Forrest Zeisler spent 6 months hearing “no” from every potential customer he spoke to. One year in, Jobber had just three customers—paying $29/month. Today, Jobber generates over $100M ARR, has raised $180M in VC, and employs nearly 1,000 people.
In this episode, Forrest shares the brutally honest story behind Jobber’s early days: months of rejection, maxing out credit cards, and nearly quitting. You’ll learn why there are rarely any “silver bullets”, how he handled relentless investor skepticism, and how incremental daily improvements—not crazy inflection points—led to exponential growth.
If you’ve ever wondered whether your startup can make it through the grind, this is a must-listen.
Why You Should Listen
• Learn how to persist through brutal rejection—Jobber took 6 months to land their first customer.
• Understand why chasing “silver bullet” features or channels rarely works.
• Find out when it makes sense to keep going despite extremely slow traction.
• Hear why your first investors can shape or destroy your startup journey.
• Discover why “compound growth” beats chasing short-term inflection points.
Keywords
product market fit, startup growth, founder stories, fundraising, bootstrapping, Jobber, vertical SaaS, early stage startups, scaling startups, startup rejection
(00:00:00) Intro
(00:01:55) From Freelance Devs to Startup Founders
(00:07:23) Six Months of Rejection
(00:15:09) Landing the First Customer and Almost Losing Hope
(00:25:39) Brutal Investor Feedback and the $250K Seed Round
(00:35:13) Early Growth and Near-Death Experiences
(00:44:15) Hitting Customer Milestones and Finding True Product Market Fit
(00:48:41) Crossing $100M ARR and Key Lessons Learned
(00:51:11) When to Quit and When to Persist
Send me a message to let me know what you think!
