# Ahmad Sadeddin, founder of Corgea: you don't need to raise (much) to find PMF

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Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/scaling-devtools/ahmad-sadeddin-founder-of-corgea-you-don-t-need-to-raise-much-to-find-pmf.md
Podcast: [Scaling DevTools](https://stenobird.com/podcast/scaling-devtools)
Published: 2026-02-27T14:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://podcast.scalingdevtools.com/episodes/ahmad-sadeddin-founder-of-corgea-you-dont-need-to-raise-much-to-find-pmf
Audio file: https://media.transistor.fm/00fe53f0/b05e8e25.mp3
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Duration seconds: 2712

## Resource

Founders don't need massive seed rounds to achieve product-market fit; staying lean is a stronger signal of profitability. Ahmad Sadeddin shares how Corgea used a small team and targeted customer pain points to navigate the pivot from an initial idea to a functional security tool.

## Highlights
- Main idea: Large seed rounds can become vanity metrics that incentivize over-hiring and inefficient growth
- Practical takeaway: Aim to find early signs of product-market fit with a team of under ten people to maintain agility
- Failure mode: Relying on 'design partnerships' rather than seeking direct customer pain and willingness to pay
- Practical takeaway: Use 'no' from customers and investors as data points to iterate quickly rather than seeking 'maybe'
- Main idea: Product-market fit is an ongoing evolution of your product definition, not a one-time destination

## Topics

Product Market Fit, Cybersecurity, Startup Fundraising, AppSec, Venture Capital, Lean Startup, Software Development Tools, Entrepreneurship

## Chapters
- 1:00 — The Myth of Massive Seed Rounds: Critique of modern cybersecurity seed rounds reaching $30M and why excessive capital can hinder the search for PMF.
- 4:30 — The Power of Lean Teams: Why maintaining a small, local team of 3-5 people provides a stronger signal of scalability and efficiency.
- 11:30 — Pivoting Toward Corgea: The transition from an initial concept to the current manifestation of Corgea by identifying a specific market wedge.
- 14:45 — Defining Product-Market Fit: Why the simplest metric for PMF is finding a customer who is actively willing to pay for your solution.
- 18:05 — Identifying Systematic Failures: How observing widespread complaints in existing AppSec tooling led to a novel approach for Corgea.
- 28:10 — Overcoming Sales Objections: Navigating budget constraints and competitive threats when pitching new security technologies.
- 34:45 — The Importance of Execution: Why no amount of startup advice can substitute for the necessity of rapid execution and high-volume experimentation.

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