Episodes
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Welcome to another episode of Category Visionaries — the show that explores GTM stories from tech's most innovative B2B founders. In today's episode, we're speaking with Jason Park, CEO & Co-Founder of Coldcart, a perishable e-commerce fulfillment platform that's raised $6.5 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
Solving the Last Frontier of Perishable Shipping: Coldcart focuses on orchestrating and optimizing the delivery of frozen and refrigerated goods, solving the dual challenge of balancing cost and spoilage.Massive Market Opportunity: With 3 billion perishable parcels shipped in the U.S. last year, projected to reach 9 billion by 2032, Coldcart addresses a booming market with significant unmet needs.Significant Cost Reductions: By analyzing variables like temperature, shipping routes, and insulation in real time, Coldcart reduces shipping costs by 15%-50% and cuts late deliveries by 40%-60%.Customer Lifetime Value at Stake: Jason emphasized the high stakes of perishable shipping, as even one late or spoiled delivery can result in the loss of future customer orders, impacting customer lifetime value by 3 to 7 future orders.Impact Beyond D2C Food: Coldcart's platform spans various industries, including pharmaceuticals and industrials, with the perishable e-commerce market growing steadily by 18% each year, driven by generational and demographic shifts.Strategic Go-to-Market Patience: Jason revealed that Coldcart's most critical GTM decision was to initially limit growth and focus on perfecting the product, ensuring it was enterprise-grade before scaling rapidly.//
Sponsors:
Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership.
www.FrontLines.io
The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe.
www.GlobalTalent.co
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Welcome to another episode of Category Visionaries — the show that explores GTM stories from tech's most innovative B2B founders. In today's episode, we're speaking with Rafid Fadul, Co-Founder & CEO of Zivian Health, a healthcare technology company that's raised $3 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
Healthcare workforce shortage: Rafid explains how the shortage of physicians, which has been exacerbated by the pandemic, led to the founding of Zivian Health. The company focuses on solving the growing gap between healthcare demand and the diminishing supply of doctors, nurses, and physician assistants.Evolution of the healthcare workforce: The conversation reveals that, while the number of doctors is dwindling, nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) are growing, but the infrastructure to support this shift in the workforce is lacking.The decision to raise venture capital: Rafid discusses why Zivian Health chose a venture-backed approach after two bootstrapped exits, emphasizing the need to accelerate SaaS development and bring in specialized talent.Building a three-sided marketplace: Zivian Health operates as both a marketplace and a SaaS platform, serving enterprises, physicians, and advanced practice providers. The focus is on making the experience seamless for all stakeholders.Addressing compliance challenges: A key differentiator for Zivian Health is its platform that manages complex compliance requirements for NPs and PAs across different states, enabling them to practice legally and safely.Creating a trusted network: Zivian’s ability to scale its physician network to over 8,000 licenses is driven by its focus on trust, verification, and ensuring a high-quality experience for all participants.//
Sponsors:
Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership.
www.FrontLines.io
The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe.
www.GlobalTalent.co
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Missing episodes?
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Welcome to another episode of Category Visionaries — the show that explores GTM stories from tech's most innovative B2B founders. In today's episode, we're speaking with Jennifer Dulski, CEO & Founder of Rising Team, a team performance platform that has raised $11 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
Early Career at Yahoo and Facebook: Jennifer’s early roles at Yahoo and Facebook gave her first-hand experience in high-growth tech environments. She highlighted the importance of building strong professional networks and working with passionate, talented teams that don’t require external motivation to maintain a sense of urgency.Rising Team’s Platform for Team Performance: Rising Team is a platform designed to help leaders build more connected, high-performing teams. It provides a combination of DIY interactive workshops and AI-powered personalized coaching, allowing teams to run sessions without the need for expensive external facilitators.Founded During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Although Jennifer conceived the idea for Rising Team before COVID-19, the pandemic accelerated the demand for tools that foster team connection in remote work settings. The platform’s value became even more apparent as companies struggled to maintain engagement with dispersed teams.Evolution from 1:1 Manager Tools to Team Workshops: The original version of Rising Team was designed for one-on-one coaching between managers and employees, but the product evolved to focus on team-wide workshops. This shift helped managers save time and meet the growing demand for deeper team connections, especially in remote and hybrid environments.Defining a New Market Category: Rising Team is positioned in a new category called "team performance platform," blending elements from learning management, team building, and engagement tools. This strategic positioning allows the company to stand out from competitors in more established categories.Importance of Data-Driven Pilots for Growth: Jennifer stressed the value of well-structured pilots that involve enough users and run for a long enough period to generate meaningful data. This approach helps demonstrate clear ROI to clients and supports long-term relationships with larger companies.//
Sponsors:
Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership.
