A Product Market Fit Show | Startup Podcast for Founders

His 1st startup failed. His 2nd became a unicorn in just 18 months. | Jake Stauch, Founder of Serval

Jake founded Serval in April 2024— by Dec 2025 he'd raised a $75M Series B from Sequoia at a $1B valuation. He didn't look for a "wedge" or a "niche." He looked at ServiceNow—a $160B, 20+ year-old incumbent that everyone IT team relies on—and rebuilt it from the ground up in a YEAR.  In this episode, Jake reveals the audacity behind building a full-platform replacement from Day 1, why he spent months building in the dark with zero revenue, and how he achieved a 50% demo-to-close rate on six-figure enterprise deals. Why You Should Listen * How to go from incorporation to a $1B valuation in just 18 months. * The psychological shift in sales calls that proves PMF. * How to build a demo so compelling that 50% buy on the spot. * Why you no longer need to find a small wedge to win post Gen AI. * The specific question that stops customers from giving you generic feedback. Keywords startup podcast, startup podcast for founders, hypergrowth, zero to one, unicorn startup, Sequoia Capital, replacing legacy software, enterprise sales strategy, ServiceNow competitor, Jake Stauch 00:00:00 Intro 00:03:25 Why "Hair on Fire" Problems Matter 00:06:58 Learning What Winning Feels Like at Verkada 00:14:05 100+ Customer Discovery Calls 00:18:12 The One Question That Unlocks Real Pain 00:23:48 Why No-Code Workflows Fail 00:28:45 Taking Risks on AI Model Improvements 00:35:49 From $0 to Six-Figure ACVs in 6 Months 00:39:00 The Strategy to Rip and Replace ServiceNow 00:47:30 The "Rounding Up" Signal of PMF Send me a message to let me know what you think! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/1889238/open_sms]

It took him 4 years to launch—then he hit $1M ARR in 30 days. | Siqi Chen, Founder of Runway

Siqi was the CEO of a hot startup doing $20M a year. Then COVID hit. Overnight, revenue went to zero. He had to lay off 95% of his staff. In the chaos of trying to save the company using broken spreadsheets, he found his next big idea: Runway. But the path wasn't a straight line. Siqi spent four years building the product before fully launching.  In this episode, he breaks down why product taste matters more than A/B testing, and the insane viral launch strategy that overwhelmed his sales team and generated $1M ARR in a single month. Why You Should Listen * How a viral marketing campaign added $1M ARR in just 30 days. * Why "user love" is a trap. * Why it took 4 years of building in the dark to create the "Figma for Finance." * How to mentally survive losing 95% of your revenue and staff overnight. * Why startups are a test of stamina, not intelligence. Keywords startup podcast, startup podcast for founders, product market fit, viral marketing, fintech, financial modeling, finding pmf, startup growth, founder stories, Siqi Chen 00:00:00 Intro 00:04:09 The COVID Crash: From $20M to $0 ARR 00:20:36 The V1 Trap: Great UI, Zero Willingness to Pay 00:36:25 The 4 Year Build: Comparing to Figma and Notion 00:46:53 The Viral Time Locked Jacket Launch 00:53:04 Adding 1M ARR in 30 Days 00:53:45 The PMF Moment Send me a message to let me know what you think! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/1889238/open_sms]

Solo Episode: B2B SaaS is dead. Here's what the best AI founders are doing instead.

The startup game has completely changed. If you are still building with the 2018-2022 B2B SaaS playbook, you are already behind.  In this episode, we break down exactly how the GenAI shift has altered value creation, competition, and business models forever. This isn’t just about adding AI to your product—it’s about rethinking your entire reason to exist.  If you want to know where the massive, uncrowded opportunities are right now (and why Service-as-Software is the next gold rush), this is your blueprint. Why You Should Listen * Why "incremental value" startups are no longer fundable. * The 3 new threats killing your "time-to-market" moat. * Why the B2B SaaS playbook is dead and what’s replacing it. * The massive "Service-as-Software" opportunity most founders are missing. * Moving beyond "per seat" pricing: The new revenue models winning today. Keywords startup podcast, startup podcast for founders, GenAI startups, product market fit, service as software, B2B SaaS, AI business models, startup competition, seed stage, founder advice 00:00:00 Intro  00:01:57 Pre-Gen AI vs Post-Gen AI Eras  00:03:23 The Trap of Incremental Value Props  00:06:58 Gen AI Unlocks Undeniable Value  00:08:50 The New Triple Threat Competition  00:11:50 Why Time in Market Is Dead  00:13:14 Cycle Speed Is the Only Moat Left 00:15:00 Rethinking B2B SaaS Business Models  00:16:45 The Service as Software Opportunity Send me a message to let me know what you think! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/1889238/open_sms]

