Helping unconventional founders & execs lead through hard pivots · Author: THE PATH TO PIVOT · Uncle Iroh with a side of Genie · 3x venture-backed startup founder · 1st gen immigrant · ADHD · Meta + Etsy alum

You’ve been avoiding a hard conversation with your cofounder. You know the one.

Years ago, I was you. Started a company with two close friends, raised money, hit every milestone. And watched the partnership fall apart in slow motion because none of us could speak honestly about how we felt.

We were “conflict-avoidant,” which sounds peaceful but actually meant unspoken tension and resentment built up silently. By the time we tried to address it it was too late. That company didn’t survive. The friendship eventually recovered.

I became obsessed with understanding why. I studied  with the Gottman Institute and poured over partnership dynamics research. What I found: most cofounder conflicts follow patterns. And they respond to specific interventions if you know what they are.

Now I coach founders through the same thorny problems that took years off my life. 

Hi, I’m Jason Shen - executive coach, author, and ice cream fiend. 

As a 3x founder, YC alum, and former product leader at Meta and Etsy, I’ve lived both early-stage chaos and operational discipline at scale. I bring both to my work.

More on what I do: 

➣ COFOUNDER CONFLICT COACHING

I help cofounders repair their working relationship before they ruin their company. In a 13 week partnership intensive, you will reconnect with your most crucial ally, find common ground, and gain the skills needed to collaborate at full strength. 

Learn more: https://cofounder.repair

➣ 1:1 EXEC COACHING

Not every founder problem is a partnership problem. I also work 1:1 with founders facing pivots, transitions, and the kind of decisions where the stakes are high and the right answer isn’t obvious. Same in-the-trenches perspective, focused on you.

Discovery call: https://calendly.com/jason-shen/discovery

🌱 Jason Shen

I couldn't disagree with OP more. And the data backs me up.

The top 10 tech giants average 2.3 founders 👇

1. NVIDIA: Huang, Priem, Malachowsky
2. Google: Page, Brin
3. Apple: Jobs, Wozniak
4. Microsoft: Gates, Allen
5. Amazon: Bezos (MacKenzie had significant early role)
6. TSMC: Chang (founded as a joint venture w/ 🇹🇼 gov't)
7. Broadcom: Nicholas, Samueli
8. Meta: Zuckerberg, Saverin, Moskovitz, Hughes
9. Tesla: Eberhard, Tarpenning (Musk bought his title later)
10. Tencent: Ma, Zhang, Xu, Chen, Zeng

Oh, and YC had 4 founders, Anthropic has 2, and OpenAI had 11(!)

Bottom line: Being a solo founder to avoid arguments is midwit thinking.

When you know how to engage in productive conflict with your cofounders, your company makes better decisions and executes faster in the long run.

Getting to alignment is a skill issue.

Jason 🧠 Shen

Helping cofounders repair their partnership · Exec coach to ambitious outliers & brilliant misfits · 3x founder & YC S11 alum · Author of ‘The Path to Pivot’ & ‘Weirdly Brilliant’ · Retired NCAA 🏆 gymnast

Founder: "My cofounder is checked out."

Me: "How do you know?"

Founder: "They're not putting in the hours like they used to."

Me: "Have you asked them what's going on?"

Founder: "I don't want to make it weird."

Me: "So you'd rather assume the worst than have a conversation."

Founder: "Umm.."

Me: "Founders don't just become lazy and unmotivated for no reason. Checked out often means quietly drowning or becoming misaligned. Both can be fixed by talking things out."

You might be one honest conversation away from getting your cofounder back.

1. This is what every technology does -- it commodifies human labor and expertise in a given domain so more can benefit

2. This is the wrong way to think about AI getting good at your area of expertise. The new adopters of the technology will never have the same appreciation for the history, craft, and edge cases.

But you do.

Which means you will be able to do more with the technology than they can, assuming you are willing to be less precious about what you do now that tech can do as good or better and act with a beginner's mind.

Technology is how our species advances. There will be mistakes and harm along the way, but we generally figure it out, eventually, for the benefit of more and more people.

Between 20-35% of startups will have at least one founder leave within 4 years.

Not every founder departure is bad.

