Podcasts about finding product market fit

In this episode of Tank Talks, host Matt Cohen sits down with Mina Mitry, CEO and Co-Founder of Kepler Communications, one of the world's most ambitious space infrastructure companies. With a journey that spans from winning $75,000 in university pitch competitions to building the world's first commercial optical data relay network, Mina's experience offers valuable insights for founders, especially those navigating the challenges of building deep-tech and hardware-driven companies.Mina shares his entrepreneurial beginnings, the lessons he learned while scaling Kepler, and the hard pivot from off-the-shelf software to a vertically integrated satellite manufacturing model. He also discusses the Arctic surveillance gap, why real-time space data is critical for Canadian sovereignty, and how Kepler was selected as prime contractor for ESA's Hydron Element 3 project.From launching 10 satellites on a SpaceX Falcon 9 to shooting lasers across 6,500 kilometers in orbit, Mina dives into his journey and the key principles he follows in his entrepreneurial endeavors. Whether you're interested in space tech, defense, or sovereign infrastructure, Mina's story provides inspiration and practical wisdom.From University Rockets to Building Space Infrastructure (02:03)* Mina's journey from a first-generation immigrant family to co-founding Kepler at the University of Toronto* Why Kepler's original mission of bringing the internet beyond Earth has never changed* The ultimatum that convinced his co-founders to leave traditional career paths behindThe Early Days of Kepler and Finding Product-Market Fit (06:36)* How Kepler survived the early years with limited capital and massive ambition* Why remote communications in the Arctic became one of the company's first real-world use cases* The challenge of convincing investors in 2015 that orbital laser networks were even possibleSatellites, Orbital Networks, and Why Space Connectivity Matters (08:25)* A breakdown of low Earth orbit, geostationary orbit, and why northern connectivity remains difficult* How Kepler built the world's first commercial laser-based relay network in space* Why real-time data transmission is becoming critical for everything from disaster response to defenseBuilding Canada's Largest Orbital Data Center (14:22)* What it actually means to put compute infrastructure in orbit* Why SpaceX, Starship, and falling launch costs could completely reshape the space economy* The engineering, thermal, and regulatory challenges of scaling orbital infrastructureInside Kepler's Falcon 9 Launch Moment (16:48)* What it felt like watching Kepler's satellites launch from Vandenberg for the first time* The emotional significance of one of Canada's largest space milestones in years* Why launch economics and insurance remain misunderstood parts of the industryDefense, Arctic Surveillance, and Sovereign Space Infrastructure (19:42)* How Kepler is helping governments access real-time intelligence from space* Why the Arctic has become a major strategic priority for Canada and its allies* The role of orbital infrastructure in missile detection, surveillance, and national securityThe Geopolitical Tailwinds Behind Space Sovereignty (23:19)* Why middle powers are increasingly investing in sovereign technology infrastructure* How defense ministries around the world are approaching space-based intelligence differently* The recurring revenue model behind Kepler's government partnershipsWhy Space Tech Moats Are Built Over Decades (26:56)* Why Mina believes infrastructure, regulatory access, and time are harder to replicate than capital* The importance of spectrum rights, security clearances, and orbital heritage* Why Kepler's biggest competitive advantage may simply be the years it has already spent buildingJeremy Hansen, Artemis II, and Inspiring the Next Generation (28:43)* What Canada's moon mission means for the future of the country's space sector* Why Mina believes visibility and inspiration matter as much as technology itself* How astronauts have become both cultural icons and catalysts for innovationWhy Ambition Still Matters Most for Founders (31:00)* Mina's advice for founders building difficult, long-term companies* Why independent thinking matters more than following trends* The types of space startups Mina believes are still too early to realistically succeedAbout Mina MitryMina Mitry is the CEO and co-founder of Kepler Communications, a Toronto-based space infrastructure company building the world's first commercial optical data relay network. A first-generation Egyptian-Canadian, Mina started Kepler out of the University of Toronto in 2015 with $75,000 from pitch competitions. Under his leadership, Kepler has grown to over 200 employees, vertically integrated its satellite manufacturing, and launched 10 optical relay satellites on a SpaceX Falcon 9 in January 2026. Mina holds advanced degrees in engineering, left a PhD program to start Kepler, and has become one of Canada's most outspoken advocates for sovereign space capability, real-time data infrastructure, and ambitious engineering.Connect with Mina Mitry on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mmitry?originalSubdomain=caVisit Kepler Communications website: https://kepler.space/Connect with Matt Cohen on LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/matt-cohen1Visit the Ripple Ventures website: https://www.rippleventures.com/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tanktalks.substack.com

Send us Fan MailJosh Suggs went from walking 35,000 steps a day in Washington Square Park with a microphone to building Street Talk, a $9 million street interview agency with 94 employees — all before age 23. In this episode, Josh breaks down how he found product market fit in the content agency space, dropped out of college, and scaled a brand content business from zero using nothing but hustle, delusional confidence, and a powerful flywheel strategy for client acquisition.You'll learn how Josh built a repeatable system for selling street interviews to DTC and e-commerce brands, why authenticity is the ultimate moat against AI-generated content, how he recruited his first street interviewers from actor casting calls in a CVS lobby, and the exact partnership strategy that 4x'd his growth when he merged with his co-founder Luke. Whether you're starting your first business or scaling an agency, Josh's playbook on delegation, leverage, and building a real asset is packed with actionable lessons.Subscribe and drop a comment with your biggest takeaway from Josh's story.Chapters: 00:00 – How Josh Suggs Started Street Talk Agency02:34 – Why Street Interviews Are a Business Moat05:02 – From Special Ed to $190K in One Summer08:23 – Quitting a Job Before Day One to Go All In10:06 – Walking 35,000 Steps a Day in New York City12:36 – The Phone Call That Made Him Drop Out14:33 – Surviving Winter as a Solo Street Interviewer17:19 – Recruiting Street Interviewers From a CVS Lobby19:36 – How a Corporate Executive Joined a 21-Year-Old24:22 – Why Delusional Confidence Beats Experience25:35 – Finding Product Market Fit in a Niche Offer28:09 – Scaling From Solo Founder to 94 Employees31:06 – What Happens When the Business Outgrows You33:07 – Building Brand Authority With a Founder Series35:33 – Why AI Makes Street Interviews More Valuable38:48 – Best Advice for 19-Year-Olds Who Want to Start43:21 – The Twitter Flywheel for Landing Brand Clients46:14 – How to Trade Value for Authority at Every Stage#StreetInterviews #ContentAgency #YoungEntrepreneurConnect with Us!https://www.instagram.com/alchemists.library/https://twitter.com/RyanJAyala

In this episode of the SportsTech All-Stars Podcast, we present Eddie Lewis, Founder and President of TOCA Football.The conversation explores how a self-taught training method, built around a tennis ball machine, became the foundation of one of the most well-funded sports tech companies in the world, and how TOCA Football is now expanding beyond youth training into competitive socialisation with TOCA Social.TakeawaysA self-developed training concept can become a $200M+ business if the underlying insight is strong enoughLegacy team training formats are inefficient at addressing individual technical gaps in soccer playersTOCA Football's tech evolved from a basic ball machine to an adaptive, AI-driven training systemCompetitive socialisation is a macro trend reshaping how fans engage with sport beyond playing or watchingPerformance tech is moving downstream — from elite clubs to everyday players and youth programsYouth sports investment is accelerating and remains a high-conviction area for operators and investorsThe 2026 World Cup in the US is a once-in-a-generation commercial moment for the soccer industryTeams and venues that build a flywheel between training and entertainment will define the next eraTo learn more, visit: https://www.tocafootball.com Get in touch with Eddie Lewis at: linkedin.com/in/eddielewisHosted by ⁠Rohn Malhotra⁠ from ⁠SportsTechX⁠ - Leading source of Investment and Innovation insights in sports. STX Intelligence Hub: sports tech company, investor, and deal database: intelligence.sportstechx.comAs promised, here's your small surprise:Unlock your 30-day growth plan (worth €49) on the SportsTechX Intelligence Hub for free!Simply verify your company details and you get access to 1,500+ investors, programmes, initiatives and events in the sportstech ecosystem.⁠Here's how to get set up⁠ and if you'd like a walkthrough of the platform, feel free to book a call ⁠here⁠.More from SportsTechX:Explore the SportsTechX Intelligence Hub, an interactive database of over 8,000 sports tech companies, 8,000+ deals, 1,000+ investors, programs and events - ⁠HERE⁠Download the latest Global Sports Tech Ecosystem Report - ⁠HERE⁠Sign Up for the Sports Tech Weekly Newsletter for more news, features & insights on Sports Tech - ⁠HERE ⁠Stay Connected and follow for more:⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠Apple PodcastChapters00:00 Introduction03:14 The Origin of TOCA Football and Eddie's Playing Career 07:05 Why Individual Technical Training Didn't Exist in Soccer 09:59 Raising $200M and Finding Product-Market Fit 14:17 How TOCA's Technology Has Evolved 15:27 Playing Alongside David Beckham at LA Galaxy 17:53 TOCA Social and the Competitive Socialisation Trend 21:14 Macro Trends in Sports Tech Investment 26:13 The 2026 World Cup Opportunity and What's Next for TOCA30:49 Favourite Sporting Moment: 2002 World Cup

Timestamps:5:32 - Understanding Product-Market-Fit19:24 - Scaling across geographies25:45 - Cultural shifts in european entrepreneurship30:04 - The equity compensation flywheelEpisode description:In this episode we sit down with Armon Bättig, Co-Founder and CEO of Ledgy, a Swiss scale-up helping companies manage equity and build real ownership culture across more than 40 countries. Ledgy's mission is to make equity work globally - giving employees transparency and access to ownership while enabling Startups to scale compensation beyond cash. Armon's journey into entrepreneurship was anything but linear, moving from Michelin-star kitchens to data science before building one of Europe's leading equity management platforms.In the conversation, we explore three major themes for Founders building in Europe and Switzerland. First, Armon explains why product-market fit isn't a single moment, but something companies must rediscover repeatedly as they scale across new S-curves. Second, we discuss why Ledgy deliberately built its product for multiple jurisdictions from day one, enabling them to expand across Europe, the UK, and the US much faster later on. And third, we dive into the Europe vs. US ecosystem debate - from how Americans buy software to why Switzerland offers unique advantages for building deep technical companies.Beyond the big themes, Armon shares why early Startups often over-index on their first 10 customers, and how that can quietly push companies toward building an agency instead of a scalable product. We discuss why employee equity only works if companies are radically transparent about it, and how secondaries and liquidity events are critical to creating Europe's next generation of founders. Finally, Armon reflects on leadership and resilience - from maintaining personal balance as a founder to why he still participates directly in sales conversations to stay close to customers.The cover portrait was edited by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ www.smartportrait.io⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.‍Don't forget to give us a follow on⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Youtube ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠so you can always stay up to date with our latest initiatives. That way, there's no excuse for missing out on live shows, weekly giveaways or founders' dinners.

