Former Google colleagues Joe Cheuk and Praneet Dutta have launched their AI startup, Pomo, and secured $4.5 million in seed funding with a lean six-person team. The two cofounders, who first met at Google during their early careers, reunited last year to leave their respective corporate roles and pursue their shared vision of accelerating marketing decisions through artificial intelligence. Dutta, who served as CEO at Google Cloud and later at Google DeepMind until August 2025, and Cheuk, the CTO with a background in cloud infrastructure at Google and ad tech at Meta, recognized a significant shift in the AI landscape during early 2024. They determined that the rapid advancement of AI models provided the necessary technology to help companies make marketing decisions faster. After years of maintaining a connection and discussing the possibility of starting a company together, they felt the timing was finally right, aided by recent immigration stability for both founders. A major factor in their transition from Big Tech to a startup environment is the drastic increase in decision-making speed. In their previous roles, they were accustomed to multiple layers of approval and slower processes. At Pomo, the cost of indecision is significantly higher, requiring an immediate proactive approach. While the absence of established corporate structures presents challenges, the founders note that their experience in large organizations has validated many of their operational solutions, allowing them to act quickly without second-guessing established processes. Cheuk emphasizes that in the current AI era, the ability to execute rapidly is a critical differentiator. With AI tools enabling anyone to build software, technical knowledge alone is no longer sufficient. The founders believe that grinding through execution and moving fast enough to be first is the most valuable skill. This mindset has influenced their hiring strategy, prioritizing a small, highly capable team of six. Dutta, focused on leadership, relies on a five-person engineering team to build the company's system end-to-end. The team has been empowered to utilize AI coding agents, significantly speeding up development. This lean approach allows them to iterate quickly and capitalize on market opportunities before competitors. The $4.5 million funding round validates their thesis that the convergence of advanced AI capabilities and a lean operational model can transform the marketing technology sector. As they scale, the founders remain committed to the high-velocity culture that defines their startup, contrasting it sharply with the deliberative nature of their former employers. Their journey underscores a broader trend among tech veterans who are leaving established giants to tackle market inefficiencies with agility and AI-driven innovation.