Design Partners, Paid Pilots, and Free Trials: A Founder’s Guide

Several of our companies have asked us about pilots lately, so we thought we’d organize the insights that we’ve been sharing into a GrowthX Guide. Pilots are one of the most powerful tools in an early-stage B2B founder’s sales strategy. They help validate your product, build credibility, and accelerate sales cycles by demonstrating real-world value …

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Stop Guessing, Start Closing

If you’re like most B2B founders, you’re pitching your startup while you’re still knee-deep running “in-process” experiments. These are hypotheses you’re trying to validate—and often, you’re seeking funding to test them. That’s all well and good, but in 2025 you can’t rely solely on in-process narratives when it comes to raising venture capital. Instead, focus …

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Looking for PMF? First Find Your Why.

“If you really only get dopamine hits from money, than it’s hard to work on hard problems. You need to know your dopamine system; where do you get your dopamine from? Truly understand yourself.” That’s Aravind Srinivas, the founder of Perplexity, during his recent podcast conversation with Lex Fridman. Aravind shared that powerful insight in the context …

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What is Product-Market Fit?

The term “product-market fit” is tossed around with the fervor of a magical incantation. Marc Andreessen stated that achieving product-market fit is the only thing that matters for a new venture. Yet, despite its ubiquitous use, the definition of product-market fit often remains nebulous and subjective. The Hazards of Subjectivity ChatGPT informs us that: “product-market …

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Are you Ready to Raise Capital?

One of the most frequent fundraising questions I get asked is: when should I raise money? It’s a question that doesn’t come with a one-size-fits-all answer. So, how do you know when the time is right? The answer lies in a simple mantra that founders who have met me have heard me say: “When you …

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