In this episode of the Predictable Revenue Podcast, Collin Stewart interviews Nick Mason, co-founder and CEO of Turtl, discussing the journey of finding product-market fit.    They explore the origins of Turtl, the importance of customer feedback, the challenges of early-stage startups, and the evolving nature of product-market fit in a changing market. Nick shares insights on the significance of understanding customer needs, the dangers of being overly influenced by early customers, and the lessons learned from mistakes along the way.    The conversation concludes with a look at Turtl's future and the ongoing challenge of demonstrating ROI in content marketing.   Highlighst include: Finding Product-Market Fit (05:30), Early Customer Engagement and Revenue (12:21), Navigating Customer Demands: The Roadmap Dilemma (14:11), Learning from Mistakes: The Value of Experience (21:14), Recognizing Product-Market Fit: Signs of Success (27:07), and more... Stay updated with our podcast and the latest insights on Outbound Sales and Go-to-Market Strategies!  

saas.unbound is a podcast for and about founders who are working on scaling inspiring products that people love, brought to you by https://saas.group/, a serial acquirer of B2B SaaS companies. In episode #5 of season 6, Anna Nadeina talks with Iliya Valchanov, founder of Juma, an AI workspace platform built for marketing teams to collaborate and create on-brand content.----------- Episode's Chapters -----------0:00 — Introduction & Background2:44 — The OpenAI Letter & Rebrand Trigger5:35 — The Power of Product Communities8:03 — Finding Product-Market Fit at $1M ARR9:22 — Choosing the Name: Just Marketing10:14 — The Vision: AI Marketing Super Agent13:46 — Data Analysis: The Killer Use Case27:19 — Impact on Growth & SEO32:02 — AI in Operations: Where to Draw the Line39:20 — Wins, Failures & Team Changes42:00 — Growth Hack: Analyzing Customer CallsIliya - https://www.linkedin.com/in/iliya-valchanov/ Juma - https://juma.ai/ Subscribe to our channel to be the first to see the interviews that we publish - https://www.youtube.com/@saas-groupStay up to date:Twitter: https://twitter.com/SaaS_groupLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/14790796

This week, we're joined by Liz Anthony, Chief of Staff at Halfdays, the fast-growing women's outdoor apparel brand redefining performance skiwear. Liz breaks down how Halfdays balances brand and performance marketing to scale a highly seasonal DTC business, including the role of founder-led content, creative diversity, and standout collaborations like HOKA in driving Q4 momentum.From there, the group digs into how the Chief of Staff role acts as a force multiplier across marketing, product, and strategy - pulling from Liz's consulting background to explore how strong operators create leverage in fast-moving brands.We wrap with a collaborative discussion on KPI ownership, dashboards, and forecasting, covering how teams use simple tools like Google Sheets to track leading indicators, align cross-functional teams, and connect marketing execution to real business outcomes.If you're scaling a seasonal brand, building cross-functional clarity, or trying to connect brand moments to measurable growth, this episode is packed with practical insight.If you have a question for the MOperators Hotline, click the link to be in with a chance of it being discussed on the show: https://forms.gle/1W7nKoNK5Zakm1Xv6Find out more about the Halfdays brand in another MOperators Episode: How Halfdays Turned Community into a Growth Engine - with CEO Ariana FerwerdaChapters:00:00:00 – Introducing Liz and Halfdays' Brand Story00:03:10 – Finding Product-Market Fit in Women's Ski Wear00:08:00 – Expanding Beyond Ski: Year-Round and Omnichannel Growth00:13:30 – Defining “Her”: Core Customer, Persona, and Positioning00:19:00 – Chief of Staff Role: KPIs, Strategy, and Cross-Functional Glue00:24:10 – Liz's Operator Background and Translating Consulting Skills to DTC00:30:20 – Building the Team, Ownership Culture, and Management Style00:36:20 – Q4 and Black Friday: Hoka Collab, List Growth, and Demand00:44:30 – Content Engine, Community, and Always-On Brand Marketing00:52:30 – Channel Mix, Out-of-Home Bets, and Retargeting Strategy01:01:00 – 2026 Roadmap: New Franchises, Launch “Moments,” and Playbooks01:11:30 – Data Stack, KPIs, and Using Analytics to Drive DecisionsPowered by:Motion.⁠⁠⁠https://motionapp.com/pricing?utm_source=marketing-operators-podcast&utm_medium=paidsponsor&utm_campaign=march-2024-ad-reads⁠⁠⁠https://motionapp.com/creative-trendsPrescient AI.⁠⁠⁠https://www.prescientai.com/operatorsRichpanel.⁠⁠⁠https://www.richpanel.com/?utm_source=MO&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=ytdescAftersell.https://www.aftersell.com/operatorsHaus.http://Haus.io/operatorsSubscribe to the 9 Operators Podcast here: https://www.youtube.com/@Operators9Subscribe to the Finance Operators Podcast here: https://www.youtube.com/@FinanceOperatorsFOPSSign up to the 9 Operators newsletter here: https://9operators.com/

I interviewed Ryan Wang, co-founder and CEO of Assembled, in his San Francisco office to unpack how he turned lessons from Stripe into a fast-growing startup that powers customer support teams at Robinhood, Canva, and Notion. We talk about: Finding the right co-founders and surviving a CEO hand-off Discovering product-market fit by asking one powerful question Turning a “sleepy” support category into a $200 billion opportunity Launching a second product with a startup-within-a-startup mindset What it takes to lead through AI disruption and build for adaptability Whether you're building your first team or figuring out your second act, Ryan's story is a masterclass in scaling deliberately while staying flexible. RUNTIME 53:40 _ EPISODE BREAKDOWN (2:35) “ I was employee number 80 or so at Stripe, working on machine learning for fraud detection.” (5:08) If you're doing diligent customer discovery, working harder does not get you ahead faster. (7:27) How Assembled's founding team, er, assembled. (8:47) “ There was a period, maybe the first year and a half or so, where there was no CEO.” (10:33) Ryan explains the mindset that took him from software engineer to CEO. (12:30) “ ‘Brother mode' is both a feature and a bug at the same time.” (14:58) How Assembled arrived at workforce management as its unique value proposition. (17:48) Ryan talked to more than 100 prospects during the customer discovery process. (19:00) The exercise they used to develop their initial customer personas. (22:24) “ We took a really, really long time to hire for product. It was probably four or five years into the company.” (25:00) Who was Assembled's first design hire? (27:26) To acquire product-market fit, “ we started with just a simple automation value proposition.” (30:26) “ A lot of folks wanted to invest in Stripe alums, and Stripe led our seed.” (33:35) Why customer support ops is — and will continue to be — such a huge opportunity. (36:41) A good mission statement defines the change you want to see in the world. (41:41) “ People who really do feel committed to a large mission, they understand that to get there is gonna require a lot of schlep.” (43:55) How Assembled used a startup-within-a-startup mindset to innovate. (48:47) “ We reassigned folks internally, and the key really was the order of operations.” (51:31) If you were interviewing for a job with an early-stage startup, what's one question the CEO would have to answer before you could take the offer? LINKS Assembled Ryan Wang Brian Sze John Wang Stripe Kelly Sims, Thrive Capital Jack Altman, Alt Capital Jen Ong Vaughan, Head of Strategic Ops, Stripe SUBSCRIBE  

In this episode, host Scott Stirrett chats with David Sinkinson—award-winning author of Startup Different, podcaster, and Co-Founder of AppArmor—about the myths that often mislead early-stage founders. David shares how he and his brother bootstrapped AppArmor from an idea sparked on a university campus into a company later acquired by Motorola Solutions for $560 million, all without venture capital. He dives into the realities of finding product-market fit, why charging early matters, and how scrappiness fuels innovation. Whether you're weighing funding options or reflecting on what success means beyond the exit, this episode offers practical lessons and candid insights for founders navigating their own journey.

Gayatri Shahane, Founder and CEO of early-stage startup Naitiv, joins SlatorPod to talk about her entrepreneurial journey and building a conversational AI tool for business communication.Gayatri describes how Naitiv's conversational AI agent is built as a desktop app to manage latency and audio challenges in live interpretation. She explains that it supports different conversation modes for casual and professional contexts, with a voice orchestration engine developed to handle turn-taking, speaker overlaps, and multiple languages.The Founder recalls testing the technology in live Discord language-learning channels, where she conversed with Spanish, Korean, and Japanese speakers who often did not realize they were speaking with an AI.She highlights that her early adopters include B2B companies expanding into Asia, Latin America, and Europe, using the platform for sales, onboarding, and critical client meetings. Gayatri acknowledges the competitive market in real-time AI interpreting, but believes there is space for smaller, more specialized tools. She adds that marketing has so far been founder-led and organic.Gayatri concludes by sharing her plans to raise a pre-seed round and evolve Naitiv beyond meetings into a full AI agent.

