In this episode, Rich breaks down the wild story of Fathom's launch. He reveals how they secured a prime spot on the Zoom Marketplace and generated 100,000 signups in 30 days—only to realize 99.9% of them were useless.

He discusses the pivot to monetization when the market crashed, how to design a product for viral loops, and why staying in private beta for 10 months was the best decision he ever made.

Why You Should Listen

• Why getting 100,000 signups in a single month nearly killed the company.
• How to use the "Iceberg Strategy" to build a defensible moat.
• Why you should attack the "800-pound gorilla" incumbent.
• How to hit $100k ARR by selling a roadmap that doesn't exist yet.
• The "Visible Feature" mechanic that drives zero-cost viral growth in B2B.

Keywords

startup podcast, startup podcast for founders, viral growth, product market fit, AI startup, freemium strategy, Zoom marketplace, PLG, B2B sales, Fathom

00:00:00 Intro
00:03:14 Why Sales Reps Hated Gong
00:07:54 Betting on Transcription Costs Going to Zero
00:11:52 The 10 Month Private Beta Strategy
00:17:46 The Zoom Marketplace Launch
00:19:52 100k Signups and Zero Growth
00:26:39 Selling a Roadmap to Hit 100k ARR
00:33:53 The Viral Loop of Visible Bots
00:36:12 Why Enterprise Sales Was a Trap
00:39:51 The Moment of True Product Market Fit

Send me a message to let me know what you think!

Bob is a serial entrepreneur who founded MobileIron, grew it to $150M in revenue, and took it public. Now, he's back with his fourth startup, BlueRock, tackling the next massive wave: agentic AI security.

In this episode, Bob breaks down the distinct difference between finding Product-Market Fit and finding Go-To-Market Fit—and why confusing the two can kill your company.

He shares the exact questions he asked early customers to pivot from a generic mobile idea to a billion-dollar enterprise solution, the painful transition from founder-led sales to a repeatable playbook, and why he believes agentic AI is the "mobile wave" all over again.

Why You Should Listen

• Why asking "what else is bothering you?" can uncover real pain points.
• Why finding Product-Market Fit might actually increase your burn rate.
• Why founder-led sales often fail to scale and what to do about it.
• How to use a "Deal Grind" session to turn anecdotal sales wins into a scientific Go-To-Market machine.
• Why identifying the right tech wave matters more than your initial idea.

Keywords

startup podcast, startup podcast for founders, product market fit, go to market fit, enterprise sales, founder led sales, mobileiron, agentic AI, cybersecurity startup, bob tinker

00:00:00 Intro
00:03:17 Talk to Customers Before Writing Code
00:15:28 Why Finding PMF Can Increase Burn Without Growth
00:17:51 The Founder "Magic Pixie Dust" Trap
00:25:34 The Deal Grind Exercise
00:31:43 From 1M to 80M ARR in 4 Years
00:32:54 Why Agentic AI is the Next Mobile Wave
00:38:30 The Famous Sequoia Tombstone Meeting
00:40:17 The Magic Question: What Else is Bothering You?

Send me a message to let me know what you think!

In less than 12 months, Shahar went from an idea to a $30M Series A and a team of 40. He didn't sell another AI tool—he built an AI-first service that replaced expensive human consultants in the massive pen-testing market.

In this episode, Shahar breaks down the "Service-as-Software" playbook that allowed him to hit $1M ARR in just three months. He reveals how to convert design partners into paying customers before the product is finished, why he refuses to sell to service providers, and how to achieve a 40% SQL-to-Close rate in the enterprise.

Why You Should Listen

• How to hit $1M ARR in a single quarter with zero marketing spend.
• Why asking "Would you use this?" is useless and the one question that actually validates demand.
• Why "Service-as-Software" is the single best business model for AI startups
• How to maintain a 100% win rate against competitors in live bake-offs.
• The ultimate litmus test for knowing if you have true Product-Market Fit.

Keywords

startup podcast, startup podcast for founders, product market fit, finding pmf, agentic AI, cybersecurity startup, B2B sales strategy, service as software, rapid scaling, Felicis

00:00:00 Intro
00:04:06 Why Manual Pen Testing is Broken
00:15:42 Ideation and The Wallet Test
00:22:38 How to Convert Design Partners to Paid
00:28:05 40 Percent SQL to Close Rate
00:33:14 The Service as Software Business Model
00:46:06 Hitting 1M ARR in One Quarter
00:48:50 Raising a 30M Series A from Felicis
00:50:01 The Turn It Off PMF Test

Send me a message to let me know what you think!