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
Tuesday Jan 03, 2023
Tuesday Jan 03, 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 Jorge Penalva, Co-Founder & CEO of Lang AI, a language understanding platform that's raised $40 Million+ in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
Customer Experience Transformation: Lang AI focuses on helping CX organizations manage and analyze massive amounts of customer data to transform CX from a cost center to a revenue driver.
AI for Business People: Lang AI aims to democratize AI by making it accessible and operational for business users, not just engineers.
Category Building Challenges: Jorge admires founders like Manny Medina of Outreach for their ability to build new categories and create strong teams around their vision.
Data-Driven Insights: Lang AI helps companies like Ramp, Freshly, and Stitch Fix to process and operationalize customer data in real-time, providing actionable insights and improving customer success.
Market Positioning: Lang AI positions itself as a data platform for unstructured data, aligning closely with the growing role of CX operations in organizations.
Scaling and Traction: With significant traction in fintech and e-commerce sectors, Lang AI has developed strong partnerships with platforms like Zendesk and Salesforce, driving their growth.
Tuesday Jan 03, 2023
Tuesday Jan 03, 2023
In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Parry Bedi, CEO of Tingono, a revenue retention platform that's raised almost $7 Million in funding, about why most companies miss out on the real value of their data, and how stitching together inputs to form a cohesive whole can provide critical decision-making insights for a modern business. Terming this approach ‘Machine-Learning driven revenue growth,’ Tingono has carved a space for itself in the SaaS ecosystem, working closely with clients to develop genuinely value-adding software solutions.
We also spoke about why Parry has such a pattern for entrepreneurship, how working with data is now much more important than just producing it, building ‘design partner’ relationships with potential customers, and why constructing the ideal team can be both the biggest challenge in business, and also one of its most rewarding aspects in the long run.
Topics Discussed:
Why Parry’s passion for entrepreneurship leads him to keep founding new enterprises
How a history of working with great people positions Parry ideally for launching an innovative startup
The challenge most businesses face when dealing with customer data, and how Tingono can help them out
The role of machine learning in getting a good view of customers
Why Tingono’s goal is not only producing a great product, but also really adding value to their customers’ businesses
Why integrating ‘design partnerships’ into your development process can help pre-empt critical challenges later on
Why being surrounded by the right team can be a rewarding experience in business
Favorite book:
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't
Friday Dec 23, 2022
Friday Dec 23, 2022
In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Paul Kim, CEO of Notifi, a Web3 communication infrastructure platform that's raised over $12 Million in funding.
Topics Discussed:
From multinational enterprise to energetic startups, how experience working with the big boys gave Paul valuable lessons for his own company
Why customer obsession is still absolutely critical, even in a technology-focused market
How Notifi field tested software solutions with hacker communities first, before engaging with major market players
Why web3 mass adoption is inevitable, and what businesses need to do to get involved
The current missing link in the web3 system, and how Notifi plans to plug the gap
Why Paul elected to sacrifice short-term adoption from crypto-purists to focus on the major market space of mass adoption
Friday Dec 23, 2022
Friday Dec 23, 2022
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 Jordan Gal, CEO & Co-Founder of Rally, a checkout payment platform that's raised $6 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
Innovative Checkout Solutions: Rally offers an alternative checkout solution for e-commerce merchants, challenging the standard platforms like Shopify and BigCommerce.
Experience with Competitors: Jordan discusses the impact of competitors like Fast and Bolt on the market and Rally’s strategy to navigate this noisy space.
Post-Purchase Offers: A key feature of Rally is post-purchase offers, enabling merchants to increase revenue without risking the initial sale.
Transition from Bootstrapping to VC: Jordan shares insights on his journey from bootstrapping his previous company to raising venture capital for Rally.
New Market Categories: Rally aims to redefine e-commerce checkout with a focus on headless commerce, offering greater flexibility and customization.
Future Vision: Jordan envisions Rally integrating crypto tokens to provide true ownership to merchants and shoppers, fostering a more engaged network.
