What does product-market fit look like? When should you go all-in on a given channel? How to think about churn and lifetime value? Welcome to Product Market Fit — a podcast all about startup growth. I'm Mosheh Poltorak and I'm thrilled to bring to you this series where I'll be speaking with top founders and growth practitioners about their startup growth stories; sharing practical tips and strategies that can help your company grow. We'll cover: SEO, CRM, influencer marketing, funnel optimization, content strategy, branding, hiring, fundraising, sales ops and much more.
On this episode of Product Market Fit, host Mosheh Poltorak interviews Michael Sayman, founder of Friendly Apps, who shares his journey from building mobile apps as a teenager to working at Facebook with Mark Zuckerberg.
They discuss consumer social, the future of social media, and the impact on Gen Z and Zoomers. They also delve into the Vision Pro goggles and how AI and Augmented reality will change the social landscape.
Tune in for insights into the evolving landscape of consumer social.
_________________
🕒 Timestamps:
(02:15) Building healthy social connections
(04:04) Solving monetization in social media
(08:30) TikTok and how Social Media became less social
(11:44) Apple's VisionPro and spatial computing
(15:04) Platform shift prediction
(20:21) The future of home entertainment
(24:34) Society's shift to always-on video
(26:36) The future of phone interfaces
(28:52) AI companions and human connection
(32:05) Impact of social media on kids
(41:39) Becoming a millionaire in your teens
(44:11) Persistence in software development
(48:15) Singular focus and determination
(49:52) Lightning round
(55:15) Conclusion
_________________
Guest Contact Info:
https://www.friendlyapps.co
https://twitter.com/michaelsayman
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sayman
_________________
Sponsor:
This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up.
To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with Mosheh:
linkedin.com/in/moshehp
twitter.com/Moshehp
hello@pmfpod.com
pmfpod.comDon't forget to like, share, and subscribe for more valuable insights from industry leaders!
_________________ app development, social media, technology, startups, Gen Z, profit, monetization, incentives, business models, consumer social, ad-based models, subscription-based model, in-app purchases, TikTok, content, engagement, personal, advertisers,think, changes, content, spatial computing, consumption,spatial computing, AI, content creation, content distribution, platform shift,app store, Vision Pro, shared environment, TV, augmented reality,Apple, television, mixed reality, headset, passive consumption,TV, Meta, AR glasses, GoPro, Facebook,Facebook, Instagram, AI, recording, society,AI, communication, interface, speech, technology,AI girlfriend, ChatGPT, social media, misinformation, health insurance,social media, kids, teenagers, Capitol Hill, laws,free speech, platforms, content, laws, social media,addictive, competing, social media, parents, tech,Coca-Cola, social media, connection, interaction, lessons,PM, math, coding, software apps, time,shortcut, fitness, internet, coding, learning,computer science, education, programming, internet access, passion,transformative companies, obsessives, tech company, startup, founder's journey,wasting time, deadlines, prioritize, perspective, understanding,unique, wise, perspective, app, success
Jake Heller, the founder and CEO of Casetext, brings his expertise in AI and law to the forefront in this episode of 'Product Market Fit'. With an eye for innovation and a deep understanding of the legal landscape, Jake has led Casetext to become a pioneering force in the industry. His insights into the intersection of technology and law offer invaluable perspectives for entrepreneurs, professionals, and anyone interested in the future of AI-driven solutions.
Join host Mosheh Poltorak in an insightful conversation with Jake Heller, the visionary behind Casetext, an AI startup that's reshaping the legal domain. From tracing Casetext's journey to its acquisition by Thomson Reuters for a staggering $650 million, this episode delves into the transformative power of AI in law and professional services. Discover the importance of customer insights, the dynamics of running a startup, and the evolving role of AI in shaping legal representation.
Key Takeaways:
_________________ 🕒 Timestamps:
_________________ Guest Contact Info:
https://casetext.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakeheller/
https://twitter.com/Jacob_Heller
Sponsor:
This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up.
To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with Mosheh:
linkedin.com/in/moshehp
twitter.com/Moshehp
hello@pmfpod.com
pmfpod.comDon't forget to like, share, and subscribe for more valuable insights from industry leaders!
Join host Mosheh Poltorak in a conversation with Laurel Taylor, the visionary CEO behind Candidly, a fintech platform revolutionizing student debt solutions.
In this episode, Taylor shares Candidly's journey from its inception to serving thousands of employers, offering invaluable insights into startup growth, technology integration, and the importance of company culture.
Key Takeaways:
Join Moshe Poltorak and Laurel Taylor as they delve into the world of startups, technology, and growth, offering valuable insights for entrepreneurs and business leaders.
_________________ 🕒 Timestamps:
(00:00) - Introduction
(01:00) - What is Candidly?
(03:45) - Laurel's backstory that led to starting Candidly (fka FutureFuel)
(08:28) - Choosing B2B2C instead of going direct to consumer (deflationary vs. inflationary CAC)
(11:20) - Fundraising for a "triple bottom line" business
(13:52) - Early hurdles for a fintech startup
(18:19) - Reacting to a changing regulatory landscape
(23:18) - How to do partner enablement correctly
(33:27) - AI and how "the margin drives the mission"
(37:46) - Scaring away potential employees
(40:00) - Lightning round
_________________ Guest Contact Info:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ltmit/
https://www.getcandidly.com/
Sponsor:
This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up.
To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with Mosheh:
linkedin.com/in/moshehp
twitter.com/Moshehp
hello@pmfpod.com
pmfpod.comDon't forget to like, share, and subscribe for more valuable insights from industry leaders!
In this insightful episode of "Product Market Fit," we step into the dynamic world of e-commerce and scaling businesses with our esteemed guest, Yoni Kozminski. Yoni, an entrepreneurial powerhouse, shares his expertise in building and growing successful e-commerce brands in today's competitive landscape. His journey from digital marketing to e-commerce has led him to focus on offshoring, process improvement, and venture capital investment in the e-commerce sector. With his unique approach to business growth and scaling, Yoni offers invaluable insights for anyone looking to thrive in the digital marketplace._________________
🕒 Timestamps:
(01:32) - Introduction to Yoni Kozminski
(2:52) - Are D2C companies venture backable?
(05:10) - Alternative funding options for D2C
(07:30) - Exit opportunities for D2C brands
(11:42) - E-commerce roll-ups
(14:55) - AI tools for digital marketers and brands
(18:26) - TikTok & Instagram shopping
(21:33) - Omnichannel ecommerce
(25:15) - AI tools and offshoring (or nearshoring)
(32:01) - How to delegate effectively
(37:47) - Maintaining company culture with a distributed team
(43:08) - Lightning round
_________________Guest Contact Info:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/yonkoz/
https://www.weareescala.com/
https://www.multiplymii.com/
https://www.southcol.co/
Sponsor:
This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up.
To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with Mosheh:
linkedin.com/in/moshehp
twitter.com/Moshehp
hello@pmfpod.com
pmfpod.comDon't forget to like, share, and subscribe for more valuable insights from industry leaders!
I recently had the pleasure of being interviewed by Roland Sibelink on the Midstage Startup Momentum podcast.
I was glad to turn the mic around and answer questions such as:
Checkout the Midstage Startup Momentum podcast here:
Spotify | Apple
Connect with Roland at:
www.midstage.org
Welcome to another exciting episode of Product Market Fit, where we delve into the fascinating world of AI and workflow automation with our esteemed guests, Pascal, Jakob, and Raphael. In this episode, we explore the cutting-edge advancements in AI technology and how it's transforming the way we work and interact with digital tools.
Chapters:
(01:36) Highs/lows (and buffalos) for 2023
(07:20) Is the AI hype cycle slowing down?
(11:23) Will OpenAI live up to its valuation?
(12:50) e/acc vs. deceleration debate and the risks of regulation
(18:55) What does the death of the Adobe-Figma deal mean for startups?
(25:34) Euro-zone tech trends and funding environment
(33:27) Lessons on PLG and reverse trials
(45:01) Advice for founders just starting out
(49:17) Predictions for 2024
(53:44) Raising VC funding in today's environment
(56:00) Is PLG dead?
_________________
Guest Contact Info:
Raphael Allstadt, founder and CEO of tl;dv
https://www.linkedin.com/in/pascalweinberger/
www.bardeen.ai
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakobknutzen/
https://www.butter.us
Sponsor:
This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up.
To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with Mosheh:
linkedin.com/in/moshehp
twitter.com/Moshehp
hello@pmfpod.com
pmfpod.com
Happy New Year!
We're kicking off 2024 with a bang! Augustus Doricko is the youngest founder I've interviewed and perhaps the most ambitious. His company, Rainmaker, is looking to use cloud-seeding technology to revitalize the American West and, in his words, extend the Great Plains into Nevada and Arizona.
We talked about e/acc and why hard tech is the answer to the growing sense of doomism. And what's happening in "the Gundo" (El Segundo, CA).
I love his optimism and ambition and enjoyed our wide-ranging conversation.
Guest Contact Info:
www.makerain.com
twitter.com/ADoricko
augustus@makerain.com
Further reading/ watching:
https://www.thefp.com/p/move-fast-and-make-things-e-acc-ai-altman
https://x.com/johncoogan/status/1741512539979325733?s=20
Sponsor:
This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up.
To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with Mosheh:
linkedin.com/in/moshehp
twitter.com/Moshehp
hello@pmfpod.com
pmfpod.com
I have a very topical episode for you today all about annual review and planning. My guest today is Jason Shen, three-time founder, turned executive coach and resilience expert.
Jason has a wonderful video on YouTube that walks you through a reflection and planning exercise perfect for this time of year. Jason and I discuss the framework and provide relevant context for founders and entrepreneurs.
Jason and I also talk about resilience, pivots, and zombie startups, topics from his recently published book, The Path to Pivot.
I couldn’t think of a more fitting and practical way to close out the year and I hope you find it useful.
I highly recommend you complete that exercise once you’re done listening to this episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gumFl3nYF4U
Chapters:
(02:05) Setting the Guinness World Record (twice)
(03:34) Annual review and planning framework
(04:59) "Looking back" — moments; achievements; lessons
(10:47) "The check-in" — life audit; start, stop, and continue; write a letter to future you
(14:43) "Charting ahead" — the long list; shortlist; systems
(17:28) Common mistakes when doing an annual review
(19:03) Discussion about resilience
(22:59) When to pivot your startup
(28:54) Zombie startups and ZIRP
(34:26) Lightning round
(38:03) Conclusion
Guest Contact Info:
Jason's LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jasonshen
Company & newsletter: jasonshen.com
Get the book: jasonshen.gumroad.com/l/path-to-pivot-beta
Sponsor:
This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up.
To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.Get in touch with Mosheh:
linkedin.com/in/moshehp
twitter.com/Moshehp
hello@pmfpod.com
pmfpod.com
Join me as I speak with April Dunford, the world's foremost expert in positioning for technology companies and the author of Obviously Awesome.
Together, we explore the fascinating world of positioning and answer key questions like: What's the relationship between positioning, messaging, and go-to-market strategies? How does it tie into product market fit? And why should you prioritize it before lead generation? We also discuss signals of weak positioning, successful repositioning stories, and tips for early-stage founders.
Tune in to learn about the three styles of positioning and way more.
Chapters: (00:00) Intro
(02:23) Defining positioning and its relationship with messaging and go-to-market strategies
(03:29) The relationship between positioning and product market fit
(06:36) April’s unconventional path to becoming a positioning expert
(10:49) Prioritizing positioning before lead generation
(13:32) Signals to watch out for weak positioning
(19:47) Repositioning success stories
(24:49) Starting with your best customers for great positioning
(28:07) Customer discovery and interview tips
(35:42) Positioning for early-stage founders
(39:46) Positioning for multiple segments of products
(43:56) The three styles of positioning
(50:54) What comes after positioning: crafting the sales pitch
(53:43) Lightning round
Guest Contact Info:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/aprildunford/
https://www.aprildunford.com/
Sponsor:
This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up.
To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with Mosheh:
linkedin.com/in/moshehp
twitter.com/MoshehP
hello@pmfpod.com
www.pmfpod.com
My guest today is Brian Long, Co-founder of Attentive, the mobile messaging platform that has raised almost $900M and powers the vast majority of ecommerce companies. Brian previously co-founded TapCommerce which sold to Twitter for $100M; and he recently published, Problem Hunting: The Tech Startup Textbook.
