Yoav Vilner says Walnut's Product Hunt and LinkedIn launch drove its waitlist, which grew to 700 people before its seed round.
Vilner says the We are Prospect video drew millions of organic LinkedIn views without mentioning Walnut, showing that buyers' shared frustration can sell a product.
Vilner advises founders to raise in tough markets because there is no right timing, and to avoid enterprise deals at $200,000 annual contract value while startups still lose money to win logos.
Walnut Went From Idea to Series B on a Viral Launch
Walnut, an interactive demo company started in August 2020, went from idea to Series B in 12 to 18 months. It validated a real sales pain with sales leaders before building, launched loudly, and let a brand-free video make buyers recognise the problem themselves. Vilner says the inbound demand that followed let the company win big logos and raise in quick succession.
Takeaways
Broken sales demos gave Walnut its start. Vilner and his co-founder both saw product demos crash, from the sales and buying sides. They built a stripped-down drag-and-drop editor for customizable screens, disconnected from the back end. Pandemic lockdowns, which kept salespeople from meeting clients in person, helped the timing.
Customer interviews built a 700-person waitlist before funding. Before raising, Walnut interviewed 60 or 70 sales leaders one-on-one and grew a waitlist of 700 people. The first $2.5m seed batch was led by NFX, with angels including the Wix CEO, and was later extended to $6 or 7m.
A loud launch beat staying in stealth. Vilner says the Product Hunt and LinkedIn launch fed the waitlist, and some publications called it the most viral product launch of 2020. He tells founders to decide whether market education helps them, and to accept that rivals will follow.
A video without branding drew millions of views. The We are Prospect video, which never mentioned Walnut, drew millions of organic LinkedIn views because buyers recognised their own frustrations with B2B sales processes. It asked viewers to sign up for more content. Low-budget cat-versus-lion ads reinforced the message.
Choose design partners you can truly help. Walnut onboarded design partners from its waitlist, including Fortune 100 companies and startups. Vilner says to pick partners you can add real value for, since customers with nothing to lose waste time and money. He advises against opening enterprise deals at $200,000 annual contract value.
Walnut sells to companies with finished products. Mockup tools like InVision create things that do not exist yet, while Walnut serves companies such as Adobe, Dell, Equifax and Medallia with built products. Vilner would not claim it doubled sales. Growth from zero to $2m ARR was mostly inbound.
Leadership quality matters most in fast growth. Walnut raised a $15m Series A in mid-2021, led by Eight Roads, and reached Series B within 12 to 18 months. Vilner says a strong early leadership team matters most, and a CEO should not expect employees to fix daily fires.
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