Category Visionaries

Mike Adams, Co-Founder & CEO of Grain: $22 Million Raised to Power the Future of Meetings

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Mike Adams, Co-Founder & CEO of Grain, a meeting insights platform that raised $22 Million in funding, about how to build the next in-demand product by really drilling down into the problems people deal with on a daily basis. Grain exists to capture, copy, and share key points from live conversations automatically so clients can concentrate more effectively on the conversation itself instead of losing focus on writing notes about it.
We also talk about how Grain acquires customers as a startup and builds strong relationships with them, tailoring their solution to a client’s specific problem. In addition to that, we also talk about Mark’s challenges in navigating remote work through the pandemic, despite his dislike towards remote working.
Topics Discussed:
Mike’s journey from Utah to San Francisco where he built his first start-up and eventually started Grain
Mike's experience building MissionU, an education company which was sold to WeWork back in 2018, which is where the idea for Grain came from.
Mike's admiration for Sid Sijbrandij, the Co-Founder and CEO of GitLab, particularly about their solid business and company culture.
How Mike met his Co-founder and decided to start a company that could record every meeting or interview and store that data in their own software.
How Grain acquires big names as a startup. He talks about building good and genuinely needed products that actually solve problems. They were always doing one-on-one on-boarding meetings with their customers to build relationships and tailor the product to the customer's needs.
Grain’s competitive landscape and market creation. Mike considers Grain as a ‘new flavor inside an existing category’.
Mike’s greatest challenge while building Grain: COVID and navigating through completely remote work. 
Grain’s vision for the next three years and how those visions excite Mark.
 
Favorite book: 
The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown

Funding the Future: Jeff Crusey, Deep Tech Venture Investor

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Jeff Crusey, a venture investor with a special interest in the world of deep tech innovation, about why investing in a startup should be about much more than just cutting a check with an eye to future returns. With years of experience in aerospace, climate and energy transition, cybersecurity and deep tech, Jeff brings credibility and critical insight to any venture he gets involved in, supporting new founders to flourish as they transform the future of technology.
We also speak about exactly what drives Jeff’s passion for venture investing, why it’s a promising time for many deep tech adjacent sectors, why Jeff is determined to bring more to an investment than just taking up space on the board, and his key tactical insights for those looking to secure startup investment.
Topics Discussed:
How the deep tech space is driving the future of innovation, in everything from aerospace and defense to the green energy transition
Why a world of geopolitical turmoil means a lot of opportunity for innovative tech startups, but why that doesn’t always mean building bombs
The potential for state-startup collaboration and why the long established stigma against government might be starting to shift
Why investing should mean much more than just cutting a check or taking up a seat on the board
The challenge of accurate valuations for truly transformative tech companies, and potential workarounds
Tactical insights for tech startups looking to secure investment, from extending more than a six-month runway to keeping your strong teams together no matter what

Funding the Future: Mike Janke, Co-Founder of Data Tribe

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Mike Janke, Co-founder of Data Tribe, a venture capital firm driving change through a whole new approach to investing, about how a hyper-targeted and hands-on approach has helped them achieve a 96% success rate when it comes to guiding their partners to transformative market change and, ultimately, commercial viability. By carefully selecting only truly innovative startups and embedding deep in their operations, Data Tribe are making a name for themselves and their world-changing technologies.
We also speak about Mike’s unorthodox entrance into the startup sector from a background in the military, what really excites him about the investment cycles he’s involved in, why so many of Data Tribe’s partners originate from the state-supported sector, and why there’s no real way to scale the Data Tribe hyper-focused approach to venture beyond a few hand-picked partners.
Topics Discussed:
Mike’s path to venture capital, from the military to being a six-time founder in the startup tech sector and beyond
The deluge of investment funding innovation in the state sector, and how Data Tribe helps build-out commercial viability beyond it
How Data Tribe ended up behind six of the World Economic Forum’s ‘technologies of the year.’
Why Data Tribe focus on a small number of hand-selected partners, and what makes their approach impossible to scale further
What makes for a good investment pitch, and why you should always leave it to the investor to set the valuation
Why category creation isn’t a panacea, and why an innovative technology will guarantee a new category if it’s truly transformative

Taj Adhav, CEO of Leasecake: $17 Million Raised to Make Lease and Location Management Easy