I absolutely loved my conversation with Brian as he shared his perspective on product market fit, how they found it at Attentive, and lessons learned across both companies. We dive into trends in ecommerce and mobile commerce; and get really tactical about early-stage B2B sales and growth tactics.
!! Also make sure to stay to the end, for my new 'Founder Notes' segment where I’ll provide the latest updates and learnings from my startup journey.
Chapters:
(01:55) Brian's definition of Product Market Fit
(06:53) Hiring inside-sales early
(11:16) Early-stage growth tactics
(20:18) Thinking about competition
(22:42) Leveraging generative AI
(23:37) The future of ecommerce
(30:05) Why sell TapCommerce so early?
(33:49) Venture capital vs. bootstrapping
(38:27) Mistakes made along the way
(42:06) Lightning round
(48:20) NEW SEGMENT: 'Founder Notes'
Guest Contact Info:
Brian: twitter.com/BrianCLong
Company: attentive.com
Get the book: a.co/d/cLgGYbV
Sponsor:
This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up.
To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.Get in touch with Mosheh:
linkedin.com/in/moshehp
twitter.com/Moshehp
hello@pmfpod.com
pmfpod.com
I’ve got a special solo episode for you today with a big announcement as well: I’m thrilled to tell you that I’m going all-in on building a startup in the real estate sector.
In this episode, I'll share the questions I used when interviewing my co-founder and I'll cover the top 5 practical items you must be aligned on with your co-founder(s).
(00:00) Introduction
(01:11) The importance of choosing the right co-founder(s)
(02:23) How to assess a potential co-founder
(06:23) The top 5 practical considerations you must align on.
Further reading:
https://www.ycombinator.com/blog/10-questions-to-discuss-with-a-potential-co-founder
https://review.firstround.com/the-founder-dating-playbook-heres-the-process-i-used-to-find-my-co-founder
Get in touch with Mosheh:
linkedin.com/in/moshehp
twitter.com/MoshehP
hello@pmfpod.com
www.pmfpod.com
In this special episode of the Product Market Fit Podcast, host Moshe Poltorak interviews Hillel Fuld, a leading voice in the Israeli tech community. Despite the current situation in Israel, Hillel shares his insights on the tech ecosystem, content marketing for startups, and common mistakes made by early-stage founders. The conversation highlights the importance of content as the foundation for effective marketing and provides valuable resources to support relief efforts in Israel. Don't miss this episode filled with expert advice and actionable tips for startup growth.
Hillel also unravels the intricacies of data-driven growth strategies and emphasizes the value of understanding customer behaviors for successful entrepreneurship. As we tread into the world of content creation, Hillel shares his expert advice on utilizing content and podcasting as powerful marketing tools for businesses of all sizes. From discerning key success to building a brand, this conversation is overflowing with practical advice for founders and operators eager to supercharge their startup growth. Tune in for an insightful and engaging discussion with Hillel Fuld!
[00:02:30] The Israeli tech ecosystem.
[00:03:03] Graduating from "Startup Nation".
[00:06:30] Addressing communication challenges in Israel.
[00:09:43] Valuations and long-term commitments.
[00:11:24] Vanity metrics and product-market fit.
[00:14:54] Leveraging podcasting for content creation.
[00:17:00] Focus on the problem.
Guest contact:
https://www.hillelfuld.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/hilzfuld/?originalSubdomain=il
Sponsor:
This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up.
To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with Mosheh:
linkedin.com/in/moshehp
twitter.com/MoshehP
hello@pmfpod.com
www.pmfpod.com
What happens when artificial intelligence becomes the new normal for e-commerce? We reveal how AI is shaping the future of the retail world with Ben Parr, journalist, investor, and co-founder of Octane AI. Ben lends his expertise in AI and e-commerce, and shares his insights from the recent TED AI event in San Francisco, providing a fascinating look into the developments in the field. We touch upon Octane AI's revolutionary tools that are taking e-commerce to the next level, and Ben even gives us some tips and tricks on securing PR for startups.
This episode isn't just about AI and commerce; it's an exploration of trust and acceptance of technology by consumers. We discuss how we can bridge the trust gap when it comes to AI products, and how AI is influencing not just the retail space but also the student and workplace experience. We venture into scenarios where AI outperforms humans, and even offer some guidance on distinguishing between the two. With Ben, we dive into the idea of autonomous agents and super intelligence, and the potential implications of these concepts for society and medical technologies, offering a glimpse into a future guided by AI.
Finally, our conversation wouldn't be complete without insights about press and PR for startups. Ben shares his experiences, emphasizing the importance of building relationships with journalists and crafting stories that resonate. He talks about the advantages of offering exclusives and shares his unique approach to effective business travel. We wrap up with Ben's philosophy on building a profitable, sustainable, growing business and his personal core values that guide his decisions.
Join us for this illuminating discussion and step into the future of AI and e-commerce with us.
(00:01) - The Future of AI and E-Commerce
(11:52) - Product Market Fit and AI Impact
(16:33) - AI in E-Commerce and Building Trust
(21:10) - The Future of AI and Society
(33:03) - Startup PR and Press Advice
(41:18) - Startup World and Core Values Change
Guest Contact Info:
Say Hello
Newsletter:
https://www.benparr.com
Grow and Optimize Your Ecommerce Business:
https://www.octaneai.com/
Sponsor:
This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up.
To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.Get in touch with Mosheh:
linkedin.com/in/moshehp/
https://twitter.com/Moshehp
hello@pmfpod.com
https://www.pmfpod.com/
Ready to revolutionize the way you view business and entrepreneurship? Join us in our enlightening chat with Howard Bornstein, the president of CharterUp. Howard's transition from investor to operator provides a distinctive vantage point and he generously shares his unique insights with us. He dissects his three-question framework for evaluating startups, explains his rule of 30, and unveils how CharterUp, a transportation logistics platform, differentiates itself from household names like Uber and Lyft.
A highlight of our conversation with Howard is his emphasis on product-market fit. He explains what it looks like from an investor's perspective, and how entrepreneurs can recognize early signs of it. His example of how CharterUp found success through customer referrals underlines the power of a potent product-market fit. But that's not all, he also unravels the importance of identifying opportunities for disruption in industries lacking innovation and national players.
Finally, we probe into the untapped potential of electric transportation and autonomous vehicles. Howard also shares his predictions about the future of the transportation industry. His experiences and perspectives provide an invaluable guide for those navigating the intricate world of startups and fundraising. As we cruise through this enlightening chat, Howard's wisdom will leave you with more than just a new perspective, but a roadmap to success. This episode is a must for anyone eager to understand the terrain of entrepreneurship, fundraising strategies, and market trends. Tune in!
Chapters:
(00:00) Introduction
(02:00) Message about 10/7 and the attack on Israel
(04:59) What is CharterUP?
(07:21) Howard's background
(09:11) How do you define product-market fit?
(10:38) 3 questions every founder needs to be able to answer
(14:43) Stories from the early days
(16:52) Identifying your ICP (ideal customer profile)
(22:06) Howard's "Rule of 30" thesis
(25:28) How narrow should your ICP be?
(33:53) B2B vs. B2C
(37:00) Investors vs. founders
(41:15) Tips for fundraising
(44:40) Predictions about disruption in transportation and energy
(48:06) Lightning round
(52:52) Final words
Guest contact:
https://www.charterup.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/howardbornstein/
Sponsor:
This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up.
To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with Mosheh:
linkedin.com/in/moshehp
twitter.com/MoshehP
hello@pmfpod.com
www.pmfpod.com
Join us as we navigate the thrilling journey of startup growth with Roland Siebelink, founder and CEO of Midstage Institute. In this insightful conversation, Roland and I dissect the stages of a tech startup and how founders can successfully transition from startup to scale-up. With the wealth of knowledge Roland accumulated from being instrumental in the growth of three unicorn companies, he generously shares invaluable insights on the importance of offering value to customers, fostering an abundance mindset, and building a robust team to reach your product-market-fit goal.
We further explore the challenges and rewards of transitioning a startup from early to mid-stage. The discussion illuminates the significant differences between growth and mid-stage, and the pivotal role of identifying product-market-fit by understanding the problem, the solution, and who is willing to pay for it. We talk about the need for delegation, the importance of establishing a strong culture and guidelines, and developing a strategy to exploit opportunities effectively.
The episode doesn't shy away from the dangers of premature scaling, stressing the significance of recognizing the right time to scale. Listen in as we tackle execution rhythms and discipline, shedding light on how founders can use these to ensure their teams are working cohesively and efficiently. We also discuss the potential pitfalls of raising capital, the benefits of bootstrapping, and the value of mentorship. From the potential of having a virtual coffee with Mahatma Gandhi to examining the impact of advice from different cultures, this episode offers a treasure trove of wisdom for every founder out there. Tune in!
Chapters:
(00:00) Navigating the Startup Growth Journey
Founders learn practical tips to reach product market fit, offering value to customers, building a strong team, and adopting an abundance mindset.
(04:56) Early to Midstage Startup Transition
Startup tech transition from early to mid-stage, product market fit, delegation, culture, strategy, and exploiting opportunities discussed.
(12:59) Dangers of Premature Scaling and Successful Execution
Discuss dangers of premature scaling, product market fit, execution rhythms and execution discipline.
(17:52) SaaS Challenges and Execution Rhythms
Founder coaching, few resources, company-wide OKRs, execution discipline, and founder responsibility are discussed for tech startups transitioning to mid-stage.
(24:27) Success in Startup Scaling
Self-improvement, coachable CEO, visionary/executing co-founder, established relationship, and making the call are key traits for successful mid-stage CEOs.
(39:10) Management, Leadership, and Startups
Mentorship, bootstrapping, cultural advice, offering value, and virtual coffee with Mahatma Gandhi are discussed.
Guest contact:
midstage.org/thrive
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rolandsiebelink/
Sponsor:
This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up.
To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with Mosheh:
linkedin.com/in/moshehp
twitter.com/MoshehP
hello@pmfpod.com
www.pmfpod.com
Welcome to episode 50 of the Product Market Fit podcast, a show about startups, technology, and growth, for early-stage founders and operators.
My guest today is Jenny He, Co-Founder and CEO of Ergeon. The company raised a whopping $53M to finance its mission of transforming the residential construction industry. Fun fact, her co-founder Odysseas Tsatalos co-founded UpWork and Intacct.
This interview lines up very well with last week’s episode with the founder of smart-AC, as we dive further into how to build and sell software for industries that are slow to adopt new technologies. Jenny also has a diametrically opposed opinion of remote work to Josh’s take as she has built this company remote-first with team members distributed across 49 countries.
She also shared inside baseball on organic growth, testing with payments, and attribution, so grab a notebook and steal these ideas!
Hey, can you believe we’re at 50 episodes already?! This has been such an amazing journey so far and I want to thank each and every one of you for listening and supporting me. I am truly grateful and can’t wait to bring you the next 50 amazing interviews with founders and changemakers.
As I round this milestone, I’m thinking of ways to improve the pod, so if you’ve got any feedback on what you like, what you don’t like, or suggestions I’d love to hear them! Contact info below 👇
Chapters:
(02:35) What is Ergeon?
(04:23) Raising $50M+
(06:32) Encouraging organic growth
(10:10) Multi-channel attribution
(12:51) Tracking dark social
(15:10) Other side of the marketplace
(18:21) National Rollout
(23:06) Building tech for adoption
(25:53) Pricing
(28:35) Experiments
(33:41) What's coming up for Ergeon?
(36:08) Global team and remote work
(39:08) Lightning round
Guest Contact Info:
Website
Sponsor:
This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up.
To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with Mosheh:
linkedin.com/in/moshehp
twitter.com/MoshehP
hello@pmfpod.com
www.pmfpod.com
My guest today is Josh Teekell, Founder and CEO of SmartAC. The company recently raised a $22M Series B and is set on transforming the HVAC and plumbing industries.
I particularly enjoyed learning how Josh figured out their B2B2C business model, which is super relevant to any founder building a complex product where the end-user isn’t necessarily the one who is going to pay for it.
