Podcasts about product market fit

Today's show:In this powerhouse VC roundtable, @Jason sits down with Sequoia's Doug Leone and Cyberstarts' Gili Raanan to share brutally honest insights on startup recruiting, evaluating second-time founders, and how to truly find product-market fit. They break down why big-tech résumés can be misleading, how to structure early teams, and what separates “missionary” talent from mercenaries. Plus, the myth of early ARR, the art of founder-board trust, and how AI is (and isn't) reshaping startup velocity. Must-watch for founders, VCs, and anyone building from 0 to 1.Timestamps:(03:25) The origins of Wiz and how VCs know when to invest(05:17) What qualities are investors looking for in founders and entrepreneurs?(09:53) LinkedIn Ads - Get a $100 LinkedIn ad credit at http://www.linkedin.com/thisweekinstartups(18:40) How to know when you've reached true Product Market Fit: the experts sound off(19:20) Notion - Try it for free today at https://notion.com/twist(25:39) The secrets of recruiting top talent(29:54) CLA - Get started with CLA's CPAs, consultants, and wealth advisors now at https://claconnect.com/tech(39:38) Judging a startup's revenue quality and “founder vs. salesman” deals(53:38) Is venture capital kind of a SCAM?(55:00) Seed Investing: “Pick them right and early”Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comCheck out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcpFollow Lon:X: https://x.com/lonsFollow Alex:X: https://x.com/alexLinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelmFollow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanisThank you to our partners:(09:53) LinkedIn Ads - Get a $100 LinkedIn ad credit at http://www.linkedin.com/thisweekinstartups(19:20) Notion - Try it for free today at https://notion.com/twist(29:54) CLA - Get started with CLA's CPAs, consultants, and wealth advisors now at https://claconnect.com/techGreat TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarlandCheck out Jason's suite of newsletters: https://substack.com/@calacanisFollow TWiST:Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartupsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartupsTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartupsSubstack: https://twistartups.substack.comSubscribe to the Founder University Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@founderuniversity1916

Most founders don't know what their differentiator is. That's a problem. Today, we walk through two paths to help you find a differentiator strong enough to anchor a business. We also help you root out bad differentiators - the ones that'll just waste your time. There's also a story about a Rabbi's wisdom, a founder making decaf coffee, and a poison ivy company I'm obsessed with. Tacklebox - start your company before you quit your jobHow to Find Your WedgeHow to Use Landing Page Tests 00:30 Differentiator Intro01:45 Rabbi Joke05:15 Smooth Jazz05:45 How to Find Your Differentiator06:46 Path 1: Letting a Customer Tell You11:41 Path 2: Four Questions to Pick Your Differentiator19:32 How to Test Differentiators21:00 The Reality of Differentiators (Downer)22:16 The End - Taking Yourself Seriously

The CFO software ecosystem is highly fragmented and ripe for disruption. Sean Jacobsohn, partner at Norwest, has a front-row seat to the action: He's backed 10 companies selling to CFOs, while Norwest has invested in 20. Having identified 300 companies in 15 different categories operating in the space, he joins CJ to share takeaways from his market map of the evolving CFO software stack. They dig into what's driving disruption, how new players are challenging legacy systems, and what it takes for founders to stand out. The conversation spans everything from the staying power of spreadsheets to the debate between building for verticals versus horizontals, the future of FP&A, and how AI agents might reshape the stack. Sean delves into the dynamics of partnerships, outlining five key rules for successful collaborations. Additionally, he talks about his Failure Museum which showcases a collection of items representing failed products and companies, and breaks down what he has identified as the six forces of failure.—LINKS:Sean Jacobsohn on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanjacobsohnNorwest: https://www.nvp.comMarket Map: Reimagining the CFO Software Stack: https://www.nvp.com/blog/market-map-reimagining-cfo-software-stackFailure Museum: https://failure.museum/CJ on X (@cjgustafson222): https://x.com/cjgustafson222Mostly metrics: http://mostlymetrics.comRELATED EPISODES:CFO of FloQast on Why Finance Teams are Data Curators: The $7 Million Wake-Up Call: Mastering Rebates for Profitability with Enable's Nick Rose: G2 CFO Chad Gold on Building A Durable Career as a Venture Backed Exec: —TIMESTAMPS:(00:00) Preview and Intro(02:04) Sponsor – Rippling Spend | Pulley | Navan(06:08) The Fragmentation of the CFO Tool Ecosystem(07:24) Advice for Founders on Deep Domain Expertise(10:39) Enable: Disrupting an Existing Solution Versus Creating a New Category(12:32) The Prevalence of Spreadsheets in the Current Ecosystem(13:39) Solutions Built for Verticals Versus Horizontals(16:24) Sponsor – NetSuite | Planful | Tabs(20:22) Vertical Software and the Move to the Cloud(22:17) The Likelihood of Consolidation by Incumbents in the Space(24:53) Developments in the FP&A Space(26:55) The Future of AI Agents in Finance(28:05) The Five Key Rules of Partnerships: Partner Fit(29:17) Entering New Markets(30:16) Enablement: The Importance of Training(32:28) Reciprocation(33:49) How Often the Little Guy Approaches the Big Guy in Partnerships(34:51) M&A in Partnerships(37:01) The Best Way To Form a Partnership(37:45) The Inspiration Behind the Failure Museum(39:14) The Six Forces of Failure(40:38) Falling out of Product-Market Fit(41:25 Examples of Failures From the Failure Museum(44:58) How the Failure Museum Informs Sean's Work at Norwest(46:12) The Magic of Pivoting—SPONSORS:Rippling Spend is a spend management software that gives you complete visibility and automated policy controls across every type of spend, saving you time and money. Get a demo to see how much time your org would save at rippling.com/metrics.Pulley is the cap table management platform built for CFOs and finance leaders who need reliable, audit-ready data and intuitive workflows, without the hidden fees or unreliable support. Switch in as little as 5 days and get 25% off your first year: pulley.com/mostlymetrics.Navan is the all-in-one travel and expense solution that helps finance teams streamline reconciliation, enforce policies automatically, and gain real-time visibility. It connects to your existing cards and makes closing the books faster and smarter. Visit navan.com/Runthenumbers for your demo.NetSuite is an AI-powered business management suite, encompassing ERP/Financials, CRM, and ecommerce for more than 41,000 customers. If you're looking for an ERP, head to https://netsuite.com/metrics and get the CFO's Guide to AI and Machine Learning.Planful's financial planning software can transform your FP&A function. Built for speed, accuracy, and confidence, you'll be planning your way to success and have time left over to actually put it to work. Find out more at www.planful.com/metrics.Tabs is a platform that brings all of your revenue-facing data and workflows - billing, AR, payments, rev rec, and reporting - onto a single system so you can automate and be more flexible. Find out more at: tabs.inc/metrics.#CFOsoftware #marketmap #verticalSaaS #FPandA #FailureMuseum Get full access to Mostly metrics at www.mostlymetrics.com/subscribe

I'm Josh Kopel, a Michelin-awarded restaurateur and the creator of the Restaurant Scaling System. I've spent decades in the industry, building, scaling, and coaching restaurants to become more profitable and sustainable. On this show, I cut through the noise to give you real, actionable strategies that help independent restaurant owners run smarter, more successful businesses. In this episode, I tackle a really common frustration: pouring time and money into marketing when the real problem is the product itself. I break down the brutal but freeing truth: Marketing is a megaphone, not a magician. I share my own hard-earned lessons on how to stop masking product issues with ads and instead zero in on product-market fit. I explain how to test it, iterate fast, and double down on what works — so you can stop wasting dollars and start selling out seats and dishes naturally.Takeaways:Many restaurants fail to profit because they haven't built a strong business behind great food and service.If your concept doesn't resonate with your target market, no amount of marketing will fix it.True product-market fit shows up instantly — seats fill, dishes sell out, buzz spreads organically.Marketing only amplifies what's already working; it can't create demand where none exists.To find product-market fit, test small, track data, listen to feedback, and iterate constantly.Stop trying to revive your weakest menu items — double down on your best sellers and build on what already works.Once you nail product-market fit, that's the time to scale your marketing and growth.Chapters: [00:17] Why Restaurants Struggle Financially  [01:35] Cathy's Question — Is Marketing the Problem?  [02:00] Product-Market Fit Explained  [04:00] Marketing is a Megaphone, Not a Magician  [06:30] Double Down on What Works If you've got a marketing or profitability related question for me, email me directly at josh@joshkopel.com and include Office Hours in the subject line. If you'd like to scale the profitability of your restaurant in only 5 days, sign up for our FREE 5 Day Restaurant Profitability Challenge by visiting https://joshkopel.com.

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In this episode of Practical Pivots, Mick Freeman, CEO of BEN Colorado, unveils the hidden challenges and untapped potential of startup ecosystems. Drawing from his diverse entrepreneurial background, Freeman candidly discusses the critical importance of bootstrapping until achieving true product market fit - which he defines simply as "somebody bought it twice" - and warns against premature fundraising that can dilute founders' equity. He reveals surprising insights about Colorado's unique collaborative startup culture, where entrepreneurs view the business landscape as an expandable pie rather than a zero-sum game. Freeman passionately advocates for entrepreneurs to break down their ego barriers and actively seek help, highlighting the mental health challenges in startup life and the transformative power of vulnerability. With provocative observations about leadership, financing strategies, and the psychological hurdles of scaling businesses, Freeman offers a raw, unfiltered look into the entrepreneurial journey that will resonate with founders navigating the treacherous waters of startup growth.About Mick Freeman, CEO & Executive Director, BEN ColoradoMick Freeman is a seasoned business leader, social entrepreneur, and strategic advisor with over six years of experience as a BEN volunteer across multiple programs. His experience spans the nonprofit, private, and public sectors, including startup, scale-up, turnaround, Fortune 500, nonprofits, and for-profit social enterprises.https://www.bencolorado.org/mick-freeman

