Rob Woollen, founder of Sigma Computing, shares the unfiltered reality of going from 0 to $100M ARR. After spending seven years grinding without product-market fit, Sigma finally hit an inflection point—tripling revenue year over year. Rob dives deep into the pivots, setbacks, and critical decisions that turned early failure into a massive success. If you’re an early-stage founder feeling stuck, this episode will show you how patience, resilience, and radical product decisions can transform your startup.

Why You Should Listen

• How Sigma went from $0 to $100M ARR—but spent 7 years figuring it out.
• The pivot that turned years of failure into explosive growth.
• Why obsessing over speed to product-market fit is the wrong game.
• How to handle the psychological toll of startup uncertainty.
• The hidden power of building features your customers never ask for.

Keywords

product-market fit, Sigma Computing, pivot, startup growth, business intelligence, Snowflake, early-stage startup, SaaS growth, cloud analytics, founder stories

00:00:00 Intro

00:02:49 Debating speed to product–market fit

00:10:14 Quitting Salesforce and the EIR leap

00:23:12 Two years of prototypes that went nowhere

00:36:53 The Snowflake meeting and spreadsheet pivot

00:45:41 Dealing with Investors

00:52:30 Tripling three years straight to $100M ARR

00:54:46 Why most people shouldn’t start a company

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This is the brutally honest startup story every founder needs to hear. Benedetta shares how she built a fintech app to half a million users and raised $10M—yet still failed.

You’ll learn why chasing big partnerships can backfire spectacularly, how a seemingly successful startup can quietly fall apart, and how to set yourself up to avoid common but deadly fundraising mistakes.

This isn’t just another success story; it’s a real guide on how not to fail.

Why You Should Listen

• Discover why even rapid growth and millions raised might not save you.
• Find out the hidden dangers of relying on corporate VCs.
• Learn why equal founder equity splits might not be a good idea.
• Hear the biggest fundraising mistakes early-stage founders make (and how to avoid them).
• Get practical advice on how to truly validate your startup before building tech.

Keywords

startup failure, fundraising mistakes, fintech startup, founder lessons, corporate VC, startup partnerships, product validation, founder equity split, early-stage fundraising, startup growth challenges

00:00:00 Early Days at Uber and Moving into Fintech

00:07:00 Launching a Consumer Fintech App in Europe

00:13:37 Validating Without Tech Building an MVP by Hand

00:19:22 Why US Startup Models Don’t Work in Europe

00:23:07 Raising Money Quickly—and the Hidden Costs

00:28:56 Running Out of Cash When COVID Hit

00:32:15 Tough Decisions Layoffs, Sales, and Shutdown

00:37:53 How Big Partnerships Can Sink Your Startup

00:43:41 Staying Optimistic Even When Everything Falls Apart

00:46:38 Crucial Fundraising Advice for Early-Stage Founders

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How do you build a $100B business without hypergrowth or endless funding rounds? Hernan Kazah co-founded Mercado Libre, the Latin American ecommerce giant, at the peak of the dot-com bubble. But when the market crashed, funding disappeared, and competitors doubled down on spending, Mercado Libre focused relentlessly on building a rock-solid, profitable core product—ignoring pressure to chase faster growth. Hernan shares how they turned extreme constraints into a secret weapon, why getting profitable early was a game-changer, and why the biggest businesses are built by doing fewer things, better.

Why You Should Listen

• How Mercado Libre survived going bankrupt by pivoting overnight.
• Why most startups die chasing growth—and what to do instead.
• How to build unstoppable momentum by nailing one thing first.
• The simple test to know if your startup has real product-market fit.
• The one thing all $100B companies do differently.

Keywords

Mercado Libre, product market fit, Hernan Kazah, startup advice, ecommerce growth, marketplace strategy, profitability, venture capital, early-stage startups, Latin America startups

00:00:00 Intro

00:04:07 Why We Chose the eBay Model

00:08:56 The Early Hack That Got Us Our First Users

00:14:23 Raising Money at the Worst Possible Time

00:21:37 Becoming Profitable and Going Public

00:26:34 How Mercado Libre Stayed Patient While Competitors Chased Growth

00:34:05 Why We Expanded Across Latin America From Day One

00:45:11 Our Secret to Winning Against Better-Funded Competitors

00:50:04 The Most Important Advice for Early-Stage Founders

00:52:16 Why AI is Different From the Internet and Mobile Revolutions

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