We also talked about hardware, pivots, IoT or the Internet of things and advisory boards. And stick around to the end for Josh’s hot-take on remote work.
Chapters:
(00:00) Introduction
(02:21) About the company and product
(04:30) Pivoting to a successful business model
(13:31) The art of securing big deals: a founder's guide
(20:19) Lessons learned about activation and retention
(28:58) From crowdsourcing to series B: the funding journey
(32:13) Advisory boards: navigating their role in startup success
(34:30) In-person vs. remote work: embracing the in-office startup culture
(37:12) AI-powered growth for SmartAC
(38:57) Lightning round
Guest Contact Info:
Website
josh@smartac.com
Link to support Israel:
giveisrael.org
Sponsor:
This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up.
To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with Mosheh:
linkedin.com/in/moshehp
twitter.com/MoshehP
hello@pmfpod.com
www.pmfpod.com
Topic keywords:
IoT, hardware, software, product market fit, fundraising, startups
Praying for peace for all. ✌️
**
Dear friends, it’s Mosheh here. In light of the devastation taking place in Israel, I couldn’t bring myself to release an episode as usual. Instead, please allow me to share a few thoughts from the heart.
We’ll be back next week with more fantastic interviews and hopefully better news.
**
I’m generally not very political and apologize in advance for going “out of my lane here,” but some things transcend business and force a change in the day-to-day. I’ll probably get blow-back for doing this and perhaps some of you will unsubscribe, but I feel compelled to use this platform to raise awareness about these horrifying attacks, and perhaps more importantly, share a hopeful vision that we can strive toward.
**
As you likely know, this past Saturday, Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israel from Gaza and massacred over 1,000 innocent civilians in the most heinous manner.
Girls and woman were raped. Babies murdered and mutilated. Hundreds of young adults at a music festival mowed down in a field. Hamas death squads going house-to-house in Israeli villages, burning homes, killing entire families, and taking captives to God knows what end.
It’s difficult to comprehend the brutality and barbarism of these acts. It’s painful to listen to. The images are gut-wrenching to see. But we can’t ignore it. We can’t look away. It is our responsibility to bear witness.
Remember the famous words of Edmund Burke, “the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
**
Yes, I am Jewish, but let me make this clear: this isn't a Jewish issue. This is a human issue. It's a battle for progress over savagery. A battle for good over evil. A battle for light over darkness. We must rise above the boundaries of religion and nationality to understand that this is about the fundamental values that unite us as a species.
**
If you’ve been following the pod, you know that I’m a techno-optimist. I believe that human progress comes from innovation. Throughout history, technological advances have mostly benefited humanity and raised living standards across the globe.
To that end, it saddens me when drone technology is used in the aid of terrorists; or when social media, a tool meant to connect people, is weaponized to spread misinformation, disinformation; or to terrorize people with the worst kind of snuff films.
Yet, I’m optimistic. I remain a firm believer in the power of technology to make the world a better place.
We've seen tech startups time and again demonstrate how innovation can overcome adversity. They illuminate the path towards what's possible when we channel our energies into creating, rather than destroying.
It’s up to you, the founders, the innovators, the builders.
**
Since these attacks, Israel has declared war on Hamas and has been targeting them with bombardment and military operations in Gaza. I fear that this is just the beginning of a protracted multi-front war that will result in countless more deaths and carnage on all sides.
You don’t have to succumb to moral relativism to mourn the loss of any human life. I pray for peace for all.
**
You know, there’s a hasidic saying that a little light dispels a lot of darkness.
In this dark moment, I'm asking all of you, my fellow founders and tech enthusiasts, to be that light.
We may not have all the answers, but we can contribute to a world that's more compassionate, more understanding, and more connected. Together, we can promote a culture of empathy, and through our technology, create bridges where there were once walls.
**
We'll be back next week with our regular content. Until then, stay positive, stay hopeful, and keep building.
Chapters:
(00:00) Intro
(02:27) What is Aro and who is it for?
(05:30) Defining product-market fit and early-stage signals
(06:54) Choosing the hybrid path: navigating between hardware and software
(11:05) Navigating pricing strategies: balancing hardware and subscription models
(12:55) Growth channels for Aro: Leveraging Social Media and Podcasts
(14:32) Product development optimized for behavior change
(16:39) User Behavior Insights: the power of unplugging
(23:11) Exploring future growth strategies: expanding product Lines and strategic partnerships
(26:22) The challenges of international hardware expansion
(28:55) Aro's diverse funding strategies
(30:53) Measuring customer satisfaction and product market fit
(34:25) Insights from a serial founder: lessons learned from founding two startups
(40:15) Lightning round
Guest contact:
www.goaro.com
Connect with Heath on LinkedIn
Sponsor:
This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up.
To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with Mosheh:
linkedin.com/in/moshehp
twitter.com/MoshehP
hello@pmfpod.com
www.pmfpod.com
Chapters:
(00:00) Intro
(02:27) Krava's story
(03:11) The technology behind the K1
(05:39) Krava vision
(06:07) Market entry strategy (from a business perspective)
(08:30) Prefab housing, is it better?
(10:36) Needed automation for the prefab
(13:35) Customization vs Modular design
(14:54) The green economy
(17:16) Product market fit
(18:37) Market validation
(19:13) Founding story
(20:29) ADUs regulations
(23:19) Assessing product market fit
(25:03) Customer acquisition strategy
(29:03) Challenges ADUs face
(30:09) Competition & Collaboration
(31:21) Second time as a founder
(36:13) Lighting round
Guest Contact Info:
Krava.com
linkedin.com/in/ritwikpavan/
Sponsor:
This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up.
To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with Mosheh:
linkedin.com/in/moshehp
twitter.com/MoshehP
hello@pmfpod.com
www.pmfpod.com
AI is set to completely transform how we work. This company’s AI meeting assistant is at the forefront of this revolution.
Chapters:
(00:00) Intro
(00:00) Meetings suck because they're attended by humans and not AI.
(02:05) What is Sembly AI and who do they serve?
(04:41) The road to AI synergy: interconnected specialized models
(09:54) Decoding Sembly AI processes for meetings efficiency
(14:36) Navigating the competitive landscape and unique value proposition
(24:16) Sembly AI story: scaling up, achievements, and ambitions
(28:56) Lessons learned from selling to enterprises
(32:28) Why meetings often disappoint and how to improve them
(39:30) Shifting from corporate to startup -Artem's background
(42:08) Lightning round
Further reading:
Navigating the Jagged Technological Frontier: Field Experimental Evidence of the Effects of AI on Knowledge Worker Productivity and Quality
Guest Contact Info:
www.sembly.ai
linkedin.com/in/akoren/
twitter.com/clearlykoren
Sponsor:
This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up.
To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with Mosheh:
linkedin.com/in/moshehp
twitter.com/MoshehP
hello@pmfpod.com
www.pmfpod.com
This interview covers a wide-ranging set of topics including:
Chapters:
(00:00) Intro
(01:59) What is readme and who do they serve?
(05:17) Finding inspiration to start ReadMe
(07:35) Key takeaways from selling developer tools
(19:09) Navigating priorities: balancing indirect benefits
(22:28) Fundraising from a new perspective
(27:39) Building the right culture: choosing the right people
(29:13) Pitfalls in cultivating company culture
(31:54) Lessons learned in hiring from working with Mozilla
(34:57) A thoughtful approach to founder burnout
(46:18) Lightning Round
Mental health is a topic that is very personal to me and something that we need to put a little more emphasis on in the hard-driving world of startups. Coincidentally, Lenny released an episode earlier this week on this same topic with Andy Johns that I thought was fantastic and I highly recommend it. Here's a link to that episode: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/when-enough-is-enough-andy-johns-ex-fb-twitter-quora/
I enjoyed this interview so much, and hope you do the same.
Guest links:
www.readme.io
greg@readme.io
twitter.com/gkoberger
This episode features an interview with Canon Reeves, CTO and co-founder of Pipedream Labs, a company revolutionizing hyperlogistics. They are building underground delivery robots that can send and receive items in single-digit minutes to a person's home.
Pipedream Labs is focused on the last mile of delivery, where traditional delivery methods struggle. Their system is ideal for small-scale deliveries and can eventually be integrated into new build communities or apartment complexes. The company has announced partnerships with Wendy's and the city of Atlanta to pilot their revolutionary technology.
We discuss the future of autonomous delivery, designing complex "many-to-many" networks, landing your first pilot programs, maintaining focus and managing investor expectations when working on long time horizons, and many more fascinating topics.
I loved this conversation not just for the Jetsons-esque nature of the technology, but because I find it super inspiring to hear from ambitious founders tackling enormously difficult problems.
So, tune in and enjoy this episode.
Chapters:
(01:45) What is Pipedream?
(4:37) One to many vs. many to many networks
(06:52) Partnering with Wendy's: closing the first revenue-generating pilot
(09:33) Pneumatic tube systems
(11:23) Atlanta pilot: Pipedream's debut
(13:35) Navigating the founder's journey: sustaining motivation and managing investor expectations
(15:06) Will underground delivery replace the need for drones?
(16:57) Comparisons with Elon Musk's Boring Company
(20:30) Pipedream's role in setting standards for a transformative industry
(23:29) Incentivizing early supply-side partners
(26:18) Canon's entrepreneurial journey: lessons learned
(28:31) Pipedream's formula for success: building the right culture
(30:23) Lightning Round
(34:24) Conclusion
Guest Contact Info:
Website
x.com/ReevesCanon
Sponsor:
This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up.
To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with Mosheh:
linkedin.com/in/moshehp
twitter.com/MoshehP
hello@pmfpod.com
www.pmfpod.com
Part II is here and I've got to admit, putting together this episodes has been a real journey down the rabbit hole of AI insights.
In this episode, we explore the transformative impact of AI on marketing and technology. We discuss AI's influence on product and content marketing, its role in reshaping SEO strategies, and how Chat-GPT is changing search dynamics. We delve into the evolving digital advertising landscape, augmented analytics, and the ethical considerations surrounding AI. Tune in Now!
Chapters:
(00:00) Intro
(02:23) How will AI impact content marketing (Derek Osgood, Founder & CEO @ Ignition)
(04:16) SEO new landscape (Hikari Senju, Founder & CEO @ Omneky)
(07:03) How does Chat-GPT change the SEO game? (Pascal Weinberger, Founder & CEO @ Bardeen.ai)
(12:09) The new searching habits (Tom Taulli, author of "Generative AI: How ChatGPT and Other AI Tools Will Revolutionize Business")
(14:43) Performance marketing in the age of AI (Hikari)
(16:31) What is augmented analytics and what’s happening in that space? (Sean Byrnes, Founder @ Outlier.ai and Flurry)
(21:24) Are we prepared for widespread automation (Tom T.)
(22:31) The potential flip side of using AI (Tony Beltramelli, Founder & CEO @ Uizard)
(23:54) How AI is going to change work for the average person? (Hikari)
(25:21) New work roles powered by AI (Hikari)
(26:41) Who is responsible to address mass unemployment due to automation and AI (Reid Blackman, PhD, author "Ethical Machines")
(32:34) Generative AI (Chat-GPT) and copyright law (Rasty Turek, Founder & CEO @ Pex)
(34:53) AI Regulations (Tom T.)
(36:49) Responsible AI (Yaniv Makover, Founder & CEO @ Anyword)
(38:06) Are we approaching Artificial General Intelligence? (Alexander De Ridder, Co-Founder & CTO @ Ink)
(40:17) When will we see the singularity? (Pascal)
(41:32) Conclusion
Sponsor:
This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series-A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up.
To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with Mosheh:
linkedin.com/in/moshehp/
https://twitter.com/Moshehp
hello@pmfpod.com
https://www.pmfpod.com/
Are you as excited about generative AI as I am?
My guests and I have covered generative AI extensively on the podcast. The applications of this technology are far-reaching and the speed of innovation is dizzying.
I've put together a special 2-part mashup of previous episodes on the topic. In this first installment, we dive deep into the foundational concepts, from exploring the power of transformers to unveiling the game-changing potential of ChatGPT. We also explore the competitive landscape of AI, giving you insights into the race among tech giants and startups, from the perspective of founders and investors.