Sales Enablement in staffing is no longer a tactical side function, it's the engine of your entire go-to-market strategy. In this eye-opening episode, Avner Baruch (Author of Project Moneyball) shares how top staffing and recruiting firms are transforming enablement from “content dumping” into measurable impact through coaching, role practice, and feedback loops. This video will inspire you to re-evaluate your GTM systems and explore enablement through the lens of performance coaching and strategic execution. In This Episode: What Sales Enablement in Staffing really means today How to build a go-to-market strategy aligned with sales motion The hidden cost of relying solely on content (and what to do instead) Why role practice and feedback loops are critical for sales acceleration How elite teams reinforce skills—without blowing their budget The enablement tech stack that makes it all possible Avner's Project Moneyball methodology for enabling outcomes across the customer lifecycle Whether you're launching a new GTM motion or trying to reverse stagnant revenue, the insights here are built to drive impact across your customer lifecycle. Timestamps: 00:43 - What is sales enablement? A Moneyball analogy 02:57 - Sales enablement in startups vs. enterprises 03:45 - Why the best companies go beyond content 04:55 - The economic pressure fueling enablement evolution 06:43 - Common pitfalls: Content without context 08:51 - Why content is only half the battle 10:53 - The power of role practice and daily sales routines 12:55 - Real-world staffing challenges and playbook creation 16:29 - Why leaders avoid role practice—and how to fix it 20:52 - Leveraging AI for sales coaching 22:30 - Shifting outdated staffing habits 25:12 - Consistency beats intensity in sales enablement 27:26 - Misalignment of seller skills and roles 31:59 - Coachability and cultural fit in hiring 34:17 - The ideal sales enablement hire 37:01 - Content graveyards vs. actionable insights 41:36 - Meet Avner Baruch and Project Moneyball 44:26 - Moneyball methodology for enablement ROI 46:30 - Avner's favorite book: Crossing the Chasm   About the Speakers: Brad Bialy is host of Take the Stage and InSights, two of the leading podcast for the staffing industry, presented by Haley Marketing. He has a deep passion for helping staffing and recruiting firms achieve their business objectives through strategic digital marketing. For over a decade, Brad has developed a proven track record of motivating and educating staffing industry professionals at over 100 industry-specific conferences and webinars. As a visionary leader, Brad has helped guide the comprehensive marketing strategy of more than 300 staffing and recruiting firms. His keen eye for strategy and delivery has resulted in multiple industry award-winning social media campaigns, making him a sought-after expert and speaker in the industry. As an executive GTM and Enablement leader, Avner Baruch has built and led GTM, Sales Enablement and RevOps functions from the ground up for leading Startups such as Walkme, Imperva-Incapsula, Rapyd and more notable SaaS businesses. As a consultant, member of Advisory Boards and Design Partners, he has helped entrepreneurs and scaling startups implement and reinforce their sales methodologies, fine-tune their Product-Market Fit, design, build and scale their selling motion. In 2020 he founded Project Moneyball (a GTM consulting firm) to help early-stage startups and scaling businesses overcome growth challenges. He is a certified sales trainer holding a B.Eng with Honors in Electrical Engineering & Physics from Coventry University (UK) and the Max Planck Institute (France).   Offers Heard in this Episode: 30 minutes of strategic marketing consultation with Brad Bialy: https://bit.ly/Bialy30 Special Offers! Our Best Savings of 2025: https://bit.ly/bialyoffer What if your back office fueled your growth instead of holding it back? TRICOM makes it happen! From payroll and billing to accounting and asset based lending, they clear the roadblocks and power your path forward. Your team gets paid, your cash flow stays steady and your business scales like never before. TRICOM doesn't just support you, they set you up to soar. Visit https://www.TRICOM.com to learn more. 

This episode is brought to you by https://www.ElevateOS.com —the only all-in-one community operating system.ElevateOS transforms property management, combining resident engagement, reservations, rent payments, maintenance, and concierge services into a single super app. It also uniquely integrates access control, intercoms, package lockers, and thermostats, eliminating app fatigue and redefining modern apartment living.Visit https://www.ElevateOS.com/MMN for a free demo and see how they can help you level up your operations.Have you heard of the Ford Edsel?If you're under 40, maybe not. But in this episode of the Multifamily Collective, Mike Brewer unpacks the legendary failure that every modern business leader—especially in Multifamily—needs to understand.The Edsel wasn't just a car. It was a case study in how not to launch. Ford designed it for themselves—not for the customer. No market research. No personas. No consumer validation. Just gut instincts and wishful thinking.The result? One of the biggest flops in automotive history.Mike brings this hard truth home for Multifamily professionals: product-market fit matters. Whether you're launching a new property, rolling out PropTech, or crafting a resident experience strategy, skipping the customer lens is business malpractice.You're not Steve Jobs.So do the work.Talk to your customer.Build what they need—not what you think they want.If you're in Multifamily, don't build your next Edsel.Like this lesson?Hit Like.Click Subscribe.And pass this one along to your product and marketing teams.

Logan sits down with Bipul Sinha, CEO and co-founder of Rubrik and former VC at Lightspeed and Blumberg Capital. Bipul shares what he learned transitioning from investor to founder, why intuition beats expertise, and how he built Rubrik into a category-defining business by betting on uncool ideas. They talk product-market fit in the AI era, what most VCs get wrong today, and why the enterprise IT market is still just getting started. It's a conversation packed with hard-earned wisdom and bold takes on building lasting companies. (00:00) Intro (01:42) Transitioning from VC to Founder (02:27) The Genesis of Rubrik (03:30) Navigating Uncertainty in Business (06:57) Product Market Fit and Early Success (08:56) Evolving with the Market (13:14) AI and Data Security (18:53) Leadership and Intuition (28:34) Building a Transparent Culture (31:52) Handling Tough Questions in Board Meetings (33:28) Changing Perspectives Over Time (34:57) Traits of Successful Entrepreneurs (36:46) The Future of Venture Capital and Startups (40:38) Balancing Forward and Lateral Motion in Business (42:35) The Impact of AI on Various Industries (01:00:28) The Evolution of Work and Technology (01:02:52) Fostering a Collaborative Company Culture (01:04:56) Looking Ahead: The Future of Rubrik Executive Producer: Rashad Assir Producer: Leah Clapper Mixing and editing: Justin Hrabovsky Check out Unsupervised Learning, Redpoint's AI Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@UCUl-s_Vp-Kkk_XVyDylNwLA

This week on The AI Report, Liam Lawson is joined by Peter, a startup coach and product strategist who's helped dozens of early-stage founders avoid one of the most costly mistakes in tech: building before validating.Peter explains why most startup ideas fail not because the tech doesn't work, but because there's no real demand. He shares the “sandwich method” he uses to get honest, useful feedback in discovery calls, and how founders can avoid building in a vacuum.They also explore the role AI is starting to play in validation workflows—and why it can't replace true customer insight.Also in this episode: • Why product-market fit is not a feeling • How to structure conversations to get real signal • The biggest lies founders tell themselves during early validation • How to use AI tools in discovery without getting misled • Why humility might be the most valuable founder skillIf you're building anything new—especially in AI or SaaS—this episode is a sharp, tactical reset.Subscribe to The AI Report:https://theaireport.beehiiv.com/subscribeJoin the community:https://www.skool.com/the-ai-report-community/aboutChapters:(00:00) Misunderstanding Product Validation(01:15) Who Peter Works With and Why(03:40) The Sandwich Method for Better Discovery(06:05) What He Learned From YC and Startup #1(08:12) Founders as Pattern Matchers(10:33) Detecting and Avoiding Bias(13:00) Identifying Real Market Demand(15:18) The Feature Fallacy(17:50) AI Tools vs Product Necessity(19:36) Where AI Can (and Can't) Help(21:44) Advice for Founders on Day Zero(23:50) Why Peter Keeps Coaching(26:04) Where to Find Him

Former beauty exec William Smolen turned a personal need into a business opportunity—creating the pet wellness category and scaling WagWell into a leader in just 15 months.For more on WagWell and show notes click here. Subscribe and watch Shopify Masters on YouTube!Sign up for your FREE Shopify Trial here.

This week, Lightspeed Partner Mike Mignano sits down with Gabriel Stengel, founder and CEO of Rogo, to explore how AI is transforming the world of finance. Gabe shares his journey from sleepless nights as a junior investment banker at Lazard to building Rogo, a cutting-edge AI platform that automates the grueling work of benchmarking, earnings analysis, and pitch deck creation in seconds. They discuss the origins of Rogo from Gabe's time at Princeton, the challenges of building AI tools for elite financial institutions, and why the next generation of analysts might just be digital. Gabe also unpacks the technical edge that sets Rogo apart and the ways in which financial services may look very different in the near future. Episode Chapters: (00:00) Introduction to the Interview(00:55) Gabe Stengel's Background and Rogo's Inception(02:44) Early Challenges and Evolution of Rogo(07:29) The Role of AI in Finance(12:07) Investor and Customer Reception(13:49) Pivotal Moments and Product Market Fit(21:53) Balancing Enterprise Security and Feature Development(23:45) Navigating the Challenges of AI Startup Speed(25:45) Rogo's Impact on Investment Banking Workflows(28:34) AI's Role in Professional Services and Legal Work(32:33) Future of Rogo and Financial Services(37:18) Challenges and Strategies in Enterprise Sales(42:02) Conclusion and Final ThoughtsStay in touch:www.lsvp.comX: https://twitter.com/lightspeedvpLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lightspeed-venture-partners/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lightspeedventurepartners/Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: generativenow.coEmail: generativenow@lsvp.comThe content here does not constitute tax, legal, business or investment advice or an offer to provide such advice, should not be construed as advocating the purchase or sale of any security or investment or a recommendation of any company, and is not an offer, or solicitation of an offer, for the purchase or sale of any security or investment product. For more details please see lsvp.com/legal.

Follow me @samirkaji for my thoughts on the venture market, with a focus on the continued evolution of the VC landscape.Welcome to another episode of Venture Unlocked. In this episode, I had the pleasure of welcoming Villi Iltchev, founder and managing partner of Category Ventures. Villi has had a long history in tech, both in operating roles at companies like Box and Lifelock, as well as investing roles at August Capital and Two Sigma, where he departed in 2024 to launch Category Ventures.We covered a lot of ground in our conversation, including his inspiration for starting a new firm and the experiences that informed his true north. We also spoke about the fragmentation of the market and what it means to win in early-stage investing in a heavily crowded market of dedicated seed funds & larger funds who are active in see and Series A. I really enjoyed the authenticity of the conversation and hope you do as well.About Villi IltchevVilli Iltchev is the Founder and Managing Partner of Category Ventures, an early-stage venture firm focused on backing category-defining enterprise software companies. With over two decades of experience as both an operator and investor, Villi has held leadership roles at Box, LifeLock, and Salesforce, where he led investments and acquisitions in companies like HubSpot, MuleSoft, Gusto, and Zapier. As a General Partner at August Capital and later at Two Sigma Ventures, he backed standout startups like GitLab—turning a $20M investment into over $900M in returns. Originally from Bulgaria, Villi brings a global perspective and a founder-first mindset to every partnership.Category Ventures is an early-stage venture firm founded in 2024 by veteran investor Villi Iltchev, focused on backing category-defining enterprise software startups. With a $160M debut fund, the firm invests in pre-seed and seed-stage companies across infrastructure, dev tools, AI, and applications. Drawing on Iltchev's track record—including early investments in GitLab, Zapier, and Gusto—Category Ventures brings deep technical and go-to-market expertise to help founders build enduring businesses. Their approach centers on hands-on support and founder-first partnership to shape the future of enterprise software.In this episode, we discuss:* Villi's Background and Journey (1:50)* Lessons from Venture Capital Firms (5:35)* Market Fragmentation in Venture Capital (8:47)* Flexible Investment Strategy (12:24)* Challenges with Traditional VC Models (13:26)* Product Market Fit and Founder Support (17:35)* Counterpoints on Large VC Firms (21:40)* Winning in Venture Capital (24:07)* Kindness and Community (26:24)* Components of Success (30:00)* Decision-Making Process (33:21)* Intellectual Honesty in Investments (36:16)* The Role of Fresh Perspectives (40:08)* Acting on Great Ideas and Final Thoughts (42:27)I'd love to know what you took away from this conversation with Villi. Follow me @SamirKaji and give me your insights and questions with the hashtag #ventureunlocked. If you'd like to be considered as a guest or have someone you'd like to hear from (GP or LP), drop me a direct message on X. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ventureunlocked.substack.com

 Angie Kaminky launched Minky Muffins just months before giving birth—and never stopped moving. In this episode, we dive into the reality of launching a food brand while navigating parenthood, production challenges, and early retail wins. A must-listen for founder-parents balancing growth and grit. Startup to Scale is a podcast by Foodbevy, an online community to connect emerging food, beverage, and CPG founders to great resources and partners to grow their business. Visit us at Foodbevy.com to learn about becoming a member or an industry partner today.

