From $0 to $165M: How Harsh Patel Built and Sold 3 Companies (and What He’d Do Differently)

Harsh Patel is a repeat founder, investor, and board member who has built and sold multiple companies, including MakerSquare, Hack Reactor, and Galvanize, which had a $165 million exit. With experience scaling businesses from zero to one, finding product-market fit, and navigating M&A, Harsh has seen it all.

In this conversation, we discuss:

• The hardest part of startup growth: Going from nothing to product-market fit
• How Harsh hacked early distribution to get first customers
• The rapid scale and exit of MakerSquare in under a year
• What made Hack Reactor grow from $1M to $8M in revenue so quickly
• How to know when to sell your startup
• The future of crypto and AI, and why meme coins might be the next big thing
• Why Harsh believes company equity will eventually live on the blockchain
• And much more!

Brought to you by:

• Fondo — The #1 accounting platform for startups. Get bookkeeping, taxes, and tax credits handled: TryFondo.com

Where to Find Harsh Patel

• X (Twitter): @HarshOnInternet
• LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/harshpatel1
• Website: https://hpatel.com

Where to Find Dav J Phillips

• X (Twitter): @davj
• LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/davjphillips

In This Episode, We Cover

• (00:00) Welcome and introduction
• (02:15) The challenge of finding product-market fit
• (06:40) Harsh’s first startup experiences in second grade and beyond
• (14:20) How he got the first users for MakerSquare using Quora
• (22:10) Scaling MakerSquare to $1M revenue in 8 months and selling
• (30:45) Growth lessons from Hack Reactor’s rapid scale to $8M revenue
• (41:00) Why Hack Reactor sold to Galvanize and what changed
• (50:35) Turning around Galvanize and selling for $165M
• (1:02:10) How startups might raise money through on-chain tokenized equity
• (1:14:00) Crypto, meme coins, and the future of decentralized businesses
• (1:22:30) Final thoughts and lessons for founders

Referenced in This Episode

• MakerSquare acquisition by Hack Reactor: TechCrunch
• Hack Reactor and Galvanize $165M exit: Forbes
• Quora's role in early startup growth: Quora
• Pump.fun: The rise of meme coins and tokenized businesses: Pump.fun
• Trump launching a meme coin and its regulatory implications: Bloomberg
• The future of AI in startups: OpenAI