Startup Field Guide by Unusual Ventures: The Product Market Fit Podcast How Arctic Wolf found product-market fit: Brian NeSmith on getting to the tipping point
While some startups experiment and pivot their way into product-market fit, others have founders with a unique insight that needs persistence. After a rough 6 year start as a company between 2012-2018, Arctic Wolf hit a tipping point driven by market awareness. In the past 4 years, the growth rate of the business has been phenomenal. Founder Brian NeSmith joins us to discuss his conviction to keep going and how he kept his talented team together even when results weren't what they expected.
Brian NeSmith is a cybersecurity industry veteran, having led three successful companies - the latest of which is Arctic Wolf Networks. Last valued at over $6BN, Arctic Wolf is the leader in the cybersecurity category known as MDR - Managed Detection and Response, provided as a service.
In this episode, Sandhya is joined by co-host John Vrionis, her partner and founder of Unusual Ventures. John led the first venture investment in Arctic Wolf, a $7.5M round by Lightspeed when Brian first started the company.
Join us as we discuss:
- The origin story of Arctic Wolf and why John backed Brian
- Brian’s framework for evaluating market demand and product-market fit
- Brian's approach to fundraising in 2017-18, when the 150+ investorshe pitched were concerned by AWN’s story as well as a market crash, and how John supported Brian during this time
- How Brian handled tough board conversations when times were hard, and what John saw Brian do well as a CEO managing the board
- Brian's advice for founders on quitting or pivoting away from an idea
To learn some of the skills Brian and John discussed, explore the Field Guide modules on:
- Raising a Seed or Series A round
- Managing a Series A board meeting
- CEO/Founder prioritization
- Leading through uncertainty
About Unusual Ventures — Unusual Ventures is a seed-stage venture capital firm designed from the ground up to give a distinct advantage to founders building infrastructure software and application-level companies. Unusual was founded in 2018 with the mission to reinvent the venture capital engagement model by serving entrepreneurs with an unprecedented level of hands-on services. Described as a partner versus a top-down stakeholder by its portfolio companies, Unusual is laser-focused on serving exceptional founders and teams building innovative products. With offices in Menlo Park, San Francisco, and Boston, Unusual has invested in category-defining companies like Arctic Wolf Networks, Carta, Robinhood, Harness, and Vivun.
About Sandhya Hegde — Sandhya is a General Partner at Unusual Ventures, leading investments in enterprise SaaS companies. Previously an early employee and executive at Amplitude, Sandhya is a product-led growth (PLG) coach and mentor. She can be reached at sandhya@unusual.vc and on Twitter (https://twitter.com/sandhya) and LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandhyahegde/).