Cyrus Shirazi, founder of Haven, joins Dez Fleming to discuss his journey from watching his father leave private equity to becoming an entrepreneur himself. After experiencing both the highs and pitfalls at companies like Mainstreet and Meow, Cyrus launched Haven – a unified financial operating system for startups and small businesses. He shares tactical insights on guerrilla marketing, community building, and why he chose hand-to-hand combat over paid acquisition to reach $5.5 million in revenue in just 20 months.

Key Takeaways:

• Build organic growth channels before investing in paid acquisition
• Focus on solving problems for your entire customer base, not just subsets
• Community building and genuine value-add relationships drive sustainable growth
• The importance of failing fast and learning from every setback

Cyrus’s approach to building Haven reflects lessons learned from three different startup experiences, emphasizing the power of authentic relationships and solving real pain points for entrepreneurs. His 500-person WhatsApp group of founders and VCs demonstrates how genuine community building can become a competitive advantage in B2B startup investors markets.