1st-time solo founder does 90 interviews in 90 days—closes a $25M Series A 2 years in. | Damien Lewke, Founder of Nebulock

Damien left his job to start a startup solo. Two years later, Nebulock closed a $25M Series A. In between: 90 customer interviews in 90 days, a year of design partners, and a Fortune 500 deal that closed in 6 weeks.

In this episode, Damien breaks down how his 90-in-90 customer discovery sprint killed his original architecture before he wasted money building it, how his design partner program converted 100% into paying customers, and how a POC playbook needing just 2 hours of customer time closed a Fortune 500 in 6 weeks.

Why You Should Listen

• How 90 customer interviews in 90 days saved him from building the wrong product.
• Why every single design partner converted into a paying customer.
• How a 2-hour POC playbook closed a Fortune 500 in just 6 weeks.
• Why procurement—not your champion—decides how fast your deal closes.

Keywords startup podcast, startup podcast for founders, product market fit, finding pmf, cybersecurity startup, solo founder, customer discovery, mom test, design partners, enterprise sales, POC process, AI security, Nebulock, Damien Lewke

Chapters

• 00:00:00 Intro
• 00:01:20 The Moment of True Product Market Fit
• 00:11:33 Going Cold Turkey as a Solo Founder
• 00:23:07 90 Interviews in 90 Days
• 00:36:44 Raising $8.5M Off a Manifesto, Not a Deck
• 00:39:36 Every Design Partner Converted to Paid
• 00:44:00 Building a Repeatable POC Playbook
• 00:48:20 The Procurement Black Hole

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