Category Visionaries

Todd Zion, Founder of Akston Biosciences: From a $500M Exit to Pioneering Biotech Innovation in Pet Health

Akston Biosciences is revolutionizing pet healthcare through innovative protein engineering and biotechnology solutions. After selling his first company Smart Cells to Merck for over $500M, Todd Zion founded Akston Biosciences in 2011 to apply advanced biotech expertise to the growing pet health market. With over $50M in funding, Akston is developing breakthrough treatments including once-weekly insulin, cancer therapies, and other protein-based medicines for pets, while maintaining cost effectiveness for pet owners.
Topics Discussed: 
The transition from human health biotech to the pet health market 
Streamlined clinical trial processes in pet health vs. human health 
The evolution of the pet healthcare market and consumer willingness to pay 
Balancing technical innovation with cost-effective development 
The challenges of fundraising in an emerging biotech category 
Pipeline development across multiple pet health conditions
 
GTM Lessons For B2B Founders: 
Navigate pivots decisively: Todd emphasized that most founders wait too long to pivot. He advises that when you start seeing signs that the future isn't unfolding as planned, that's the time to begin considering a pivot - while you still have resources and before becoming too entrenched. Their pivot to focusing entirely on pet health required significant restructuring but ultimately created a clearer path forward.
Find the regulatory sweet spot: Akston discovered that pet health offered a faster path to market validation compared to human health biotech. The ability to conduct field trials with just hundreds rather than thousands of subjects, combined with more streamlined regulatory requirements, allowed them to de-risk their assets more quickly and cost-effectively while still maintaining high standards.
Build for the actual market conditions: Rather than assuming future market changes (like expanded pet insurance coverage), Akston designs their products around current market realities - namely that most pet medications are paid out-of-pocket. This forced them to innovate not just technically but in development and manufacturing to keep costs accessible to pet owners.
Create new categories through technology translation: Instead of building an entirely new technology, Akston applied proven biotech approaches from human health to the pet market. This allowed them to leverage existing expertise while pioneering a new category, positioning themselves as "the Biogen for pets" rather than just another pet health company.
Structure early testing for rapid validation: By utilizing the FDA's investigational new animal drug application process, Akston could begin testing in their target population much earlier in development. This enabled them to validate their concepts within a year rather than waiting through multiple phases of trials, allowing for more efficient resource allocation.
 
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Sponsors:
Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership.
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David Plon, CEO & Co-Founder of Portrait Analytics: $10M Raised to Build an AI-Powered Thought Partner for Institutional Investors

Portrait Analytics is transforming institutional investment research by building an AI-powered thought partner that helps investors throughout their research process. With $10M in funding, Portrait's platform accelerates idea generation, context building, and portfolio monitoring by leveraging advanced language models to analyze vast amounts of financial data. In this episode of Category Visionaries, David Plon shares how his lifelong passion for investing, combined with early experiments in AI at Stanford Business School, led to creating a solution that's reimagining how institutional investors conduct research.
Topics Discussed:
Evolution from early AI experiments to a full-fledged investment research platform
Approach to finding and converting early customers in the pre-ChatGPT era
Strategy for standing out in the crowded AI landscape
Implementation of the jobs-to-be-done framework in product development
Vision for AI becoming the operating system for investment firms
 
GTM Lessons For B2B Founders:
Leverage trusted relationships for early validation: Plon's industry experience and network provided crucial early adopters who could bridge the credibility gap for a novel AI solution. When launching innovative technology, founders should identify and activate relationships where trust can overcome initial skepticism about new approaches.
Focus on jobs-to-be-done over features: Portrait succeeded by deeply understanding specific research workflows and tasks investors need to accomplish, rather than leading with AI capabilities. Plon explains, "AI is a how, not a what." B2B founders should focus messaging on the concrete progress users want to make rather than the underlying technology.
Identify natural product-qualified leads: Portrait targets users who have already attempted DIY solutions with tools like ChatGPT, indicating both pain awareness and willingness to adopt AI solutions. B2B founders should look for similar revealed preferences that suggest prospect readiness for their solution.
Position AI products as team members: Rather than creating a new budget category, Portrait positions its solution as an alternative to hiring junior analysts - connecting to existing buying patterns. B2B founders should align their value proposition with familiar purchasing decisions their target buyers already make.
Build content marketing flywheels: Portrait leverages the research insights their platform generates as marketing content, creating a natural loop between product value and audience building. B2B founders should identify similar opportunities where their product's output can fuel marketing efforts.
 
