How to Build a Multi-Billion-Dollar Software Business (Mohit Aron, Founder of Cohesity)

B2BaCEO (with Ashu Garg)

In this episode, I'm excited to welcome Mohit Aron back to B2BaCEO for the second time. As the founder of Cohesity and co-founder of Nutanix, Mohit is a titan in the world of enterprise GTM and infrastructure software. With two wildly successful companies under his belt, he's a true expert when it comes to building enterprise software businesses from the ground up. In our conversation, Mohit shares his proven frameworks for validating startup ideas. He reveals hard-won lessons from starting Nutanix and Cohesity, with real-world examples that bring his advice to life. We explore product-market fit—what it really looks like in practice—as well as how to build a team and manage performance in a high-growth startup. We wrap up by discussing the topic du jour, generative AI, and the opportunities it opens for startups. This episode is full of insights for technical founders. I hope you enjoy it! (00:00) Intro (00:21) Mohit's framework for a bulletproof startup hypothesis document (07:53) Why your MVP shouldn't be your full vision (10:39) Cohesity's journey from 0 to 1, 1 to 10, and 10 to 100+ (17:19) Examples of founders not being intellectually honest about their hypotheses (20:35) How to accurately size your startup's market (TAM) (23:55) Balancing founder conviction with naysayer feedback (31:02) Adapting the hypothesis document for the generative AI era (34:19) Mohit's definition of product-market fit (39:05) When to hit the gas on sales hiring (and when not to) (44:59) Mohit's system for competency-based hiring (53:17) Implementing performance management via quarterly calibrations (56:00) What Mohit would do differently as a technical founder (58:07) Mohit's top advice for founders (60:09) The industries ripe for disruption by generative AI (62:04) Book recommendations for founders