Fail Fast, Automate Faster: Minesh Pore on Using AI to Build What Customers Need

In this episode of ENTREPRENEURISM, Scott interviews Minesh Pore, Co-Founder & CEO of BuyHive and Founder & CEO of SourcingGPT.ai, exploring how he's leveraging AI throughout his business. Minesh shares how he went from Yellow Pages ad sales to leading global sourcing teams, then bootstrapping BuyHive through the chaos of COVID by focusing relentlessly on revenue. He then reveals how SourcingGPT was born from thousands of hours of on-the-ground sourcing expertise, and how vertical AI agents can automate RFQs, supplier discovery, and landed-cost calculations—freeing people to focus on judgment, relationships, and growth. The conversation wraps with a founder’s playbook for starting AI-native businesses, failing fast, and making sure you’re actually solving real customer problems.Timestamped Show Notes[00:00] Teaser – Minesh describes how AI can write RFQs, find suppliers, and calculate shipping and duties in seconds, replacing “mundane tasks” with dashboards.[01:05] Show Intro – Scott introduces ENTREPRENEURISM and the show’s focus on the tensions and superpowers of real entrepreneurs.[02:37] Guest Intro – Scott welcomes Minesh Pore, highlighting his roles at BuyHive and SourcingGPT and his new book Everyone Is a Builder Now. [04:10] Early entrepreneurial roots – Minesh recalls selling Yellow Pages ads to every kind of small business and how discomfort and global moves (India, US, Taiwan, China, Europe) built his entrepreneurial mindset. [07:31] Leaving corporate and founding BuyHive – He explains selling his previous company to Blackstone, the shift to balance-sheet management, and why he left to build BuyHive as a network of on-demand sourcing experts. [09:31] Bootstrapping through COVID – With supply chains breaking and funding drying up, Minesh focused the team on one thing—revenue—using sales margins instead of venture capital and breaking even within eight months. [12:23] Choosing not to chase hyperscale – Minesh explains why he’s comfortable with steady 15–20% annual growth at BuyHive and doesn’t want investor pressure in a traditional industry. [13:11] Birth of SourcingGPT.ai – Collecting data from 3,000+ sourcing experts led to the idea of encoding their expertise into an AI tool that can save ~250 hours per SKU by automating supplier discovery, RFQs, duty and freight calculations, and compliance. [14:27] Why write a book on AI for non-technical people – After speaking at events and seeing fear and misinformation about AI, Minesh decided to show practical ways AI can make life more efficient—not replace people—and free time for higher-value work and family. [17:02] Where founders should start with AI – He urges entrepreneurs to honestly list the tasks and SOPs that don’t add real value (the “mundane tasks”) and target those first for automation. [18:13] Why 80–85% of corporate AI projects fail – Minesh cites top-down “we must do AI” initiatives, consultant-driven blue-sky ideas, and a lack of ground-level input on actual frustrations as key reasons many AI investments miss the mark. [19:22] Real examples: Amazon warehouses & sourcing workflows – From warehouse robotics to SourcingGPT’s automation of RFQs and supplier search, he illustrates how AI should target repetitive, low-value work. [20:40] Why you still need a human in the loop – Minesh stresses that AI should improve efficiency, not replace people; humans still provide brand context, aesthetic decisions, tech packs, and real-time judgment on changes like warehouse locations. [23:11] From individual productivity to organizational leverage – Scott and Minesh explore how freeing sourcing teams from grunt work lets them focus on content, new product development, and new business lines instead of headcount cuts. [25:27] Quick Fire: Entrepreneurial HacksBook every entrepreneur should read: The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz.Morning habit: constantly asking, “How can I simplify today?”Tools he can’t live without: ChatGPT and Manus for automating browser-based work.Grounding habit: daily debriefs with his six-year-old daughter, whose simple stories reframe what really matters.Best business advice received: “Fail fast”—treat failure as learning and iterate honestly and quickly. [31:09] How to design an AI-native company in 2025 – Minesh, a non-technical founder, explains how no-code/low-code tools and AI copilots (like Manus, ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, Lovable) let you ideate, build MVPs, and go to market fast without large teams. [33:18] Start with the problem, not the tech – He argues that in an AI-enabled world, your edge is understanding customers and solving their problems fastest; technology is widely available but customer insight is not. [34:46] Talking to 500 users before building – Minesh shares that he spoke one-on-one with about 500 early signups for SourcingGPT to deeply understand their challenges before locking in product direction. [35:56] Wrap-up & key takeaway – Scott closes on Minesh’s reminder that AI can help founders fail faster and build faster—but only if they’re solving real human problems. [36:05] Show Outro – Scott thanks listeners, invites feedback and shares the core message: entrepreneurship is about disciplined action, not just spotting opportunities. Quick Fire – Books & Tools MentionedBooksThe Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers – Ben Horowitz Amazon+1Apps / ToolsChatGPT – AI assistant from OpenAI used for everyday problem-solving and idea exploration. ChatGPTManus – An autonomous AI agent that can operate directly in your browser to execute multi-step tasks and automate workflows. Manus+1