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He built a $4B unicorn & crossed $100M ARR—here's why it took 10 years of 100-hour weeks. | Martin Basiri, Founder of Passage & Applyboard (SaaS North Keynote)
Description
I interviewed Martin on the keynote stage at the SaaS North conference. Here is the audio version. Martin built Applyboard into a $4B unicorn doing $100M+ in ARR. He left and started a new startup called Passage— and raised a $40M seed round.
He talks about 100-hour weeks, hiring exceptional talent, why smaller teams can outperform—and why he decided to start all over again.
Why you should listen:
- Why great founders thrive in high-stress situations-- on "the edge of failure" as Martin calls it.
- How to make your first hire.
- Why you need to go all-in and work crazy hours to build a unicorn.
- Why Martin thinks it's key to never give up, even in tough times, as cliche as it might sound.
- The importance of creating a positive environment to attract good people.
Keywords
entrepreneurship, education, immigration, impact, startup, Passage, ApplyBoard, perseverance, business model, founder journey
Timestamps
(00:00:00) Intro
(00:03:54) Getting Into Coding
(00:06:48) Accidentally Making Applyboard
(00:10:41) Starting startup #2
(00:17:19) Raising the Biggest Seed in Canada with Only 20 Employees
(00:20:07) If You Can't Outsmart Them, Outwork Them
(00:23:21) Getting the First Software Developer
(00:25:48) One Piece of Advice