A Product Market Fit Show | Startup Podcast for Founders
00:40:21 · Pablo Srugo, Keith Peiris
[00:40:21] S1: Tell me a bit more about, because it goes back to this kind of marketing product thing. That's the marketing side, but the product, the video, what makes a great video? Like, you know, tell me a bit more about that. So if I'm thinking about making one and I just haven't done it, I mean, obviously, I'm going to watch some videos and stuff, but what should I be thinking about? [00:40:35] S0: I think you just have to have a really detailed sense of the aha moment in your product. And it's funny, it's the same problem with activation, right? You know, if someone goes through your product, like, how do you get them to the aha moment quickly? I think it's the same thing with the video. You're like, okay, unless I'm making like a, you know, like a world model or a video product, you know, I'm building a productivity tool. You know, it isn't going to be as exciting necessarily, you know, the best stuff on X today, but what is that moment of emotional resonance? What is that moment of, oh, this is neat, you know, and you have to talk to your customers. They probably won't be able to tell you exactly what it is, you know, and you're going to have to like take it and think about it and figure out like, how do I do a cut scene of this product such that I can get it to shine for the five seconds that someone stares at this thing? [00:41:30] S1: Maybe, what did you end up with, for example, for your product? Like what, out of one of the videos, like tell me just a little bit more just to make it tangible.
00:41:36 · Keith Peiris
[00:41:36] S0: For our ICP at the time, we were like, you just made a product that people love. You haven't figured out how to sell it. That was sort of the angle we wanted to go at, you know, and I think these things all fit together. Our video was actually about a founder. You know, he was building a piece of software to sell the construction companies. We went through the like, the sort of like emotional arc of his first sales call, the guy ignores him. His second sales call sort of gets told to come back next quarter. He just hasn't figured out how to sell this thing yet, even though he knows that his customers love it. And we were like, how can Lightfield tap into this and help him solve this problem? So in the journey of the story, he's like sitting there with his co-founder querying Lightfield. Eventually, Lightfield was like, have you thought about framing the problem this way in your discovery calls? It's funny. It's just a chat interaction. There's like nothing flashy about it, right? But if you're a founder going through that, you're like, wait a minute. That is the revelatory moment that I've been waiting for for the past few months. And we found like showing the product as a friend or a tool that you can use to figure out that unlock. It's funny. We showed it to a founder in the office one day and sort of tears came into his eyes. And we were like, oh, this is it. You know, this is the sort of thing that we have to like build the video around.
00:42:59 · Pablo Srugo, Keith Peiris
[00:42:59] S1: How much do you worry about the first five seconds, the first 10 seconds just to get somebody even giving you a chance to watch the whole video and get to that moment? [00:43:07] S0: Honestly, we didn't worry about him that much. We were like, we just need to make a compelling story that goes somewhere and a post that makes people curious. [00:43:17] S1: It's not the classic, like if you listen to people do like, you know, YouTube short form type videos, like they'll tell you, like if you don't hook somebody in the first two seconds, you know, nobody cares about, you know, second 30, nobody's watching. So it's a different kind of viewpoint on it. [00:43:30] S0: Yeah. And it was funny, I think, you know, part of it is we tried, my co-founder, Henry, was really instrumental in this. We tried doing the version where you, it became like sizzly in five, 10 seconds and then it just like wasn't a compelling story, you know, and we were like, actually, we should just focus on making this a compelling story. You know, whatever happens, happens, which is kind of a funny mindset, right? And I think in many, many ways, it's sort of how you can run a startup. All you can do is build the best product you can, work as hard as you can, right? You know, whatever happens, happens with the market. And I think that was sort of our view with the video as well.
00:43:30 · Keith Peiris, Pablo Srugo
[00:43:30] S0: Yeah. And it was funny, I think, you know, part of it is we tried, my co-founder, Henry, was really instrumental in this. We tried doing the version where you, it became like sizzly in five, 10 seconds and then it just like wasn't a compelling story, you know, and we were like, actually, we should just focus on making this a compelling story. You know, whatever happens, happens, which is kind of a funny mindset, right? And I think in many, many ways, it's sort of how you can run a startup. All you can do is build the best product you can, work as hard as you can, right? You know, whatever happens, happens with the market. And I think that was sort of our view with the video as well. [00:44:08] S1: Keith, well, that's a great point to end. Let me ask the question we tend to end on, which is, what's like the top piece of advice you would give an early stage founder that is looking for product market fit still? [00:44:18] S0: I would give a hot take, which is that, you know, I think everyone says, keep talking to customers, keep finding what your users care about. I think a startup is a deeply personal thing. And I think the most valuable thing I've learned in the past few years is you have to build a company, a product and service that you love and that moves you emotionally so that you can work on it every single waking hour. And if you are that obsessed about something, it turns out that there will be customers in the world that are as obsessed as you. So I was thinking, like, like really connect it to, is this what you want to do?
00:44:18 · Keith Peiris, Pablo Srugo
[00:44:18] S0: I would give a hot take, which is that, you know, I think everyone says, keep talking to customers, keep finding what your users care about. I think a startup is a deeply personal thing. And I think the most valuable thing I've learned in the past few years is you have to build a company, a product and service that you love and that moves you emotionally so that you can work on it every single waking hour. And if you are that obsessed about something, it turns out that there will be customers in the world that are as obsessed as you. So I was thinking, like, like really connect it to, is this what you want to do? [00:44:53] S1: Perfect. Well, Keith, appreciate having you on the show, man. It's been great. [00:44:56] S0: Thank you. Great, great being here. [00:44:58] S1: Listen, when you go to like a restaurant, you eat a nice, you know, meal, maybe a fancy one, maybe not. Do you leave a tip? I assume you probably leave a tip. You probably leave a tip 100% of the time. Well, guess what? A review is just like a tip and I know you haven't been leaving one. So just like the waiter that doesn't get a tip after hours of great service, I'm getting a little frustrated. So take your phone out and leave a review. It helps the show move up rankings. It helps us get better guests. It doesn't just help me. It helps way more founders. Thank you.