Category Visionaries

Tommy Dang, CEO of Mage: $6.3 Million Raised to Build a Modern Replacement For Airflow

Tommy Dang is the Co-founder & CEO of Mage, an open-source tool for building and deploying data pipelines. Mage helps data engineers synchronize data from 3rd party sources, build real-time and batch pipelines to transform data, and orchestrate thousands of pipelines without losing sleep.
Topics Discussed:
Tommy’s career journey in tech, and the core values he learned from working at Airbnb as a software engineer
The mindset that guided Tommy in creating Mage and how this mental framework helped him efficiently utilize his energy and mind share 
Mage’s origin story and how it helps developers solve data processing challenges
Product features and core design principles that differentiates Mage from other developer tools 
The positioning strategy that’s helping Mage gain market traction 
Why Mage focuses primarily on data integration and data pipelines
Mage’s approach in marketing to developers and company decision makers 
Why Tommy and his team decided to keep Mage as an open source tool, and future plans for monetization
The biggest go-to-market challenge the Mage team has had to overcome,  and it’s vision for the next three years
 
Favorite book: 
Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World

Nicholas Freund, CEO of Workstream: $7 Million Raised to Build the Data Knowledge Management Category

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 Nicholas Freund, Founder & CEO of Workstream, an analytics platform that's raised $7 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
Elon Musk’s Influence: Nick shared how working at Tesla during its critical financial times under Elon Musk's leadership taught him the importance of taking risks and pushing boundaries, a philosophy he carries into Workstream.
Identifying a Pain Point: The idea for Workstream was born out of Nick's experiences both as an analyst and an operator, where he felt acute pain points around how analytics were managed and utilized within organizations.
Category Creation: Workstream aims to create a new category called Data Knowledge Management, addressing data sprawl, tribal knowledge, and broken workflows between data teams and business teams.
PLG Strategy: Workstream employs a Product-Led Growth strategy, offering a freemium model that allows easy adoption by users, with the product becoming more powerful as more people within an organization use it.
Traction and Adoption: Since opening up to a public beta, Workstream has seen hundreds of companies adopt the freemium version and has secured dozens of formal client relationships.
Evangelizing the Category: To build the category and educate the market, Workstream is investing in a video series featuring discussions with technologists and customers, creating comprehensive content to define and promote Data Knowledge Management.
 
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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

Kacper Nowicki, CEO of Nomagic: $30 Million Raised to build the Future of ​​Robotics Fulfillment

Kacper Nowicki is the Co-founder and CEO of Nomagic, an AI and robotics  fulfillment automation company providing smart pick-and-place robotic systems for e-commerce and retail warehouses. 
With Kacper and his team’s expertise in robotics, cloud and deep learning, combined with their experience in logistics, Nomagic is able to help e-Commerce and retail operators build their fulfillment systems to the highest level of  automation.  
Topics Discussed:
Kacper’s experience as an entrepreneur at the height of the dotcom boom and rapid tech growth in Silicon Valley, all through to the dotcom bust
Lessons Kacper learned from his time working at Google
Overview of Nomagic and the full scope of automation services it offers to retail and e-commerce operators
Nomagic’s current customer base  and their target customers
Strategies Nomagic has employed to build customer trust
Kapcer’s take on the media narrative of the human workforce being replaced by robots
How statistics supports  the need for automation in the workforce
The market category that Nomagic falls within and how they are keeping up with service providers  within the same category
Biggest challenges Kacper has seen in bringing robotics and automation technology to market and getting the mainstream market to adopt the technology
Kacper’s three year vision for Nomagic
 
Favorite book: 
Sam Walton: Made In America

Tom Lee, Co-Founder of LOVO AI: $7 Million Raised to Build the Future of AI Voiceovers

