A Product Market Fit Show | Startup Podcast for Founders

He raised $1.3M, hit $100K ARR—but failed. Here's the lesson every founder needs to hear. | Tolga Ermis, Founder of PromiseQ

Dec 30, 2024

Tolga Ermis, founder of Berlin-based AI startup PromiseQ, discusses his journey of raising $1.3 million and achieving $100K ARR in the security monitoring space before facing major setbacks. He emphasizes the importance of validating customer pain points early on and recognizing when to pivot. Tolga reflects on the challenges of managing customer priorities, especially after losing a major client to a competitor. His insights serve as valuable lessons on the critical nature of addressing the right problems and the need for transparency in the face of failure.

30:24

Episode guests

Tolga Ermis

AI Summary

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Failing to address high-priority problems for customers can lead to misaligned efforts and wasted resources in startup ventures.

Recognizing the importance of timely pivots and the responsiveness to market demands is crucial for a startup's success and sustainability.

Deep dives

Learning from Success and Failure

Understanding both the successes and failures of founders provides valuable insights into the entrepreneurial journey. Many founders overlook the stories of those who raised capital and achieved some traction yet ultimately failed, which can be as enlightening as those who achieved significant success. Listening to experiences from both ends of the spectrum allows emerging founders to identify patterns and common pitfalls, ultimately aiding them in navigating their own startups. This comprehensive approach highlights the importance of learning from both triumphs and challenges to improve the chances of reaching product-market fit and sustainable growth.

Intro

2min

Lessons from Startup Failures and the Journey of PromiseQ

5min

Validating Startup Ideas in Security

11min

Challenges and Contradictions in Legal Tech and Client Dynamics

2min

Navigating Startup Challenges

12min

Tolga stumbled upon a problem in the security monitoring space. Motion cameras generated way too many false alerts. So he decided to solve it using AI. He raised over a million dollars and got several customers.

But he always felt he was pushing a boulder up a hill. At one point, one of his large customers churned and went with a competitor. Tolga pivoted, but it was too late.

Now, thinking back, he realizes that one of the main issues is he may never have been solving an important-enough problem. And in my experience that's the reason that 95%+ of startups fail.

You learn a lot from the massive successes— but you can only really know what drives success if you pay attention to the failures as well. So here it is, back by popular demand.

Why you should listen:

Why learning from failures is as important as celebrating successes.
Why you need to deeply validate the problem with customers before building.
How to tell if your product isn't a top priority based on sales cycles.
Why you probably need to pivot sooner than you think.

Keywords
startup failure, founder stories, learning from mistakes, customer validation, market dynamics, business pivot, entrepreneurship, PromiseQ, AI technology, security solutions

Timestamps:
(00:00:00) Intro
(00:02:50) What is PromiseQ
(00:11:06) Working on a Non-Priority Pain Point
(00:16:10) Realizing the Different Costumer Profiles too Late
(00:18:23) The Business Model
(00:20:52) Why you need to pivot fast
(00:28:32) If Things Went Differently

Send me a message to let me know what you think!

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