Differing visions
New interests
Personal circumstances

All can be good reasons for cofounders to split

What's unfortunate is seeing cofounders who complement each other's strengths - and once worked together well - have a falling out.

Often it's due to compounding disappointment or resentment. Related to unspoken expectations or never fully explored misunderstandings.

Startups are stressful and that puts pressure on relationships.

Departure is sometimes the only way forward. Senja is still going strong even if one of the founders is no longer there.

But like a total rewrite of your codebase - it should be a decision of last resort.

Having a cofounder to start a company together with is only net-positive if you trust them 100% and value the relationship over the business.

You are fundamentally giving up control over your company to another person in exchange for their ability, commitment, and aligned interest.

That partnership is the beating heart of your business.

You have to protect it as fiercely as your banking credentials, your product's secret sauce, your production database.

But too often founders take it for granted until they're in crisis.

They skip their founder 1:1's
They blame their cofounder for company woes
They let resentment quietly build

It's like the way we think about health

You can either eat cleaner and move more now.
Or you can get triple bypass heart surgery later.

A pattern I've noticed across several cofounder conflict client calls I've had in the last month:

Friendly and enthusiastic CEO who can inspire / close  customers and investors but is a bit disorganized and unreliable at times

Disciplined and detail oriented CTO who pulls long hours to build a great product but has a bit of a temper and can be resentful of CEO.

Has anyone else seen this pattern? What do you make of it?

I have my own thoughts but I'm curious to see what people thing.

Great companies are built by founders with different strengths, skills, and temperaments.

▸ 10x engineer + deal-hungry salesperson
▸ Slick designer + genius growth marketer
▸ Disciplined operator + creative visionary

It makes perfect sense: get someone who is strong where you are weak.

But here's the problem.

One of you values organization.
The other values freedom.

One of you values craft.
The other values speed.

You are fundamentally going to see the world in a different way.
That's the whole reason why you teamed up.

But there's a real risk of interpreting your differences in approach as a failure of morals, respect, or competence.

"What is wrong with them? How could they think / do / say that?!"

You partnered with this person precisely because they are different from you in a significant way. Even if they shared a similar vision or mission.

You have to expect that you'll disagree and butt heads.
A mature entrepreneur knows this and responds accordingly.

"Oh interesting, you took a different approach. Can you help me understand why?"

Sometimes you'll end up going your way, sometimes theirs, most times it'll be some third option you didn't think of until you dug into the disagreement.

"Grow up" is a lazy way of saying "I don't want to deal with your emotions."

Laziness rarely leads to great outcomes.

Startups are stressful and extended periods of high stress put people in fight-or-flight.

Fight-or-flight (ie sympathetic nervous system activation) significantly impacts the prefrontal cortex, the part of our brain that does rational thinking.

So just having a conversation isn't enough.

What's the answer?

Slow down.
Ask questions.
Listen for the feelings behind the words.
Reflect what you hear.
Validate the parts that make sense.

This is what brings people out of fight-or-flight.

THEN you can try to have a rational conversation about what's wrong.

LinkedIn Growth Hacker✌️ ||Believe in Smart work💥 || Content Creator🖋️|| Believe in Opportunities💫|| Adding a little spark✨

LinkedIn Growth Hacker | Brand Builder | Marketer | ML Engineer | Public Speaker | Featured at Times Square

Most LinkedIn profiles get views. Few get growth.

I help creators, professionals, and brands turn their LinkedIn presence into a growth engine, attracting visibility, opportunities, and authority.

Many people have incredible skills or products, but their profiles don’t reflect their value. I change that.

I’ve scaled my own LinkedIn to 130,000+ followers, not with luck, trends, or gimmicks, but with a proven system of growth-focused content, strategic branding, and audience-first engagement.

Now, I help others do the same. My focus is on amplifying your authority, building a strong personal brand, and growing your audience, so you become the go-to name in your niche.

What I do:

✅ LinkedIn Growth Strategy 
✅ Content Creation & Branding 
✅ Brand Collaborations & Campaigns 
✅ Profile Optimization

If you want to scale your LinkedIn, grow your influence, and turn your brand into a visible authority, let’s connect.

