A Product Market Fit Show | Startup Podcast for Founders

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Episodes

298

Latest episode

Aug 2026

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EN-US

About the show

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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60 recent

August 17, 2026Episode 4946 min

He spent $150K on brand before he had a product—then closed $1.5M ARR in 1 month. | Niklas Lindgren, Co-Founder & CEO of Endra

Niklas quit law school to install CCTV cameras in iPhone repair shops. Eight years later he sold that business to private equity at 26. Then he went after the most boring software in the world: the 1997 tool engineers use to design the wiring and plumbing inside buildings. He spent $150K on a website before he had a product and DM'd engineers on Reddit to find his first users. His first month of sales was $1.5M, all enterprise. Endra has now raised $75M, including a $50M Series A led by a16z. In this episode, Niklas breaks down why he spent $150K on brand before there was a product, how DMs in Reddit engineering threads turned into $300K enterprise contracts, and the hiring principles he used to screen the first 50 employees. Why You Should Listen Why spending $150K on brand before you have a product can be the right call. How DMs in Reddit threads turned into $300K enterprise contracts. Why your customer's competitors are your best sales channel. How to know when 80% output is actually enough to sell. Keywords startup podcast, startup podcast for founders, product market fit, finding pmf, Endra, Niklas Lindgren, MEP engineering, AI for construction, vertical AI, enterprise sales, brand building, Reddit marketing, hiring principles, agentic design software Chapters 00:00:00 Intro 00:02:23 $1.5M of Enterprise Revenue in One Month 00:04:22 Why Enterprises Couldn't Say No 00:06:04 What Endra Actually Does 00:08:27 Law School to CCTV Cameras 00:12:06 Recruiting Two Goldman Engineers 00:17:11 Finding Users in Reddit Threads 00:26:02 $4M, $20M, Then $50M From a16z 00:35:00 Spending $150K on Brand Before a Product 00:40:11 The Hiring Principles Manual Send me a message to let me know what you think!

August 10, 202652 min

He lost all 5 of his first deals—then built the next Looker and raised $250M. | Colin Zima, Co-Founder of Omni

Colin spent eight years building Looker into a $2.7B Google acquisition. Then he left to compete with his own product. He thought traction would take a month—it took nine. A hundred demos got him five verbally-committed customers, and he lost all five. So he spent two months killing bugs, went on one podcast, and won every single trial that came out of it. Omni just raised over $250M. In this episode, Colin breaks down how to tell the difference between a product that's genuinely better and one the market just doesn't want, why founding with $30M didn't stop them from staying stingy, and the LinkedIn playbook that turned 6,000 connections into a 90% response rate. Why You Should Listen Why losing every deal doesn't mean the idea is wrong—and how to know the difference. Why real differentiation shows up as "wow" moments in demos, not signed contracts. The LinkedIn social-selling playbook that built Omni's first pipeline. Why hiring sellers from your old industry hands you their Rolodex on day one. Keywords startup podcast, startup podcast for founders, product market fit, finding pmf, Omni, Colin Zima, Looker, business intelligence, BI tools, enterprise SaaS, AI analytics, social selling, LinkedIn outbound, founder-led sales, innovator's dilemma Chapters 00:00:00 Intro 00:01:58 The Moment of True Product Market Fit 00:06:16 Losing All Five Deals and Doubling Down 00:10:43 Leaving Looker to Compete With Looker 00:17:39 Founding With $30M and Staying Stingy 00:22:09 A Hundred Demos Before the Flywheel 00:32:15 No Silver Bullet—Just Do More of Everything 00:38:32 The LinkedIn Social-Selling Playbook 00:46:07 Hiring the Best People You've Worked With Send me a message to let me know what you think!

