BUILDERS
Welcome to BUILDERS — the show about how founders get new technology adopted.
Each episode features a founder on the front lines of bringing new tech to market, sharing how they broke into their industry, earned early believers, built credibility, and unlocked real technology adoption.
BUILDERS is part of a network of 20 industry-specific shows with a library of 1,200+ founder interviews conducted over the past three years.
For the full network, visit FrontLines.io.
Brought to you by:
www.FrontLines.io/FounderLedGrowth — Founder-led Growth as a Service. Launch your own podcast that drives thought leadership, demand, and most importantly, revenue.
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Episodes
Thursday Nov 02, 2023
Thursday Nov 02, 2023
In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Neil Thanedar, Founder and GP of Utopic Ventures.
Topics Discussed:
Neil's Entrepreneurial experiences in product development for pharmaceutical, cosmetics, and supplement firms
The broken funding model for science-based startups, and how that led to establishing Utopic Ventures
Advocating for early-stage startups, particularly in the biotech sector, to foster scientific innovation and nurture potential founders
Using high-resolution funding and Safe notes for startups to secure initial capital and get started with minimal investment
Future funding interests for Utopic Ventures, from late-stage clinical trials to biotech work
Wednesday Nov 01, 2023
Wednesday Nov 01, 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 Tom Hacohen, CEO & Founder of Svix, a webhooks as a service platform that has raised $10.5 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
Military Influence: Tom discusses how his experience in the Israeli Intelligence Corps shaped his leadership style, emphasizing the importance of bypassing traditional hierarchies to expedite critical information flow.
Startup Origins: The inception of Svix came from a real-world need for efficient webhooks, sparked by a conversation in a Slack group that validated the demand.
Product Market Fit: Tom’s cautious approach to claiming product market fit and how continuous feedback and iteration are key to maintaining it.
Customer Empathy: Building extreme empathy with customers, even saying "no" to them sometimes, to ensure the best long-term product decisions.
Consistent Marketing: The focus on consistency in marketing efforts, avoiding one-time flashy campaigns and instead delivering constant value.
Fundraising Advice: The importance of not needing to raise funds to succeed, which provided Tom with leverage and confidence when interacting with investors.
Tuesday Oct 31, 2023
Tuesday Oct 31, 2023
In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Beck Besecker, CEO and Founder of Marxent, a 3D product experience platform that's raised over $44 Million in funding.
Topics Discussed:
Beck’s background in finance, tech and marketing, and being a lifelong entrepreneur alongside his brother Barry
Why the entrepreneur who most inspires Beck is his own father, and the time Beck met Neil Armstrong without knowing who he was
Why it’s hard for people to make the right choices when buying parts of their homes like a kitchen, bath or decking project
How Marxent uses AI to allow people to create 3D models that help them choose the right configurable parts for their home
Building the “3D commerce” category, and what Beck has learned from fundraising
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