A Product Market Fit Show | Startup Podcast for Founders

You've launched a startup. Your excitement turns to anxiety as it becomes clear things aren't working out. Some customers are buying but not nearly enough. They like your product, but they don't love it.You realize you don't have product-market fit and are unlikely to get it. You'll need to change things up. You'll need to pivot.It's a painful process, but pivots are more common than you think. The right pivot can take you from nothing to billion-dollar status. Many unicorns, including Slack, Twitter and Ada, started off as completely different businesses. The key, of course, is to do it right. Mike and his co-founder spent a full year as customer service agents to feel their customers' pains. They solved those problems over time and a few years later raised at a $1.2B valuation. If you want to hear exactly how they did it, have a listen.Send me a message to let me know what you think!

You have a startup idea. You tell 10 friends and they tell you it's awesome.  What does that prove?Unfortunately, not much. Validating your idea requires you to go outside your building and talk to real customers. Not only that, real validation means having customers pay for your product. But how do you do that without having to build something first?Find out from Eran, the CEO of Thriver on this episode. Eran and his co-founders generated thousands of dollars in sales before writing a single line of code. By the time they started building, they knew for sure there'd be demand... because they'd already closed real customers. Send me a message to let me know what you think!

Getting started with a consumer product is HARD. Unlike selling to businesses, you can't just grind it out with cold calling. You'll need to figure out how to get noticed and drive traffic to your site. And getting media attention is one of the best ways to do it. Andrew is the founder of Borrowell, a startup with millions of users. When he launched he was featured in dozens of publications across the country.  For the first time, he describes in clear, step-by-step detail, exactly how he did it. If you want to maximize media attention, you won't want to miss this episode. Send me a message to let me know what you think!

Matt Whitteker, a serial entrepreneur known for founding NoNotes, Assent Compliance, and Millions, shares his journey in generating innovative business ideas. He discusses the transition from original concepts to successful adaptations, like leveraging Facebook ads for student engagement. Whitteker emphasizes the importance of identifying real-world problems to achieve product-market fit and details his evolution from VP at Ascent to launching Millions, targeting e-commerce challenges in sports through video technology. His insights inspire aspiring entrepreneurs to embrace their unique experiences.

Jay Myers is the founder of Bold Commerce, known for revolutionizing e-commerce with innovative checkout solutions. In this episode, he shares his journey launching Kickbooster, an affiliate management program. He discusses the experimental mindset necessary for startups and the unique challenges of crowdfunding affiliate tracking. Jay emphasizes the crucial role of early customer engagement and effective communication in product launches. He also outlines strategies for navigating the launch of SMB products while maintaining a strong community presence.

Once you have clear traction, once revenue is up and to the right and growing quickly, investors come to you.But what about early on? How do you get people to invest millions of dollars when all you have is an idea?Stephany, the founder of Tealbook, has raised over $70M. She got her first cheque from an angel investor she met during her kid's soccer game. In this episode, she dives into how she raised her first few rounds. Angels investors invest in people- and Stephany shares details into how to build relationships that may catalyze your round.Check this episode out to learn how to raise your first round.Send me a message to let me know what you think!

How do you launch a marketplace? How do you get beyond the chicken-and-egg problem? Derrick's answer: Fake it Till you Make it.When launching Drop (a rewards app with millions of downloads), Derrick needed both consumers and brands to join. Instead of going after both at once, he found a way to seed supply and added brands' logos to his website, whether they had joined or not. It may have led to some Cease and Desist letters (or Conversation and Discussion letters, as he called them), but it also led to considerable growth.If you're about to launch a marketplace or are struggling to get it off the ground, listen to this episode and see how Derrick did it.  Send me a message to let me know what you think!

In this conversation, Corey Gross, Founder and CEO of Sensibill, shares his insights into closing enterprise sales, especially with banks. He discusses the lengthy sales cycles and complex hurdles that startups face when entering the enterprise market. Corey emphasizes the importance of building relationships, leveraging mock-up demos, and identifying champions within organizations to facilitate sales. He also outlines how to navigate pilot projects and the critical role of early partnerships in establishing credibility within the financial sector.

Most startup founders recognize they need advisors. The question is who do you get, how do you get them, and how do you structure it all? In this episode, Darryl shares his framework for how to set up the perfect board of advisors.  It starts by imagining that you're five years in the future once your startup is a huge successand asking yourself- what are all the key pieces that are required? From there, Darryl methodically targets advisors that will help with each of the key pieces. He discusses how to get in front of them, how to convince them to join, and how to structure the advisory board.As a startup founder you will need advisors to help on your journey. Listen to this episode to learn how to do it right.Send me a message to let me know what you think!

Running a startup is hard. Doing it alone, especially when it's your first time, can be downright tortuous. Lindsey started off on her own, without much of a network in the startup scene in Toronto. Not only that, as a business type she didn't have the skills needed to build a prototype, let alone the full product. On this episode, she discusses how she methodically set out to find her co-founder through three steps: networking, networking, networking.If you're a solo founder looking for your second half, you'll want to give this a listen.Send me a message to let me know what you think!