Friday Dec 23, 2022
Friday Dec 23, 2022
In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Chris Strahl, CEO of Knapsack, a design systems platform that has raised more than 7 million in funding, about his addiction to the more agile side of the business world, and why smaller companies are the way he likes to operate. With Knapsack, he's determined to reset the relationship between business and design, providing an integrated platform for collaboration and coordination which ensures the highest level of efficiency and consistency in the digital design process. The design systems platform category is all about providing the framework to support a whole range of design solutions, whether they come from engineers, designers, or the mind of a visionary CEO, and see them transform into high-quality content.
Chris also spoke about the current state of the venture capital market and being a 'wartime CEO, ' the challenges non-digital native companies have in facing an increasing consumer demand for online experiences, and why building a new market category is such an exhilarating but challenging experience. Whether or not Knapsack will emulate the success of design platforms like Canva remains to be seen, but Chris can see a path ahead in that direction, and he's determined to make it.
Topics Discussed:
The mundane challenges of modern design, and why most designers end up making the same product several times over
Why collaboration between engineers and designers is a key challenge for building a more efficient design process
The current state of the startup marketplace, and why a good ROI pitch is essential to make any headway with potential investors
How Knapsack is defining a new market category, why it matters and what makes it such a challenging experience
Why Chris isn't done with conversations about defining 'design systems platform' yet, and how the future of the category is still flexible
The shortfalls of some leading design platforms, and why Chris believes Knapsack can do it better
Favorite book:
The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers
Friday Dec 23, 2022
Friday Dec 23, 2022
In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Wes Winham Winler, CEO of Woven, about why a new way of hiring tech developers is needed to keep up with the rapid transformation and growth in the startup space. By putting candidates through rigorous skills testing exercises tailor made to the needs of a specific company, Woven is determined to all but eliminate the mishiring phenomenon and make sure everyone finds themselves in the role that’s right for them.
Wes also explains how a personal experience working with a small team led him to really understand the impact of ineffective hiring, why keeping ‘in-category’ is important for helping potential customers connect with your business, and how pretty much anything can be measured (even if not precisely) to help us all make better business decisions moving forward.
Topics Discussed:
Wes’ experiences in startup culture, and how both positive and negative experiences gave him important lessons to apply with Woven.
How many of us forget that some of the world’s biggest corporate names were once startups too, and how much we can learn from their growth experiences.
Why developing tech solutions, and skill tests in particular, needs effective client communication as much as top-quality programming
How almost anything can be measured to some extent or another, and why establishing measurements can help us make more effective decisions
Why ‘business culture’ can sometimes be a catchall to protect ourselves from legitimate criticism
Why even innovators might be better off staying in an established category to help build new connections with potential customers
Favorite book:
How to Measure Anything: Finding the Value of Intangibles in Business
Wednesday Dec 21, 2022
Wednesday Dec 21, 2022
In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Jay Bartot, CEO of Zeitworks, about why so many startups put the cart before the horse when it comes to process automation. Zeitworks has established process discovery as a key component of its business model, to make sure they know exactly what their clients need before they start developing automated solutions for the more mundane needs underlying every business.
Jay also talks about his extensive experience in the startup space, how the tech investment environment has changed since the infamous ‘.com crash,’ and why the proliferation of AI technology can’t quite keep up with how fast the buzzword is spreading through the industry. He prefers the term ‘machine learning’ to help people understand the real processes going on behind the ‘black box’ of automated technology solutions.