I hope you enjoy it and go back to listen to the full episodes (if you haven't already done so). Tune in to part 2 next week as we cover the implications of AI on marketers and the societal and ethical implications.
Chapters:
(00:00) Introduction
(02:07) What are transformers? (Pascal Weinberger, Founder & CEO @ Bardeen.ai)
(05:01) Can machines understand? (Pascal)
(05:37) Is Chat-GPT truly a game changer? (Pascal)
(9:12) The chat interface (Alexander De Ridder, Co-Founder & CTO @ Ink)
(11:13) How Chat-GPT continues to improve (Alexander)
(13:49) Google and the Innovator's Dilemma (Tom Taulli, author of "Generative AI: How ChatGPT and Other AI Tools Will Revolutionize Business")
(15:51) Is Google ahead of OpenAI? (Pascal)
(17:23) The AI race between tech giants (Tom)
(18:24) Where does value accrue in the AI race? (Pascal)
(20:16) The new generation of AI startups (Tom)
(22:33) The impact of AI on startups (Leo Polovets, Founding Partner @ Susa Ventures)
(24:25) AI is helping entrepreneurs in starting and scaling companies (Tony Beltramelli, Founder & CEO @ Uizard)
(25:43) Thinking about the competitive landscape (Danielle Dafni, Founder & CEO @ Peech.ai)
(28:16) Where do moats develop? (Hikari Senju, Founder & CEO @ Omneky)
(29:50) Better tech leads to sustainable advantage (Asaf Yanai, Founder & CEO @ Alison.ai)
(32:13) Differentiation and positioning (Yaniv Makover, Founder & CEO @ Anyword)
(34:48) Being AI-first vs. AI as an add-on (Tony B.)
(35:54) People don't buy AI, they buy the value it's creating (Yaniv)
(36:51) Informed AI investments amidst the buzz (Leo)
(40:05) The bull case for investing in AI (April Underwood, Founding Partner @ Adverb Ventures)
(41:33) Conclusion
Sponsor:
This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series-A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up.
To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with Mosheh:
linkedin.com/in/moshehp/
https://twitter.com/Moshehp
hello@pmfpod.com
https://www.pmfpod.com/
Construction is a $10 trillion industry globally and this startup is poised to disrupt it.
For the first time on the Product Market Fit podcast, I delve into the world of hardware with Tessa Lau, Founder & CEO of Dusty Robotics.
In this episode, we discuss Tessa’s transition from a software and AI background to the world of robotics. Join us as we explore how robotics are catalyzing a revolution in the construction industry.
While hardware poses unique challenges, as compared to software startups, many of the lessons that Tessa shares apply to companies of any kind. So tune in to this fascinating conversation.
Chapters:
(00:00) Intro
(02:27) From Software to Hardware: Exploring Tessa's transition
(04:57) Revolutionizing Construction: Automation in Building with Dusty Robotics
(09:25) Navigating behavior change in construction tech adoption
(18:16) Unveiling inception: navigating product-market fit with Dusty Robotics
(29:09) Business model evolution at Dusty Robotics
(35:57) Enhancing Human-Robot interaction: optimizing Dusty Robotics designs
(41:19) Lessons learned in Hardware: how to integrate robotics wisely?
(43:39) Dusty Robotics long term vision
(46:25) Lightning round
Guest Contact Info:
https://linkedin.com/in/tessalau/
https://dustyrobotics.com/
Sponsor:
This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up.
To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with Mosheh:
linkedin.com/in/moshehp/
https://twitter.com/Moshehp
hello@pmfpod.com
https://www.pmfpod.com/
Join me as I sit down with Matheus Riolfi, the CEO and co-founder of Tint, and previous director of global expansion at Turo (the car-sharing marketplace). Together, we discuss how Tint is revolutionizing the Insurtech industry and reshaping the landscape of embedded insurance. From its inception to its current standing, we uncover the strategies, insights, and key takeaways from Tint’s exceptional growth journey. We also explore data-driven risk-based insurance and the transformative potential of Insurtech in today's dynamic business landscape.
Chapters
(00:00) Intro
(01:00) What is Tint and who do they serve?
(08:02) The insurance industry's resistance to innovation: The case study of Turo
(11:47) Risk-based Pricing in insurance: how far are we?
(17:57) Insurtech and the data-driven future of risk-based pricing
(21:55) Tint's early-stage growth strategy
(27:11) How Y Combinator helped Tint disrupt the insurance industry
(34:15) B2C Marketplace Growth: lessons learned from Touro's International expansion
(41:45) Lightning round
Guest Contact Info:
https://linkedin.com/in/mriolfi/
www.tint.ai
Sponsor:
This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up.
To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with Mosheh:
linkedin.com/in/moshehp/
https://twitter.com/Moshehp
hello@pmfpod.com
https://www.pmfpod.com/
In this episode, host Mosheh interviews Asaf Yanai fonuder & CEO of Allison.ai, a creative analysis technology company that uses AI models to extract insights and provide recommendations for visual creatives such as videos, images, banners, and more. They aim to break the mold of viewing videos as a black box and instead help companies understand the components that make a video successful. Their AI engine is able to extract 25,000 elements from a video to analyze and predict what works for advertisers.
Additional topics include:
The future of marketing teams in the age of AI
How to fundraise in today's environment
What's happening with Israeli startups (amid unrest)?
Chapters:
(00:00) Intro
(02:14) Alison.ai explained
(05:27) How does it work?
(14:30) Integrating Generative AI
(17:00) Google and Meta — friends or foe?
(19:19) The competitive landscape
(22:00) The grand vision for the company
(24:06) The future of marketing teams
(26:17) Allison's growth to date
(29:13) Growth channels
(33:13) Product roadmap
(35:35) Serving multiple industries simultaneously
(38:50) Fundraising in today's environment
(42:35) Israel's startup ecosystem
(48:40) Lightning round
Guest Contact Info:
Website
linkedin.com/asaf-yanai
Sponsor:
This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up.
To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with Mosheh:
linkedin.com/in/moshehp
twitter.com/MoshehP
hello@pmfpod.com www.pmfpod.com
Topic keywords:
A/B tests, ad, ads, Advertisers, AI, AI engines, AI innovation, AI models, analysts, asymmetric growth, audiences, Banners, brands, Business goals, campaign, campaign managers, CEO, Cinemagraphs, clicks, communities, companies, competitive intelligence, competitive landscape, competitive research, competitors, connected TVs, content, Content creators, Conversion data, creative, Creative analysis, creative brief, Creative insights, creative strategy, creatives, creators, customers, customization, data, Data analysis, data insights, data people, data perspective, data points, development of AI, dynamic creative, dynamic images, early adopters, economy, employees, enterprises, Entrepreneurship, events, Facebook, founder, founders, fundraising, future, Generative AI, GIFs, Good ad, Google, grassroots organic, growth, growth perspective, image, Images, improve performance, increase engagement, increase revenues, increase ROI, influencer, influencers, insights, investors, israel, Israeli economy, Israeli Innovation Authority, Israeli judiciary, Israeli market, Israeli startups, judicial system, LinkedIn, live streaming, LLMs, macroeconomic trends, Marketing brief, marketing hacks, marketing managers, marketing stack, marketing strategy, marketing team, marketing teams, measure, Meta, models, online advertising, online marketing, organic growth, paid marketing, performance, Pinterest, podcasts, pre-trained, product, production, recommendations, Reddit, revenue, scared, script, segments, self-serve, SEO, smart banners, Snapchat, solution, startup, Startup nation, studios, tech, tech entrepreneurs, technology, TikTok, traction, training models, Twitter, VC funding, VCs, video, Video performance, videos, visual creative, word of mouth, write briefs, YouTubers
There is a huge difference between being data-driven, which honestly is like saying, I make all my decisions based on the past, and being analytics led, which is, saying, I make my decision based on how things are actually operating now in a cause-and-effect relationship.
In this episode, I sit down with Mark Stouse Founder & CEO of Proof Analytics. Mark shares his experience on the importance of data-driven decision-making in B2B marketing, his thoughts on the limitations of AI, and the importance of human intuition in data analysis.
Chapters:
(00:00) Intro
(01:39) What is Proof Analytics?
(03:14) Proof Analytics products
(05:52) How does these models come to play?
(11:04) The thin line between accurate data and semi-accurate data
(13:34) Model overfitting
(19:05) Ideal customer profile
(24:55) The Background
(33:43) Sales and Marketing in B2B
(44:04) Lightning round
Guest Contact Info:
Website
linkedin.com/markstouse
Sponsor:
This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up.
To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with Mosheh:
linkedin.com/in/moshehp
twitter.com/MoshehP
hello@pmfpod.com www.pmfpod.com
PMF Podcast listeners' survey: https://rebrand.ly/zo6kxgy
If you aren’t familiar with Jesse Pujji, he co-founded Ampush, building it into one of the largest facebook marketing agencies. That company was acquired last year by Tinuity. Jesse also started GatewayX, a venture studio based in St Louis which has spun up a number of companies including GrowthAssistant, Unbloat and Kahani.
Jesse shares his experience across those companies and we dive into the business model of a venture studio. We also talk about Meta’s recently released Threads app, conscious leadership and the importance of coaching.
Chapters:
(00:00) Intro
(02:13) Meeting Mark Zuckerberg
(05:41) Meta's new Threads app
(09:14) GatewayX and the Venture Studio model
(14:35) Key qualities of successful CEOs
(17:38) The Venture Studio role
(18:19) On finding product-market fit with Kahani
(22:25) Are Shopify plugins different from standard SaaS businesses?
(24:10) E-Commerce and performance marketing
(27:45) What to change in the venture world?
(29:46) What is it like to sell your business?
(33:20) Conscious leadership (coaching vs. therapy)
(39:35) How will AI change the digital advertising field?
(42:32) Lightning round
Guest Contact Info:
Website
twitter.com/jspujji
linkedin.com/jessepujji
Sponsor:
This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up.
To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with Mosheh:
linkedin.com/in/moshehp
twitter.com/MoshehP
hello@pmfpod.com www.pmfpod.com
PMF Podcast listeners' survey: https://rebrand.ly/zo6kxgy
The topic of this episode is Fintech and how Treasury Prime is changing the banking system in the US.
Selling 3 startups before Chris shares practical advice for founders on building good relationships with partners and investors, working lifestyle, scaling their business, and whether money buys happiness.
I absolutely love this conversation with Chris and hope you enjoy it too.
Topics covered include:
Chapters:
(00:00) Intro
(02:12) What is the best thing in the FinTech market today?
(02:49) FinTech reform
(05:07) What is Treasury Prime?
(07:31) Treasury Prime growth
(09:07) The relationship between banks and a FinTech company
(09:50) Treasury Prime products
(10:28) Difference between Treasury Prime and a bank
(11:46) Is the US finance industry ahead or behind?
(14:45) The new banking scene
(17:12) SVB collapse explained
(19:15) Don't put all the eggs in one basket
(22:24) Crypto and Blockchain
(25:47) Great people stick together (Investors Edition)
(27:07) Workaholic lifestyle
(29:09) Does money buy happiness?
(31:45) Scaling Treasury Prime
(34:24) Pricing model
(36:48) Raising capital
(39:56) Treasury Prime future plans
(41:10) Investment allocation
(43:11) Lightning round
Guest Contact Info:
Website
twitter.com/chrisdean
linkedin.com/chrisdean
Sponsor:
This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up.
To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with Mosheh:
linkedin.com/in/moshehp
twitter.com/MoshehP
hello@pmfpod.com www.pmfpod.com
The topic of this episode is Tom’s most recent book, generative ai, how Chat GPT and Other AI Tools will Revolutionize Business.
Tom shares practical advice for how the average company should be approaching AI adoption. And finally, he provides some of his lessons learned as a repeat founder having exited multiple companies in the past.
I'm very bullish on the future of AI and really enjoy this conversation.
Topics covered include:
Chapters:
(00:00) Intro
(02:28) Why did you write the generative AI book?
(04:25) Keeping up with the technology
(05:48) Innovators Dilemma
(08:28) The new searching habits
(12:05) The new generation of AI startups
(14:54) The AI race between tech giants
(16:40) Different startups use cases
(20:10) The optimism vs, the pessimism
(22:55) The voice impersonation
(23:40) Are we prepared for widespread automation?
