He grew to $22M ARR in 4 years—but regrets spending so much on growth. | Chris Walker, Founder of Refine Labs

A Product Market Fit Show | Startups & Founders

Chris shares the story of how he grew Refine Labs to $22M ARR, what he did to grow so fast, and also why he regrets spending so much on growth instead of focusing on profitability.
He goes exceptionally deep on sales and marketing and provides tactical advice you can steal.
Chris is the founder of Refine Labs & Passetto. He's also a LinkedIn Top Voice with 150K followers.
Why you should listen:

• Learn when to switch away from founder-driven sales
• Why sales velocity is the key metric you need to track
• How to use customer feedback to drive a consistent marketing campaign and drive organic inbound.
• How to know if you have product-market fit based on customer satisfaction and retention.
• Why Chris regrets not focusing more on cash flow profitability vs growth.

Keywords:
entrepreneurship, founder sales, marketing, customer insights, zero-to-one growth, go-to-market strategy, product management, growth strategy, product-market fit
Timestamps:
(00:00:00) Intro
(00:01:21) Starting e-commerce companies on the side
(00:04:56) Going all in
(00:11:30) Balancing sales and marketing
(00:18:05) Focusing on Customer FeedbackLanding the first customers
(00:27:19) Why you should not spend on advertising
(00:37:55) His most viral marketing campaign
(00:41:04) Finding Product Market Fit

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

Chapters

1. He grew to $22M ARR in 4 years—but regrets spending so much on growth. | Chris Walker, Founder of Refine Labs (00:00:00)

2. Starting ecommerce companies on the side (00:01:21)

3. Going all in (00:04:56)

4. Balancing sales and marketing (00:11:30)

5. Focusing on Customer Feedback (00:18:05)

6. Landing the first customers (00:27:19)

7. Why you should not spend on advertising (00:29:24)

8. His most viral marketing campaign (00:37:55)

9. Finding Product Market Fit (00:41:04)