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When Vish Varma and Roupen Minassian first started building Vern, it wasn’t the product they’re known for today. Back then, it was a tool for designers and researchers: a concept that earned polite nods but little urgency.

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"We had 50-plus discovery calls. People said, 'Yeah, I'd probably use that. Let me know when it's ready.' But no one was banging down our door," Vish recalls. Fast-forward a few months, and Vern has transformed into a browser agent platform helping software companies integrate with legacy systems that don't have APIs.

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‍In plain terms: Vern builds AI agents that use the browser like a human would, automating repetitive web tasks so companies don’t have to.

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They’ve launched. They’re onboarding real customers. And they’re feeling the pull.

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Before Vern, Vish was at Employment Hero, one of Australia's biggest tech success stories. There, in the product team, he started tinkering with AI - specifically, how it could be used to design better user experiences. He built a prototype tool using browser agents to map user flows.

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"I thought there was a real opportunity there," Vish says. Around that same time, he met his now co-founder Roupen Minassian through Annie Liao’s, Build Club. The pair started collaborating in late 2024, and by early 2025, they were in full swing.

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I first came across Vish at Startmate’s bi-annual Pitch Night, a high-energy event where Launch Clubbers, Student Fellows, Accelerator alumni and community members pitch their startups to some of the best VCs across Australia and New Zealand. One attendee described it as "a house party with an objective" and honestly, that captures it perfectly. Pitch Nights are usually a blur of deck-flipping, empty pizza boxes, exaggerated TAMs and relentless startup jargon. But Vish stood out immediately. He brought a calm optimism and quiet conviction that made the room lean in. Within moments, everyone was on board. And at the back of the room, almost understated, sat Roupen - watching what they had built quietly resonate.

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But at the start - Vern wasn’t received as well. Their first idea was a tool for designers and researchers. The response? Lukewarm. "We realised 80-90% of our engineering effort was going into this one feature: browser agents. So we said, 'Maybe that’s the product.'" They ran a litmus test. Response was immediate. Within a day, they closed a paid pilot. The pivot was clear.

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"It was tough," Vish says. "We had to let go of the first idea, all those discovery calls, all that work. But we knew it was right. We had business validation." It’s a lesson that’s stuck with him. During our chat, Vish reflected on another key shift in mindset: just because you can build a feature, doesn’t mean you should.

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"I’ve been upskilling in AI, learning how to program properly. Now we can ship features really fast. That’s been a big growth point for me," he says. But that speed also came with temptation. "Once you realise how fast you can build, the temptation is to do everything. But Startmate really drilled into us: focus on what moves the needle."

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And if there’s one philosophy that’s guided Vern through each turn, it’s that "there’s no such thing as failed discovery. The point is to discover. Even if you find your idea doesn’t work that is the insight."

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What’s next for Vern?

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If you're a startup operating in property, healthcare, trades, or automotive services—and you're hitting roadblocks because of clunky legacy software—Vern wants to hear from you.

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📩 Check out vern.so to learn more and connect with Vish and Roupen.

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