In this episode, Maximus Greenwald, founder of Warmly.ai, shares insights on building a successful B2B SaaS company. With over $5M ARR and 60 employees globally, Max discusses how they pivoted six times before finding product-market fit, why learning is the only metric that always needs to go up, and how they're building an AI-powered sales enablement platform. What You'll Learn: Finding Product-Market Fit: Why six pivots were necessary The importance of continuous learning How to know when to persist vs pivot Building Remote Teams: Managing 60 people across multiple countries The 10-15% remote work efficiency trade-off Building culture across time zones Sales & Marketing Evolution: From founder-led to team sales Why marketing should own top of funnel The future of AI in sales Co-founder Dynamics: Managing roles and responsibilities The power of cross-functional leadership Building trust between co-founders Growth & Scale: The path to $5M ARR Building in San Francisco Preparing for Series B ALL ABOUT UNICORN BAKERY: https://zez.am/unicornbakery  Where to find Max: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/max-greenwald/  Website: https://www.warmly.ai/  More about Guest-Host Mike Mahlkow: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikemahlkow  Website: https://www.mikemahlkow.com/  Join our Founder Tactics Newsletter: 2x die Woche bekommst du die Taktiken der besten Gründer der Welt direkt ins Postfach: https://www.tactics.unicornbakery.de/  Chapters:  (00:00:00) What you need to know about Max & Warmly.ai (00:05:04) The rough early days at Warmly (00:10:43) How close was Max to quitting? (00:14:58) What was the actual pivot at Warmly? (00:24:23) How does Sales evolve over time? (00:34:02) How does the speed change while scaling? (00:45:50) How does Max divide and conquer the world of his co-founders?

Today, we're talking with Charlie Kaplan, VP of Product at Audiomack about Product Market Fit and how to tell if you've got it or not In this episode, we discuss: How he drove 50x user growth at Cymbal, and why that still didn't matter because they lacked strong fit The story of how he launched Audiomack's product org and scaled to 42M MAUs, on the back of strong product market fit How he transformed failed features into new revenue streams—helping Audiomack grow into a platform big enough to host Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar, and more Links LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charliekaplan/ Audiomack: https://audiomack.com/ Resources The Lean Startup, by Eric Rise: https://theleanstartup.com/ Chapters 00:00 Introduction 05:23 The Rise and Fall of Cymbal 13:12 Lessons Learned and the Birth of Audio Mac 16:54 Finding Product Market Fit at Audio Mac 28:40 Innovative Growth Strategies and Experiments 35:11 Outro Follow LaunchPod on YouTube We have a new YouTube page (https://www.youtube.com/@LaunchPodPodcast)! Watch full episodes of our interviews with PM leaders and subscribe! What does LogRocket do? LogRocket's Galileo AI watches user sessions for you and surfaces the technical and usability issues holding back your web and mobile apps. Understand where your users are struggling by trying it for free at LogRocket.com (https://logrocket.com/signup/?pdr). Special Guest: Charlie Kaplan.

This week on the Predictable Revenue podcast, Collin Stewart sat down with Dan Sahar, co-founder of Guidde, to unpack the messy path to product-market fit. This isn't a highlight reel, it's a real-world breakdown of what actually worked: from narrowing focus and charging early, to finding pull from unexpected places and riding the AI wave at just the right moment. Here's what early-stage founders can take from Guidde's journey and apply to their own. Highlights include: Identifying the Problem and Validation (00:42), Finding Product-Market Fit (10:20), The Importance of Product Launches (12:38), Harnessing Virality and Word of Mouth (17:47), and more. Stay updated with our podcast and the latest insights in Outbound Sales and Go-to-Market Strategies!

Two founders, two wildly different paths to $100M ARR: Arvind Jain, founder of Glean, walked away from a unicorn to start over—raising $15M without revenue and ignoring lean startup rules. Kyle Hanslovan, founder of Huntress, faced brutal rejection, slept in his car, maxed out credit cards, and still crushed it. This episode is packed with raw lessons on fundraising, product-market fit, and why relentless hustle alone won't save you. If you're a founder chasing growth, stop everything and listen.Why You Should ListenLearn exactly what top founders did to get from zero to $100M ARRWhy chasing perfection won't work (and how to stop)The secret to surviving brutal fundraising rejections (over 60 VCs said no to Kyle)Why hustle culture isn't enough—here's what matters moreKeywordsproduct-market fit, startup fundraising, unicorn startups, founder hustle, lean startup method, scaling startups, early-stage growth, AI startups, SaaS growth, venture capital adviceChapters(00:00:00) Intro(00:02:05) Quitting a Unicorn to Start Again(00:05:09) From NSA Hacker to Startup Founder(00:09:18) Ignoring the Lean Startup(00:12:59) Knowing When to Launch(00:16:32) Finding Product Market Fit(00:18:01) Final Advice for FoundersSend me a message to let me know what you think!

Gm! This week we're joined by Christine Moy, Carlos Domingo & Tarun Chitra to discuss the launch of crypto largest onchain credit fund. We deep dive into what is private credit, the future of tokenization, onchain vs tradfi risk management, finding product market fit & more. Enjoy! -- Start your day with crypto news, analysis and data from Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire?utm_source=podcasts Follow Christine: https://x.com/cmoyall Follow Tarun: https://x.com/tarunchitra Follow Carlos: https://x.com/carlosdomingo Follow Jason: https://x.com/JasonYanowitz Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Join the Empire Telegram: https://t.me/+CaCYvTOB4Eg1OWJh -- Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ -- Grab your tickets to Permissionless IV. Use code EMPIRE10 for 10% off: https://blockworks.co/event/permissionless-iv -- ZKsync is the pioneering zero-knowledge technology powering the next generation of builders with limitless scale. Secured by math and designed for native interoperability, ZKsync enables an elastic, ever-expanding network of customizable chains. Deeply rooted in its mission to advance personal freedom for all, the ZKsync technology makes digital self-ownership universally available. To learn more about ZKsync, visit http://www.zksync.io -- Zenrock is a permissionless, decentralized custody network backed by 1RoundTable Partners, 10T, Maven11, and Spartan. Live on Jupiter, $ROCK is the native token for transactions within the Zenrock ecosystem and secures Zenrock's decentralized custody network. The first application launching on Zenrock is zenBTC – yield-bearing Bitcoin on Solana. zenBTC will be live in April 2025. -- Crypto never sleeps. So we built an Al analyst that never blinks. Meet Focal by FalconX: a GenAI insights engine built for institutional crypto. Already used by 80+ funds managing $10B+ in AUM. :small_blue_diamond: Screen, chart, and analyze 1300+ tokens :small_blue_diamond: Summarize market-moving news instantly :small_blue_diamond: Integrates data from CoinGecko, Kaito, Token Terminal, Tokenomist, The Tie Get started today: https://askfocal.com -- AO Mainnet is LIVE! Experience the future of decentralized computing: infinite parallel processing, secure TEE-powered computations, and LLMs in smart contracts. Built on Arweave, AO's modular design shatters scalability limits. 100% of tokens are distributed to Arweave holders and bridge depositors, with a fixed supply and halving. Explore AO today: https://ao.arweave.dev -- Token.com is a social-first crypto platform transforming how people discover and trade through crypto content. The revolutionary in-feed trading turns complex crypto into intuitive investments, while content creators earn from every trade and projects amplify their stories through native tokens - creating a new era of social media-powered crypto discovery. Just scroll to watch and tap to invest. Download the app! -- Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (02:02) What Is Private Credit? (06:32) The ACRED Levered RWA Strategy (09:29) How To Bring TradFi Onchain? (20:51) Ads (ZKSync, Zenrock) (22:30) How Does the Levered RWA Strategy Function? (32:14) A New Era For Tokenization (36:32) Ads (ZKSync, Zenrock) (38:11) Onchain vs TradFi Risk Management (42:47) How To Avoid Leverage Unwinds (49:36) Ads (Falcon x,Arweave, Token.com) (51:50) Finding Product Market Fit (01:04:57) The Future Of Tokenization — Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

Russ Mikowski, CEO of SurePeople and longtime revenue leader intech, never planned to become a CEO, until he was recruited to transform a 10-year-old company grappling with technical debt, a scattered ICP, and untapped potential. In this episode of Topline Spotlight, Russ opens up about the tough decisions he's made since taking the helm: rebuilding instead of refactoring, saying "no" to legacy customers, and doubling down on a focused go-to-market strategy for SurePeople's innovative psychometric assessment platform, Prism.You're invited! Join the free Topline Slack channel to connect with 600+ revenue leaders, share insights, and keep the conversation going beyond the podcast!Subscribe to the Topline Newsletter to get the latest industry developments and emerging go-to-market trends delivered to your inbox every Thursday.Tune into The Revenue Leadership Podcast with Kyle Norton every Wednesday. Kyle dives deep into the strategies and tactics that drive success for revenue leaders like Jason Lemkins of SaaStr, Stevie Case of Vanta, and Ron Gabrisko of Databricks.Key Moments:(00:00) Introduction to Topline Spotlight(03:00) Understanding SurePeople and Its Mission(05:51) Russ's Journey to CEO and Company History(08:55) Navigating Technical Debt and Product Development(12:01) Defining Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) and Market Focus(14:50) Company Culture and Communication Strategies(17:53) Inspiration and Leadership Philosophy

Gm! This week we're joined by Matty Taylor to discuss the Colosseum playbook. We deep dive into what founders are building, the rise of vibe coding, finding product market fit & more. Enjoy! -- Follow Matty: https://x.com/mattytay Follow Jack: https://x.com/whosknave Follow Lightspeed: https://twitter.com/Lightspeedpodhq Subscribe to the Lightspeed Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/lightspeed -- Grab your tickets to Permissionless IV. Use code LIGHTSPEED10 for 10% off: https://blockworks.co/event/permissionless-iv -- Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ -- Ledger, the global leader in digital asset security, proudly sponsors the Lightspeed podcast. As Ledger celebrates 10 years of securing 20% of global crypto, it remains the top choice for securing your Solana assets. Buy a LEDGER™ device now and build confidently, knowing your SOL are safe. Buy now on https://shop.ledger.com/?r=1da180a5de00. -- (00:00) Introduction (02:22) The Colosseum Playbook (06:45) Accelerating Solana's Founder Ecosystem (10:38) Ledger Ad (11:24) MetaDAOs Futarchy Launchpad (14:38) Vibe Coding (18:53) Is The Crypto & AI Meta Dead? (22:33) Memcoins (25:15) Advice For Founders (30:24) What's Next For Ore? (35:33) Is Jack Dorsey Satoshi? (37:31) Ledger Ad (38:16) Bitcoin Will Hit $1 Million (42:49) Finding Product Market Fit (48:08) The Colosseum Hackathon -- Disclaimers: Lightspeed was kickstarted by a grant from the Solana Foundation. Nothing said on Lightspeed is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Mert, Jack, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.

