Dena Startup Lab, a GTM community for early-stage B2B software founders, is all set to offer a free online community where B2B software founders, GTM mentors, and entrepreneurs, can achieve product-market fit.
Some of its key offerings include the ‘Zero to One 2.0 OS,’ where founders can access 20 years of startup learnings condensed into a 120-minute self-paced operating system, featuring proven frameworks and insights used by over 100 startups.
“When we founded Dena Startup Lab, we were entrepreneurs ourselves. We’ve launched three startups and experienced the journey of building companies, facing the challenges of identifying product-market fit, executing go-to-market strategies, and raising funds,” Srinivas Mothey, Co-founder & COO told YourStory.
“We understand the pains that entrepreneurs go through. Most of them experiment and spend a lot of time without establishing fundamental basics, often prioritising fundraising. This caused a lot of pain when we started to personally advise a lot of startup founders who were coming to us, especially at the early stages. So we decided to create something that could serve as a backbone for early-stage founders,” he added.
While transitioning from Minimum Viable Product (MVP) to commercialisation, startups often face challenges with go-to-market (GTM) strategies. A Bain Venture Capital Report reveals that only 3% of startups achieve product-market fit (PMF). Therefore, the company said the sooner founders shift their focus from fundraising to go-to-market efforts, the faster they can reach profitability.
“PMF should be the only focus of a startup. Our strategy revolves around prioritising PMF by guiding founders back to the fundamentals–understanding the customer, the product, and the problem. How do you know a problem is really a problem? Are you speaking to the right customers? And is it really repeatable and scalable? These are the three key pillars within the PMF that we are taking back Founders to,” said Mothey.
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Additionally, Dena’s Speed-to-Help service provides immediate support and advice on-demand through chat and video-based channels, ensuring founders are never left waiting or feeling stuck.
“Dena, pronounced “Day Na”, in Hindi, means to ‘give’. And that value is at the core of the mission. Our mission is shifting to a world where B2B startups launch prioritising product-market-fit. In addition, for far too long, early-stage founders have been without the access they need, and that access oftentimes, is the difference between a foundation that propels or stunts startup growth,” said Alex Kottoor, Co-founder and CEO, Dena Startup Lab.
The firm also offers 1:1 Advisory, which includes private and direct engagement with experienced advisors who provide required insights. Lastly, founders can tap into a vast network of GTM mentors, startup advisors, and gain faster routes to design partners, early adopters, and channel partners.
“I’m encouraged by the mission and the early progress Alex and Srini are making on this critical shift in mindset. After 25+ years in startups, I’ve observed far more founders obsessing over raising capital than achieving product-market-fit. We need to get back to the basics of business building, and for this reason, I believe Dena presents a unique opportunity for early stage B2B founders to tap into proven expertise, products and services that will accelerate this necessary shift in mindset,” said Brice Scheschuk, Founding advisor, Dena Startup Lab.
Edited by Megha Reddy
