Category Visionaries

Jared Pope, CEO and Co-Founder of WorkShield: $12 Million Raised to Eliminate Workplace Misconduct

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 Jared Pope, CEO and Co-Founder of WorkShield, a workplace misconduct platform that has raised $12 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
A Recovering Lawyer Turned Entrepreneur: Jared shares his journey from being a lawyer to embracing the entrepreneurial path, driven by a desire to manage his own ventures and solve significant problems outside the traditional practice of law.
The Genesis of WorkShield: Inspired during the MeToo movement, Jared and his Co-Founder (who is also his wife) aimed to tackle workplace misconduct with a solution that offered a voice to affected employees, ensuring their concerns are seriously addressed and resolved efficiently.
Challenges of the Traditional Legal System: Jared's transition from law to entrepreneurship was fueled by the inefficiencies and constraints of the legal profession, pushing him to seek a more impactful and equitable way to address workplace issues.
Building WorkShield's Unique Solution: WorkShield stands out by not just being a software platform but also offering services that humanize the process of handling workplace misconduct, ensuring that affected employees feel heard and supported.
Growth and Evolution: WorkShield's approach to scaling involves closely listening to client feedback to continuously improve and adapt its platform to meet the evolving needs of workplaces.
The Importance of Culture and Fit: Jared emphasizes the critical role of hiring the right team members who align with WorkShield's core values of being hungry, humble, and smart, contributing to the company's positive culture and sustained growth.

Marina Segal, CEO & Co-Founder of Tamnoon: Over $5 Million Raised to Build the Future of Cloud Security

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 Marina Segal, CEO & Co-Founder of Tamnoon, a cutting-edge cloud security platform that has successfully raised over $5 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
Early Experiences Shape Future Paths: Marina's initial years in Israel and service in the IDF taught her vital lessons in adaptability, language, and equality. Despite her niche role within the IDF, it laid the groundwork for her passion in compliance and frameworks, influencing her career trajectory.
Cultural Adjustments and Learning Curves: Moving to the US, Marina faced the challenge of adapting to a new work culture, learning the subtleties of communication and professional interaction. This experience sharpened her interpersonal skills and played a crucial role in her decision to dive into the startup ecosystem, drawing her closer to the Israeli community.
Driven by Process Optimization: Marina's journey into cloud security was motivated by her desire to automate and optimize compliance assessments and risk management processes. Her work at Deloitte and the transition to a tech startup stemmed from her passion for reducing manual workload through innovative solutions.
Finding Inspiration in Leadership: Marina credits her grandmother and a mentor from Deloitte as significant inspirations in her life. Their leadership styles, emphasizing humility, approachability, and the ability to manage stress while fostering a sense of equality and peer respect, greatly influenced her approach to leadership and problem-solving.
Tamnoon's Unique Value Proposition: Tamnoon aims to bridge the gap between cloud security detection and effective remediation. By focusing on the next step beyond just identifying security issues, Tamnoon seeks to offer scalable solutions for remediation and prevention, addressing a critical need in the cloud security space.
The Significance of Team Building: The co-founding journey of Tamnoon underlines the importance of partnership and team dynamics. Marina's previous collaboration with her co-founder at another startup highlighted the value of shared principles, conflict resolution, and the ability to work towards common goals.

Stoyan Zulyamsky, Co-Founder of Costimize: $5 Million Raised to Revolutionize Cloud Finance Management

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 Stoyan Zulyamsky, Co-Founder of Costimize, a finops-powered operating system for the modern enterprise that's raised $5 Million in funding. 
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation: 
Early Tech Aspirations: Stoyan's interest in technology began at a young age, with ambitions to build his own computer. His early career moves, including working for the biggest bank in Bulgaria, provided him with the insights and experiences that would later fuel his entrepreneurial journey.
The Tech Scene in Bulgaria: From being perceived as a call center location to becoming an R&D hub for large tech companies, Bulgaria has experienced a significant transformation. This change reflects the country's growing startup ecosystem, fueled by an influx of capital and a wealth of educated talent.
Addressing Cloud Complexity: Costimize tackles the complex, automated environment of cloud systems, aiming to simplify and optimize operations for businesses. Stoyan's vision is to provide a systematic approach to managing and reducing cloud expenses while organizing operational playbooks for sustainability.
The Genesis of Costimize: The idea for Costimize was born out of Stoyan's experiences in managing IT operations and witnessing the manual efforts required to control cloud spending. This realization led to the development of a platform that could automate these processes, saving time and resources for businesses.
Market Positioning and Growth Strategy: Initially focusing on Google Cloud as a niche market, Costimize is expanding its offerings to other cloud platforms. Stoyan's strategy involves leveraging marketplace opportunities and partnerships to drive growth, aiming for a tenfold increase in the coming year.
FinOps and the Future of Cloud Management: Stoyan emphasizes the importance of FinOps (financial operations) in the evolving landscape of cloud management. He envisions Costimize as a central platform that connects various systems, aiding organizations in automating their cloud finances for enhanced profitability.

