"I was technically homeless at the time. I was sleeping on my buddy's couch. I had declined $250,000/ year at McKinsey... I had no idea what I was doing." Now, Blake has $150M in ARR, growing 30% per year, with 80% gross margins. He's raised $400M and his startup ID.me is worth over $1B.This is the story of how pivoted for a Groupon-like model to an identity verification platform. Blake talks about how he raised the initial round, closed the first few enterprise contracts, and why he thinks finding product-market fit is more of a science than most founders think.After his pivot, ID.me doubled its user base every year. Now, over 40% of Americans have an ID.me account.Why you should listenLearn how even successful founders are often much closer to failure than you'd expectHow to get credibility as a founder and close enterprise deals.Why fear of failure can be a powerful motivator if used constructively.How to use a niche market to quickly find product-market fitWhy staying close to customers is the best way to pivot into the right problem/solution set.KeywordsID.me, military, tech founder, product-market fit, startup, business model, capital raising, mentorship, scientific approach, user base, revenue growthTimestamps:(00:00:00) Intro(00:01:56) The Origin of ID.me(00:04:44) The Two Parts of Credibility(00:11:16) In Order to Win you Have to Focus Small(00:14:53) Fear of Failure Can Be Positive(00:20:54) Paypal for Identity(00:23:59) Moving to DC and Raising 500k(00:27:53) Belief in the Person Over the Business Model(00:30:55) Pivoting to Identity Wallets(00:41:07) Under Armour(00:48:06) Getting to a Million(00:49:39) One Piece of AdviceSend me a message to let me know what you think!