(26:02) AI Regulations
(28:26) Using AI tools in your workflow
(34:50) Tom's entrepreneurial lessons learned
(38:56) Advice on starting your venture
(42:02) Lightning round
Guest Contact Info:
Website
twitter.com/ttaulli
Generative AI Book
Sponsor:
This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up.
To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with Mosheh:
linkedin.com/in/moshehp
twitter.com/MoshehP
hello@pmfpod.com www.pmfpod.com
In the immortal words of Andy Grove, “Training is one of the highest leverage activities a manager can perform.”
WorkRamp is the learning cloud for leading B2B companies such as Box, Lattice, Loom, and Intercom. The company has raised almost $70M across multiple rounds from top VCs and angels including Jack Altman, Elad Gil, Initialized Capital, Y-Combinator, and Susa Ventures to name a few.
I absolutely loved this conversation with WorkRamp’s founder and CEO, Ted Blosser, and have no doubt that you will walk away with a ton of actionable ideas.
Topics covered include:
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
02:42 What is WorkRamp?
03:45 WorkRamp in numbers
04:51 Struggling with PMF
06:26 Finding PMF
10:03 Grand Vision
12:49 What did your background have to do with founding WorkRamp?
15:09 The founding story
16:33 Advice on entering an incumbent category
19:13 Selling strategy
21:40 Onboarding switching clients
24:45 How do customers use the LMS?
29:37 WorkRamp growth channels
34:09 Finding PMF multiple times
37:24 New products
38:13 Employee learning categories
40:20 How do founders leverage enablement training?
43:30 How is AI changing the educational space?
46:27 Lightning round
Guest Contact Info:
WorkRamp
linkedin.com/tedblosser
Learn Podcast
Sponsor:
This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up.
To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with Mosheh:
linkedin.com/in/moshehp
twitter.com/MoshehP
hello@pmfpod.com
www.pmfpod.com
Here I speak with Hadi Radwan, Serial Entrepreneur and co-founder at Asteya, a startup on a mission to make income insurance accessible to all.
We begin by diving deep into the insurance industry, what the US market looks like, what income insurance is, and how it differs from life insurance.
We then discussed the B2B2C and D2C insurance business models and their pros and cons.
Hadi also reflects on his +10 years of experience that enabled him to start Asteya along with his co-founder and how they manage the business.
Hadi is a great podcaster as well so we wrapped up our conversation with an exciting conversation about tactics around why he started the First 100 podcast, how he prepares for episodes, and the fun part how he consumes so much podcast content as a listener.
Chapters:
(00:00) Intro
(02:36) What is Asteya?
(04:24) Life insurance vs. Income insurance
(09:47) Asteya Business Model
(10:58) Asteya's b2b2c Model
(17:53) The third number that only exists in the insurance industry - CAC, CLV, and?
(22:59) How to innovate in the insurance industry?
(26:36) The one way to disrupt the insurance industry
(29:43) Gender neutral insurance
(31:54) Asteya's origin story
(35:16) How did Akid experince affected you building Asteya?
(37:36) Customer validation
(38:11) Onboaring brokers
(40:48) Hadi's podcasting experience
(46:53) Lightning Round
Guest Contact Info:
Asteya.world
linkedin.com/hadiradwan
The First 100 Podcast
Principles Friday Newsletter
Sponsor:
This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up. To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with Mosheh:
linkedin.com/in/moshehp
twitter.com/MoshehP
hello@pmfpod.com
www.pmfpod.com
Here I speak with Hikari Senju, Founder & CEO of Omneky, a startup that enables you to generate multiple versions of ads using AI to show the perfect ad for each customer.
Today's episode focuses on performance marketing and the impact AI has on personalization, privacy, and SEO.
Hikari also reflects on his experiences attending Harvard & MIT, where he became fascinated with AI models, and how this inspired him to build Omneky.
We wrapped up our conversation with a look at the evolving roles powered by AI, his perspective on the startup ecosystem, and how reading biographies can make your life easier.
Chapters:
(00:00) Intro
(02:15) What is Omneky?
(02:45) Backstory behind the idea
(06:02) Omneky core technology
(07:31) What’s the company’s ICP?
(08:11) The grand vision for Omneky
(09:03) Personalization and Privacy
(11:12) Personalization on the edge explained
(14:40) Omneky AI models
(15:19) Fine tone LLMs vs. Foundation models
(18:25) Thinking about the competitive landscape
(22:44) AI is changing the work environment
(24:38) New work roles powered by AI
(26:04) Endless personalized creative content
(27:59) Finding PMF
(30:09) Startup Battlefield
(31:26) Other channels for customer acquisition
(33:11) SEO new landscape
(36:19) Performance marketing
(38:05) Digital ad platforms
(38:30) New products
(39:22) Democracy and capitalism
(41:37) Ligting Round
Guest Contact Info:
linkedin.com/hikari-senju
Omneky.com
Sponsor:
This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up. To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with Mosheh:
linkedin.com/in/moshehp
twitter.com/MoshehP
hello@pmfpod.com
www.pmfpod.com
In this episode, I sit down with Alexa Grabell, the Co-founder and CEO of Pocus, a startup that helps PLG companies to turn product data into revenue.
This episode is a deep-dive into all things product-led sales with practical lessons for any founder considering layering in this motion to their growth strategy.
Alexa also shares her journey of starting Pocus, how she and her co-founder spent 5 months on customer discovery and how that helped them in raising Seed and Series A rounds with a total of USD $23M in funding.
Chapters:
(00:00) Intro
(02:09) What is Pocus?
(02:59) Backstory behind the idea
(05:03) Discovering product-market fit
(06:54) Investment rounds
(07:21) What’s the company’s ICP?
(08:19) The grand vision for Pocus
(09:08) Product-led growth
(10:25) PLG and product-led sales explained
(12:40) At what point does it make sense to layer in product led sales?
(15:54) The user vs. the decision maker
(17:12) Hiring a sales team
(19:32) How Pocus helps PLG companies
(23:10) Product qualified leads (PQL)
(24:33) PCommon playbooks for PLS success
(29:29) The challenge to shift from traditional sales to PLS
(32:52) What is Pocus’ primary growth motion?
(34:00) Content and community growth strategies
(35:29) Marketing’s role in product-led sales
(37:33) Navigating partnerships
(39:04) Thinking about the competitive landscape
(40:53) Key takeaways to start on PLS motion
(42:32) Lightning Round
Further listening:
https://www.lennyspodcast.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-product-led-sales-elena-verna/
Guest Contact Info:
linkedin.com/in/alexagrabell/
twitter.com/alexa_grabell
pocus.com
pocus.com/community
pocus.com/playbook-library
Sponsor:
This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up.
To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with Mosheh:
linkedin.com/in/moshehp
twitter.com/MoshehP
hello@pmfpod.com
www.pmfpod.com
Join me as I speak with April Underwood, an early-stage investor with an impressive operating history at Slack, Google, and Twitter.
Together, we delve into the distinctive product development styles of these tech giants, unlocking valuable insights and lessons from visionary leaders like Stewart Butterfield and Dick Costolo.
Tune in to gain insights into emerging trends in product-led growth and sales, and discover investment strategies tailored for startups. Learn how to spot exceptional founders and navigate the ever-evolving technology landscape. Don't miss out on this insightful episode packed with practical advice and industry knowledge. Tune in now!
Chapters:
(02:11) The Unifying thread in April's remarkable career path: insights from Silicon Valley
(04:52) Exploring commonalities and differences between Google, Twitter, and Slack
(08:32) Differentiating product development styles: unveiling Google, Slack, and Twitter's unique approaches
(13:40) Lessons from visionary Leaders: Stewart Butterfield and Dick Costolo
(17:19) Revealing the most valued leadership traits: insights from April's journey
(22:39) Evolving trends in product-led growth and sales: insights from a decade of experience
(25:48) Overcoming the Initial network barrier in communication products
(32:17) Building a successful platform: lessons from Slack's integration strategy
(38:07) Navigating competition between Microsoft and Slack
(41:11) Investing insights: balancing conviction and fundamentals in startup investments
(44:19) Spotting early exceptional founders: traits to look for
(46:40) Informed AI investments amidst trendy tech categories
(48:50) Working with an operator-investor: pros and cons for founders
(52:37) Fundraising tips for early-stage founders: navigating pitfalls
Guest Contact Info:
https://twitter.com/aunder
linkedin.com/in/aprilunderwood
Sponsor:
This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up. To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with Mosheh:
linkedin.com/in/moshehp
twitter.com/MoshehP
hello@pmfpod.com
www.pmfpod.com
Danielle Dafni is the founder & CEO of Peech, a generative AI video editing platforms that turns content teams into unstoppable creators.
Being a video editor inspired Danielle to start her venture. In today’s discussion, Danielle shares her journey to finding product market fit, product-led growth vs. product-led sales, content marketing in the age of generative AI, and her thoughts on competition.
Tune in for a dynamic and informative episode packed with actionable advice and valuable knowledge.
Chapters:
(00:00) Intro
(02:06) What is Peech?
(04:08) Peech's ICP
(06:45) Company stats & PLG vs. product-led sales
(12:15) What’s the big vision?
(15:25) Launching on Product Hunt
(17:37) User acquisition tactics
(19:26) Implementing product-led sales
(23:49) What channels do you plan to implement as you grow?
(24:55) Content marketing in the age of generative AI
(29:25) Leveraging TikTok as a marketing channel
(35:08) Marketing tactics: How to grow on YouTube?
(37:42) Thinking about the competitive landscape
(46:48) Lightning Round
(55:13) Conclusion
Guest Contact Info:
linkedin.com/in/danielledafni
Peech-ai.com
Sponsor:
This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up.
To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with Mosheh:
linkedin.com/in/moshehp
twitter.com/MoshehP
hello@pmfpod.com
www.pmfpod.com
In this episode, we delve into the world of early-stage venture investment with Leo Polovets, a General Partner at Susa Ventures and former software engineer. Join us as we explore successful investment strategies in the rapidly evolving AI landscape and the transformative impact of AI on startups and society. Discover the essential entrepreneurial skills for different startup stages and how to avoid early-stage traps. Gain valuable insights from LinkedIn's early days working with Reid Hoffman and learn about the art of storytelling in investment presentations.
Tune in now for a dynamic and informative episode packed with actionable advice and valuable knowledge.
Chapters:
(00:00) Intro
(02:30) What is Susa Ventures' investment thesis?
(05:24) Leo's background: from engineering to investment
(07:37) Essential skills for engineers in venture capital
(11:20) Quantum computing: progress and potential for commercial applications
(11:50) Uncovering investment insights in the AI landscape
(17:16) The impact of AI on startups and society
(22:03) The Flexport success story: the winning pitch that revolutionized shipping
(24:32) The art of storytelling in investment presentations
(27:44) Required entrepreneurial skills for different stages of startups
(33:45) Prioritizing pricing from day one: a key to success
(39:11) Insights from LinkedIn's early days: lessons learned working with Reid Hoffman
(42:28) Lightning Round
Further reading:
“Startups are risk bundles”
“How to de-risk a startup”
Recommended newsletter: Lenny’s newsletter
Recommended book: 7 Powers
Guest Contact Info:
twitter.com/lpolovets
linkedin.com/in/lpolovets
susaventures.com
leo@susaventures.com
Sponsor:
This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up.
To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with Mosheh:
linkedin.com/in/moshehp
twitter.com/MoshehP
hello@pmfpod.com
www.pmfpod.com
GA4, Google's latest analytics tool, is shaking up the industry. In this Sunday Special, I speak with Danny Gavin, founder of Optidge and the host of The Digital Marketing Mentor Podcast, to discuss everything you need to know about GA4.
We will discuss its replacement of Universal Analytics, the key differences between the two, and what it means for your data. We'll also share top-level recommendations for the transitioning phase and highlight common mistakes to watch out for in GA4 installation. Don't miss out on this informative and engaging episode!
Chapters:
(00:00) Intro
(02:23) What is GA4 and why is it replacing universal analytics?
