🎧 The Startup Growth Podcast, Ep. 2: Harsh Patel — $0 to $165M: How Harsh Patel Built and Sold 3 Companies (and What He’d Do Differently)

Harsh Patel is a repeat founder, investor, and board member who has built and sold multiple companies, including MakerSquare, Hack Reactor, and Galvanize, which had a $165 million exit. With experience scaling businesses from zero to one, finding product-market fit, and navigating M&A, Harsh has seen it all.In this conversation, we discuss:The hardest part of startup growth: Going from nothing to product-market fitHow Harsh hacked early distribution to get first customersThe rapid scale and exit of MakerSquare in under a yearWhat made Hack Reactor grow from $1M to $8M in revenue so quicklyHow to know when to sell your startupThe future of crypto and AI, and why meme coins might be the next big thingWhy Harsh believes company equity will eventually live on the blockchainAnd much more!Brought to you by:Fondo — The #1 accounting platform for startups. Get bookkeeping, taxes, and tax credits handled: TryFondo.comWhere to Find Harsh PatelX (Twitter): @HarshOnInternetLinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/harshpatel1Website: https://hpatel.comWhere to Find Dav J PhillipsX (Twitter): @davjLinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/davjphillipsIn This Episode, We Cover(00:00) Welcome and introduction(02:15) The challenge of finding product-market fit(06:40) Harsh’s first startup experiences in second grade and beyond(14:20) How he got the first users for MakerSquare using Quora(22:10) Scaling MakerSquare to $1M revenue in 8 months and selling(30:45) Growth lessons from Hack Reactor’s rapid scale to $8M revenue(41:00) Why Hack Reactor sold to Galvanize and what changed(50:35) Turning around Galvanize and selling for $165M(1:02:10) How startups might raise money through on-chain tokenized equity(1:14:00) Crypto, meme coins, and the future of decentralized businesses(1:22:30) Final thoughts and lessons for foundersReferenced in This EpisodeMakerSquare acquisition by Hack Reactor: TechCrunchHack Reactor and Galvanize $165M exit: ForbesQuora's role in early startup growth: QuoraPump.fun: The rise of meme coins and tokenized businesses: Pump.funTrump launching a meme coin and its regulatory implications: BloombergThe future of AI in startups: OpenAI