August 3, 2026Episode 4752 min

He fired almost everyone, kept 2 engineers—then grew 12x and raised a $30M Series A. | Rafael Broshi, Co-Founder of Notch

Rafael launched a crypto insurance product in 47 states, backed by a real carrier. Everyone told him it was genius. Nobody needed it. He shut it down with $2M left in the bank, fired almost everyone, and rebuilt with two engineers on $20K a month. Notch just raised $30M. In this episode, Rafael breaks down how a POC he entered through the back door turned into a seven-figure contract, why "isn't everyone doing this?" is the feedback you actually want, and how to tell whether an enterprise deal makes you a real company or just their dev shop. Why You Should Listen Why "that idea is genius" is a warning sign, not a compliment. How entering a POC last still made them the front runner. Why the enterprise deals that scale need zero customization. How to stop hiding your idea and go straight to your dream customers. Keywords startup podcast, startup podcast for founders, product market fit, finding pmf, Notch, Rafael Broshi, AI agents, insurance technology, customer experience automation, regulated industries, enterprise sales, POC strategy, pivoting a startup, on-prem deployment Chapters 00:00:00 Intro 00:02:00 The Moment of True Product Market Fit 00:10:07 One Enterprise Deal or Ten 00:15:24 A Genius Idea Nobody Needed 00:24:33 Picking the Right Wave to Ride 00:34:37 Down to $2M, Firing Almost Everyone 00:41:48 Getting Enterprise to Take Your Call 00:48:07 The POCs That Aren't Real POCs Send me a message to let me know what you think!

July 27, 2026Episode 4640 min

He worked out of a police department for free for a year—then built a $6.8B company. | Ben Rudolph, Co-Founder of Peregrine

Ben and his co-founder had no product, no law enforcement background, and no pitch—just an offer to help detectives solve cases. One commander took a chance, handed them background checks, and said "let's see what you can do." They worked out of that police department every day for 18 months. Peregrine just raised $250M at a $6.8B valuation. In this episode, Ben breaks down how researching every police captain in the Bay Area landed their first design partner, why working as free crime analysts for 18 months was "the purest form of method acting," how forward-deployed engineers drove them from $1M to $3M to $10M ARR, and the 120% RFP prep that won a contract written for a billion-dollar competitor. Why You Should Listen Why doing your customer's job is the fastest path to product market fit. How two founders with no product convinced a police department to let them in. Why over-investing in deployment became a growth engine, not a margin problem. How obsessive research wins enterprise deals when you have zero credibility. Keywords startup podcast, startup podcast for founders, product market fit, finding pmf, Peregrine, govtech, public safety technology, forward deployed engineers, selling to government, enterprise sales, data integration, design partners, Ben Rudolph Chapters 00:00:00 Intro 00:01:07 The Moment of True Product Market Fit 00:11:51 Getting a Police Department to Say Yes 00:16:45 Slow Growth and Word of Mouth 00:19:49 Forward-Deployed Engineers Before They Were Cool 00:27:34 Cracking Government Go-To-Market 00:34:08 Winning an RFP Written for Someone Else Send me a message to let me know what you think!

July 20, 2026Episode 4550 min

1st-time solo founder does 90 interviews in 90 days—closes a $25M Series A 2 years in. | Damien Lewke, Founder of Nebulock

Damien left his job to start a startup solo. Two years later, Nebulock closed a $25M Series A. In between: 90 customer interviews in 90 days, a year of design partners, and a Fortune 500 deal that closed in 6 weeks. In this episode, Damien breaks down how his 90-in-90 customer discovery sprint killed his original architecture before he wasted money building it, how his design partner program converted 100% into paying customers, and how a POC playbook needing just 2 hours of customer time closed a Fortune 500 in 6 weeks. Why You Should Listen How 90 customer interviews in 90 days saved him from building the wrong product. Why every single design partner converted into a paying customer. How a 2-hour POC playbook closed a Fortune 500 in just 6 weeks. Why procurement—not your champion—decides how fast your deal closes. Keywords startup podcast, startup podcast for founders, product market fit, finding pmf, cybersecurity startup, solo founder, customer discovery, mom test, design partners, enterprise sales, POC process, AI security, Nebulock, Damien Lewke Chapters 00:00:00 Intro 00:01:20 The Moment of True Product Market Fit 00:11:33 Going Cold Turkey as a Solo Founder 00:23:07 90 Interviews in 90 Days 00:36:44 Raising $8.5M Off a Manifesto, Not a Deck 00:39:36 Every Design Partner Converted to Paid 00:44:00 Building a Repeatable POC Playbook 00:48:20 The Procurement Black Hole Send me a message to let me know what you think!

