Best Mistral.vc Podcasts (2024)

1
1st-time founder meets 120 VCs— closes $2.7M in 5 weeks, 10x oversubscribed. Here's the step-by-step guide to close a round. | Andrew Rea, Founder of Taxwire 51:53

1h ago51:53

51:53

Andrew spoke with 120+ VCs to raise a $1.5M pre-seed round. He closed $2.7M and had demand for many millions more. He devoted 90% of his time to fundraising, but only took weeks from the first meetings to close. 99% of founders I meet do not fundraise at this level. It takes them longer to close, they have fewer choices and raise less. This is a sp…

1
Zoom hits an all-time low. Here's what AI startups can learn from the WFH hype cycle. 11:13

3h ago11:13

11:13

Zoom was THE work-from-home stock. It's down 90% from peak. The same hype that fuelled work-from-home stocks is now fuelling AI. What happened to Zoom will happen to many AI companies. AI startups today need to carefully position against foundational models and incumbents. Here's how to think through it. Why you should listen: Learn why what happen…

1
He grew to $22M ARR in 4 years—but regrets spending so much on growth. | Chris Walker, Founder of Refine Labs 45:23

7d ago45:23

45:23

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 Vo…

1
ChatGPT just hit $3B in ARR—here’s why Sam Altman is a strategic genius. 9:42

7d ago9:42

9:42

Sam Altman is playing chess not checkers. He partnered with Microsoft. He partnered with Apple. He grew to $3B in ARR in 2 years. Hate him or love him, he's a strategic genius. You'll recognize a pattern: Sam has an idea, positions correctly, lets the bets play out, and goes all-in on what works. Rinse, repeat, rinse, repeat, rinse, repeat. In unde…

1
Reddit hit 1M users in 1 year. The key was listening to users—& not doing what they said. | Reddit CTO & Founding Engineer Chris Slowe 52:58

14d ago52:58

52:58

We interview Chris Slow the CTO and Founding Engineer at Reddit. Reddit is now a ~$10B company, with nearly $1B in revenue. Their 1B+ monthly active users are so powerful they can move markets. This is the story of how it all began. On this episode, we interview Chris Slowe, Reddit's current CTO and Founding Engineer. Chris was in YC's first-ever b…

1
She quit her job without a startup idea. Then built a $550M startup from a bad dentist appointment. I Wardah Inam, Founder of Overjet 28:59

21d ago28:59

28:59

Wardah was a PhD graduate working at a biomedical imaging startup. But all it took was two different dentists giving her two totally different diagnoses for her to quit her full-time job. She was unemployed with no idea what to build. All she knew was that something was broken—and she had to fix it. Her startup Overjet is now the #1 dental AI platf…

1
Ex-Squarespace CEO on how to sell to SMBs, build tight feedback loops, & stay close to customers even after raising $200M+ | Dane Atkinson, Founder of Odeko 43:31

28d ago43:31

43:31

Dane was the CEO of Squarespace from 2007 to 2011. He grew the company from ~$2M in revenue to ~$15M. He's a multi-time founder with multiple exits. His current startup, Odeko, raised $227M. He takes us through his long journey as a founder of multiple companies and shares the key startup lessons he's learned. Why you should listen: - Why 7-day tri…

1
He built Uber for parking & exited. Then raised $100M+. Here's his formula for finding product-market fit. | Shmulik Fishman, Founder of Argyle 38:04

1M ago38:04

38:04

His first startup was a cool idea: Uber for Valet Parking. Investors loved it. But the unit economics didn't work out. So he had to pivot. He ended up selling it, but decided to do things differently the second time around. “It’s the boring stuff that makes money. Sometimes the sexy, interesting things are really great ideas, fun to use, but aren’t…

1
COVID nearly bankrupted him. Then with AI he grew from $0 to $25M ARR in 4 years. | Andrew Lockhead, Founder of Stay22 41:24

1M ago41:24

41:24

His travel startup crashed 90% overnight. Here’s how he used AI to grow past $2M/year—to $2M a month: For a while, Andrew was crushing it. Accelerator -> $750K pre-seed -> $2M ARR -> $2.5M seed round. Then COVID hit. He was selling to events like CES, SXSW, etc. Revenue dropped from $160K/month to under $10K... overnight. Investors from his seed ro…

