The Founder's Gambit

Sean and Dan met at IBM out of college, spent 15 years working together, and kept seeing the same problem: customers churning with zero warning. In 2023 they quit to build QuadSci, an AI that reads product usage data and predicts which customers will leave or expand 12 to 18 months before it happens. Three years later they’ve raised an $8M Series A, grow 5X year over year, run everything with 37 people, and no customer has ever turned the AI off. In this episode, they break down how they won enterprise customers with no product, why they run as co-CEOs, and why they don’t charge until the AI proves itself.What we cover:- 15 years of working together before starting a company- Why ChatGPT’s launch made the business possible- “Telemetry is truth”: why usage data predicts churn better than what customers say- Finding 90% of churn and 92% of expansion 12–18 months early- How they prove it works: rewinding the model a year to show what it would have predicted- Landing $100M+ ARR customers as an unknown startup- Early hires: people who’ve won in a bank, a tech company, and a startup- Why co-CEOs works, and why staying flat makes them faster- 37 people, 2 in support, everyone else building or selling- Investors who doubled as advisors, board members, and customer intros- Free until it works: where performance-based pricing is going- The churn signal most founders have but can’t act on early enough- Why you should still finish your CS degree in the age of AIKey takeaway: Solve a real problem, prove it works before asking for money, and let trust compound. It’s the only moat that survives everyone innovating at once.QuadSci: https://quadsci.ai/

Oskar Block made $1M ARR at 18 building sports-betting models, walked away because it didn't feel meaningful, joined McKinsey to hunt for a real problem, and left the week before Christmas to build AI agents for patent litigation. Six months later, Stilta had gone from $18K to $102K ARR in two weeks during YC and raised $10.5M from Andreessen Horowitz. In this episode, he breaks down exactly how he got into YC with no product, closed customers in the most conservative industry on earth, and turned a $3M raise into $10.5M.What we cover:- How he built a $1M ARR sports-betting business at 18 (and why he quit it)- Treating McKinsey as a 5% startup research job: the questions he asked in every expert interview- Why he picked patents, an industry everyone thinks is boring- Getting into YC with no product, no customers, and no revenue- Why four co-founders works (and the acquisition that taught him people matter more than product)- Missing his YC revenue target three times in a row, then going $18K → $102K ARR in two weeks- The anti-selling trick that cut his sales cycle from months to weeks- Manual LinkedIn outbound that actually converts in a conservative industry- 150 investor meetings in 9 days: how he scheduled them to build momentum- Why he told investors he was raising $3M, not $10M- FOMO as the most important tool in fundraising, and how the first term sheet triggered the rest- Why he chose a16z over higher valuations- The comfort trap after raising too much moneyKey takeaway: Find the bottleneck, solve it, move to the next one. Set targets that feel impossible, because getting halfway there every two weeks compounds into more than you thought possible.🔗 Links:Stilta: https://stilta.com/Oskar on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oskarblock/

A girl cancelled their dinner reservation the day of. Rather than eat the $100 cancellation fee, Jeff Wulkan built an app to find a replacement, then quit a 20-year aviation career and put $250,000 of his own money into it. Today Plus One is adding roughly 7,000 users a month on a lean budget, 60% of them organic, while marketing in exactly one state.What we cover:- The cancelled date that started it and the text he sent her six months later- Why he flipped the script on dating apps: plans first, profiles second- Leaving a 20-year career in aviation to go all in on a first tech company$250K of his own money, and the $100K family-office check that finally came- Why cold emails to investors are a waste and warm intros are the only door- The "investor" who offered $500K and turned out to be facing a $300M embezzlement suit- 60% organic vs 40% Meta ads: what's actually driving the growth- Why he refuses to market in New York until Florida is dense enough- Firing his dev team, and the one thing he'd tell any non-technical founder hiring devs- Why you can't vibe-code a real product and what a single good engineer with AI replaces- Monetizing businesses instead of users: sponsored ideas, Ticketmaster affiliates, and why the app stays free- Only three things get you banned and why humans, not algorithms, make the callKey takeaway: Build density before reach. One city with real users beats ten cities with none and the money follows the people, not the other way around.🔗 Links:Plus One: https://joinplus1.com/Instagram: @plus1_app

Deven walked away from Amazon to build his own thing. Two years later, his product Supergrow serves 1,000+ customers across 53 countries, and one lifetime deal launch brought in $65K in just a couple of days. In this episode, he breaks down how he escaped big tech, found his first paying customers, and built a team of 7 without losing the freedom he quit for.What we cover:- Why he traded an Amazon salary for freedom (and the moment that proved it was worth it)- The LTD launch that made $65K in days, and turned 200+ strangers into cheerleaders- How doing everything solo for 2 years almost killed the freedom he quit for- His hiring pitch that beats big tech money: "learn to build your own company on ours"- Why his best employee leaving to start her own company is a feature, not a bug- The bad hire that had him sleeping 2-3 hours a night (and what it exposed)- "Postcasts" — how AI interviews you to pull real stories out of your head- Why AI made content worse, but standing out is actually easier now- The ghostwriter insight worth $5-10K/month: writing is easy, extraction is hard- How commenting on influencers' posts landed his first 10 customers- Why he treats churn like a gym membership, and which segment he ignores it for- The one growth rule he swears by: find one channel that works, then double downKey takeaway: If AI can write everything, your only moat is what it can't invent, your real stories and insights. Extract them, publish them, and the algorithm will reward you.🔗 Links:Supergrow: https://www.supergrow.aiDeven on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/devenbhooshan/

