Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Don Muir turned down his dream job at Apollo to build the AI-powered bank Arc.
This episode goes through the exact playbook the former BCG consultant and private equity investor used to de-risk his leap into entrepreneurship - including his 3-point checklist that allowed him to say no to Apollo. Don shares hard-won lessons about finding product-market fit, recruiting world-class talent, and why it took 190 rejections to get to his first 10 customers.
Don Muir is the co-founder and CEO of Arc, a zero-asset commercial bank powered by AI that offers intelligent capital management and private credit to ambitious businesses. To date, Arc has raised over $180M in debt and equity.
In Today's Episode We Discuss:
01:30 - Why I chose debt over equity and existing markets over new ones
04:10 - The bottoms-up approach to finding your unique right to win
08:44 - From crowdfunding communities to non-dilutive capital: 4 pivots to product-market fit
11:42 - Execution over innovation: Why first-time founders shouldn't reinvent the wheel
14:14 - The 3-point checklist before rejecting Apollo's offer
16:26 - Getting 10 CEO signatures with just a Stanford email address
21:49 - 190 rejections, then 10 straight wins: The LOI breakthrough moment
23:29 - Finding fast-moving waters: When to pivot vs. persevere
25:28 - The Stanford.edu email hack that opened CEO doors
32:25 - Why technical co-founder pedigree is overrated (but VCs disagree)
38:07 - How one $100k check turned hundreds of "no's" into "yes's"
42:32 - The sleepless nights that forced the Apollo phone call
45:59 - When your biggest rejection becomes your largest partner
49:41 - Why the "safe path" is actually the riskiest choice
52:55 - The venture capital myth: Why most startups don't need VC money
This episode goes through the exact playbook the former BCG consultant and private equity investor used to de-risk his leap into entrepreneurship - including his 3-point checklist that allowed him to say no to Apollo. Don shares hard-won lessons about finding product-market fit, recruiting world-class talent, and why it took 190 rejections to get to his first 10 customers.
Don Muir is the co-founder and CEO of Arc, a zero-asset commercial bank powered by AI that offers intelligent capital management and private credit to ambitious businesses. To date, Arc has raised over $180M in debt and equity.
In Today's Episode We Discuss:
01:30 - Why I chose debt over equity and existing markets over new ones
04:10 - The bottoms-up approach to finding your unique right to win
08:44 - From crowdfunding communities to non-dilutive capital: 4 pivots to product-market fit
11:42 - Execution over innovation: Why first-time founders shouldn't reinvent the wheel
14:14 - The 3-point checklist before rejecting Apollo's offer
16:26 - Getting 10 CEO signatures with just a Stanford email address
21:49 - 190 rejections, then 10 straight wins: The LOI breakthrough moment
23:29 - Finding fast-moving waters: When to pivot vs. persevere
25:28 - The Stanford.edu email hack that opened CEO doors
32:25 - Why technical co-founder pedigree is overrated (but VCs disagree)
38:07 - How one $100k check turned hundreds of "no's" into "yes's"
42:32 - The sleepless nights that forced the Apollo phone call
45:59 - When your biggest rejection becomes your largest partner
49:41 - Why the "safe path" is actually the riskiest choice
52:55 - The venture capital myth: Why most startups don't need VC money
Creators and Guests
Host
Pascal Unger
Co-founder / Managing Partner at focal.vc We lead pre-seeds in North America with up to $1M: We exclusively back AI native software startups at the very start. Thereafter, we help them get off the ground better and faster, supported by a network > 200 GTM executives. That's our singular, unwavering focus.
What is focal podcast?
Pivotal early lessons of today's best startups.
Welcome to the focal podcast where we go deep with some of today's best founders and operators on ONE crucial lessons from their early days.
This podcast is not the usual "highlight reel" startup podcast that goes one inch deep across 20+ topics. Rather, we ask the questions you’d ask if you were sitting across from them. No fluff, just the real, actionable insights you’d get if these founders were mentoring you 1on1.
We cover topics including:
- What worked and why.
- Costly mistakes and how they fixed them.
- Frameworks that truly made a difference.
- Tactics to move faster.
- What they wish they’d known sooner.
- And much more!
"Only a fool learns from their own mistakes. The wise learn from the mistakes of others."