In this episode of the Customer Success Pro Podcast, host Anika Zubair and guest Parul Bhandari discuss the critical aspects of building effective customer retention programs. They explore the importance of understanding customer goals, the role of product market fit, and the necessity of tracking essential metrics from day one. Parul shares her journey from leading customer success teams to becoming a fractional consultant, emphasizing the growing trend of fractional roles in the current market. The conversation highlights the need for early-stage startups to prioritize retention strategies alongside acquisition efforts, ensuring a solid foundation for long-term success. In this conversation, Anika Zubair discusses the evolution of customer retention strategies as organizations grow. She emphasizes the importance of understanding customer health, structuring effective renewal processes, and adapting to changes in customer sentiment and stakeholder dynamics. Anika also highlights the need for continuous engagement with customers and the role of health scores in retention efforts. The discussion covers practical steps for building retention programs and the significance of viewing challenges as opportunities for growth.Get your FREE QBR Revenue Guide: https://thecustomersuccesspro.com/resourcesSignup to the VIP Waitlist for RevUP Academy: https://thecustomersuccesspro.com/revupChapters00:00 Introduction08:13 The Importance of Early Stage Customer Success12:09 Creating Retention Programs from Day One13:37 Understanding Customer Goals and Outcomes16:21 The Role of Product Market Fit in Retention20:12 Tracking Metrics for Early Stage Companies25:31 Essential Metrics for Customer Retention27:53 Identifying Customer Retention Challenges28:23 Evolving Retention Strategies for Growing Teams29:46 Understanding Customer Health and Renewal Programs31:14 Structuring Effective Renewal Processes32:42 Navigating Customer Sentiment and Product Changes34:57 Re-Onboarding and Stakeholder Realignment36:54 Leveraging Health Scores for Retention39:42 Transforming Challenges into Opportunities41:07 Surprises in Mature Retention Phases43:05 Engaging Customers for Long-Term Retention45:27 Keeping Retention Strategies Fresh49:12 Practical Steps for Building Retention ProgramsConnect with Anika Zubair: Website: https://thecustomersuccesspro.com/LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/anikazubair/CSM RevUP Academy: https://thecustomersuccesspro.com/revupConnect with Parul Bhandari:Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/parul-bhandari-1294488/Website: https://customerxsuccess.com/Parul is a Customer Success consultant based in Chicago. Following time working for large corporations, Parul launched her first Customer Success (CS) team from the ground up, and from then on has found a passion in leading CS teams. Parul draws from her collective background to design CS organizations which can be scaled successfully, to drive CS as a profit center and to drive value exchange and retention.Parul writes for Inc.com and has a collaborative CS booSend Anika a text :) Want to be our next guest? Apply here: https://www.thecustomersuccesspro.com/podcast-guest Podcast Editor: https://podcastmagician.com/

Adam Breckler is the Co-founder and Head of Product at Better Health. Adam is a seasoned entrepreneur and product expert. At Better Health, he leads efforts to simplify access to medical equipment and support for people with chronic conditions, combining technology, peer coaching, and education to improve patient outcomes.⭐ Sponsored by Podcast10x - Podcasting agency for VCs - https://podcast10x.comBetter Health website - https://joinbetter.com/Adam Breckler on X - https://x.com/adambrecklerAdam Breckler on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/adambreckler/

Show Notes: Alex Lugosch and Ilya Druzhnikov, founders of True PMF, explain that True PMF is a rapid prototyping and discovery service for startups and established companies who are releasing a new product or testing a new market and don't have the tools or six to eight months to try new experiments for product market fit. The firm uses cold calling tools to test out different ideas and pitches to potential clients, focusing on understanding the reactions of potential buyers. Ilya explains how their tool saves time and money by improving the cold call process. First Steps in a Cold Call Strategy Alex and Ilya work with a founder to identify their target audience and use tools like ZoomInfo to gather a list of people that fit that profile. They then use cold calling tool to test out different ideas and iterate different pitches to potential clients. They also train the founder to do cold calls, helping them understand the process and find what resonates with potential buyers. The firm often stacks rank lists of 20 audiences to test in the next 20 days, with each experiment taking about two sessions of an hour each. At a certain point, they do turnover, where the founder takes over to learn how to do the process. They use several list building services, data validation services, and dialers to build tight lists, accessing many people at the C-suite that most founders can only dream of contacting. Within one or two calls, they find that those people are picking up on their pitches and talking to them, which is a significant improvement from the traditional six-month process of trying to determine if something is a product market fit. The Cold Call Conversation and Analysis Ilya explains the process, beginning from when they contact the founder, building the initial list, finding direct phone numbers for 80-100 people, and loading them into their enterprise-grade tech stack that few startups can afford.  He goes on to explain how they start the conversation.  They try to make the pitch relevant to the founder and explain that their solution could save time and money while having a positive impact on the bottom line. After the call, the transcript goes directly into the AI model, which produces an analysis of the conversation and offers recommendations on how to proceed. The next step is to determine the outcome of the call. In a typical calling session, there are sometimes upwards of 14 or 15 connects. As the conversation gets closer to the target, the conversations become more rich, with more follow-up emails, scheduled demos, and referrals. It's an iterative process until discovering the audience is interested in the topic and/or the call can be referred to the right person. Cold Calling Techniques The conversation turns to the importance of effective cold pitching techniques. They mention the importance of recognizing what's currently relevant to the client. They also discuss the concept of partnering one person to take a pitch and then alternate to the other person without giving feedback. The key to getting better at cold pitching is focusing on the elements that work in the previous pitch. This technique can be applied to other situations as well, such as listening to each other's tone of voice and understanding their preferences. Alex emphasizes that these techniques are not meant to scale sales but to provide relevant information about messaging and product features that can be used in outbound campaigns that are scalable, such as emails, LinkedIn messages, or conferences. Ilya and Alex give an impromptu example of an opening conversation with mid-market private equity owned portfolio companies. Ilya explains that their informs more effective marketing strategies. This approach helps clients narrow down their ideas about the persona, develop stronger content that connects with their target market(s),  and ensures that their marketing efforts are highly effective. Cost of SDRs Cold Calling The discussion revolves around the cost of cold calling sales development representatives (SDRs) and their effectiveness in B2B product spaces. Emphasis is placed on understanding the messaging and the potential for managing costs. They mention a company with 400 clients across Europe that raised over $50 million and had six SDRs, but none of them were effective. They also mention that a multinational tech startup with a large B2B sales team cannot afford six CROs to run their sales team. They advise against giving cold calls to unskilled SDRs, as they may not be adaptable enough to handle complex situations. However, cold calling is a good prototyping tool, as it allows companies to reach a wider audience, gain insights and understanding of their market, and potentially increase their revenue. Examples of How TruePMF Serves Clients Alex and Ilya initially focused on high-growth e-commerce brands, but later discovered that they needed to target established e-commerce brands looking for margin expansion. They created a new list of these brands and tested it with CTOs, which proved more relevant. Then, they called private equity partners, specifically tech stack operating partners, to expand their reach. This allowed them to sell their solution across multiple brands. Another example is a smaller company with 20 clients, all big enterprise clients, looking to sell to private equity firms. Ilya also discusses the process of selling a product before building it, and emphasizes the importance of honesty and transparency in the sales process.   About the Founders of TruePMF.com Alex Lugosch, a FinTech founder and executive at a wholesale, e-commerce company, and the B2B credit space, and Ilya Druzhnikov, a serial entrepreneur and angel investor, have both been working with founders and CEOs to help them understand Product Market Fit. They have worked in various industries, including B2B wholesale, e-commerce, and angel investing. The website, Pmf.com, is by referral only, and they have a bias for working with serious people who are serious about their business. They require founders to attend every call, including the CEO, Chief Revenue Officer, and Head of Sales. The company has sold their product to 400 companies across Europe and is coming to the United States. Timestamps: 00:02: Introduction to True PMF and Their Unique Approach 03:28: Explaining the True PMF Service  06:35: Detailed Walkthrough of the Process 10:47: Iterative Improvement and Audience Targeting  16:29: The Role of Cold Calling in Business Development  34:04: Client Examples and Success Stories  40:23: Background of Alex and Ilya  Links:  Website: https://truepmf.com/ Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

Eric Simons spent seven years building toward a vision that almost never saw the light of day. After countless iterations, near-misses, and growing pressure from his board to shut the company down, he and his cofounder made one final bet—and that bet became Bolt. In just four months, Bolt skyrocketed to $40 million in ARR, becoming one of the fastest-growing SaaS products in recent memory.In this episode, Eric joins the Topline team to share the full story. He explains how years of quiet technical innovation finally met a market ready for transformation, how training for an Ironman helped him build the resilience to survive the lows, and why a disciplined, capital-efficient mindset became his secret weapon through both drought and breakout.Thanks for tuning in! New episodes of Topline drop every Sunday and Thursday.Join the revenue leaders redefining growth at Pavilion's CRO Summit 2025, which will be held on June 3rd at the Denver Art Museum. Register today.Stay ahead with the latest industry developments and emerging go-to-market trends with Topline Newsletter by Asad Zaman. Subscribe today.Tune in to The Revenue Leadership Podcast every Wednesday, where host Kyle Norton talks with real revenue operators and dives deep into what it takes to succeed as a modern revenue leader.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!Key chapters:(00:00) - Introduction(01:12) - Eric Simons and the Rise of Bolt(05:42) - The Importance of Pivots in Startups(09:25) - Navigating Product Market Fit and Competition(18:25) - Maintaining Mental Resilience as an Entrepreneur(24:31) - Team Management Through Uncertainty(28:50) - The Challenges of Rapid Growth and Scaling(35:42) - Rapid Growth in the AI Era(38:01) - Bootstrapping and Calculated Bets(41:44) - Navigating Investor Pressure(44:55) - Market Signals and Product-Market Fit(49:32) - The Role of Social Media in Growth(54:41) - Sustainable Growth and Retention Strategies(01:00:12) - Learning from Competition(01:02:39) - Future Vision and Market Positioning

The era of "build it and they will come" is over. Crypto projects need real revenue, real users, and real sustainability. Or they just won't survive.In this episode, we chat with Kenny from Manta about the shift happening in the industry. No longer are we just experimenting; it's all about finding product-market fit. We dig into why DeFi is still crypto's biggest use case, how L2s are slowly becoming irrelevant, and why starting with centralized products might just be the answer to mass onchain adoption.Kenny explains why projects should think like Robin Hood instead of pure web3 natives, shares Manta's evolution from Polkadot L1 to Ethereum L2, and breaks down how revenue generation is reshaping builder mindsets across the space.Let's get into it.---Newton is the trust layer for autonomous finance. Smart. Secure. Verifiable. Built for a future where AI agents replace apps and interfaces. Learn more here: https://www.magicnewton.com/----Website: https://therollup.co/Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1P6ZeYd9vbF3hJA2n7qoL5?si=7230787bb90947efPodcast: https://therollup.co/category/podcastFollow us on X: https://www.x.com/therollupcoFollow Rob on X: https://www.x.com/robbie_rollupFollow Andy on X: https://www.x.com/ayyyeandyJoin our TG group: https://t.me/+8ARkR_YZixE5YjBhThe Rollup Disclosures: https://therollup.co/the-rollup-discl

