How to prevent your product from becoming a white elephant?

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We also took advantage of the month to have 3 in-depth conversations about Vision, Culture and Values ​​on which we are building SquadS and the Portfolio Startups. I feel that there is a before and after this month for all SquaderS.


Chat with Alan Szpigiel – From 0 to Product Market Fit
Here I share with you a summary of the SquadS chat I had with Alan Szpigiel co-founder & CTO of Lara AI. A collaborative approach between business and technology, with a clear customer focus, was one of the great learnings from our conversation. Here are more:

In our conversation, Alan and I agreed that many startups invest time and resources into products that, in the end, do not meet market expectations. Alan shared his experience at Lara AI, where they spent three months interviewing and analyzing the problems of their potential users before writing a single line of code. This approach allowed them to connect korean boys phone number whatsapp deeply with the market and avoid assumptions that could have led the product astray.

The importance of constant feedback

We talked about how essential it is to stay close to the client throughout the development process. At SquadS Ventures, we have KPIs focused on measuring that closeness. The secret is not just what to build, but understanding who you are building it for. Alan explained how his team spends up to 40% of their time working directly with clients to make sure what they build is aligned with their real needs.

The challenge of saying “no”

One of the biggest challenges is knowing which opportunities to turn down. Alan told us how they initially focused on large corporate clients, but soon understood that in order to scale effectively, they needed to focus on a more manageable niche. This allowed them to reach Product-Market Fit much faster and in a focused manner. At SquadS, we believe that focus is key for any startup that aspires to scale successfully.

How to connect technology teams with the market

Finally, we touched on the importance of connecting technical teams with end users. Alan shared an interesting practice they use at Lara AI: a “role-rotating” system where technical team members dive into users’ daily challenges. This not only improves understanding of the product, but also the team’s commitment to the solution they are building.