WHAT FOUNDERS DON'T SAY ABOUT LAUNCHING TOO EARLY
“We didn’t even have a mobile app. That’s how premature it was.”
What happens when you release a product that’s barely finished - and still watch it take off?
In an episode of the GSA Stars Podcast: Down the Rabbit Hole, Pleo’s Co-founder and CEO Jeppe Rindom joined host Kim Balle for a conversation that goes far beyond the usual startup clichés.
This isn’t a story about unicorns and headlines. It’s a raw, insightful look at what happens behind the scenes - before the product is polished, before the media notices, and before fundraising looks glamorous.
Jeppe opens up about the earliest version of Pleo’s product - a tool designed to simplify business spending - and how, despite its flaws, it struck a nerve in the market.
It wasn’t pride that drove those early adopters. It was pain. “The alternatives were just much, much worse,” he explains. And sometimes, that’s all it takes.
But the conversation doesn’t stop at product launches. Jeppe reflects on the emotional math of fundraising, walking us through the grit behind Pleo’s Series A: nearly a hundred meetings, most ending in rejection, a final-term sheet coming from a squeezed-in pitch that almost didn’t happen.
You’ll also hear about:
Why you shouldn’t over-interpret your MVP - and how to handle it when it under-delivers.
The surprising startup lesson behind a booth at TechBBQ and 70 people lining up for free drinks.
What leadership looks like when your company grows from 9 to 900.
And how a founder tries to stay human in a world of scale.
This episode is a quiet masterclass in resilience, timing, and staying connected - even when everything scales out of reach.
🎧 Listen in for a candid conversation that might just change how you think about product-market fit, perseverance, and what leadership really looks like at scale.