Cardiologist Jim Min watched too many 50-year-olds die with no heart-attack warning. He co-founded Cleerly to automate detailed coronary scans—no invasive procedures, no endless manual work. Yet healthcare's glacial pace, payers, and federal approvals all stand in his way. Hear how he's testing AI across thousands of patients, fighting for universal insurance coverage, and coping with near-burnouts. If you're a founder navigating hyper-regulated markets, Jim's journey is the blueprint.____Why You Should Listen1. Heart Disease Kills More Than All Cancers Combined – The staggering truth behind silent heart attacks (and why most diagnoses come too late).2. Jim's Big Bet on Early Detection – He's using advanced AI to spot “dangerous plaque” long before a patient gets chest pain or drops dead.3. A 10–15 Year Fight to Save Lives – The brutal reality of building a medtech startup in a system that moves slower than any other.4. Surviving a 17-Day Runway – How his mission-focus (and supportive backers) pulled Jim's startup back from the brink.5. Why repeated failure drives game-changing breakthroughs____KeywordsHeart Disease Detection, Medtech Startup, Coronary CT Angiogram, AI in Healthcare, Early Heart Attack Prevention, FDA Approval Process, CPT Code Reimbursement, Plaque Imaging, Cardiovascular Innovation, Clinical Trials____(00:00:00) Embracing Failure & Surviving Dark Days(00:01:56) From Cardiologist to Startup Founder(00:03:07) What Most People Don't Know About Heart Attacks(00:06:39) Using AI & Imaging to Predict Heart Attacks(00:09:19) Why Cleerly Needed to Exist(00:16:34) The Reality of Healthtech(00:20:41) How Cleerly Built its First Product—and Why it Wasn't an MVP(00:28:33) Raising $225M to Prove a Radical Idea(00:33:57) Finding Product-Market Fit & the Fight Worth HavingSend me a message to let me know what you think!

Dan Park joined Clutch when it was selling 20 cars a month. Then he grew it from $20M in 2019 to $200M in sales by 2022. He was one of Canada's fastest growing companies. Just as he was going to close a $100M round, the macro changed completely. Suddenly, he was left with only six weeks of cash. He was forced to go through a 97% down round at a $15M valuation.Just two years later, he not only grew right back to a $575M valuation, he also doubled revenue from its previous peak to $400M.This episode unpacks every near-disaster move, including turning off test-drives (and why it worked), re-engineering unit economics in real time, and renegotiating debt so Clutch could keep buying cars. Dan's hard-won lessons will change the way you think about speed, iteration, and survival._____Why You Should Listen1. He had just six weeks of runway – Find out exactly how Dan rescued Clutch from the brink.2. Taking a car startup to $400M in sales – The surprising moves that made consumers buy cars online, sight unseen.3. Cutting 75% of staff—then doubling revenue – The inside story of Clutch's brutal pivot and swift rebound.4. How to survive capital-intensive nightmares – Lessons on debt, term sheets, and crisis-mode fundraising.5. Why fast iteration trumps everything – Dan's secret to making big bets—then yanking them back if needed.________KeywordsUsed Car Marketplace, Capital-Intensive Startup, Near-Bankruptcy Turnaround, Automotive E-Commerce, Cash Flow Management, Startup Layoffs, Rapid Iteration, Debt Restructuring, Growth vs. Profitability, Founding Team DynamicsTimestamp(00:00:00) Intro(00:02:23) The Birth of Clutch(00:04:37) The Chicken and Egg Problem(00:08:31) How Do We Scale This?(00:14:21) Baby Steps and Achievable Milestones(00:22:45) Becoming Profitable(00:34:45) Do Whatever Makes Sense for The Business(00:37:29) Finding Product Market Fit(00:42:23) Piece of AdviceSend me a message to let me know what you think!

saas.unbound is a podcast for and about founders who are working on scaling inspiring products that people love, brought to you by https://saas.group/, a serial acquirer of B2B SaaS companies. In episode #4 of season 5, Anna Nadeina talks with Andrei, Co-Founder at Socialinsider, a social media analytics, reporting and benchmarking tool. --------------Episode's Chapters---------------- 00:00 - The Inception of Socialinsider 02:12 - Finding Product-Market Fit 04:56 - Ideal Customer Profile and Key Features 07:51 - Common Mistakes in Social Media Marketing 11:19 - Growth Strategies and Content Marketing 17:36 - AI Integration in Social Insider 22:30 - Customer Reviews and Feedback 32:07 - Transition from Startup to Scale-Up 37:08 - Biggest Wins and Failures Andrei - https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreiserbanoiu/ Socialinsider - https://www.socialinsider.io/ Subscribe to our channel to be the first to see the interviews that we publish twice a week - https://www.youtube.com/@saas-group Stay up to date: Twitter: https://twitter.com/SaaS_group LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/14790796

Jon Yoo's startup wasn't working. He pivoted mid-YC, spent five brutal weeks without signing a single customer, and then—right after raising his seed round—his co-founder left.Most startups die right there. Instead, Jon figured out how to land massive customers like FiveTran and Snowflake. He grew from $500K to $2M ARR in 6 months. Why you should listen:•Navigating a founder breakup – What happens when co-founders split and how to handle it.•The real YC experience – What worked, what didn't, and how they pivoted mid-program.•Landing major customers – How they got big logos like Snowflake.•Fundraising insights – What really matters to investors at the seed and Series A stages.•Why startups need forcing functions – The tactics that drove fast product development.•How to know if you have product-market fit – The signals John saw at Sugar.•Burn rate discipline – Why they raised millions but barely spent it.Keywordsentrepreneurship, startups, investment banking, Salesforce, Y Combinator, founder dynamics, product market fit, scaling, cloud marketplaces, business strategy, fundraising, startup, YC demo day, customer acquisition, product-market fit, founder dynamics, early stage startup, team building, scaling, challengesTimestamps(00:00:00) Intro(00:07:55) The Origin of Suger(00:13:30) Going All In(00:19:08) The first 10 customers(00:24:20) The Hardest Pain Point(00:30:29) Becoming Profitable(00:37:05) Celebrate The Small Wins(00:39:56) Finding Product Market Fit(00:42:27) A Piece of AdviceSend me a message to let me know what you think!

In this episode of the Product Thinking Podcast, Melissa Perri sits down with David Myszewski, VP of Product at Wealthfront. David shares his transition from working on the groundbreaking iPhone at Apple to leading product innovation in the fintech space. He dives into how Wealthfront's approach to fintech has been shaped by lessons learned at Apple, particularly the power of small, talented teams and high standards.David discusses Wealthfront's strategy of integrating consumer research and customer support into product development, emphasizing the importance of understanding customer needs through both qualitative and quantitative data. He also highlights the significance of building a technology infrastructure that supports innovative financial products and services tailored to evolving market needs.Tune in to explore how Wealthfront is redefining fintech with a focus on reducing client costs, enhancing tax efficiency, and fostering better financial behaviors through technology-driven solutions. Want to learn how to leverage tech for financial innovation? Listen to the full conversation with David Myszewski.You'll hear us talk about:10:33 - The Role of Consumer Technology Experience in FintechDavid explains why consumer technology skills are more valuable than financial knowledge in fintech. He shares how Wealthfront prioritizes creating excellent user experiences over specific domain expertise.19:28 - Introducing New Financial ProductsDavid outlines Wealthfront's strategy for evolving and introducing new products over time, focusing on reducing costs, saving taxes, and fostering behavioral change. He discusses the automation of processes to enhance client outcomes.29:06 - Prioritizing Innovation and Roadmap PlanningMelissa and David discuss the balance between strategic top-down priorities and bottom-up decision-making in setting the product roadmap. David describes how they align business and client needs to drive product innovation.Episode Resources:David on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmyszewski/David on X: https://x.com/davewikipediaWealthfront: https://www.wealthfront.com/Timestamps:00:00 Coming Up00:56 Introduction02:48 Dear Melissa05:28 Career Journey from Apple to Wealthfront14:09 The Evolution of Wealthfront's Mission19:28 Introducing New Financial Products29:06 Prioritizing Innovation and Roadmap Planning35:54 Finding Product-Market Fit at Wealthfront43:08 FinTech's Future & Advice for Product Leaders

