Hunters and Unicorns How Martin Mao Built a Startup from Zero to MILLION$
Jul 23, 2025
Martin Mao, co-founder and CEO of Chronosphere, shares his journey from Uber to launching a game-changing startup in observability. He discusses the bold move of leaving a tech giant to pursue conviction, emphasizing the necessity of internal clarity. Martin highlights the importance of execution and team culture in achieving true product-market fit. He also delves into the challenges of navigating sales dynamics and scaling effectively, providing valuable insights for founders and operators on focusing on their audience and refining their vision.
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Built The Tech First At Uber
- Martin and his co-founder built observability tech at Uber before founding Chronosphere in 2019.
- Their internal solutions and early open source work gave them a running start into a market shift toward containerization.
KubeCon Triggered The Leap
- Martin describes the KubeCon moment in 2018 that convinced them containers/Kubernetes would become mainstream.
- That realization, combined with personal timing, pushed them to take the leap despite family commitments.
Product-Market Fit Is A Three-Way Match
- Product-market fit equals the right product for the right segment with the right go-to-market motion.
- Martin argues the same product can fit different segments only if you match properties and sales motion to that segment.