A Product Market Fit Show | Startup Podcast for Founders

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A Product Market Fit Show | Startup Podcast for Founders

Every founder has 1 goal: find product-market fit. We interview the world's most successful startup founders on the 0 to 1 part of their journeys. We've had the founders of Reddit, Gusto, Rappi, Glean, Cohere, Huntress, ID.me and many more. We go deep with entrepreneurs & VCs to provide detailed examples you can steal.  Our goal is to understand product-market fit better than anyone on the planet. Rated one of the world's top startup podcasts.

  1. How he grew to $100M ARR—then exited for $460M. | Zuben Matthews, Founder of Brigit

    2D AGO

    How he grew to $100M ARR—then exited for $460M. | Zuben Matthews, Founder of Brigit

    Zuben turned his personal experience with crippling overdraft fees into Brigit, a fintech he sold for $460 million after hitting $100M ARR. This episode gives early-stage founders the unfiltered truth: how Zuben discovered massive market pain hidden in plain sight, validated the idea with real customers, built bulletproof unit economics early, and navigated brutal early-stage fundraising. It’s a real story about solving problems banks deliberately ignore—and getting rewarded big time.  You don’t want to miss this. Why You Should Listen How Zuben turned a personal $1000 overdraft nightmare into a $460M exit.Why solving your customer’s deepest pain point is the only way to unlock real growth.How to validate product-market fit fast (and what most founders miss).The surprising reason Zuben says unit economics matter way earlier than you think.Keywords fintech, overdraft fees, product market fit, earned wage access, early stage startups, customer validation, fundraising, founder stories, lending, unit economics 00:00:00 Intro 00:08:47 Inside the Hidden Overdraft Market 00:16:34 Validating Your Idea the Right Way 00:27:37 How Brigit Cracked Customer Acquisition 00:33:38 Why Unit Economics Saved Us 00:37:08 Navigating a Crisis and Coming Out Stronger 00:45:14 Behind the Scenes of a $460 Million Acquisition 00:48:57 The Moment of True Product Market Fit 00:50:22 Advice Every Early-Stage Founder Needs Send me a message to let me know what you think!

    51 min
  2. He Hit $3.5M ARR and Still Failed. Here’s His #1 Mistake. | Joseph Lee, Founder of Freshline

    6D AGO

    He Hit $3.5M ARR and Still Failed. Here’s His #1 Mistake. | Joseph Lee, Founder of Freshline

    Joseph built Freshline to $3.5 million in revenue and nearly $2 million raised. It looked like a marketplace success story—until it wasn’t. In this episode, Joe shares the hidden reasons marketplaces fail, critical lessons on how to spot the right market, and why traction alone doesn’t guarantee success. It’s a raw, real look at what happens when hype meets reality. Why You Should Listen How a $3.5M startup stalled despite tractionHard lessons on finding the right marketThe hidden traps of marketplacesWhy staying gritty isn’t always enoughPainkillers vs. Vitamins Rethinking Startup AdviceKeywords marketplace, product market fit, startup failure, raising capital, entrepreneurship, founder advice, traction, B2B SaaS, early-stage startup, growth challenges 00:00:00 Intro 00:04:10 Crashing the Boston Seafood Expo 00:08:25 From Shopify to Marketplace 00:12:40 Door-to-Door Fish Sales 00:17:55 Hidden Risks of Marketplace Models 00:23:05 Cracks Emerge at $3.5M Revenue 00:26:45 COVID Hits and the Pivot Begins 00:30:50 Why Market Matters More Than Grit 00:32:55 Rethinking Painkillers vs Vitamins 00:35:30 Staying Alive Long Enough to Win Send me a message to let me know what you think!

    37 min
  3. 1st-time founder raises $140M with $0 revenue—grows to 800 employees & profitable. | Andrew Rubin, Founder of Illumio

    JUL 3

    1st-time founder raises $140M with $0 revenue—grows to 800 employees & profitable. | Andrew Rubin, Founder of Illumio

    Andrew Rubin raised $40M in 6 months before writing a single line of code—and another $100M before seeing his first dollar of revenue. Today, Illumio is valued at billions and counts Morgan Stanley among its earliest customers. But Andrew’s journey wasn’t smooth or easy. Listen in to learn how he navigated the fine line between being early and being too early, how he raised venture capital at unprecedented speed, and why he believes an entrepreneur’s conviction—backed by customer insights—is the real key to startup survival. Why You Should Listen How to raise $40M in 6 months with no product or revenueWhy “too early” often means bankrupt—and how to avoid itWhy activity ≠ funding (and what to do instead)The hard truth about selling enterprise earlyWhy market timing matters more than product geniusKeywords product market fit, fundraising, early-stage startups, startup fundraising, venture capital, enterprise sales, market timing, Andrew Rubin, Illumio, cybersecurity 00:00:00 Intro 00:08:15 Why Being Early Can Bankrupt You 00:16:09 Creating a Market That Doesn’t Exist 00:27:55 Activity Does Not Equal Funding 00:38:06 Landing the First Enterprise Customer 00:49:57 Surviving Enterprise Sales Cycles 00:54:56 Navigating the Emotional Rollercoaster 01:00:46 The Truth About Product Market Fit 01:01:55 Andrew Rubin’s Best Advice for Early Founders Send me a message to let me know what you think!