www.FrontLines.io
The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe.
www.GlobalTalent.co
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Welcome to another episode of Category Visionaries — the show that explores GTM stories from tech's most innovative B2B founders. In today’s episode, we’re speaking with Mark Lehmkuhle, CEO & Founder of Epitel, a brain health technology platform that has raised over $20 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
Simplifying EEG Monitoring: Epitel has developed a wearable EEG sensor that makes brainwave monitoring easier for patients. Unlike traditional EEGs, which require extensive equipment and specialist interpretation, Epitel’s sensor offers a streamlined approach to detecting central nervous system disorders, especially seizures.Seizures vs. Epilepsy: While seizures are common, with 1 in 10 people experiencing one in their lifetime, not all seizures indicate epilepsy. Epitel focuses on seizure detection, addressing a broader spectrum of neurological conditions, not just epilepsy.Bootstrapping and Perseverance: Mark shared how the company started in 2008 with a small team and minimal resources, operating out of an artist colony with limited heating and air conditioning. The journey took years of grant funding and regulatory hurdles before reaching commercialization.Regulatory Pathway: Despite being a medical device, Epitel’s technology sits on the lower end of the FDA's regulatory spectrum, allowing them to move relatively quickly compared to more complex devices. They achieved FDA clearance with non-dilutive funding, a strategic milestone that paved the way for institutional investment.Data Collection Challenges: To train their AI, Epitel had to develop their own clean EEG dataset because hospitals typically delete such data post-diagnosis. This created a significant technical hurdle but also underscored the uniqueness of their solution.Future Vision: Mark envisions Epitel expanding beyond seizure monitoring into broader brain health applications. Long-term goals include creating a system for continuous brain health tracking, similar to continuous glucose monitors, potentially detecting early signs of conditions like Alzheimer’s or even alerting to stroke risks.//
Sponsors:
Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership.
www.FrontLines.io
The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe.
www.GlobalTalent.co
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Welcome to another episode of Category Visionaries — the show that explores GTM stories from tech's most innovative B2B founders. In today’s episode, we’re speaking with Kristen Valdes, CEO & Founder of B.well, a digital health platform that's raised over $100 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
The Founding Story: Kristen’s personal healthcare struggle with her daughter, who suffered a near-fatal incident due to fragmented medical records, inspired her to build B.well. This experience exposed how broken the system was for consumers, leading her to create a platform that empowers families with tools to manage their own healthcare.System Design Flaws: Kristen believes the healthcare system isn’t "broken" but designed poorly, prioritizing "sick care" over preventative, holistic health. She emphasizes that the system operates as intended, driven by fee-for-service payments, which incentivizes more procedures rather than better outcomes.Value-Based Care: Transitioning to value-based care is critical for improving healthcare outcomes, but it's a slow and challenging process. Kristen estimates it could take another 10-15 years before value-based models dominate. Providers and hospitals need to trust the transition before they fully commit to abandoning fee-for-service models.Consumer Experience Platforms: B.well is a "consumer health experience platform" that focuses on solving the fragmentation of healthcare data. The platform allows users to manage their medical records, receive personalized health insights, and access care across different providers—all through a single mobile interface.Fragmentation and Transparency: Kristen emphasizes that the real challenge in healthcare today is the fragmentation of data. B.well has worked on government initiatives aimed at increasing transparency, from medical records to pricing, in order to drive more innovation and competition in healthcare.Marketing and Category Creation: Kristen shared insights into B.well’s journey in creating a new category—Healthcare Consumer Experience Platforms. Despite the long and difficult process, persistence, thought leadership, and industry collaboration helped B.well succeed in defining this space and gaining analyst recognition from Forrester and Gartner.//
Sponsors:
Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership.
www.FrontLines.io
The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe.
