Mentorship Cafe [GFS Rising Founders]

Mike's Notes

I had to get up yesterday morning at 3am (NZ Time) to attend the Mentorship Cafe organised by Google. I learned a lot from the mentors. Thanks for the help, guys.

Resources

• https://www.blog.ajabbi.com/2026/10/stealth-mod-continues.html
• https://startup.google.com/programs/accelerator/
• https://www.ukri.org/opportunity/?filter_council%5B%5D=822

References

• Reference

Repository

• Home > Ajabbi Research > Library >
• Home > Handbook > 

Last Updated

15/10/2026

Mentorship Cafe [GFS Rising Founders]

By: Mike Peters

On a Sandy Beach: 15/10/2026

Mike Peters: Mike invented and designed Pipi and founded Ajabbi.

...

Google for Startups (GFS) Rising Founders Community is a global initiative Google created to support high-potential tech startup founders.

I have been attending some of it from New Zealand, as long as the hours aren't in the middle of the night. It has been useful.

Yesterday, there was a 90-minute Mentorship Cafe. I had applied to attend and was successful. There were two 30-minute one-on-one sessions with a mentor. It was excellent; this is what I learned from Georg, Nsikak and Kennedy.

Context

Ajabbi is mission-led, bootstrapped, with no investor funding planned. All profits go to a non-profit foundation. Its SaaS product, Pipi, solves a very hard, expensive problem. There is no competition. The algorithms and maths involved require top-notch talent.

My questions

How do I recruit a remote workforce for the mission? How do I know that I have found the right people? How do I connect directly with Google DeepMind scientists, since connecting Pipi to Gemini will be a 2-way experiment by both teams?

Suggestions from mentors

• Build a community first.
• Grad students want a project anyway.
• Creds on their CV for career building.
• Internship program.
• Be associated with a big name (University, etc.).
• Need to connect to a senior Google scientist

Discussion

• Ajabbi is using "Honey Traps" to attract people with the right mindset/talent. They all have to prove themselves
• Pipi doesn't use LLM vectors, skills, transformers, or harnesses. It is based on how a biological cell works, so it uses different algorithms. High-level mathematicians are needed. MCP may not work here.

Actions

• Update Stealth Mode plan