1
He raised $11M off a deck. Here's how he launched Clumio & grew 4x to over 8-figures in ARR. | Poojan Kumar, Founder of Clumio 31:03

2M ago31:03

31:03

Poojan is a multi-time successful founder. He raised $60M for his first startup and exited. He just raised a $75M Series D at his current startup. But it wasn't always easy. - In his first startup, he had to hover beside conference booths for hours to land his first customer. - He gave his product away for free to the first several customers. - It …

1
He quit his cozy Google job & ignored lean startup advice— then grew to $3M in 1 year. | Arvind Jain, Founder of Glean 29:45

2M ago29:45

29:45

Arvind founded 2 billion-dollar startups—by doing everything lean startup tells you not to do. - He didn’t focus on launching an MVP. - He ignored early market feedback. - He didn’t charge beta users anything— for 2 years. And it worked. He went from $0 to $3M in revenue the year he launched publicly. He tripled to about $9M the year after. And tri…

1
5 months in, Snapchat had only 127 users. Here's how Evan Spiegel found product market fit w/ Jeremy Liew (Partner at Lightspeed and Seed Investor in Snapchat) 39:01

2M ago39:01

39:01

Snapchat got 0 downloads the day it launched. 5 months in, it had only 127 users. Today Snapchat is an $18B company with 400 million daily active users. Evan Spiegel noticed what even Zuck missed: daily communication is meant to be ephemeral, not recorded for all time. In this episode, we dive deep into how Snapchat went from idea to product-market…

1
He gave up on chasing unicorns. Now he earns $500K+/year from his 3-person startup. | Rand Fishkin, Founder of Moz & SparkToro 49:18

2M ago49:18

49:18

If you feel like the ‘unicorn or bust’ playbook isn’t for you, then this episode definitely will be. Rand Fishkin is a multi-time founder and published author of Lost and Founder. He founded Moz, raised $29M in VC, grew to $50M in revenue and exited for $70M. But he ultimately realized that the VC-backed life wasn’t for him. So he went on to start …

1
This solo founder bet on AI 7 years ago. Now he has 5,000 customers & $115M raised. | Dylan, Founder of Assembly AI 31:28

3M ago31:28

31:28

While Voice AI is all the rage now, it wasn't a hot sector in 2017. After Dylan graduated from YC, VCs rejected him. He couldn't raise a round. They all assumed Google would do it. So he raised what he could from angels and made it work for the next 3 years. He's now built the world's most accurate Speech AI model. He's grown to 5,000 customers and…

1
He raised $275M in the last 3 years. His 'boring' B2B startup is now a $1B unicorn. | Andrew Butt, Founder of Enable 41:42

3M ago41:42

41:42

Andrew is the founder/CEO of Enable. And he is riding a rocket ship: 2020: $17M Series A 2021: $45M Series B 2022: $94M Series C A few months ago he raised $120M at a $1B valuation. But it took him five years from the time he started Enable in 2015 until he was able to raise his first round in 2020. Andrew was running a profitable development shop …

1
Alex sold couches online before IKEA did. He grew to $40M in revenue and exited for millions. | Alex Back, Co-Founder of Apt2B 38:33

3M ago38:33

38:33

Alex started Apt2B in 2010. He sold couches online before IKEA did. It took him over 3 years to make as much money as he used to as a furniture salesperson. But it paid off. After growing the business to $6M in revenue, he sold the company. Post-acquisition he grew the company to $40M in sales. In this episode, we dive deep into what Alex did to ge…

1
My Last Startup Failed With 30 Employees… It Might've Worked if we'd Kept it to 5. 13:01

3M ago13:01

13:01

Every founder wants to build the next $1B+ company. So it’s normal to get inspired by what companies like Apple, Shopify and Microsoft do. But it’s also a huge mistake. In this episode, we look at what Shopfiy, Fullscript and Spellbook did to find product-market fit. In many ways, it’s the opposite of what they do now, as big succesful companies. B…

1
For 5 years he struggled to get traction. Then with AI he grew 12x— in 1 year | Scott Stevenson, co-founder of Spellbook 41:22

4M ago41:22

41:22

Spellbook is ChatGPT for lawyers. They've raised $30M in the last 6 months. They now have over 2,000 law firms as customers. But it wasn't a straight line-- it took Scott 6 years to get here. For the first 5 years, Scott worked on a legal tech platform called Rally. During that time, Scott along with his co-founders and their small team ran hundred…