www.GlobalTalent.co
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Welcome to another episode of Category Visionaries — the show that explores GTM stories from tech's most innovative B2B founders. In today's episode, we're speaking with Matthew Kinsella, CEO of Infleqtion, a quantum technology company that's raised over $150 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
Quantum technology’s roots at CU Boulder: Infleqtion's journey started with foundational research from Nobel Prize-winning physicists at CU Boulder. They developed ways to control atoms using lasers, which unlocked the ability to isolate and exploit quantum properties for next-gen tech applications.The unexpected career shift: Matthew spent nearly two decades as an investor, never planning to run a company. His deep dive into quantum technology in 2017 led him to invest in Infleqtion, and ultimately to step in as CEO, driven by the technology’s potential to be transformative for humanity and national security.Explaining quantum to grandma: When simplifying quantum technology, Matthew compares it to Newtonian physics but highlights that quantum operates with its own set of bizarre rules, where everything is governed by probabilities, and phenomena like superposition and entanglement defy everyday logic.Commercializing quantum tech: Infleqtion is already selling products like their quantum optical clock, which keeps time 1,000 times more accurately than anything currently available. This tech has wide-reaching implications, from improving GPS accuracy to enabling future quantum computers.The race to quantum supremacy: Quantum computing is still a few years away from reaching "quantum advantage," but Matthew believes that within five years, we’ll see quantum computers outperform classical computers in specific tasks. Meanwhile, quantum sensors and clocks are already delivering commercial value today.Navigating government contracts: Matthew shares that breaking into government procurement is complex and involves building relationships through programs like SBIR grants. Success in this space can be transformative, with multi-year contracts that provide a consistent revenue stream.//
Sponsors:
Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership.
www.FrontLines.io
The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe.
www.GlobalTalent.co
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Welcome to another episode of Category Visionaries — the show that explores GTM stories from tech's most innovative B2B founders. In today's episode, we're speaking with Vinay Jain, Founder of MadMen AI, an AI and marketing platform that's raised $4.5 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
MadMen AI helps brands create winning ads every week while saving on testing costs: By analyzing past ads and competitor data, the platform generates creative strategies that deliver better ROI for SMBs, improving metrics like ROAS and profitability.MadMen AI’s unique creative ‘brain’ continuously evolves: The platform acts like an ad agency, utilizing data from past ads, competitors, and customer input to consistently optimize creative strategies in a dynamic feedback loop.Built for ease of use for busy SMB marketers: MadMen AI simplifies the ad creation process by mimicking the services of an agency, but without the overhead. Users input key data like brand assets and competitors, and the platform generates optimized ads.Two customer types are key for MadMen AI: One type handles media operations in-house but uses MadMen AI for creative generation, while the other outsources the entire ad process, including budget management, to the platform.Delivering measurable results for SMBs: One case study highlighted how MadMen AI helped an online education client go from losing $500 a month on ads to generating $30,000 a month in profit, thanks to data-driven creative optimization.The future of MadMen AI includes expansion into video, UGC, and new ad platforms: While the current focus is on Meta image ads, the company plans to extend its capabilities to video ads, Amazon, LinkedIn, and more.//
Sponsors:
Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership.
www.FrontLines.io
The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe.
www.GlobalTalent.co
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Welcome to another episode of Category Visionaries — the show that explores GTM stories from tech's most innovative B2B founders. In today's episode, we're speaking with Marc Minor, CEO & Co-Founder of Higharc, a home building cloud platform that's raised over $80 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
Building a CAD System for Home Builders: Higharc's platform is designed to revolutionize homebuilding by enabling builders to design homes in 3D, estimate materials, and generate blueprints—all from one system, reducing inefficiencies and modernizing a traditionally outdated industry.Origin Story Rooted in Personal Frustration: Marc's personal struggles while building his own home exposed the inefficiencies in the industry, leading him to apply his background in 3D printing and digital manufacturing to homebuilding, creating a platform that brings data-driven insights into the construction process.A Unique Co-Founding Team: Marc didn’t know his co-founders before launching Higharc. Instead, he recruited top experts from fields like CAD systems, architecture, and video gaming, building a strong and diverse team to tackle the complex challenges of homebuilding software.Creating the Home Building Cloud Category: Higharc aims to roll up various point solutions used in homebuilding into a comprehensive platform, replacing outdated systems like AutoCAD and transforming the fragmented industry with a vertical SaaS approach.Go-to-Market Strategy Centered on Customer Trust: Higharc’s GTM strategy focuses on building deep trust with customers through successful implementations and long-term support. This creates organic demand rather than relying on top-down sales or marketing blitzes.ABM and Personalization in Marketing: Higharc’s marketing team uses an aggressive account-based marketing approach, personalizing landing pages and software demonstrations for individual prospects, providing them with a hands-on experience of how Higharc can solve their specific business problems.//
Sponsors:
Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership.