He got rejected by 60 VCs, burned all his savings—then grew to $100M ARR & a $2B valuation. | Kyle Hanslovan, Founder of Huntress

For the holiday break we are resurfacing some of our best episodes so far. Here is the best episode of season 3. Kyle left his job as a hacker at the NSA to launch Huntress. He bootstrapped for 3 years and burned all his savings. One of his co-founders quit. He got into an accelerator program, but had to sleep in his car for 16 weeks because he couldn't afford a hotel. Finally, 3 years in he'd hit $1.5M ARR. So he pitched 60 VCs for a Series A—and got 60 'no's. He was forced to raise a small, $1M inside round.  But then things changed: 2018: $1.5M ARR 2019: $5M ARR 2020: $10M ARR 2021: $20M ARR 2022: $40M ARR 2023: $70M ARR 2024: $100M+ ARR Huntress is valued at $2B. The investors who backed his $1M bridge are up 140x.  Now every VC wants to invest—and Kyle's the one saying 'no'. Why you should listen:  How to know whether you should keep going or quit. What it takes to get through the first few years at a bootstrapped startup. Why revenue expansion is a huge lever for fast-growth (Huntress has 140% net revenue retention). How starting a startup can impact your personal life and relationships. How to work with partners to sell to long tail SMB customers. Keywords entrepreneurship, cybersecurity, product market fit, startup journey, military experience, SMB market, funding challenges, automation, human expertise, business growth Timestamps: (00:00:00) Intro (00:2:01) Working at the NSA (00:6:14) A big win in counter cyber terrorism (00:10:00) What gave way to Huntress (00:14:22) Pitching to a startup accelerator (00:16:29) Adopting curiosity (00:21:04) Getting ahead of cyber criminals (00:26:00) Starting to grow (00:32:50) Cult or conviction (00:35:00) It takes grit (00:39:50) Learning from people's lessons (00:42:20) Cockroaches and underdogs (00:46:10) Three strikes, I'm out (00:52:56) Having a military background (00:56:17) One piece of advice Send me a message to let me know what you think! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/1889238/open_sms]

He killed a $100K ARR product & pivoted—then raised $375M. | Viraj Parekh, Co-Founder of Astronomer

They were building a Segment competitor. It was working—customers were paying. But every sales call, prospects kept asking about the backend tech instead of the product.  So they killed the roadmap and pivoted. It took them 18 months to hit $1M ARR. Then they started growing. And so far, they've raised $350M.  Viraj walks through exactly how he validated the pivot, landed the first 10 customers, and why being outside Silicon Valley forced him to show more traction than everyone else. Why You Should Listen * How to know when your side feature is actually your real product * The exact question to ask prospects to validate willingness to pay * Why getting to $1M ARR slowly can set you up to scale faster * How to compete when you're not based in Silicon Valley * What talking to your first customer 4x a day for 2 months teaches you Keywords startup podcast, startup podcast for founders, open source startup, B2B SaaS growth, pivot strategy, developer tools startup, finding product market fit, early stage fundraising, design partners, commercial open source 00:00:00 Intro 00:01:46 Getting caught at the Coldplay concert 00:14:29 Deciding to Pivot From a Working Product to Something New 00:17:27 Building a Business Around Open Source Technology 00:19:38 Selling Before You Build 00:27:37 Talking to the First Customer Four Times a Day 00:30:51 Landing the First Ten Customers 00:35:10 Fundraising Without Silicon Valley Pedigree 00:38:48 When He Knew He Had Product Market Fit Retry Send me a message to let me know what you think! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/1889238/open_sms]