Subscribe to DTC Newsletter - https://dtcnews.link/signupIn this episode, IQBAR founder Will Nitze shares his journey from burnout in the corporate world to launching a bar brand rooted in cognitive nutrition. He walks through the steps that took IQBAR from kitchen counter tests to Amazon bestseller and retail mainstay.What you'll hear is less about hacks and more about the fundamentals: why starting online mattered, how feedback drove product-market fit, and what it really takes to scale profitably in CPG today.Key topics include:Launching DTC to validate demand and iterate fastWhy clean label and plant protein were non-negotiablesPackaging shifts driven by real-world feedbackScaling into retail once logistics and cost structures were optimizedViewing DTC as one piece of an omnichannel puzzleIt's a grounded roadmap from someone who's done the work—no shortcuts, just thoughtful strategy.Did you know that 98% of your website visitors are anonymous? Instant powers next-level retention by identifying who they are and converting them into loyal shoppers. Sign up for a quick demo today to get 50% off and unlock a guaranteed 4x+ ROI: instant.one/dtcTimestamps:00:00 – How IQBAR started from a personal health journey02:55 – From kitchen experiments to product-market fit07:10 – Why the brain-focused bar category was a white space12:10 – DTC vs Amazon vs retail: channel strategy evolution17:45 – Profitability, scaling, and efficient COGS in CPG22:50 – Brand evolution: packaging, messaging, and keto pivot27:10 – Retail shelf strategy and planogram insight31:25 – Podcast and display ads as top-of-funnel growth levers34:45 – DTC Twitter, omnichannel mindset, and business realism37:55 – Exit strategy, Mars dreams, and post-exit vision41:00 – Tariffs, supply chain chaos, and CPG realitiesHashtags:#IQBAR#dtcpodcast#consumerpackagedgoods#ecommercegrowth#omnichannelstrategy#dtcbrand#scalingcpg#founderjourney#brandbuilding#podcastmarketing#supplychainchallenges#cleanlabelproducts#retailstrategy#amazonads#shopifysuccess Subscribe to DTC Newsletter - https://dtcnews.link/signupAdvertise on DTC - https://dtcnews.link/advertiseWork with Pilothouse - https://dtcnews.link/pilothouseFollow us on Instagram & Twitter - @dtcnewsletterWatch this interview on YouTube - https://dtcnews.link/video

This week, we are revisiting a conversation between Lightspeed partner Michael Mignano and Arvind Jain, the founder and CEO of Glean about the evolution of AI-assisted enterprise search.Arvind shares what insights helped to start Glean's journey in 2019, how the company leveraged transformer-based models early on, and how Glean developed the market for this product. They also talk about competition, the technical aspects of integrating Glean across SaaS platforms, and the monumental impact of ChatGPT on the industry. Episode Chapters(00:00) Introduction (01:15) Why Arvind Created Glean to Solve Enterprise Search Problems(03:50) Technical Foundations: Building Glean with Transformers(09:04) Product Market Fit and Early Challenges(12:16) The Impact of ChatGPT and Market Evolution(13:42) Glean's Architecture and Model Integration(17:58) The Future of AI in Enterprises(27:52) Leadership, Competition, and Company Culture(35:48) Reflections and Lessons from Rubrik to Glean(41:15) Lightning Round and Closing RemarksStay in touch:www.lsvp.comX: https://twitter.com/lightspeedvpLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lightspeed-venture-partners/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lightspeedventurepartners/Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: generativenow.coEmail: generativenow@lsvp.comThe content here does not constitute tax, legal, business or investment advice or an offer to provide such advice, should not be construed as advocating the purchase or sale of any security or investment or a recommendation of any company, and is not an offer, or solicitation of an offer, for the purchase or sale of any security or investment product. For more details please see lsvp.com/legal.

What is product-market fit actually? I stumbled onto it, partly on purpose, partly through dumb luck.In this episode I share how 3-way differentiation (a niche within a niche within a niche) built my current business.And the 4 phases you'll go through to find product-market fit.Listen and apply them to your own business.You can contact Isaac by clicking the link below:http://hireteamup.com/contact-isaac

Digital transformations are hard! But they are a necessary need in our era for any organization who wants to keep their competitive edge, adapt to changing environments, build moats against new disruptors, and grow their market share. And more complex the organization structure and ecosystem are, the more challenging said transformation, hence the need for tools and frameworks to help us.On the show today we met with Kiron Jones, Group Product Manager at Springer Nature, the world's largest academic book and journals publisher. The organization was created by a merger and acquisition of multiple publishers. This created a complex technical environment of many systems to support the business, publish the books and journals, and access the market.In addition, the entire academic publishing sector has moved into a new open access model. Where in the past, libraries had to buy subscriptions to give access to readers for the materials, these days the access to the materials is free, and the authors are the ones charged to publish. Servicing this changed model has challenged the industry to come up with new solutions for the new clients, while still supporting high quality publications.Product management in such an environment, as we learn from Kiron, is a challenging and rewarding task. The tools he and his team are using, and in some cases still on the lookout for, are helping them with stakeholder communication, prioritization and roadmapping, and so much more.Join Matt and Moshe as we chatted with Kiron about:How he got into product managementDigital and product challenges from Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A)Dealing with shifting ecosystem that changes the Product-Market Fit, the user and buyers personas, their user journey, and the tools needed to create value for themDealing with challenges when not knowing who your users areSome of the tools and methods he is using to help with these challengesOpportunities for new tools that can solve more problemsCMS as a tool both for users and for product peopleSome success and failure stories with tools adoptionHow AI can help in elevating some of the workAnd much more!You can connect with Kiron at:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kironjones/If you are in London, at local product meetingsYou can find the podcast's page, and connect with Matt and Moshe on Linkedin:Product for Product Podcast - linkedin.com/company/product-for-product-podcastMatt Green - linkedin.com/in/mattgreenproduct/Moshe Mikanovsky - linkedin.com/in/mikanovsky/Note: any views mentioned in the podcast are the sole views of our hosts and guests,  and do not represent the products mentioned in any way.Please leave us a review and feedback ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Bonus et Recap

In this episode of Confessions of a B2B Entrepreneur, host Tom Hunt chats with the legendary Rob Walling. A true veteran of the SaaS bootstrapping world, Rob shares insights from his two decades in the game, from building and selling Drip, starting the influential MicroConf community and the TinySeed accelerator, to hosting the 'Startup for the Rest of Us' podcast. They discuss the power of compounding effort, the crucial lesson of following market feedback, iterating your approach based on what the market wants, and the journey of building multiple successful ventures without relying on traditional VC. Rob reflects on the lessons learned over twenty years, offering invaluable perspective for any entrepreneur looking to build sustainable, long-term growth.

איך סטארטאפ קטן יכול לתפוס את תשומת הלב של לקוחות אנטרפרייז, גם בלי תקציבי ענק? בפרק השבוע אנחנו חוזרים לארח את אודי לדרגור, צ’יף אוונגליסט ו־CMO לשעבר בגונג, לשיחה על שיווק חכם, יצירתי ומדויק, שמאפשר גם לחברות בתחילת הדרך לשחק במגרש של הגדולים. מוזמנים לצפות בפרק גם בגרסת הוידאו ביוטיוב או באתר Startup for Startup. מתי הרגע הנכון להתחיל להשקיע בשיווק? (רמז: רק אחרי שיש לכם מוצר שאנשים באמת אוהבים), איך אפשר לגרום למהלך שיווקי קטן להיראות כמו קמפיין של מיליונים? ואיך מגייסים את כל עובדי החברה, אפילו בלי תקציב, כדי לייצר אימפקט אמיתי? אודי משתף באסטרטגיות, דוגמאות מהשטח ותובנות שיכולות לשנות את הדרך שבה אתם חושבים על שיווק בסטארטאפ. במהלך הפרק אדוה שיסגל ואודי מדברים גם על “מחטף” של כנסים, דרכים להיכנס לדלת האחורית בהשקעה מינימלית, ואיך מודדים את ההשפעה של מהלכים כאלה. בנוסף הם מדברים על מינוף חכם של קמפיינים קטנים, ואיך להשתמש בפלטפורמות כמו לינקדאין כדי לבלוט, גם כשכולם סביבכם עושים את אותו הדבר. האזינו לפרק הקודם בהשתתפות אודי: איך בונים מותג אייקוני האזינו לפרק 298: הכל על SLG ו-PLG, השיקולים שבבחירת אסטרטגיית צמיחה קישור לספר של אודי 5 תובנות קצרות מהפרק: 1. שיווק מתחיל רק אחרי שיש מוצר שאנשים באמת אוהבים אין טעם להשקיע בשיווק לפני שמצאתם Product-Market Fit. אם אין לכם חמישה לקוחות שמוכנים להישבע שזה הדבר הכי טוב שהם השתמשו בו, השיווק פשוט לא יעבוד. קודם בונים ערך, אחר כך מפיצים אותו. 2. גם מהלך שיווקי קטן יכול לייצר אפקט של קמפיין ענק שלט חוצות אחד בטיימס סקוור, גרסה מצומצמת של מודעה בעיתון מוביל, שעל פניו נראים יקרים וחד־פעמיים, יכולים להפוך למכונת תוכן ולהחזיר את ההשקעה שלו פי כמה, כשחושבים על ההפצה, הויזואליות, והחיים הארוכים של המהלך בדיגיטל. 3. העובדים הם המפיצים הכי טובים, אם רק יודעים איך להפעיל אותם כדי לגרום לעובדים לשתף תכנים בלינקדאין, צריך להראות להם מה יוצא להם מזה ולתת להם את זה מוכן וקל להפצה. אין כפייה, רק הזדמנות. כשהם מבינים את הערך, הם הופכים לשגרירים הכי אותנטיים של המותג. 4. כנסים הם הזדמנות ל"מחטפים" יצירתיים בלי לקנות דוכן במקום לשלם עשרות אלפי דולרים על חסות, אפשר לתכנן מהלך גרילה, להופיע מחוץ לאירוע, ליצור נוכחות מפתיעה או לחדור לשיחות ולהשיג אפקט גדול בהרבה. 5. בלינקדאין, דווקא החריג שובר את הרעש התוכן שלא "נראה שייך לפלטפורמה" כמו סרטון לא מהוקצע או רעיון פרוע מושך הרבה יותר תשומת לב. דווקא המקוריות, החספוס וההומור הופכים תוכן לשיחה, גם כשמדובר במותגים.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of AI Product Builders, I sit down with designer, illustrator, and founder of Lummi AI, Pablo Stanley. From launching open-source illustration libraries to experimenting with AI-powered image generation, Pablo has always been pushing the edge of creativity and technology. He shares the unexpected origins of Lummi.ai, what went wrong (and what went right) while building AI-powered experiences, and how taste, team morale, and iteration played a major role in finding product-market fit.We get into:* The hilarious and humbling journey of building AI-generated imagery* Why good taste and team joy matter more than ever* The pivot moment that saved Lummi.ai* The surprising power of curating AI outputs* Why code isn't the hard part, and how AI is leveling the playing field* His take on vibe coding, open-source design, and why now is the moment to buildThis episode is a reminder that creativity, clarity, and a sense of humor are some of our best tools.Mentions* Lummi AI – Pablo's AI-powered image generation platform* Blush – His earlier open-source illustration tool* Another Design Newsletter – Pablo's newsletter with comics and commentary* Another Design Newsletter* Pablo Stanley on LinkedIn and TwitterFollow Harrison Wheeler and Technically Speaking* Newsletter* LinkedIn* YouTubeTechnically Speaking is where I share reflections, insights, and conversations to help you lead with confidence, clarity, and community. Are you looking to level up your design leadership and management craft? Spend an hour with me for personalized 1:1 coaching to help you thrive in your role. Get full access to Technically Speaking at technicallyspeakinghw.substack.com/subscribe