www.FrontLines.io
The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe.
www.GlobalTalent.co
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Welcome to another episode of Category Visionaries — the show that explores GTM stories from tech's most innovative B2B founders. In today's episode, we're speaking with Matt Theurer, CEO & Co-Founder of HyperSpectral, an AI-powered spectral intelligence solution that's raised $8.5 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
AI-Driven Pathogen Detection: HyperSpectral combines AI and spectroscopy to rapidly detect pathogens in food systems, offering a faster, cost-effective alternative to current methods like PCR.Pandemic Inspiration: The inefficiencies of COVID-19 testing inspired Matt to explore new ways of detecting pathogens, realizing that similar issues existed in food safety.Broad Applications Beyond Food: While the initial focus is food safety, the technology has broad applications, including human health (detecting antibiotic-resistant bacteria) and materials provenance.Outsider Perspective as a Strength: Coming from outside the traditional microbiology field allowed Matt and his team to question established practices, leading to more innovative solutions.Creating a New Category: HyperSpectral is positioning itself as a category creator in "spectral intelligence," leveraging physics and AI to solve real-world problems.Navigating Market Focus: Despite the many potential use cases, HyperSpectral prioritized food safety due to fewer regulatory hurdles and a clear market need, which informed their GTM strategy.//
Sponsors:
Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership.
www.FrontLines.io
The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe.
www.GlobalTalent.co
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Welcome to another episode of Category Visionaries — the show that explores GTM stories from tech's most innovative B2B founders. In today's episode, we're speaking with Mike Conover, CEO and Co-Founder of Brightwave, an AI-powered investment research platform that has raised $6 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
Brightwave’s Core Mission: Mike explained how Brightwave leverages AI to expand human cognitive potential. The platform enhances investment research by helping asset managers identify mispriced assets through AI that can analyze far more data than a human can.AI’s Role in Investment Research: Brightwave’s AI focuses on organizing relevant content like SEC filings, news, and transcripts, helping analysts to synthesize large volumes of information and make informed decisions faster.The Evolution of AI: Mike’s journey, from building Databricks' first language model, to co-founding Brightwave, highlights how AI’s rapid progress has revolutionized industries, especially with large language models unlocking new capabilities in research and reasoning.AI in Financial Services: Mike noted that financial firms are rapidly adopting AI, with active asset managers embracing its potential despite limitations. The urgency of staying competitive is pushing firms to adopt AI early, despite its imperfections.Standing Out in a Crowded AI Market: To differentiate Brightwave, Mike emphasized the importance of product quality over AI hype. By building a tool that works and focusing on high-value synthesis and reasoning, Brightwave sets itself apart from competitors.The Future of AI Research Assistants: Brightwave’s long-term vision is to build a system that understands and reasons about the structure of the global economy, transforming the speed and accuracy of financial analysis for asset managers.//
Sponsors:
Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership.
www.FrontLines.io
The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe.
www.GlobalTalent.co
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Welcome to another episode of Category Visionaries — the show that explores GTM stories from tech's most innovative B2B founders. In today's episode, we're speaking with Nick Soman, CEO & Founder of Decent, a healthcare technology company that has raised $43 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
Risk and Motivation: Nick secured the domain "Decent" by spending $60,000 from his home equity line, pushing himself to succeed with the venture by leveraging personal risk.Broken Healthcare System: Healthcare is fundamentally flawed because incentives are built around raising costs rather than reducing them, with insurance companies benefiting from inefficiencies in the system.Level Funded Health Plans: Decent offers an innovative solution by combining level-funded health plans and direct primary care, allowing even small businesses to self-insure and save up to 40% compared to traditional market rates.Direct Primary Care Movement: Decent is riding the wave of the growing direct primary care movement, which allows doctors to focus on personalized care for fewer patients while reducing overall healthcare costs.GTM Strategy Evolution: Initially, Decent struggled with messaging. They shifted from promoting direct primary care upfront to leading with cost savings, which significantly improved their sales success.Scaling Through Brokers: Instead of bypassing brokers, Decent embraced them, building tech tools to empower them, which proved crucial for scaling and reaching more small businesses.//
Sponsors:
Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership.