(04:15) Say goodbye to Google Universal Analytics: key dates to remember
(05:38) Key differences between Universal Analytics and GA4
(10:30) GA4 attribution models: the Good, the bad, and the ugly
(15:59) GA4 integration with Google products
(19:36) Multi-Device Attribution in GA4: understanding user behavior
(21:15) How privacy concerns are changing data tracking?
(25:08) Crafting unique user journeys in GA4
(27:09) Comparing data between UA analytics and GA4
(31:06) Getting Started with GA4: essential implementation steps
(32:29) Top recommendations for GA4 transition
(36:18) Common mistakes in GA4 installation
(39:48) Unexpected surprises in the podcasting journey
(47:21) Conclusion
Resources:
Danny's course on GA4 — https://offers.odeoacademy.com/offers/gBLYAxvF/checkout
Google updates — https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9164320?hl=en
Guest Contact Info:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dannygavin/
www.optidge.com
www.odeoacademy.com
thedmmentor.com
Sponsor:
This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up. To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with Mosheh:
linkedin.com/in/moshehp
twitter.com/MoshehP
hello@pmfpod.com
www.pmfpod.com
Join me as I speak with April Dunford, the world's foremost expert in positioning for technology companies and the author of Obviously Awesome.
Together, we explore the fascinating world of positioning and answer key questions like: What's the relationship between positioning, messaging, and go-to-market strategies? How does it tie into product market fit? And why should you prioritize it before lead generation? We also discuss signals of weak positioning, successful repositioning stories, and tips for early-stage founders. Tune in to learn about the three styles of positioning and way more.
Chapters: (00:00) Intro
(02:23) Defining positioning and its relationship with messaging and go-to-market strategies
(03:29) The relationship between positioning and product market fit
(06:36) April’s unconventional path to becoming a positioning expert
(10:49) Prioritizing positioning before lead generation
(13:32) Signals to watch out for weak positioning
(19:47) Repositioning success stories
(24:49) Starting with your best customers for great positioning
(28:07) Customer discovery and interview tips
(35:42) Positioning for early-stage founders
(39:46) Positioning for multiple segments of products
(43:56) The three styles of positioning
(50:54) What comes after positioning: crafting the sales pitch
(53:43) Lightning round
Guest Contact Info:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/aprildunford/
https://www.aprildunford.com/
Sponsor:
This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up.
To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with Mosheh:
linkedin.com/in/moshehp
twitter.com/MoshehP
hello@pmfpod.com
www.pmfpod.com
Join me and Adriane Schwager, Founder and CEO at GrowthAssistant, in this exciting episode as we delve into the revolutionary benefits of offshore talent augmentation.
We discuss how entrepreneurs can leverage the power of delegation to scale their business and stretch their runway, and share key takeaways for leveraging offshore talent for maximum success.
Chapters:
(00:00) Intro
(02:29) What is GrowthAssistant?
(03:18) Choosing which offshore roles to support
(06:43) Adriane's background
(08:59) GrowthAssistant success stories
(12:30) The ideal customer profile for GrowthAssistant
(14:20) Building your business on a budget with offshore
(15:37) Growth channels for GrowthAssistant
(17:25) Marketing tactics: the waiting list
(18:56) Pros and cons of building in public
(22:49) What’s the big vision?
(25:37) Key factors for successful outsourcing and offshoring
(28:06) Streamlining onboarding
(30:30) Best practices for effective task delegation
(32:27) How is AI changing the offshore business?
(34:58) Key takeaways for scaling
(38:10) Lightning round
Guest Contact Info:
twitter.com/aschwags3
linkedin.com/in/aschwager
www.GrowthAssistant.com
Sponsor:
This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up. To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with Mosheh:
linkedin.com/in/moshehp
twitter.com/MoshehP
hello@pmfpod.com
www.pmfpod.com
Mary Sheehan is a product marketing leader, author of the Product Launches book, and the host of the Women in Product Marketing podcast. With a background in product marketing leadership that includes Adobe, Google, NextRoll, and more, Sheehan is an industry-leading expert in launching new products, positioning them for growth, and creating go-to-market strategies that span organizations.In this episode, Mary shares her insights on successful elements of product launch, the difference between Go-To-Market and product launches, and metrics measuring success.We also discussed examples of successful launches, cost-effective ways for product launching, and how AI is changing her business.Chapters:00:00 Intro02:13 What is product marketing? 03:15 Mary's current role at Adobe Lightroom05:01 Getting in the Field of Product Marketing 08:32 Successful elements of product launch10:12 The 10% rule of internal communication11:07 The Power of Events in Product Marketing13:50 Go to Market and Product launches: what are the differences?20:41 How PMM can help in market research22:58 The launch fails24:30 Measuring success - metrics to look for27:08 The successful launch of Instacart28:51 Cost-effective ways for product launching31:25 How the digital ads industry is moving forward?34:02 How AI is changing product marketing36:05 Lightning roundGuest contact info:linkedin.com/in/maryshirleysheehanproductlaunch.proSponsor: This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up. To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.Get in touch with Mosheh:linkedin.com/in/moshehptwitter.com/MoshehPhello@pmfpod.comwww.pmfpod.comPrevious episodes on Product Launches:Ep18: Mastering Product Launches; w/ Derek Osgood, Founder & CEO, Ignition — Product Market Fit
This is a preview of an interview I did with my good friend Danny Gavin, on his podcast, the Digital Marketing Mentor. Danny and I know each other for almost 25 years; he's a really close friend and an absolutely gifted marketer. He runs an agency called Optidge and is a professor at the University of Houston, as well as runs an online digital marketing school called ODEO Academy.
It was nice to be on the other side of the mic. I talked to Danny about many interesting topics, including:
I hope you enjoy this, and I encourage you to check out the full episode, as well as other episodes of the Digital Marketing Mentor podcast here:
https://optidge.com/podcast/014-mosheh-poltorak-founding-startups-and-fractional-cmo/
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1JDJXMchfG5fU7FlY6rFdY
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/014-founding-startups-fractional-cmos-and-facing/id1663970990?i=1000609645069
In this episode, we sit with Yaniv Makover, the co-founder and CEO of Anyword, a leading generative AI content platform for performance marketers. We discuss the impact of generative AI on content creation, people's perspectives on AI-generated content, and whether AI poses a threat to jobs in the creative industry.
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
02:20 What's Anyword and who do you serve?
03:48 The story behind the idea of Anyword
07:07 KIWI for Content optimization
08:20 Go-To-Market strategy
09:43 Why do customers love the product?
13:02 Differentiation and positioning
16:53 People don't buy AI, they buy the value it creates
18:34 Finding the ICP
20:49 Defensibility and growth
22:45 First isn't always the best
23:45 Overview of Anyword's AI model
25:35 Growth and acquisition
28:40 Generative AI and job loss
32:09 Consumers' reaction to generated AI content
34:34 Will people replace Google with chatbots?
37:20 Responsible AI
39:25 Lightening Round
Guest contact info:
linkedin.com/in/yaniv-makover
yaniv@anyword.com
anyword.com
Sponsor: This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up. To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with Mosheh:
linkedin.com/in/moshehp
twitter.com/MoshehP
hello@pmfpod.com
www.pmfpod.com
Previous episodes on Generative AI:
Ep21: From Idea to Prototype in Minutes; w/ Tony Beltramelli, founder & CEO Uizard — Product Market Fit podcast
EP10: Google's AI backlash; w/ Alexander De Ridder, co-founder & CTO, INK — Product Market Fit podcast
Ep13: Ethical Machines; w/ Reid Blackman, PhD, Author and Consultant — Product Market Fit podcast
Since I'm off celebrating Passover, instead of releasing a new interview today, I present to you a mashup of key insights from past episodes on several recurring topics, including:
If you're new to the pod, hopefully, this is a good entry point and encourages you to go back and listen to these fantastic interviews. But even if you're an avid listener, I find it helpful to revisit these important topics.
Chapters:
(00:00) Intro(01:28) Rajesh Nerlikar; Product market fit definitions(03:56) Rajesh Nerlikar; Negative signs to watch out for in product market fit(05:40) Jacob Knutzen; How do they think about and measure PMF at Butter(08:02) Sam Shpler; Reevaluating your PMF and buying personas(09:22) Raphael Allstadt; The AHA moment(10:52) Sara Mauskopf; Pivoting to success(16:27) Adam Nash; Considering growth before and after PMF (19:52) Rajesh Nerlikar; Customer discovery(23:24) Jakob Knutzen; Talking to different customer personas(25:23) Raphael Allstadt; The upsell from free to paid(28:24) Pietro Saccomani; Building in public and gathering user input on public roadmaps(31:19) Derek Osgood; Launching on Product Hunt(34:57) Pascal Weinberger; Using Product Hunt to go from V1 to V2(37:35) Raphael Allstadt; Best video of the year(41:46) Jakob Knutzen; Launching twice on Product Hunt(43:05) Wrap-up
Sponsor: This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up. To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with Mosheh:
linkedin.com/in/moshehptwitter.com/MoshehPhello@pmfpod.comwww.pmfpod.com
In this episode, I sit down with Tony Beltramelli, the Co-founder and CEO of Uizard, a startup that is transforming the way websites are designed using artificial intelligence. Tony shares his journey of starting Uizard, raising funds, and growing the company. We also dive deep into the AI technology scene and how it is disrupting the UI design industry.
Timestamps:
(00:00) Intro(03:54) The story behind the idea of UIZARD(06:08) The strategy behind Uizard's launches(07:12) Thoughts on dealing with the rising competition when it comes to AI(10:01) The art of keeping up with the fast pace of AI(12:49) AI is becoming the buzz(14:25) AI is helping entrepreneurs in starting and scaling companies(15:52) The potential flip side of using AI(18:52) Pausing research on AI for security reasons(21:26) Uizard growth strategy(25:45) AI can be changing how SEO works(27:03) True product market fit is like retention stickiness(29:25) Measuring success in the uncertain world of startups(31:25) The fundraising journey of Uizard(34:25) The future of Uizard(37:33) The lightning round
Guest contact info:
linkedin.com/in/tony-beltramelli
twitter.com/Tbeltramelli
uizard.io
Sponsor: This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up. To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with Mosheh:
linkedin.com/in/moshehptwitter.com/MoshehPhello@pmfpod.comwww.pmfpod.com
Adam Nash is a legend in the Silicon Valley product world and has held almost every possible role in the startup ecosystem, including: VP of Product and Growth at Dropbox and LinkedIn, CEO of Wealthfront, board member at Acorns and Shift, lecturer at Stanford, and investor in over 120 startups such as Figma, Gusto, and Opendoor, to name a few.
Most recently, Adam co-founded Daffy, a modern giving platform.
In this interview, we cover:
There's so much to learn from Adam, and he shares it all in this interview.
Special offer:
Go to: daffy.org/moshehp/invite and create your account. As soon as you fund your account, Daffy will add $25 dollars that you can donate to any charity of your choice. (Terms and conditions apply.)
Timestamps:
(00:00) Intro
(02:58) What is Daffy?
(07:09) Why giving should be social
(11:55) Venture funding and not-for-profit structure
(14:50) The importance of aligning your business model with your mission
(18:59) Advertising as a business model
(22:55) Business models that are interesting for investment
(25:59) The future of Fintech
(30:25) Lessons related to growth
(36:30) How to integrate imperfect data when making decisions
(42:12) Why was Dropbox's referral program so successful?
(47:22) Lighting Round
Guest contact info:
linkedin.com/in/adamnash/
twitter.com/adamnash
Adam's blog
Daffy.org
Sponsor:
This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up. To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with Mosheh:
linkedin.com/in/moshehp
twitter.com/MoshehP
hello@pmfpod.com
www.pmfpod.com
Lazer Cohen is the founder & CEO of Concrete Media, one of the top PR firms in Israel focused on tech startups.
In this special episode we get tactical on the mechanics of PR for startups. Topics covered include: - Launches, funding announcements, and press releases
Crafting a story
How to approach pitching; and more
In our discussion, Lazer makes a compelling case for investing in PR at the early stages, and shares practical tips for founders or anyone responsible for early-stage startup growth.
Timestamps:
(00:00) Intro
(02:11) Why should I care about PR?
(03:13) Different types of media outlets
(05:29) How does PR support other channels?