The CEO's Strategic Growth Edge: A Go-To-Market System That Scales“You don't need more leads—you need clarity. Clarity on where your business can grow the most, the fastest, and at the highest margin. That's what a real go-to-market system delivers. It's not about volume anymore—it's about alignment, focus, and making sure every team—marketing, sales, and customer success—is executing toward the same outcome. That's how CEOs scale with confidence.” That's a quote from Sangram Vajre, and a sneak peek at today's episode.Welcome to Revenue Boost: A Marketing Podcast. I'm your host, Kerry Curran—revenue growth expert, industry analyst, and relentless advocate for turning marketing into a revenue engine. Each episode, we bring you the strategies, insights, and conversations that help drive your revenue growth. So search for Revenue Boost in your favorite podcast directory and hit subscribe to stay ahead of the game.In The CEO's Strategic Growth Edge: A Go-to-Market System That Scales, I'm joined by bestselling author and GTM expert Sangram Vajre to discuss why go-to-market isn't a marketing tactic—it's a CEO-level growth system. In this episode, you'll learn the three phases every business must navigate to scale, why alignment beats activity in every growth stage, how CEOs can drive clarity, trust, and margin-focused decisions across teams, and why AI is only a threat if you're still riding the demand-gen horse.If you're a growth-minded CEO or exec, this episode gives you the roadmap and the mindset to scale faster, smarter, and stronger. Be sure to listen through to the end, where Sangram shares three key tips—his ultimate advice for any leader ready to level up their go-to-market strategy. Let's go!Kerry Curran, RBMA (00:00.77)So welcome, Sangram. Please introduce yourself and share a bit about your background and expertise.Sangram Vajre (00:06.992)Well, at the highest level, I feel like I've had the opportunity to be in the B2B space for the last two decades and have had a front-row seat to categories that have shaped how we think about go-to-market. I ran marketing at Pardot. We were acquired by ExactTarget and then Salesforce—that was a $2.7 billion acquisition. It was a huge shift in mindset, going from a $10 million company to a $10 billion one, and I learned a lot.I became a student of go-to-market, if you will. That was in the marketing automation space. Then I launched a company called Terminus, which has been acquired twice now. Along the way, I've written three books. The one we're going to talk a lot about is MOVE, which became a Wall Street Journal bestseller. That book has created a lot of opportunities and work for us.I walked into writing this book, Kerry, thinking I knew go-to-market because I had two $100M+ exits. But I walked out of the process a student of go-to-market because I learned so much. Writing it forced me to talk to folks like Brian Halligan, the CEO of HubSpot, and partners at VC firms who have seen 200 exits—not just the three I've experienced.It really expanded my vision. Now I lead a company called Go-To-Market Partners. We're a research and advisory firm focused on helping companies understand who owns go-to-market and how to run it at a transformational level. Our clients are primarily CEOs and executive teams. That's our focus.Kerry Curran, RBMA (01:46.094)Excellent. Well, I'm very excited to dive in. I first saw you speak at Inbound last fall, and what really resonated with me was the shift from just an ABM program to a company-wide GTM program—one that includes everything from problem-market fit all the way to customer success, loyalty, and retention. Really making GTM the core of revenue growth.So I'd love for you to dive in and share that framework and background.Sangram Vajre (02:23.224)Yeah. And by the way, for people who've never attended Inbound—you should. I've spoken there for eight years straight and always try to bring new ideas. Each year, they keep giving me more opportunities—from main stage to workshops. I think you attended the 90-minute workshop, right? Hopefully it wasn't boring!Kerry Curran, RBMA (02:48.61)Yeah, it was excellent. I love this stuff, so I was taking lots of notes.Sangram Vajre (02:52.814)That was fun. The whole idea was: how can you build your entire go-to-market strategy on a single slide? Now, people might think, “There's no way—you need way more detail.” But it's not about making it complete; it's about making it clear.So everyone can be aligned. For example, in the operating system we've developed, we write research about it every Monday in a newsletter called GTM Monday, read by 175,000 people. The eight pillars are based on the most important questions. And Kerry, I don't know if you'll agree, but I think I've done a disservice for two decades by asking the wrong question.Like, I used to ask, “Where can we grow?”—which sounds smart but is actually foolish. The better question is, “Where can we grow the most, the fastest, the best, at the highest margin?” That's the true business perspective. So the operating system is built around these eight essential questions.If every executive team can align on these—not with certainty, but with clarity—then they can gain a clear understanding of what they're doing, where they're going, who their ICP is, what bets they're making, and which motions to pursue. I've done this over a thousand times with executive teams, helping them build their entire go-to-market strategy on a single slide. And it's like a lightbulb moment for them: “Okay, now I know what bets we're making and how my team is aligned.” It's a beautiful thing.Kerry Curran, RBMA (04:50.988)Yeah, because that's one of the hardest challenges across business strategy and growth: where to invest, where to lean in. So bring us through the questions and framework.Sangram Vajre (05:01.688)Yeah. So the first one is “Where can you grow the most?” The second one is really about what we call the Market Investment Map. I'll give you maybe three or four so people can get an idea. The Market Investment Map is especially useful for companies with more than one product or more than one segment. This is the least used but most valuable framework companies should be using.You might remember from the Inbound talk—I used HubSpot as an example since I was speaking at Inbound. It's interesting because at my last company, Terminus, we acquired five companies in eight years. So we had to learn this process. The Market Investment Map is about matching your best segments to the best products to create the highest-margin offering.If your entire business focuses only on pipeline and revenue—which sounds right—you're actually focused on the wrong things. You may have seen people post on LinkedIn saying, “I generated $10 million in pipeline,” and then a month later, they're laid off. Why? Because that pipeline didn't matter. It might have been general pipeline, but if you looked at pipeline within your ICP—the customers your company really needs to close, retain, and expand—it might have only been half a million. That's not enough to sustain growth or justify your role.So, understanding the business is critical. It's not just about understanding marketing skills like demand gen, content, or design. Those are table stakes. You need to understand the business of marketing—how the financials work, how to drive revenue, and how to say, “Yeah, we generated $10 million in pipeline, but only half a million was within ICP, so it won't convert or drive the margin we need.” That level of EQ and IQ is what leaders need today.Our go-to-market operating system goes deep into areas like this.Kerry Curran, RBMA (07:31.022)And I love the alignment with the ICP. I'm sure you'll get deeper into that. I also know you talk about getting rid of MQLs because the real focus should be on getting closer to the ICP—on who's actually going to drive revenue.Sangram Vajre (07:45.892)Yeah. John Miller, a good friend who co-founded Marketo, has been writing about this too. I was the CMO of Pardot. Then we both built ABM companies—I built Terminus; he built Engagio, which is now part of Demandbase. We've been evangelizing the idea of efficient marketing machines for the last two decades.We're coming full circle now. That approach made sense in the “growth at all costs” era. But in this “efficient growth” era, everything can be measured. The dark funnel is real. AI can now accelerate your team's output and throughput. So we have to go back to first principles—what do your customers really want?I was in a discussion yesterday with executives and middle managers, and the topic of AI came up. Some were worried it would take their jobs. And I said, “Yes, it absolutely will—and it should.” I gave the example I wrote about recently: imagine you were the best horseman, with saddles, barns, and a generational business built around horses. Then Henry Ford comes along with four wheels. You just lost your job—not because you were bad, but because you got infatuated with the horse, not with your customer's need to get from point A to point B.Horses did that—it was better than walking. But then came cars, trains, airplanes. Business evolves. If you focus on your customers' needs—better, faster, cheaper—you'll always be excited about innovation rather than afraid of it. So yes, AI will replace anyone who stays on their horse. If you're riding the demand gen horse or relying only on content creation, a lot is going to change. Get off the horse, refocus on customer needs, and figure out how to move your business forward.Kerry Curran, RBMA (10:21.708)Yeah. So talk a bit about honing in on the ICP. I know in one of the sessions you asked, “Who's your target audience?” And of course, there was one guy in the front row who said, “Everyone,” and we all laughed. But I still hear that all the time. Talk about how important it is, to your point, to know your customer and get obsessed with what they need.Sangram Vajre (10:45.56)Yeah. So the first pillar of the go-to-market operating system is called TRM, or Total Relevant Market. We introduced that in the book MOVE for the first time. It's a departure from TAM—Total Addressable Market—which is what that guy in the front row was referring to during that session. It was epic, and I think he was a sales leader, so it was even funnier in a room full of marketers.But it's true—and real. He was being honest, and I appreciated that. The reality is, we've all been conditioned to focus on more and more—bigger and bigger markets. That makes sense if you have unlimited funds and can raise money. It makes sense if the market is huge and you're just trying to get in and have more people doing outbound.As a matter of fact, a few weeks ago, we did a session where someone said something profound that I'll never forget. He said, “The whole SDR function is a feature bug in the VC model.” That was fascinating—because the whole SDR model was built to get as many leads as possible, assign 22-year-olds to make cold calls, and push them to AEs.We built this because it worked on a spreadsheet. If we generate 1,000 leads, we need 50 callers to convert them. It's math. But nobody really tried to improve it because we had the money. Now we're in a different world. We have clients doing $10–15 million in revenue with five-person teams automating so much.People don't read as many automated emails. My phone filters out robocalls, so I never pick up unless it's someone I know. Non-personalized emails go into a folder I never open. Yet people keep sending thousands of them, thinking it works.For example, I send our GTM Monday newsletter via Substack. It's free for readers, and it's free for me to send—even to 175,000 people. Meanwhile, marketers spend thousands every time they email their list using legacy tools. Why? Because these people haven't opted in to be part of the journey the way Substack subscribers have.The market has changed. Buying big marketing automation tools for $100,000 is going to change drastically. Fractional leaders and agencies will thrive because what CEOs really need is people like you—and frameworks like a go-to-market operating system—to guide them. You and I have the gray hair and battle scars to prove it. What matters now is using a modern framework, implementing it, and measuring outcomes differently.Kerry Curran, RBMA (14:08.11)Yeah, you bring up such a valid point. In so many of my conversations, I see the same thing. It's been a sales-led growth strategy for years. Investments went to sales—more BDRs, more cold emails, more tech stack partners.Even as I was starting my consultancy, I'd talk to partners or prospects who'd say, “Well, we just hired more salespeople. We want to see how that goes.” But to your point, without the foundational framework—without targeting the right audience—you're just spinning your wheels on volume.Sangram Vajre (15:06.318)Exactly. One area we emphasize in our go-to-market operating system is differentiation. Everyone's doing the same thing. Let me give you an example. Last week, I looked at a startup's email tool that reads your emails and drafts responses automatically. Super interesting. I use Superhuman for email.Two days later, Superhuman sent an email saying they'd launched the exact same feature. So this startup spent time and money building a feature, and Superhuman—already with a huge user base—replicated and launched it instantly. That startup is out of business.With AI, product development is lightning fast. So product is no longer your differentiator. Your differentiation now is how you tell your story, how quickly you grab attention, how well you build and maintain a community. That becomes your moat. Those first principles matter more than ever. Product is just table stakes now.Kerry Curran, RBMA (16:33.878)Right. And connecting that to your marketing strategy, your communication, your messaging—it also sets up your sales team to close faster. By the time a prospect talks to a rep, your marketing has already educated them on your differentiation. So talk more about the stages and what companies need to keep in mind when applying your go-to-market framework.Sangram Vajre (17:07.482)One of the things we mention in the book—and go really deep into in our operating system—is this 3P format: Problem-Market Fit, Product-Market Fit, and Platform-Market Fit. We believe these are the three core stages of a business. I experienced them firsthand at Pardot, Salesforce, and Terminus through multiple acquisitions.If you remember, I always talk about the “squiggly line,” because no company grows up and to the right in a straight line. If you look at daily, weekly, or monthly insights, there are dips—just like a stock market chart. So the squiggly line shows you can go from Problem to Product, but you'll experience a dip. That's normal and natural. Same thing when you go from Product to Platform—you hit a dip. Those dips are what we call the “valleys of death.”Some companies overcome those valleys and cross the chasm, and others don't. Why? Because at those points, they discover they can market and sell, but they can't deliver. Or maybe they can deliver, but they can't renew. Or maybe they can renew but not expand. Each gap becomes a value to fix in the system.And it's hard. I've gone from $5 million to $10 million to $15 million, all the way to $100 million in revenue—and every 5 to 10 million increment brings a new set of challenges. You think you've got it figured out, and then you don't—because everything else has to change with scale.I'll never forget one company I was on the board of—unfortunately, it didn't make it. The CEO was upset because they were doing $20 million in revenue but didn't get the valuation they wanted. Meanwhile, a competitor doing only $5 million in revenue in the same space got a $500 million valuation. Why? Because the $20M company was doing tons of customization—still stuck in Problem-Market Fit. The $5M company had reached Product-Market Fit and was far more efficient. Their operational costs were lower, and their NRR was over 120%.If you've read some of my research, you know I'm all in on NRR—Net Revenue Retention—as the #1 metric. If you get NRR above 120%, you'll double your revenue in 3.8 years without adding a single new customer. That's what executives should focus on.That's why we say the CEO owns go-to-market. All our research shows that if the CEO doesn't own it, you'll have a really hard time scaling.Kerry Curran, RBMA (20:23.992)That makes so much sense, because everything you're talking about—while it includes marketing functions—is really business strategy. It needs to be driven top-down. It has to be the North Star the whole company is paddling toward.I've been in organizations where that's not the case. And as you said, leadership has to have the knowledge and strategic awareness to navigate those pivots—those valleys of death. So talk about how hard it is to bring new frameworks into an organization and the change management that comes with that. As you evangelize the idea that the CEO owns GTM, what's resonating most with them?Sangram Vajre (21:26.456)Great question. First of all, CEOs who get it—they love it. The people who struggle most are actually CMOs and CROs because they feel like they should be the ones owning go-to-market. And while their input is critical, they can't own it entirely.In all our advisory work, Kerry, we mandate two things:The CEO must be in the room. We won't do an engagement without that. The executive team must be involved. We don't do one-on-one coaching—because transformation happens in teams.People often get it wrong. They think, “We need better ICP targeting, so that's marketing's job.” Or, “We need pipeline acceleration—let sales figure that out.” Or, “We have a retention issue—fire the CS team.” No. The problem isn't a department issue—it's a process and team issue.The CEO is the most incentivized person to bring clarity, alignment, and trust—the three pillars of our GTM operating system. They're the ones sitting in all the one-on-one meetings, burning out from the lack of alignment. The challenge is most CEOs don't know what it means to own GTM. It feels overwhelming.So we help them reframe that. Owning doesn't mean running GTM. It means orchestrating clarity, alignment, and trust. Every meeting they lead should advance one of those. That's the job. When the ICP is agreed upon, marketing should be excited to generate leads for it. Sales should be eager to follow up. CS should be relieved they're not getting misaligned customers. That's leadership. And there's no one more suited—or incentivized—to lead that than the CEO.Kerry Curran, RBMA (24:08.11)Absolutely. And the CFO plays a key role too—holding the purse strings, understanding where the investments should go.Sangram Vajre (24:20.622)Yes. In fact, in the book and in our research, we emphasize the importance of RevOps—especially once a company reaches Product-Market Fit and moves toward Platform-Market Fit.If you're operating across multiple products, segments, geographies, or using multiple GTM motions, the RevOps leader—who often reports to the CFO or CEO—becomes critical. I'd say they're the second most important person in the company from a strategy standpoint.Why? Because they're the only ones who can look at the whole picture and say, “We don't need to spend more on marketing; we need to fix the sales process.” A marketing leader won't say that. A sales leader won't say that. You need someone who can objectively assess where the real bottleneck is.Kerry Curran, RBMA (25:17.836)Yeah, that definitely makes so much sense. Are there other areas—maybe below the executive team—that help educate the company from a change management perspective to gain buy-in? Or is it really a company-wide change?Sangram Vajre (25:33.742)Yeah, you mentioned ABM earlier. Having written a few books on ABM and building Terminus, we've seen thousands of companies go through transformation. We now have over 70,000 students who've gone through our courses. I love getting feedback.What's interesting is that ABM has been great for aligning sales and marketing—but it hasn't transformed the company. Go-to-market is not a marketing or sales strategy. It's a business strategy. It has to bring in CS, product, finance—everyone.Where companies often fail is by looking at go-to-market too narrowly—like it's just a product launch or a sales campaign. That's way too myopic. Those companies burn a lot of cash.At the layer below the executive team, it gets harder because GTM is fundamentally a leadership-driven initiative. An SDR, AE, or director of marketing typically doesn't have the incentive—or business context—to drive GTM change. But they should get familiar with it.That's why we created the GTM Operating System certification. Hundreds of professionals have gone through it—including you! And now people are bringing those frameworks into leadership meetings.They'll say, “Hey, let's pull up the 15 GTM problems and see where we're stuck.” Or, “Let's revisit the 3 Ps—where are we today?” Or use one of the assessments. It's pretty cool to see it in action.Kerry Curran, RBMA (27:35.758)Yeah, and it's extremely valuable. I love that it's a tool that helps drive company-wide buy-in and educates the people responsible for the actions. So you've shared so many great frameworks and recommendations. For those listening, what's the first step to get started? What would you recommend to someone who's thinking, “Okay, I love all of this—I need to start shifting my organization”?Sangram Vajre (28:09.082)First, you have to really understand the definition of go-to-market. It's a transformational process—not a one-and-done. It's not something you define at an offsite and then forget. It's not owned by pirates. It's iterative. It happens every day.Second, the CEO has to be fully bought in. If they don't own it, GTM will run them. If you're a CEO and you feel overwhelmed, that's usually why—you're running go-to-market, not owning it.Third, business transformation happens in teams. If you try to build a GTM strategy in a silo—as a marketer, for example—it will fail. The best strategies never see the light of day because the team isn't behind them. In GTM, alignment matters more than being right.Kerry Curran, RBMA (29:27.982)Excellent. I love this so much. Thank you! How can people find you and learn more about the GTM Partners certification and your book?Sangram Vajre (29:37.476)You can go to gtmpartners.com to get the certification. Thousands of people are going through it, and we're constantly adding new content. We're about to launch Go-To-Market University to add even more courses.We also created the MOVE Book Companion, because we're actually selling more books now than when it first came out three years ago—which is crazy!Then there's GTM Monday, our research newsletter that 175,000 people read every week. Our goal is to keep building new frameworks and sharing what's possible. Things are changing so fast—AI, GTM tech, everything. But first principles still apply. That's why frameworks matter more than ever.You can't just ask ChatGPT to “give me a go-to-market strategy” and expect it to work. It might give you something beautifully written, but it won't help you make money. You need frameworks, team alignment, and process discipline.And I post about this every day on LinkedIn—so follow me there too!Kerry Curran, RBMA (30:54.988)Excellent. Well, thank you so much. This has been a great conversation, and I highly recommend the book and the certification to everyone. We'll include all the links in the show notes.Thank you, Sangram, for joining us today!Sangram Vajre (31:09.284)Kerry, you're a fantastic host. Thank you for having me.Kerry Curran, RBMA (31:11.854)Thank you very much.Thanks for tuning in to Revenue Boost: A Marketing Podcast. I hope today's conversation sparked some new ideas and challenged the way you think about how your organization approaches go-to-market and revenue growth strategy. If you're serious about turning marketing into a true revenue driver, this is just the beginning. We've got more insightful conversations, expert guests, and actionable strategies coming your way—so search for us in your favorite podcast directory and hit subscribe.And hey, if this episode brought you value, please share it with a colleague or leave a quick review. It helps more revenue-minded leaders like you find our show. Until next time, I'm Kerry Curran—helping you connect marketing to growth, one episode at a time. See you soon.

