Eric Simons spent seven years building toward a vision that almost never saw the light of day. After countless iterations, near-misses, and growing pressure from his board to shut the company down, he and his cofounder made one final bet—and that bet became Bolt. In just four months, Bolt skyrocketed to $40 million in ARR, becoming one of the fastest-growing SaaS products in recent memory.

In this episode, Eric joins the Topline team to share the full story. He explains how years of quiet technical innovation finally met a market ready for transformation, how training for an Ironman helped him build the resilience to survive the lows, and why a disciplined, capital-efficient mindset became his secret weapon through both drought and breakout.

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Key chapters:

(00:00) - Introduction

(01:12) - Eric Simons and the Rise of Bolt

(05:42) - The Importance of Pivots in Startups

(09:25) - Navigating Product Market Fit and Competition

(18:25) - Maintaining Mental Resilience as an Entrepreneur

(24:31) - Team Management Through Uncertainty

(28:50) - The Challenges of Rapid Growth and Scaling

(35:42) - Rapid Growth in the AI Era

(38:01) - Bootstrapping and Calculated Bets

(41:44) - Navigating Investor Pressure

(44:55) - Market Signals and Product-Market Fit

(49:32) - The Role of Social Media in Growth

(54:41) - Sustainable Growth and Retention Strategies

(01:00:12) - Learning from Competition

(01:02:39) - Future Vision and Market Positioning

E111: How Bolt Hit $40M in Four Months and Why It Took Eric Simons Seven Years to Get There

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