262 | Navigating Rejection & Finding Laser Focus | The Y Combinator Experience with Mamal Amini f...

In today's episode, Mamal Amini, founder of Govern GP, shares his journey from being rejected by DeepMind for being "too ambitious" to embracing entrepreneurship and starting his own AI company. Govern GP focuses on AI-driven market compliance for financial institutions, a venture that has become more focused and refined after joining Y Combinator (YC). Amini discusses the challenges and excitement of startup life, the importance of co-founder relationships, and the pivotal role of YC in narrowing down their product to serve wealth management and broker-dealer sectors. He emphasizes the necessity of understanding customer pain points and the value of competing against oneself rather than others. Amini also touches on trusting one's intuition, learning from rejections, and the evolution of his company's AI model based on YC's metrics-driven advice.

• "After rounds of interviews, of technical interviews, they have a final round of HR, and they told me that I came off too ambitious and too competitive and I wouldn't fit in their culture."
  • Mamal Amini describes the feedback he received from Deep Mind during the HR interview round, indicating that his personality traits were seen as misaligned with the company culture.
• "I think even at the time I had in my head that two years after Deep Mind, I would quit and leave."
  • Amini acknowledges that he had already envisioned leaving Deep Mind within two years to pursue his own entrepreneurial goals, suggesting a pre-existing ambition to start his own venture.

• "So they diagnosed you with entrepreneurship."
  • The interviewer humorously suggests that Deep Mind's assessment of Amini's ambitious and competitive nature was akin to identifying him as an entrepreneur, which aligns with his subsequent decision to start his own company.

• "So now you've decided you're going to start your own AI company."
  • Amini confirms his decision to establish his own AI company, Govern GP, following the rejection from Deep Mind.
• "The most fun I've had in my life and every day it's a lot of challenges."
  • He expresses that despite the challenges, starting and running Govern GP has been an enjoyable and fulfilling experience for him.

• "After getting into YC, it's been a lot more heavy in terms of the pressure I feel, but it's also been a lot more focused in who do we serve and what problem do we solve."
  • Amini discusses the impact of being accepted into the Y Combinator program, which has increased pressure but also provided a clearer focus on the company's target market and the specific problem they are addressing.
• "Because of the advice we've been getting from YC and like chasing the metric, that ended up forming our opinion of what to build."
  • The guidance received from Y Combinator has significantly influenced Govern GP's product development strategy, emphasizing the importance of metrics-driven decision-making.

• "I think at the core of it, you really want to focus on what unlocks you, what situation unlocks you, who unlocks you in that situation."
  • Amini reflects on the importance of finding environments and relationships that enable personal growth and success.
• "I got rejected from Deep Mind because of my personality... and then you make peace with it that this is who you are and how do I make the best out of it."
  • He shares his process of coming to terms with the rejection based on his personality, which led to an acceptance of his entrepreneurial traits and leveraging them to his advantage.

• "After getting into YC it's been a lot more heavy in terms of the pressure of ref feel but it's also been a lot more focused in who do we serve and what problem do we solve."

  • The quote reveals that Y Combinator (YC) has intensified the pressure on Govern GP but also sharpened their focus on their target market and the specific problems their AI product is designed to address within the financial industry.

• "Our YC partner, who's built unicorns before, so taking his advice has been really helpful; it's like hard love, harsh love."

  • This indicates that the guidance from an experienced YC partner, who has a history of building highly successful companies, has been instrumental in shaping Govern GP's journey, suggesting the advice received is both stringent and valuable.

• "They give you a lot of the experience of what to do, what not to do. What to focus on but not to focus on because a startup is always full of holes and you can always find problems."

  • The quote illustrates how YC provides experience-based guidance on prioritization and strategic focus, which is crucial for a startup like Govern GP that is navigating the complex landscape of the financial industry.

• "What's the 5% to 10% of the work that will deliver the right amount of product and that'll get enough sales so that you can get it off the start and in a path that can actually go towards building becoming a unicorn."

  • This reflects the YC philosophy imparted to Govern GP, emphasizing the importance of identifying and executing the critical minority of tasks that will drive product success and sales, positioning the company on a trajectory towards significant growth.

• "We're focused on the financial industry, wealth management within the financial industry."

  • The quote specifies Govern GP's concentrated approach to the financial sector, particularly wealth management, which may have been refined or reaffirmed through their participation in Y Combinator.

• "Investor advisors and broker-dealers in the US if they're regulated by FINRA. And we make sure their marketing team has a pre-review software that's approved and trained by their compliance works essentially by their compliance people."

  • This quote details Govern GP's niche market and the functionality of their AI product, suggesting that Y Combinator's influence may have helped them to hone in on a specific regulatory need within the financial industry.

• "Did that focal point come from going through the YC process? It definitely helped, it definitely really helped."

  • The founder acknowledges that the process of going through Y Combinator was beneficial in developing their focal point, implying that YC played a role in refining their market focus.

• "Compliance as a whole is a cost center, so like how do you actually find a problem that's going to be a revenue-generating within compliance."

  • This indicates the strategic thinking influenced by YC's guidance, focusing on turning compliance, typically a cost center, into an opportunity for revenue generation, which is a key aspect of Govern GP's product development.

• "Trust your intuition and gut 100% of the time."

  • Mamal Amini emphasizes the importance of relying on one's own instincts when making decisions, suggesting that ignoring these feelings can lead to mistakes.

• "The only times I've made mistakes was because something that in my head was saying somebody is good for me whereas something within my intuition was disagreeing with it."

  • Amini reflects on past errors in judgment, indicating that rationalizations can sometimes conflict with gut feelings, and that the latter should not be disregarded.

• "I think at the core of it you really want to focus on what unlocks you, what situation unlocks you, who unlocks you in that."

  • Amini advises founders to identify the conditions, situations, or people that enable them to perform at their best, implying that this focus can lead to greater success and fulfillment.

• "What's the 5% to 10% of the work that will deliver the right amount of product and that'll get enough sales so that you can get it off the start and in a path that can actually go towards building becoming a unicorn."

  • He suggests that founders should concentrate on the critical tasks that will have the most significant impact on their startup's success, rather than getting bogged down by less important activities.

• "You really need to understand your users and customers, what are the pain points, what is the future state, what are the things that they really care about, what's going to be the most impactful things in their lives emotionally, individually, and then firm level obviously."
  • Amini stresses the importance of deeply comprehending the needs and desires of users and customers, as this understanding is crucial for creating products that resonate and provide value.

• "I think you should always play your game and what you're good at, not look at competition because there's always ways you can look at competition but definitely don't like you should be aware of competition but just to be aware not really to impact how you go about this."

  • He advises founders to focus on their strengths and not to be overly influenced by competitors, suggesting that awareness of the competition is necessary, but it shouldn't dictate one's strategy.

• "Compete against yourself, not others."

  • Amini recommends that the benchmark for success should be one's own progress and achievements, rather than comparison with others, implying that this approach leads to genuine and sustainable growth.