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GTM conversations with founders building the future of Fintech.

  1. How tiun validated product-market fit with 6-12 months of pilot data before scaling | Sandro Zweig

    11/05/2025

    How tiun validated product-market fit with 6-12 months of pilot data before scaling | Sandro Zweig

    tiun is building auth and payment infrastructure that consolidates two traditional categories into one streamlined solution. By combining social login with instant payment functionality, tiun eliminates the standard account creation and credit card entry flow, reducing user onboarding to a two-click process. Operating as merchant of record, tiun serves online entertainment businesses, content creators, news publishers, and SaaS platforms. The company currently reaches 10 million users monthly through customer website placements and is growing transactions 15-20% month-over-month. In this episode of Category Visionaries, Sandro Zweig shares how tiun evolved from targeting news publishers to building a broader entertainment ecosystem, the challenges of creating a market for a combined category, and the data-driven approach to proving ROI before scaling. Topics Discussed: Evolution from news publisher focus to entertainment and SaaS ecosystem strategyConsolidating auth and payment infrastructure into a single categoryCase study metrics: 20% uplift in paying users with under 1% subscription cannibalizationThe 2.5x lead generation improvement versus traditional subscription modelsBuilding market-specific ecosystems as a B2B2C go-to-market strategyDACH penetration strategy before US expansionAchieving organic exposure through customer website placementReducing integration complexity to drive adoption in an emerging category GTM Lessons For B2B Founders: Geographic density creates B2B2C flywheels: tiun's go-to-market prioritizes ecosystem density within a single market over broad geographic distribution. Users discover tiun on one platform, then encounter it across 3-4 additional properties in their consumption pattern, creating recognition and repeat usage. This required penetrating DACH (100 million people, single language, unified regulations) before considering US expansion. For B2B2C products where end-user familiarity drives business adoption, concentrate on saturating one market until the consumer-side network effect reduces enterprise sales friction.Validate with 6-12 month pilot data before scaling: tiun ran contained pilots with 3-4 customers for a full year before pursuing their long-tail market. This produced case studies showing 20% paying user uplift and under 1% cannibalization—metrics that directly addressed the primary objection (subscription revenue risk). Sandro notes this extended validation period became essential because "there is no market for it yet. We're creating the market." When creating a new category, resist scaling pressure until you have multi-month data that quantifies business outcomes and neutralizes the biggest adoption barriers.Strategic revenue trade-offs accelerate ecosystem development: tiun deliberately adjusted pricing to "pay out more to our businesses to grow a bit faster"—prioritizing transaction volume and ecosystem density over near-term take rate. This economics decision reflected that their value proposition strengthens with ecosystem scale: users need to encounter tiun across multiple properties for the solution to deliver its full promise. Integration speed directly determines category creation velocity: Sandro identified that "if the sales cycle is too long and integration is too complicated, people won't do it. Especially since it's a product that doesn't exist and there is no market for it yet." They focused on reducing implementation to 2-3 weeks, recognizing that asking companies to replace existing auth and payment infrastructure requires minimal switching costs. Build investor relationships 12+ months before raises: Sandro emphasizes starting fundraising conversations well before needing capital: "If you decide, oh, I need to fundraise right now, then you will automatically get into a cash crunch. Because by the time you have established all the relationships, it just takes such a long time that you run out of money where it really hurts your negotiation power."

    17 min
  2. How ZayZoon built 300+ payroll partnerships to reach 15,000 businesses without direct sales | Tate Hackert

    10/23/2025

    How ZayZoon built 300+ payroll partnerships to reach 15,000 businesses without direct sales | Tate Hackert