www.FrontLines.io
The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe.
www.GlobalTalent.co
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Welcome to another episode of Category Visionaries — the show that explores GTM stories from tech's most innovative B2B founders. In today's episode, we're speaking with Vicky Demas, CEO of Identifeye Health, a retinal imaging platform that has raised over $90 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
Automating Retinal Imaging: Vicky explains how Identifeye Health is leveraging AI and automation to build a fully automated camera, simplifying retinal screening and addressing access to care.Founding Journey: The company received initial funding three and a half years ago, with Vicky brought in to reset the company’s vision and direction, thanks to her expertise in AI-driven healthcare solutions from her time at Google X.Google X Experience: Vicky shares insights into her time at Google X, where the team worked on high-impact healthcare projects using AI, including early work on retinal imaging for diabetic retinopathy.Rebranding Challenge: Identifeye Health underwent a major rebranding exercise, turning it into an exciting team-driven initiative that created a more accurate and trademarkable brand name.Tackling Diabetic Retinopathy: Identifeye Health is focused on improving the accessibility and accuracy of diabetic retinopathy screening, aiming to solve the issue of low patient screening compliance with AI-driven simplicity.Pre-Commercial Stage: The company is in the final stages of commercialization, actively preparing manufacturing and quality management processes to launch their solution.//
Sponsors:
Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership.
www.FrontLines.io
The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe.
www.GlobalTalent.co
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Welcome to another episode of Category Visionaries — the show that explores GTM stories from tech's most innovative B2B founders. In today's episode, we're speaking with Geert Van Kerckhoven, CEO & Co-Founder of Oper, a mortgage tech platform that's raised over $15 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
Oper’s Mission: Oper is revolutionizing the European mortgage process by digitizing the journey for both borrowers and lenders. The platform aims to improve the experience from initial contact to final contract, reducing paper-based processes and streamlining mortgage underwriting.Founding Story: Geert's 20 years of experience in fintech and banking, combined with frustration from a personal mortgage process, inspired the creation of Oper. He saw a clear gap in the market for a modern, scalable solution for mortgage lenders across Europe.First Customer Acquisition: Within three months of starting, Oper landed its first client who acted as a design partner, enabling the company to generate revenue from day one.Early Challenges: While securing a first client quickly, the challenge was to avoid building a proprietary solution for just one partner. The focus shifted to scaling the product and acquiring more clients to broaden its market presence.Go-to-Market Strategy: Oper focuses on enterprise sales with a team of experienced account executives managing relationships with banks. Additionally, they leverage partnerships with system integrators for larger, complex implementations, a key element of their growth strategy.Marketing Strategy: Geert emphasizes the importance of content marketing. Oper creates in-depth reports and thought leadership pieces that educate the market, helping them scale their knowledge beyond face-to-face meetings.//
Sponsors:
Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership.
www.FrontLines.io
The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe.
www.GlobalTalent.co
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Welcome to another episode of Category Visionaries — the show that explores GTM stories from tech's most innovative B2B founders. In today's episode, we're speaking with Scott Dorey, Co-Founder of OpenPath, a payments platform that's raised $25 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
OpenPath’s Unique Approach: OpenPath started as a middleware for merchants, helping them manage checkout processes, accept payments, and mitigate chargebacks and fraud. They’ve now evolved to offer instant direct payments using real-time bank transfers, eliminating fraud and streamlining payment processing.Evolution of the Product: The initial idea was sparked by a co-founder’s vision. Over time, they saw an opportunity to partner with another payments company, leading to the creation of a new product—real-time, fraud-free bank transfers.The Fraud and Chargeback Problem: Scott highlighted the pervasive issue of chargebacks in e-commerce, which can cause significant financial strain on businesses. OpenPath's solution drastically reduces these issues by simplifying and securing the payment process.Seamless Merchant Onboarding: OpenPath has streamlined the process for merchants to integrate its technology, reducing development time and effort. This has enabled even large-scale merchants, like Lululemon, to quickly adopt their platform.Strategic Sales and GTM Execution: OpenPath built a robust sales pipeline well before their product was fully deployed. By dividing sales into industry verticals, they ensured the product reached the right decision-makers from the start.Future Expansion Plans: While OpenPath is currently focused on the U.S. market, with all regulatory approvals in place, Scott shared their plans to expand into Europe in the near future, where regulations are slightly more relaxed, making it an easier market to enter.//
Sponsors:
Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership.
