How to move from a job to your first startup
Do you know that one of the most successful startup builders has worked a full-time corporate job? Many succeeded with their startups even before quitting their job. The secret sauce is to not waste your money and efforts on stuff that won't work. Let's talk about what to focus on if you want to launch your startup with any chances for success.
I spent the last decade building and scaling startups as a product manager and researcher across six industries worldwide.
Which was when I realized:
→ The lifeblood of any business hinges on its product market fit.
Yet, most founders ignore it or have no idea how to achieve a profitable product market fit.
The result?
Wasting over 2 years building a product that no one wants
Burning >$200k while developing the wrong product
Launching products that gather dust on the shelf
Given my passion for all strategic things, I quickly jumped to solve this problem. Today, I have helped:
- Build Eastern Europe's top mental health marketplace with $7+ million ARR, 1,500 therapists, and 70,000 clients.
- A UK electric vehicle manufacturer reach a valuation of $13 billion when it went public and facilitated the pre-sale of 59,000 vans to UPS, a major logistics and package delivery company.
- Play a key role in scaling a B2B SaaS platform for retail SMEs to achieve $30 million in annual turnover.
(And these are just a few of my results) 42% of startups fail because they lack product-market fit.
Many new entrepreneurs (especially side hustlers) waste time on things that don’t actually get them clients. Based on 12+ years of experience building marketing systems that scale, I’ll break down exactly what works—and what’s just noise—when it comes to growing a B2B business.
This session will help you:
- Understand what really matters in early-stage marketing (so you don’t waste months spinning your wheels).
- Avoid common marketing mistakes that slow growth.
- Learn simple, repeatable strategies to attract clients and grow—without burning out.
- Decide where to focus your limited time, budget, and energy for maximum results.
Whether you’re a freelancer, consultant, or service-based entrepreneur, this session will help you build smarter, not harder.
Building a side hustle or business is challenging! I'll share the roadmap to your first customer and then all the way to your first $10K. We'll cover everything from pricing, branding, sales and marketing.
Utilizing the theme of the conference, we will dive into capturing your idea, refining what problem you plan to solve with your idea, defining your customer base, discovering your niche in the market, and then developing simple pricing structures that are fair to you and your customers. All of this will be done by oversimplifying your ideas to then use as a framework for what will become your detailed business plans for investors, partners, or even just yourself! These principles are meant to be a guiding light for you to stay true to your goals, and how you can help the world be a better place to live.