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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
 

Francesco Volpe, Founder of Renaissance Fusion: $30M Raised to Build the Future of Nuclear Fusion Technology

Renaissance Fusion is pioneering the development of nuclear fusion technology, aiming to create safe, sustainable energy through a innovative approach that combines high-temperature superconductors, stellarator reactors, and liquid metal cooling systems. In this episode of Category Visionaries, Francesco Volpe shares insights into building a deep tech startup in a highly complex and capital-intensive industry, while addressing technical challenges and public perception hurdles around nuclear technology.
Topics Discussed:
Technical foundations of Renaissance Fusion's approach to nuclear fusion
Contrasting approaches to nuclear energy policy between France and Germany
Strategies for addressing public perception and safety concerns
Dual-track go-to-market strategy leveraging superconductor technology
Capital requirements and fundraising in deep tech
Key technological milestones and development roadmap
 
GTM Lessons for B2B Founders: 
Build revenue bridges to long-term vision: Renaissance Fusion demonstrates how deep tech startups can generate early revenue through component technologies while working toward their ultimate vision. Francesco explained their strategy of commercializing superconductor technology to non-fusion markets, creating immediate revenue opportunities while developing their fusion technology.
Address market psychology head-on: When dealing with technologies that face public concern or skepticism, Francesco emphasizes the importance of direct education and transparent communication. Rather than avoiding difficult conversations about safety and risk, the company has made public acceptance a core pillar of their technology development.
Structure technical innovation to reduce capital requirements: In capital-intensive industries, Francesco shows how to strategically sequence development to reduce initial capital requirements. By starting with smaller demonstration projects and revenue-generating components, they've created a path to their ultimate billion-dollar reactor while raising manageable funding rounds.
Balance multiple stakeholder perspectives: Renaissance Fusion successfully navigates complex relationships between private investors, government grants, and public interests. Francesco highlighted how they align different stakeholder priorities - from investor returns to environmental impact - through clear communication about risk/reward tradeoffs and development timelines.
Leverage adjacent markets for validation: Their strategy of selling superconductor technology to established industries like wind energy and medical imaging provides technical validation and market credibility while developing their core fusion technology. This approach helps de-risk the broader vision for both investors and customers.
 
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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
 
 

Ignacio Medrano, Founder & CMO of Savana: $44M Raised to Transform Healthcare Intelligence Through AI

Savana is pioneering the transformation of healthcare data intelligence through advanced AI and natural language processing. By converting unstructured medical records into actionable databases, Savana enables healthcare providers and researchers to make data-driven decisions and accelerate medical research. In this episode of Category Visionaries, Ignacio Medrano shares his journey from practicing neurologist to tech founder, and how Savana navigated the complex European healthcare market to build a new category in healthcare intelligence.
Topics Discussed:
The evolution of AI acceptance in healthcare from 2014 to present
Navigating European healthcare regulations and data privacy
Pivoting from direct hospital sales to pharmaceutical companies
The impact of COVID-19 on healthcare data sharing culture
Building predictive algorithms for disease identification
The future of AI-driven personalized healthcare
 
GTM Lessons for B2B Founders:
Find revenue where barriers are lowest: When Savana discovered hospitals weren't ready for their solution, they pivoted to pharmaceutical companies who had immediate needs and budgets. This kept them alive until the market matured. B2B founders should identify alternative buyers who can provide early revenue while waiting for their primary market to develop.
Regulatory challenges can create opportunities: Savana turned Europe's strict data privacy regulations into an advantage by developing compliant solutions that could scale as regulations evolved. B2B founders should view regulatory constraints as potential differentiators rather than just obstacles.
Crisis can accelerate market readiness: COVID-19 transformed European attitudes toward healthcare data sharing, creating new opportunities. B2B founders should stay prepared for external events that can suddenly accelerate market adoption of their solution.
Product-market fit requires cultural alignment: Savana's initial doctor-focused tool failed because it conflicted with medical culture around evidence-based decision-making. B2B founders must deeply understand not just customer needs, but also their professional values and decision-making frameworks.
Healthcare requires different ROI calculations: Traditional market efficiency metrics often don't apply in healthcare due to political and social considerations. B2B founders entering healthcare must account for non-financial factors in their value proposition and sales strategy.
 