www.FrontLines.io
The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe.
www.GlobalTalent.co
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Welcome to another episode of Category Visionaries — the show that explores GTM stories from tech's most innovative B2B founders. In today's episode, we're speaking with Yariv Bash, Co-Founder & CEO of Flytrex, a drone delivery platform that has raised $60 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
Space to Drones: Yariv’s journey from leading a lunar mission to co-founding Flytrex, transitioning from spacecraft to drone delivery.Tech Innovation: Flytrex’s unique approach to ensuring food remains fresh during delivery, using straight-line flight paths for speed and efficiency.Overcoming Regulations: Yariv’s insights into navigating FAA regulations for commercial drone delivery in the U.S. and how they're at the final stage of approval.Logistical Efficiency: Flytrex’s ability to hire part-time employees with benefits, distinguishing them from competitors that rely on gig workers.Competing Lean: Flytrex’s strategy for competing against billion-dollar companies by maintaining a lean, efficient business model from day one.Expanding Beyond Food: Yariv’s vision of scaling Flytrex to deliver not just food but also retail goods like clothing and electronics in under 10 minutes.//
Sponsors:
Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership.
www.FrontLines.io
The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe.
www.GlobalTalent.co
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Welcome to another episode of Category Visionaries — the show that explores GTM stories from tech's most innovative B2B founders. In today's episode, we're speaking with Ryan Alshak, CEO & Founder of Laurel, a Gen AI timekeeping platform that has raised $55.7 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
Laurel's Core Offering: Laurel automates timekeeping for professional service firms like law, accounting, and consulting. By shifting from manual to AI-driven time tracking, Laurel helps users save time and ensures companies bill and collect for all work performed, boosting profits by 4-11%.The "Aha" Moment: Ryan's inspiration to create Laurel came from his own frustrations as a lawyer, where tracking time in six-minute increments felt dehumanizing and inefficient. He realized a machine should be reminding professionals of their work, not the other way around.Overcoming Enterprise Resistance: Ryan emphasized that competing with large incumbents in the enterprise space requires not just great technology but also building trust and social proof to overcome buyers' fear of adopting new solutions.Change Management & Flexibility: Initially, Laurel tried to force users into a new workflow. They pivoted to offer multiple ways to track time—manually, through automation, with timers, or via delegation—meeting users where they are to drive adoption.Importance of First Principles in AI: Ryan believes incumbents are struggling to adapt to AI because they’re retrofitting it into legacy systems. Building AI-first, Laurel delivers a superior user experience, which Ryan sees as critical to winning in the AI space.Founder-Led Sales to 8-Figure ARR: Laurel’s journey to $10 million ARR has been driven by a founder-led sales approach, with a small but focused team. Ryan emphasized the unique learning advantages this approach provides, enabling faster product iteration and market fit.//
Sponsors:
Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership.
www.FrontLines.io
The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe.
www.GlobalTalent.co
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Welcome to another episode of Category Visionaries — the show that explores GTM stories from tech's most innovative B2B founders. In today's episode, we're speaking with Pulkit Agrawal, CEO & Co-Founder of Chameleon, a product adoption platform that has raised $15 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
The Power of Onboarding: Pulkit shared how Chameleon was born from a personal experience with user onboarding, and how a simple project to revamp onboarding boosted user retention significantly.Evolution of Positioning: Initially focused on user onboarding, Chameleon later embraced the broader category of product adoption platforms, inspired in part by market trends and competitive positioning.Category Challenges: Pulkit discussed the struggle of accepting and operating within an existing category, like "Digital Adoption Platforms," and how Chameleon aims to differentiate itself while playing in that space.PLG Misconceptions: Many companies fail with product-led growth (PLG) because they think of it as an all-or-nothing shift. Pulkit emphasizes the importance of small, iterative changes and learning from current users for PLG success.Sophisticated Sales Process: Pulkit highlighted the shift from convincing companies to adopt new tools to winning customers over from competitors, which requires a more sophisticated sales process and depth of product knowledge.Content-Led Growth: Pulkit underscored the value of high-quality content in driving inbound growth and how he has taken a hands-on approach to produce valuable, expert-level material, like a comprehensive guide on Digital Adoption Platforms.//
Sponsors:
Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership.
www.FrontLines.io
The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe.
