The IO Podcast: Investor + Operator Zero To $1 BILLION In Payments In Just One Year: How To Crush Product-Market-Fit w/ Joshua Silver
Sep 30, 2025
Joshua Silver, the founder and CEO of Rainforest, shares his incredible journey of reaching over $1 billion in payment transactions within just one year. He discusses the unique market opportunities he identified and how his previous founding experience equipped him for success. Joshua highlights the importance of deep customer insights, strategic targeting of niche software platforms, and the critical metric of processing volume. He also explains how effective fundraising strategies and strong team dynamics have been key to his company's rapid growth.
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Zero To $1B In A Year
- Joshua Silver went from zero dollars in processing to over $1 billion in transactions in the first year.
- He credited deep market knowledge and years of consulting-driven customer discovery for that rapid growth.
Customer Immersion Wins Product Fit
- Deep customer immersion lets you know problems better than the customer does.
- Joshua used consulting to perform paid discovery and build credibility before launch.
Recruit Warm Intros First
- Use your network and recruit "friends of the firm" to warm-introduce early customers.
- If you can't get warm intros to 15–30 ideal prospects, you likely have a go-to-market problem.