The Birth of Anvil: Solving the Pain of Paperwork

In this podcast episode, Mangit, the co-founder and CEO of Anvil, shares the story of how the idea for Anvil came about. While going through a frustrating mortgage application process, Mangit realized the potential of using online forms to solve paperwork challenges faced by businesses across various industries. He and his co-founder, Ben, conducted extensive interviews to validate the problem before building their initial product. However, they made the mistake of trying to sell to anyone and everyone, and attracted the wrong early customers who were demanding and distracted the team. Over time, they found product-market fit by niching down and identifying their ideal customer profile. They also discuss how they overcame their lack of sales experience and the importance of referrals and SEO-driven content marketing for their growth.