www.GlobalTalent.co
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Welcome to another episode of Category Visionaries — the show that explores GTM stories from tech's most innovative B2B founders. In today's episode, we're speaking with Saman Farid, CEO & Founder of Formic, a robotics platform that has raised over $60 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
On-demand robot workforce: Formic provides factories with robots that can work on an hourly basis, aiming to solve labor shortages by making robotic solutions more accessible.COVID and labor shortages: Saman founded Formic during the pandemic, driven by supply chain disruptions and the unfilled jobs crisis in manufacturing, which showed a need for better automation solutions.From VC to founder: Saman transitioned back to being a founder because he believed in the massive potential of robotics. He saw a $10 billion opportunity in automating manufacturing tasks and felt compelled to take the leap.Robustness over cutting-edge tech: Formic focuses on reliability, prioritizing proven, dependable robotics technology that can run two shifts daily without downtime, over pursuing the latest but less mature advancements.Unique business model - "Pay for Productivity": Formic guarantees performance and productivity, only charging clients for the output they get, which has been a game-changer in driving faster adoption of robotics.Scaling with $250M in financing: Formic uses a sophisticated capital stack to finance deployments, which allows them to offer a "try before you buy" model, making robotics more affordable and less risky for manufacturers.//
Sponsors:
Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership.
www.FrontLines.io
The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe.
www.GlobalTalent.co
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Welcome to another episode of Category Visionaries — the show that explores GTM stories from tech's most innovative B2B founders. In today's episode, we're speaking with Avi Singer, CEO & Founder of Showd.me, a compliance training platform that has raised $4.5 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
Pivoting to Compliance Training: Initially, Showd.me focused on peer-to-peer learning, but Avi pivoted the business to online compliance training in 2016 after realizing the compliance industry had a consistent, recurring need that wasn’t being addressed well.Moving from ‘Nice to Have’ to ‘Need to Have’: Avi strategically shifted from the "nice-to-have" social learning market to the "need-to-have" compliance space, ensuring a steady demand due to regulatory requirements.Capturing Existing Demand: Avi shared how Showd.me doesn’t need to create demand, as compliance is mandatory. Their focus is on providing a better product and understanding customer pain points to differentiate from competitors.Bootstrapping vs. Raising Capital: Avi has largely bootstrapped Showd.me, appreciating the flexibility it offers in building a sustainable business without the pressures of constant fundraising.Client Referrals as a Key Growth Strategy: Rather than relying heavily on outbound marketing, Avi emphasized the importance of client referrals and maintaining strong relationships with existing customers, which have been a primary driver of growth.Scaling with Fundamentals in Place: Avi expressed his focus on scaling Showd.me without compromising the quality of the product or the company culture, emphasizing that a strong foundation is key to long-term success.//
Sponsors:
Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership.
www.FrontLines.io
The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe.
www.GlobalTalent.co
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Welcome to another episode of Category Visionaries — the show that explores GTM stories from tech's most innovative B2B founders. In today's episode, we're speaking with Henry O'Connell, CEO & Founder of Canary Speech, a healthcare technology company that has raised $26 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
Origins at a Bagel Shop: Canary Speech started when Henry and Jeff Adams, the lead developer behind Amazon Echo, met and discussed the future of using voice to detect diseases. This meeting laid the foundation for Canary's vocal biomarker technology.Incredible Speed and Accuracy: The company's AI-driven platform analyzes 40 seconds of voice data, delivering results in milliseconds with 93-96% accuracy for diseases like Alzheimer’s, mild cognitive impairment, and Parkinson’s. It’s revolutionizing early diagnosis.Real-time Patient Insights: Canary Speech enables doctors to assess multiple conditions — from neurological diseases to anxiety and depression — during a live conversation. This allows for more comprehensive care without additional time-consuming tests.Global Reach and Language Capabilities: Canary Speech’s models are already being used in multiple countries and languages, including English, Japanese, and Spanish, extending healthcare accessibility to underserved regions.Strategic Partnerships with Microsoft: Microsoft’s investment and integration of Canary Speech into the Azure platform have expanded the company's reach globally. They’re now exploring partnerships that could further embed Canary’s solutions into healthcare systems.The Transition to SaaS: After two years of project-based revenue, Canary Speech transitioned into a SaaS model, allowing for recurring revenue streams and long-term scalability in healthcare and call centers.//
Sponsors:
Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership.
www.FrontLines.io
The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe.
www.GlobalTalent.co
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