AI-native product studio

Building AI-native products from curiosity to launch.

Value Add is an AI-native product studio run by one person and many agents. Nodo is the first of many products.

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How I work

One person. Many agents.

Product

PRDs, user stories, prioritization, launch criteria.

Engineering

Architecture, code, reviews, tests, deployment.

Growth

Positioning, landing pages, posts, feedback loops.

AI handles the leverage. I make the judgment calls.

The thesis

Software companies are getting smaller.

What used to require a small team — product, engineering, design, QA, marketing, analytics — can now be orchestrated by one person with the right AI-native operating system.

Value Add exists to test that shift in public through real products, real users, and fast iteration.

Origin

From studying value to building it.

01 / Research

The Value Add newsletter & podcast

Value Add began as a newsletter and podcast exploring alternative investments — real estate, private credit, wine funds, startups, and the people creating value outside traditional public markets.

02 / Experimentation

RecoverFit

Writing turned into tinkering. RecoverFit was a PT-led recovery and injury-prevention concept run out of NYC to help you maximize your workout while minimizing injury.

03 / Enterprise discipline

Product at Citi

Building a suite of data and analytics products at enterprise scale to help Risk Managers monitor credit exposure through ad-hoc and self-serve insights.

04 / AI-native building

Claude, Codex, and the return of curiosity

Combining years of product thinking, UX instincts, and enterprise discipline with AI agents like Claude Code and Codex — turning one person's judgment into a full product operation.

Portfolio

Products and experiments.

Nodo is the first AI-native product built through the Value Add operating model — launched from a personal pain point.

Nodo

Early access

Your productivity system that follows up.

Nodo is a WhatsApp-based accountability agent that helps people capture, organize, and act on their tasks, reminders, ideas, bookmarks, and goals. You text it like a person. It remembers, prioritizes, follows up, and brings things back when they matter.

Visit getnodo.ai →

Good morning — here are your top priorities for today.

remind me to follow up with beta users tomorrow

Done. I'll bring it back tomorrow morning.

How I build

Product judgment in front. AI leverage behind it.

Internally, Value Add runs on a reusable AI-native operating model: briefs, PRDs, prioritization frameworks, agent skills, review loops, launch workflows, and lightweight infrastructure.

Plan

Product clarity

Define the user, the wedge, the jobs-to-be-done, and the smallest valuable version.

Build

Agent execution

Use Claude Code, Codex, and reusable skills to turn product specs into working software.

Review

Quality loops

Challenge assumptions, review code, test edge cases, and tighten UX before launch.

Ship

Fast feedback

Launch quickly, watch behavior, collect feedback, and decide what deserves more investment.

Writing

The Value Add

The newsletter is becoming a build log: notes on AI-native product development, solo founder leverage, agent workflows, and what I'm learning while building Nodo and future products.

Read on Substack →

Founder

Nikhil "Nik" Pajankar

Product leader in risk analytics by day. Solo founder building AI-native products by night. I'm interested in the intersection of enterprise rigor, consumer software, and the new leverage AI gives individual builders.

Outside of work, I'm usually planning a dive trip, hunting for a great meal, or escaping the city for the mountains.

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Value Add Capital LLC

The entity behind Nodo and other AI-native software products.