Chicago Founders TV: Insights from Top Founders

There's the killer idea. The dynamic team. The seed round. Great founders today -- the ones who create high-growth, scalable businesses -- understand that these and other elements are indispensable in transforming a startup into today’s unicorn company. But before any of that has an impact, there is one thing that every successful business must find: perfect product-market fit. In "The Only Thing That Matters: Getting Your Startup to Product-Market Fit," we sit down with hall of fame-level entrepreneurs who discussing the insights that allowed them to achieve product-market fit. In Episode 12, host Pat Ryan talks with serial finance and music entrepreneur David Kalt, who founded OptionsXpress (sold to Charles Schwab for $1B) and online instrument marketplace Reverb.com.

There's the killer idea. The dynamic team. The seed round. Great founders today -- the ones who create high-growth, scalable businesses -- understand that these and other elements are indispensable in transforming a startup into today’s unicorn company. But before any of that has an impact, there is one thing that every successful business must find: perfect product-market fit. In "The Only Thing That Matters: Getting Your Startup to Product-Market Fit," we sit down with hall of fame-level entrepreneurs who discussing the insights that allowed them to achieve product-market fit. In Episode 11, host Pat Ryan sits down with Raise founder George Bousis, who has brought in over $87.2M for his peer-to-peer gift card marketplace.

There's the killer idea. The dynamic team. The seed round. Great founders today -- the ones who create high-growth, scalable businesses -- understand that these and other elements are indispensable in transforming a startup into today’s unicorn company. But before any of that has an impact, there is one thing that every successful business must find: perfect product-market fit. In "The Only Thing That Matters: Getting Your Startup to Product-Market Fit," we sit down with hall of fame-level entrepreneurs who discussing the insights that allowed them to achieve product-market fit. In Episode 9, host Pat Ryan talks with serial entrepreneur Sam Yagan, who founded SparkNotes, eDonkey, OkCupid, and Excelerate Labs.

There's the killer idea. The dynamic team. The seed round. Great founders today -- the ones who create high-growth, scalable businesses -- understand that these and other elements are indispensable in transforming a startup into today’s unicorn company. But before any of that has an impact, there is one thing that every successful business must find: perfect product-market fit. In "The Only Thing That Matters: Getting Your Startup to Product-Market Fit," we sit down with hall of fame-level entrepreneurs who discussing the insights that allowed them to achieve product-market fit. Episode 10: Matt Maloney, Cofounder of Grubhub

There's the killer idea. The dynamic team. The seed round. Great founders today -- the ones who create high-growth, scalable businesses -- understand that these and other elements are indispensable in transforming a startup into today’s unicorn company. But before any of that has an impact, there is one thing that every successful business must find: perfect product-market fit. In "The Only Thing That Matters: Getting Your Startup to Product-Market Fit," we sit down with hall of fame-level entrepreneurs who discussing the insights that allowed them to achieve product-market fit. In Episode 8, host Pat Ryan talks with Braintree founder Bryan Johnson who sold his company to PayPal for $800M.

There's the killer idea. The dynamic team. The seed round. Great founders today -- the ones who create high-growth, scalable businesses -- understand that these and other elements are indispensable in transforming a startup into today’s unicorn company. But before any of that has an impact, there is one thing that every successful business must find: perfect product-market fit. In "The Only Thing That Matters: Getting Your Startup to Product-Market Fit," we sit down with hall of fame-level entrepreneurs who discussing the insights that allowed them to achieve product-market fit. In Episode 7, host Pat Ryan talks with kCura founder Andrew Sieja, who landed a $125M investment from ICONIQ Capital.

There's the killer idea. The dynamic team. The seed round. Great founders today -- the ones who create high-growth, scalable businesses -- understand that these and other elements are indispensable in transforming a startup into today’s unicorn company. But before any of that has an impact, there is one thing that every successful business must find: perfect product-market fit. In "The Only Thing That Matters: Getting Your Startup to Product-Market Fit," we sit down with hall of fame-level entrepreneurs who discussing the insights that allowed them to achieve product-market fit. In Episode 6, host Pat Ryan talks with Basecamp co-founder, CEO and thought leader Jason Fried.

There's the killer idea. The dynamic team. The seed round. Great founders today -- the ones who create high-growth, scalable businesses -- understand that these and other elements are indispensable in transforming a startup into today’s unicorn company. But before any of that has an impact, there is one thing that every successful business must find: perfect product-market fit. In "The Only Thing That Matters: Getting Your Startup to Product-Market Fit," we sit down with hall of fame-level entrepreneurs who discussing the insights that allowed them to achieve product-market fit. In Episode 5, host Pat Ryan talks with serial entrepreneur Brett Hurt, who founded CoreMetrics (today at a $405M market cap) and Bazaarvoice (acquired by IBM), and recently launched his most exciting company yet, Date.World.

There's the killer idea. The dynamic team. The seed round. Great founders today -- the ones who create high-growth, scalable businesses -- understand that these and other elements are indispensable in transforming a startup into today’s unicorn company. But before any of that has an impact, there is one thing that every successful business must find: perfect product-market fit. In "The Only Thing That Matters: Getting Your Startup to Product-Market Fit," we sit down with hall of fame-level entrepreneurs who discussing the insights that allowed them to achieve product-market fit. In Episode 4, host Pat Ryan talks with Fieldglass founder Jai Shekhawat, who sold his company to SAP for over $1B.

There's the killer idea. The dynamic team. The seed round. Great founders today -- the ones who create high-growth, scalable businesses -- understand that these and other elements are indispensable in transforming a startup into today’s unicorn company. But before any of that has an impact, there is one thing that every successful business must find: perfect product-market fit. In "The Only Thing That Matters: Getting Your Startup to Product-Market Fit," we sit down with hall of fame-level entrepreneurs who discussing the insights that allowed them to achieve product-market fit. In Episode 3, host Pat Ryan talks with Financial tech entrepreneur Al Goldstein, whose most recent company, Avant, has raised over $1.4B in funding.

There's the killer idea. The dynamic team. The seed round. Great founders today -- the ones who create high-growth, scalable businesses -- understand that these and other elements are indispensable in transforming a startup into today’s unicorn company. But before any of that has an impact, there is one thing that every successful business must find: perfect product-market fit. In "The Only Thing That Matters: Getting Your Startup to Product-Market Fit," we sit down with hall of fame-level entrepreneurs who discussing the insights that allowed them to achieve product-market fit. Episode 2: Brian Spaly, founder of Trunk Club and Bonobos. Key takeaways include: -Talk to prospective customers. Nothing replaces the value of in-depth market research -Don't underestimate the value of a niche. It may be your strongest market. -Go out and sell the product yourself. Sales are key to product-market fit. Listen for more

There's the killer idea. The dynamic team. The seed round. Great founders today -- the ones who create high-growth, scalable businesses -- understand that these and other elements are indispensable in transforming a startup into today’s unicorn company. But before any of that has an impact, there is one thing that every successful business must find: perfect product-market fit. In "The Only Thing That Matters: Getting Your Startup to Product-Market Fit," we sit down with hall of fame-level entrepreneurs who discussing the insights that allowed them to achieve product-market fit. Episode 1: Joe Mansueto, founder of Morningstar. Key takeaways include: -Know a problem "inside out" to gather key insights -Harness major emerging trends to create explosive growth -Find other complementary trends that can further amplify your wave Listen for more