    ZayZoon pioneered the earned wage access category a decade ago and has become the leading embedded provider through partnerships with over 300 payroll companies. With over $50 million raised and a team of 200, ZayZoon now serves 15,000+ businesses across the US. In a recent episode of Category Visionaries, I sat down with Tate Hackert, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of ZayZoon, to unpack their B2B2C distribution strategy, the economics of three-sided marketplaces, and how they're expanding from earned wage access into the connected workplace. Topics Discussed: Building for two years without revenue while signing payroll distribution partnersWhy embedded B2B2C distribution beats direct sales for hourly workforce productsEngineering three-way marketplace economics that align payroll, employer, and employee incentivesThe November 2017 trade show that killed their Canadian market strategyEducating three distinct buyer personas in a category creation motionProduct expansion strategy: when to stay focused vs. when to launch adjacent productsPositioning shift from "financial wellness" to recruitment/retention/productivity outcomesThe underwriting advantage of payroll-integrated repayment for reducing loss ratesBuilding 300+ payroll partnerships through relationship-driven GTM GTM Lessons For B2B Founders: Solve distribution economics before product-market fit: ZayZoon spent 2014-2016 building product and signing payroll partners before generating first revenue in 2016. The insight: "Why would we go and try to sign up business by business...Let's sign up the payroll company because they're this umbrella organization." For B2B2C models, solve the distribution layer first—even if it delays revenue. Your bottleneck is partner adoption curves, not product readiness.Structure three-way economics where everyone wins big: ZayZoon discovered payroll companies had "this gold mine of employees that they hadn't yet monetized" and built a model where they pay payroll partners "a really hefty revenue share" while keeping enough margin for ZayZoon and keeping the service low-cost for employees. In platform businesses, the unit economics must be compelling enough that each party actively sells for you, not just tolerates you.Map your value prop to your buyer's actual job metrics: ZayZoon's breakthrough came from reframing earned wage access as solving recruitment, retention, and productivity—the metrics small business owners are measured on. Tate explained the unlock: "It's free for me, and it's deployed seamlessly through the HCM provider that I already use. Yeah, turn it on." Your features matter less than your impact on the specific KPIs in your buyer's quarterly review.Kill underperforming markets immediately, even after years of investment: After building in Canada from 2014-2017, one US trade show in November 2017 generated "more signed business than we had done in the previous couple of years in Canada." They put Canada "on life support" by January 2018. Resource reallocation speed matters more than sunk cost. When signal clarity emerges, move capital and team within weeks, not quarters.High-touch relationship GTM beats automation until you hit scale: Tate's core partnership advice: "Pick up the phone...be gritty as hell. Those first hundred customers that you do, be gritty." He emphasized personal outreach builds "pattern recognition and learnings that you receive from being ultra curious." For partnerships specifically, bring "humility, transparency and the expectation that you're building a ten year plus relationship, not being transactional." Automation scales what works—but relationship GTM discovers what works.

    34 min
  3. Carmen Li, CEO of Silicon Data: $5M+ Building the World's First GPU Compute Risk Management Platform

    06/13/2025

    Carmen Li, CEO of Silicon Data: $5M+ Building the World's First GPU Compute Risk Management Platform

