Category Visionaries

Funding the Future: Kendrick Kho, Co-Founder and GP of Sierra Madre

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Kendrick Kho, Co-Founder and GP of Sierra Madre.
Topics Discussed:
Kendrick’s transition from data science and engineering to VC founder, including the anxiety that comes with the fundraising mission
Tailoring strategies to generate investment for different investors and variable market dynamics
Key traits of successful founders, including "desperate urgency" and "founder Problem Fit," aligning skill sets with key risks
Category creation versus disruption, and Sierra Madre's preference for disrupting existing markets with innovation
Why Sierra Madre specifically seeks out technologies shaping the future of our production system, and what ‘industrial evolution’ really means

Yana Welinder, CEO and Founder of Kraftful: Over $3 Million Raised to Help Product Builders Create Better Products and Communities

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 Yana Welinder, CEO & Founder of Kraftful, a product research tool that has raised over $3 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
Founding Kraftful: Yana transitioned from law and academia to product management, eventually founding Kraftful to revolutionize product research.
Early AI Experimentation: Started experimenting with large language models in 2020, leading to the development of Kraftful’s current product.
Organic Growth Strategy: Leveraging community-building on Twitter and focusing on solving specific problems for product managers.
Competitive Landscape: Kraftful stands out by specifically addressing the needs of product teams, differentiating from general user feedback summarization tools.
Go-To-Market Challenges: Faced new challenges with the launch of Meta’s Threads, prompting a reassessment of user acquisition strategies.
Vision for the Future: Aiming to become the leading human-AI interface for product builders, integrating user feedback seamlessly into the product development process.

Ori Keren, CEO and Co-Founder of LinearB: Over $70 Million Raised to Build the Future of Software Delivery 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 Ori Keren, CEO & Co-Founder of LinearB, a software delivery management solution that's raised over $70 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
Dual Mandate for Engineering Leaders: LinearB focuses on helping engineering leaders master both operational efficiency and business alignment, a dual mandate critical for modern engineering teams.
From Concept to Growth: Ori shared the journey from founding LinearB in 2019 to achieving significant growth, including a 6x revenue increase in 2021 and a 3x increase in 2022.
Product Transformation and PLG Motion: In 2020, LinearB transformed its product and go-to-market strategy by adopting a product-led growth (PLG) approach, offering value to both engineering leaders and developers.
Investment in Content Marketing: LinearB's podcast, Dev Interrupted, played a crucial role in educating the market and sharing their philosophy on software delivery management, contributing to their early success.
Customer-Centric Metrics: Ori emphasized the importance of improving internal engineering metrics, such as reducing cycle time from nine days to less than two, showcasing the value LinearB brings to its users.
Vision for the Future: Ori envisions LinearB becoming the orchestrator of the entire software delivery process, integrating with CI, CD, and feature flag vendors to streamline the journey from code to production.
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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

Daniel Lambert, CEO of PathologyWatch: Over $50 Million Raised to Build the Future of Digital Pathology

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Daniel Lambert, CEO of PathologyWatch, a digital pathology solution that's raised over $50 Million funding.
Topics Discussed:
Daniel’s background as a computer engineer with a background in healthcare and entrepreneurship, and founding multiple companies
What a digital pathology solution means for the fight against diseases across various sectors of the healthcare economy
PathologyWatch’s origins as being a tech-enabled service company handling patient cases directly, and how they identified additional value propositions for their product
Understanding the regulatory environment and legal opinions that will be needed to grow a business successfully in the healthcare space
Why letting customers guide the product development process is absolutely crucial for PathologyWatch’s ongoing growth
 
Favorite book: 
The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers

Ayal Yogev, CEO and Co-Founder of Anjuna: $42 Million to Build The Future of Confidential Computing

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Ayal Yogev, CEO and Co-founder of Anjuna, a confidential computing platform that has raised $42 Million in funding.
Topics Discussed:
Ayal’s 25 years of experience in enterprise security and product management and number one life lesson from his time in the Israeli military: everything is possible.
His admiration for Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, and Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, despite Mark’s controversial persona.
The story of how he built Anjuna and met Yan Michalevsky, his Co-founder who also served in Israeli intelligence then did Ph.D. in Stanford before they both decided to develop Anjuna together.
Security is an enabler. Ayal believes that 80% of security problems are due to access to infrastructure and confidential computing could be a solution to this issue.
Why massive enterprise’s transition to the cloud put Anjuna’s software in high demand

