Category Visionaries
Welcome to Category Visionaries — the show dedicated to exploring exciting visions for the future from the founders who are on the front lines building it. In each episode, we’ll speak with a visionary founder who’s building a new category or reimagining an existing one. We’ll learn about the problem they solve, how their technology works, and unpack their vision for the future. Brought to you by: www.FrontLines.io/podcast — Podcast-as-a-Service for B2B tech brands. Launch your show in 45 days.
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Episodes
Monday Oct 30, 2023
Monday Oct 30, 2023
In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Dan Ahrens, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Left Lane Capital.
Topics Discussed:
The current state of the venture capital space, and why contemporary founders are seeking more than simply startup capital
The importance of hustle an independent thinking to running a successful VC
How Left Lane Capital differentiates itself by taking a data-centric approach to making big business decisions
Why new founders need to be well capitalized before embarking on a category creation journey and evangelizing new categories
The future of investment in a capital scarce economy, and why profit-first portfolios are likely to lead the way
Thursday Oct 26, 2023
Thursday Oct 26, 2023
In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Dennis Thankachan, CEO and Co-Founder of Lightyear, a telecom operating system platform that's raised over $18 Million in funding.
Topics Discussed:
Dennis’ background in computer science and finance, and starting a bunch of random businesses while in high school and college
What Dennis learned from his time at Goldman Sachs – and what he had to unlearn, and why
Why Dennis believes Stoicism is an important philosophy for founders to learn, and what being happy means to him
How Lightyear helps companies make more efficient decisions about their telecoms providers and equipment
Attracting clients, finding product-market fit, and what Dennis learned from fundraising
Favorite book:
A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy
Wednesday Oct 25, 2023
Wednesday Oct 25, 2023
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
Wednesday Oct 25, 2023
Wednesday Oct 25, 2023
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
Wednesday Oct 25, 2023
Wednesday Oct 25, 2023
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
Tuesday Oct 10, 2023
Tuesday Oct 10, 2023
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.
Tuesday Oct 10, 2023
Tuesday Oct 10, 2023
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
Tuesday Oct 10, 2023
Tuesday Oct 10, 2023
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”
Saturday Oct 07, 2023
Saturday Oct 07, 2023
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
Saturday Oct 07, 2023
Saturday Oct 07, 2023
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