    Carmen Li spent decades in financial services across trading floors and data companies before spotting a massive inefficiency in the AI/compute economy. After managing global data partnerships at Bloomberg, she witnessed AI startups struggling with unpredictable compute costs that could swing their margins from healthy profits to devastating losses overnight. Drawing parallels to how airlines hedge oil prices through futures markets, Carmen realized that compute—despite being one of the fastest-growing commodities—lacked basic risk management tools. Within months of leaving Bloomberg, she built Silicon Data into the world's first GPU compute risk management platform, raising $5.7M without ever creating a pitch deck and publishing the industry's first GPU compute index on Bloomberg Terminal. Topics Discussed: The systemic problem of compute cost volatility destroying AI company marginsWhy compute lacks the risk management tools available in every other commodity marketBuilding the world's first GPU compute index and benchmarking serviceRaising venture capital without pitch decks through product-first demonstrationsOperating as a solo non-technical founder leading a team of engineersThe unique buyer dynamics when selling to CTOs, portfolio managers, and AI researchers simultaneously GTM Lessons For B2B Founders: Price on value, not cost, and let customer conversations reshape your understanding: Carmen admits that every client conversation changes her valuation of the product's impact, typically making it bigger than initially thought. She prices based on the value delivered rather than cost structure. B2B founders should remain flexible in their value proposition and pricing as they learn more about customer impact through direct engagement.Product demonstrations beat pitch decks for technical buyers: Carmen raised $5.7M without ever creating a pitch deck, instead letting prospects interact directly with her product and writing a simple memo. For technical products solving complex problems, demonstrating actual capabilities often proves more effective than polished presentations. B2B founders should prioritize building working products over perfecting sales materials.Embrace being the "dumbest person in the room" for learning velocity: Carmen describes consistently being the least technical person in rooms full of CTOs, AI researchers, and GPU experts, but leverages this as a learning advantage. She asks hard questions and co-creates products on the fly based on these conversations. B2B founders should view knowledge gaps as opportunities for rapid learning rather than weaknesses to hide.Target systemic problems that span multiple sophisticated buyer types: Silicon Data serves everyone from chip designers to hedge funds to AI companies, requiring Carmen to handle technical GPU questions, financial modeling queries, and AI workflow concerns in single meetings. This breadth creates natural expansion opportunities and defensibility. B2B founders should look for problems that affect multiple stakeholder types within their target market.Leverage unique background intersections to spot obvious-but-overlooked opportunities: Carmen's combination of financial services expertise and data company experience let her quickly identify that compute needed the same risk management tools available in every other commodity market. The solution was "extremely intuitive" to her but invisible to others. B2B founders should examine how their unique background combinations reveal opportunities others might miss.

    22 min
  4. Tal Shahar, CEO & Co-Founder of Atlas Invest: $13 Million Raised to Transform Real Estate Financing

    05/27/2025

    Tal Shahar, CEO & Co-Founder of Atlas Invest: $13 Million Raised to Transform Real Estate Financing

    Atlas Invest is revolutionizing real estate financing as a marketplace connecting borrowers with institutional investors. With $13 million in funding, the platform provides an alternative to inefficient traditional lending models by offering borrowers quick, simple financing while enabling investors to access what Tal calls "the holy grail of asset classes" - real estate-backed bridge loans. In this episode of Category Visionaries, we sat down with Tal Shahar, CEO and Co-Founder of Atlas Invest, to discuss his journey from military special forces officer to venture capitalist to founder, and how Atlas is building a platform that delivers superior returns to investors while providing crucial financing for real estate developers. Topics Discussed: Tal's experience as an officer in Israeli special forces and how it shaped his approach to entrepreneurshipThe transition from venture capital at Deep Insight to founding Atlas InvestHow Atlas addresses inefficiencies in real estate bridge loan financing through technologyThe platform's dual-sided marketplace connecting borrowers and institutional investorsAtlas's ability to generate 12% net IRR for investors compared to traditional funds' 8%Strategies for building both sides of a marketplace business simultaneouslyThe challenges of securing the first deals that validated the business modelAtlas's approach to brand building and marketing experiments in the real estate spaceThe evolving vision to become the go-to platform for all real estate financing needs  GTM Lessons For B2B Founders: Exercise disciplined due diligence in your own ventures: Before leaving his VC position, Tal created a comprehensive due diligence list and spent six months validating Atlas's potential during nights and weekends. B2B founders should apply the same rigorous validation processes to their own ideas that VCs would use, testing assumptions methodically before fully committing resources.Leverage market disruptions as entry points: Atlas launched during a period of rising interest rates when banks were pulling back from lending, creating an opportunity for new entrants. As Tal explained, "When we started Atlas, it was a crazy market environment... that actually enabled us to step into the market when each side was okay with us not having a lot of the other side." B2B founders should identify and exploit market dislocations that weaken incumbent advantages.Build marketplaces by continuously balancing both sides: Rather than solving the chicken-and-egg problem once, Atlas constantly rebalances supply and demand. Tal noted, "We're continuously balancing... Sometimes the challenging part is the deal flow, sometimes it's the investors. If it was always only one, maybe it's not the best product-market fit." The shifting nature of the challenge is actually a positive signal for marketplace businesses.Use white-glove service to win initial customers: For Atlas's first deals, personal relationships and exceptional service were critical. "It was a lot of white glove service... we're selling basically enterprise in a way," Tal shared. The team did "whatever it takes to win it, to make it successful." B2B founders should be prepared to deliver extraordinary service to early customers, especially in high-value transactions where trust is paramount.Test marketing channels empirically, not based on assumptions: Atlas discovered that LinkedIn performed poorly for their paid campaigns while Meta worked well, contrary to expectations for a B2B financial service. "I'm a big believer of not relying on our assumptions... always using data to make the decision," Tal emphasized. B2B founders should start with small tests across multiple channels, measure results objectively, and periodically retest channels that previously underperformed.

