Category Visionaries

Paul Stovell, CEO and Founder of Octopus Deploy: Over $170 Million Raised to Build the Future of Deployment Automation

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Paul Stovell, CEO and Founder of Octopus Deploy, a deployment automation tool for DevOps that's raised over $170 Million in funding.
Topics Discussed:
Paul's background as a software engineer and the influence of other entrepreneurs on his business mindset
Octopus Deploy’s mission to automate software deployments and make the process stress-free for software teams.
How Octopus Deploy differentiates itself from competitors by providing value in one specific area of contemporary business
How Octopus Deploy was able to secure a profitable business model at a very early stage, confounding the startup economy standard
Building a new category around a real-world pain point for contemporary businesses, and where Paul sees the business heading in the future
 
Favorite book: 
Coder to Developer: Tools and Strategies for Delivering Your Software

Mousa Yassin, CEO and Founder of Pixaera: $5.7 Million Raised to Build the Future of VR Safety Training

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 Mousa Yassin, CEO & Founder of Pixaera, an immersive learning platform that has raised $5.7 million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from the conversation:
Pixaera's Mission: Pixaera bridges the gap between gaming and enterprise learning, leveraging high-fidelity 3D gamified experiences to revolutionize traditional training methods.
Value of Gaming in Learning: Mousa highlighted how his gaming experience, particularly in World of Warcraft, equipped him with leadership, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills applicable in the enterprise world.
Safety Training Focus: Pixaera focuses on safety training due to its high stakes and regulatory importance, transforming traditional methods with immersive, engaging experiences that dramatically improve retention rates.
State of VR and Adoption: While VR technology is still evolving, Pixaera's platform works across various devices, with the majority of users starting on computers. VR usage is growing, supported by affordable and advanced headsets like the Quest 2.
Effective Learning Metrics: Pixaera measures success through engagement and retention rates, showing significantly higher results compared to traditional video-based training, proving the efficacy of their immersive approach.
Market Penetration Strategy: By initially targeting large enterprises like BP and Shell, Pixaera established credibility and set a benchmark in the industry, facilitating wider market adoption.
 

Liam Randall, CEO and Founder of Cosmonic: $8.5 Million Raised to Power the Future of WebAssembly

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Liam Randall, CEO and Founder of Cosmonic, a company that has raised $8.5 Million in funding.
Topics Discussed:
Liam’s background as a hustler immigrants’ child
How working with something you are passionate about will help you through tough times, and why it’s healthy to keep some discomfort in our lives
Side effects of entrepreneurship which we usually only see when it’s too late
How Cosmonic and WebAssembly are making life easier for developers worldwide
Liam’s tips for successful communication

Philippe Petitpont, CEO and Co-Founder of NewsBridge: €12.5 Million Raised to Build the Future of Media Management

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Philippe Petitpont, CEO and Co-Founder of NewsBridge, a cloud media hub platform that's raised €12.5 Million in funding.
Topics Discussed:
Phillippe’s career background, and the unorthodox journey that took him from rocket engineering to management of media content
An overview of NewsBridge’s cloud media hub platform, and its relevance for an industry already saturated with content
Running a company across different continents and timezones, and how to make the new way of working work for you
How NewsBridge overcame initial resistance from journalists to the introduction of AI technology in media
A new media future of automatic video storytelling empowering creators across a whole range of platforms
 
Favorite book: 
Turn the Ship Around!: A True Story of Turning Followers into Leaders

Alan Shreve, CEO and Founder of Ngrok: $50 Million Raised to Help Devs Deploy SItes, Services, and Apps

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Alan Shreve, CEO and Founder of Ngrok, a unified ingress platform that has served over 6 million developers worldwide and raised $50 Million in funding. 
Topics Discussed:
Alan’s background and lessons from his first job
What a unified ingress platform is, and why it’s crucial for developers
The secrets for attracting 6 million users
Whether bootstrapping or venture capital is the better way to go for a startup
The future of Ngrok and how it aims at helping developers even more
 
Favorite book: 
The Little Prince

Max Bruner, CEO and Founder of Anzen Insurance: $10 Million Raised to Build the Future of Executive Risk Insurance

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Max Bruner, CEO and Founder of Anzen Insurance, a platform that is saving insurance brokers and companies thousands of hours and tons of stress, that has raised $10 Million in funding. 
Topics Discussed:
Max’s early background — which was unrelated to tech — and his experience in the insurance industry
The surprising place of the insurance industry in the world
A little-known historical fact about the importance of insurance
What factors are making people-related risks increase for companies, and why 40% of startups and small businesses get sued by employees
Why buying directors and officers insurance is such a painful process for most companies, and how Anzen is changing that