Marin Ištvanić is a partner at Inspire Brands, a boutique agency focused on paid social ads, primarily on Facebook and Instagram. He has personally spent over $150 million on Facebook ads for clients and internal brands, successfully scaling Inspire's own brand to $30 million in revenue by their third year.In this episode of DTC Pod, Marin shares his insights on growing brands profitably through paid social. He discusses the importance of achieving product-market fit, crafting compelling offers, and understanding unit economics. Marin also details his agency's creative testing process and how to efficiently scale winning ad angles from static images to videos to landing pages.Interact with other DTC experts and access our monthly fireside chats with industry leaders on DTC Pod Slack.On this episode of DTC Pod, we cover:1. Achieving Product-Market Fit2. Scaling Brands through Facebook Ads3. Product Differentiation4. How to Craft a Compelling Offer5. Subscription Products and Pricing Strategies6. Landing Pages for Facebook Ads7. Advertorials and Third-Party Content for Ads8. Whitelisting and Leveraging External Trust in Ads9. Ad Format Mix and Budget Allocation10. Advantage+ Campaigns and AI11. Scaling Ad Creative Production12. Testing Ad Variations and HooksTimestamps00:00 Marin's background and joining Inspire Brands 04:48 Importance of product-market fit and differentiation 06:50 Creating demand vs picking an established market10:34 What makes an effective offer and how to craft one12:41 Subscription models and free trial strategies16:59 $1K/day spend as indicator of product-market fit 18:36 Choosing the right landing page for your product 25:07 Whitelisting strategies and organic-looking content27:48 Typical budget allocation across ad formats30:29 Facebook's Advantage+ campaigns and AI features 33:23 Strategies for scaling ad creative24:44 Final tips: know your numbers and when to spendShow notes powered by CastmagicPast guests & brands on DTC Pod include Gilt, PopSugar, Glossier, MadeIN, Prose, Bala, P.volve, Ritual, Bite, Oura, Levels, General Mills, Mid Day Squares, Prose, Arrae, Olipop, Ghia, Rosaluna, Form, Uncle Studios & many more.  Additional episodes you might like:• #175 Ariel Vaisbort - How OLIPOP Runs Influencer, Community, & Affiliate Growth• #184 Jake Karls, Midday Squares - Turning Your Brand Into The Influencer With Content• #205 Kasey Stewart: Suckerz- - Powering Your Launch With 300 Million Organic Views• #219 JT Barnett: The TikTok Masterclass For Brands• #223 Lauren Kleinman: The PR & Affiliate Marketing Playbook• ​​​​#243 Kian Golzari - Source & Develop Products Like The World's Best Brands-----Have any questions about the show or topics you'd like us to explore further?Shoot us a DM; we'd love to hear from you.Want the weekly TL;DR of tips delivered to your mailbox?Check out our newsletter here.Projects the DTC Pod team is working on:DTCetc - all our favorite brands on the internetOlivea - the extra virgin olive oil & hydroxytyrosol supplementCastmagic - AI Workspace for ContentFollow us for content, clips, giveaways, & updates!DTCPod InstagramDTCPod TwitterDTCPod TikTokMarin Ištvanić - Partner at Inspire BrandsBlaine Bolus - Co-Founder of CastmagicRamon Berrios - Co-Founder of Castmagic