July 13, 2026Episode 4448 min

He tries 1,000 ideas a decade & kills nearly all—that's how X built Waymo & Google Brain. | Astro Teller, CEO of Moonshots at X (Alphabet)

Astro has run X, Alphabet's Moonshot Factory, for 16 years. His teams created Waymo, Wing, and Google Brain—by testing over 1,000 ideas a decade and killing nearly all of them. His whole system rests on one uncomfortable rule: celebrate the people who kill their own projects. In this episode, Astro breaks down why you should do the hard thing first, how pre-written kill criteria force intellectual honesty, and why X maximizes learning per dollar instead of progress—and never tracks whose idea it was. Why You Should Listen Why working on the riskiest part first is the key to testing new ideas How writing kill criteria a year in advance stops you from running a zombie startup. Why progress doesn't matter when launching a new startup. How to come up with big ideas like Waymo and Wing. Keywords startup podcast, startup podcast for founders, product market fit, finding pmf, Astro Teller, Google X, moonshot factory, Alphabet, Waymo, innovation process, kill criteria, idea validation, deep tech Chapters 00:00:00 Intro 00:04:15 Inside Alphabet's Moonshot Factory 00:07:22 The Card Counters of Innovation 00:14:00 Learning per Dollar, Not Progress 00:23:04 Killing Ideas with Testable Hypotheses 00:26:34 Train the Monkey First 00:35:16 Kill Criteria: A Message to Your Future Self 00:41:59 The Moment of True Product Market Fit Send me a message to let me know what you think!

July 6, 2026Episode 4357 min

He raised $75M—but kept his team to 21 people & pays everyone the same salary. | Cos Nicolaescu, Co-Founder of Accrual

Cos was the CTO of Brex, which he helped scale from 40 people to over 1,000. Before that, he led engineering at Stripe. When he finally left, he had no startup idea—just a co-founder he trusted and one rule: whatever they built had to have massive impact. Six months of brainstorming later, they landed on accounting. In this episode, Cos breaks down why he capped the company at 21 people after raising $75M, why everyone—engineers and salespeople alike—earns the exact same salary, how he hit a 100% pilot-to-production conversion rate with top accounting firms, and the counterintuitive process he used to pick accounting over every other industry. Why You Should Listen Why the only reason to join an early-stage company should be the equity, never the cash. How Accrual hit a 100% pilot-to-production conversion rate selling to the largest accounting firms. Why he raised $75M but refuses to grow past 21 people. How to tell real product market fit from the "just one more feature" trap. Keywords startup podcast, startup podcast for founders, product market fit, finding pmf, AI accounting, vertical AI, enterprise sales, pilot to production, Brex, Stripe, Cosmin Nicolaescu, Accrual, lean team Chapters 00:00:00 Intro 00:01:56 The Moment of True Product Market Fit 00:09:46 Collapsing 6+ Tools Into One Platform 00:18:07 Leaving Brex to Start From Scratch 00:31:41 Landing H&R Block and Armanino 00:34:57 A 100% Pilot-to-Production Playbook 00:43:26 A 21-Person Company by Design 00:51:38 One Salary for Everyone Send me a message to let me know what you think!