➡️ DM me or email: v.toshniwal2828@gmail.com

Always open to meaningful conversations, collaborations, and opportunities in AI, ML, and tech-driven products.

Currently seeking Tech / Machine Learning Engineer opportunities.

Vidhi Toshniwal

Your neighbour wants you to fail.
Your relative wants you to earn less.
Your boss doesn’t want you to grow.

Because your growth disrupts their balance.

So they’ll say:
“Wait.”
“Be realistic.”

Ignore the noise.

➡️ Do what you love
➡️ Upskill yourself
➡️ Ask for referrals
➡️ Follow up

There is no one fixed formula.

If you’re growing, don’t be ashamed.

Be relentless.
Keep knocking.
Someone will answer.

You’ve survived harder phases than this.

Let’s win this one too ❤️

From a cold email to a $4B AI company, yes really! 

Synthesia has now raised $200M in Series E at a $4B valuation.

It all started as a tiny AI video startup and 100+ investor rejections.

When they were almost done, one bold move changed everything: a cold email to Mark Cuban.

He replied in 5 minutes, "Intrested"
After 13 hours of conversation, he committed $1M.

Fast forward 9 years: that same company, Synthesia, just raised $200M and is redefining how work learns.

Work is changing.
Learning is changing.
And companies can’t rely on static PDFs and training decks anymore.

We’re moving toward:

➡️ AI-powered video
➡️ Conversational AI agents
➡️ Real-time, contextual learning at work

Upskilling is no longer optional.
It’s a board-level priority.

Synthesia didn’t just build AI videos.

They’re helping redefine how knowledge moves inside companies.

This isn’t just a funding round.
It’s a bet on how companies learn next.

Big signal for where AI at work is heading.

#synthesia

Synthesia

I didn’t realise how many AI subscriptions I was paying for
until I tried cancelling them one by one.

I was already using way too many AI tools.
One for writing. One for images. One for videos. One for apps. One for dashboards.

At some point, I realised I was spending more time organising tools than doing real work.

Then I came across Abacus AI Deep Agent.

I watched it build an app from scratch in a few minutes.
Frontend, backend, database, logic -  everything came together on its own.

That was the first time I felt like I wasn’t “using a tool”,
I was just explaining what I wanted and watching it happen.

👉 http://deepagent.abacus.ai

Some things that stood out:

➡️ You can build full apps from one prompt
Web apps, internal tools, dashboards, and now even mobile apps.
You describe the idea, it handles the structure, backend, and data

➡️ Websites and SaaS in one flow
Landing pages, logins, payments, storage - all built together.

➡️ You can recreate complex products just by explaining them
No specs or diagrams. Just describe how it should work.

➡️ These are proper tools
CRMs, Notion-style systems, HR software, founder tools.

➡️ Micro-SaaS feels way more approachable
Ideas that felt “too much effort” suddenly feel worth trying.

➡️ Games and interactive tools show up instantly
Sudoku, simulations, small utilities.

➡️ Reports, decks, and dashboards
Upload data and get visuals and insights without setting everything up.

➡️ ChatLLM is built in
So you’re working with text, PDFs, images, videos, and code in one place.

It just changes how you think about building things.

Instead of planning for weeks,
You can actually try ideas and see where they go.

👉 Abacus AI Deep Agent
http://deepagent.abacus.ai

#ai #tech

Listening to music at full volume feels harmless.
Even powerful.
Like you’re in your own world.

But your ears are paying a price you don’t feel today.

Sign up for more health & wellness insights 👇
https://lnkd.in/evZpbd9E

Inside your inner ear are tiny hair cells.
Every loud beat makes them vibrate harder than they’re designed to.

Day after day.
Hour after hour.

They wear out.
And here’s the brutal part:

Once those cells die,
they never come back.

That’s how permanent hearing loss begins.
Quietly.
Silently.
Without warning.

Push it long enough and tinnitus follows,
a constant ringing that doesn’t switch off.
Ever.

No notification. No reset button.

Some damage doesn’t announce itself in pain.
It shows up later as regret.

Protect what you won’t get back.

Sign up for more health & wellness insights 👇
https://lnkd.in/evZpbd9E

I watched an AI agent build a production-ready app in minutes.

Frontend. Backend. Database. Logic.
Everything is connected and actually working.

