Category Visionaries

Anish Dhar and Ganesh Datta, Co-Founders of Cortex: Over $52 Million Raised to Improve Developer Productivity

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Anish Dhar and Ganesh Datta, Co-Founders of Cortex, an internal developer portal that's raised over $52 Million in funding.
Topics Discussed:
Anish and Ganesh’s backgrounds as engineers working at different companies which had the same problem, and the origin story of Cortex
Microservice going wrong, and how Cortex helps development companies keep track of who owns each service and whether they are following best practices
Why Anish and Ganesh are certain that cold-calling is not dead, and how they learned to market their product
How to ensure you keep domination within your category, and why it’s important to ensure you’re building the right thing at the right moment
Why storytelling is crucial skill in fundraising, and how you can acquire over time

Douwe Kiela, CEO and Co-Founder of Contextual AI: $20 Million Raised to Build the Future of Enterprise Language Models

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Douwe Kiela, CEO and Co-Founder of Contextual AI, an enterprise large language model company that's raised $20 Million in funding.
Topics Discussed: 
Why Douwe thinks Nvidia’s Jensen Huang deserves far more credit than he gets
The challenges Douwe has met when working in a multicultural environment
Problems with language models today, and how Contextual is addressing them
Why Fortune 500 companies are asking Contextual for help with their AI
The dangers of prematurely regulating a market, and what advice Douwe would give to other founders starting out
 
Favorite book: 
The Culture Map: Breaking Through the Invisible Boundaries of Global Business

Phillip Liu, CEO of Trustero: $8 Million Raised to Build the Future of Compliance AI

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Phillip Liu, CEO of Trustero, an AI copilot for security and compliance that's raised $8 Million in funding.
Topics Discussed: 
Phillip's background, including his time at Facebook and work with Ben Horowitz
Living through the .com bubble and starting and selling a successful company
The origin story of Trustero and how it helps compliance professionals
The future of the compliance market
Lessons Phillip has learned from fundraising
 
Favorite book: 
The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers

Joe Gagnon, CEO at 1upHealth: Over $75 Million Raised to Build the Future of Healthcare Data

In today's episode of Category Visionaries we speak with Joe Gagnon, CEO of 1upHealth, a healthcare data platform that's raised over $75 Million in funding.
Topics Discussed: 
How healthcare is way behind other industries when it comes to using tech
How 1upHealth helps anyone in the health industry format and share data easily
Taking over the CEO role from a founder, and how founders and CEOs differ in their skill sets
Why he's an endurance athlete, and the craziest thing he's ever done in sports
How Joe quiets the noise in our heads
Why going from Series B to C is like going from high school to college

Davit Baghdasaryan, Co-Founder and CEO of Krisp: $19 Million Raised to Build the Voice Productivity Category

In today's episode of Category Visionaries we speak with Davit Baghdasaryan, CEO and Co-Founder of Krisp, a voice productivity platform that's raised $19 Million in funding.
Topics Discussed:
Davit’s background as a software and security engineer and as an Armenian immigrant pursuing the American Dream in Silicon Valley
Why entrepreneurs Jeff Lawson and Aaron Levy are inspirations for Davit, and why his all-time favorite book is an Australian novel
How Krisp started as a noise-reduction tech company and expanded to other voice-related products
Reaching product-market fit, and why Covid was a timely factor for Krisp
The one thing Davit would have done differently, and the pros and cons of creating a new product category
 
Favorite book: 
Shantaram

John Jahnke, CEO and Co-Founder of Tackle.io: $148 Million Raised to Build the Future of Cloud Go-to-Market

In today's episode of Category Visionaries we speak with John Jahnke, CEO and Co-Founder of Tackle.io, a cloud go-to market platform that's raised over $148 Million in funding.
Topics Discussed:
John’s background as a kid who loved computers and wanted to be a CEO
The two founders John would have liked to meet, and what his favorite books are
Why software companies have difficulties selling their product through cloud providers, and how Tackle.io helps them do that easily
Achieving and keeping product-market fit, and the process, obstacles and rewards of creating a new product category
How fundraising gets easier after the initial stage, and why it’s important everyone in the company can tell the same story
 
Favorite book: 
The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World

Kameale Terry, Co-Founder and CEO of ChargerHelp!: Over $20 Million Raised to Build the Future of Electric Vehicle Infrastructure

In today's episode of Category Visionaries we speak with Kameale C. Terry, Co-Founder and CEO of ChargerHelp!, an infrastructure solution that has raised over $20 Million in funding.
Topics Discussed: 
Kameale’s background, why she said she’d never be an entrepreneur, and what made her end up as a founder and CEO
Why EV charging stations often do not work, and how ChargerHelp! uses data analytics to find and solve actual problems and potential issues
An important element of success that’s outside of any founder’s control
Lobbying with the government, and being featured in a White House press release
Why it’s important to know what you’re fundraising for, and what Kameale’s vision for the future is

Thibault Castagne, CEO and Founder of Vianova: $8.8 Million Raised to Build the Go-To Operating System for the Mobility World

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Thibault Castagne, CEO and Founder of Vianova, a mobility intelligence platform that's raised $8.8 Million in funding.
Topics Discussed: 
Thibault’s studies and work in finance in France, the US, London and Switzerland 
Thibault’s experience moving to the mobility industry and founding his first company
Reasons why The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People is an important book for Thibault
Why the transportation system is inherently broken, and how Vianova works with governments toward achieving carbon neutrality
The challenges of selling to public entities, and how to make it easy for them to say yes
Favorite book: 
7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Greg Fallon, CEO of Geminus: $12 Million Raised to Help the Industrial Sector Prepare for the Energy Transition

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Greg Fallon, CEO of Geminus, an industrial AI optimization platform that's raised $12 Million in funding.
Topics Discussed:
Greg’s background in mechanical engineering, being a lifelong nerd and having a passion for innovation
Geminus’ goal of making machines more efficient 
How increasing the efficiency of big plants and equipment can positively impact the environment
Strategies Greg uses to cut through the noise in the AI industry
3 important lessons Greg learned from fundraising
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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

Ben Goldin, CEO and Founder of Plumery: $4.5 Million Raised to Power the Future of Digital Engagement for Banks

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Ben Goldin, CEO and Founder of Plumery, a digital engagement platform for banks that's raised $4.5 Million in funding.
Topics Discussed: 
Ben’s background as a nerdy teenager in Lithuania and his career in tech for banking
CEOs that inspire Ben, and two books that are important to him
How Plumery helps mid-to-small size banks all over the world build delightful customer experiences and stay relevant and innovative
Ben’s strategies for standing out from the competition
Why Ben’s advice to his past self starting out would be “don’t be too serious”
 
Favorite book: 
Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder