Kindling, Adam Miller and Sachin Shah's tech media startup, raises a small angel round with Airtree participating.
Sachin Shah says AFR backlash over that raise targeted gender imbalances in funding, not them personally.
Kindling aims within a year to become the world's biggest tech creators, make software cash flow positive, and hire a CTO.
Two Friends Turn a Podcast Into a Tech Media Startup
Kindling is a bet that personality-led media about startups can be a business, and that AI makes it more valuable rather than less. Adam Miller and Sachin Shah started as podcasters at university, raised a small angel round and publish the build weekly. The raise drew public criticism they read as aimed at the funding system rather than at them. On AI they agree knowledge work is most exposed and split on who captures the value.
Takeaways
A podcast became a tech media startup. Adam Miller and Sachin Shah began the Sachin and Adam Show in their second year of university, recording conversations with friends out of curiosity. Kindling now spreads APAC startup voices and adds a software platform for creators.
AI hits knowledge work, not trades. Sachin expects AI to displace knowledge workers rather than tradespeople, and worries about inequality as a few companies capture the value. Adam is more optimistic, seeing existing phones and laptops as ready distribution for tools like ChatGPT.
AI splits giants from tiny, productive firms. Adam describes a bifurcation between FAANG and foundation model companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic on one side, and small firms reaching billion-dollar scale with about a dozen employees, leaving a glut in the middle.
They raised small and kept salaries low. The round came mostly from angels in their network, with Airtree joining a community round. They chose to raise rather than bootstrap, and publish a vlog a week because nobody in Australia documented the founder journey well.
Backlash aimed at the funding system. After the Australian Financial Review covered the raise, Sachin says the anger was directed at the system and gender imbalances in funding rather than at them. Adam says pile-ons can become worse than the original criticism and are rewarded by algorithms.
Kindling wants to be top tech creators. Within a year they want to be known as the biggest tech creators in the world, with unannounced projects making more cinematic, documentary-style content, while making the software side cash flow positive and hiring a CTO.
Ambition is timed to few obligations. Sachin says they took the plunge now because they are at least five years from marriage or children, and Adam says the founders who build world-changing companies share an intensity that ignores advice. Both still live with their parents.
The split on AI and creativity
Adam Miller argues creativity becomes the competitive advantage as other factors are automated, and points to their editor, who works much faster using AI plugins such as Adobe Podcast.
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On this episode 4
Show 1
Sachin Shah argues prompting and creativity will lose value, with the gains going to whoever runs the models. He also argues that as content becomes AI, personalities matter more, citing Oprah Winfrey.