How Kevin Tian Pivoted at $1M ARR and Raised $120M for Doppel

Most founders dream of hitting seven-figure ARR. Kevin Tian had that—then deliberately pivoted away from it. His calculated risk paid off with $120M+ in funding from a16z.

Key Facts

• ARR at Pivot: Just broke seven figures (low) (Kevin Tian)
• First Contract: $5k/month with no product built (Kevin Tian)
• Revenue Growth: 10x'd revenue in pivot year (Kevin Tian)
• Total Funding: $120M+ raised from top VCs (Episode Description)
• Team Size: 5 people by late 2022 (Kevin Tian)

The $5k Contract That Started Everything: Selling Before Building

Kevin Tian secured his first $5k/month contract by focusing on customer conversations before product development, leveraging his network and finding early adopters willing to invest in solving unsolved problems.

The conventional wisdom says build first, sell later. Kevin Tian flipped that script completely. After getting ghosted on his first prototype attempt, he learned a crucial lesson about customer validation.

When Doppel landed their first meaningful contract, they hadn't built the product yet. "The very first contract we had at Doppel was for $5k a month," Kevin explains. The key difference from his failed first attempt? "We had the conversation with the customer. We talked about getting something commercially and we actually asked the question, how much are you willing to pay? And we got to work on actually getting that contract together even before we built something."

This approach worked because they found a customer who was also an early adopter in a nascent market. "From the buyer's perspective, no one had built this yet. No one had built solutions for NFTs yet, because it was such a new market. You want to pay so that someone invests the time and money into it," Kevin notes. The month-to-month structure reduced risk for the buyer while providing crucial validation for the founders.

"The very first contract we had at Doppel was for $5k a month." — Kevin Tian

"From the buyer's perspective, no one had built this yet. No one had built solutions for NFTs yet, because it was such a new market." — Kevin Tian

• Ask "how much will you pay?" before building anything
• Target early adopters in new markets who understand investment timing
• Use month-to-month contracts to reduce buyer risk
• Leverage network connections for credibility without product proof

The Terrifying Decision: Pivoting at $1M ARR

Kevin made the difficult choice to pivot from NFTs to cybersecurity despite reaching low seven-figure ARR because he recognized the market size limitations wouldn't support his long-term vision of serving the whole world.

Most founders would celebrate hitting $1M ARR and double down. Kevin Tian saw it as a warning sign. "At that point, I'd say we just broke seven figures. So it's not an easy decision, right? Because you had a business growing, but at the same time you had to accept the reality that, look with the way that market was heading and the ambition that we had about how do we really serve the whole world. We had to do something."

The pivot wasn't driven by failure—it was driven by market analysis and ambitious vision. The NFT market, while profitable for Doppel, had fundamental limitations. As Kevin observed: "We realized, hey, this actually isn't a great market, and this actually isn't a great product for growing a venture-scale business."

The transition strategy was crucial. Rather than abandoning existing customers, Doppel expanded their product beyond crypto use cases. "We realized that because some of our early customers were like, yeah, we use you all for the NFT stuff, and we use this other solution for all the other digital channels. They said, well, if we could go for that, would it be valuable to not have to use two solutions?" This customer feedback became the bridge to their cybersecurity pivot.

"At that point, I'd say we just broke seven figures. So it's not an easy decision, right? Because you had a business growing, but at the same time you had to accept the reality." — Kevin Tian

"We realized, hey, this actually isn't a great market, and this actually isn't a great product for growing a venture-scale business." — Kevin Tian

Network Selling: Breaking Into Enterprise Cybersecurity

Doppel broke into enterprise cybersecurity through network selling—leveraging past colleagues, investor connections, and existing customer relationships rather than cold outbound, which proved essential for credibility in a crowded market.

Enterprise cybersecurity is notoriously difficult to crack. Companies are bombarded with security solutions, and trust is paramount. Kevin's approach was refreshingly straightforward: lean on relationships.