June 29, 2026Episode 4247 min

He quit Stripe and hit $10M ARR in 4 years—with $0 marketing spend. | Anurag Goel, Founder of Render

Anurag was employee #8 at Stripe, set for life and free to do anything next. Instead he spent a year and a half hunting for a problem worth decades of his life. He chose to build a product to make it simple for developers to ship apps, going head-to-head with AWS. In this episode, Anurag breaks down how he hit $10M ARR in 4 years with zero marketing spend, why refusing to launch a free tier was his most expensive mistake, and how putting engineers on customer support rotations quietly shaped the entire product roadmap. Why You Should Listen Why you don't have real product market fit until your users sell the product for you. How a sub-2-minute setup turned developers into a word-of-mouth machine. Why skipping a free tier for years was his most expensive mistake. How engineers doing support on rotation built the roadmap—and 6M+ developers. Keywords startup podcast, startup podcast for founders, product market fit, finding pmf, developer tools, cloud infrastructure, PaaS, Render, word of mouth growth, product-led growth, AI infrastructure, Stripe Chapters 00:00:00 Intro 00:01:44 The Moment of True Product Market Fit 00:04:14 The #1 Driver of Word of Mouth 00:13:25 Why He Left Stripe to Build Render 00:23:48 Why AWS Would Never Build This 00:30:33 $10M ARR With No Marketing Spend 00:36:43 Engineers as the Support Team 00:42:19 Riding the AI Boom Send me a message to let me know what you think!

June 22, 2026Episode 4146 min

He shut down his last startup and gave the money back—then hit $1M ARR in 6 months. | George, Founder of Monk

George had to wind down his last startup and give investors their money back. He went deep into the valley of despair, certain he'd missed his window to build something big. Then he met a co-founder, decided to start over, and started selling. In this episode, George breaks down how a customer signed a $36K pilot off nothing but a Loom and a one-pager, how cold email took him from zero to $1M ARR with no sales team, and why a "seven out of ten" is the most dangerous hire you can make. Why You Should Listen How a customer signed a $36K pilot after a single Loom and zero calls. Why he gave the money back on his last startup—and what "follow your energy" really means. How cold outbound email built his first $1M ARR with no sales team. Why a "seven out of ten" is the most dangerous hire you can make. Keywords startup podcast, startup podcast for founders, product market fit, finding pmf, fintech, accounts receivable automation, AI agents, cold outbound email, B2B SaaS, Series A fundraising, services as software Chapters 00:00:00 Intro 00:01:39 The Moment of True Product Market Fit 00:03:33 Shutting Down a Small-Market Startup 00:07:44 Picking Fintech From Five Ideas 00:17:12 From Black Box to Full App 00:24:47 $1M ARR on Cold Email Alone 00:36:11 Why a "Seven" Is the Most Dangerous Hire 00:42:15 Compressing a $25M Series A Send me a message to let me know what you think!

June 15, 2026Episode 4042 min

He quit his $50M ARR startup to work as a paralegal—then raised a $60M Series A. | Dan Mishin, Founder of Manifest

Dan founded and scaled a $50M ARR, SoftBank-backed startup—and could've stayed to make tens of millions. Instead, he handed it to his chief of staff and started from scratch. He wanted something bigger. He took an entry-level paralegal job to learn everything about law hands on. Then he built Manifest, which just raised a $60M Series A. In this episode, Dan breaks down why he did intake calls for 1,000 legal clients before building anything, how free Slack communities turned Fortune 500 HR managers into buyers without a dollar of ads, and why he refused to sell software to law firms even when investors told him he was crazy. Why You Should Listen How 2 months working as a paralegal beat years of customer discovery. How free Slack communities turned Fortune 500 HR managers into clients. Why earned media compounds like an asset while paid ads burn like an expense. Why impact is the best driver for starting startups. Keywords startup podcast, startup podcast for founders, product market fit, finding pmf, legal tech, legal AI, AI-native law firm, immigration law, services as software, community-led growth, earned media, customer discovery, Dan Mishin, Manifest Chapters 00:00:00 Intro 00:06:34 Walking Away from $50M ARR 00:13:12 Why Immigration Law Has AI Leverage 00:18:01 The AI-Native Law Firm Model 00:21:49 1,000 Intake Calls Before Building Anything 00:30:21 Turning Free Communities Into Buyers 00:37:20 Earned Media That Compounds Send me a message to let me know what you think!