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Taj Adhav, CEO of Leasecake, a location management platform that’s raised over $17 Million in funding, about why it’s time the commercial leasing industry got its own version of LinkedIn or Uber, and how Leasecake believes they’ve got what it takes to claim the space. Through empathy and building trust with their clients, Leasecake is able to provide simple, streamlined solutions to some of the sector’s most acute pain points, saving time and money for tenants and property owners alike.
We also speak about how Taj’s early experiences in a commercial tenant household helped make him aware of the stress and strains for tenants, how his family felt about him leaving behind a Fortune 500 career to move into the startup space, why he feels that being a great CEO means you never stop learning, and why he’s convinced that Leasecake are leading the way in creating their own category.
Topics Discussed:
Taj’s career in everything from CPA to Disney Cruises, and why he left it behind to move into the startup space
The lessons Taj has learned by doing as leader of his own enterprise, and why it’s all about the people
The critical problems and pain points in the commercial leasing sector that form Leasecake’s value proposition for their clients
Why trust and empathy are critical for a business that people need to put their trust in to make some very big decisions
Why Leasecake’s new approach to leasing puts them in a category all of their own
How a more simplified solution respects the efforts users go to when carrying out even simple tasks
 
Favorite book:
Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die

Pratap Ranade, Co-Founder & CEO of Arena: $32 Million Raised to Build the Future of Enterprise Decision Making

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Pratap Ranade, Co-Founder & CEO of Arena, an enterprise decision making platform that’s raised $32 Million in funding, about why rapid advances in AI technology are leaving many enterprises in the dust, and why driving improved institutional learning cycles means a faster, more efficient world for all of us. By delivering rapid learning cycles through data feedback and automated decision making, Area intends to make its mark on the modern economy through the better business choices being made with its tech.
We also speak about how Pratap transitioned from physics to startup tech, his first forays as a founder and how they helped him understand what it took to be a leader in business, the history of hierarchy in human organization and how Arena promises that AI can do it better.
Topics Discussed:
Pratap’s background education in physics and what eventually pushed him to set out on a startup journey
Pratap’s first founder experience, and the success and lessons he brought forward to Arena
Pratap’s admiration for Steve Jobs as the creator of products with real impact on people’s lives
How data can drive innovation and learning through improved learning cycles and more efficient feedback loops
The history of hierarchy in human organization and how it might be holding us back
Why data is at the heart of keeping large enterprises as agile as their startup contemporaries
 
Favorite book: 
Player of Games by Anne Banks

Warren Lebovics, Co-Founder of Pequity: $19 Million Raised to Build the Future of Employee Compensation

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 Warren Lebovics, Co-Founder & CEO of Pequity, an employee compensation platform that has raised $19 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
Journey to Entrepreneurship: Warren’s transition from product and design roles at LinkedIn and other tech companies to co-founding Pequity with his wife Caitlin.
Identifying the Problem: How Caitlin’s experience as a compensation manager at Cruise Automation revealed the inefficiencies in current compensation processes and inspired the creation of Pequity.
Core Offerings: Pequity's three main products—Ranges, Offers, and Comp Cycle Management—designed to streamline and improve compensation workflows with a focus on user experience and proactive pay equity.
Market Needs and Triggers: Addressing the growing demand for flexible and scalable compensation solutions, especially in light of new pay transparency laws and the limitations of legacy systems and spreadsheets.
Competitive Edge: Pequity’s commitment to building a superior product with a user experience akin to B2C applications, setting it apart from competitors and attracting loyal customers.
Future Vision: Aiming for widespread adoption of Pequity’s compensation tech in mid-market and enterprise companies to ensure fair pay and compliance with pay transparency regulations.

Sam Fonoimoana, Founder & CEO of Datajoin: $3.5 Million Raised to Help Brands Leverage Customer Behavioral Insights

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Sam Fonoimoana, CEO of Datajoin, a personalization platform that’s raised $3.5 Million in funding, about why data-driven personalization is the future of marketing, and how Datajoin is positioning itself to be a driver and deliverer of that change. By integrating Salesforce pipeline and deal data back into marketing systems like Google Analytics or Adobe Analytics or Google Ads, Datajoin provides a closed-loop, 360-degree view of a company’s sales and marketing success, and insight into how they can move forward more effectively in the future.
We also speak about what it’s like to be a startup founder from the USA’s most remote state, how Sam came to a career in tech to begin with, the power of personalized marketing to save money and develop strategy for Datajoin’s clients, and why leadership is more about influence than purely your position in a company.
Topics Discussed:
Being a native Hawai’ian and what that means for Sam as he grows and raises a family while representing his culture
What years in data analytics and in finance taught Sam about the solutions needed for modern, digital-native businesses
The power of personalized marketing to deliver improved customer experience and save money on a marketing spend
How a partnership with Adobe helped Datajoin break through the industry background noise
Why Sam believes Datajoin has carved out their own unique niche in a crowded market sector
Why a real partnership with clients means more than providing standardized services, and how Datajoin works to make sure every relationship is as beneficial to all sides as possible.
 