    32 min
  5. Caleb Avery, Founder & CEO of Tilled: $40 Million Raised to Build (and dominate) the PayFac as a Service Category

    05/05/2025

    Caleb Avery, Founder & CEO of Tilled: $40 Million Raised to Build (and dominate) the PayFac as a Service Category

    Tilled has pioneered "PayFac as a Service," creating a new category in the payments space that allows vertical software companies to embed payments within their platforms without becoming registered payment facilitators themselves. With over $40 million in funding, Tilled offers an alternative to industry giants like Stripe, providing better economics while maintaining high-quality developer tools. In this episode of Category Visionaries, I spoke with Caleb Avery, Founder and CEO of Tilled, about his journey from solo founder to category creator, the challenges of competing with established players like Stripe, and how he's built a successful business by identifying and serving an underserved segment of the market. Topics Discussed: Tilled's origin story and Caleb's two-year journey as a solo founder before finding product-market fitThe process of creating and defining the "PayFac as a Service" categoryHow Tilled positions itself against industry giants like StripeEffective content marketing and thought leadership strategies on LinkedInThe power of speaking at industry conferences to build credibilityLeveraging a mixed strategy of inbound marketing, digital advertising, and channel partnershipsTilled's vision to expand beyond payments into comprehensive embedded fintech solutions  GTM Lessons for B2B Founders: Create your own category when existing ones don't fit: When Caleb realized that existing terms like "PayFac in a box" didn't accurately describe Tilled's offering, he invented "PayFac as a Service." This new category clearly communicated their value proposition and differentiated them from competitors. He explains, "The concept behind PayFac as a Service was really resonating with these vertical software companies that were saying, 'I don't want to go be a registered PayFac, I want all of the benefits as though I'm becoming a registered payment facilitator with 5% of the effort.'"Educate the market on your category through content: Tilled invested heavily in education through LinkedIn posts, blogs, ebooks, and speaking engagements to establish their category. Caleb notes, "Over a period of three or four months, we started introducing this concept of PayFac as a Service.Leverage fellow founders for early validation: Even without a product, Caleb reached out to other founders to validate his ideas. "Other founders are very willing to help founders, especially in the early stages where I had nothing to sell them...I was shocked by the response rates that I was getting." Balance personal and professional content for thought leadership: Caleb's LinkedIn strategy combined educational content about payments with personal stories about entrepreneurship and family life. "I think by allowing people to understand who I was as a person, it made me more approachable for some of the companies that were coming to us and saying, 'Hey, we're not ready to make a switch, but we are curious.'"Apply to speak at industry conferences: Caleb was surprised by how many speaking opportunities were available simply by applying. "It just shocks me how few founders that I know are willing to go apply for those speakerships, but it's really an incredibly easy thing for them to go do." Run targeted "conquest" campaigns against market leaders: Tilled runs specific digital advertising campaigns targeting pain points with competitors, using long-tail keywords like "Why is Stripe customer service so bad?" This strategy drives quality leads from customers already experiencing problems with the dominant player in the market.Embrace channel partnerships in B2B SaaS: Unlike many competitors, Tilled welcomes referrals from ISOs, agents, and payment consultants. "We're one of the few folks in our space, which is still bizarre to me, that embraces a channel strategy...it's been an incredibly lucrative strategy...it's still 30 plus percent of the deal flow for Tilled."

