Fairway Books
AI bookkeeping for the courses Silicon Valley skipped
shipped · currently piloting
available to chat
Nikhil Chepuri
I'm looking to build the next unicorn in Deep Tech or Physical AI at UT Austin. If you're ambitious, reach out.
drag to rotate
scrambling
00.00s
move 0 / 14
solver logic is hand-modeled after my own solving method — just a lot faster, haha
timeline of my obsessions
yeah, it's a lot
Age 1
Got obsessed with building, "playing" with LEGO Architecture sets and dinosaur puzzles
Age 12
Got obsessed with robotics, programming basic mobile games in Scratch like Flappy Bird
Age 13
Got obsessed with singing, becoming a Top 10 Classical Tenor in TX and Longhorn Singers member
Age 15
Got obsessed with gaming, placing Top 200 US in Fortnite tournaments and Brawl Stars rankings
Got obsessed with cubing, achieving a PB of 14 seconds after over 1000 total rubik's solves
Age 16
Got obsessed with chess, defeating a FIDE National Master and winning school/local tournaments
Got obsessed with fitness, pumping iron, running marathons, playing racket sports, and eating healthy
Age 17
Got obsessed with research, pitching AskALICE with United Way and earning 7th at JYEM Internationals
Age 18
Got obsessed with banking, sitting in Excel/Powerpoint and representing UT in Vancouver at UBC Finalist Pitch
Age 19
Got obsessed with startups, the rest is history...
the work i've shipped
shifting to deep tech and physical ai
in progress
Road to YC W26.
Documenting the entire journey of building over 90-ish days until Y Combinator's Winter 2026 Deadline. I'm looking to show people that you don't need to be technical or know everything. The hardest part is just getting started. Support the journey!
Follow along ›my philosophy
opinions I'll defend to the death
SaaS is dying
Replit CEO Amjad Masad recently predicted the "end of SaaS" to happen in some order of years. Agentic AI is closing the gap between having an idea and shipping working software so fast that most of what SaaS companies charge for today, the software itself, stops being the moat.
That's the trend I've been watching. It's also not the trend I'm most excited to build in.
the value of all application software will eventually "go to zero"
— Amjad Masad, CEO of Replit
I'm betting on Physical AI and Deep Tech instead
If software commoditizes, the advantage moves to whatever AI can't yet touch as easily: hardware, physical systems, and domains with real-world constraints: atoms, not just bits. That's where I want to spend my next years.
Filmed in Chongqing, China — after a trip through East Asia seeing firsthand what's actually being built in hardware and robotics.
click the track, then press SPACE to jump — clear all 3 to unlock
jump obstacle 01
01
Delusional optimism
Believing something can work well past the point where the data says it shouldn't. Every founder I respect has some of this.
jump obstacle 02
02
Obsession
Not "hard-working" — obsessed. Thinking about the problem in the shower, in line, at 2am, because you can't not.
jump obstacle 03
03
Founder-market fit
Some unfair advantage — lived experience, obsession, or access — that makes you the right person to solve this specific problem.
the creative side
more than just building
singing
Everything from Italian Opera to Ed Sheeran
People always tell me, "you're so lucky you can sing", but I've been singing forever! Now singing with UT's Longhorn Singers A Cappella.
fitness
Powerlifting, bodybuilding, or running – I love it all
I was never a sporty kid until COVID hit and I began doing those classic "Get Abs in 30 Mins" workouts. It's stuck since. Just hit 225 on bench!
trivia
I'm a sucker for learning, especially with prizes
My dad and I have binged game shows like "The Weakest Link" since I was a kid, so it's deeply rooted. Did Academic Decathlon in high school!
taekwondo
Sparring/fighting – I was basically Master Miyagi
Although getting kicked in the balls isn't the best feeling, martial arts taught me both mental and physical resilience. I also learned Korean!
let's build something, or talk building
Technical or not, I'm interested in hearing from anyone about anything startups, entrepreneurship, and nerdy.