A Product Market Fit Show | Startup Podcast for Founders

He got rejected by 50 VCs & had 4 months of runway—3 years later, he's at $150M ARR & profitable. | Hussein Fazal, Co-Founder of Super.com

Feb 24, 2025

Hussein Fazal, co-founder of Super.com, shares his inspiring journey from a travel startup to fintech success. After facing the harsh impacts of COVID-19, he pivoted from SnapTravel to create a unique hybrid debit-credit card. He emphasizes the importance of understanding customer needs and finding an unfair advantage. With lessons on resilience, he reveals how testing ideas through smoke tests helped him navigate rejection from VCs. Just three years later, Super.com is thriving at $150M in ARR, proving that rapid adaptation can lead to incredible growth.

01:02:07

Episode guests

Hussein Fazal

AI Summary

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Episode notes

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Hussein's pivot from travel to fintech was driven by in-depth customer research revealing the need for solutions to everyday financial challenges.

The significant emotional and financial impact of COVID-19 underscored the importance of resilience and adaptability in entrepreneurship during crises.

The introduction of the Super Plus membership model illustrated how targeting specific customer needs can create significant recurring revenue streams and enhance profitability.

Deep dives

The Power of Resilience

Every round of fundraising brought numerous rejections, with founders facing 50 to 100 no's each time. This consistent struggle highlights the crucial need for resilience in entrepreneurship. Believing in the business and the team's capabilities is essential for navigating these challenging times. Entrepreneurs can succeed if they remain steadfast, knowing they only need one yes to overcome the adversity.

Intro

3min

Navigating Early Startup Challenges

14min

Navigating Price Strategies in Travel Startups

6min

Resilience in Crisis: SnapTravel's Journey

15min

Innovating Credit Access

15min

Mastering Customer Segmentation and Messaging

7min

Journey to Resilience and Membership Success

3min

Hussein's travel startup was doing $10s of millions when COVID hit. His revenue didn't just go to zero, it went negative. There were more customers asking for refunds than new sales. He was 4 months from running out of money.

He ended up making a complete pivot, he changed the company's name from SnapTravel to Super.com. He went from travel to fintech and launched a banking card. It seems like a strange pivot —but through deep research he'd realized what his customers truly needed. They needed more money—not for travel or vacations—but for every day life.

The new card helped customers earn points and rewards, it helped them save on everyday expenses. The pain was so acute and the solution so perfect, that just 3 years later, Super.com is doing $150M in ARR.

Like Hussein said, he got 50 'no's from VCs for every 'yes' he got. He saw his business grow and then crumble over night. He was literally going to zero.

But he turned it all around. Now he's not just growing, he's profitable now.

And here's how it went down.

Why you should listen:

How to think from first principles to figure out the right product expansion.
Why cross-selling is much harder than you think, and how to make it work.
Why finding an unfair advantage is key to scaling a startup.
How to use actual customer behavior to understand what customers truly want.
Why testing and validating ideas through smoke tests is essential.

Keywords
Super.com, SnapTravel, COVID-19, travel industry, pricing strategies, customer needs, market fit, entrepreneurship, AI, business growth, COVID-19, resilience, travel industry, financial innovation, membership model, customer insights, entrepreneurship, investor relations, business strategy, cross-selling

Timestamps:
(00:00:00) Intro
(00:02:39) The original startup: Snap Travel
(00:08:40) Why a great user interface is a big edge
(00:11:26) How to acquire customers
(00:13:30) When your entire hypothesis is wrong
(00:22:52) Meeting Steph Curry
(00:29:03) Nearly crashing to zero-- and going bankrupt
(00:33:51) Starting over and rebranding
(00:42:42) Creating the Fastest Growing Membership Program
(00:52:17) Finding Product Market Fit
(01:00:00) One Piece of Advice

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