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Dan Moore
Co-Founder @Tarka | AI for GTM
I partner with entrepreneurs to create their next B2B SaaS company, fast. Repeat founders come to me excited about their big app idea that they don’t have the time or focus to take to market. They choose to work with me because I have the expertise and experience taking ideas from 0-1 while not wasting time or money.
I start with the problem they’re trying to solve, validate market-pull with early adopters who guide us to build the right product while we develop the repeatable sales process to get to impressive ARR traction as quickly as possible.
As a result, my partners can quickly fundraise and hire a dedicated team to disrupt a market and become the CEO of a scaling SaaS business.
Highlights
We landed our first 9 customers at tarka without a product. Here's our 6-step process founders can use to create irresistible pilot product offers:
If you've done the hard work of validating your value proposition, awesome! But next up is the real test: turning that value into a tangible pilot offer.
OUR STEPS:
- Start with the end in mind.
Map out the user journey that leads to the value you're promising. Don't just think about it - document it.
- Think manual, not scalable.
I know, I know. It goes against everything you've heard. But trust me on this. Figure out how to deliver that value without building anything. Yes, you read that right.
- Test willingness to pay.
Even if it loses money initially. This isn't about profit (yet). It's about validation.
- Price it right.
If you're anchoring on cost, go 10x cheaper than alternatives. Time-wise, price it like you're hiring an intern to do it manually. Quality-wise, match a competitor's price.
- Create options.
Have a small offer, a large offer, and something in between. Give your potential customers choices. Price wise I create 1x, 2.5x and 5x to bucket perceived value and see where specific prospects land.
- List your requirements/exceptions/conditions/weaknesses.
Put the toughest ones first. You WANT them to say no if it's not a fit.
ONCE YOU DO THIS, DOCUMENT EVERYTHING IN A PILOT DECK THAT INCLUDES:
• The problem you're solving • The pilot value you're delivering • The general pilot process • Your call-out requirements • The different versions of your pilot • Your pilot discount (we recommend 50% off for your first few)
HOW IT HELPED US:
We grew Tarka to 9 paying customers and ~$20K ARR before writing code.
TAKEAWAY FOR YOU:
The idea isn't to create the perfect, scalable solution immediately. It's about learning and proving that people are willing to pay for the problem you're solving.
I've personally sold over $10M in services to founders. Now I'm building Tarka to make myself obsolete and here's why it excites me:
For the past decade, I've been helping founders looking to validate their ideas and find product-market fit. It's been a great ride.
But here's the thing: I've always felt like I was just putting a band-aid on a bigger problem.
Founders shouldn't need to hire expensive consultants like me to know if they're building the right thing. They shouldn't have to spend months (or years) groping in the dark, hoping they find the right market.
That's why I'm building tarka, an AI tool that automates the customer discovery process.
It turns your LinkedIn profile into a recruiter for customer interviews, automatically reaching out to your target audience and scheduling calls. Plus, it preps you for these calls and helps extract key insights afterwards.
It's like having a mini-me in your pocket, helping you recruit the right people for interviews and extract the insights you need.
Is it perfect yet? Not even close. We're still doing most of the work manually for our early customers.
But every day, we're learning. Iterating. Getting closer to a solution that could make my consulting services obsolete.
And guess what, I'm thrilled about it.
By getting this right, we're democratizing the startup process. We're giving every founder a fighting chance to build something people actually want.
I'm actively working to disrupt my own business model. It's risky, and a bit nerve-wracking. But it's also the most exciting thing I've ever done.
Because at the end of the day, preserving my consulting gig is a boring goal. I'm kicked about enabling as many founders as possible to build great products and change the world.
Am I crazy, or is this the kind of disruption we need in the startup world?
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Mesh works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Mesh offers several powerful features including:
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Mesh is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
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Mesh is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Mesh offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Mesh's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Mesh has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Mesh is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Mesh beneficial.
Mesh offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Mesh offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Mesh's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
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Yes. Mesh offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
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