A Product Market Fit Show | Startup Podcast for Founders

Dan's first app made over $1M in two months. Then Facebook sent a cease and desist and killed it. His next company, Mode Mobile, grew revenue 32,481% in three years and ranked #1 on the Deloitte Fast 500. Then his crypto advertisers went bankrupt, revenue fell from $25M to $8M, and he cut half his staff. No VC wanted a declining Series B. So he raised $5M from his own users in three months—then $75M more.
In this episode, Dan breaks down how paying people to use their phone actually makes money, why revenue concentration and not growth is what nearly killed Mode, and how to run a creator-led marketing campaign at $30 a video.
Why You Should Listen
Why the product market fit that feels insane is often the kind that dies fastest.
How building on someone else's API cost him two different companies.
Why extending your payback period is the fastest way to run out of cash.
How to know within $20K to $30K whether creator-led marketing works for you.
Keywords startup podcast, startup podcast for founders, product market fit, finding pmf, Mode Mobile, Dan Novaes, crowdfunding, Reg A, consumer apps, rewards apps, creator-led marketing, UGC creators, user acquisition, revenue concentration, Android apps

Chapters
00:00:00 Intro
00:03:09 The App He Built In A Week
00:06:38 $1M In Two Months
00:08:25 Facebook Shuts It Down
00:15:39 The Pivots Before Mode
00:20:42 32,481% Growth To The Fast 500
00:26:26 Revenue Concentration Nearly Kills It
00:31:50 How Paying People To Play Works
00:37:53 Creator-Led Growth For $30 A Video
00:47:09 What Makes A Crowdfund Work
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Keith raised a $43M Series B for Tome. The product had 20 million users. But retention was terrible and nobody cared enough to complain. So he turned it off before he knew what he'd build next, went from 70 people to 7, and started over. Lightfield just closed a $47M Series A.
In this episode, Keith breaks down how he knew Tome would never grow up, why customers lighting up your Slack at 3am is the signal you actually want, and the exact playbook he used to sell an AI-native CRM to YC founders before he charged them a dollar.
Why You Should Listen
Why angry customers are a better signal than 20 million happy ones.
How to know when optimizing metrics will never re-inflect your business.
Why you have to kill the old product before you can find the new one.
How to win founders with free software and events instead of cold email.
Keywords startup podcast, startup podcast for founders, product market fit, finding pmf, Lightfield, Keith Peiris, Tome, pivoting a startup, AI native CRM, agentic system of record, cutting burn, go-to-market, selling to YC founders, launch videos, B2B SaaS

Chapters
00:00:00 Intro
00:02:27 The Customers Who Were Hopping Mad
00:07:41 20M Users, Almost No Retention
00:09:27 When Your Business Works But Won't Inflect
00:11:24 Why His Board Said Burn the Boats
00:18:29 Turning Off the Product Before Knowing What's Next
00:22:13 Reinventing the System of Record
00:30:25 How to Sell to YC Founders
00:36:04 Making a Launch Video Hit a Million Views
00:44:08 The One Piece of Advice
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Aaron started Vestwell in 2016. Two years in, he had $500K in ARR and an investor asking if it would ever make money. During the 2021 bull market, VCs told him 401ks were too boring—they were busy chasing crypto. Then Morgan Stanley signed. Today Vestwell has 2.5 million people saving on the platform, over $200M in ARR, and just raised $385M at a $2B valuation.
In this episode, Aaron breaks down why he white-labeled everything instead of building his own brand, how losing the JP Morgan bid as a 40-person startup still turned into one of his largest partnerships, and how a methodical cap table let him raise a Series A on a couple hundred thousand in revenue.
Why You Should Listen
Why letting your customers keep their brand beats competing with them.
How to raise a Series A with only a few hundred thousand in ARR.
Why losing an enterprise deal is the start of the sale, not the end.
Why you never regret firing someone too soon.
Keywords startup podcast, startup podcast for founders, product market fit, finding pmf, Vestwell, Aaron Schumm, fintech, 401k, retirement savings, enterprise sales, channel partnerships, white label software, Series A fundraising, Morgan Stanley

Chapters
00:00:00 Intro
00:02:05 The Morgan Stanley Deal That Proved PMF
00:08:32 A 401k So Bad It Started a Company
00:10:23 Building V1 in a Regulated Industry
00:17:07 Turning Advisors Into a Sales Channel
00:23:57 Raising an A on $200K of Revenue
00:31:16 Too Boring for the Crypto Bull Market
00:38:45 Losing JP Morgan, Then Winning It Back
00:43:23 Never Regret Firing Too Soon
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Andrew spent two and a half years selling AI contract review to lawyers. It stalled at $800K. He rebuilt the company around finance teams and grew that to $10M. Then he demoed a little internal tool on the side at his own conference, and nobody wanted to talk about anything else. It did $350K in five weeks. He sold the $10M business and went all in on the side tool—Within went from zero to nearly $20M in 18 months.
In this episode, Andrew breaks down the 30-and-100 rule he uses to validate every idea, how he turned every customer conversation into a database that tells him what to build next, and why nine out of ten experiments have to fail.
Why You Should Listen
Why 30 conversations validate an idea and 100 customers reveal product market fit.
Why the thing everyone asks about matters more than the thing you launched.
How to tell that slow growth is a market problem, not a go-to-market problem.
How to run four bets a quarter with a kill metric on every one.
Keywords startup podcast, startup podcast for founders, product market fit, finding pmf, Within, Klarity, Andrew Antos, enterprise AI, AI transformation, pivoting a startup, enterprise sales, legal tech, finance automation, AI agents, customer discovery, voice of customer

Chapters
00:00:00 Intro
00:02:04 The Side Tool Everyone Wanted
00:04:26 $350K in Five Weeks
00:05:42 AI for Lawyers Before AI Worked
00:12:44 Stuck at $800K
00:13:43 Choosing Finance Over Legal
00:17:40 The 30 and 100 Rule
00:24:59 Selling the $10M Business
00:32:17 Building a Company Data Brain
00:40:01 Nine of Ten Bets Fail
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AJ spent two years selling health benefits with no customers and no references. His competitors told buyers their service was free. He charged a flat fee and told the truth about where the money actually went. Two years in, at $10M ARR, a Fortune 500 company called him. Judi Health just raised $400M at a $3.25B valuation.
In this episode, AJ breaks down how he beat three Fortune 15 giants by operating 70% more efficiently, why he spent zero on marketing for two years and let customers sell for him, and the one hiring signal he refuses to ask about directly.
Why You Should Listen
Why $10M ARR still felt like nothing against three Fortune 15 competitors.
How to sell healthcare when your answer to "who are your customers" is "just you."
Why he spent $0 on marketing and made customers the brand ambassadors.
How he spots A players without ever asking them about the mission.
Keywords startup podcast, startup podcast for founders, product market fit, finding pmf, Judi Health, Capital Rx, AJ Loiacono, pharmacy benefit management, PBM, healthcare startup, enterprise sales, transparent pricing, bootstrapping, self-insured employers, hiring for mission

Chapters
00:00:00 Intro
00:02:11 Why Healthcare Has No Shortcuts
00:05:34 What Judi Health Actually Does
00:11:27 Opacity As A Business Strategy
00:15:12 Bootstrapping In A Regulated Market
00:21:50 Selling The First Risky Customers
00:27:15 Winning Bids When Rivals Look Free
00:33:37 Zero Marketing And A Service Moat
00:42:20 Hiring For Mission And A Players
00:52:35 Founder Advice On Focus And Discipline
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