Product Growth Podcast

15 Steps to Build a $100M+ AI Company (From Someone Who Has Done It)

May 12, 2025

Matt Arbisfeld, founder of LogRocket, a $1B+ AI product company, shares his journey from childhood projects to entrepreneurial success. He emphasizes the importance of hands-on experience and developing specialized skills. Matt outlines a roadmap for building a $100M company, highlighting key steps like launching MVPs, strategic funding, and navigating the complexities of team dynamics. He discusses the significance of cultural fit in hiring executives and the balance between automation and human input in AI services.

53:44

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Episode guests

Matt Arbisfeld

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

Building numerous projects from a young age fosters essential skills and resilience, emphasizing hands-on experience over classroom learning.

Understanding market needs through thorough research helps identify gaps and innovate effectively, ensuring the company addresses real user pain points.

Deep dives

The Journey of Building a Startup

Starting a company often involves grappling with challenges from the onset, underscoring the significance of prior experience and personal projects. Engagement in entrepreneurial activities from a young age, such as building apps or projects with peers, fosters essential skills and resilience. Acknowledging that failures, like an unsuccessful app concept developed during college, are part of the journey is crucial as they contribute to growth. The emphasis is on learning through hands-on experience, which can span various interests and disciplines, including technology and creative design.

Intro

2min

Entrepreneurial Lessons from College

6min

Innovation Through Experimentation and Market Opportunities

4min

From Ideas to Impact: The LogRocket Journey

15min

The Importance of Cultural Fit in Executive Hiring

4min

Navigating Funding and Innovation in Tech

17min

Navigating Challenges in Building an AI-Driven Company

5min

If you’ve ever thought you’re a great PM and should build something of your own with AI, today’s episode is for you.

Matt, who built a $1B+ AI product company LogRocket, shares the full roadmap on building a $100M company.

Brought to you by:

Miro: The innovation workspace: your team’s canvas

Linear: Plan and build products like the best

Timestamps:

Introduction - 00:00

Step 1: Build Projects - 01:23

Step 2: Develop Skills - 04:31

Step 3: Find Opportunities - 09:08

Ad: Miro - 10:09 Ad: Amplitude - 11:06

Product Growth Framework - 11:38

Step 4: Build MVP - 12:51

Step 5: Launch Strategy - 13:51

Step 6: Raise Funding - 16:40

Step 7: Growth Channels - 21:15

Step 8: Build Teams - 23:44

Step 9: Hire Executives - 26:21

Ad: Linear - 30:31

PM Workflow Solution - 31:29

Step 10: Funding Growth - 31:30

Step 11: Second Product - 35:29

Step 12: Expand Marketing - 39:28

Step 13: Product Portfolio - 41:53

Step 14: Develop Partnerships - 45:49

Step 15: Global Domination - 48:07

Founder's Lowest Point - 48:52

tarting Today's Advice - 50:12

Closing - 53:06

Takeaways:

* Start by building lots of projects. Build, build and build, just like Matt did since elementary school. His mobile game hit millions of users while an app he built for introverts failed completely. These hands-on experiences teach you more than any classroom ever could.

* Develop specialized skills. Find your superpower skill combination. It was Matt's coding plus design expertise that created the perfect foundation for LogRocket. So what unique skills can you combine to solve problems others can't?

* Deeply understand a problem domain. His time at Meteor showed him front-end development challenges firsthand. Put yourself in environments where you'll experience problems worth solving. Your insider knowledge will help you identify gaps that others miss completely.

* Build an MVP that tackles a specific challenge. His team created user session replay technology by working nights after their day jobs. So, start with something small but valuable that demonstrates your core insight and solves a specific pain point.

* Launch strategically with momentum. You can orchestrate your launch like a Hacker News campaign with friends ready to upvote. A coordinated push can generate thousands of day-one signups when executed with precision and timing.

* Establish sustainable growth channels. LogRocket's technical blog became their acquisition engine with 200 high-quality posts monthly. Find one channel that works and then double down on it hard before diversifying your marketing efforts.

* Be selective about fundraising. Matt successfully grew to $5K monthly revenue before raising $500K from Matrix Partners for his startup. In competitive markets, funding helps you outpace rivals, but remember each market requires a different capital approach to win.

* Focus intensely on recruiting. Make hiring your obsession once you have product-market fit. Great early hires attract more great talent naturally, creating a self-reinforcing cycle of exceptional team building.

* Choose executives that match your culture. Cultural alignment trumps raw skill when hiring executives. Look for leaders who enhance your existing culture rather than those who want to demolish and rebuild with their own imported approach.

* Expand your product portfolio deliberately. Building second and third products is crucial for continued growth. LogRocket expanded from session replay to AI-powered issue detection, creating a broader suite while serving the same developer and product manager customers.

Where to Find Matt

LogRocket

Email productgrowthppp at gmail.com to discuss advertising or guest opportunities.

I hope you enjoyed the last episode with Phyl Terry (Author, Never Search Alone). Up next, we have episodes with:

Andy Carroll - 15 years in PM, Vibe Coding Expert

Roger Martin - Author, Playing to Win

Jeremy Epling - CPO, Vanta

I’m so excited to share them with all of you.

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