Arik Shtilman, Rapyd: $15 Billion Valuation (Unicorn Builders)

In today's episode of Unicorn Builders, we speak with Arik Shtilman, CEO and Co-Founder of Rapyd, a Fintech as a service platform that's raised over $800 Million in funding, about why today’s global economy needs a new generation of payment solutions. Offering powerful fintech solutions to collect, hold and send funds across countries and between currencies with ease, Rapyd makes sure their customers have the time and resources available to focus on what matters most - building and growing their businesses.
We also speak about Arik’s CEO superpowers of staying hungry and getting deep into the details, advice for early founders to focus on building a brand and boosting awareness, Rapyd’s marketing strategies, and creating a new category with ‘fintech as a service.’
Topics Discussed:
Lessons learned from the Israeli military 
The mindset Arik and his co-founders had when they founded the company
How to deal with negative press
The ROI of David Guetta
How one meeting saved the company from being closed 
Why the spray and  pray approach to fundraising doesn't work 
How Arik keeps him team and himself hungry and motivated 
Why brand awareness is everything 

Ravi Parikh, CEO and Co-Founder of Airplane: Over $40 Million Raised to Build Better Developer Infrastructure For Internal Tooling

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Ravi Parikh, CEO and Co-Founder of Airplane, a developer platform for internal tooling that's raised over $40 Million in funding, about why an increasingly differentiated digital economy needs a more agile toolkit for developing solutions to specific tasks. Enabling their clients to develop internal UIs with just a few lines of code, coordinate tasks and introduce custom tools across a whole range of third-party platforms, Airplane transforms basic scripts into production grade apps.
We speak to the CEO and Co-Founder about his background as a software engineer and the companies he founded before Airplane, the real world experience that inspired him to focus on internal developer tools, staying competitive in a crowded marketplace, and why Airplane decided against going ‘no-code.’
Topics Discussed:
Ravi’s background in software engineering and analytics, and his record of founding tech-centered companies
The personal experience with a real-world pain point that led Ravi to develop the Airplane platform
The challenge of developing a complex platform prior to establishing product market fit
The importance of clear competitive advantage to convince engineers that there’s a better solution than writing code themselves
Why Airplane rejected the ‘no code’ buzzword to provide a unique offering in a crowded marketplace
 
Favorite book: 
High Output Management

Funding the Future: Zamir Shukho, CEO and General Partner of Vibranium VC

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Zamir Shukho, CEO and General Partner of Vibranium VC.
Topics Discussed:
Zamir's background working with startups and building acceleration programs, and what he learned about what business leaders need
Vibranium VC’s focus on Silicon Valley software companies, with a particular interest in B2B SaaS, sales, marketing, fintech and media solutions
Common pitching mistakes, being prepared to address tough questions and be open to feedback from investors
The challenges of category creation including the need to convince potential markets and new customers to adopt new concepts
Excitement about opportunities in the SaaS market, particularly B2B startups utilizing AI to enhance their software products

Craig Unger, CEO and Founder of Hyperproof: Over $22 Million Raised to Pioneer the Compliance Operations category

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Craig Unger, CEO and Founder of Hyperproof, a security assurance and compliance operations platform that's raised over $22 Million in funding, about the central role of security in developing critical cloud services, and how a trust deficit can derail even the most promising plans for the future. Hyperproof is fully committed to helping companies keep the promises they make to their clients, creating an entirely new business application that makes it easy to gather and re-use evidence, set reminders to complete compliance tasks, and automate tedious manual tasks, all with a level of transparency previously unheard of.
We also speak about Craig’s background in the tech Industry for 31 years, his time working for microsoft and what it taught him about trust in the sector, bridging the gap between security and compliance, and Hyperproof’s vision for the future of enhancing trust and transparency across the board.
Topics Discussed:
Craig’s decades-long career in the tech space, from some of the industry’s biggest names to experiences in the startup economy
Lessons learned about trust and transparency as the foundation of critical business decisions and their impact on long-term development
The Hyperproof value proposition and how they position themselves in a crowded marketplace
The challenge of educating a market about the importance of compliance operations, and how Hyperproof makes it happen
Finding a product-market fit after more than a year in operation, and what made Hyperproof feel they’d finally got things right 
 
Favorite book: 
The Scarlet Letter