Jorge Torres, CEO and Co-Founder of MindsDB: $50 Million Raised to Enable Developers to Integrate Machine Learning into Applications

In today's episode of Category Visionaries we speak with Jorge Torres, CEO and Co-Founder of MindsDB, an open source software company that has raised $50 Million in funding.
Topics Discussed:
Jorge’s background in technology, his love for computers and his professional motivation
Why Jorge loves sci-fi, and his favorite books in the genre
The state of AI today and the dangers posed by unreflected Artificial General Intelligence development
How MindsDB helps companies by democratizing AI and machine learning
The downsides of being open source
 
Favorite book: 
The Culture

Ori Entis, CEO and Co-Founder of Staircase AI: $5 Million Raised to Power the Future of Customer Revenue Growth

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Ori Entis, CEO and Co-Founder of Staircase AI, a customer intelligence and analytics platform that's raised $5 Million in funding.
Topics Discussed:
Ori’s background growing up and studying in Israel, and his time in the military
The challenge for B2B of making sure that customers renew and expand their relationships
How the rise of AI tools like ChatGPT is making it easier for Ori to sell his product
Getting the first customers and the challenges Staircase AI has overcome so far
Why Ori would advise his past self to bring talent into areas he is not familiar with, as soon as possible
Favorite book: 
Thinking, Fast and Slow

Marco Herbst, CEO of Evercam: €12.8 million Raised to Reimagine Construction Cameras

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 Marco Herbst, CEO of Evercam, a construction video platform that has raised €12.8 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
Evolution of Evercam: Initially starting with IP cameras for general purposes, Evercam found its niche in the construction industry, creating a reality capture platform to improve construction productivity.
Importance of Reality Capture: Evercam uses various technologies like drones, 360-degree cameras, and AI to provide continuous, high-resolution video of construction sites, enabling better project visibility and communication.
Convergence of Technologies: The simultaneous maturity of multiple technologies like drones, IoT sensors, and AI has significantly benefited Evercam, allowing them to offer advanced solutions to the construction industry.
Challenges in Construction Industry: Construction is traditionally slow to adopt new technologies due to high risk and low reward for innovation. Evercam addresses this by providing a low-risk, high-reward solution that improves project outcomes.
Global Reach and Impact: Evercam works with major global brands like Intel, UPS, and Microsoft, applying their learnings from one project to others across different continents, enhancing construction practices worldwide.
Future Vision: Evercam aims to be the category creator in reality capture, impacting predictive construction and improving future building processes based on comprehensive data collected from past projects.

Funding the Future: Nikhil Choudhary, General Partner at Nirman Ventures

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Nikhil Choudhary, General Partner at Nirman Ventures.
Topics Discussed:
Nikhil’s background, from engineering to the startup economy and eventually becoming CEO
Contemporary challenges arising from increasing complexity in the construction sector, and the need to industry insiders to drive change
Why Nirman Ventures focuses on the construction sector, and what they look for in founders ready to make an impact
How founders can prepare a perfect pitch for potential VC funders, and the key elements required to secure investment
Why Nikhil is always open to founders reaching out directly, and the importance of bootstrapping your business to success
 
Favorite book: 
Secrets of Sand Hill Road: Venture Capital and How to Get It

Funding the Future: Kyle Harisson, General Partner at Contrary

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Kyle Harisson, General Partner at Contrary, an innovation-centered VC firm backing founders from seed to scale.
Topics Discussed:
Kyle’s career journey, from an entrepreneur in the creator marketplace economy to transitioning into the venture capital space
How Contrary identifies the inspirational founders of tomorrow, and what they look for in emerging innovation
Supplementing traditional approaches to venture capital with multidisciplinary research to really understand each company’s journey
How contrary articulates their values, and why marketing and brand identity are more important to VC firms than ever before
Kyle’s advice for founders confronting a challenging VC environment, and why funders need to stop being ‘afraid of their own shadow’
 
Favorite book: 
Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger, Expanded Third Edition