Tom Lee is the Co-founder of LOVO AI, a California-based AI voice & synthetic speech company. LOVO’s platform accelerates content production by giving creators access to highly adaptable AI voiceovers, synthetic speech, and custom voice cloning capabilities.
In this episode, Tom shares how having the right team culture and employing a product-led growth approach has helped LOVO rise above the noise and quickly gain traction in the AI space.
Topics Discussed:
Brief overview on AI voice and synthetic speech and the role that data plays in improving the technology
How customer education efforts, marketing, and content creation has helped LOVO with user acquisition
LOVO’s diverse user base - from individual content creators,  to SMBs and Fortune 500 companies
Adapting tech to customer’s needs using hypothesis, experiment, and analysis
Targeting individual customers to support LOVO’s vision of product led- growth
How Tom helps instill the right culture and beliefs in his team
How to effectively navigate the issues and ethical concerns around AI technology
The biggest challenge Tom encountered when bringing his idea to market
How LOVO is providing revenue sharing opportunities for voice actors and democratizing access to quality voices 
LOVO’s goal of becoming an established content creation and IT platform 
 
Favorite book: 
Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future

Adrian Ferrero, CEO of Biome Makers: $24 Million Raised to Bridge the Divide Between Natural Environments and the Digital World

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Adrian Ferrero, CEO of Biome Makers, an agriculture technology startup that’s raised over $24 Million in funding, about why it’s time we let data drive decisions about our relationship with the natural world, in ways that can be both beneficial to the environment, and also make great business sense. Biome Makers was founded with a mission to bridge this digital-ecological divide, providing critical insights to farmers about one of their most important natural assets - the soil in which they grow their crops. By understanding its critical microbial and chemical composition farmers can understand how to make the most of what they’ve got to work with, both today and for years to come.
We also spoke about the rapid transformation of the agricultural sector in recent decades, why farmers are hungry to adopt new innovations, and why the old-fashioned approach of ‘resetting’ soil biology for cultivation just isn’t sustainable anymore. Improving the way we work with our land is Biome Makers’ clear and determined mission, making a genuine impact that helps them attract not only investment, but also bring together the right kind of team. 
Topics Discussed:
Topics Discussed:
How the story of an agricultural landscape in the North of Spain seeded the idea for a disruptive tech startup in California
Why the agricultural sector might not be the way you think, and why so many farmers are hungry for new innovation in almost every aspect of their operation
How monoculture and a lack of data caused the degradation of precious soil ecology, and how Biome Makers intends to restore balance
Why doing something that ‘makes sense,’ and working to create real impact, keeps Adrian motivated every day
How being a mission-oriented company helps attract and retain some of the industry’s top talent
The future of the ag-tech space, from drones to data and autonomous assistance
 
Favorite book: 
Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future

Joseph Fung, CEO of Uvaro: $15 Million Raised to Build the Career Success Platform Category

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Joseph Fung, CEO of Uvaro, a career success platform that’s raised over $15million in funding, about why reframing a host of familiar categories like recruitment and training support leads to a whole new approach to business that puts people first. Career success means taking a human-oriented approach to professional development, helping people find the positions that really work for them, and helping them really deliver on what their host companies need. It’s a whole new perspective on the oldest challenge in business.
We also spoke about why it just makes sense to work with a partner when it comes to professional development, the increasing importance of skills suitability in an economy defined by rapid career transitions, and how the real stories of Uvaro’s members are the best possible promotion for a company that builds everything on trust. By fostering a sense of genuine community and facilitating organic interactions, Uvaro is rapidly changing the way we will all soon approach the prospects of work.
Topics Discussed:
Why we should all invest in a career development partner with the skills and insight to get us where we need to be
Why putting people in the right positions helps entire industries do amazing things
How the pandemic pushed Joseph to reframe his company’s commercial activities, and why a comprehensive career success approach has paid dividends
What a future economy where we all change jobs more regularly means for career development, skills support, and finding success
Why trust is key for a company promising personalized support, and how Uvaro’s organic communities help build it from the ground up
How real support includes unique features like deferred membership payments to help the next generation get started on their road to a better life
 
Favorite book: 
The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done

David King Lassman, Founder of GigXR: $7 Million Raised to Bring Immersive Learning to Healthcare

David King Lassman is the Founder of GigXR, a global provider of immersive extended reality training solutions that aims to transform collaborative learning in healthcare education.
In this episode, David shares how he saw a big potential in the application of mixed reality in education, and the serendipitous moment when he was able to acquire immersive learning research assets from another company,  which led to the creation of GigXR. 
Topics Discussed:
David’s background as a serial entrepreneur in the ed tech space, and the origin story of GigXR
The current state of the mixed reality market
How solution providers can tap into the education space, and how GigXR was able to effectively market its value proposition 
Effects the pandemic has had on the healthcare industry, and how GigXR has learned to shift  their training operations for remote learning
Why David decided to focus on the application of extended reality in the healthcare market before expanding to other verticals
What excites David the most about the future of immersive training in  healthcare

