A Product Market Fit Show | Startup Podcast for Founders

• $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 ListenDiscover 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.Keywordsstartup failure, fundraising mistakes, fintech startup, founder lessons, corporate VC, startup partnerships, product validation, founder equity split, early-stage fundraising, startup growth challenges00:00:00 Early Days at Uber and Moving into Fintech00:07:00 Launching a Consumer Fintech App in Europe00:13:37 Validating Without Tech Building an MVP by Hand00:19:22 Why US Startup Models Don’t Work in Europe00:23:07 Raising Money Quickly—and the Hidden Costs00:28:56 Running Out of Cash When COVID Hit00:32:15 Tough Decisions Layoffs, Sales, and Shutdown00:37:53 How Big Partnerships Can Sink Your Startup00:43:41 Staying Optimistic Even When Everything Falls Apart00:46:38 Crucial Fundraising Advice for Early-Stage FoundersSend me a message to let me know what you think!

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• 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 ListenHow 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.KeywordsMercado Libre, product market fit, Hernan Kazah, startup advice, ecommerce growth, marketplace strategy, profitability, venture capital, early-stage startups, Latin America startups00:00:00 Intro00:04:07 Why We Chose the eBay Model00:08:56 The Early Hack That Got Us Our First Users00:14:23 Raising Money at the Worst Possible Time00:21:37 Becoming Profitable and Going Public00:26:34 How Mercado Libre Stayed Patient While Competitors Chased Growth00:34:05 Why We Expanded Across Latin America From Day One00:45:11 Our Secret to Winning Against Better-Funded Competitors00:50:04 The Most Important Advice for Early-Stage Founders00:52:16 Why AI is Different From the Internet and Mobile RevolutionsSend me a message to let me know what you think!

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• 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 ListenThe 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 Intro00:01:30 Why location odds matter less than you think00:02:50 Skip the Dishes proves huge wins can start in tiny markets00:05:30 Polarsteps shows what happens when one metric rules them all00:09:00 Jobber’s decade‑long slow burn to compounding growth00:14:40 Public.com and the power of diving deep into your craft00:21:40 The real skill: knowing when to ignore conventional wisdom00:24:30 Key takeaways and next steps for your own playbookSend me a message to let me know what you think!

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• His AI Voice Startup grew to $10M ARR in 1 Year—after 3 Years Stuck at $500K | Jordan Dearsley, Founder of Vapi

  Jordan Dearsley spent 3 years building a startup stuck at $500K in revenue—then he burned it all down and moved to San Francisco. A year later, he was at $10M ARR. This episode walks through Jordan’s decision to abandon a profitable business, why solving a painful customer problem was the key to explosive growth, and how finding product-market fit is as simple—and as brutally difficult—as discovering a 10/10 burning pain. If you’re a founder struggling to find breakout growth, this episode is your blueprint.Why You Should ListenHow to pivot from a dead-end idea to $10M ARR in one year.The power of solving a 10/10 burning pain.When customer anger becomes your biggest growth signal.Why chasing local maxima can trap your startup.How true conviction unlocks explosive growth.Keywordsproduct-market fit, startup pivot, explosive growth, voice AI, founder stories, SaaS startups, early-stage startups, customer pain points, San Francisco startups, developer tools00:00:00 Intro00:02:35 Stuck at $500K ARR & Burning the Boats00:07:15 Knowing When It’s Time to Quit00:08:49 The Side Project that Became Vapi00:16:28 Early Growth and Finding First Customers00:23:32 The Product Hunt Launch that 3X’d Growth00:27:57 Surviving Explosive Growth00:35:17 Competing Against OpenAI and Big Tech00:41:26 How to Identify a True 10/10 Pain00:48:53 The Moment of Real Product-Market FitSend me a message to let me know what you think!

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• WebSummit Panel w/ Founders of Glean ($5B) and Huntress ($2B): What it takes to hit $100M ARR

  Two founders, two wildly different paths to $100M ARR: Arvind Jain, founder of Glean, walked away from a unicorn to start over—raising $15M without revenue and ignoring lean startup rules. Kyle Hanslovan, founder of Huntress, faced brutal rejection, slept in his car, maxed out credit cards, and still crushed it. This episode is packed with raw lessons on fundraising, product-market fit, and why relentless hustle alone won’t save you. If you’re a founder chasing growth, stop everything and listen.Why You Should ListenLearn exactly what top founders did to get from zero to $100M ARRWhy chasing perfection won't work (and how to stop)The secret to surviving brutal fundraising rejections (over 60 VCs said no to Kyle)Why hustle culture isn’t enough—here’s what matters moreKeywordsproduct-market fit, startup fundraising, unicorn startups, founder hustle, lean startup method, scaling startups, early-stage growth, AI startups, SaaS growth, venture capital adviceChapters(00:00:00) Intro(00:02:05) Quitting a Unicorn to Start Again(00:05:09) From NSA Hacker to Startup Founder(00:09:18) Ignoring the Lean Startup(00:12:59) Knowing When to Launch(00:16:32) Finding Product Market Fit(00:18:01) Final Advice for FoundersSend me a message to let me know what you think!

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