He pivoted at $1M ARR—then raised $120M. | Kevin Tian, Co-Founder of Doppel

Kevin was building a successful startup in the NFT space. They'd hit $1M ARR. But he looked at the market and realized it wasn't big enough. So he made the terrifying choice to pivot the entire company into cybersecurity.In this episode, Kevin breaks down how he navigated that transition without killing the business. He reveals how he sold his first $5k/month contract with no product, why he raised a massive seed round he didn't need, and how he convinced Andreessen Horowitz to lead his Series A in the middle of a strategic shift.Why You Should ListenHow to pivot from a bad market to a unicorn opportunity.Why he sold a $5k/month contract with zero product.How to raise a Series A from a16z during a pivot.Why you never truly "find" Product Market Fit.The danger of building for a niche market (and how to escape).Keywordsstartup podcast, startup podcast for founders, product market fit, finding pmf, pivot, cybersecurity, crypto startup, a16z, raising series a, Kevin Tian00:00:00 Intro00:02:17 Meeting at Uber and the "Glass Eating" Phase00:07:21 The First Idea00:11:52 Selling the First $5k/Month Contract with No Product00:16:52 The Decision to Pivot at $1M ARR00:29:43 Network Selling to Enterprise Cybersecurity00:32:03 Raising Series A from a16z During a Pivot00:33:36 Why Product Market Fit is Not a One-Time Event00:35:10 Action Produces InsightsSend me a message to let me know what you think!