A Product Market Fit Show | Startup Podcast for Founders

YC said his idea "would never work". So he lived in his office for months—then raised $17M from a16z in 14 days. | Marty Kausas, founder of Pylon

Dec 19, 2024

Marty Kausas, founder of Pylon—a B2B customer support platform—shares his incredible journey from living in the office with his co-founders to raising $17M in just 14 days. They started by messaging 120 potential customers daily, leading to customer feedback that shaped their product. Despite initial skepticism from Y Combinator, Marty's determination paid off with rapid funding rounds. He discusses the importance of personal connections, project management over people management, and his innovative approach to fundraising and team dynamics.

01:07:26

Episode guests

Marty Kausas

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

Marty and his co-founders lived full-time in their office for months, showcasing their dedication and all-in work culture.

Their unique pivot towards modern customer support solutions emerged from extensive outreach, validating their concept through direct customer feedback.

They successfully raised $3.2 million from General Catalyst in six days by leveraging warm introductions and creating urgency among investors.

Deep dives

Living the Startup Life

The founders initially lived at their office, dedicating themselves fully to their startup's success. They maintained a rigorous daily schedule, emphasizing productivity by sending personalized LinkedIn messages to potential clients and booking numerous calls. This commitment to all-in work culture was a significant factor in the team's dynamic and dedication to their mission, with each founder working long hours to push their ideas forward. Sharing their experiences on LinkedIn generated mixed reactions, revealing both admiration for their efforts and criticism for the extreme lifestyle they embraced.

Intro

3min

From Chaos to Culture: The Startup Journey

12min

Navigating Startup Financials and Team Dynamics

15min

Navigating the Slack Communication Challenge: A Startup's Journey

4min

Navigating Startup Challenges and Fundraising Success

17min

From Integration to Innovation

10min

Rapid Rise: Navigating Series A Success

6min

Marty and his co-founders lived full-time in their office for several months. They worked on their startup 24/7. To come up with the idea, they messaged 120 potential customers every day for 3 months.

Originally, when they pitched YC they were told their idea would never work. YC said they'd seen it several times and it was destined to fail. So in 2 weeks Marty landed a customer and built a product-- and YC let him in. He went on to raise a $3M seed round from General Catalyst in 6 days and later a $17M Series A from a16z in 14 days.

We go deep into how to come up with massive ideas, how to get to product-market fit, and how to quickly fundraise from tier 1 VCs.

Why you should listen

Why all 3 founders living in the office was the best decision they ever made.
How to raise a seed round in 6 days and a Series A in 14-- all from tier 1 VCs.
How to leverage LinkedIn to get exposure and lots of leads.
How to get more mindshare from your employees.
Why Pylon has almost no meetings.
How to come up with an idea using both top-down and bottoms-up processes.

Keywords
founders, startup, customer support, Pylon, co-founders, omnichannel, B2B, venture capital, product market fit, entrepreneurship, startup, Y Combinator, fundraising, product development, market trends, customer support, AI integration, team dynamics, venture capital, entrepreneurship

Timestamps

(00:00:00) Intro
(00:01:35) Why he chose to sleep in the office
(00:07:11) Project Management instead of People Management
(00:11:24) How it all started
(00:23:33) Cold Messaging Potential customers
(00:28:02) Finding the Trend
(00:35:49) Building V1
(00:38:32) Getting into YC as ChatGPT Comes Out
(00:42:37) Why fundraising is a "social game"
(01:01:21) Raising Series A from A16

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