Pablo Srugo’s Post

I met a YC founder who raised $6M, but kept the team to 5 people. He took a year to launch— then grew 100x to $5M ARR in 2 years: Josh R. built Gusto into a $9.5B company— by selling payroll software to SMBs. He hit $500K ARR a year after he launched— then 10x’d to $5M ARR the year after. Last year, he hit $500M in revenue. He didn’t blitzscale. He didn’t serve a massive market. He didn’t obsess over growth. He served a super niche market— newly formed Californian companies that had <5 full-time employees. He raised a $6M seed round— but didn’t spend it. He didn’t move upmarket like everyone else—he stuck with SMB‘s. He just “built a product people loved”. By the time they raised their $20M Series A, they were only 10-15 people. With $5M in revenue and 10K+ SMB customers— they were in full control. Finding product-market fit is WAY easier said than done, but here’s what’s clear to me: You don’t need more bodies. You don’t need more features. You don’t need more budget. You just need to find a product that customers pull from your hands. /// Listen to the full episode on The Product Market Fit Show #startups #founders #venturecapital

I met a YC founder who raised $6M, but kept the team to 5 people. He took a year to launch— then grew 100x to $5M ARR in 2 years: Josh R. built Gusto into a $9.5B company— by selling payroll software to SMBs. He hit $500K ARR a year after he launched— then 10x’d to $5M ARR the year after. Last year, he hit $500M in revenue. He didn’t blitzscale. He didn’t serve a massive market. He didn’t obsess over growth. He served a super niche market— newly formed Californian companies that had <5 full-time employees. He raised a $6M seed round— but didn’t spend it. He didn’t move upmarket like everyone else—he stuck with SMB‘s. He just “built a product people loved”. By the time they raised their $20M Series A, they were only 10-15 people. With $5M in revenue and 10K+ SMB customers— they were in full control. Finding product-market fit is WAY easier said than done, but here’s what’s clear to me: You don’t need more bodies. You don’t need more features. You don’t need more budget. You just need to find a product that customers pull from your hands. /// Listen to the full episode on The Product Market Fit Show #startups #founders #venturecapital

I met a YC founder who raised $6M, but kept the team to 5 people. He took a year to launch— then grew 100x to $5M ARR in 2 years: Josh R. built Gusto into a $9.5B company— by selling payroll software to SMBs. He hit $500K ARR a year after he launched— then 10x’d to $5M ARR the year after. Last year, he hit $500M in revenue. He didn’t blitzscale. He didn’t serve a massive market. He didn’t obsess over growth. He served a super niche market— newly formed Californian companies that had <5 full-time employees. He raised a $6M seed round— but didn’t spend it. He didn’t move upmarket like everyone else—he stuck with SMB‘s. He just “built a product people loved”. By the time they raised their $20M Series A, they were only 10-15 people. With $5M in revenue and 10K+ SMB customers— they were in full control. Finding product-market fit is WAY easier said than done, but here’s what’s clear to me: You don’t need more bodies. You don’t need more features. You don’t need more budget. You just need to find a product that customers pull from your hands. /// Listen to the full episode on The Product Market Fit Show #startups #founders #venturecapital

I met a YC founder who raised $6M, but kept the team to 5 people. He took a year to launch— then grew 100x to $5M ARR in 2 years: Josh R. built Gusto into a $9.5B company— by selling payroll software to SMBs. He hit $500K ARR a year after he launched— then 10x’d to $5M ARR the year after. Last year, he hit $500M in revenue. He didn’t blitzscale. He didn’t serve a massive market. He didn’t obsess over growth. He served a super niche market— newly formed Californian companies that had <5 full-time employees. He raised a $6M seed round— but didn’t spend it. He didn’t move upmarket like everyone else—he stuck with SMB‘s. He just “built a product people loved”. By the time they raised their $20M Series A, they were only 10-15 people. With $5M in revenue and 10K+ SMB customers— they were in full control. Finding product-market fit is WAY easier said than done, but here’s what’s clear to me: You don’t need more bodies. You don’t need more features. You don’t need more budget. You just need to find a product that customers pull from your hands. /// Listen to the full episode on The Product Market Fit Show #startups #founders #venturecapital