    32 min
  6. Nathan Beckord, CEO of Foundersuite: $13 Million Raised to Build the Go-To Platform for Startup Fundraising

    04/04/2025

    Nathan Beckord, CEO of Foundersuite: $13 Million Raised to Build the Go-To Platform for Startup Fundraising

    Foundersuite has established itself as the leading platform for startups raising capital, with $13 million in funding and a comprehensive suite of tools designed to streamline the fundraising process. In this episode of Category Visionaries, I sat down with Nathan Beckord, CEO of Foundersuite, to explore how his extensive background in investment banking and startup advisory evolved into building a specialized platform that's revolutionizing how founders approach fundraising. Nathan shares his journey from consultant to entrepreneur, and how Foundersuite has grown from a simple CRM into a robust platform serving startups from seed stage through Series B and beyond.   Topics Discussed: The evolution from an investment banking career to founding a startup focused on fundraising toolsHow Foundersuite narrowed its focus from a broad suite of founder tools to specialized fundraising solutionsThe strategic decision to target the seed through Series B segment as their primary marketBuilding a sustainable marketing strategy through events, podcasting, and innovative guerrilla tacticsThe launch of Funding Stack, a new platform designed for VCs and fundraising consultantsHow AI is being integrated throughout the fundraising process to enhance efficiency and outcomes  GTM Lessons For B2B Founders: Start with your unique expertise: Nathan built Foundersuite based on his decade of fundraising experience, turning his specialized knowledge into product features. He explained, "I'm a one trick pony. The only thing I've done ever since college is raise capital for startups." B2B founders should leverage their deep industry expertise when defining their product category and value proposition.Be willing to kill good products for great focus: Despite positive user feedback on several products in their initial suite, Foundersuite made the difficult decision to eliminate tools that weren't core to their primary value proposition. Nathan recalls, "It was hard to kill something that people did love... but they weren't really paying as much for that." B2B founders should continuously evaluate their product portfolio against market traction and be willing to make tough decisions for greater focus.Define your "Goldilocks" customer segment: Foundersuite identified their ideal customer segment as seed through Series B companies—not too early (pre-seed) and not too mature (Series C+). Nathan explains, "Too early, you don't have any money, you can't pay us, you're not really fundable. Too late, you have a lot of other resources to help you raise capital." B2B founders should similarly identify where their product delivers maximum value and focus acquisition efforts accordingly.Use content marketing as a learning opportunity: Foundersuite's "How I Raised It" podcast not only serves as a marketing channel but also provides valuable market intelligence. Nathan shared, "I thought I knew everything about raising capital. And here I am just drinking from a fire hose... I'm learning more than my first six months of doing a podcast than I have in the last five years of actually doing the work." B2B founders should view content marketing as both a growth channel and a customer research tool.Implement annual marketing experiments: Foundersuite commits to trying one new marketing approach each year. Nathan explains, "One of the things I try and do every year... let's try a new, different marketing experiment." For 2025, they're implementing monthly webinars. B2B founders should similarly build experimentation into their marketing roadmap while maintaining their core channels.

    30 min
  7. Omri Mor, CEO & Co-Founder of Routable: $100 Million Raised to Transform AP Automation for Fast-Growing Companies

    02/25/2025

    Omri Mor, CEO & Co-Founder of Routable: $100 Million Raised to Transform AP Automation for Fast-Growing Companies