Not a demo. Not a mockup. A real app you could ship.

This is Abacus AI Deep Agent an AI agent that works like a full engineering + execution team.

👉 http://deepagent.abacus.ai

Here’s what really stood out:

➡️ End-to-end apps from one prompt
UI, backend, databases, forms stitched together into something you can actually deploy.
And now mobile apps too. You can build and publish full mobile apps with Deep Agent just by describing what you want in a single prompt.

➡️ Websites and SaaS built in one flow
Landing pages, login systems, payments, and data storage - created together, not pieced apart.

➡️ Complex products recreated just by explaining them
You describe how it should look and work.
Deep Agent figures out the structure and builds it.

➡️ These are proper products
CRMs, internal tools, Notion-style systems, HR software made for real usage, not demos.

➡️ Micro-SaaS suddenly feels practical
Resume tools, niche utilities, lead magnets ideas that used to take months now feel achievable fast.

➡️ Apps and games appear instantly
Sudoku, Conway’s Game of Life, and interactive tools, ready to use as soon as they’re generated.

➡️ AI apps built around specific roles
Founder assistants, research helpers, and domain-specific AI tools.

➡️ Reports, decks, and research on demand
Charts, visuals, and structured insights put together in minutes.

➡️ Spreadsheets turned into dashboards
Upload Excel or CSV files and get metrics, explanations, and visuals automatically.

➡️ ChatLLM comes built in
Work with text, PDFs, images, videos, and code in the same place.
For founders, this changes how fast ideas can be tested.

For teams, it changes how work gets distributed.

Worth paying attention to.
👉 Abacus AI Deep Agent

 http://deepagent.abacus.ai

#ai #tech

I cancelled my $20 ChatGPT Subscription
and started using an All-in-one AI tool that's much better! because… my work didn’t fit in one place anymore.

I’d write in one place.
Generate images in another.
Make videos somewhere else.
Create presentations in another.
Build apps or prototypes in a different tab.

By the time I finished one task, I had 6–7 tabs open.

Then someone introduced me to ChatLLM by Abacus AI, and my whole workflow moved into one place.
👉 https://lnkd.in/gdrpgQnC

Here’s what made the switch stick:

1. ONE SINGLE PLACE FOR ALL AI MODELS
ChatLLM lets me switch between GPT-5.2, Claude 4.5, Gemini 3 Pro, Grok 4.1 Fast, DeepSeek, LLaMA, and more without breaking flow.

2. IMAGES & VIDEOS, WITHOUT JUMPING TOOLS
No more opening separate platforms.
Nano Banana Pro, GPT Image 1.5, Seedream 4.5, Ideogram for images.
Sora 2, VEO 3.1, Kling AI v2.6, Runway, Luma for videos.

3. FULL-STACK APPS, WEBSITES & SAAS
I describe what I want and actually see it live.
Layouts, colors, and copy are edited normally, like working with a real designer.

4. PROFESSIONAL PRESENTATIONS, INSTANTLY
Simple ideas turn into clean decks with researched content, graphs, and charts.

5. A PERSONAL AI ASSISTANT THAT WORKS IN THE BACKGROUND
Searches and tasks keep running even when I’m offline -  you come back to progress.

6. TALKING TO PDFS INSTEAD OF READING THEM
Upload a file, ask questions, get clean notes and summaries.

7. MAKING AI WRITING SOUND NORMAL
Write → click “Humanize” → choose a tone.
The output actually sounds usable.

8. REAL-TIME WEB SEARCH
Answers with sources, images, and videos - more research, less guessing.

9. ABACUS AI DEEP AGENT FOR BIGGER BUILDS
Web apps, technical reports, dashboards, micro-SaaS, workflows, websites, and now mobile apps too, built from simple prompts.

10. AN AI CODE EDITOR THAT ACTUALLY HELPS
Write, run, debug, and improve code inside Abacus AI Desktop, with proper vibe coding without the chaos.

It stopped feeling like “using AI tools.”
And started feeling like working inside an AI workspace.

If you’re paying for multiple AI subscriptions right now,
This might clean up your whole setup.
👉 https://lnkd.in/gdrpgQnC

#ai #tech

This morning, a newspaper made me pause.

