Deegan: Fundraising during a pivot relies on selling conviction, not product
Tom Deegan · How Ladder Became #1 Strength Training App · Invest Like The Best · Jan 13, 2026 · at 18:44
Tom Deegan, co-founder of Ladder, explains how the startup raised capital in early 2020 while pivoting away from its initial fitness marketplace before building the new strength training app.
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“One of the biggest lessons, particularly from that moment is like selling people on like your conviction in that moment, we were selling both like the product that we were about to shut down, but we didn't really even have visuals yet for the new product. So it was as much just like selling the team and the conviction on what you were about to build.”
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