In this episode, we speak with Ilan Peleg, co-founder and CEO of Lightrun
Some founders jump in fast. Ilan Peleg plays the long game.

Before launching Lightrun, Ilan had already built deep roots in cybersecurity and engineering leadership. A former national middle-distance champion, he was trained to move with speed - but only when the moment is right.

Lightrun, the startup he co-founded with Leonid Blouvshtein, is now backed by Accel and Insight Partners with $70M raised, and is redefining how developers debug in production environments.

But behind the company’s technical edge is a methodical, thoughtful story of timing, discipline, and trust.

In this conversation, we explore:

The startup lifecycle, broken down by phase.

Ilan outlines the specific goals-and dangers-of each chapter:
Years 0–2: Product-market fit.
“You may come up with an amazing product… but is it delightful enough that people and organizations truly love it?”
Years 2-4: Go-to-market fit.

“You’ve proven value, now can you sell it repeatedly?”
Years 4–6: Scaling.

“This is where it gets really hard-it demands consistency, leadership maturity, and real operational backbone.”

Why founders must resist the urge to scale too soon.

Each stage brings its own pressures, and Ilan shares why timing is a competitive advantage few talk about.

Vision vs. credibility: how to pitch like a founder who knows both.

“Some investors want you to pitch a $100B story or they’ll say you’re not crazy enough. But you can’t just sell the dream-you need believable milestones.”

The power of deep domain expertise.

Ilan and his co-founder Leonid weren’t startup tourists-they deliberately delayed founding Lightrun until they’d spent years gaining firsthand experience with the problem space.

“Once we came up with an idea in the domain we lived by, things moved magnitudes faster.”

They moved fast because they’d waited to move.

A co-founder story rooted in long-term alignment.

Their partnership wasn’t born in a hackathon. It was built over years of shared conversations and career moves with the goal of someday launching something together.

“Leonid wasn’t optimizing for salary-he was optimizing for being better skilled for what we’d eventually build.”

Why good ideas come with a clock.

“If the opportunity’s big enough, others will feel it too. You don’t have unlimited time to act.”
How mentorship and networks compound growth.

Ilan reflects on the exponential value of getting the right advice-and surrounding yourself with people who’ve failed and succeeded. It’s what helps turn lessons into leverage.

Why founders must imagine more than just their company-they must imagine the market.
“It’s not only about what you’re building-it’s how the market will evolve by the time you get there.”

This episode is for anyone who’s still getting ready-who’s learning, building experience, and wondering when it’s their time to start.

Listen in if you want to see what preparation really looks like-and what happens when long-game thinking meets the right idea.

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