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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
 

Darko Vukovic, CEO & Founder of PolyAPI: $5 Million Raised to Transform Enterprise Middleware Through Native Code Development

In this episode of Category Visionaries, we explore PolyAPI's journey to revolutionize enterprise middleware. As a category maker in the integration space, PolyAPI is challenging traditional low-code/no-code approaches by enabling developers to build robust enterprise integrations using native programming languages. Through conversations with Darko Vukovic, we learn how his deep industry experience and strategic focus on developer-first principles are reshaping how enterprises approach connectivity and integration challenges.
Topics Discussed:
The evolution from enterprise integration platforms to native code development
Building credibility in enterprise sales through transparency and documentation
Creating a new market category between iPaaS and application development
Strategic fundraising approaches for deep tech startups
Future vision for AI-powered enterprise connectivity
GTM Lessons For B2B Founders:
Build credibility through transparency: Rather than hiding their product behind NDAs, PolyAPI published detailed demos and documentation early. Darko explained, "We think that our domain and our product set is just so hard to copy and replicate... so we were never worried about competitors catching wind of what we're doing." This transparency helped enterprise buyers see that PolyAPI wasn't vaporware.
Target technical decision makers with depth: PolyAPI succeeded by focusing on enterprises that had already rejected low-code platforms and were building in-house solutions. This created a clear target market of sophisticated buyers who understood the limitations of existing solutions and were willing to adopt a new approach.
Start marketing through 1:1 engagement: Instead of broad marketing campaigns, PolyAPI began with individual conversations to gather feedback, find alpha testers, and evolve into beta testing. This grassroots approach helped them refine their product and messaging before scaling up marketing efforts.
Find investors who deeply understand your space: Out of 20 initial VC conversations, 19 passed, but Ross Mason (Mulesoft founder) immediately invested. Darko noted, "That kind of signal is really important because the one person who deeply understands the space was super excited to invest." This validated their approach and provided valuable strategic guidance.
Build relationships with VCs continuously: Even six months after their latest round, PolyAPI is already preparing for Series A by maintaining relationships with 20+ VCs and working toward clear metrics. This ongoing engagement creates leverage for future fundraising by demonstrating consistent progress.
 
 
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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
 

Patrick Heissler, CEO of Scrona: $15.5M Raised to Transform High-Precision Manufacturing with Next-Gen Printing Technology

Scrona is revolutionizing semiconductor and display manufacturing with its high-accuracy MEMS-based printing platform. In this episode, Patrick Heissler shares his journey since taking the helm as CEO in 2024, focusing on transforming promising research technology into an industrial-scale solution. With $15.5M in funding and partnerships with major semiconductor manufacturers, Scrona is poised to redefine high-precision manufacturing across multiple industries.
Topics Discussed:
Transitioning from research-driven development to industrial-scale manufacturing solutions
Building strategic partnerships to drive technology adoption in complex supply chains
Scaling semiconductor-based printhead technology from 8 to 100+ nozzles
Expanding from semiconductor applications to life sciences and consumer electronics
Developing next-generation platforms with 1000+ nozzles and AI-driven control systems
Creating an ecosystem approach to serve both large-scale manufacturers and smaller innovators
 
GTM Lessons for B2B Founders: 
Success Often Starts with Ecosystem Position: Heissler emphasizes that beyond having great technology, success depends heavily on "being at the right spot at the right time, having the right contacts." B2B founders should strategically position themselves within their target industry's ecosystem and build relationships before attempting major market entry.
Find Your "End Market Champion": When introducing platform technology, Heissler stresses the importance of securing a major customer who can "pull you through the whole supply chain." Rather than trying to push technology into resistant supply chains, founders should focus on convincing end-market leaders who have the influence to drive adoption throughout their ecosystem.
Balance Custom Solutions with Standard Products: Scrona maintains focus on high-value custom projects while partnering with Notion System to serve smaller customers. This strategy allows them to maximize team impact on strategic priorities while still capturing broader market opportunities. B2B founders should consider similar hybrid approaches to market development.
Product Definition Drives Market Entry: Upon joining as CEO, Heissler's first priority was defining a clear product roadmap with specific deliverables, starting with the 8-nozzle Gen 3 printhead. Early-stage founders should focus on converting technology capabilities into concrete products that customers can evaluate and implement.
Selective Project Strategy: Rather than pursuing every opportunity, Heissler advocates focusing on "value inflecting projects that bring us forward." B2B founders should carefully select initial projects based on their potential to advance company strategy, not just generate revenue.
 
