How do you go from nobody knowing your product to 1 million users in a month?
In this episode, I sit down with the founder of Lumin to talk about building a product from Christchurch that now helps businesses around the world create, edit, collaborate on and sign documents online.
We talk about:
- how Lumin started
- how they found product-market fit
- why solving visible frustration online can lead to massive growth
- what Stanford taught him about scaling
- how AI and ecosystems are changing software
- why Christchurch is producing globally ambitious companies
Lumin started as a PDF editing tool and has grown into a broader productivity platform covering document editing, collaboration, agreements and e-signing.
Check out Lumin here:
@
If you enjoy conversations about startups, Canterbury business, founders and growth, subscribe for more.
Recorded at Red Nine Studios, Christchurch.
CHAPTERS
00:38 What Lumin actually does
02:15 How Lumin handles contracts
03:09 Stanford and the US startup world
05:03 Why he went to Stanford after building Lumin
06:02 From engineering to software
06:59 The homemade boat story
10:20 Lessons from engineering in Christchurch
12:25 Why he built Lumin
13:32 His earlier app success before Lumin
15:10 How Lumin got 1 million users in a month
17:13 From startup to 130 million users
20:00 AI, ChatGPT and where Lumin fits
21:16 Why ecosystems matter in business
22:37 Christchurch’s growth mindset
23:41 The founder ecosystem in Christchurch
25:39 Why Lumin went global first
28:12 Advice for young founders
29:34 Build the plane while flying it
","author_name":"Andy Rowe"}