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Season 01 Ep #39 Sid’s Unconventional Journey Through Startups and GEO

YesUsers Podcast

Introduction: A Global Citizen Turned Startup Maverick

What does a childhood across three continents, a travel startup, and Generative AI have in common? They’re all pivotal chapters in Sid’s journey, a story of adaptability, resilience, and marketing genius.

In this episode of YesUsers Podcast, we explore how Sid went from:
✔️ A BITS Pilani grad surviving desert-campus life
✔️ A founder who pivoted from travel apps to AI
✔️ A fractional CMO scaling SaaS companies
✔️ An early voice in Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)—the next frontier of SEO

“If you’re asking whether you have product-market fit, you don’t.” — Sid’s mantra for founders.

Chapter 1: The Making of a Nomad Entrepreneur

From Lagos to BITS Pilani: A Crash Course in Adaptability

  • Born in Bangalore, raised in Nigeria, and traveled to 20+ countries.

  • Culture shock? “Moving to Canada felt easy, BITS Pilani was harder.”

  • BITS survival mode: No AC, 40°C summers, and a 4-hour bus ride to civilization.

    • “It was like startup bootcamp: thrive in discomfort or quit.”

Startup #1: The Travel App That Taught Him When to Quit

  • Treadalong → Adventuring: A Foursquare-meets-Airbnb experiences idea.

  • Why it failed:

    • Low demand in Chile (“We’d get 5 bookings a month”).

    • Pivot lesson: “If customers aren’t pulling your product, stop pushing.”

Chapter 2: The Consulting Pivot

How Initial Failure Led to Fractional CMO Work

After shutting down Adventuring, Sid:

  1. Took a solo travel break to reset.

  2. Leveraged his network for consulting gigs (no job applications!).

  3. Scaled marketing for Thinkific and LemonStand.

Sid’s Playbook for Early-Stage Startups

  • Outsource expertise: “Hire a fractional CMO before a full-time marketer.”

  • Prove channels fast: Test ads, affiliates, and content—double down on what works.

  • Case Study: His *30-60-90 Day Plan for Marketers* blog post ranked #1 on Google and flooded Thinkific with leads.

Chapter 3: Cracking Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)

Why GEO is the Next SEO

  • The shift: 40% of users now trust ChatGPT’s recommendations over Google.

  • Sid’s experiment: A deep dive on Google’s Agent Development Kit that now drives 50% of his blog traffic via ChatGPT referrals.

3 GEO Tactics Sid Swears By

  1. Build authority: AI favors credible sources. Example: Interview experts for pillar content.

  2. Structure for LLMs: Use clear headers, FAQs, and schema markup.

  3. Monitor AI traffic: Tools like AI Monitor track ChatGPT-driven visits.

(Fun fact: Sid’s GEO work began when Microsoft Copilot dissed a startup he admired—now he’s fighting back.)

Sid’s Advice for Founders

  1. Listen to the market—but don’t quit too early. (“100 ‘no’s mean pivot, not surrender.”)

  2. Bet on GEO: “ChatGPT won’t kill Google, but it will eat its lunch.”

  3. Content is king: “A single 10,000-word guide can fuel your growth for years.”

Key Takeaways

  1. Roots of Resilience: Growing up in Nigeria and India taught Sid to adapt—a skill that saved his startups.

  2. Fail Fast, Learn Faster: His travel app flopped, but led to consulting for brands like Thinkific and Gorgias.

  3. Content That Dominates: Sid’s 20,000-word “ultimate guides” drive organic traffic for years.

  4. GEO = The New SEO: Why optimizing for ChatGPT recommendations is the next big marketing play.