1
Every VC Rejected Him. So He Bootstrapped From $0 to $10M in 3 years | Kyle Braatz, founder of Fullscript 37:52

4M ago37:52

37:52

Kyle Braatz is the founder of Fullscript, a $900M revenue company that started by helping health practitioners recommend supplements to their patients. It's like the Shopify for doctors, nurses and nutritionists Even though he captured 50% of the Canadian market in one year, early-stage VCs didn't see the opportunity. So he bootstrapped his way to …

1
How Shopify Found Product Market Fit w/ Aydin Senkut (Managing Partner at Felicis & Series A Investor in Shopify) 46:18

4M ago46:18

46:18

Aydin Senkut is the Founder and Managing Partner at Felicis. He invested in Shopify's Series A in 2010 at a $25M valuation. He joins us to tell the story of how Shopify found product market fit. Shopify is now a $100B company. But as Founder & CEO Tobi Lutke said, in the early days, his goal was "to build a 20-person company". Shopify is not a stor…

1
How to Raise a Round in 2024 w/ Lee Silverstone (3x Founder) 27:50

4M ago27:50

27:50

If you've been struggling to raise—you're not alone. Seed funding has been falling every quarter for the last 2 years. Rounds are smaller and take longer to raise. So we decided to record an episode to help you. Here are all the mistakes, tips and tricks we’ve seen first-hand that actually work. We touch on things like What the perfect raise looks …

1
How Shopify & DollarShaveClub got more views than the Super Bowl for under $10K 22:03

4M ago22:03

22:03

The Super Bowl is the best place to get in front of customers—if you have $10M to spend. Which means for virtually all startups, it’s 100% useless. So I decided to look into some of the best campaigns early-stage startups used to drive millions of leads. Shopify used a $100K Build A Business Competition in 2010 when it was a bootstrapped business. …

1
He Almost Went Bankrupt TWICE...Then exited for $30M. w/ Canvaspop CEO Nazim Ahmed 48:18

5M ago48:18

48:18

This isn’t a unicorn fairytale. It’s a story about what it really takes to build a company and get to an exit. Nazim takes us through how he nearly went bankrupt, took years to turn things around, and ultimately sold his business for $30M all cash. Send me a message to let me know what you think!By Mistral.vc

1
How a Viral Ad drove Millions in Revenue and $55M In Funding w/ Walnut CEO Yoav Vilner 36:48

5M ago36:48

36:48

4K likes, 365 re-shares and over 1M views, without any marketing spend. For an ad promoting your product, that sounds too good to be true-- and yet that's exactly what Yoav did. He leveraged it to get tons of press, more customers than he could manage, and raise a $15M Series A in under a year after incorporating. Here's the story of how Yoav got s…

1
Why you shouldn't chase unicorns; 3 Big VC Myths; and how to keep control of your startup 19:27

5M ago19:27

19:27

$1B startups get all the hype. But for 99% of founders, it’s the wrong goal. You’re better off building a sustainable business with consistent growth. Raising big rounds won’t make your company big and staying lean won’t make your company small. That's just VC Myth 1. Raising round after round does not equal success. That's just VC Myth 2. Just bec…

1
How to Bootstrap from 0 to Millions in Revenue w/ Ilya (CEO & Founder, Vanhack) 32:27

5M ago32:27

32:27

Over 10 years of hard work, Ilya has helped over 2000 individuals change their lives. In the meantime, he built a profitable, cash-flowing business with no outside funding. While the billion-dollar outcomes get all the hype, this is what success looks like for most founders. In this episode, we dive into how Ilya turned a resume-editing business in…

1
5 Steps to PMF with Rob 42:34

6M ago42:34

42:34

We released The Five Steps to Product Market Fit a few weeks ago and received lots of questions on how to apply the steps. In this episode, Rob and I share more colour and more stories on each step to help you understand how to apply them, and also, when these steps might need to be broken. Send me a message to let me know what you think!…

1
The Best Episode of Season 1 - How Ada Pivoted to a $1B+ Valuation w/ Mike Murchison (Founder & CEO) 37:51

6M ago37:51

37:51

Re-releasing the BEST episode of all of season 1. Send me a message to let me know what you think!By Mistral.vc

