Navigating Challenges in AI Voice Innovation

Jordan Dearsley spent 3 years building a startup stuck at $500K in revenue—then he burned it all down and moved to San Francisco. A year later, he was at $10M ARR. This episode walks through Jordan’s decision to abandon a profitable business, why solving a painful customer problem was the key to explosive growth, and how finding product-market fit is as simple—and as brutally difficult—as discovering a 10/10 burning pain. 

If you’re a founder struggling to find breakout growth, this episode is your blueprint.

Why You Should Listen

• How to pivot from a dead-end idea to $10M ARR in one year.
• The power of solving a 10/10 burning pain.
• When customer anger becomes your biggest growth signal.
• Why chasing local maxima can trap your startup.
• How true conviction unlocks explosive growth.

Keywords

product-market fit, startup pivot, explosive growth, voice AI, founder stories, SaaS startups, early-stage startups, customer pain points, San Francisco startups, developer tools

00:00:00 Intro

00:02:35 Stuck at $500K ARR & Burning the Boats

00:07:15 Knowing When It’s Time to Quit

00:08:49 The Side Project that Became Vapi

00:16:28 Early Growth and Finding First Customers

00:23:32 The Product Hunt Launch that 3X’d Growth

00:27:57 Surviving Explosive Growth

00:35:17 Competing Against OpenAI and Big Tech

00:41:26 How to Identify a True 10/10 Pain

00:48:53 The Moment of Real Product-Market Fit

Send me a message to let me know what you think!