(07:10) PR for early-stage startups (coming soon; launches; funding announcement)
(09:03) Getting started with PR
(09:47) What's "newsworthy?" And do press releases still matter?
(14:10) Approaching journalists
(16:07) The proactive side of PR
(18:32) "Newsjacking," crisis management, and rebranding
(23:05) Crafting the story
(26:43) Story angles ("show don't tell")
(28:47) When is a company ready for PR?
(30:39) Involving the whole team in PR strategy
(32:55) Different models for engaging a PR firm
(34:28) Conclusion
Guest contact info:
linkedin.com/in/lazercohen/
concrete.media/
Sponsor:
This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up.
To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with Mosheh:
linkedin.com/in/moshehp
twitter.com/MoshehP
hello@pmfpod.com
www.pmfpod.com
Derek Osgood is the founder & CEO of Ignition and a seasoned Product Marketer. Ignition is “the platform for go-to-market” — a collaborative hub to plan, execute, and measure launches.
In today’s discussion Derek shares the keys to a successful launch; Ignition’s experience launching on Product Hunt and AppSumo; why Apple is so successful with their launches and much more; so tune in and get ready to master your next product launch.
As always, I love to hear from you so please leave a rating or review wherever you love to listen and/or contact me directly via email, LinkedIn or Twitter (links below).
Timestamps:
(00:00) Intro(02:16) What is Ignition?(03:27) Ignition's origin story(04:43) The concept of launching new things(08:33) The ideal customer profile(09:50) Ignition as a company(10:40) How to orchestrate a successful launch?(14:22) We bring competitors together(14:55) A suite solution(15:23) The balance between new launch and new features(17:28) Launching Mistakes(20:15) Different launching platforms(24:10) Launching metrics(28:04) Product Market Fit(29:02) Cool product launches(30:49) Apple the mother of launches(33:30) Growing Ignition(36:00) How will AI impact content marketing?(37:50) How does Ignition incorporate Ai?(39:47) What is the grand vision for Ignition?(40:33) Lighting round
Guest contact info:
linkedin.com/in/derekosgood3/
derek@haveignition.com
haveignition.com
Sponsor:
This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up.
To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with Mosheh:
linkedin.com/in/moshehp
twitter.com/MoshehP
hello@pmfpod.com
www.pmfpod.com
Pietro Saccomani the bootstrapped Elon Musk sits with us this week to pick his brain on building bootstrapped businesses, different growth strategies, micro-acquisitions, and his latest venture Feedbear.
We take a closer look at Feedbear products and how it gathers feedback from customers. We will also address misconceptions regarding public roadmaps. Finally, Pietro shares his views on considering bootstrapping and how we're seeing more and more evidence these days that you can build and grow a solid business without relying solely on VC funding.
Timestamps:
00:00 Start
02:10 What is FeedBear?
03:05 The context of customers feedback
07:25 Different types of backlogs
08:13 FeedBear’s main features
08:50 The misconceptions with public roadmaps
10:58 Feedback everywhere (Social media, Slack, Discord, ...)
13:58 The origin story of Feedbear?
17:05 The micro-acquisition space
20:53 The growth strategy of Feedbear
21:39 Paid ads vs Content, outbound, and SEO: Pros and Cons
27:25 Using generative Ai to grow your content
29:56 ICP - The ideal customer profile
34:11 Red Ocean - How to shine in a crowded space?
36:12 Building a bootstrapped business: Is it a burden?
40:30 Lightning Round
40:52 Trust and acceptance are important for delegation
Guest contact info:
twitter.com/psaccomani
linkedin.com/in/pietrosaccomani/
feedbear.com/
Sponsor: This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up. To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with Mosheh:
www.linkedin.com/in/moshehp
twitter.com/MoshehP
hello@pmfpod.com
www.pmfpod.com
As our special guest this week, we have Omer Artun, who founded AgileOne in 2006 and held the CEO role until he sold it to Aquiac in 2019. Now he's pursuing his dream of running his own restaurant.
Omer explains how to leverage customer data to anticipate their needs, preferences, and behaviors. During our conversation, he also gave us some insight into his experience building, scaling, and selling AgileOne. He emphasizes the importance of having “grit as startups don't fail because it's a bad idea or Startups only fail if the founder gives up”.
Timestamps:
00:13 Intro
03:20 Let's support Turkey
04:37 Predictive Marketing
06:52 The early days of AgileOne
07:23 The Infrastructure in 2008
08:47 The Infrastructure in 2016
09:43 Today's Infrastructure and data
12:52 Incorporating Predictive Analytics
14:28 Acquisition, activation, and retention
22:39 Data points for SaaS businesses
24:56 Upside potential and the predicted value
28:09 Attribution model
31:07 Lifetime value and Churn Rate
35:22 Test your data models
36:55 Privacy, privacy, privacy
38:48 Raising series A, B, and C for AgileOne
41:56 Founders vs VCs long games
44:25 Can higher valuation backfire?
45:32 What is running a startup like?
46:02 Take care of your emotions
47:31 Generative AI (Is it efficient?)
48:20 Stupid credit score
49:05 Lightning Round
49:14 Oren Hoffmans's Newsletter
49:34 Pick your fight
51:18 Be proud of your career
52:02 Anthony Bourdain
52:19 The best piece of advice for founders
Guest contact info:
omer@artun.com
Support Turkey:
Ahbap Organization
Sponsor: This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up. To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with Mosheh:
www.linkedin.com/in/moshehp
twitter.com/MoshehP
hello@pmfpod.com
www.pmfpod.com
As Founder and CEO of Pex, the next VISA for Digital Rights, Rasty understands the business of UGC attribution.
During our conversation, we covered the early days of Pex, its current status, and how a combination of stubbornness, stupidity, and luck kept Pex growing. In this presentation, Rasty discusses how to sell your product or service independently as a startup founder and the significance of understanding the difference between a start-up company, a small business, and an enterprise business.
We talked about the 100-year-old copyright laws, the new AI generative content, and the ongoing lawsuits that courts are looking at.
Lastly, Rasty talked about Pex's transparent culture as well as how employee personas are created in order to create diversity within the team.
Timestamps:
(00:00) Start
(02:50) What is Pex (and why is attribution important)?
(05:58) Shazam for video and UGC (using automatic content recognition)
(08:00) How does Pex's system work?
(10:46) How much data are you processing?
(11:35) Copyrights 101 (what is fair use?)
(14:03) Sticking with it during the (difficult) early days of Pex
(18:01) The importance of a supportive team
(20:45) Landing the first deals (selling to enterprise)
(27:54) Exploiting cloud infrastructure
(30:04) Selling to Startups, SMBs, and Enterprises
(32:21) The importance of selling by yourself as a founder
(36:29) Generative AI (Chat-GPT) and copyright law
(41:29) Unique company culture
(48:40) Remote work vs. in-office
(52:10) Tips for leadership
(58:16) Lightning round
(1:01:12) What makes a great board member?
Guest contact info:
https://twitter.com/synopsi/
https://pex.com/
Definitions and Acronyms:
Sponsor: This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up. To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with Mosheh:
www.linkedin.com/in/moshehp
twitter.com/MoshehP
hello@pmfpod.com
www.pmfpod.com
I sit down with futurist, inventor and founder, Alan Smithson, to explore the fascinating world of AI and the metaverse.
We talked about the metaverse and its associated technologies and how AI is changing the landscape for virtual reality and augmented reality. Alan shares his vision for the future across many vectors, and he provides practical guidance for founders and brands thinking about how to incorporate the metaverse into their strategies.
From blockchain to replicators in every home, Alan shares his insights on the next frontiers of technological advancement and their impact on the way we live and work. Tune in for a thought-provoking conversation that will inspire and inform!
Timestamps:
Guest contact info:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/alansmithson/
https://metavrse.com/
https://themall.io/
Further reading:https://alan-smithson.medium.com/practical-guide-to-ai-in-the-metaverse-583020bbe61f
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/abcs-r-alan-smithson/
https://alan-smithson.medium.com/the-metaverse-manifesto-2206d893a3bb
https://engine.metavrse.com/view?i=8399
https://alan-smithson.medium.com/a-brand-guide-to-the-metaverse-part-i-benefits-examples-a371bb74160
Sponsor: This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up. To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with Mosheh:www.linkedin.com/in/moshehp
twitter.com/MoshehP
hello@pmfpod.com
www.pmfpod.com
Advancements in artificial intelligence have taken the world by storm recently, however, these new technologies also introduce ethical dilemmas for individuals, companies, and society as a whole.
In this episode I speak with Reid Blackman, Ph.D., a leading expert on AI ethics. Reid is the author of Ethical Machines, and the founder of Virtue Consultants. Prior to starting Virtue he was a professor of philosophy for over 10 years.
We dive into important and timely questions about the ethical implications of AI, including: privacy, bias, explainability, plagiarism, job-displacement and more. Reid also offers a practical framework for founders and executives to implement ethical AI in their companies.
This episode provides a great introduction to the complex and important topic of AI ethics and highlights some of the key considerations that startups and companies should keep in mind when developing and deploying AI applications.
Timestamps:
Guest contact info:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/reid-blackman/
https://www.reidblackman.com/
https://www.virtueconsultants.com/
Sponsor: This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up. To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with Mosheh:www.linkedin.com/in/moshehp
twitter.com/MoshehP
hello@pmfpod.com
www.pmfpod.com
Are you struggling to find the right target market for your startup? Don't make the mistake of trying to appeal to everyone, it's a recipe for disaster!
I had the privilege of interviewing Jakob Knutzen, founder and CEO of Butter. Jakob is a management consultant turned agency director, turned startup founder. He has a very thoughtful and intentional way of approaching product market fit for his startup.
Jakob shares his insights on Butter's targeted approach to finding their ICP (ideal customer profile), how to segment your market, how to use data to make informed decisions, and the keys to success for geographically distributed companies.
We also talk about community building, fundraising and more. I really enjoyed this conversation and I’m sure you will too.
Timestamps:
Guest contact info:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakobknutzen/
https://twitter.com/JakobKnutzen
https://www.butter.us
Sponsor: This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up. To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with Mosheh:www.linkedin.com/in/moshehp
twitter.com/MoshehP
hello@pmfpod.com
www.pmfpod.com
Sean founded Flurry in 2005 — building it into the most widely adopted analytics tool for mobile apps. He later went on to sell the company to Yahoo.
In 2015 he started Outlier.ai, a pioneering company in the field of Augmented Analytics. That company was acquired in 2022.
Sean has invested in hundreds of startups and has advised hundreds more. He has an immense wealth of knowledge and 1st-hand experience building, scaling, and exiting tech startups and he was kind enough to share those insights with us on this show.
Timestamps:
Further Reading:https://breakingpoint.substack.com/p/you-have-too-many-metrics
Traction (the book): https://a.co/d/5bJ7MR9
Guest contact info:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sbyrnes
https://twitter.com/sbyrnes
https://breakingpoint.substack.com
https://www.thestartuphelpdesk.com
Sponsor: This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up. To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with Mosheh:www.linkedin.com/in/moshehp
twitter.com/MoshehP
hello@pmfpod.com
www.pmfpod.com
The backlash is coming! 😱😱
In this episode we talk about the risks of AI content generation and what it means to do SEO in 2023. Alexander shares how he grew his company’s website traffic from 0 to 1 million monthly visitors in under 6 months; and lessons learned building and growing INK.
If you’re involved in content strategy or SEO in any way, or if you're curious about the effects of artificial intelligence on search, you’re definitely going to want to listen.
Timestamps:
Guest contact info:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adridder
https://twitter.com/adridderhttps://inkforall.com/?fpr=mosheh76
Sponsor: This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up. To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with Mosheh:www.linkedin.com/in/moshehp
twitter.com/MoshehP
hello@pmfpod.com
www.pmfpod.com
If you follow Tech Twitter then you probably already know who Sara is. Before starting Winnie, Sara was Director of product at Postmates. She was an early employee at Twitter, and also worked at YouTube and Google.
In today’s conversation, Sara shares how her company initially struggled to find product market fit and her journey pivoting the product to success. We also dive into the nature of multi-sided marketplaces; launching new product lines, and how to choose a co-founder.
Sara has got really insightful and down-to-earth advice that I think you’ll find valuable.