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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
 

Steff Gerhart, Co-Founder & Co-CEO of ecoLocked: $6 Million Raised to Transform Buildings into Carbon Sinks

ecoLocked, backed by over $6 million in funding, is pioneering a revolutionary approach to carbon removal by developing CO2 negative concrete admixes. In a recent episode of Category Visionaries, co-founder and co-CEO Steff Gerhart shared insights into how the company is leveraging biochar technology to transform the construction industry's environmental impact while scaling carbon removal solutions.
Topics Discussed:
The critical need for scaling carbon removal technologies beyond emission reduction
Biochar's dominance in the carbon removal market and its scaling challenges
Construction industry's massive environmental impact (15% of global emissions)
Product development and market validation in the conservative construction sector
Geographic expansion strategy across European markets
Building trust and credibility in the risk-averse concrete industry
 
GTM Lessons For B2B Founders: 
Target Early Adopters Strategically: Steff revealed their approach to finding first customers by focusing on concrete producers who already marketed sustainable products and had previous startup partnerships. She explained, "We look for customers who are already marketing their material as environmentally less harmful, sustainable...and we checked that they had either partnered with startups before or they have done some innovative approach within their own operations."
Time Your Market Entry Carefully: The team deliberately delayed broad marketing efforts until their product was market-ready. Steff shared, "It was always a big question for us, when should we really go out and become very vocal about what we are doing? Because we knew it would take some time and there's the risk then that you go out...but you're not ready. And until you get ready, you are kind of yesterday's news."
Balance Technical Transparency with Vision: In a risk-averse industry, ecoLocked found success by carefully balancing technical transparency with maintaining excitement about their solution. Steff noted, "We kind of need to balance these conversations by obviously being open in what our product can and cannot do...without scaring them away or not getting them excited."
Invest in Education Before Sales: For innovative products in traditional industries, education is crucial. ecoLocked invested in creating infographics, videos, and thought leadership content to help potential customers understand carbon removal and sustainability concepts. As Steff explained, "A lot of people are not very knowledgeable about sustainability, about carbon removal...This is a whole new topic that they have never been in touch with before."
Consider Funding Strategy Carefully: Deep tech startups face unique fundraising challenges compared to digital products. Steff advised, "If you rise in deep tech, in climate tech...you need hardware. In our case, we needed a laboratory. This is a whole different story in terms of how quickly the hockey stick goes up and how much money you need early on."
 
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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
 

Chandini Jain, CEO & Co-Founder of Auquan: $8 Million Raised to Transform Financial Intelligence Through AI

Auquan is revolutionizing financial services by automating the labor-intensive, data-heavy workflows that consume valuable time for investment professionals. With $8 million in funding, Auquan is building an AI-powered intelligence platform that transforms how financial firms extract insights from unstructured data. In this episode of Category Visionaries, we spoke with Chandini Jain about her journey from running arbitrage trading strategies at a Chicago trading firm to founding a company that's reinventing financial workflows through AI.
Topics Discussed:
The data overload problem in financial services that led to Auquan's creation
Auquan's pivot from serving early adopters to developing a more scalable SaaS model
The evolution of AI adoption in financial services from skepticism to cautious optimism
The distinction between "shallow work" and "deep work" AI tools
Why financial services has seen little innovation since Bloomberg and how AI is changing that
The need for AI tools that understand domain-specific nuances for specialized knowledge workers
 
GTM Lessons For B2B Founders:
Focus on co-development with early customers: Chandini emphasized the importance of working closely with early customers to shape the product. Rather than rushing to sign many customers initially, they focused intensely on one customer: "Customer one. Will you help us co-develop this product? We will give it to you for very cheap. But in exchange, we want lots of product feedback, we want access to all the users, we want access to your data." This approach helped them build a product truly aligned with market needs.
Pivot when you find problem-market fit but not product-market fit: Auquan initially signed deals with major asset managers but hit a wall after customer #3. Chandini recognized they had "problem market fit" but not product-market fit: "There was a problem that the market was facing that needed to be solved. Just the way we were solving it was not going to work." This realization led to a substantial pivot that eventually unlocked growth.
Create new roles to bridge the technology-adoption gap: Auquan created "outcome engineers" to ensure successful implementation of their AI solution. These specialists "take an underlying product and then they sit with the customer and they make sure that product is able to deliver outcomes exactly in the manner that the customer wants." This approach accelerates time-to-value and helps educate users about AI capabilities, addressing a major barrier to adoption.
Differentiate between horizontal and vertical AI applications: Chandini articulated a clear framework distinguishing "shallow work" (horizontal) from "deep work" (vertical) AI tools. B2B founders should recognize that "if you try to use a shallow work tool to achieve a deep work outcome... your time to value is going to be so large because you will require so much setup and training and customization." Understanding where your AI solution fits in this framework helps position it correctly in the market.
Raise funding from investors who share your vision of the problem: When fundraising, Chandini found success by identifying investors who already understood the problem space: "It is so much easier to raise money if you find the people who see the world as you see it." This alignment allows conversations to focus on your specific approach and execution plan rather than convincing investors the problem exists in the first place.
 
