Most startups dream of hockey stick growth. Eric Simons lived it — and almost missed it entirely. After seven years building WebContainers technology at StackBlitz, his company was weeks from shutting down with just $80K in ARR when they launched Bolt.new in October 2024. Five months later, they hit $40M ARR with fewer than 20 people.

In our latest World of DaaS episode, Eric shares the full story: why Claude 3.5 Sonnet changed everything, how they became the first company to pioneer usage-based pricing for AI tools (working through a weekend to add pricing tiers when users burned through credits in days), and why launching without mobile responsive design was the right call. We discuss the hyper-competitive AI coding market, the shift from targeting developers to discovering their real users were PMs and non-technical founders, and how they stayed lean by using AI support agents instead of hiring 50+support staff.

Eric's insights on brutal pragmatism, avoiding the 2021 fundraising trap, and building intrinsically motivated teams are essential listening for any founder navigating explosive growth or extended pre-product-market-fit periods. Tune in to hear one of the fastest growth stories in startup history and what it takes to compete when the entire market explodes overnight.

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You can find Auren Hoffman on X at @auren and Eric Simons on X at @EricSimons

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