Topics Discussed:
Jay’s years in the startup space, transitioning to being a founder, and the lessons he brings forward to the modern tech investment sector
Why automation can help free up talented people from the grind of repetitive, mundane business tasks which dominate so much of their day
Why the modern technology ecosystem is different from the ‘.com era,’ and why most companies these days are putting their business priorities first
Why data propriety is a critical consideration for any business operating in the tech sector, and why a lack of knowledge can come back to bite you eventually
Why discover is a critical component of business process automation, and why Zeitworks’ commitment to the details puts them ahead of the competition
Why Jay is more comfortable using the term ‘machine learning’ than ‘AI,’ given how saturated the marketplace is right now
How machine learning technology is poised to drive the economy of the future, and how Zeitworks is preparing to take full advantage of its meteoric rise
Favorite book:
Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance
Saturday Dec 17, 2022
Saturday Dec 17, 2022
In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Rob Leslie, CEO of Sedicii, about how security in cyberspace doesn’t always mean sacrificing privacy, and why we all need an alternative to sharing our vital data online. By pushing innovation in the field of verification technology, fragmenting critical data and deploying a range of customer-orientated solutions, Sedicii is on a mission to deliver a safer, more secure digital infrastructure for the economy of the future.
Rob Also shared his wisdom on the secrets of building an effective startup, the differences and similarities between working in Japan compared to the West, and why he really believes in the power of the technology his team are working on to change our relationship with privacy, and make sure that a sense of safety and a promise of security don’t have to be mutually exclusive
Topics Discussed:
The challenge of ensuring security in an open marketplace without sacrificing sensitive data
Rob’s formative years in Japan and how they helped him learn about different ways of doing business
How a single bad experience led Rob to focus on verification and privacy as two key aspects of the cybersecurity movement
Why we shouldn’t need to share our sensitive data just to conduct a secure transaction
How fragmenting critical information across multiple secure sites can help prevent hacking
Why Sedicii is determined to build the ‘plumbing’ for a security-native digital future where privacy is guaranteed for all
Saturday Dec 17, 2022
Saturday Dec 17, 2022
In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Tony Jamous, CEO of Oyster, about how remote working is bringing the world together, building new opportunities and making a dent in one of our greatest collective challenges - global inequality. Oyster’s seamless, red-tape-free solution for any company to hire anyone, anywhere, is more than just a revenue stream, it’s a mission-based company determined to lead the way toward a better future of work for us all.
We spoke about Oyster’s extraordinary funding success, the impact of the pandemic and the importance of timing, and how personal experiences building a global company led him to appreciate the challenge of hiring across borders. A self-proclaimed ‘future of work activist,’ Tony wants to see a world where barriers and borders to productivity are eliminated, allowing people to optimize their skills in their communities and end the cycle of brain drain afflicting much of the world.
Topics Discussed:
The future of a truly global economy, and why bureaucracy hurts us all, in the long run,
How Tony became a ‘future of work activist’ and what it means to run a mission-based company
Why global talent can become the basis of a global community, and why borders build inequality into our society
The importance of like-minded investors, and why a mission is everything when founding a company to drive real change
Why learning and leadership go hand in hand, and why every first-time founder needs a good coach
Target market resonance and the challenge of positioning a revolutionary company in a saturated market
Why global work will soon become ‘future work,’ and how Oyster is positioning itself to get ahead of the curve
Favorite book:
Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting out of the Box
Saturday Dec 17, 2022
Saturday Dec 17, 2022
In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Eduardo Silva, CEO of Calyptia, about the future of data observation in a fully automated economy, and why a surplus of information can create as many challenges as it solves. Calyptia’s mission is to simplify data observation and give decision-makers access to the most valuable insights possible, ultimately helping everyone do better business on a daily basis.
Eduardo explains a little about his journey in the data space, the process of transitioning from engineer to entrepreneur, community, connectivity, and collaboration in the open-source economy, and the pros and cons of operating a remote company spread across several different countries.
Topics Discussed:
Learning and leading - Eduardo’s journey from an engineer to entrepreneur, and how commercial complexity added a new level of understanding to his technical skill set
Why observability is crucial to unlocking the power of data, and why so many companies miss the mark with their analysis
The digital logistics of collecting and analyzing data from so many different sources
How simplifying observation gives everyone access to the best possible decisions, and what it takes to get there.
Why the world is bigger than silicon valley, and the pros and cons of running a tech platform from Costa Rica