Mercury's Path to Product-Market Fit - Do the Hard Part First
by First Round Review (featuring Immad Akhund, co-founder and CEO of Mercury)
TL;DR: Mercury's path challenges common startup wisdom. Akhund argues the idea matters far more than Silicon Valley admits - strong founders can sell anything, which obscures weak PMF (a problem he experienced at Heyzap with 2+ years of pivoting). He spent 4 months having 90 conversations with founders, lawyers, and investors before building. Key insight: spend your time doing the thing you're least capable of proving - for Mercury, that was bank partnerships and compliance, not product building. The MVP had strict non-negotiables: Mercury had to be a company's only account, fully digital, with checks/wires/ACH, multiple owners, and immigrant accessibility. He scrapped the first bank partner after 6 months and redid everything. Despite only 2 of 100 founders being enthusiastic pre-launch, day 4 brought a $1M deposit with zero sales contact. His PMF definition: you wake up with more users and don't know where they came from. Scaling lessons include not copy-pasting advice, recognizing culture as founder personality reflected in company, and the CEO being a 'leveling function' in highs and lows.
Key Insights
- The idea matters more than Silicon Valley admits - strong founders obscure weak PMF
- Do the hard part first - the thing you're least capable of proving to the world
- 'Doable but hard' is the sweet spot for startup ideas
- Lawyers are surprisingly useful - most do 30-min calls for free
- PMF definition: you wake up with more users and don't know where they came from
- Build so well that users are patient with bugs because they're sold on the vision
- Culture = personality of founders reflected in company
- CEO is a leveling function - stay even keel in extreme highs and lows
Actionable Takeaways
- Have 90+ expert conversations (founders, lawyers, investors) before building
- Identify and tackle the hardest part first - what you're least capable of proving
- Set strict non-negotiables for your MVP based on what makes it a complete solution
- Be willing to scrap and rebuild (Mercury scrapped first bank partner after 6 months)
- Don't rely on pre-launch feedback - only 2 of 100 founders were enthusiastic
- Give yourself a year after launch before concluding you have (or don't have) PMF
- Hire for founder-aligned traits - use unconventional methods like hobby presentations
- Don't copy-paste advice - adapt playbooks to your specific situation
Principles Validated (19)
Partner with people who already have your target audience
Immad Akhund (Mercury)
Hire a dedicated community host who acts like a never-ending party organizer
Immad Akhund (Mercury)
Win mindshare in one dense community completely before expanding to the next
Immad Akhund (Mercury)
Let your community invest to deepen stakeholder alignment and amplify word-of-mouth
Immad Akhund (Mercury)
Build ecosystem partnerships with the professional services firms that advise your target customers to create a referral network at scale
Immad Akhund (Mercury)
Launch with freemium model to lower barrier to entry and build large user base
Immad Akhund (Mercury)
Resist chasing competitor features - stay true to your products character
Immad Akhund (Mercury)
Build a minimum delightful product instead of a minimum viable product when entering high-trust categories
Immad Akhund (Mercury)