A Product Market Fit Show | Startup Podcast for Founders

Stripe bought his startup for $1.1B—just 2.5 years after he quit his job. | Zach Abrams, Co-Founder of Bridge

Jan 13, 2025

Zach Abrams, co-founder of Bridge and former executive at Coinbase, Square, and Brex, shares his thrilling journey from burnout to a $1.1 billion exit within just over two years. After pivoting from an NFT project, he identified a gap in stablecoin APIs, enabling developers to innovate. He discusses their challenges during market disruptions, including the FTX collapse, and the tenacity required to seize unexpected opportunities. Zach emphasizes the power of adaptability and the unique advantages of building a startup outside the Bay Area.

55:25

Episode guests

Zach Abrams

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Episode notes

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Zach's startup journey illustrates the necessity of resilience and adaptability during unpredictable market conditions in the crypto sector.

The pivot from NFTs to stablecoins revealed a significant unmet need, highlighting the importance of customer insights in product development.

Relocating outside traditional tech hubs allowed Zach's team to focus on their core values and intrinsic product goals, avoiding competitive distractions.

Deep dives

Zach's Journey and Initial Challenges

Zach transitioned from a successful role at Brex to launching his own startup in early 2022, facing immediate difficulties in a challenging macroeconomic environment, especially for the crypto sector. Despite raising $8 million shortly after inception, he quickly realized the initial idea for his company was flawed and unsustainable. He spent the next several months amid market turmoil, with high-profile collapses like FTX shaking the crypto landscape, leading to critical introspection and a pivot from NFTs to exploring the potential of stablecoins. This difficult period highlighted the unpredictable nature of startups and the need for resilience in the face of setbacks.

Intro

3min

Navigating Startup Turmoil

18min

Navigating the Stablecoin Landscape

8min

Building Conviction in the Stable Coin Ecosystem

2min

Navigating Market Disruptions

16min

Navigating Unexpected Acquisitions

7min

Building Conviction Away from the Noise

3min

Zach was burned out after a decade of working at top roles in Coinbase, Square and Brex. He quit with no startup idea-- and then, he went right back in. Given their background, Zach and his co-founder quickly raised an $8M seed round to build an NFT-related product in Web3.

One month later, they completely abandoned their idea. They realized it was never going to work. Then, the floor fell from underneath them. FTX went bankrupt. SVB fell apart. They took punches to the face for the first 6 months straight.

But, when everyone was paying attention to Gen AI in late 2022, Zach kept going deep in Web3. He noticed stablecoins were growing but there was no platform for developers to build with. So he built Bridge, a Stripe-like API for stablecoins.

The first months post-launch were underwhelming-- until they landed a fast-growing customer. From then on, the next year was exceptional 10x+ growth. Then Stripe noticed them.

In Oct 2024, they were acquired for $1.1B. Just 2.5 years after he started.

Here's the story of how it all happened.

Why you should listen:

Why even $1B+ exits still feel like rollercoasters from the inside.
How to quickly abandon ideas and pivot to what truly matters.
How they found a massive opportunity where no one else was looking.
Why starting outside of the Bay Area was critical to their success.

Keywords
startup, billion-dollar exit, stablecoins, investor relations, crypto, fintech, market dynamics, entrepreneurship, pivot, challenges, stable coins, startup journey, acquisition, fintech, market resilience, product market fit, Pablo Srugo, Bridge, Stripe, entrepreneurship

Timestamps
(00:00:00) Intro
(00:2:46) Starting at the Worst Time
(00:8:56) The Emotions on Pivoting a Month After Raising
(00:11:44) Pivoting
(00:18:24) Leaving Brex
(00:20:36) Working on Something Out of Trend
(00:28:34) The Core Beliefs of Bridge
(00:32:56) Launching & First Customer
(00:38:57) Sometimes you Can't Think Too Much
(00:42:29) Series A
(00:44:24) The Acquisition
(00:49:05) The Feeling of Exiting for a Billion
(00:52:24) One Piece of Advice