This is one of the wildest founder journeys you'll ever hear. Dmitry Gurski went from growing potatoes and picking mushrooms on a farm in Belarus to building Flo—a billion-dollar company with 75M monthly users that dominates the health and fitness category worldwide. He started Flo in a market already controlled by PayPal co-founder Max Levchin's startup, which had $30M in funding from a16z. Today, Flo is 100x bigger than its once-dominant rival.Dmitry shares raw, unfiltered startup truths—like why he got rejected by 200+ VCs, why 90% of startup failures are team-related, and why most founders are delusional about product-market fit. He breaks down how simplicity beats complexity in product, why retention is everything, and how deleting features can actually boost revenue.If you're a founder, this episode will fundamentally change how you think about perseverance, pivots, and building something that lasts. Listen now—you'll be referencing this one for years.Why you should listen:Why big market beats niche – How Flo won because it targeted all women's health while competitors focused only on fertility.How Retention is the real test – A product with natural recurring use cases (like periods) has built-in retention, unlike fitness or productivity apps.Why simple wins – The first version of Flo was less complex than competitors but had far better predictions—accuracy mattered more than features.Fundraising is brutal – Flo got 300+ investor rejections before raising $300M. Many VCs just didn't “get” the space.Keywordsstartup, entrepreneurship, product design, user retention, Flow app, health and fitness, early stage founders, product market fit, simplicity, user engagement, retention, user case, app development, entrepreneurship, product market fit, mobile apps, business strategy, team dynamics, failure, success, risk, uncertainty, decision making, market demand, competition, product-market fit, fundraising, entrepreneurship, startup success, female healthTimestamps(00:00:00) Intro(00:09:10) Why you Need to Keep it Simple(00:13:10) Why B2C is All About Retention(00:19:05) Why you Need to Delete Features(00:24:14) PMF is about the Shape of the Curve(00:39:17) When to Persevere, When to Pivot, and When to Quit(00:42:22) More attempts = more success(00:51:34) The Idea for Flo(00:59:05) Finding Product Market Fit(01:02:07) Advice for An Early Stage Founder(01:10:22) A Potato StorySend me a message to let me know what you think!

In 2005 most people didn't even have cellphones yet. Those who did used flip phones. That's when Noah started Olo, a webapp to let people pre-order coffee from nearby shops. Users had to login on web, add a credit card, create pre-made orders and then send a text to a preset number when they wanted to pre-order. It was way, way ahead of its time. Noah and his team 7 years to hit $1M in ARR. In the meantime, they raised a round with 50% dilution the week before the financial crisis, went on live TV to an audience on 6M viewers and had to pivot from a marketplace to B2B SaaS.But overtime smartphone penetration increased, on-demand ordering became a trend, and then, one day, Starbucks launched their app. All of a sudden, every single restaurant in the world wanted a way to let their users pre-order.And there was Noah and his team at Olo.Today, Olo is a public company worth over $1B and generating nearly $300M in sales. Here's the story of how it happened.Why you should listen:How to use guerrilla marketing tactics to get early growth.Why PR can move the needle but not in ways you expect. How to pivot from a marketplace to B2B SaaS.Why it often takes much longer than you might hope to hit an inflection point.Why fundraising was so hard, even though Olo became a $1B+ public company. Why Noah thinks founders should embrace challenges and adversity.KeywordsOlo, Noah Glass, entrepreneurship, product-market fit, restaurant technology, mobile ordering, startup journey, business challenges, marketing strategies, innovationTimestamps:(00:00:00) Intro(00:02:20) Building an app in 2005(00:13:20) The Burn the Boats Moment(00:16:31) Building A Network Business(00:26:08) The Cold Start Problem(00:30:33) A Happy Accident(00:36:55) Going through the 2008 Financial Crisis(00:51:20) Finding Product Market Fit(00:57:20) Blueprint of Values(01:05:11) Best Piece of Advice(01:06:08) A Big MilestoneSend me a message to let me know what you think!

Hussein's travel startup was doing $10s of millions when COVID hit. His revenue didn't just go to zero, it went negative. There were more customers asking for refunds than new sales. He was 4 months from running out of money.He ended up making a complete pivot, he changed the company's name from SnapTravel to Super.com. He went from travel to fintech and launched a banking card. It seems like a strange pivot —but through deep research he'd realized what his customers truly needed. They needed more money—not for travel or vacations—but for every day life.The new card helped customers earn points and rewards, it helped them save on everyday expenses. The pain was so acute and the solution so perfect, that just 3 years later, Super.com is doing $150M in ARR.Like Hussein said, he got 50 'no's from VCs for every 'yes' he got. He saw his business grow and then crumble over night. He was literally going to zero. But he turned it all around. Now he's not just growing, he's profitable now.And here's how it went down.Why you should listen:How to think from first principles to figure out the right product expansion.Why cross-selling is much harder than you think, and how to make it work.Why finding an unfair advantage is key to scaling a startup.How to use actual customer behavior to understand what customers truly want.Why testing and validating ideas through smoke tests is essential.KeywordsSuper.com, SnapTravel, COVID-19, travel industry, pricing strategies, customer needs, market fit, entrepreneurship, AI, business growth, COVID-19, resilience, travel industry, financial innovation, membership model, customer insights, entrepreneurship, investor relations, business strategy, cross-sellingTimestamps:(00:00:00) Intro (00:02:39) The original startup: Snap Travel(00:08:40) Why a great user interface is a big edge(00:11:26) How to acquire customers(00:13:30) When your entire hypothesis is wrong(00:22:52) Meeting Steph Curry(00:29:03) Nearly crashing to zero-- and going bankrupt(00:33:51) Starting over and rebranding(00:42:42) Creating the Fastest Growing Membership Program(00:52:17) Finding Product Market Fit(01:00:00) One Piece of AdviceSend me a message to let me know what you think!

How to innovate and add value to enterprise offerings The stability of large enterprises can be both a blessing and a curse. In this archived episode Chris Losacco is joined by NTT DATA's Product Management Lead Jamie Bernard to talk about how large organizations can learn to innovate while still taking care of their core business. She explains the 3 horizons principle and how dedicating a small percentage of money to experimentation can help you better serve your customers and your business in the long run. Links: Diffusion of Innovation Build - Tony Fadell See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ankit left his job as a VC to launch a Voice AI platform—back in 2018! It wasn't the voice AI of today. The first demo sounded like a robot. But still, he convinced large enterprise customers in the healthcare space to try it out. He found a highly manual, call intensive workflow in the back office and autoamted it using AI.Years later, he's raised $102M and has dozens of large $1M+ enterprise customers using the product. He talks about how he started it, how he saw the AI opportunity so early on, and how he found a way to lock in champions that pushed his product inside large enterprises.Why you should listen:Why the search for product-market fit never stops.How to build trust with enterprise customers.How to get champions to fight battles for you and win enterprise deals.Why even successful startups are never straight lines up and to the right.Keywordsproduct-market fit, AI in healthcare, automation, conversational AI, startup challenges, scaling, founder advice, technology evolution, compliance, trust in AITimestamps(00:00:00) Intro(00:02:01) How it all started(00:06:29) Automating Insurance Calls(00:16:37) Landing the first customers(00:22:02) Giving your persona phone number to early users(00:27:43) Landing large enterprise customers(00:33:45) Getting Early Adopters to Believe(00:36:34) Finding Product Market Fit(00:38:04) One Piece of AdviceSend me a message to let me know what you think!

Jon started a sports betting app 4 years ago-- now he does $150M in revenue and $1B in betting volume. AND he's profitable. In his first year alone , he did $10 million in revenue. He took a year to build the app and as soon as he launched it, it took off. He did $10M in revenue in his first year.Honestly, it sounds too easy. But the reason it worked is because, as he shares on the episode, he'd spent 7 years in research mode. He'd spent years building a marketing agency in the sports betting space. He not only understand the market, the customers and the product, he'd also built a distribution machine and knew exactly how to get in front of users. Here's how it happened.Why you should listen- Why distribution is the difference between success and failure- How spending a long time in research mode can make go-to-market much faster- Why simple product difference can lead to huge differences in outcomesKeywordssports betting, Dabble, entrepreneurship, product-market fit, startup journey, social betting, technology, marketing, revenue growth, challengesTimestamps(00:00:00) Intro(00:01:49) Getting Into Sports Betting(00:04:22) Before Dabble(00:08:08) Starting Dabble & First Steps(00:10:55) The Initial Vision(00:17:55) How Sports Betting Works(00:24:26) Nearly Going Bankrupt(00:27:53) Building the App(00:31:23) Launching(00:35:47) Revenue Timeline(00:38:28) Finding Product Market Fit(00:41:48) One Piece of AdviceSend me a message to let me know what you think!

DescriptionTate started doing commercial fishing at 16. He took that money and started lending it— on Craigslist! By 23 years old, he'd lent out $250,000. Then he found out about cash advances, and decided to start ZayZoon, a platform to help employers pay their employees faster.Tate was one of the early pioneers of the entire Earned Wage Access space. By partnering with payroll companies and employers, ZayZoon lets employees access their earned wages faster.It took Tate and his co-founders 4 years to get to their first million of ARR. And as soon as they felt they had it,  revenue crashed 60% in a quarter. The team got things back on track and since then has grown from 20 to 200 employees—  revenue is now closer to $100M than $10M. Here's the story.Why you should listen:Why you need to be all-in at the early stagesHow to arm channel patterns to sell your productHow to re-position your product so it's clear you solve customer problemsWhy it can take years for a new category to take offKeywordsentrepreneurship, lending, FinTech, earned wage access, startup journey, mentorship, risk management, payroll integration, business challenges, market challenges, growth strategies, employer empowerment, product-market fit, exponential growth, timing, customer engagementTimestamps:(00:00:00) Intro(00:01:25) Lending Money on Craigslist in Highschool(00:13:06) The Origin of Zayzoon(00:19:18) The Next Step After the Aha Moment(00:24:44) Problems Starting Off(00:29:08) Launching First Payroll(00:30:58) Fundraising(00:34:11) Making the Product Easy to use (00:45:32) Hitting a Million Dollars(00:48:53) Why timing matters(00:53:34) Finding Product Market Fit(00:54:27) One Piece of Advice(00:56:29) How all in were you?Send me a message to let me know what you think!

