👋 Hi, it’s Kyle from OpenView. Welcome to another free edition of Growth Unhinged, my newsletter that explores the unexpected behind the fastest-growing startups. This week I’m featuring Pinecone, the picks-and-shovels star of the AI boom.

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I’ve reached that stage of my life when I no longer say “I knew them when…” about bands. But I do, from time to time, get to say it about fast-growing startups.

Pinecone, the vector database startup, recently announced a new $100 million investment at a $750 million valuation. Demand for their products is truly off-the-charts, notching over 10,000 sign ups per day (although they might point out that sign-ups are a lousy measure of growth!).

I met the brilliant crew at Pinecone in October 2021 as they were just launching their self-serve version and building an early PLG motion. Greg Kogan was heading up those efforts and had a rare sense of clarity about how to “do PLG” when selling an enterprise-grade product. He joined Pinecone as employee #10-ish after nearly eight years of consulting startups. 

Greg and I reconnected to reflect on Pinecone’s epic growth journey. Keep reading for his insights into how to set up go-to-market for an early stage startup and how to adapt PLG to sell high-ACV deals.