Arie Zilberstein, CEO and Co-Founder of Gem Security: $34 Million Raised to Power the Future of Cloud Detection and Response

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 Arie Zilberstein, CEO and Co-Founder of Gem Security, a cloud detection and response platform that has raised $34 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
Facing Skepticism and Pursuing Vision: Despite encountering skepticism at the outset, Arie and his team remained committed to their vision for Gem Security, leveraging their extensive cybersecurity experience to validate and pursue their innovative cloud security solution.
Identifying a Market Gap: Arie's prior roles in incident response revealed significant challenges in cloud-native breach detection and response, inspiring the foundation of Gem Security to address these critical gaps in the market.
Strategic Relationship Building: Gem Security's credibility and market presence were significantly enhanced through strategic relationships and endorsements from cybersecurity leaders, illustrating the importance of trusted networks in startup growth.
Early Customer Engagement and Validation: The transition from design partners to paying customers highlighted the importance of early and active engagement with potential users to refine and validate the product offering, ensuring it met real market needs.
Focus on Team Building: The initial stages of Gem Security emphasized assembling a strong foundational team, underscoring the crucial role of talent acquisition and team cohesion in the early success of a startup.
Vision for Scaling and Future Growth: Looking forward to 2024, Arie focuses on scaling Gem Security's go-to-market strategy and enhancing the sales team to broaden the company's reach and impact, aiming to revolutionize security operations in the cloud era.

Ethan Ruby, CEO and Co-Founder of SaaSGrid: $3M Raised to Become the Standard For SaaS Metrics

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 Ethan Ruby, CEO and Co-Founder of SaaSGrid, a SaaS data platform that has raised over $3 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
Product Development Journey: The inception of SaaSGrid, evolving from a simple spreadsheet for financial diligence to a comprehensive SaaS data platform, illustrates the iterative nature of product development and the importance of addressing specific market needs.
Transition Challenges: Transitioning from a venture capitalist to a founder, Ethan discusses the multifaceted challenges and learning curves, highlighting the operational and strategic shifts required in this new role.
From Tool to Platform: The transformation of an internal tool into a full-fledged product underscores the potential of simple solutions to evolve into significant market offerings, emphasizing innovation and market fit.
Building a Sales Team: Ethan talks about the strategic pivot from founder-led sales to establishing a sales team, reflecting on the scalability challenges and the critical nature of this transition for growth.
Addressing Diverse Customer Segments: Tailoring the product and messaging to serve both early-stage startups and growth-stage companies showcases the complexity of effectively serving a broad market with varying needs.
Vision for the Future: Ethan shares his vision for SaaSGrid to become the all-in-one operating hub for SaaS companies, leveraging data for enhanced operational workflows and decision-making.

Anthony Mironov, CEO and Co-Founder of Wingspan: $30 Million Raised to Power the Contractor Experience of the Future

Welcome to another episode of Category Visionaries — the show that explores GTM stories from the tech's most innovative B2B founders. In today's episode, we're speaking with Anthony Mironov, CEO and Co-Founder of Wingspan, a payroll platform purpose-built for contingent work that has raised $30 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
Anthony's Background: Anthony shared his journey from private equity, focusing on payroll and benefits, to founding Wingspan. His experience in evaluating investment opportunities and a successful sale to Paychex provided him with deep insights into the payroll sector.
Founding Wingspan: Motivated by the administrative burdens on companies and freelancers in the gig economy, Anthony, leveraging his experience as an independent consultant, founded Wingspan to tackle these challenges.
Investor Confidence: Wingspan's vision attracted investments from prestigious firms and notable founders, signaling strong investor belief in its potential to revolutionize freelance work administration.
Market Validation: Anthony observed early signs of the freelance work trend, which COVID-19 accelerated, reinforcing Wingspan's mission to update the outdated system of record for freelance work.
B2B Focus Shift: Initially a direct-to-consumer model, Wingspan pivoted to a B2B focus upon realizing the scalability challenges of the former approach. This strategic shift targeted companies built on contingent work, leading to Wingspan's scalable success.
Vision for the Future: Anthony envisions Wingspan becoming a leading financial services company for the professional services market, aiming to create a unified platform that simplifies the complexities of working independently.

Ned Hill, CEO and Founder of Position Imaging: $75 Million Raised for Revolutionary Package Management and Asset Tracking

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 Ned Hill, CEO and Founder of Position Imaging, a package management and asset tracking platform that has raised over $75 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
Entrepreneurial Beginnings: Ned shares his journey from founding a company in 1999 based on wireless tracking technology initially aimed at tracking pets, highlighting his entrepreneurial spirit and early interest in technology solutions.
Transitioning Markets: Position Imaging's journey from an initial focus on image-guided surgery to logistics showcases the company's adaptability and Ned's vision for applying their technology across various industries.
Innovation in Package Management: The development of the Smart Package Room as Position Imaging's first product demonstrates their commitment to revolutionizing how packages are managed in multifamily residences, offering a more efficient and automated solution.
Challenges of the Dot-Com Crash: Ned reflects on the difficulties faced during the dot-com crash, sharing valuable lessons on investor relationships and strategic decision-making during challenging times.
Expanding Product Applications: Position Imaging's ability to adapt its platform for different markets, including office spaces and retail, highlights the versatility of their technology and their approach to solving logistics challenges across industries.
Vision for the Future: Ned outlines his ambitious vision for Position Imaging to dominate the package management market and establish their iPickup brand as the "ATM of first and last mile delivery," showcasing their potential for widespread impact on logistics and delivery services.

