A Product Market Fit Show | Startup Podcast for Founders

Marty (CEO of Blockthrough) is the definition of a “Founder Cockroach”—he can’t be killed. In this episode, he shares how after 12 years and 2 failed start-ups, he sold his company for nearly $100M.I've known Marty since my very first startup days. In 2013, we started our startups at the same time. I watched him take punches to the face for years. I watched him eat ramen noodles for way too long. And I watched him build an epic company and sell it.99.9% of founders won't be the next Steve Jobs. But 100% of founders can be the next Marty. Send me a message to let me know what you think!

Every startup has the same competitor: Status Quo. Your customers have done things a certain way for many years. Status Quo might seem awful to you, but it's worked for them. It's entrenched. It's accepted. In many cases, it's loved. Classically, your product needs to be 10x better to beat Status Quo. But what does that really mean? What is 10x better? And 10x better for who? In this episode, we deep dive into the two ways to win vs. Status Quo: (1) finding the weak spot, and (2) if you can't beat them, join them. Send me a message to let me know what you think!

Hamed Abbasi, Founder of Plooto, shares his journey of pivoting from a Bitcoin-based payment service to an Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable platform for small businesses. He discusses the challenges of building a payment platform with Bitcoin, the importance of thorough research and understanding customer pain points, and the benefits of pivoting to automation and a subscription model. Additionally, he emphasizes the importance of customer interviews and understanding customer problems, and shares his vision of automating cash management for small businesses.

Most bad ideas are born the same way. A founder says to themselves: "Wouldn't it be cool if...". I know because I did it. "Wouldn't it be cool if your workouts were automatically tracked" was the genesis for Gymtrack, my failed startup. When you do this, you are starting from the solution, not the problem. Great startup ideas come from uncovering real problems. That's why we always say that before Startup Mode, there's Research Mode.Send me a message to let me know what you think!

Finding Product Market Fit is often a long journey, especially if you're a first-time founder who jumps in with two feet and no upfront research. It took Rodolphe FIVE pivots to get from where he started to the $10M+ ARR startup he has today. This is the story of each one of those pivots. How and why he decided to make big changes each time, and how each pivot brought him closer to product-market fit.If you're looking for product market fit, you need to check this story out. Send me a message to let me know what you think!

Everyone pays lip service to focus, but few understand what it really means.Those who are truly focused often do things that look insane. That's why we say that before product-market fit, "Only the Insanely Focused Survive". Send me a message to let me know what you think!

They say the best founders can walk through walls. Well, nothing can stop Nabeil.For the first two years, Nabeil and his team worked out of his house. His entire house, except for his bedroom, was an office. He would nap while changes were loaded to production only to wake up 2 hours later to test again. He got in a car crash a week before launch and didn't even set aside time to deal with it.  A year later, Nabeil managed to convince a pilot to let him off a plane so he could make a business meeting! Insane focus meant there was only one thing that mattered: launching on time.If you want to see how deals get closed in Startupland, check this episode out.Send me a message to let me know what you think!

Many founders start companies because they want to get rich. Honestly, that’s what I did. Unfortunately, only caring about making money often leads to bad startup ideas. Focus on value instead. Another observation... seed stage VCs are called “investors”, just like hedgefund managers or stock pickers. It’s a poor choice of words. Finding seed VCs to back you is less about finding “investors” and more about finding “believers”.Send me a message to let me know what you think!

To find product-market fit you need to deliver clear and exceptional customer value.The story of Applyboard shows you exactly what that looks like. Martin changed the lives of thousands of students who he helped study abroad. He impacted not just them but their entire families. In the meantime, he delivered 10x ROI to schools: for every $1,000 they paid Applyboard they made $10,000+ on tuition. You can't push yourself to unicorn status. You need the market to pull you there. And that only happens if you provide incredible customer value. If you want to understand what that looks like, check this episode out.Send me a message to let me know what you think!

Two observations from the Loopio episode:1. When you're working on your first startup, everything is hard. It's natural to think that the second time around will be much easier. It's not! 0 to 1 is always hard.2. Most VCs will tell you that you need a really big addressable market. Yet many successful founders started off without worrying about market size at all. Early on, market size doesn't really matter.Send me a message to let me know what you think!