Mohit Aron, founder of Cohesity and Nutanix, shares startup validation frameworks, product-market fit insights, and team building lessons. He emphasizes founder honesty, market evaluation, and scaling challenges. The discussion also covers generative AI's potential impact on enterprise technology and recommendations for new CEOs.
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Build A Bulletproof Hypothesis Document
Write a bulletproof hypothesis document with elevator pitch, MVP, why it will sell, and why not.
Update it continuously and rebut naysayers with evidence from customers and checklists.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Nutanix Started With VDI
Nutanix targeted VDI as an MVP: a distributed platform for virtual desktops that collapsed compute and storage.
That focused start plus hardware trends and a big market drove expansion into a broader hyperconverged platform.
insights INSIGHT
Separate MVP From Vision
Your MVP should be smaller than your long-term vision so you can iterate ahead of copycats.
Patterns only give defensive advantage; iterate the vision to stay ahead.
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In this episode, I'm excited to welcome Mohit Aron back to B2BaCEO for the second time. As the founder of Cohesity and co-founder of Nutanix, Mohit is a titan in the world of enterprise GTM and infrastructure software. With two wildly successful companies under his belt, he's a true expert when it comes to building enterprise software businesses from the ground up.
In our conversation, Mohit shares his proven frameworks for validating startup ideas. He reveals hard-won lessons from starting Nutanix and Cohesity, with real-world examples that bring his advice to life. We explore product-market fit—what it really looks like in practice—as well as how to build a team and manage performance in a high-growth startup. We wrap up by discussing the topic du jour, generative AI, and the opportunities it opens for startups.
This episode is full of insights for technical founders. I hope you enjoy it!
(00:00) Intro
(00:21) Mohit's framework for a bulletproof startup hypothesis document
(07:53) Why your MVP shouldn't be your full vision
(10:39) Cohesity's journey from 0 to 1, 1 to 10, and 10 to 100+
(17:19) Examples of founders not being intellectually honest about their hypotheses
(20:35) How to accurately size your startup's market (TAM)
(23:55) Balancing founder conviction with naysayer feedback
(31:02) Adapting the hypothesis document for the generative AI era
(34:19) Mohit's definition of product-market fit
(39:05) When to hit the gas on sales hiring (and when not to)
(44:59) Mohit's system for competency-based hiring
(53:17) Implementing performance management via quarterly calibrations
(56:00) What Mohit would do differently as a technical founder
(58:07) Mohit's top advice for founders
(60:09) The industries ripe for disruption by generative AI
(62:04) Book recommendations for founders
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