Ben Kliger, CEO and Co-Founder of Zenity: $21.5 Million Raised to Build the Future of Security and Governance for AI, Low-Code, and No-Code Development

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 Ben Kliger, CEO and Co-Founder of Zenity, a security governance platform for no code and AI development that has raised $21.5 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
Unit 8200's Impact: Ben credits his transformative experience in Unit 8200, emphasizing the unit's culture of embracing challenges and enabling significant contributions to national security. This environment fostered his leadership skills and established a lifelong network of friends and colleagues.
Entrepreneurial Roots and Vision: With a background influenced by entrepreneurial family values and participation in entrepreneur programs, Ben always aspired to create his own technology company. His journey through roles at Deloitte, Fortscale, and Microsoft further shaped his ambition to address meaningful business challenges with innovative solutions.
Inspiration from Leaders: Identifying David Ben-Gurion and Satya Nadella as his inspirations, Ben admires their leadership qualities of empathy and customer obsession. These principles guide Zenity's mission to prioritize customer needs and drive meaningful impact.
Zenity's Mission: Focused on security governance for no-code and AI development, Zenity aims to ensure that citizen-developed applications within enterprises are secure. By addressing the security aspects of no-code and AI tools, Zenity enables organizations to empower their non-technical staff without compromising on security.
Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) Identification: Zenity targets large enterprises that heavily utilize major SaaS platforms for citizen development projects. The company focuses on security leaders within these organizations, offering solutions to manage the risks associated with no-code and AI development by non-technical employees.
Marketing Philosophy and Growth Strategy: Emphasizing thought leadership and partnerships, Zenity engages with industry organizations and leverages direct sales to communicate its value proposition. The company's approach is not about inducing fear but about enabling organizations to harness the power of no-code and AI development securely.

Hanns Aderhold, Founder and CEO of Cobrainer: $21 Million Raised to Build the Future of Skills Data Platforms

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 Hanns Aderhold, Founder and CEO of Cobrainer, a people's first skills AI platform that has raised $21 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
Origins and Shifts: Cobrainer started as a university project in 2013, aiming to facilitate project team formations based on skills. The initial vision expanded into the corporate world when companies expressed interest in adopting a similar skills-based approach for internal staffing.
Early Challenges and Encouragements: Hanns faced discouragement when sharing his startup idea, with many advising him to gain experience in large companies first. However, this skepticism fueled his determination to proceed with Cobrainer.
From Consultancy to SaaS: Cobrainer's journey began as a consultancy, providing custom skills-based staffing solutions for enterprises. In 2020, the company pivoted to a single-product SaaS model, focusing on internal career transparency and personalized career recommendations for employees based on their unique skill profiles.
Navigating COVID-19: The pandemic initially seemed like a setback for Cobrainer, especially after moving away from consultancy. However, the shift towards internal talent management during hiring freezes proved to be an accelerant for the company's SaaS product.
Building Partnerships: Hanns emphasizes the importance of forming strategic partnerships with consultancies and HR tech vendors. These collaborations have been crucial for Cobrainer, allowing them to refine their product and achieve significant growth by leveraging partners' networks and platforms.
Vision for the Future: Looking ahead, Hanns envisions a world where individuals can easily navigate their careers based on their skills, contributing to their personal fulfillment and the development of meaningful work. Cobrainer aims to be the navigation platform that enables this future, helping people to follow their true calling by providing clear, skills-based career pathways.

Amy Brown, CEO and Founder of Authenticx: $28 Million Raised to Build the Future of Listening AI

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 Amy Brown, CEO and Founder of Authenticx, a listening AI platform that has raised over $28 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
Journey to Founding Authenticx: Amy transitioned from a 20-year career in healthcare to founding Authenticx, motivated by a vision to solve inefficiencies in healthcare customer service through AI.
Inspiration for Authenticx: The idea for Authenticx grew over several years, eventually becoming an undeniable call to action for Amy, driven by personal and professional experiences.
The Problem Authenticx Solves: Authenticx aims to address inefficiencies by leveraging AI to analyze over a billion daily customer service conversations in healthcare, improving outcomes and reducing administrative costs.
Securing the First Significant Contract: Amy shares the pivotal moment of securing Authenticx's first significant contract, highlighting the emotional and financial stakes involved in the startup's early days.
Introducing "Listening AI": Amy proposes a new category, "Listening AI," to better describe Authenticx's mission, differentiating it from the broader "Conversational Intelligence" category and emphasizing the value of deriving actionable insights from unstructured conversation data.
Fundraising Insights: Through her fundraising journey, Amy learned the importance of authenticity and staying true to one's vision, navigating the challenges and advice from investors to maintain focus on the company's core mission.