Every business needs to find product-market fit — and AI can help. How? In this episode, Harvard Business School professor and entrepreneur Jeff Bussgang (author of The Experimental Machine: Finding Product-Market Fit in the Age of AI) walks us through the process. It's a free consulting session with everything included: step-by-step directions, real examples, and the names of the LLMs you need to know about. If you're ready to use AI in your business but don't know where to begin—start here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

BRX Pro Tip: 4 Ways to Find Product Market Fit Stone Payton: And we’re back with Business RadioX Pro Tips, Stone Payton and Lee Kantor here with you. Lee, we’ve been engaging in this a great deal lately. I know businesses of all shapes and sizes should have some degree of focus on this from […]

In this episode of Founded & Funded, Madrona Managing Director Soma Somasegar sits down with Anoop Gupta, co-founder and CEO of  @SeekOut    — an AI-first company transforming how organizations discover, hire, and manage talent. They explore: 1) SeekOut's evolution from LLM-powered workflows to the launch of SeekOut Spot, their agentic AI solution that delivers hires in as little as 3 days. 2) Why "service as software" is the future of recruiting. 3) How founders and talent leaders can reimagine hiring in the age of AI agents. 4) Lessons from building an AI-native company through market shifts. 5) The real business model shift from tools to outcomes. With customers like Discord, 1Password, HP, and even Madrona itself, SeekOut is redefining what fast, high-quality hiring looks like. Transcript: https://madrona.com/rise-of-agentic-ai-in-recruiting-seekout-anoop-gupta Chapters: (00:00) Introduction (01:56) SeekOut Background and AI Evolution (03:55) The Role of Agentic AI in Recruiting (07:59) Business Model and Flexibility (12:59) Recruiting Process and Efficiency (16:49) Navigating Challenges and Product-Market Fit (20:29) Focus on Outcomes not on Hype  (22:25) Do you Need a Data Moat? (23:45) Don't build a recruiting org too early (25:50) The biggest hiring mistakes (29:15) Agentic AI for recruiting is here

Sabir Semerkant is an eCommerce expert, growth strategist, and entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience generating over $1 billion in revenue. Recognized and endorsed by industry leaders such as Gary Vee, Neil Patel, and Matt Higgins of Shark Tank, Sabir has been a trusted advisor to Fortune 500 companies, guided startups to scale, and helped iconic brands like Coca-Cola, Canon, Tommy Hilfiger, and Sour Patch Kids achieve rapid and sustainable growth. In 2024, Sabir's Rapid 2X Program propelled 29 brands across 17 industries to new heights, delivering an impressive 108% average growth in just 21 days. His track record includes scaling more than 150 brands, with notable success like Ashley Stewart, which grew from $3M to $30M under his leadership. Sabir has developed the 8-D Method, a proven framework designed to unlock 2X-10X growth for any eCommerce business with Product-Market Fit. This method equips businesses to thrive, even in tough economic conditions, enabling them to boost sales and maximize profits in today's competitive landscape.   During the show we discussed: The 8D Method Is A Growth Framework Designed To Help E-Commerce Brands Scale Effectively. It Can Help Businesses Double Their Sales In As Little As 12 Weeks With Strategic Focus. It's Built On Eight Dimensions That Identify And Unlock Hidden Growth Opportunities. The Method Brings Structure And Clarity, Giving Business Owners More Control And Freedom. It Helps Brands Differentiate And Rise Above The Noise In Saturated Markets. It Addresses Conversion Drops And High Cart Abandonment With Proven Tactics. The System Improves Margins Even When Ad Costs Are Rising By Optimizing Operations. It Solves Common Challenges Like Disorganization, Plateaued Growth, And Unclear Direction. The “Organize” Phase Reduces Anxiety By Creating A Clear Operational Foundation. The “Prioritize” Phase Ensures Teams Focus On Actions That Drive The Most Growth. Brands Using The Method Often See Fast Results—Sometimes Within Weeks. Unlike Relying Solely On Ad Platforms, It Builds Long-Term, Channel-Independent Growth. It Helps Brands Avoid Mistakes Like Chasing Trends Or Depending On One Traffic Source. The Rapid 2x System Can Trigger 100%+ Sales Increases In Under 30 Days.   Resources: https://growthbysabir.com/businesscredit   

Mike first raised $30M for a marketplace that never truly had product-market fit. Then he bet only $10K on ButcherBox. A few years later, he's doing $550M in revenue and he's profitable. The difference is in his first startup he was just catering to investors— in his second one only to customers. If you're an early founder chasing growth, listen to how Mike ditched vanity metrics, found sustainable traction, and grew ButcherBox past $500M in revenue—with no outside funding.____Why You Should Listen1. Why not raising can often be a powerful forcing function.2. Why what VCs want is often not the same as what customers want.3. How to differentiate in what seems like a commoditized market.4. Why there is no stronger force in startups than true product-market fit.______Keywordsproduct market fit, bootstrapping, butcherbox, direct to consumer, CPG subscription, grass fed beef, founder lessons, Kickstarter, food startup, early stage founder_____(00:00:00) Mastering the VC Game(00:01:45) How I Raised $30M Without Product Market Fit(00:08:21) Why my VC-backed Startup Failed(00:15:34) Growing Revenue but Losing Money(00:28:07) Early Signals of Real Product Market Fit(00:34:59) Solving Supply Chain to Scale ButcherBox(00:39:43) Bootstrapping to $550M (The Power of Constraints)(00:51:18) Product Market Fit from Day One(00:52:42) Why Founders Need a Lifestyle PlanSend me a message to let me know what you think!

Everyone loves talking about finding product-market fit. But what if the real challenge in 2025 is keeping it?In this solo episode, I riff on why PMF has become more fleeting than ever. I unpack what Harry Stebbings, Jason Lemkin and Rory O'Driscoll observed —companies that once had a five-year runway now fall out of PMF in five weeks. We explore AI-fueled growth curves, the myth of “escape velocity,” and why today's go-to-market edge can vanish overnight.I also shares a brutal hill from a recent road race (and the startup metaphor it unlocked), plus a text exchange with a growth investor on the hunt for vertical SaaS alpha.If you're an operator, investor, or CFO trying to understand the new physics of scaling, this one's for you.Run the Numbers is sponsored by Gelt. You already know tax season isn't just a deadline—it's a lever.At Gelt, they work with CFOs who aren't just looking to stay compliant—they're looking to unlock strategic value from their tax position. Think: optimized entity structures, real-time visibility across complex ownership, and proactive tax planning that actually moves the needle on cash flow.Gelt gives you quarterly strategy check-ins and proactive estimates, all designed to lower your effective tax rate, protect equity value, and drive long-term efficiency. You get direct access to your Gelt CPA and a clean, modern platform to track it all.Learn if you qualify at go.joingelt.com/mostlymetrics and schedule a call to learn more. Get full access to Mostly metrics at www.mostlymetrics.com/subscribe

Join JJ Englert in this week's episode of 'This Week in No-Code + AI' as he hosts Silicon Valley visionary Gaurav Dhillon, the founder and CEO of SnapLogic. Delve into Gaurav's inspiring journey from taking Informatica public to leading SnapLogic, a company now generating over $70 million annually. The discussion covers innovation in AI and cloud computing, the transformation of enterprise tech, and SnapLogic's role in connecting business data through AI.

Annie Wickman shares insights from her journey as Google alum, first non-founder at Humu, and now Head of People at Character AI. Annie tackles our hardest questions in an unmissable episode. She covers the tensions between product-market fit and company culture, Character AI's unprecedented Google deal structure, taking the leap from people leader to a VC, and how to rebuild organizational trust.*Email us your questions or topics for Kelli & Nolan: hrheretics@turpentine.coFor coaching and advising inquire at https://kellidragovich.com/HR Heretics is a podcast from Turpentine.Support HR Heretics Sponsors:Planful empowers teams just like yours to unlock the secrets of successful workforce planning. Use data-driven insights to develop accurate forecasts, close hiring gaps, and adjust talent acquisition plans collaboratively based on costs today and into the future. ✍️ Go to https://planful.com/heretics to see how you can transform your HR strategy.Metaview is the AI assistant for interviewing. Metaview completely removes the need for recruiters and hiring managers to take notes during interviews—because their AI is designed to take world-class interview notes for you. Team builders at companies like Brex, Hellofresh, and Quora say Metaview has changed the game—see the magic for yourself: https://www.metaview.ai/hereticsKEEP UP WITH ANNIE, NOLAN + KELLI ON LINKEDINAnnie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annie-wickman-3332731/Nolan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nolan-church/Kelli: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellidragovich/—LINK/S:Character.AI: https://character.ai/—TIMESTAMPS:(00:00) Intro(01:17) Experience as First Non-Founder at Humu(03:16) Early Employee Challenges & Responsibilities(05:03) Why Annie Stayed at Humu for Four Years(06:30) Product Market Fit vs. Company Culture(09:05) When to Invest in Culture(11:15) Hiring the Right Leaders for Company Stage(11:40) Maintaining Morale When Company Isn't Winning(12:42) Transparency as Trust Builder(13:47) Sponsors: Planful | Metaview(16:47) Rebuilding Trust Through Honest Communication(19:11) Laszlo's Leadership Philosophy: Stretching People(21:02) Annie's Experience in Venture Capital at Forerunner(23:12) Teaching Founders to Fish vs. Providing Services(24:51) How to Evaluate VC Opportunities(26:09) Understanding VC Economics and Carry Structure(30:10) Character AI's Unprecedented Google Deal(32:56) Rebuilding Post-Acquisition: Product Vision Challenges(34:13) Annie's Perspective on the Deal Timeline(37:31) Post-Deal Reset: Napa Offsite and Hackathon(39:29) Employee Ownership After Acquisition(41:29) Building a New Culture While Keeping the Brand(42:11) Wrap This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hrheretics.substack.com

LucidLink CEO and Co-founder Pete Thompson offers an inside look into how he rapidly scaled LucidLink, a company that transforms cloud storage into an accessible, high-performance drive. Pete discusses the critical steps and strategies that propelled the company from its inception in 2016, through struggles to find product-market fit, to achieving breakthrough success during the pandemic.Key Moments:[00:46] — Spotlight on Pete Thompson of LucidLink[01:42] — LucidLink's Innovative Cloud Storage Solution[03:09] — Finding the Ideal Customer and Product Market Fit[08:02] — Challenges and Breakthroughs During the Pandemic[18:21] — Rapid Growth and Fundraising Success[20:42] — Reflections and Future Outlook[23:05] — Closing Remarks and Recommendations[25:15] — Outro and Subscription InformationYou'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.

Adam Robinson once struggled with a stagnant email SaaS stuck at $3M ARR, but he kept experimenting until he found how to solve a problem no one else was tackling—and everything changed. Suddenly, buyers were begging for his identity-based marketing tool—so he spun out Retention.com and grew it to $14M+ in annual profit with no outside funding.In this episode, Adam reveals why he ignored “scalable hacks” until his product proved undeniable, the two keys that finally unleashed product-market fit, and how he uses no-friction brand marketing on LinkedIn to sign up thousands of new leads.____Why You Should Listen1. He chose profit over fundraising – Adam shows how ignoring “growth-hack hype” and focusing on real word-of-mouth built a wildly profitable SaaS.2. Shocking pivot to product-market fit – A failed email tool spun out a game-changing identity product that users demanded.3. The #1 trap killing early-stage founders – Why “growth hacking” tactics fail without genuine pull, and what to do instead.4. Bootstrapping to $14M profit – His surprising path from 3M stalled ARR to unstoppable momentum (with a team of only six).5. LinkedIn brand building done right – How to attract thousands of perfect-fit leads—no spammy sequences required._____KeywordsBootstrapped SaaS, Product Market Fit, Email Marketing Growth, Founder Lessons, B2B LinkedIn Strategy, High Profit Margins, Startup Pivot, Word-of-Mouth Marketing, Early-Stage ExperimentationTimestamps(00:00:00) Intro(00:01:57) A Bootstrap Story(00:06:33) Why Bootstrapping Often Means You Can't Lose(00:10:36) The downside of raising VC(00:19:53) A Case Study: Constant Contact(00:22:45) Find an Unsolved Porblem(00:32:06) PMF and Word of Mouth(00:46:45) Piece of AdviceSend me a message to let me know what you think!

