How his AI-first services company grew $0 to $40M ARR in one year. | Eric Foster, Founder of Tenex
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Episode Description
Eric spent 30 years in cybersecurity. Built and sold an MSSP to private equity for hundreds of millions. Then he started Tenex and hit $43 million in revenue in ONE YEAR.
This isn't theory. This is a founder who's done it multiple times breaking down exactly how AI-native companies are about to eat every services industry alive. If you're building anything that touches AI, services, or enterprise sales, this is the episode.
Why You Should Listen
- Why selling outcomes beats selling products every time
- How to close enterprise deals in 60 days instead of 12 months
- The difference between AI-native and AI-bolted-on companies
- Why founder-led sales is non-negotiable in the early days
- How to build for IPO from day one without slowing down
Keywords
startup podcast, startup podcast for founders, AI startup growth, founder-led sales, zero to one startup, enterprise sales strategy, AI native company, managed services startup, cybersecurity startup, product market fit
00:00:00 Intro
00:10:29 Selling His Last Company for $100Ms
00:15:10 The Origin Story of TENEX
00:36:47 How They Hit $43M ARR in Year One
00:43:27 The 30 Second Demo That Closes Enterprise Deals
00:47:10 Why Selling Outcomes Beats Selling Products
00:51:29 The Mechanics of Going From Zero to $40M ARR
01:01:09 Go to Market and Founder Led Sales
01:05:32 When He Knew He Had Product Market Fit
Retry