    Routable is revolutionizing accounts payable automation by bridging the gap between finance teams and engineering requirements. With $100 million in funding, Routable has built a platform that handles everything from basic invoice processing to complex mass payouts, focusing on companies where AP is central to their business model. In this episode of Category Visionaries, I sat down with Omri Mor, CEO and Co-Founder of Routable, to explore how they're transforming a market where only 3.4% of potential customers currently use AP automation solutions. Topics Discussed: Evolution from in-house solution to scalable AP automation platformThe state of AP automation adoption and market opportunityRoutable's approach to product development and feature prioritizationThe importance of customer feedback in shaping product roadmapStrategic pivot from SMB to mid-market and enterprise customersBuilding trust in financial technology through customer referralsIntegration of AI and automation in financial workflows GTM Lessons For B2B Founders: Find your wedge through empathy: Omri and his co-founder succeeded initially because they had built similar solutions internally and deeply understood the pain points. They approached customers with genuine curiosity and empathy, spending 45-60 minutes just listening about what wasn't working in their finance departments. B2B founders should leverage their authentic experience and empathy to build initial trust.Focus on critical pain points: Rather than trying to change established workflows entirely, Routable looks for specific pain points as entry points - like payment failures that take 30-45 minutes to correct manually. B2B founders should identify acute pain points that provide natural openings for their solution, rather than trying to force wholesale process changes.Build trust through demonstration: In the mid-market and enterprise space, Routable found success by showing rather than telling. They implement a "try before you buy" approach with customers' own data, demonstrating their capabilities concretely rather than just making sales promises. B2B founders should prioritize proving their value through actual demonstrations over sales rhetoric.Leverage customer feedback channels: Routable built in-product feature request capabilities and maintains a dedicated product feedback channel where customer conversations are shared and discussed. B2B founders should create systematic ways to capture, share, and act on customer feedback across the organization.Strategic pricing for growth: One of Routable's most important GTM decisions was strategically increasing prices to reflect their value and improve unit economics, even though it meant moving away from smaller customers. B2B founders should price their products to enable sustainable growth and continued investment in product development.

    27 min
  8. Patricia Montesi, CEO & Co-Founder of Qolo: $30 Million Raised to Build the Future of Omnichannel Payments Infrastructure

    02/10/2025

    Patricia Montesi, CEO & Co-Founder of Qolo: $30 Million Raised to Build the Future of Omnichannel Payments Infrastructure

    Patricia Montesi leads Qolo, a modern cloud-based financial payments platform that has raised $30 million to reimagine payment processing infrastructure. In this episode of Category Visionaries, Patricia shares insights from building a platform that combines card issuing, bank payments, and ledger capabilities to help both fintech companies and traditional banks modernize their payment systems without requiring complete infrastructure overhauls. Topics Discussed: Building a unified platform that handles both traditional and modern payment methodsNavigating the transition from "grow at all costs" to sustainable growthThe journey to reaching $7 million ARR and targeting $10 million ARREvolution of the bank-fintech partnership modelChallenges of fundraising as a first-time founderStrategic pivot from product-led to balanced growth GTM Lessons For B2B Founders: Solve the integration burden: Qolo succeeded by taking on the complex task of unifying different payment types that customers previously had to integrate themselves. Patricia explained, "That burden is actually shifted to the client...Qolo actually unifies it for them." B2B founders should look for opportunities where they can absorb complexity that customers are currently forced to handle themselves.Navigate market corrections strategically: During the fintech market correction, Patricia's team refocused on fundamentals: "Put the excitement aside...let's make sure we're all focused on verticals that we have a right to win in, that we have a fast path to monetize." B2B founders should be prepared to make hard decisions about resource allocation and organizational focus when market conditions shift.Balance product and go-to-market investment: Qolo initially focused heavily on product perfection at the expense of sales and marketing. Patricia admitted, "We are terrible at marketing and we're going to change that." B2B founders should ensure they don't over-index on product development while neglecting go-to-market capabilities.Leverage strategic customer wins: Qolo used their success with major banks to build credibility: "To the extent that you get a top 25 bank to sign an enterprise level agreement...we capitalize on that from a social media and marketing perspective." B2B founders should strategically amplify significant customer wins to build market momentum.Focus on sustainable unit economics: Rather than pursuing growth at all costs, Qolo prioritized efficiency and profitability. Patricia noted, "We're all sort of now thinking about profitability versus grow at all costs. I think that's a healthy thing." B2B founders should build their growth strategy around sustainable unit economics rather than pure top-line growth.

    25 min
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GTM conversations with founders building the future of Fintech.

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