Favorite book: 
The 5 Levels of Leadership: Proven Steps to Maximize Your Potential

Lukas Gentele, CEO of Loft Labs: $5 Million Raised to Build the Virtual Kubernetes Category

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Lukas Gentele, CEO of Loft Labs, a kubernetes management platform that’s raised over $5 Million in funding, about why the way we develop software on the most popular platform out there needs a revamp, and exactly how Loft Labs can promise some truly attention-grabbing ROI by streamlining everything about the kubernetes cluster environment. By spinning up and tearing down developer environments in mere minutes, instead of the hours that most of us have become used to over the years, Loft Labs are creating a unique sub-category in the saturated software development space.
We also spoke about Lukas’ career as he transitioned from the service sector to the startup economy, how cloud-native development environments enabled entirely new business models, why Loft Labs believe Kubernetes’ functionality needed to be overhauled, and how their high-speed, sensitive and highly flexible environments promise attention grabbing savings that will ultimately pay for themselves.
Topics Discussed:
Transitioning from the service sector to the tech startup economy, and what Lukas learned along the way
How Kubernetes emerged as the development environment of choice, but why it can still be clunky in practice
How Loft Labs’ Kubernetes management platform reduces spin up and tear-down down from hours to mere minutes, delivering massive savings to their clients
Why cost-saving companies like Loft Labs actually benefit from an economic downturn
Why ease of use and instant integration is one of the most crucial components of Loft Labs’ success
Why Lukas considers himself the chief enablement officer as CEO of Loft Labs, and why what excites him most is watching his team grow

Suresh Mathew, Founder and CEO of Sedai: $18 Million Raised to Automate Cloud Management for Critical Decisions

In this episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Suresh Mathew, the Founder and CEO of Sedai, an autonomous cloud management platform that's raised over $18 Million in funding, about why automated microservices can make major impacts on almost any enterprise deploying them. Suresh shares his background and how he left his job at eBay, PayPal to start Sedai in 2019, before the pandemic. Suresh also shares his belief that starting a company during the pandemic was actually a blessing in disguise, and what he learned during that challenging time. 
Suresh talks about the origin story of Sedai, why it's always better to focus on the problem statement instead of the cool solution, the success Sedai has achieved in the autonomous cloud management market category, and what the next few years might look like. 
Topics Discussed:
Suresh's career, from major industry names to the fresh new startup space
Automation across the industry, from self-driving cars to microservice management
How founding a company during the COVID pandemic turned out to be a blessing in disguise
Why Suresh believes it's always better to focus on a strong problem statement, rather than a shiny solution
The future of automation as it transforms from an industry buzzword into a new norm
 
Favorite book: 
Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future

Jeong-Suh Choi, CEO Bobidi: Nearly $6 Million raised to Deliver Better, More Inclusive AI Solutions for Developers

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Jeong-Suh Choi, CEO of Bobidi, an AI training platform that’s raised nearly $6 Million in funding, about why inclusive AI needs to be developed together, and how Bobidi’s global network is making it happen. By field-testing AI programs with the audiences they’re intended to serve, Bobidi is helping make the machine learning of tomorrow more effective, efficient, and sensitive.
We also speak about what Choi learned from years at Facebook and eBay, what it was like moving to the US in a time of economic turbulence, the outline of AI in the future and the choices we need to make about it, and Choi’s automated meal service nonprofit, Meal Forward.
Topics Discussed:
Choi’s career with some of the biggest names in tech, and what lessons he brought forward to his own startup journey
How he felt moving to the US in 2009, on the tail end of his financial crisis
The past, present and future of AI as a concept, and increasingly a reality in our daily lives
The shortcomings in cultural sensitivity still plaguing some AI systems, and how Bobidi hopes their global network of contributors can address them
How ‘bug bounties’ can help improve AI software for all of us
Choi’s automated meal service nonprofit MealForward, and how the pandemic connected Choi with the charity sector
 
Favorite book: 
Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success