Tibo Maker sold two companies for $8M, then did the opposite of what everyone expected. Today he makes $1M+/month from five small SaaS products, fully bootstrapped, with zero outside funding. In this episode, he reveals exactly how he builds, validates, and scales products without ever raising a dollar.What we cover:- Why two startups failed before anything worked (and the ego trap that killed them)- Why raising money is "fake validation" — and his rule to never do it again- The 2-day build rule that stops founders from over-building forever- Validating vs. selling — why most founders get the early game backwards- How the Outrank pivot turned a plain blog writer into a $1M+ product- Why he deliberately went smaller after an 8-figure exit- The "co-maker" model: he runs distribution, his partners build- Why SEO isn't dead — it just changed shape for the AI era- The two compounding assets he'd invest in way earlier if he started over- What a 200k+ following actually gets you (and the ~$10k/mo ceiling where it stops)- Why you pick 1-2 acquisition channels and go all in instead of spreading thinKey takeaway: Don't fall in love with your idea, fall in love with the user's problem. Build fast, validate honestly, charge early, and let revenue tell the truth.🔗 Links:Tibo's newsletter (70k+ readers): https://tmaker.io

Senior developer Ilija reveals he writes ZERO lines of code anymore and ships 4x faster than before. In this episode, he breaks down exactly how AI transformed his entire development workflow and what it means for the industry.What we cover:- How his team went "full AI" and stopped manual coding completely- The meta-workspace setup that manages multiple codebases- Why token costs hit $200 in 4 days (and how they fixed it)- The junior developer crisis: 50-60% fewer job openings- Why big corporations are backtracking on AI investments- His workflow: 80% prompting, 20% reviewing, 0% coding- The skill decay problem when AI does everything- Why founders expect miracles after building with V0/Lovable- Environmental costs nobody talks about (data centers poisoning water)- Soft skills vs hard skills in the AI eraKey takeaway: The industry is split into two camps: those adapting to AI-first development and those getting left behind. Technical skills matter less, context engineering and soft skills matter more.

Andris Reinman makes $14,000/month with zero employees selling software he gives away for free. In this episode, he reveals exactly how he turned his open source email library into a profitable solo business.What we cover:• How he monetized 10milion+ weekly NodeMailer downloads• The license key pivot that changed everything• Why he rejected VC money and whale customers• His "download, don't host" business model• The Apple customer who paid with a credit card• Living off savings while revenue grew linearly• How AI killed his traffic but boosted his customer base• Why he soft-deletes features instead of maintaining them• Solo founder work-life boundaries (no laptop vacations)Key takeaway: Don't build what customers want, build what they'll pay for. Same technology, different packaging, zero employees required.🔗 Links:Email Engine: https://emailengine.appNodeMailer: https://nodemailer.comAndris on GitHub: https://github.com/andris9/

Taylor Jacobson (10-year CEO of Focusmate, 12M+ sessions across 175 countries) reveals why procrastination isn't laziness, it's your nervous system protecting you, and how he turned this insight into a virtual co-working platform that's changing how millions work.What we cover:• Why procrastination is actually your body being smart• The nervous system science behind focus vs. fight/flight• How "body doubling" taps into tribal human psychology• From life coach to 12+ million productivity sessions• Why he walked away from VC money during the pandemic• Building a "missionary culture" with a remote team• The exact productivity hacks that actually work• How to break down tasks like you're delegating to a computer• Why human connection will become more valuable as AI grows• The future of focus in an increasingly distracted worldKey takeaway: Focus isn't a mental problem; it's a nervous system state. When your body feels safe (through routine, structure, and human presence), blood flows to your brain, and you can actually get things done.🔗 Links:• Taylor on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylorjacobson/• Try Focusmate: focusmate.com

Paul Chiappetta (2-time exited founder, Fractional CTO) reveals how OpenClaw transformed his business operations and shares a conspiracy theory about Claude that might explain why security breaches are increasing across the internet.What we cover:- Why it's the worst time ever to build a startup- The exact OpenClaw workflow that replaced my intern- From 4% to 19% reply rate: the complete breakdown- Paul's shocking Claude Mythos conspiracy theory- Why "productivity for productivity's sake" is dangerous- The hidden cost of AI development nobody discusses- Entry-level engineering jobs disappearing- Why founders are burning out faster than ever- The flow state trap that consumes developers- Building in public vs building moats in the AI eraKey takeaway: AI makes you incredibly productive, but don't be greedy. Stay human in the loop, validate everything, and focus on what actually moves your business forward.🔗 Links:Paul on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-chiappetta/Paul's Substack: https://wolfcto.substack.com/Wolf CTO: https://wolf-cto.com/

Dan Mindru has shipped 15+ products and found a way to build them in days, not months. In this episode, he breaks down his exact AI workflow that lets him go from idea to deployed product overnight.What we cover:- How he codes products while sleeping (AI night shift method)- Why most developers fail at shipping (and how to fix it)- The wedding app he built in 1 week between our calls- Docker sandboxes for safe AI coding- Why he never kills failed products- Building community around maker projects- Morning Maker Show insights from 3 years of contentKey takeaway: Stop overthinking the technical brilliance. Ship fast, validate with real users, and let AI handle the repetitive work.🔗 Links:- Dan's latest project: https://pageai.pro/- Morning Maker Show: https://www.youtube.com/@MorningMakerShow- Dan on X: https://x.com/d4m1n