Category Visionaries

Amir Taichman, Founder and CEO of Unity SCM: $13 Million Raised to Power the Future of Supply Chain Operations

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Amir Taichman, Founder and CEO of Unity SCM, a supply chain operations platform that's raised over $13 Million in funding.
Topics Discussed:
Amir’s background in big data, and the biggest lesson he learned from his time in the Israeli Defence Forces
How Amir started his first company with a high school friend, and why he gave his investors their money back after a week
Why Amir admires founders who don’t do a lot of PR, and why it’s important to have and give support to other founders
The fragmentation of crucial data in the supply chain industry, and how Unity makes it easy for supply chain operators to get all the data they need
The advantages of being an outsider, the power of conversation, and how to navigate company lows

Dr Thomas Oakley, CEO of Feedback PLC: £20 Million Raised to Build the Future of Patient Data Sharing

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Dr Thomas Oakley, CEO of Feedback PLC, a medical imaging technology company that's raised £20 Million in funding.
Topics Discussed:
Dr Thomas’s background as a clinical radiologist and employee of the UK’s National Health Service
Who is Tim Specter, and why Dr Thomas finds him an inspiring entrepreneur
How patient data is siloed across different hospitals and teams, and how Feedback creates a common view of a patient across a number of different people
The origin story of Feedback, why they decided to go public, and the challenges of being CEO of a public company
Regulatory burdens of being a public company, and how not to get distracted by valuations 
 
Favorite book: 
Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant

Michael Bamberger, CEO and Founder of Tetra Insights: $7 Million Raised to Power the Future of Qualitative Research

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Michael Bamberger, CEO and Founder of Tetra Insights, a qualitative research and insights platform that's raised $7 Million in funding. 
Topics Discussed:
Michael’s background as a self-taught web developer with experience in finance
The tech scene in Boulder, Colorado, and what it’s like to live and work there
Who’s the entrepreneur Michael most admires, and the two books that most impacted Michael professionally and personally
How Tetra Insights helps companies extract the most value from thousands of hours of video and audio data to inform decision-making
Michael’s strategy that landed Tetra its first paying customers, and how to rise above the noise of competition
Favorite book: 
The Entrepreneur Roller Coaster

Wyatt Smith, CEO and Founder of UpSmith: $3.3 Million Raised to Fill the Skilled Labor Gap

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 Wyatt Smith, CEO & Founder of UpSmith, a workforce productivity platform that has raised $3.3 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
From Farm to Tech: Wyatt's journey from a cattle ranch in Alabama to founding UpSmith, highlighting the value of hard work and entrepreneurship learned from his father.
Identifying the Problem: Understanding the skilled worker shortage and the need for a solution that addresses both supply and demand in various industries.
Early Insights and Pivot: How initial attempts to match gig workers with employers led to the realization that starting with the job was key to effective upskilling.
Innovative Business Model: UpSmith’s model of sourcing, screening, training, and deploying new technicians in less than 90 days, with a focus on aligning incentives through productivity-based pricing.
Scalable Solutions: The importance of focusing on scalable, repeatable solutions that can expand across multiple states and sectors.
Future Vision: Wyatt's goal to expand UpSmith's impact beyond the US and into other sectors like healthcare and logistics, creating meaningful work opportunities worldwide.
 

Travis Howerton, Co-Founder and CTO of RegScale: Over $21 Million Raised to Create the Future of Continuous Compliance

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Travis Howerton, Co-Founder and CTO of RegScale, a continuous compliance automation platform that's raised over $21 Million in funding.
Topics Discussed:
Travis’s background, including his 20 years in compliance in the United States’ nuclear weapons program, and transitioning from the public to the private sector
The number one misconception people have about nuclear reactors and weapons
Why compliance is an enormous hindrance for companies, and how RegScale uses AI and automation to make it easier for them 
Travis’s approach to content marketing, and how he got 300,000 thousand downloads of his software
Why Travis would advise his past self to grow RegScale more slowly
 
Favorite book: 
Good to Great

Jonathan Legge, Co-Founder and CEO at &Open: Over $35 Million Raised to Create the Future of Corporate Gifting

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Jonathan Legge, CEO and Co-Founder of &Open, a corporate gifting platform that's raised over $35 Million in funding.
Topics Discussed:
Jonathan’s unusual background in design, starting an ecommerce business with his brother, and why Brian Chesky is an inspiration
How &Open became Airbnb’s Global Gifting partner
Where corporate gifting goes wrong, and how &Open makes corporate gifting thoughtful again 
Curating products, logistics, and having the patience to stay self-funded for as long as it was strategic
How gifting is really about creating connections and establishing relationships, and how Jonathan plans to “scale thoughtfulness”

Stephen Johnston, CEO and Founder of GoodJob: $9 Million Raised to Power the Future of Human Capital Management

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Stephen Johnston, CEO and Founder of GoodJob, a human capital management platform that's raised $9 Million in funding.
Topics Discussed:
Stephen’s background and his love of building and leading
Why Stephen would have Ronald Reagan, Mother Teresa and Bill Gates on his ideal advisory board
Books and podcasts that Stephen finds inspirational
Why companies only hire the right person 50% of the time, and how GoodJob raises that up to 80% by using customized behavioral models
The fundamental principle that informs Stephen’s success, the pros of being located outside of a large tech hub, and important pivots in GoodJob
 
Favorite book: 
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't

Tim McLaughlin, CEO and Co-Founder of GoTab: $26 Million Raised to Power the Future of Restaurant Commerce

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Tim McLaughlin, CEO and Co-Founder of GoTab, a restaurant commerce platform that's raised $26 Million in funding.
Topics Discussed:
Tim’s background, starting seven companies, lessons learned from those that failed, and working with his wife of 25 years
Tim’s interest in philosophy and anthropology and books he’s been reading about these topics
Restaurant technology, how broken it is, and how GoTab is helping restaurants improve their commerce and logistics operations
How differences in restaurant customer experience in the US and Europe are due to tech infrastructure
Tim’s ideal clients, why he doesn’t like fundraising, and why when you are selling your product, context is everything
 
Favorite book: 
The Four Steps to the Epiphany

Michael Belenkie, CEO and President of Entropy: $300 Million Raised to Spearhead Efficiency and Innovation in the Carbon Capture Economy

Welcome to another episode of Category Visionaries — the show that explores GTM stories from tech's most innovative B2B founders. In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Michael Belenkie, CEO and President of Entropy, a carbon capture company that's raised $300 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
Michael’s background in engineering, and a long-running focus on the energy and gas economy
How stagnation in the low-carbon gas economy left space for someone to do something different
The importance of carbon pricing in making a compelling case for people to invest in the low carbon economy
Why effective communication was essential at the early stages of introducing Entropy’s concept to potential customers
The future of the low-carbon economy and why it's important to understand differentiated investor priorities
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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
 

Hjalmar Gislason, CEO and Founder of Grid: $16.5 Million Raised to Build the Spreadsheet of the Future

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Hjalmar Gislason, CEO and Founder of Grid, a next generation spreadsheet platform that's raised $16.5 Million in funding.
Topics Discussed:
Hjalmar’s background, including his entrepreneurial family, growing up in a small town in Iceland, and founding five startups 
Who Hans Rosling was, and why he is an inspiration for Hjalmar
Why spreadsheets haven’t evolved much, and how Grid helps users turn spreadsheets into tools for the web
Turning points and low points for Grid, and why Hjalmar recently decided to downsize the company
Why Hjalmar prioritizes people, and what lessons he learned from fundraising
Favorite book: 
A Short History of Nearly Everything