The counterintuitive advice: "If you're proud of your MVP, you shipped too late"

This isn't another "quit your job" story. Apurva built her first PC at age 7 but studied economics, not engineering. She proves you don't need to be technical to build in the AI era - but you do need to be smart about it.

Key Takeaways:
✅ Fall in love with the problem, not the solution
✅ Software is now commoditized - compete on data and brand
✅ 3 customers per week = the founder's minimum viable research
✅ Why fundraising became a full-time job (and how she managed it)