The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

20VC: Why Being First To Market Does Not Matter, Why You Do Not Have Defensibility on Day 1, How to Analyse Market Size and Present it to Investors, Vitamins vs Painkillers; Do Vitamins Survive Recessions and Good vs Great Messaging with Guy Podjarny @ Sn

May 24, 2023

Guy Podjarny, Founder of Snyk and former CTO at Akamai, shares his journey from the Israeli military to becoming a startup powerhouse. He challenges the myth of being first to market, arguing that market leadership matters more. Podjarny dives into product-market fit, revealing common mistakes founders make and the importance of messaging. He discusses the need for defensibility in startups and offers insights from his extensive experience as an angel investor, including the significance of understanding market size and strategic decision-making.

58:48

Creator website

Episode guests

Guy Podjarny

Highlights

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Understanding the Seven Powers Framework for Founders

01:36

Fundraising: Is it a Fundamental Skill for Founders?

00:56

Differentiation rather than 1st

01:20

The Importance of Speed of Execution in Achieving Product-Market Fit

01:03

Intro

4min

The Journey of Founding a Startup and Embracing Inclusivity

2min

Navigating Serial Entrepreneurship

7min

Navigating Market Size and Messaging for Startups

18min

Understanding Seven Powers for Startup Success

11min

Navigating Investment Dynamics

14min

Debunking Startup Myths and the Path to Efficiency

3min

Guy Podjarny is the Founder of Snyk, the leading Developer Security platform, helping developers secure as they build. Guy was previously CTO at Akamai, co-founded Blaze.io (acquired by Akamai), and was the product manager of AppScan, the first AppSec scanner, through Sanctum, Watchfire and IBM. Guy is a public speaker, O’Reilly author, and an active early stage angel investor.

In Today's Episode with Guy Podjarny We Discuss:

1.) From Israeli Military to Founding a $10BN Company:

How Guy made his way into the world of startups from the Israeli military?
What is Guy running away from? Why does he hate tribalism so much?
Does Guy believe serial entrepreneurship is valuable or naivety of young founders is good?

2.) The Secret to Finding Product Market Fit:

Why does Guy believe PMF is a poorly defined term? How does Guy define PMF?
What are the single biggest mistakes founders make while searching for PMF?
What are the most important elements on messaging when it comes to PMF?
If you have a horizontal tool, how do you message and resonate with specific audiences?

3.) Defensibility and Being First to Market:

Does Guy believe that being the first to market is really that valuable?
Does Guy agree that investors expecting defensibility on day 1 is wrong?
Why does Guy think market leadership is way more important than first to market?
What are the true defensible moats that can be built early today?

4.) Lessons from 100 Angel Investments:

What have been the single biggest lessons for Guy from his 100 angel investments?
What are the biggest mistakes angels make when investing today?
How should founders present their market size to investors? Where do they go wrong?
Does Guy invest in both painkiller and vitamin businesses? How does he compare them?
Why is Boldstart Guy's favorite venture capital firm?

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