Charlie Andersen, CEO of Burro: $12 Million Raised to Build the Future of Autonomous Farming

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Charlie Andersen, CEO of Burro, an autonomous farming startup that’s raised over $12 Million in funding, about why human-robot collaboration is the future of the agriculture sector. Having grown up on a farm, Charlie understands the challenges facing contemporary farmers more than most people. Burro is determined to provide scalable, practical solutions for what Charlie describes as ‘some of the hardest working people on Earth.’ Their vision is that by allowing robots to handle some of the essential mobility and logistics work, human laborers have more time to focus on the complex, critical tasks they’ll always be better at.
We also spoke about the current state of the farming industry and the pressure on producers to do more with less, why a significant amount of labor (and income) is wasted on basic mobility tasks, and how automated assistants can be beneficial to everyone involved in the Industry. We also discussed the future of robots in farming, and why the idea that they might replace humans is probably best left to the world of sci-fi.
Topics Discussed:
How farming led Charlie to the world of automated technology, and why he had always held a passion for the more industrial side of agriculture
The current state of modern agriculture, and why technology is needed to keep things working in the future
Why migrant farm laborers are some of the hardest working people on Earth, and how Burro’s technology is there to support, not supplant them
Why Charlie doesn’t see much competition in the autonomous farming space, and the challenges of developing functional product solutions
Why developing a prototype might excite the market, but building a market-ready model is a totally different thing
The future of autonomous technology in farming, and why human-robot collaboration is more likely that a machine labor revolution

Saket Saurabh, CEO of Nexla: $15 Million Raised to Build the Future of Data Operations

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Saket Saurabh, CEO of Nexla, a no-code data operations platform that’s raised over $15 Million in funding, about why the limitations of our analytics are stifling the tremendous potential of the data we all generate. Working over several years to produce a market-ready solution to most people’s near total data illiteracy, Nexla is ready to expand their reach, offering a no-code, fully automated software package to ensure that anyone and everyone can get the most out of the 21st-century’s most valuable commercial commodity, data.
We also spoke about what it was like moving from India to Silicon Valley, what pushed Saket to make the change, and the magical innovation environment he encountered once he arrived. We discuss why the bay area remains one of the world’s most exciting tech startup hubs, and how standing out there needs more than just a well-built piece of software. To bring true innovation to the market means a campaign of awareness raising and education, letting people know that large-scale disruption is on the way, and this is where Saket spends most of his energy these days.
Topics Discussed:
A life transformed by technology - what brought Saket to Silicon Valley and how it profoundly affected his life
The perfect mix of openness and energy which make the bay area such an idea place to start a business
The power of networking, and why talking to people about their ideas always pays dividends in the long run
The limitations of data literacy among the general population, and how that negatively impacts the business climate
Why Nexla spent 3 years developing their specialized software solution, and why they’re now confident it's time for mass adoption
How machine learning and systematic engineering approaches are a powerful problem solving combination

Eric Velasquez Frenkiel, CEO of Pomelo: $70 Million Raised to Build the Future of Remittance

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 Eric Velasquez Frenkiel, CEO & Founder of Pomelo, a money transfer platform that's raised over $70 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
Innovative Money Transfer: Pomelo uses credit to facilitate international money transfers, reducing transfer fees to zero and providing instant access to funds.
Founder’s Journey: Eric transitioned from leading SingleStore, a successful database technology startup, to founding Pomelo after identifying a personal need for a better money transfer solution.
Military Influence: The responsibility and problem-solving skills Eric gained in the Israeli military significantly shaped his approach to entrepreneurship.
Product-Led Growth: Pomelo focuses on a product-led growth strategy, emphasizing customer experience and community engagement.
Market Validation: The initial launch saw 125,000 people sign up on the waitlist, validating strong market demand.
Regulatory Navigation: Pomelo leverages the Visa and Mastercard networks to provide a secure, transparent money transfer solution, avoiding the traditional pitfalls of cash-based systems.
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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