A Product Market Fit Show | Startup Podcast for Founders How his AI-enabled Services startup hit $1M ARR in just 3 months. | Shahar Peled, Founder of Terra Security
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Jan 15, 2026 Shahar Peled, the Founder and CEO of Terra Security, dives into his rapid ascent in the cybersecurity landscape. With a background in management and data science, he shares how his AI-first service disrupted the manual pen-testing market. Learn about the 'Service-as-Software' model that propelled him to $1M ARR in just three months, and why traditional customer validation methods fall short. Shahar also reveals his tactics for converting design partners into paying clients and achieving impressive sales metrics. This is a masterclass in scaling and product-market fit!
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AI Enables Continuous Realistic Pen Testing
- Pen testing was broken because manual tests cover only a tiny part of attack surfaces and can't scale with AI-driven code growth.
- Agentic AI enables continuous, real-time offensive testing that can align with development lifecycles and close that gap.
Founding Prompted By A Personal Catalyst
- Shahar left JIT and founded Terra after a personal loss and sensing perfect timing with technology and co-founder fit.
- That compelling event pushed him from planning to founding in mid-2024.
Start Broad, Then Narrow Your Thesis
- Run broad early discovery then narrow to a thesis; ask top pain points before pitching a solution.
- Only pursue ideas that rank in customers' top five pains and have measurable spend drivers like compliance or insurance.