Founder's Insights on Scaling a B2B API Fintech Product
TL;DR: Andrey Korchak, a software engineer with 20+ years of experience, co-founded Monite in 2020 as an embedded finance API platform. The company started as a Swiss army knife tool for SME finance management but pivoted after analyzing real market data showing a 2+ year sales cycle and only a few hundred dollars in annual revenue per customer. The pivot decision came from two key realizations: revenue projections showed break-even would take 10 years, and hundreds of competitors were building identical features (invoicing, accounting integrations, ERP). Instead of competing head-to-head, they transformed into an API platform servicing those same competitors. For distribution, they relied on networking, cold calling, and building a sales team. While low-budget, they learned word-of-mouth alone wasn't sufficient for consistent B2B deal flow. Fintech exhibitions became their second major acquisition channel. They've recently started content marketing but recognize it takes 1-3 years to generate leads in complex B2B markets. The company benefited significantly from COVID's shift to remote fundraising - Zoom calls and e-signatures replaced face-to-face meetings, enabling them to raise without physical presence. The founders emphasize that fundraising demands 100% commitment, often requiring stepping away from daily operations entirely.
Key Insights
- Revenue projections revealing 10-year break-even timeline forced decisive pivot from B2C to B2B API
- Recognizing hundreds of competitors building identical features led to pivoting from competing to serving them
- Cold calling plus sales team plus exhibitions are primary B2B infrastructure acquisition channels
- Content marketing takes 1-3 years to generate leads in complex B2B markets
- COVID enabled remote fundraising that would have been impossible pre-pandemic
Actionable Takeaways
- Build revenue projections with real market data (sales cycle length, revenue per customer) to stress-test your business model viability
- When competitors flood a market with identical features, consider pivoting to serve them as infrastructure instead of competing directly
- For B2B infrastructure products, invest in direct sales team and trade shows rather than relying on word-of-mouth alone
- Plan for 1-3 year content marketing payback period when selling complex B2B products
- Block out dedicated time for fundraising - treat it as a full-time job separate from daily operations
Principles Validated (24)
Go where your customers physically gather
Andrey Korchak (Monite)
Use content marketing and SEO to build organic acquisition channels
Andrey Korchak (Monite)
Build a direct sales team early for complex B2B infrastructure - word-of-mouth alone wont sustain pipeline
Andrey Korchak (Monite)
Build a direct sales team early for complex B2B infrastructure - word-of-mouth alone wont sustain pipeline
Ivan Maryasin (Monite)
Build your product where your customers already spend time so usage is embedded in their existing workflow
Ivan Maryasin (Monite)
Invest heavily in tradeshows despite tight margins
Ivan Maryasin (Monite)
Build different - profitable growth beats 'raise big, burn fast' playbook
Andrey Korchak (Monite)
Full commitment beats half-commitment
Andrey Korchak (Monite)
Transform painful failures into deep market research and expertise
Ivan Maryasin (Monite)
Complex B2B products can take years to reach revenue - patience required
Andrey Korchak (Monite)
Build infrastructure tools for an emerging ecosystem rather than competing as a player within it
Ivan Maryasin (Monite)
Build shared infrastructure when you see many companies solving identical problems independently
Andrey Korchak (Monite)
Build shared infrastructure when you see many companies solving identical problems independently
Ivan Maryasin (Monite)
Build open-source projects to generate organic audiences for monetization
Andrey Korchak (Monite)
Refine product based on customer feedback before scaling
Andrey Korchak (Monite)
Build composable systems that let customers configure 20% for differentiation in competitive markets
Ivan Maryasin (Monite)
Reduce integration time by orders of magnitude to remove the primary adoption barrier for infrastructure products
Ivan Maryasin (Monite)
Start as done-for-you service, then automate the proven process into software
Ivan Maryasin (Monite)