Check out SmartLing: https://www.smartling.com & their CEO Bryan Murphy https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryanmurphy2/

Side note to Founders -->

🤔 VCs not responding to you?

I’ll review your deck & send you a detailed video with my actionable recommendations:

Submit here: https://airtable.com/appBXetKIMsy5r3bE/pagQlrExmVx38bk6W/form

😌 1 (of many) Top Insights From The Episode:

🔑 “Tie your product-market fit journey to measurable outcomes.”

- A vague vision isn’t enough. Your product roadmap must link directly to clear, trackable KPIs that matter to your customer.

🔑 1. “Obsess over the customer’s job to be done.”

Don’t build what’s interesting to you—build what solves a real problem for the customer.

“We literally brought mechanics into our office, gave them coffee and donuts, showed them wireframes, and just listened.”

🔑 “Cheaper isn’t always better—especially when your buyer has a budget to spend.”

Brian pitched AI translation as "same quality, half the cost."

But users pushed back:

“I don’t want to lose half my budget—I just want to get more done with it.”

So they changed the message from "cut costs" to "translate 10x more with the same budget."

🧠 Insight: Understand your customer's incentives, not just their needs. Sometimes saving money isn’t the win—they want to justify the budget they already have.

OVERVIEW:

02:00 - AutoZone rejects WHI idea: “No one will buy auto parts online”

05:20 - How they validated the idea with mechanics

09:35 - Building WHI’s MVP and early testing

12:50 - Key product insights from eBay

17:30 - Messaging mistake: Users didn’t want to save money

21:50 - How to define a real North Star and tie it to KPIs

26:15 - Making tough product decisions with limited data

30:45 - Final advice: Focus on the job to be done, make it a step change, and be first-ish

32:30 - Closing and how to connect with Brian and Adam