1
The Top 3 Mistakes Early-Stage Founders Make When Forecasting 21:34

6M ago21:34

21:34

I know most founders today are planning for the new year, so sharing the top 3 mistakes I've seen early-stage founders make when forecasting. If you're forecasting for 2024, you don't want to miss this. Send me a message to let me know what you think!By Mistral.vc

1
The Five Steps to Product Market Fit 30:45

6M ago30:45

30:45

Here are the key lessons from the past 60 episodes that we've released to date. Each of the 5 steps to Product Market Fit is based on actual case studies with real examples you can use. It's a recap of everything I've learned over the last two years- you don't want to miss it. Send me a message to let me know what you think!…

1
How I lost $6M, Why hype means nothing, Plus a dozen other lessons from our last startup 1:06:36

7M ago1:06:36

1:06:36

As they say, "Experience is the teacher of all things"... and my last startup was a ruthless teacher. Today, my co-founder Lee Silverstone and ex-CEO Rob Woodbridge join me to go through some of the insane stories from Gymtrack, our last startup. From strapping a whiteboard to the roof of Lee's Civic, to going to conferences with a 3D printed "smar…

1
I Was Supposed to Be a Millionaire at 25… Instead, I Went Bankrupt. 23:56

7M ago23:56

23:56

This is the story of the emotional rollercoaster that was my last startup, Gymtrack. Hope you find it helpful as you navigate your own startup journey. You can read the article here as well: https://entrepreneurshandbook.co/i-was-supposed-to-be-a-millionaire-at-25-instead-i-went-bankrupt-ef525370e353 Send me a message to let me know what you think!…

1
Why every founder needs to Be Like Knight | Rob & Pablo Series 47:02

7M ago47:02

47:02

Phil Knight, Nike's founder, might hold the all-time record for taking punches to the face. From giving up 49% of his company to a part-time advisor; to having Prefontaine, a famous runner and Nike's main ambassador, die unexpectedly; to getting blindsided with a $25M import tax when he could not afford it. Anything that could go wrong, did. In thi…

1
How Nike Found Product-Market Fit 25:57

7M ago25:57

25:57

Nike was built backwards. Instead of building a product and taking it to market, Phil Knight first built a distribution machine for running shoes. Eight years later, he finally launched his own product (the Nike shoe) and did $3M in sales in the first year. This is not the full story of Nike. It's the story of how Phil Knight got to product-market …

1
How to (Accidentally) Build a Unicorn 13:37

8M ago13:37

13:37

Mark (CEO GoBolt) didn't set out to build a billion-dollar company. He just solved a problem other university students were facing. And then he constantly "made the best decision possible at each moment in time". To be honest, that's how most unicorns are made. Send me a message to let me know what you think!…

1
Mark Ang, Founder of GoBolt | How to Pivot to Product Market Fit 49:54

8M ago49:54

49:54

Everyone tells you that you need to start with a niche, a beachhead market, and then grow from there. But how does that actually work? What does that really look like? It looks like Mark's story starting and growing GoBolt. Mark started off storing items for students over the summer. He expanded to storing all things for all people. He now provides…

1
The Product Market Fit Pyramid 20:03

8M ago20:03

20:03

Think of Product Market Fit as a pyramid. At the bottom you have vision, then value prop, then product and at the top is go-to-market. As you go from 0 to Product Market Fit your job is to tweak the pieces of that pyramid, from top to bottom, until things click. Send me a message to let me know what you think!…

1
Andrew Tai, Founder of MotoInisght | How to Pivot to Product Market Fit 42:15

8M ago42:15

42:15

Founders are told to pivot when things aren't working. They're also told to never give up. So how do you know when to push through and when to completely change course? Like most things in 0 to 1, it's more art than science. And unfortunately, most founders can't figure it out until after they experience it themselves. That's why on this episode we…

1
How I Missed a $10B Opportunity Because of Bad Customer Discovery 22:23

8M ago22:23

22:23

Weak customer discovery is the number one reason why most idea-stage startups fail. It usually leads to founders wasting months solving fake problems. In my case, bad customer discovery cost me even more-- I ditched a startup idea that other founders built into several companies worth $10B+. Send me a message to let me know what you think!…

