Why I Started a Web Dev Agency While Working at YC Startups

Why I Started a Web Dev Agency After Working at YC Startups

I work at a YC-backed startup by day and run my own agency on the side. Here's why I started 4UGUSTA Systems alongside my full-time role.

The Startup Experience

I worked at two YC companies back-to-back:

Fuse AI (YC W25) — Built their Chrome extension from scratch. Learned how to ship fast, talk to users, and iterate based on feedback.

Avoca (YC '23) — Deployment engineer for conversational AI agents. Handled 1000+ daily interactions. Learned production reliability and monitoring.

Both were remote, both were intense, both taught me more than four years of college.

The Realization

Every startup needs a website. Every startup needs landing pages, dashboards, admin panels. Many need AI integrations. And most outsource this to agencies that charge a fortune and deliver mediocre work.

I thought: I can do this better.

Why Start an Agency on the Side?

  1. Variety — At Avoca, I work on one product. With the agency, every client is a different problem. I get both.
  2. Leverage — An agency scales differently than a salary. One well-built website funds a month of expenses.
  3. Timing — I work US hours at Avoca, which means Indian daytime is free for agency work. The time zones make it possible.

The Agency: 4UGUSTA Systems

I launched 4UGUSTA Systems to offer:

  • Fast execution (weeks, not months)
  • Modern stack (Next.js, Tailwind, AI integrations)
  • Reasonable pricing (especially for Indian startups)
  • Direct access to the builder

What's Next

I'm building in public. This blog documents the journey — technical decisions, startup lessons, and honest takes on the tools I use daily.

If you're building something and need help, book a call.


Follow the journey at 4ugusta.dev. Hire me through 4UGUSTA Systems.

A

Augusta Bhardwaj

Full-stack & AI engineer. Building production AI systems at YC-backed startups. Founder of 4UGUSTA Systems — a web development and AI agency.

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