“It's really important to sell your business when there's still a lot of growth left. You really shouldn't be looking to sell it at its absolute peak.”  In today's 40 Minute Mentor episode, we're joined by Mary Bonsor, Founder of Flex Legal, a bespoke online platform created to connect law students with law firms and in-house legal teams on a flexible on-demand basis.  Mary has been on an incredible journey from Lawyer to LegalTech Entrepreneur, driving diversity and social mobility with Flex Legal.  Alongside her successful build of Flex Legal to exit, Mary has been named Management Today's 35 under 35, won Entrepreneur of the Year at the Women in Law Awards and was also an Entrepreneurship category winner at the European Women of Legal Tech Awards.  In today's episode, we'll dive into her journey of building Flex Legal, all the lessons she learned along the way and her step away from the CEO role through her exit, 7 years into the journey.  Episode Chapters: ➡️ Becoming a lawyer & the initial idea for Flex Legal [07:00]  ➡️ Entrepreneurship - a behaviour or a skill you can learn? [09:00]  ➡️ From concept to business - the evolution of Flex Legal [14:00]  ➡️ Find out more about Leadership Unleashed [15:00]  ➡️ Transitioning from Lawyer to Tech Founder [17:15]  ➡️ Finding Product-Market-Fit & navigating pivots [20:15]  ➡️ Hiring lessons [28:15]  ➡️ Navigating Covid & the route to exit [33:00]  ➡️ Transitioning out of the CEO role [35:30]  ➡️ Social Mobility in the Legal space [38:15]  ⛳ Helpful links: ➡️ Connect with Mary on LinkedIn ➡️ Find out more about Flex Legal

Cameo is one of the best-known recent consumer startups. You've either used it or know someone who's used it to get famous people to create personalized videos. And, for a while, they were a total rocket ship. Year 1: $300K GMVYear 2: $4MYear 3: $20MYear 4: $100MThey were backed by Jeremy Liew, the VC who seeded Snapchat in 2012. Cameo became a unicorn in 2021. But as the markets turned, revenue decreased, investor interest waned, and their valuation dropped from $1B to $100M. After the restructuring and the layoffs, Steven found a way to turn things around.Now the company is profitable again. And growing.Here's how he did it.Why you should listen:Why you don't need liquidity to launch a marketplace.How to hack your way to a successful marketplace launch.Why organic growth is the way to grow a marketplace. How to turn things around after your valuation crashes by 90%.KeywordsCameo, startup, entrepreneurship, product-market fit, celebrity endorsements, marketplace growth, business strategy, VC funding, early-stage startups, innovation, Cameo, gifting, unicorn status, Chicago startup, engagement, COVID-19 impact, business diversification, down rounds, product-market fitTimestamps:(00:00:00) Intro(00:02:46) Where The Idea for Cameo Came From(00:11:54) The Client Interface of Cameo in the Early Days(00:14:12) The Failed launch that Could've Ended it All(00:21:23) Gaining Momentum(00:25:37) The Math Behind Cameo(00:31:27) Becoming a Unicorn(00:34:34) Meeting Jeremy Liew (the VC who backed Snapchat)(00:40:47) Engagement on the Platform(00:43:00) The Impact of Covid(00:56:06) Finding Product Market Fit(00:56:30) One Piece of AdviceSend me a message to let me know what you think!

Lior is the Elon Musk of VC. In just 8 years, his venture fund went from 0 to $4B under management. And while doing that, he founded Bright Machines, which to date has raised over $400M. He's both the CEO of Bright Machines and the Managing Director of Eclipse Ventures. And he's not building "easy" software startups either. Bright Machines is looking to automate the entire manufacturing process with robots. He launched it with a $179M round and a 100-person team.  Lior is not normal. His story isn't either. You won't want to miss this one.Keywordsventure capital, startup journey, Bright Machines, manufacturing innovation, fundraising challenges, robotics, automation, customer relationships, product market fit, entrepreneurship, Eclipse VenturesTimestamps:(00:00:00) Intro(00:08:31) Starting Eclipse & Becoming a VC(00:13:58) How he started Bright Machines(00:18:43) The First enterprise deal with Flextonics(00:24:49) The Process of Automation and Assembly(00:30:25) Making a Machine as Reliable as a Human(00:34:44) Bright Machine's Struggles(00:36:56) The Business Model of Robotics(00:39:49) Finding Product Market Fit(00:40:37) One Piece of AdviceSend me a message to let me know what you think!

Parker quit his job as VP Finance at a late-stage startup in mid 2021. He raised $4M out of the gate because, well, it was 2021. But he didn't ramp up sales, he didn't hire 15 developers. He kept the team to 5 people for the first year. He worked with a dozen design partners until the value prop was perfect. He even refused to let customers pay upfront in annual contracts. He wanted monthly payments to light a fire for him and his team. This month, just 3 years after quitting his job, he closed a $28M Series A.Here's exactly how he did it.Why you should listen:Why the early stages are all about customer value and delight.Why you need to focus on product-market fit before growth.Why you need to solve a top-of-mind problem and deliver clear ROI to take off.How to transition from build mode to sales mode. Why monthly contracts can provide valuable feedback loops for early-stage startups.KeywordsNumeric, startup, product-market fit, funding, accounting, customer engagement, sales strategy, ROI, growth, Series ATimestamps(00:00:00) Intro(00:01:07) Coming Up with the Idea(00:06:13) Research, Taking the Leap & Pre-Seed Funding(00:11:48) Keeping the Team Small(00:16:55) Why Annual Payments Don't Work Early On(00:22:10) The Challenges in Going into Market(00:26:53) Measuring ROI(00:33:26) Series A(00:35:05) Finding Product Market Fit(00:36:11) One Piece of AdviceSend me a message to let me know what you think!

Disrupt yourself - Nicht mal 16 Monate nach dem ersten internen KI-Experiment macht das Unicorn Choco 100% seiner Neu-Umsätze durch das eigene KI-Produkt. Doch wie managt man eine Transformation, bei welcher das neue Produkt das Alte kannibalisiert? Gründer Daniel Khachab teilt sein KI Playbook.Daniel spricht darüber, wie man Mitarbeiter an eine neue Technologie heranführt, interne Experimente durchführt, Produkte schnell iteriert und dann erfolgreich ausrollt. Zudem teilt Daniel, worauf er bei neuen Hires achtet, wann man sich von Personen trennen muss und warum jede Company einen KI-First Approach wählen muss, um weiterhin überlebensfähig zu bleiben.Was du lernst:Wie Choco die Transformation zur KI-First-Company gemeistert hatEffektive Strategien zur Einführung von KI in Unternehmen - von ersten Experimenten bis zum vollständigen Roll-OutWie man Teams für KI begeistert und durch Hackathons, Incentives und transparente Kommunikation die interne Adoption steigertPlaybook Speedboat: Was gilt es beim Aufbau und Management agiler Teams außerhalb der Kern-Organisation zu beachten?SaaS vs. KI-Products: Wie unterschiedlich du als Gründer über Product Management & Pricing nachdenken solltest.ALLES ZU UNICORN BAKERY:https://zez.am/unicornbakery Mehr zu Daniel:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielkhachab/ Choco: https://choco.com/de/ Die erste Folge mit Daniel: https://lnk.to/daniel-khachab Join our Founder Tactics Newsletter:2x die Woche bekommst du die Taktiken der besten Gründer der Welt direkt ins Postfach:https://www.tactics.unicornbakery.de/ Marker:(00:00:00) Transformationsprozess von Choco: Unicorn zu KI-First-Company(00:08:17) Disrupt yourself - Woran du als Gründer merkst, dass sich deine Company verändern muss.(00:12:15) Daniel's Definition eines KI-Unternehmen(00:15:19) Choco's KI-Hackathons(00:25:34) So steigert Daniel seine Productivity mithilfe von KI(00:28:09) Transformational Leadership(00:40:31) Wie Choco seine erste Pilot-Customer für das neue Produkt gewann(00:44:58) Choco AI - Go to Market & Finding Product Market Fit(00:54:33) Wie Choco sich neu erfunden hat(01:03:55) Daniel's Gedanken zum KI-Pricing: Consumption based vs.flat fee(01:06:54) Choco's größte Herausforderungen der Unternehmenstransformation(01:11:51) Wo fange ich als Gründer mit der Transformation an? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mike started selling SaaS before SaaS was a thing. PointClickCare is the Salesforce of healthcare. For the first 7 years, they raised just $600K from friends and family. With that funding, they grew to $50M in ARR. Through that time, they went through the 2000 Dotcom crash and nearly went bankrupt in 2004 as they chased too many markets too soon.Since then, the company has continued to grow at over 20% compounded rate and hit $500M in ARR in 2024 and a $5B valuation. Mike shares how they started the company, the go-to-market strategy they used to go from 0 to $10M ARR and some of the most common mistakes he sees in the founders he works with today.Why you should listen:Why you might need to live with your customers to really understand them. Why the first 10% market share is the hardest to achieve.How chasing the wrong sales opportunities can lead to customer disappointment.Why you need to focus on delighting customers before chasing revenue.Why TAM isn't nearly as important as founders are made to think. Keywordsproduct market fit, startup growth, healthcare technology, customer delight, market entry, capital efficiency, company culture, founder adviceTimestamps:(00:00:00) Intro (00:01:43) Target Market is as Important as PMF(00:06:42) The Origin of PointClickCare(00:10:23) Being a Pioneer in SaaS(00:20:18) Measuring Customer Delight(00:28:40) Common Mistakes when Trying to Find PMF(00:34:32) Entering the US Market(00:37:57) Surviving Payroll to Payroll(00:40:13) Losing the Original Ethos of your Company(00:52:08) Finding Product Market Fit(00:53:48) One Piece of AdviceSend me a message to let me know what you think!

