His 1st startup failed. His 2nd became a unicorn in just 18 months. | Jake Stauch, Founder of Serval

Jake founded Serval in April 2024— by Dec 2025 he'd raised a $75M Series B from Sequoia at a $1B valuation.He didn't look for a "wedge" or a "niche." He looked at ServiceNow—a $160B, 20+ year-old incumbent that everyone IT team relies on—and rebuilt it from the ground up in a YEAR. In this episode, Jake reveals the audacity behind building a full-platform replacement from Day 1, why he spent months building in the dark with zero revenue, and how he achieved a 50% demo-to-close rate on six-figure enterprise deals.Why You Should ListenHow to go from incorporation to a $1B valuation in just 18 months.The psychological shift in sales calls that proves PMF.How to build a demo so compelling that 50% buy on the spot.Why you no longer need to find a small wedge to win post Gen AI.The specific question that stops customers from giving you generic feedback.Keywordsstartup podcast, startup podcast for founders, hypergrowth, zero to one, unicorn startup, Sequoia Capital, replacing legacy software, enterprise sales strategy, ServiceNow competitor, Jake Stauch00:00:00 Intro00:03:25 Why "Hair on Fire" Problems Matter00:06:58 Learning What Winning Feels Like at Verkada00:14:05 100+ Customer Discovery Calls00:18:12 The One Question That Unlocks Real Pain00:23:48 Why No-Code Workflows Fail00:28:45 Taking Risks on AI Model Improvements00:35:49 From $0 to Six-Figure ACVs in 6 Months00:39:00 The Strategy to Rip and Replace ServiceNow00:47:30 The "Rounding Up" Signal of PMFSend me a message to let me know what you think!