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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
 

Sivan Iram, CEO & Founder of Flow: $20.6M Raised to Transform Commercial Insurance Wholesaling with AI

Flow is revolutionizing commercial insurance wholesaling through AI-powered operations, focusing on bringing enterprise-grade service to small and mid-market accounts. With $20.6M in funding, Flow has developed a system of AI agents that help brokers streamline every step of the insurance placement process, from submission structuring to policy analysis and comparisons.
Topics Discussed:
Flow's evolution from a platform-based solution to an AI-enhanced email-first approach
The critical role of wholesale brokers in commercial insurance
Challenges and opportunities in serving small and mid-market accounts
How AI technology enables superior service delivery in insurance
The importance of human expertise alongside technological innovation
Marketing strategies in B2B insurance technology
GTM Lessons For B2B Founders:
Listen to how customers want to work: Flow initially built a platform requiring users to log in, but discovered clients preferred email. Rather than forcing behavior change, they adapted their solution to work within existing workflows while adding AI-powered efficiency behind the scenes.
Focus on underserved segments: By targeting small and mid-market accounts that traditional wholesalers found unprofitable, Flow created a compelling value proposition. Their AI-driven approach made these segments economically viable while delivering superior service.
Product-market fit requires deep industry understanding: Despite having a working product and paying customers, Flow didn't achieve true product-market fit until they understood the fundamental role of expertise and guidance in wholesale insurance.
Cold outreach can work with the right approach: After initial failed attempts at cold emails, Flow found success by having messages come from existing brokers rather than generic company accounts, demonstrating the continued importance of relationships in B2B sales.
Build for the frontline decision-maker: Flow recognized that their success depends on winning the mental battle when brokers decide how to place business. By focusing on the frontline teams' needs, they've created a compelling service that drives organic growth.
 
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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
 
 

Damien Garot, CEO & Co-Founder of Stellar: $9.3M Raised to Build the Future of Reliable Internet Connectivity for Autonomous Vehicles

Stellar is revolutionizing mobile connectivity by solving one of technology's most persistent challenges: reliable internet access in moving vehicles. With $9.3M in funding, Stellar has developed innovative software that seamlessly aggregates multiple networks (cellular, WiFi, and satellite) to ensure consistent connectivity, laying the foundation for the autonomous vehicle revolution. In this episode of Category Visionaries, Damien Garot shares how Stellar is bridging the digital divide between urban and rural areas while enabling the next generation of connected mobility.
Topics Discussed:
The technical approach to solving mobile connectivity issues through network aggregation
Stellar's dual go-to-market strategy targeting both immediate fleet solutions and long-term automotive integration
The evolution of autonomous vehicles and their dependency on reliable connectivity
Cultural differences in autonomous vehicle adoption across regions
The importance of social acceptance and safety perception in autonomous technology
How Stellar's technology mapping reveals connectivity gaps in major tech hubs
The impact of winning the European Startup Prize for Mobility on fundraising
GTM Lessons for B2B Founders:
Bridge the gap between long-term vision and immediate revenue: Stellar developed a plug-and-play solution (Global) to generate immediate revenue while pursuing longer-term automotive partnerships. This approach provides market validation, customer feedback, and credibility with major manufacturers.
Adapt your strategy to market realities: The original plan rarely survives contact with the market. Stellar evolved from focusing solely on automotive integration to include a dual-track approach serving both immediate and future market needs.
Build credibility through industry recognition: Winning the European Startup Prize for Mobility played a crucial role in Stellar's fundraising success, demonstrating how industry awards and endorsements can influence investor decisions, particularly in European markets.
Understand regional investment dynamics: European fundraising often requires long-term relationship building with investors. Stellar spent up to 18 months nurturing investor relationships before securing investments, highlighting the importance of patience in European markets.
Target both immediate pain points and future opportunities: While autonomous vehicles represent a massive future opportunity, Stellar addresses current connectivity challenges for existing vehicle fleets, creating immediate value while building toward their larger vision.
 
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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