He got rejected by 40 VCs & had 6 months of runway—2 years later, he raised $100M from a16z. | Edo Liberty, Founder of Pinecone

A Product Market Fit Show | Startup Podcast for Founders

Edo Liberty left a high-paying job at AWS—where he was building AI at the highest level—to start Pinecone, a company no one understood. He pitched 40+ VCs, got rejected by every single one, and nearly ran out of money. Then, he flipped the pitch, raised $10M, and built one of the most important infrastructure companies in AI.

Then ChatGPT dropped.

Suddenly, Pinecone was the must-have database for AI apps, with thousands of developers signing up daily. The company exploded, leading to a $100M round led by Andreessen Horowitz and a 10x revenue surge.

If you’re an early-stage founder, this episode is a must-listen.

Why you should listen:

•How he went from from 40 VC Rejections to a $10M Seed Round

• Why he quit a High-Paying Job at AWS to start a Startup

• The game-changing shift that made VCs finally “get it”

•What really happened inside Pinecone when AI took off

•Why most founders misunderstand market timing and what to do about it

Keywords
AI, Machine Learning, Startups, Entrepreneurship, Vector Databases, Fundraising, SageMaker, AWS, Technology, Innovation, Pinecone, vector database, seed funding, ChatGPT, startup growth, business model, AI, infrastructure, early stage founders
Timestamps
(00:00:00) Intro
(00:07:50) Edo's Story
(00:12:27) The Early Days of Machine Learning
(00:32:23) Seed Funding
(00:42:09) Unsustainable Scaling
(00:53:41) Told You So
(00:59:24) A Piece of Advice
Send me a message to let me know what you think!

Chapters

1. He got rejected by 40 VCs & had 6 months of runway—2 years later, he raised $100M from a16z. | Edo Liberty, Founder of Pinecone (00:00:00)

2. Edo's Story (00:07:50)

3. The Early Days of Machine Learning (00:12:27)

4. Seed Funding (00:32:23)

5. Unsustainable Scaling (00:42:09)

6. Told You So (00:53:41)

7. A Piece of Advice (00:59:24)