#132 Ohad Shaked, ThinkUp: Validate First, Build Later and Fundraise With Proof

Ohad Shaked, co founder and CEO of ThinkUp, explains how his early IoT startup spent months chasing the right vertical and customer, and how that frustration led him to build a digital accelerator for first time founders. ThinkUp focuses on the pre revenue phase and guides founders step by step through customer research, interviews, assumption testing, market and competitor analysis, value proposition, go to market strategy, pitch deck, and a realistic financial model.Ohad’s core message is that founders waste time by rushing to build. Instead, they should respect the process, obsess over the customer, and validate demand early. He shares strong validation signals such as real urgency, budget already allocated, bringing more stakeholders into the conversation, and the ultimate proof: willingness to pay.On fundraising, Ohad says investors want evidence of customer discovery, a focused and defensible value proposition, credible market sizing, competitive advantage, and founders who understand the investor perspective and can plan milestones for the next couple of years. The conversation also covers founder mindset, delegation, and the fine line between stamina and stubbornness, plus how AI is both an accelerator for research and a pressure on generic SaaS defensibility.About Ohad Shaked:- https://www.linkedin.com/in/ohad-shaked111/- http://www.thinkup.global/About Federico Ramallo ✨👨‍💻🌎🚀 Software Engineering Manager | 🛠 Founder of DensityLabs.io & PreVetted.ai | 🤝 Connecting 🇺🇸 U.S. teams with top nearshore 🌎 LATAM engineers- 💼 https://www.linkedin.com/in/framallo/- 🌐 https://densitylabs.io- ✅ https://prevetted.ai🎙 PreVetted Podcast 🎧📡- 🎯 https://prevetted.ai/podcast- 🐦 https://x.com/PrevettedPod- 🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/company/prevetted-podcast00:59 What Does Ohad Do Today?01:38 The Frustration That Led to ThinkUp02:45 Understanding the Startup Journey for First-Time Founders04:29 The Ideation Phase and Problem Breakdown05:42 Customer Research and Validation Techniques06:51 Common Mistakes: Rushing to Build08:10 How to Avoid Overbuilding and Validate Demand09:42 The Importance of Early Customer Feedback11:35 Case Study: Dropbox Validation Strategy12:31 Valuable Signals for Market Demand14:29 Willingness to Pay as Validation14:46 Can Entrepreneurs Be Made? The Growth Mindset16:18 Focus on Customer Needs for Success16:36 Running a Startup as a Continuous Learning Process17:32 Balancing Ego and Reality in Entrepreneurship18:44 Knowing When to Pivot or Persist19:28 The Emotional Side of Founding a Startup20:26 Detaching Emotions to Make Better Decisions21:03 Delegating to Reduce Stress and Increase Impact21:48 The Role of AI in Modern Startups22:31 AI as a Market Research and Competitive Tool23:35 Deep Tech and Foundation Models in AI Strategy24:11 Build vs Buy in AI Technologies25:25 Founders and AI: Strategy and Practical Use26:33 Preparing for Investor Meetings: What Matters Most28:58 A Success Story: AI Mentors and Market Validation30:23 Scaling and Building a Business Framework32:12 Lessons from Experience and Mistakes33:23 Pivoting and Customer Feedback in Product Development35:03 Achieving Product-Market Fit Through User Insights36:44 Pricing Strategies and Competitive Positioning37:26 Advice to Younger Self and Future Entrepreneurs38:35 The Role of Mistakes in Personal and Business Growth