The journey to Product Market Fit (PMF) and the common pitfalls for first-time founders are abundant, and finding a trusted guide to help you on your startup journey can be just as difficult. Our guest today is Pablo Srugo from Mistral VC . With his roots in co-founding Gymtrack and transitioning to venture capital, Pablo has seen or experienced many of the challenges of being a founder. In our discussion, Pablo highlights the importance of solving real problems and valuing customer feedback. He also dives into the importance of pivoting for startup survival, sharing real-world examples from his investment career. He wraps up by advising founders on balancing the long-term vision with the immediate quest for PMF, emphasizing the integration of customer feedback and market insights into their strategies. About Pablo Srugo: Pablo Srugo is a Partner at Mistral, based in Toronto. Prior to Mistral, Pablo was the co-founder and COO of Gymtrack, a VC-backed startup in the FitTech space. Pablo also co-founded an online tutoring platform, which was acquired in 2014. He also is the host of The Product Market Fit Show . (01:20) Pablo discusses his transition from founding a tutoring marketplace and Gymtrack to venture capital at Mistral VC (04:19) The importance of empathy in venture capital and how his founder experience helps him understand the challenges of reaching milestones like 10K or 50K MRR (06:26) His time as an Entrepreneur in Residence at Invest Ottawa, noting the common challenge startups face in achieving product market fit due to focusing on less significant problems (08:56) Choosing the right early customers and focusing on core business values. (10:57) Pablo’s experience with Gymtrack, discussing the challenges of finding product market fit and how revenue is not the only indicator of success (13:02) The struggle of gaining significant traction and the realization that their solution was not a top priority for their customer (23:35) Founder’s responsibility for achieving product market fit with VCs playing a supportive role (28:12) ADA’s challenges with customer service quality as its user base grew (30:24) The importance for founders to understand customer pain points and get real-time feedback, rather than delegating key roles too early (31:07) The balance of patience and urgency in venture capital, especially when a portfolio company is struggling to find product market fit (33:50) The tendency of founders, especially first-timers, to rush into building products without fully understanding the market or customer needs. (35:39) Why Minimum Viable Products (MVP) should deliver real value rather than being a half-finished product (41:16) Pablo shares his love for learning about the origin stories of companies like DuPont and FedEx, and the importance of understanding the journey to product market fit (42:00) The power of being a resilient “founder cockroach” Fast Favorites: 🎙- Favorite Podcast: My First Million 📰- Favorite Newsletter / Blog: Stratechery 📲- Favorite Tech Gadget: Airpods 📈-  Favorite New Trend: AR and AI 📚- Favorite Book: Man's Search for Meaning 🤔 - Favorite Life Lesson: The only thing that matters is meaningful work and meaningful relationships plus good health Follow Matt Cohen and Tank Talks here! Podcast production support provided by Agentbee.ai