I met a YC founder who raised $6M, but kept the team to 5 people. He took a year to launch— then grew 100x to $5M ARR in 2 years: Josh R. built Gusto into a $9.5B company— by selling payroll software to SMBs. He hit $500K ARR a year after he launched— then 10x’d to $5M ARR the year after. Last year, he hit $500M in revenue. He didn’t blitzscale. He didn’t serve a massive market. He didn’t obsess over growth. He served a super niche market— newly formed Californian companies that had <5 full-time employees. He raised a $6M seed round— but didn’t spend it. He didn’t move upmarket like everyone else—he stuck with SMB‘s. He just “built a product people loved”. By the time they raised their $20M Series A, they were only 10-15 people. With $5M in revenue and 10K+ SMB customers— they were in full control. Finding product-market fit is WAY easier said than done, but here’s what’s clear to me: You don’t need more bodies. You don’t need more features. You don’t need more budget. You just need to find a product that customers pull from your hands. /// Listen to the full episode on The Product Market Fit Show #startups #founders #venturecapital

I met a YC founder who raised $3.5M, but kept the team to 3 people. He took 2 years to launch— then grew 10x to $2M ARR in a year: Benji built an end-to-end recruiting platform with just 3 people. Last month, he raised a $30M Series C. Since 2022, he grew from 70 to 130 employees. He hit $200K ARR the year he launched— then 10x’d to $2M ARR the year after. I asked Benji why it his end-to-end solution worked when so many “one stop shops for X” fail: 1. There were big unsolved pain points. 2. Existing vendors were small companies.  3. It was possible to build a bundle of best-in-class products. “If you can give people 1 product that works better than 4 products without losing functionality…people will be happy to use that.” It sounds too easy— and it is. Benji was a Director of Engineering, where he spent 90% of his time hiring— he experienced the problem first-hand. He thought about his idea for 18 months before going all-in. He had 100 conversations with potential customers before he started building. He graduated YC, raised $3.5M, but didn’t hire anyone. He kept his runway long. It wasn’t just turning 4 products into 1. Benji understood the pain point, the customers, and the space. He succeeded for the same reason most startups do: He put in the the work— the unsexy, everyday work. The work behind the scenes. The work that doesn’t make headlines. The work you never see. /// Listen to the full episode with Benji on The Product Market Fit Show #startups #venturecapital #founders

I met a YC founder who raised $3.5M, but kept the team to 3 people. He took 2 years to launch— then grew 10x to $2M ARR in a year: Benji built an end-to-end recruiting platform with just 3 people. Last month, he raised a $30M Series C. Since 2022, he grew from 70 to 130 employees. He hit $200K ARR the year he launched— then 10x’d to $2M ARR the year after. I asked Benji why it his end-to-end solution worked when so many “one stop shops for X” fail: 1. There were big unsolved pain points. 2. Existing vendors were small companies.  3. It was possible to build a bundle of best-in-class products. “If you can give people 1 product that works better than 4 products without losing functionality…people will be happy to use that.” It sounds too easy— and it is. Benji was a Director of Engineering, where he spent 90% of his time hiring— he experienced the problem first-hand. He thought about his idea for 18 months before going all-in. He had 100 conversations with potential customers before he started building. He graduated YC, raised $3.5M, but didn’t hire anyone. He kept his runway long. It wasn’t just turning 4 products into 1. Benji understood the pain point, the customers, and the space. He succeeded for the same reason most startups do: He put in the the work— the unsexy, everyday work. The work behind the scenes. The work that doesn’t make headlines. The work you never see. /// Listen to the full episode with Benji on The Product Market Fit Show #startups #venturecapital #founders

