Nine years of Perch in 45 minutes

9 years building Perch. 45 minutes to share what we learned.

Last week I joined the Profluence community for a fireside chat with Andrew Petcash. They're building something genuinely useful for founders, the kind of community I wish had existed when I was starting out.

We covered first customers, pricing, fundraising, hardware, and why we sold a profitable company. Here's what came up most:

1️⃣ First customer is the hardest. Cold outreach, get it in front of people, and lean hard on early logos once you have them. Trust transfers fast in niche markets. Luck plays a big part of it too. Our first customer was LSU during their 2019 national championship run. Hustling is about putting yourself in enough situations where it's impossible not to succeed.

2️⃣ Every time growth slowed at Perch, it traced back to chasing too many things at once. Home gyms, rehab, commercial gyms, etc. Ruthlessly focus and prioritize.

3️⃣ The business model matters as much as the product. Switching to leasing our hardware vs selling it outright made the business more sustainable, more predictable, and gave us the ability to invest in growth. It was better for customers in the long run too. It took hard work to get customers there during the sales process, but it changed our trajectory more than any feature ever did.

4️⃣ Execution beats IP. The moat isn't the patent. It's the data, the relationships, and the years of doing the work.

5️⃣ Raise at a valuation you can grow into, and obsess over capital efficiency. In sports, exits can be life-changing for founders, but they rarely hit venture-scale numbers. That's okay. The path is to build a genuinely good business, get to profitability early, and make every dollar count.

6️⃣ Show your product early. We went to trade shows with nothing but a prototype. Early customers and real pipeline conversations are your pitch, not a polished deck.

7️⃣ When you choose to sell your company, focus on the full deal, not just the top-line number. Enterprise value is one variable. Cash vs. stock, lockup, earnout structure, and what happens to your customers and team all matter just as much. Every founder is different.

8️⃣ Profitable and growing doesn't mean stay forever. Market headwinds, runway, and personal energy all factor into the decision to sell.

Thanks Andrew and the Profluence community for having me.