1
Ron Spreeuwenberg, Founder of HiMama | How Proper Customer Discovery Leads to Product Market Fit 34:37

9M ago34:37

34:37

Here's a step-by-step account of how to do proper customer discovery. From how to source potential customers, conduct proper interviews and test your early product -- Ron has done it all. He shares each step with lots of details, so you can easily copy (i.e., steal) his ideas. Rushing through customer discovery is the most common mistake founders m…

1
Why Capital Efficiency is so Important 21:49

9M ago21:49

21:49

Being capital efficient is the #1 power move you can make as a founder. It gives you time, control, and a huge edge with investors. Check out this episode to understand why it matters and what you can do to get there. Send me a message to let me know what you think!By Mistral.vc

1
Michael Hyatt, Founder of BlueCat | How to Survive Down Cycles and Get to Product Market Fit 44:10

9M ago44:10

44:10

Michael Hyatt founded BlueCat, which was sold for over $700M. Since then he’s shifted to the investor side and has invested in dozens of startups. Through it all, Michael has seen three financial crashes: the Dotcom boom and bust, the financial crash of 2008 and the recession we are facing today. He shares several insights on what it’s like to be a…

1
When Doing Customer Discovery, Don't Do This 15:24

9M ago15:24

15:24

95% of idea-stage startups fail because they don't solve an important enough problem in the first place. The most important part of customer discovery is to make sure you are solving real problems. But almost all founders do customer discovery wrong the first few times. Check out this episode to learn which mistakes you should avoid at all costs. S…

1
Myles Shedden, Founder of Chroma | How to NOT Find Product Market Fit 31:09

10M ago31:09

31:09

We've had plenty of episodes showing you what you should do. So here's an episode on what NOT to do. Myles is an exceptional founder, thoughtful and charismatic. But he's made plenty of mistakes: whether it's coming up with an idea the wrong way, doing fake customer discovery, or simply hiring too many employees. These are all mistakes I've made in…

1
The ONLY guaranteed way to find Product Market Fit 16:08

10M ago16:08

16:08

We talk about product-market fit constantly in this podcast. Hopefully, we learn from what others did and improve our chances of finding PMF. But, even if we do everything right, we may still fail to find PMF. That's why even repeat founders have only 1.5% chance of building a unicorn. But there is one way to guarantee that one day you will find pr…

1
Marty Krátký-Katz, Founder of Blockthrough (Bootstrapped to ~$100M exit) | How Never Giving Up Leads to Product Market Fit 33:12

10M ago33:12

33:12

Marty (CEO of Blockthrough) is the definition of a “Founder Cockroach”—he can’t be killed. In this episode, he shares how after 12 years and 2 failed start-ups, he sold his company for nearly $100M. I've known Marty since my very first startup days. In 2013, we started our startups at the same time. I watched him take punches to the face for years.…

1
How to beat your main competitor 15:36

10M ago15:36

15:36

Every startup has the same competitor: Status Quo. Your customers have done things a certain way for many years. Status Quo might seem awful to you, but it's worked for them. It's entrenched. It's accepted. In many cases, it's loved. Classically, your product needs to be 10x better to beat Status Quo. But what does that really mean? What is 10x bet…

1
Hamed Abbasi, Founder of Plooto | How to Pivot to Product Market Fit 38:33

11M ago38:33

38:33

"Wouldn't it be cool if..." Usually, those words are uttered by first-time founders. And unfortunately, they usually lead to terrible ideas. It was no different for Plooto. Their first idea sounded cool, but it didn't provide real customer value. Fortunately, Hamed noticed it and pivoted. Not once, but twice. This is the story of how Hamed pivoted …

1
How to find great startup ideas 9:59

11M ago9:59

9:59

Most bad ideas are born the same way. A founder says to themselves: "Wouldn't it be cool if...". I know because I did it. "Wouldn't it be cool if your workouts were automatically tracked" was the genesis for Gymtrack, my failed startup. When you do this, you are starting from the solution, not the problem. Great startup ideas come from uncovering r…

1
Rodolphe Barrere, Founder of PotLoc | How to Find Product Market Fit 46:53

11M ago46:53

46:53

Finding Product Market Fit is often a long journey, especially if you're a first-time founder who jumps in with two feet and no upfront research. It took Rodolphe FIVE pivots to get from where he started to the $10M+ ARR startup he has today. This is the story of each one of those pivots. How and why he decided to make big changes each time, and ho…

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