In this episode hosts Zach Williams and Beth PopNikolov dive into the world of innovation and market disruption with Michael Rigney, the CEO and co-founder of Cala Systems. Cala Systems is introducing the first intelligent heat pump water heater for residential use. They are revolutionizing water heating with advanced sensors, software, and hardware to optimize energy efficiency, integrate with solar systems, and much more. Michael shares his 20+ years of experience in energy and climate startups to talk about the challenges of bringing hardware to market,, the importance of macro timing, and the future of home electrification. 

Liran quit a cozy job at IBM to launch Fusic, a TikTok-like app back in 2011. He raised over $10M, acquired tens of thousands of users, and failed.So he went back to what he knew: deep tech and enterprise. He launched WEKA in 2014 to improve the efficiency of GPUs. He was operating on hard mode: building deep tech and selling to large enterprise customers. It took him 5 years to build a commercially-ready product. In that time, he raised over $35M from strategic investors, since VCs didn't get it. Once they launched, they more than doubled every year. And this year, they crossed $100M in ARR. Here's how Liran built WEKA and got it off the ground.Why you should listen:Why deep tech is much harder than normal software startups and always takes much longer.How to get enterprise customers to commit well before your product is ready. How to leverage strategic investors to get you through the early days when you have no revenue.How Liran was able to get customers to pay 6-figure deals when competitors offered 'similar' products for free.KeywordsWeka, deep tech, large enterprises, GPUs, OS, product-market fit, funding, strategic investors, POCs, POVs, AI, GPU use case, performance, cost reduction, rapid growthTimestamps:(00:00:00) Intro(00:02:12) Why my first startup failed(00:08:35) Starting WEKA(00:15:04) WEKA's First Customer(00:17:43) The Operating System of CPUs(00:21:19) The Issues with Deep Tech Companies(00:26:19) Competing with a Free Product(00:32:57) Reaching a Couple Million in ARR(00:36:26) Fundraising(00:43:19) Finding Product Market Fit(00:44:08) One Piece of AdviceSend me a message to let me know what you think!

It was “really slow in the first couple of years...really, really slow.” GoHenry was an app and debit card for kids to help parents teach their kids about money. Dean started over a decade ago in 2012, when mobile was just truly taking off. And yet, it took multiple years to get off the ground. Once he found the right channels and repeatable growth, he and his team started pouring fuel on the fire. In total, they raised over $100M. He ultimately grew to 2 million paying customers. Earlier this year, they were acquired for an undisclosed sum in what is one of the bigger fintech M&A deals of the last few years.Here's how it happened.Why you should listen: Why even with millions of paying users, Dean speaks with a handful of customers one-on-one every week.Why timing is so important and how to spot trends early-on based on small things happening around you.How finding the right channels is key for consumer startups. Why Focus and clarity are key to maintaining a successful business.KeywordsGoHenry, startup, acquisition, product market fit, customer feedback, financial education, kids debit card, scaling, marketing strategy, entrepreneurshipTimestamps:(00:00:00) Intro(00:1:34) The Beginning of GoHenry(00:5:57) Why I talk to users every week(00:11:22) You Grow by Learning Faster than Your Competitors(00:26:50) V1 of GoHenry(00:35:26) Getting to 10,000 Customers(00:38:33) Conversion Rates from Social Media(00:41:51) Getting Acquired(00:50:59) Finding Product Market Fit(00:51:33) One Piece of AdviceSend me a message to let me know what you think!

How can product leaders find product market fit with customer insights? The scale and urgency of the transformation required to fight climate change has never been more clear. Building hardware and software products, acquiring the funding and creating a diverse community to enhance talent capacity and to drive innovation, is essential to tackling this global environmental crisis. In this podcast, Silicon Valley Bank (a division of First Citizens Bank) Climate Tech & Sustainability SVP Maggie Wong will be interviewing Carbon Collective Investing President Breene Murphy to discuss achieving product market fit and scalability through understanding customer needs, optimizing adoption with user friendly process flow and technology, as well as leveraging market signals and relevant stakeholders to amplify product impact.

In the latest episode of Sit Down Startup, Adam O'Donnell chats with Lauren Salz, co-founder and CEO of Sealed, about her unexpected journey from aspiring musician to leading a revolutionary home energy startup.Discover the invaluable lessons Lauren learned about resilience, adaptability, and the importance of continuous product evolution, and hear how Sealed found its product-market fit by transitioning from in-person sales to a streamlined phone-based sales process. The lesson? Sometimes you need to pivot from even successful ventures to better align with market demands. Tune in for an inspiring conversation on the future of home energy and embracing change in entrepreneurship.(00:10:25) Resilience and Adaptability in Entrepreneurship(00:14:53) Continuous evolution for product-market fit success(00:19:23) Embracing Change for Business GrowthApply to the Zendesk for Startups program. Qualifying startups can use Zendesk six months for free. Click to learn more: https://www.zendesk.com/lp/startup-partner/?ref=gen&partner_account=0016R00003GUn7OQAT

Discover the secrets to successful go-to-market strategies and product-led growth with David Malpass, the SVP of Apollo, as he shares his experiences and insights on reinventing the wheel, understanding and implementing products, and creating word-of-mouth through content, branding, and community. Learn how to set up a strong go-to-market foundation, avoid vanity metrics, and find excellent product-market fit.    Plus, David discusses the importance of expertise in content creation, the role of product marketing, and the value of investing in demand generation. Don't miss out on this valuable conversation with a marketing expert who's been there and done it all.   00:04:05 - Reinventing the Wheel: From Engineering to Content Strategy 00:12:22 - The Art of Building a Go-to-Market Strategy 00:13:01 - Finding Product Market Fit and Go-to-Market Strategy 00:15:46 - The Challenges of Implementing a Product 00:18:33 - Scaling Your Product: Foundation First 00:24:32 - The Power of Content Marketing 00:29:57 - Expertise Drives the Best Content 00:33:57 - Paid Advertising: Testing Messaging Strategies 00:38:21 - Invest in Demand Generation for Marketing Success 00:40:34 - Apollo IO: Making World-Class Go-to-Market Accessible   Follow David:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmalpass/   Follow Daniel: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@themarketingmillennials/featured Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/Dmurr68 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-murray-marketing   Sign up for The Marketing Millennials newsletter:  www.workweek.com/brand/the-marketing-millennials   Daniel is a Workweek friend, working to produce amazing podcasts. To find out more, visit: www.workweek.com

In this episode of Intercom on Product, we talk with Enzo Avigo, co-founder and CEO of June, a next-generation analytics platform dedicated to B2B SaaS. He shares his key learnings from his entrepreneurial journey so far, including the importance of product-market fit (PMF), the real value of getting into Y Combinator, and the growing significance of founder-led marketing. Leading the conversation is Mark Iafrate, GTM Lead, Webinars & Partner Marketing, Intercom.Watch this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qha95Ig4gWw

Highlights from this week's conversation include:Spencer's Background at Braze (1:54)The Early Days of Braze (2:41)Finding Product-Market Fit (4:44)First Major Customer (6:33)Unique Aspects of Braze's Growth Team (8:07)Startup Culture Experience (10:40)Data and Marketing Perspectives (12:50)Common Marketing Data Challenges (15:50)Changing Dynamics in Marketing Tech (18:12)Evaluating Marketing Tools (19:38)Transformation of Marketing Tools (22:18)Marketers Becoming More Technical (24:10)API Utilization in Marketing (25:46)Connecting Customer Experience (29:09)Flexibility in Data Integration (32:05)Pushing vs. Pulling Data (34:35)Anomaly Detection in Data Reporting (37:02)Understanding the Importance of Core KPIs (39:09)Making Data More Consumable (42:38)Final Thoughts and Takeaways (44:51)The Data Stack Show is a weekly podcast powered by RudderStack, the CDP for developers. Each week we'll talk to data engineers, analysts, and data scientists about their experience around building and maintaining data infrastructure, delivering data and data products, and driving better outcomes across their businesses with data.RudderStack helps businesses make the most out of their customer data while ensuring data privacy and security. To learn more about RudderStack visit rudderstack.com.

Do you want to turn your passion into a powerhouse brand and live the life of your dreams?In this action-packed episode of The Happy Hustle Podcast, I had the pleasure of chatting with the one and only Eric Hinman—a guy who's redefining what it means to be a hybrid athlete, serial entrepreneur, and brand builder. If you've ever wanted to know how to scale early-stage consumer and wellness brands or how to crush them as a fitness influencer, Eric is your guy.Eric has partnered with some seriously cool brands—think 10,000, Slate, Ice Barrel, Sisu, HVMN, and The Normal Brand, just to name a few. He's not just about the quick win; Eric believes in the long-term vision and has built a solid portfolio of angel investments in the wellness space with companies like HVMN, Beam, and more.During our chat, Eric shares some killer health and fitness tips that you can start using today. Whether you're aiming to become a fitness influencer yourself or just want to up your game in the brand deals, this episode is for you. We also get into some serious Happy Hustlin'—how to balance the grind with a life of intention. Eric's got this awesome habit-stacking routine that helps him optimize every minute of his day. Plus, he's big on the idea that fitness isn't just about looking good; it's about feeling good mentally, physically, and spiritually.Get ready to soak up some inspiration and actionable tips from a guy who's crushing it in business, health, and life.Wanna dive deeper into Eric's world? Check out his fitness app and follow him on social media for daily inspiration and tips. In this episode, we cover: 04:00 The Importance of Holistic Well-being and Fitness07:26 Habit Stacking and Maximizing Time13:46 Balancing Personal and Professional Life20:46 Eric's Business Model: Influencer Marketing and Consulting23:10 Investment Opportunities and Building a Network26:19 Selfless Service and Value Creation28:29 Best Investments: Residual Income and Assets33:15 Finding Product-Market Fit for Brand Partnerships35:09 Building a Strong Personal Brand with Engaging Content45:37 Living Mindfully and with IntentionConnect with Erichttps://www.instagram.com/erichinman/https://www.facebook.com/ericjhinmanhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/erichinman/https://www.youtube.com/@ehinman Find Eric on this website: https://erichinman.com/Connect with Cary!https://www.instagram.com/cary__jack/https://www.facebook.com/SirCaryJackhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/cary-jack-kendzior/https://twitter.com/thehappyhustlehttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFDNsD59tLxv2JfEuSsNMOQ/featured Get a free copy of his new book, The Happy Hustle, 10 Alignments to Avoid Burnout & Achieve Blissful Balance (https://www.thehappyhustlebook.com/)Sign up for The Journey: 10 Days To Become a Happy Hustler Online Course (http://www.thehappyhustle.com/Journey)Apply to the Montana Mastermind Epic Camping Adventure (https://caryjack.com/montana)“It's time to Happy Hustle, a blissfully balanced life you love, full of passion, purpose, and positive impact!”Struggling to keep up with daily demands? Discover the game-changing power of magnesium, the body's "master mineral." It supports over 600 vital reactions, from hormone balance to stress management, sleep, and digestion.Here's the catch: most supplements offer only 1 or 2 forms of magnesium, but your body needs 7! That's why I swear by Magnesium Breakthrough by BIOptimizers (https:// magbreakthrough.com/happyfree), the only supplement with all 7 forms. It's boosted my sleep, reduced my stress, and balanced my life.For a limited time, you can get a FREE bottle of Magnesium Breakthrough (https:// magbreakthrough.com/happyfree) just for you! Grab yours now before supplies run out.

