#99 - The 900 Day Gap Between Quitting BigLaw and Success

Noah Waisberg left Weil Gotshal without a company, without a plan, and without knowing if the technology would work. For two and a half years, the AI kept failing. There was zero revenue, a newborn at home, and mounting financial stress. Then his co-founder finally cracked it. They bootstrapped to 100 employees before raising $50 million, then pulled off one of the most creative exits in legal tech by selling while keeping 30 people and launching a new company as a spin-out.

In this episode of Lawyers Who Learn, host David Schnurman explores Noah's philosophy that you become your best self through challenge, not comfort. As a junior associate at Weil, Noah watched lawyers bill hundreds of dollars an hour for repetitive contract review work they hated and weren't particularly good at. He saw an opportunity for disruption even before legal tech was a defined category.

Noah shares the brutal reality of those early years: meeting four computer science PhDs at a Starbucks, choosing his co-founder, then watching month after month as their AI simply didn't work. His candor about going from a well-paying BigLaw job to financial stress with a newborn offers a rare glimpse into what bootstrapping actually costs.

The conversation reveals how Noah became an expert at selling efficiency technology to hourly billing lawyers, navigating the paradox that making lawyers faster doesn't automatically reduce client bills. Whether discussing his children's book on AI, his Wall Street Journal bestselling book, or his creative deal structure, Noah proves that challenging yourself and being willing to face years of uncertainty can lead to outcomes you never imagined.