I met a YC founder who raised $3.5M, but kept the team to 3 people. He took 2 years to launch— then grew 10x to $2M ARR in a year: Benji built an end-to-end recruiting platform with just 3 people. Last month, he raised a $30M Series C. Since 2022, he grew from 70 to 130 employees. He hit $200K ARR the year he launched— then 10x’d to $2M ARR the year after. I asked Benji why it his end-to-end solution worked when so many “one stop shops for X” fail: 1. There were big unsolved pain points. 2. Existing vendors were small companies.  3. It was possible to build a bundle of best-in-class products. “If you can give people 1 product that works better than 4 products without losing functionality…people will be happy to use that.” It sounds too easy— and it is. Benji was a Director of Engineering, where he spent 90% of his time hiring— he experienced the problem first-hand. He thought about his idea for 18 months before going all-in. He had 100 conversations with potential customers before he started building. He graduated YC, raised $3.5M, but didn’t hire anyone. He kept his runway long. It wasn’t just turning 4 products into 1. Benji understood the pain point, the customers, and the space. He succeeded for the same reason most startups do: He put in the the work— the unsexy, everyday work. The work behind the scenes. The work that doesn’t make headlines. The work you never see. /// Listen to the full episode with Benji on The Product Market Fit Show #startups #venturecapital #founders

I met a YC founder who raised $3.5M, but kept the team to 3 people. He took 2 years to launch— then grew 10x to $2M ARR in a year: Benji built an end-to-end recruiting platform with just 3 people. Last month, he raised a $30M Series C. Since 2022, he grew from 70 to 130 employees. He hit $200K ARR the year he launched— then 10x’d to $2M ARR the year after. I asked Benji why it his end-to-end solution worked when so many “one stop shops for X” fail: 1. There were big unsolved pain points. 2. Existing vendors were small companies.  3. It was possible to build a bundle of best-in-class products. “If you can give people 1 product that works better than 4 products without losing functionality…people will be happy to use that.” It sounds too easy— and it is. Benji was a Director of Engineering, where he spent 90% of his time hiring— he experienced the problem first-hand. He thought about his idea for 18 months before going all-in. He had 100 conversations with potential customers before he started building. He graduated YC, raised $3.5M, but didn’t hire anyone. He kept his runway long. It wasn’t just turning 4 products into 1. Benji understood the pain point, the customers, and the space. He succeeded for the same reason most startups do: He put in the the work— the unsexy, everyday work. The work behind the scenes. The work that doesn’t make headlines. The work you never see. /// Listen to the full episode with Benji on The Product Market Fit Show #startups #venturecapital #founders

I met a YC founder who raised $3.5M, but kept the team to 3 people. He took 2 years to launch— then grew 10x to $2M ARR in a year: Benji built an end-to-end recruiting platform with just 3 people. Last month, he raised a $30M Series C. Since 2022, he grew from 70 to 130 employees. He hit $200K ARR the year he launched— then 10x’d to $2M ARR the year after. I asked Benji why it his end-to-end solution worked when so many “one stop shops for X” fail: 1. There were big unsolved pain points. 2. Existing vendors were small companies.  3. It was possible to build a bundle of best-in-class products. “If you can give people 1 product that works better than 4 products without losing functionality…people will be happy to use that.” It sounds too easy— and it is. Benji was a Director of Engineering, where he spent 90% of his time hiring— he experienced the problem first-hand. He thought about his idea for 18 months before going all-in. He had 100 conversations with potential customers before he started building. He graduated YC, raised $3.5M, but didn’t hire anyone. He kept his runway long. It wasn’t just turning 4 products into 1. Benji understood the pain point, the customers, and the space. He succeeded for the same reason most startups do: He put in the the work— the unsexy, everyday work. The work behind the scenes. The work that doesn’t make headlines. The work you never see. /// Listen to the full episode with Benji on The Product Market Fit Show #startups #venturecapital #founders