Customers first, process first: lessons from the Devika Table Series

If you are working out how to scale a tech startup, two speakers at the Devika Table Series gave the same answer from different angles. Before you add money, speed or AI, understand your customers and your process.

The Devika Table Series is an intimate series of table events. The first one, Devika Table Series (S1), was a lunch in Sydney on Thursday 17 September 2026. Guests arrived and networked, heard from two speakers, sat down to lunch, then moved to drinks and round tables.

Michael Batko, co-founder and CEO of Hourglass AI and former CEO of Startmate, spoke on AI and the startup ecosystem. Richard Bell spoke on scaling tech-enabled companies. If you weren't in the room, here is what stuck. Both full talks are at the end.

How to raise money for a startup: start with customers, not the pitch deck

Asked where a startup should start, Michael Batko said his answer never changes: with customers. He said too many companies start with a pitch deck and begin thinking about how they will fundraise.

His view: "Fundraising is just a function of how well you understand your customers." If you understand them well, he said, you can answer two questions. Am I building for the right person? Am I building the right thing? With those two answers, he said, you can always fundraise.

He gave an example from Startmate. A cohort ran for 12 weeks, and for 10 of those weeks the companies were told not to have a single investor conversation. They focused on customers, then raised in the last two weeks. Flip that around, he said, and you waste your time with investors and burn a lot of goodwill.

When you are ready for the investor side, Devika has a short guide, the 4-step framework for getting your startup investor ready.

What do investors look for in a startup? Speed, distribution and no startup theatre

Michael Batko also spoke about what he looks for in a founder, drawing on his time at Startmate.

His top green flag was speed. He said you can see it in how quickly a founder replies to an email, and in how fast they ship and make hard calls. He also called distribution one of the hardest parts of starting a company, and said he would back a founder who leans into it.

His biggest red flag was what he calls startup theatre. That is the founder who turns up at every startup event. One or two useful events are fine, he said, especially if your customers are there. But the people to care about are "the people voting with the wallets", the customers.

Michael Batko on the AI startup ecosystem: what is still defensible

On AI, he said it makes speed matter even more. He also said that when AI can copy a website quickly, the question becomes what is truly unique about your company. His answers were proprietary data, your judgement and experience, and strong networks.

For how Devika approaches AI in a product, see AI app development.

How to scale a tech startup: fix the process before you speed it up

Richard Bell took a practical line on AI. You can have the best AI in the world, he said, but if your systems, processes and day-to-day operations don't work, speeding them up with AI "doesn't necessarily make the operations any better". Sometimes, he said, it can hinder growth.

His example came from scaling a childcare group. When he started, he wanted to know everything about opening a single centre. He said there are 374 steps, from finding the site through to enrolments, and he went through every one himself. His advice to any CEO: "get yourself in the weeds", and understand the business deeply before you try to scale it. He said those steps are still used today, run on project management systems with AI plugged in.

Advice for a non-technical founder: plan for the technology

Richard Bell also described a technology business for casual childcare staff, built around an app that connects centres directly with educators. Speaking as a non-technical founder, he said software has running costs, needs maintenance and security, and what works today may not work tomorrow. He recommended having a technology partner or an experienced CTO who can maintain and develop the product.

If you are weighing that up, Devika has a short read on whether you need a technical co-founder.

Plan the exit from the start

On exits, Richard Bell said less than 3% of founders get a meaningful, life-changing exit. That is his figure, and he said it isn't spoken about enough. His advice was to plan for an exit from the start. In practice, he said, that means building a business that has value without relying on the founder for everything.

Questions from the room

After each talk, the floor opened. Michael Batko took questions on investors as customers, which sectors are most exposed to AI, how venture funds run their systems, and selling AI into larger organisations. Richard Bell took questions on exits, private equity, AI and pricing a new product.

Watch the full talks

Both conversations are available in full, and shorter clips from each talk are on Instagram at @devikaworld.

How Investors Spot Great Founders in the AI Era (Michael Batko, about 22 minutes)

Key takeaways:

• Fundraising starts with customers. In his words, "Fundraising is just a function of how well you understand your customers." (From 10:30)
• Speed is his top green flag, and he would back a founder who leans into distribution. (From 1:09)
• Startup theatre is the red flag. The people to care about are "the people voting with the wallets". (From 3:49)

How to Scale a Business From 5 to 50 Centres (Richard Bell, about 24 minutes)

Key takeaways:

• Fix the process first. If the basics don't work, AI "doesn't necessarily make the operations any better". (From 0:39)
• Get into the detail before you scale. His advice to any CEO: "get yourself in the weeds". (From 2:05)
• Non-technical founders need a technology partner or an experienced CTO, and should plan the exit from the start. (From 12:09 and 14:55)

Where Devika fits

On our startups page, we put our starting point this way: "Before you code, understand your users, validate the problem and shape the opportunity."

Watch the full conversations above. If you have an idea or a product you want to take further, book a call with the Devika team.

Frequently asked questions

Should a startup talk to investors or customers first?

Customers, according to Michael Batko. He said fundraising is a function of how well you understand your customers. At Startmate, he said, companies spent 10 of 12 weeks on customers with no investor conversations, then raised in the last two weeks.

What is Michael Batko's biggest red flag in a founder?

Startup theatre: the founder who turns up at every startup event. He said one or two useful events are fine, especially where your customers are.

Will AI fix a broken business process?

Not necessarily, according to Richard Bell. He said that if your systems and day-to-day operations don't work, speeding them up with AI doesn't necessarily make them better, and sometimes it can hinder growth.

What should a non-technical founder know about building a tech product?

Richard Bell said software has running costs and needs maintenance and security, and that what works today may not work tomorrow. He recommended having a technology partner or an experienced CTO.