    1h 3m
  4. PMF Observations: Why it doesn't matter how fast you get to $1M ARR

    JUL 3

    PMF Observations: Why it doesn't matter how fast you get to $1M ARR

    Forget what you thought about early-stage growth. In this must-listen episode, you’ll hear firsthand how startup success truly happens—and spoiler alert, there’s no playbook. From companies like Carbon6 using roll-up strategies to Graphite pivoting multiple times before exploding, we unpack real founder journeys that prove getting to $1M ARR fast isn’t what matters. You’ll see why the real winners chase true product-market fit, why copying competitors is a trap, and why patience in the early stage might be your biggest competitive advantage. If you’re building a startup, stop what you’re doing and listen now. Why You Should Listen Discover why getting to $1M ARR fast is NOT the goal (and what really matters instead).Learn how randomness and serendipity shape startup success—straight from real founder stories.Understand why chasing product-market fit beats obsessing over short-term revenue milestones.Hear why copying existing playbooks can sabotage your startup’s long-term growth.Find out how radically different paths—roll-ups, pivots, or total serendipity—can all lead to success.Keywords  product market fit, startup growth, early-stage startups, founder stories, zero to one, ARR milestones, startup pivots, product differentiation, scaling startups, startup playbook 00:00:00 Intro 00:02:47 Carbon6’s $210M Exit—Roll-ups and Serendipity 00:04:27 Lightspeed’s Unplanned Journey to $1B 00:06:04 Graphite’s Pivots—How a Failed Idea Led to Success 00:07:27 Vapi’s Rapid Rise After Three Years of Flat Growth 00:08:55 Why There’s No Single Path to Product Market Fit 00:11:19 The Million-Dollar ARR Myth Send me a message to let me know what you think!

    14 min
  5. He went 7 years with no revenue— then grew to $100M ARR. | Rob Woollen, Co-Founder of Sigma

    JUN 30

    He went 7 years with no revenue— then grew to $100M ARR. | Rob Woollen, Co-Founder of Sigma

    Rob Woollen, founder of Sigma Computing, shares the unfiltered reality of going from 0 to $100M ARR. After spending seven years grinding without product-market fit, Sigma finally hit an inflection point—tripling revenue year over year. Rob dives deep into the pivots, setbacks, and critical decisions that turned early failure into a massive success. If you’re an early-stage founder feeling stuck, this episode will show you how patience, resilience, and radical product decisions can transform your startup. Why You Should Listen How Sigma went from $0 to $100M ARR—but spent 7 years figuring it out.The pivot that turned years of failure into explosive growth.Why obsessing over speed to product-market fit is the wrong game.How to handle the psychological toll of startup uncertainty.The hidden power of building features your customers never ask for.Keywords product-market fit, Sigma Computing, pivot, startup growth, business intelligence, Snowflake, early-stage startup, SaaS growth, cloud analytics, founder stories 00:00:00 Intro 00:02:49 Debating speed to product–market fit 00:10:14 Quitting Salesforce and the EIR leap 00:23:12 Two years of prototypes that went nowhere 00:36:53 The Snowflake meeting and spreadsheet pivot 00:45:41 Dealing with Investors 00:52:30 Tripling three years straight to $100M ARR 00:54:46 Why most people shouldn’t start a company Send me a message to let me know what you think!

    56 min
  6. $10M Raised, 500K Users, but she still failed—here’s what went wrong | Benedetta Lucini, Founder of Oval Money

    JUN 26

    $10M Raised, 500K Users, but she still failed—here’s what went wrong | Benedetta Lucini, Founder of Oval Money

