Alexander Berger, COO of Bolt.new, is one of the most humble founders I've talked to. Two things from our conversation really stuck with me.
They spent four years with under $1M ARR before the breakthrough. How many of us would keep going that long?
Their original 7 employees, including Alex, stayed together the entire time.
Having tried to build a product myself, I know how hard retention is. Some of these people were probably making minimum wage. Holding a team together through four years of near-zero traction, saying no to every temptation elsewhere, before any sign it would work, is by itself an unbelievable feat.
The $40M ARR story gets all the attention, but I think the real story is those four quiet years before it.
Alexander Berger, COO of Bolt.new, is one of the most humble founders I've talked to. Two things from our conversation really stuck with me.
They spent four years with under $1M ARR before the breakthrough. How many of us would keep going that long?
Their original 7 employees, including Alex, stayed together the entire time.
Having tried to build a product myself, I know how hard retention is. Some of these people were probably making minimum wage. Holding a team together through four years of near-zero traction, saying no to every temptation elsewhere, before any sign it would work, is by itself an unbelievable feat.
The $40M ARR story gets all the attention, but I think the real story is those four quiet years before it.
quite a journey indeed.