Just two photos. Side by side.
No labels. No explanations.

And now we know why.

It’s the newly launched REDMI Note 15.

What stood out to me about this launch:

➡️ No exaggerated claims. Just a camera comparison.

➡️ Confidence over noise. Letting real images speak first.

➡️ Bold timing. Most brands wait for reviews, REDMI invited judgment on day one.

➡️ Familiar REDMI Note DNA. Disruptive, direct, and unafraid of comparisons.

After following the Note series for years, this approach feels intentional, and refreshing.

If details matter to you, this is your camera.

No shortcuts. Just 108 million pixels mastering your moments.

Blind test photos on print? This is such a cool way to launch a smartphone. 😎

I met someone at a cafe last week.

A few days later, I couldn’t remember their last name.

And that’s when I realized something:
We meet too many people…
and remember too little.

That’s where ConnectMachine feels different.

Instead of asking me to “post more” or “stay active,”
it quietly does the remembering for me.

It knows:

➡️ who I met
➡️ where I met them
➡️ when it happened
➡️ and why the connection mattered

I don’t carry one digital identity anymore.

I share different cards for different contexts, 
founder, collaborator, private circle.

No oversharing. 
No awkward follow-ups.

When I want clarity, I just ask:

“Who are the founders in my network?”
“Who did I meet at that conference last month?”

No scrolling. No searching. 
Just answers.

Conversations stay private.

Only silent alerts, encrypted channels, and control.

Sometimes the exchange is a QR.
Sometimes AirDrop.
Sometimes straight from the lock screen.

It’s fast. It’s precise.

ConnectMachine isn’t trying to make networking louder.
It’s making it intentional.

👉 If you believe networking should be quiet but powerful,
take a look at ConnectMachine.

https://lnkd.in/gnmCvhvQ

Ananya Panday’s confidence in this film really stayed with me.

It felt thoughtful, not impulsive, and it made me reflect on my own hair care habits.

We often hydrate hair without thinking if we are even using the right ingredients ?
TRESemmé Hydra Matrix is infused with Polyglutamic Acid (PGA), an ingredient that is naturally biocompatible with hair, not borrowed from skincare.

That distinction changed my mindset.

Hydration should protect hair health over time, not just make it look good for the moment.

#TRESemmeHydraMatrix

Maharashtra just sent a strong signal to the world.

₹30 lakh crore in MoUs at Davos 2026.
Another ₹10 lakh crore already in advanced talks.

This isn’t hype.
This is execution at scale.

83% of these agreements are pure FDI from 18 countries, a clear vote of confidence in India’s most industrialized state.

A projected 40 lakh jobs.
And a rare 75% MoU-to-project conversion rate.

What stands out is not just the number, but the direction 👇

➡️ AI, Quantum Computing, Green Steel, Data Centers

➡️ Health, Fintech, Food Processing

➡️ India’s first Innovation City near Mumbai

➡️ A bold Circular Economy model to process 100% of urban waste

➡️ Balanced regional growth, from MMR to Vidarbha, Marathwada, and North Maharashtra

Global giants like Tata, Reliance, Adani, Volkswagen, Bosch, Brookfield and many more are not “exploring” anymore, they are committing.

This is how economic leadership is built:

Vision + Infrastructure + Global trust + Local impact.

Maharashtra isn’t just attracting capital.

It’s designing the future of India’s growth. 🇮🇳

This ad didn’t feel like an ad.

It felt like someone saying,
“Stop babying your phone.”

We’ve all done it.
Skipped the rain photo.
Stayed back at the beach.
Put the phone away because it felt too risky.

This one flips that habit.

No fancy setup.
No perfect phone shots.
Just showing a phone that can handle real moments, and capture them.

The camera shows up.
The durability doesn’t hide.

Quiet, confident, very REDMI Note.

You don’t feel sold to.
You just feel a little less careful.

#REDMINote15ProSeries #SimplyBetter #200MasterPixelCamera

taplio

The Battle

🌱 Jason Shen

Vidhi Toshniwal

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taplio

The Battle

🌱 Jason Shen

Vidhi Toshniwal

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}🌱 Jason Shen's LinkedIn Performance

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