"Get in front of a customer and talk to them." - Brian McMahonTech Scenes with Brian McMahon, CEO and Co-founder of Pickle.In this episode, we dive into the evolution of Pickle—from a social polling app to a fast-growing peer-to-peer rental marketplace. Brian shares what he and his co-founder learned the hard way, how they kept the product lean, and what it takes to build a marketplace with strong customer feedback loops, KPIs, and team culture.👉 Like the episode? Subscribe and drop a comment. We’d love to hear your take.Key Takeaways:Pickle is a rental marketplace, like Airbnb for clothes and goods.Their original concept was a social polling platform.Building a marketplace requires managing local dynamics.Bootstrapping helped them run lean and stay customer-focused.They prioritize fast feedback loops and in-person customer engagement.Scaling culture means communication has to be tight.Fundraising was challenging—but led to critical investor insights.KPIs and OKRs are essential to team alignment and growth.Chapters:00:00 – Founders' Journey and Early Mistakes01:12 – Introducing Pickle: The Rental Marketplace03:25 – Marketplace Dynamics and Expansion Strategy05:47 – Pivoting from Social Polling to Rental Marketplace07:31 – Bootstrapping and Lean Operations09:00 – Customer Engagement Through Direct Interaction12:26 – Feedback Loops and Product Iteration14:04 – Scaling the Team and Maintaining Culture18:19 – Fundraising Experience and Investor Relations24:22 – Learning from Experienced Investors30:26 – Establishing KPIs and OKRs for GrowthLearn more about the book Peak Teams – Mastering the Habit of Unstoppable Venture-backed Companies™: https://a.co/d/hp5JtnuVisit Collective Genius™ to Build Your Venture-backed Team with the Peak Operating System™: https://www.collective-genius.com/Music by Andrew Applepie – https://soundcloud.com/andrewapplepie#pickle #marketplace #founderjourney #startup #entrepreneurship #techscenes #venturebacked #kpis #okrs #collectivegenius #peakoperatingsystem #startupgrowth #founderstory #scalingstartups