"It's still very much what it is in the early days, it's network selling," Kevin explains. "You're looking for connections through past co-workers. You're looking for connections through your investors. Maybe you throw on some advisors who can help. Maybe your existing customers actually, you know, before they joined this crypto company, they were at this tech company, or maybe they were at this bank."

This network approach proved especially powerful because their crypto customers had previously worked at traditional enterprises. "A lot of our current customers, again, you work in the crypto space but the crypto space is so new. So that means you came from most likely another tech company or most likely another financial services company. So they would say, hey, Doppel's a great company, great team, would have liked this at my old company."

The strategy wasn't just about getting meetings—it was about leveraging credibility transfer. When Andreessen Horowitz led their Series A, it opened doors to Fortune 500 customers. "Our very first like big, big enterprise customer that came through working with Andreessen Horowitz," Kevin notes, highlighting how investor relationships can directly drive revenue.

"It's still very much what it is in the early days, it's network selling. You're looking for connections through past co-workers. You're looking for connections through your investors." — Kevin Tian

"Our very first like big, big enterprise customer that came through working with Andreessen Horowitz." — Kevin Tian

Raising $120M During a Pivot: The a16z Series A Story

Kevin raised an $18M Series A from Andreessen Horowitz during his pivot by demonstrating 10x revenue growth, showing early traction in the new market, and betting on team and vision rather than proven metrics.

Conventional fundraising wisdom suggests you prove out your pivot before raising. Kevin took the opposite approach, raising during the transition itself. "We were already in the middle of the pivot. We were already starting to get some customers that were going beyond the crypto space and were much more security-oriented."

The decision to raise during uncertainty was strategic. "I'd say momentum, right? We were really starting to feel it from the pivot that, hey, there's actually a much bigger opportunity here. We felt like we had a good amount of traction from the ARR numbers and our growth numbers, things like that. It's strike while the iron's hot."

The growth metrics were compelling: "We 10x'd our revenue that year and we had a big, big focus and pipeline on the new pivot, and the new market we were going after." This combination of proven execution ability and early signals in a larger market convinced a16z to lead.

Kevin's insight about Series A fundraising is crucial: "The reality is that the Series A, you still are very much betting on the team and the vision." Rather than waiting to de-risk the pivot completely, they leveraged their track record of execution and early momentum to secure funding that would accelerate their transition.

"We 10x'd our revenue that year and we had a big, big focus and pipeline on the new pivot, and the new market we were going after." — Kevin Tian

"The reality is that the Series A, you still are very much betting on the team and the vision." — Kevin Tian

Product-Market Fit as a Moving Target

Kevin believes product-market fit isn't a one-time achievement but a continuous process, especially for platform companies that constantly expand into new products and markets, requiring ongoing validation and iteration.

The traditional narrative around product-market fit suggests it's a destination—you find it once and you're set. Kevin's experience at Doppel tells a different story entirely.

"Product market fit's not a one moment thing and I know other folks have said this, but we've truly experienced this at Doppel," Kevin explains. "We got initial product market fit with our first products pivoted, right? And then it had to go get product market fit with our other products."

This insight becomes especially relevant for platform companies. "Even to this day, we're constantly expanding our platform, right? So we have to actually go get product market fit on the new products we ship and so you're constantly actually evolving your product and constantly getting product market fit."

The implications extend beyond just product development to go-to-market strategy as well. "You actually have to go earn product market fit every day, like even from a go to market perspective, right? So like, hey, let's go get that brand recognition in Europe now. Or let's go get that brand recognition in Asia," Kevin notes. This perspective shifts the founder mindset from seeking a single moment of validation to building systems for continuous validation and iteration.

"Product market fit's not a one moment thing and I know other folks have said this, but we've truly experienced this at Doppel." — Kevin Tian

"You actually have to go earn product market fit every day, like even from a go to market perspective." — Kevin Tian

NFT vs Cybersecurity Market Approach