Timestamps:
Guest contact info:
https://twitter.com/smhttps://winnie.com/
Sponsor: This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up. To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with Mosheh:www.linkedin.com/in/moshehp/
twitter.com/MoshehP
hello@pmfpod.com
www.pmfpod.com
With the release of Chat-GPT, everybody is suddenly talking about AI.
How does Chat-GPT work? Is it truly a game-changer? What will happen to Google and the field of SEO?
In the previous episode (#7), I talked to Pascal Weinberger, CEO of Bardeen.ai, and we talked about Bardeen’s journey and the growth lessons he learned along the way. If you haven’t listened to that episode yet, you should definitely check it out.
When I was chatting with Pascal I took the opportunity to pick his brain about artificial intelligence and he was generous enough to take me down that rabbit hole, so I’m excited to share that conversation with you here, in this special bonus episode.
Timestamps:
(2:55) How does Bardeen leverage AI?
(6:13) Is Chat-GPT truly a game changer?
(13:19) How does Chat-GPT change the SEO game?
(19:31) Is Google ahead of OpenAI?
(21:41) Is there room for startups in the future?
(23:49) What are transformers?
(27:00) Can machines understand?
(28:47) Symbolic AI vs. machine learning
(33:29) When will we see the singularity?
Links and further reading:www.bardeen.ai/ai
www.aleph-alpha.com
"Attention Is All You Need" https://proceedings.neurips.cc/paper/2017/file/3f5ee243547dee91fbd053c1c4a845aa-Paper.pdf
Episode of Invest Like the Best: https://www.joincolossus.com/episodes/77957344/lowin-explaining-the-new-ai-paradigm
Guest contact info:https://www.linkedin.com/in/pascalweinberger/
https://twitter.com/bardeenaiwww.bardeen.ai
Sponsor: This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up. To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with us:www.linkedin.com/in/moshehp/
twitter.com/MoshehP
hello@pmfpod.com
www.pmfpod.com
Pascal Weinberger is the founder and CEO of Bardeen. I don’t throw the word genius around lightly but Pascal definitely ranks up there. I really enjoyed this thoughtful and honest interview and I think you will too!
In this episode, Pascal shares Bardeen’s growth story and we cover:
We also touched on topics covered in previous episodes such as programmatic or product-led SEO and building viral Growth loops into the product. So if you haven’t listened to those episodes, definitely go back and check those out.
Timestamps:(0:00) Introduction
(3:05) what is Bardeen?
(4:40) competitive landscape
(9:50) Pascal’s background and coming up with the idea for Bardeen
(14:18) iterating through the beta launch
(17:22) launching on Product Hunt
(23:09) activation growth loops
(27:09) leveraging programmatic SEO
(30:16) other growth strategies (building virality)
(34:39) pricing strategy and freemium
(39:50) collecting user feedback
(41:18) selling through the Chrome Web Store
(44:31) should you go multi-platform?
(47:26) lightning round
📅 I will be releasing part 2 of this conversation with Pascal next week. We do a deep dive into the fascinating world of artificial intelligence (AI).
Guest contact info:https://www.linkedin.com/in/pascalweinberger/
https://twitter.com/bardeenaiwww.bardeen.ai
Sponsor: This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up. To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with us:www.linkedin.com/in/moshehp/
twitter.com/MoshehP
hello@pmfpod.com
www.pmfpod.com
Rajesh has worked with 50+ product teams and wrote the book Build What Matters — he knows a thing or two about building great products. In this episode, Rajesh covers:
I loved this interview and I'm certain you'll walk away with practical learnings from this episode.
Timestamps:(0:00) Introduction(2:34) Rajesh's Bio and about Prodify Group
(5:09) What is Product Market Fit (and why is price such an important component)?
(7:51) Where does "messaging fit in"?
(10:29) Signals that you may have PMF (and signs you might be missing it)
(13:00) Case study of company struggling with PMF — using the Kano model
(18:51) How to do customer discovery
(22:17) What is vision-led product management?
(26:40) The difficulties of category creation
(27:10) Hiring product managers
(32:23) Designing a growth org
(36:28) Should startups care about "product-ops?"
(39:38) Avoiding product bloat
(41:31) Lightning round
(45:27) Closing remarks
Further reading:Buy the book — https://a.co/d/3NAQSZ8 https://www.prodify.group/blog/a-product-managers-guide-to-the-kano-model
https://www.prodify.group/blog/4-signs-you-need-to-make-your-first-product-hire
https://www.prodify.group/blog/how-product-operations-can-influence-your-company-culture
https://review.firstround.com/how-superhuman-built-an-engine-to-find-product-market-fit
Guest contact info:www.linkedin.com/in/rajeshnerlikar/
twitter.com/rajeshnerlikar
rajesh@prodify.group
www.prodify.group
Sponsor:This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up. To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch with us:www.linkedin.com/in/moshehp/
twitter.com/MoshehP
hello@pmfpod.com
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Sara Well founded Dropstat with a mission to make healthcare more efficient and humane. Her passion and commitment to that mission are truly inspirational.
In this conversation, Sara discusses her journey from nursing to tech founder, how she came up with the idea for Dropstat, lessons learned while piloting with enterprise customers, and more.
Timestamps:(0:00) Introduction(1:43) What is Dropstat?
(3:53) Coming up with the idea for Dropstat and how did COVID affect the business?
(8:33) Selling to enterprise and the difficulty of behavior change
(14:01) Lessons learned on how to choose the right beta customers
(17:57) Journey from nurse to tech founder
(23:12) Early signs of PMF
(29:23) Acquiring customers early on
(30:55) Collecting customer feedback
(33:04) Grand vision for Dropstat
(38:21) Lightning round
Guest contact info:https://www.linkedin.com/in/sara-well-35a943168/
www.dropstat.com
Sponsor:
This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up. To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/moshehp/
https://twitter.com/MoshehP
hello@pmfpod.com
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I’m excited to share my interview with Sam Shepler, founder and CEO of TestimonialHero. I got to work with Sam last year to support his company’s growth efforts and was impressed with Sam’s laser focus on the customer and his methodical way of thinking and executing. Because his business is a tech-enabled service but nearly all his customers are SaaS I thought he would have unique insights on the differences between the two. We also talk about the importance of video, customer storytelling, and finding the right acquisition channels for your business. I really enjoyed this conversation and I think you will too.
If interested in diving further into the topic of customer storytelling, check out the episode where I was on Sam's podcast The State of Customer Storytelling:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0RZe135vMlT08k9GHEflYG?si=MvYWP8bGQyuHFlORr1J19A
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mosheh-poltorak-simplifying-the-customer-marketing/id1599120117?i=1000567612235
Timestamps:(0:00) Introduction(2:02) What is TestimonialHero?
(3:42) Coming up with the idea for TestimonialHero
(6:14) "Pivoting" during COVID
(7:10) Tech-enabled services vs. SaaS
(8:35) Finding the right customer acquisition channels
(12:21) Customer activation in a service business ("the magic moment")
(13:59) Product Market Fit is a moving target
(16:43) Getting your first 20 customers
(18:51) What is customer storytelling and why is it important?
(22:09) What's the grand vision for TestimonialHero?
(23:14) Launching secondary product offerings
(24:42) Which growth channels worked?
(26:51) Leveraging podcasting as a marketing channel
(28:11) Lightning round and final thoughts
Guest contact info:https://www.linkedin.com/in/samshepler/
https://twitter.com/SamShepler
www.testimonialhero.com
Sponsor:
This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up. To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/moshehp/
https://twitter.com/MoshehP
hello@pmfpod.com
www.pmfpod.com
Cart.com’s early story has been nothing short of remarkable! The company was founded in the fall of 2020. And hit $150 million in annualized ARR with an 18 months. To date, the company has raised 400 million in debt and equity financing; and completed nearly a dozen acquisitions. They currently have a roster of over 6,000 brands on the platform. And at last count, a global team of 1400 employees.
In this conversation, Omair shares his experience navigating the Cart.com ship through this period of hypergrowth, leading with vision, and growing by acquisitions. We talk about the state of e-commerce and future trends, and what it means to be brand obsessed.
(02:57) What is Cart.com?
(05:10) Starting out on an ambitious journey
(07:27) Finding a blue ocean instead of competing with the incumbents
(09:58) The state of ecommerce and commerce enablement software (is Wall St. right?)
(13:14) Growing via acquisition
(17:19) Are you a roll-up?
(18:49) State of the industry and consolidation
(20:55) Maintaining culture when growing at break-neck speed / leading with vision
(26:27) Fundraising: venture debt vs. equity financing
(29:46) Throwing the playbook out the window / brand obsession
(33:57) Evolution of the growth team
(35:52) The future of digital marketing in a privacy-first world
(38:02) Lightning round and wrap-up
Guest contact info:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/omair-t-922b1913/
Sponsor:
This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up. To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Get in touch:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/moshehp/
https://twitter.com/MoshehP
hello@pmfpod.com
www.pmfpod.com
Eli Schwartz literally wrote the book on "Product-led SEO," a practice he has applied at leading B2B and B2C companies such as Coinbase, Zendesk, Gusto, MixPanel, Quora and many more.
In this conversation he shares practical advice on implementing this strategy along with examples from Zillow, Figma, Canva and others. We also talk about hiring for SEO in a startup and where SEO should live inside the org, as well as AI tools in SEO.
Sponsor:
This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up. To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Episode timestamps:
(1:27) What is Product-led SEO?
(4:07) Zillow case study
(7:24) The three pillars of SEO
(9:45) Product-led SEO in B2B vs. B2C companies
(11:59) Planting as many seeds as possible
(13:18) Leveraging AI in SEO
(16:11) Hiring for SEO at the early stages
(17:34) Where should SEO live within the organization?
(18:49) Houston vs. the Bay area
(21:29) When does product-led SEO not work?
(22:48) Figma & Canva case studies (see notes below)
(24:08) The value of link-building
(25:29) Applying this to eCommerce
(26:38) Final thoughts
Guest contact info:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/schwartze/
https://twitter.com/5le
Book: https://a.co/d/i8oAiRS
Further reading:
When you're done the book and want more examples of product-led SEO, check out this article from Kevin Indig (who coincidentally recently started a podcast with Eli called "Contrarian Marketing"): https://www.kevin-indig.com/5-examples-of-product-led-seo/
And here are a couple of great articles on Canva's SEO growth strategy:
https://buildd.co/marketing/canva-seo-case-study
https://thegrowthplaybook.substack.com/p/canvas-seo-strategy-is-elite
Get in touch:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/moshehp/
https://twitter.com/MoshehP
hello@pmfpod.com
www.pmfpod.com
Welcome to Product Market Fit, a podcast all about startup growth.
To kick things off we have Raphael Allstadt, founder and CEO of tl;dv, a tool for recording and transcribing meetings. In this episode, Rapha shares his experience launching on Product Hunt, building viral loops into a product to accelerate growth, experimenting with SaaS pricing and more.
Sponsor:
This podcast is brought to you by grwth.co. Grwth offers fractional CMOs, paired with best-in-class digital marketing execution to support early-stage startup success. With a focus on seed and series A companies, Grwth has helped a number of SaaS, digital health, and e-commerce startups build their go-to-market function and scale up. To learn more and book a free consultation, go to grwth.co.
Episode timestamps:
(1:29) What is tl;dv?
(4:27) Gathering feedback from users (and delighting them)
(6:30) Defining product market fit
(8:05) Thinking about competitors
(10:50) Launching on product hunt
(12:59) Video strategy (tl;dv's launch video)
(16:30) Building inherent virality into the product
(20:46) Product-led motion vs. other go-to-market motions
(22:50) Land and expand strategy
(24:12) Expanding into additional use-cases
(27:21) Social media for brand awareness
(29:20) How to launch pricing
(33:24) Experimenting with pricing
(34:45) The changing nature of work
(38:28) final thoughts
Further reading:
To dive deeper into learning about product virality, I recommend reading up on "K-factor" for measuring virality: article 1, article 2. And here are a couple more general guides to building product virality: guide 1, guide 2, guide 3
Get in touch:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/moshehp/
https://twitter.com/MoshehP
hello@pmfpod.com
www.pmfpod.com