When Dominique Elkind became a mother, she noticed a lack of third spaces available to parents of very young children. While on her second maternity leave, Dominique decided to take on a entrepreneurial venture vastly different from her career as a UX Designer, by founding Nixi City, a play centre for children aged 0-5. Not only is Nixi City a space for children, but includes a cafe for parents to meet and connect. --- [00:01:35] Dominique's Design Background [00:02:25] Side Hustling During Maternity Leave [00:03:30] Entrepreneurial Experience at Google [00:06:25] Founding Nixi City, a Children's Play Space [00:08:35] Identifying a Market Gap [00:11:15] Scaling and Franchising [00:12:37] Balancing Work and Family [00:14:05] Setting Boundaries  [00:17:25] Sleep and Wellness [00:19:48] Challenges of a Physical Space  [00:22:55] Finding Product/Market Fit [00:24:35] Selecting Real Estate for Nixi City [00:26:33] Dominique's Advice: Find a Community of Potential Customers [00:27:36] Utilizing Design Skills [00:29:31] Connect with Dominque

Going full blown startup with this interview today. If you've ever been curious about Product-Market Fit for B2B Saas Companies, clear your schedule because this one is for you.Beyond Product-Market Fit, Rob also has experience with both venture capital funding and bootstrapping businesses—so we of course asked him the pros and cons of both!In this episode we talked about,Rob's Harvard Background and His Entrepreneurial QualitiesBootstrapping a Business vs Venture Capital Funding (the pros and cons)Product Market Fit (what it is + how to find it)How to Figure out Your Message & Why Consumers BuyRob Snyder is a serial startup founder. He has brought 7 startups from $0-$1M in annual recurring revenue and runs the popular "Product-Market Fit Camp" program for early-stage B2B startups. Rob is a graduate of Harvard Business School, and now builds profitable companies from the woods of New Hampshire.https://www.linkedin.com/in/rsnyder1https://www.robsnyder.org Start getting media features today: https://www.visibilityonpurpose.com/mediastarterpack1 Want PR Consulting? The same consulting that has gotten our clients on Entrepreneur, Business Insider, Forbes & more? Email us at info@visibilityonpurpose.com Connect with us on and off the pod! website: ⁠www.visibilityonpurpose.com⁠ Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/visibilityonpurpose/⁠ Facebook Community: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/groups/toptiermedia⁠ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@visibilityonpurpose

Bill Bachand fell in love with cold water plunging and launched his dream business, Renu Therapy. Hear how he used his own pain to create an innovative solution for others.For more on Bill Bachand and show notes click here. 

Todd Jackson is a Partner at First Round Capital. Before moving into venture capital, he played a crucial role as VP of Product and Design at Dropbox, guiding the company until its IPO in 2018. Prior to Dropbox, Todd led product management for Twitter's Content and Discovery teams after selling his startup, Cover, to Twitter in 2014. Before Cover, Todd oversaw product development for Facebook's Newsfeed, Photos, and Groups. He kickstarted his career at Google as an associate product manager and eventually led product for Gmail, witnessing its growth from beta to 200 million users. In our conversation, we discuss:• Why product-market fit (PMF) matters• First Round Capital's four-part PMF framework• Level one: Nascent product-market fit• Level two: Developing product-market fit• Level three: Strong product-market fit• Level four: Extreme product-market fit• Examples of companies at each level• How to know if you're stuck at a level, and how to get unstuck• What to change if you're stuck: persona, problem, promise, and product• The goals and challenges at each stage—Brought to you by:• WorkOS—The modern API for auth and user identity• Eppo—Run reliable, impactful experiments• CommandBar—AI-powered user assistance for modern products and impatient users—Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/a-framework-for-finding-product-market—Where to find Todd Jackson:• X: https://twitter.com/tjack• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddj0/—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, we cover:(00:00) Todd's background(06:07) First Round Capital's PMF framework(09:07) Why product-market fit is so important(11:02) Who can benefit from this framework(12:55) The product-market fit method(16:54) Broad overview of the framework(21:35) Level one: nascent product-market fit(33:16) The four P's(39:13) Level two: developing product-market fit(49:13) Signs you're stuck at level two, and what to do(55:12) Level three: strong product-market fit(01:00:17) Signs you're stuck at level three, and what to do(01:02:22) Level four: extreme product-market fit(01:06:55) Rough timelines for each level(01:11:18) A quick recap of the framework(01:12:15) Diving deeper on the four P's: what to do if you're stuck(01:13:56) Dollar-driven discovery(01:25:11) Apply for the product-market-fit method program—Referenced:• First Round: https://firstround.com/• Twitter Acquires Cover: https://www.vox.com/2014/4/7/11625332/twitter-acquires-cover-an-android-mobile-startup• Dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/• Rahul Vohra on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahulvohra/• How Superhuman Built an Engine to Find Product Market Fit: https://review.firstround.com/how-superhuman-built-an-engine-to-find-product-market-fit/• How to validate your startup idea: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/validating-your-startup-idea• How the most successful B2B startups came up with their original idea: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-the-most-successful-b2b-startups• How to know if you've got product-market fit: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-know-if-youve-got-productmarket• A guide for finding product-market fit in B2B: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/finding-product-market-fit• Product-market fit method: http://pmf.firstround.com/• Stripe: https://stripe.com/• Plaid: https://plaid.com/• Paths to PMF: https://review.firstround.com/series/product-market-fit/• WeWork: https://www.wework.com/• Casper: https://casper.com/• Vanta: https://www.vanta.com/• Christina Cacioppo on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ccacioppo/• Ramp: https://ramp.com/• Velocity over everything: How Ramp became the fastest-growing SaaS startup of all time | Geoff Charles (VP of Product): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/velocity-over-everything-how-ramp-became-the-fastest-growing-saas-startup-of-all-time-geoff-charl/• Jack Altman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackealtman/• Lattice: https://lattice.com/• Zachary Perret on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zperret/• Positioning: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/positioning• Retool: https://retool.com/• David Hsu on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dvdhsu/• Persona: https://withpersona.com/• Rick Song on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rick-song-25198b24/• Lloyd Tabb on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lloydtabb/• Looker: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Looker_(company)• Jason Boehmig on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jboehmig/• Ironclad: https://ironcladapp.com/• Lessons in leadership | Scaling an org and tactical management advice | Jack Altman (Lattice): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZzXqf61mrQ• Filip Kaliszan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaliszan/• Verkada: https://www.verkada.com/• Ali Ghodsi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alighodsi/• Databricks: https://www.databricks.com/• Stripe Radar: https://stripe.com/radar• Stripe Atlas: https://stripe.com/atlas• Square Stand: https://squareup.com/shop/hardware/us/en/products/ipad-pos-stand-integrated-card-reader• Cash App: https://cash.app/• Square Checking: https://squareup.com/us/en/campaign/banking/checking• Square Loan: https://squareup.com/help/us/en/article/5654-get-started-with-square-capital• Casey Winters on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caseywinters/• How to sell your ideas and rise within your company | Casey Winters, Eventbrite: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/how-to-sell-your-ideas-and-rise-within-your-company-casey-winters-eventbrite/• Josh Kopelman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jkopelman/• The art and science of pricing | Madhavan Ramanujam (Monetizing Innovation, Simon-Kucher): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/videos/the-art-and-science-of-pricing-madhavan-ramanujam-monetizing-innovation-simon-kucher/• Simon Kucher: https://www.simon-kucher.com/—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.—Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

Brian Long of Attentive joins Nate to discuss The Playbook to Finding Product-Market Fit, When Founders Should Begin to Scale, and Lessons from Building Attentive. In this episode we cover: Entrepreneurship, Product Development, and Market Opportunity Strategic Decisions for Early-Stage Companies Customer Discovery and Feedback in Product Development Product Market Fit and Customer Acquisition Strategies Customer Problem Evolution and Startup Success Strategies Sales Strategies, Company Growth, and Founder Experience Guest Links: LinkedIn X  Attentive The hosts of The Full Ratchet are Nick Moran and Nate Pierotti of New Stack Ventures, a venture capital firm committed to investing in founders outside of the Bay Area. Want to keep up to date with The Full Ratchet? Follow us on social. You can learn more about New Stack Ventures by visiting our LinkedIn and Twitter. Are you a founder looking for your next investor? Visit our free tool VC-Rank and we'll send a list of potential investors right to your inbox!