A Product Market Fit Show | Startup Podcast for Founders He hit $1M ARR with just 2 people. 2 years later, he's worth $1.5B. | Ashwin Sreenivas, Co-Founder of Decagon
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Jan 12, 2026 Ashwin Sreenivas, Co-founder of Decagon, built a $1.5B AI startup in just two years with a lean team. He emphasizes the importance of engaging with over 100 potential buyers to identify significant pain points and validate high-value contracts early on. Ashwin shares his strategy of delaying hiring until hitting $1M ARR and how avoiding over-complicated strategies fueled his rapid growth. He also discusses the importance of delivering tailored solutions and using real customer feedback to pivot successfully in the competitive AI landscape.
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Talk To Customers Before Designing Strategy
- Do stop over-intellectualizing your startup strategy and talk to customers instead.
- Ashwin says customer conversations reveal real priorities and competitive differentiation quickly.
Enterprise Support Was A Blank Space
- Enterprise customer support was a surprisingly open space despite many chatbots.
- Ashwin found complex, multi-system workflows created a unique enterprise pull.
Use A Real Price To Validate Demand
- Test willingness to pay by asking buyers to pre-commit to a meaningful price.
- Ashwin used a $150k/year pre-signed commitment to validate strong demand.