It took him 7 years to hit $1M ARR—now his $1B public company does $1M every day. | Noah Glass, Founder of Olo

In 2005 most people didn't even have cellphones yet. Those who did used flip phones. That's when Noah started Olo, a webapp to let people pre-order coffee from nearby shops. Users had to login on web, add a credit card, create pre-made orders and then send a text to a preset number when they wanted to pre-order. It was way, way ahead of its time. Noah and his team 7 years to hit $1M in ARR. In the meantime, they raised a round with 50% dilution the week before the financial crisis, went on live TV to an audience on 6M viewers and had to pivot from a marketplace to B2B SaaS.But overtime smartphone penetration increased, on-demand ordering became a trend, and then, one day, Starbucks launched their app. All of a sudden, every single restaurant in the world wanted a way to let their users pre-order.And there was Noah and his team at Olo.Today, Olo is a public company worth over $1B and generating nearly $300M in sales. Here's the story of how it happened.Why you should listen:How to use guerrilla marketing tactics to get early growth.Why PR can move the needle but not in ways you expect. How to pivot from a marketplace to B2B SaaS.Why it often takes much longer than you might hope to hit an inflection point.Why fundraising was so hard, even though Olo became a $1B+ public company. Why Noah thinks founders should embrace challenges and adversity.KeywordsOlo, Noah Glass, entrepreneurship, product-market fit, restaurant technology, mobile ordering, startup journey, business challenges, marketing strategies, innovationTimestamps:(00:00:00) Intro(00:02:20) Building an app in 2005(00:13:20) The Burn the Boats Moment(00:16:31) Building A Network Business(00:26:08) The Cold Start Problem(00:30:33) A Happy Accident(00:36:55) Going through the 2008 Financial Crisis(00:51:20) Finding Product Market Fit(00:57:20) Blueprint of Values(01:05:11) Best Piece of Advice(01:06:08) A Big MilestoneSend me a message to let me know what you think!