ABOUT JON HYMANJon Hyman is the co-founder and chief technology officer of Braze, the customer engagement platform that delivers messaging experiences across push, email, in-app, and more. He leads the charge for building the platform's technical systems and infrastructure as well as overseeing the company's technical operations and engineering team.Prior to Braze, Jon served as lead engineer for the Core Technology group at Bridgewater Associates, the world's largest hedge fund. There, he managed a team that maintained 80+ software assets and was responsible for the security and stability of critical trading systems. Jon met cofounder Bill Magnuson during his time at Bridgewater, and together they won the 2011 TechCrunch Disrupt Hackathon. Jon is a recipient of the SmartCEO Executive Management Award in the CIO/CTO Category for New York. Jon holds a B.A. from Harvard University in Computer Science.ABOUT BRAZEBraze is the leading customer engagement platform that empowers brands to Be Absolutely Engaging.™ Braze allows any marketer to collect and take action on any amount of data from any source, so they can creatively engage with customers in real time, across channels from one platform. From cross-channel messaging and journey orchestration to Al-powered experimentation and optimization, Braze enables companies to build and maintain absolutely engaging relationships with their customers that foster growth and loyalty. The company has been recognized as a 2024 U.S. News & World Report Best Companies to Work For, 2024 Best Small & Medium Workplaces in Europe by Great Place to Work®, 2024 Fortune Best Workplaces for Women™ by Great Place to Work® and was named a Leader by Gartner® in the 2024 Magic Quadrant™ for Multichannel Marketing Hubs and a Strong Performer in The Forrester Wave™: Email Marketing Service Providers, Q3 2024.  Braze is headquartered in New York with 15 offices across North America, Europe, and APAC. Learn more at braze.com.SHOW NOTES:What Jon learned from being the only person on call for his company's first four years (2:56)Knowing when it's time to get help managing your servers, ops, scaling, etc. (5:42)Establishing areas of product ownership & other scaling lessons from the early days (9:25)Frameworks for conversations on splitting of products across teams (12:00)The challenges, complexities & strategies behind assigning ownership in the early days (14:40)Founding Braze (18:01)Why Braze? The story & insights behind the original vision for Braze (20:08)Identifying Braze's product market fit (22:34)Early-stage PMF challenges faced by Jon & his co-founders (25:40)Pivoting to focus on enterprise customers (27:48)“Let's integrate the SDK right now” - founder-led sales ideas to validate your product (29:22)Behind the decision to hire a chief revenue officer for the first time (34:02)The evolution of enterprise & its impact on Braze's product offering (36:42)Growing out of your early-stage failure modes (39:00)Why it's important to make personnel decisions quickly (41:22)Setting & maintaining a vision pre IPO vs. post IPO (44:21)Jon's next leadership evolution & growth areas he is focusing on (49:50)Rapid fire questions (52:53)LINKS AND RESOURCESWhen We Cease to Understand the World - Benjamín Labatut's fictional examination of the lives of real-life scientists and thinkers whose discoveries resulted in moral consequences beyond their imagining. At a breakneck pace and with a wealth of disturbing detail, Labatut uses the imaginative resources of fiction to tell the stories of Fritz Haber, Alexander Grothendieck, Werner Heisenberg, and Erwin Schrödinger, the scientists and mathematicians who expanded our notions of the possible.This episode wouldn't have been possible without the help of our incredible production team:Patrick Gallagher - Producer & Co-HostJerry Li - Co-HostNoah Olberding - Associate Producer, Audio & Video Editor https://www.linkedin.com/in/noah-olberding/Dan Overheim - Audio Engineer, Dan's also an avid 3D printer - https://www.bnd3d.com/Ellie Coggins Angus - Copywriter, Check out her other work at https://elliecoggins.com/about/

Taking The Mystery Out Of Memecoins: The Fastest Product-Market Fit In Crypto History – Brian Rose with Nikita Uriupin  

Taking The Mystery Out Of Memecoins: The Fastest Product-Market Fit In Crypto History – Brian Rose with Nikita Uriupin  

Today, we're talking about startup identity—why you need one, and how it makes every decision you face way easier. We'll talk swimming and nervous systems, walk through the Decision Equation, and help our good friend Carl figure out which customer to start with for his AI tool that helps adults learn Spanish. Then we'll wrap with a simple framework to help you clearly define your startup's identity. It's practical, a little weird, and really important. On to it.TackleboxHeroTimestamps00:30 Your Startup Identity01:30 How to Swim04:17 How to Learn Something New06:34 Re-learning How to Make Decisions08:45 Tacklebox - two week free trial09:15 Carl's Idea - AI for Learning Spanish13:13 The Decision Equation14:15 Picking a Customer19:30 Identity: Your Decision Filter21:30 Four Identity Exercises24:13 The End: What Do You Want?

After a serious spinal injury left him temporarily paralyzed, Ty had to navigate the healthcare system to find the right specialists, without reliable online information to guide those critical choices. On this episode of the Predictable Revenue Podcast, Ty Allen, founder of SocialClimb, shared the deeply personal story behind his company's origin. Highlights include: Finding a Gap in the Market (07:10), Validating the Market Gap (11:24), How Not To Screw Up Pricing (14:34), Customer Development and First Clients (20:30), And more… Stay updated with our podcast and the latest insights in Outbound Sales and Go-to-Market Strategies!

Trust the process, embrace resilience, and understand that challenges often lead to greater success.Dive into the latest episode of the B2B Go to Market Leaders podcast, where Eli Rubel shares his entrepreneurial journey from tech startups to service businesses. Eli details his transition from chasing venture-backed dreams to creating lifestyle businesses that align with his personal values. The conversation spans his decision-making process, the creation of Matter Made and NoBoringDesign, and his newest venture, Profit Labs. Eli emphasizes his "tricycle life" philosophy—prioritizing work-life balance while building profitable businesses.Connect with Eli Rubel on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/elirubel/Connect with Vijay Damojipurapu on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/vijdam/Brought to you by: stratyve.comChapters:00:00 - From Waiting Tables to a $3M Exit: Eli Rubel's Origin Story 02:32 - How Eli Defines Go-To-Market: Influence, Trust, and Speed 06:45 - Leveraging Influencers to Accelerate Sales and Build Trust 09:53 - From Art School Dropout to VC-Backed Founder: Eli's Path into Tech 18:12 - The Glider Story: Pivoting to Product-Market Fit and a Surprise Acquisition 26:45 - How a Last-Minute Meeting Saved the Company from Shutdown 34:02 - Building MatterMade: From $40K/Month Dream to $4M+ Profit Agency 43:36 - Launching No Boring Design to Survive the Tech Recession 51:55 - Introducing Profit Labs: Financial Services for Agency Founders 59:22 - Final Advice: Trust the Process and Keep Putting in the Reps

Adam Guild is the co-founder and CEO at Owner, an online food ordering system for independent restaurants. Within a year, Owner went from being about to run out of money to having hundreds of customers. Last year, they raised a $33M Series B. Adam's entrepreneurial journey began as a teenager when he built a successful Minecraft server, which led him to drop out of high school to become a founder. His passion for helping small businesses was sparked by his mom's struggles running a dog grooming shop, which led him to launch the early iteration of Owner. -- In today's episode, we discuss: How working with a small business kickstarted Owner Adam's unusual outbound strategy Why the pandemic accelerated Owner's success How Owner's pivot led to “hyperbolic” product-market fit The two qualities Adam looks for in new hires -- Referenced: Alex Bard: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexbard/ Dean Bloembergen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deanbloembergen/ Guisados: https://www.guisados.la/ HubSpot: https://www.hubspot.com/ Jack Altman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackealtman/ Kimbal Musk: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimbalmusk/ Modern Restaurant Management: https://modernrestaurantmanagement.com/ Naval Ravikant: https://www.linkedin.com/in/navalr/ Neil Patel: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilkpatel/ Peter Thiel: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterthiel/ P.F. Chang's: https://www.pfchangs.com/ Sean Rad: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanrad/ Thiel Fellowship: https://thielfellowship.org/ Tim Ferriss: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timferriss/ Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/ -- Where to find Adam: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamharrisonguild/ -- Where to find Brett: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-berson-9986094/ Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/brettberson Where to find First Round Capital: Website: https://firstround.com/ First Round Review: https://review.firstround.com/ Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/firstround YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FirstRoundCapital This podcast on all platforms: https://review.firstround.com/podcast -- Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (01:29) Adam's first business (04:15) The transition from Minecraft to Owner (05:58) The dark side of the gaming industry (14:20 Adam's scrappy strategy to landing his first customers (16:52) The COVID pivot (21:31) The quest to find product-market fit (30:53) What actually worked to get new customers (36:03) Inside Owner's explosive growth (46:41) How Owner secured its crucial first round of funding (53:34) The bet on going multi-product (64:28) What Adam wishes he knew at 17 (76:22) Sales-led vs. product-led growth

Send Everyday AI and Jordan a text messageStartups are changing quickly. That means Venture Capital is changing just as fast.

Henry Ward, cofounder and CEO of Carta, has spent over a decade scaling his company from an early-stage startup to a 2,000-person industry leader. In this a16z Speedrun conversation with Games partner Josh Lu, Henry shares hard-earned lessons on:Hiring missionaries vs. mercenaries — and how to keep company culture intact as you scaleThe reality of product-market fit and why many founders try to sell too soonThe evolution of a CEO — from building a product to building a system around youInputs vs. outputs, and why companies should focus on the right leading indicatorsTransparency in leadership, including when (and when not) to shareThis episode is packed with candid insights and lessons on company building. Recorded live at the a16z Speedrun program, you can learn more at a16z.com/games/speedrun. Resources: Find Henry on X: https://x.com/henryswardFind Josh on X: https://x.com/JoshLu Stay Updated: Let us know what you think: https://ratethispodcast.com/a16zFind a16z on Twitter: https://twitter.com/a16zFind a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16zSubscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.simplecast.com/Follow our host: https://twitter.com/stephsmithioPlease note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

En el mundo empresarial, muchas veces el crecimiento es visto como una carrera constante, un esfuerzo incansable por mantenerse a flote en un mercado competitivo.Pero ¿y si en lugar de simplemente crecer, pudieras construir una ventaja competitiva duradera que te permita defender tu negocio a largo plazo?En este episodio analizo el libro 7 Potencias de Tu Negocio (7 Powers, 2016) de Hamilton Helmer, una guía estratégica que revela las 7 potencias que pueden convertir tu negocio en un titán resistente a la competencia. Desde encontrar el Product-Market Fit, hasta crear Economías de Red y establecer Procesos únicos, aprenderás cómo aplicar cada uno de estos poderes en las distintas fases de tu negocio: Exploración, Expansión y Defensa.A través de estrategias prácticas y ejemplos reales, descubrirás cómo usar estas potencias para escalar tu empresa, mantener a tus clientes y proteger tu posición en el mercado frente a la competencia más feroz.