    This is the brutally honest startup story every founder needs to hear. Benedetta  shares how she built a fintech app to half a million users and raised $10M—yet still failed.  You’ll learn why chasing big partnerships can backfire spectacularly, how a seemingly successful startup can quietly fall apart, and how to set yourself up to avoid common but deadly fundraising mistakes.  This isn’t just another success story; it’s a real guide on how not to fail. Why You Should Listen Discover why even rapid growth and millions raised might not save you.Find out the hidden dangers of relying on corporate VCs.Learn why equal founder equity splits might not be a good idea.Hear the biggest fundraising mistakes early-stage founders make (and how to avoid them).Get practical advice on how to truly validate your startup before building tech.Keywords startup failure, fundraising mistakes, fintech startup, founder lessons, corporate VC, startup partnerships, product validation, founder equity split, early-stage fundraising, startup growth challenges 00:00:00 Early Days at Uber and Moving into Fintech 00:07:00 Launching a Consumer Fintech App in Europe 00:13:37 Validating Without Tech Building an MVP by Hand 00:19:22 Why US Startup Models Don’t Work in Europe 00:23:07 Raising Money Quickly—and the Hidden Costs 00:28:56 Running Out of Cash When COVID Hit 00:32:15 Tough Decisions Layoffs, Sales, and Shutdown 00:37:53 How Big Partnerships Can Sink Your Startup 00:43:41 Staying Optimistic Even When Everything Falls Apart 00:46:38 Crucial Fundraising Advice for Early-Stage Founders Send me a message to let me know what you think!

    50 min
  7. How $100B Mercado Libre got started—& why it almost went bankrupt after 9 months. | Hernan Kazah, Co-Founder Mercado Libre

    JUN 23

    How $100B Mercado Libre got started—& why it almost went bankrupt after 9 months. | Hernan Kazah, Co-Founder Mercado Libre

    How do you build a $100B business without hypergrowth or endless funding rounds? Hernan Kazah co-founded Mercado Libre, the Latin American ecommerce giant, at the peak of the dot-com bubble. But when the market crashed, funding disappeared, and competitors doubled down on spending, Mercado Libre focused relentlessly on building a rock-solid, profitable core product—ignoring pressure to chase faster growth. Hernan shares how they turned extreme constraints into a secret weapon, why getting profitable early was a game-changer, and why the biggest businesses are built by doing fewer things, better. Why You Should Listen How Mercado Libre survived going bankrupt by pivoting overnight.Why most startups die chasing growth—and what to do instead.How to build unstoppable momentum by nailing one thing first.The simple test to know if your startup has real product-market fit.The one thing all $100B companies do differently.Keywords Mercado Libre, product market fit, Hernan Kazah, startup advice, ecommerce growth, marketplace strategy, profitability, venture capital, early-stage startups, Latin America startups 00:00:00 Intro 00:04:07 Why We Chose the eBay Model 00:08:56 The Early Hack That Got Us Our First Users 00:14:23 Raising Money at the Worst Possible Time 00:21:37 Becoming Profitable and Going Public 00:26:34 How Mercado Libre Stayed Patient While Competitors Chased Growth 00:34:05 Why We Expanded Across Latin America From Day One 00:45:11 Our Secret to Winning Against Better-Funded Competitors 00:50:04 The Most Important Advice for Early-Stage Founders 00:52:16 Why AI is Different From the Internet and Mobile Revolutions Send me a message to let me know what you think!

    57 min
  8. PMF Observations: How 4 Founders Built Massive Startups Their Own Way

    JUN 19

    PMF Observations: How 4 Founders Built Massive Startups Their Own Way

    Four founders prove you don’t need Silicon Valley, a technical degree, or a massive seed round to build a massive company. We go through the key observations from the last 4 episodes: How Skip created a $200M business in a third tier city, Polarsteps’ NPS‑obsessed rise, Jobber’s decade‑long compounding engine, and why a small decision was key to Public.com’s huge success.  You’ll learn when to ignore best practices, how to choose one north‑star metric, and why slow, relentless improvement beats silver‑bullet fantasies. Perfect fuel for scrappy founders hunting product–market fit. Why You Should Listen The single‑metric focus that took a travel app to $10M ARR through CovidTurning six months of “no’s” into $100M ARR: the slow‑burn playbookWhy mastering your craft first can unlock your next billion‑dollar ideaPicking the rules to break: using “unconventional” as an unfair advantage00:00:00 Intro 00:01:30 Why location odds matter less than you think 00:02:50 Skip the Dishes proves huge wins can start in tiny markets 00:05:30 Polarsteps shows what happens when one metric rules them all 00:09:00 Jobber’s decade‑long slow burn to compounding growth 00:14:40 Public.com and the power of diving deep into your craft 00:21:40 The real skill: knowing when to ignore conventional wisdom 00:24:30 Key takeaways and next steps for your own playbook Send me a message to let me know what you think!

    28 min
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4.9
out of 5
79 Ratings

About

Every founder has 1 goal: find product-market fit. We interview the world's most successful startup founders on the 0 to 1 part of their journeys. We've had the founders of Reddit, Gusto, Rappi, Glean, Cohere, Huntress, ID.me and many more. We go deep with entrepreneurs & VCs to provide detailed examples you can steal.  Our goal is to understand product-market fit better than anyone on the planet. Rated one of the world's top startup podcasts.

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