How his AI-enabled Services startup hit $1M ARR in just 3 months. | Shahar Peled, Founder of Terra Security

In less than 12 months, Shahar went from an idea to a $30M Series A and a team of 40. He didn't sell another AI tool—he built an AI-first service that replaced expensive human consultants in the massive pen-testing market.

In this episode, Shahar breaks down the "Service-as-Software" playbook that allowed him to hit $1M ARR in just three months. He reveals how to convert design partners into paying customers before the product is finished, why he refuses to sell to service providers, and how to achieve a 40% SQL-to-Close rate in the enterprise.

Why You Should Listen

• How to hit $1M ARR in a single quarter with zero marketing spend.
• Why asking "Would you use this?" is useless and the one question that actually validates demand.
• Why "Service-as-Software" is the single best business model for AI startups
• How to maintain a 100% win rate against competitors in live bake-offs.
• The ultimate litmus test for knowing if you have true Product-Market Fit.

Keywords

startup podcast, startup podcast for founders, product market fit, finding pmf, agentic AI, cybersecurity startup, B2B sales strategy, service as software, rapid scaling, Felicis

00:00:00 Intro
00:04:06 Why Manual Pen Testing is Broken
00:15:42 Ideation and The Wallet Test
00:22:38 How to Convert Design Partners to Paid
00:28:05 40 Percent SQL to Close Rate
00:33:14 The Service as Software Business Model
00:46:06 Hitting 1M ARR in One Quarter
00:48:50 Raising a 30M Series A from Felicis
00:50:01 The Turn It Off PMF Test

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