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BUILDERS
BUILDERS episodes
- Jeremy Almond, CEO & Founder of Paystand: $100M Raised to Power the Future of B2B Payments
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 Jeremy Almond, CEO & Founder of Paystand, a B2B payment network that has raised over $100 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
- Venmo for Enterprise: Paystand is a next-gen B2B payment network that saves companies millions of dollars by providing radically better economics, processing over $10 billion in payments and supporting around a million businesses.
- Building Through Focus: Jeremy emphasized the importance of staying focused. Paystand's growth is attributed to a brick-by-brick approach, first targeting specific markets like Oracle and Microsoft ecosystems before expanding.
- Scaling Milestones: Key company milestones were centered around unlocking the next stage of growth—from securing initial customers to making sales repeatable, and then scaling the business through focused enterprise sales strategies.
- Blockchain Innovation: Paystand’s payment platform is powered by blockchain, offering instant, automatic payments at zero cost, without reliance on traditional systems like Visa or Mastercard.
- Real Business Value, Not Blockchain Hype: While Jeremy is a believer in blockchain, he insists Paystand sells based on real value to customers, such as instant payments and reducing costs, not blockchain hype.
- The Next 10 Years: Jeremy envisions a future where businesses use blockchain infrastructure, replacing legacy systems like Visa and Mastercard, ultimately creating more efficient, tax-free financial ecosystems for companies globally.
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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
27 min - Allen Narcisse, Founder & CEO of Gigs: $5.7 Million Raised to Build the Future of Blue Collar Hiring
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 Allen Narcisse, Founder & CEO of Gigs, a blue collar hiring platform that has raised $5.7 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
- Combining Rigorous Data and Empathy: Allen shares how his experiences at Uber and Lyft influenced his approach to Gigs. By integrating Uber's data-driven rigor with Lyft's empathy for workers, Gigs aims to provide both high-tech solutions and compassionate user experience.
- Empowering Job Seekers: Gigs addresses the issue of low engagement in job applications by empowering users with better job information. The platform focuses on providing detailed job descriptions, pay transparency, and location specifics to enhance job seeker engagement.
- Marketplace Dynamics: Allen discusses overcoming the chicken-and-egg problem by initially focusing on job availability before job seekers. This approach ensures that job seekers have a meaningful number of opportunities upon joining the platform.
- Creating High-Intent Job Seekers: Gigs aims to improve job matching by offering comprehensive job details that are often missing from traditional job boards. This strategy enhances job seeker readiness and improves the hiring process for employers.
- Strategic Job Seeker Acquisition: Allen reveals how Gigs targets job seekers by focusing on specific job listings and their related data. This targeted approach not only optimizes user acquisition but also lowers customer acquisition costs (CAC).
- Branding Strategy: The branding of Gigs is designed to stand out from traditional job boards. With a bold red color and minimalist design, Gigs aims to convey simplicity and friendliness, contrasting with the more corporate feel of existing job platforms.
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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
20 min - Hersh Tapadia, CEO of Allstacks: $16 Million Raised to Build the Value Stream Intelligence Category
In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Hersh Tapadia, CEO of Allstacks.
Topics Discussed:
- An intersectional career between engineering and biomedicine, how Hersh found a career between disciplines
- Stakeholder expectations, unexpected challenges and what ‘delivering’ really means
- Solving the surprise issue, and why everyone wants to plan for an anticipated outcome
- Harmony, building teams, and why individual accomplishment isn’t enough for success
- Why value stream intelligence gives employees the tools to create a more satisfying, meaningful workplace experience
Favorite book:
The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics
23 min - Itzik Alvas, CEO & Co-Founder of Entro Security: $24 Million Raised to Build the Future of Non-Human Identity Management
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 Itzik Alvas, CEO & Co-Founder of Entro Security, a non-human identity management platform that has raised $24 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
- Military Experience Taught Perseverance: Itzik credits his time in the Israeli Defense Force, specifically in the cyber intelligence unit, for shaping his approach to perseverance. This has been crucial in overcoming challenges as an entrepreneur.
- Non-Human Identity Management Innovation: After multiple cybersecurity breaches in his previous roles, Itzik identified a massive gap in managing non-human identities and secrets. This personal experience directly led to the creation of Entro Security.
- Early Days Post-Seed Raise: The first few months after securing seed funding were highly operational—setting up offices, building the team, and finding early design partners to provide feedback on their solution.
- Creating a New Market Category: Entro Security is pioneering the non-human identity management space, addressing the growing issue of programmatic credentials that are often mishandled by DevOps teams, posing significant security risks.
- Unique, Memorable Branding: Unlike traditional cybersecurity companies, Entro’s branding is youthful, fun, and memorable, a conscious choice to stand out in an industry that often feels sterile and overly serious.
- Go-To-Market Approach: Entro’s sales efforts are focused on direct sales and channel partnerships, with a primary focus on the US market. Itzik emphasizes the importance of aligning go-to-market strategies with event participation based on specific goals like lead generation or brand awareness.
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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
14 min - Ian Kalin, CEO & Co-Founder of TurbineOne: $22 Million Raised to Power the Future of Operational Intelligence
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 Ian Kalin, CEO & Co-Founder of TurbineOne, a company revolutionizing operational intelligence that has raised $22 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
- Revenue Over Funding: Ian emphasized that while capital raised is important, his primary focus is on revenue growth, highlighting the importance of financial sustainability over just fundraising milestones.
- Strategic Seed Extension: TurbineOne strategically executed a seed extension to secure additional capital while fine-tuning their market approach before moving to a Series A, showing the importance of timing and strategy in fundraising.
- Importance of Accuracy: Ian stressed the importance of accuracy in financial reporting and fundraising details, reflecting the high stakes of credibility in investor relations.
- Focus on Market Opportunity: Ian discussed the massive market potential in operational intelligence, positioning TurbineOne to capitalize on growing needs in sectors such as defense and emergency response.
- Operational Challenges: The conversation touched on the operational complexities of managing advanced AI and machine learning tools, from data integration to real-time decision-making.
- Customer-Centric Innovation: Ian shared how TurbineOne's product development is deeply customer-centric, driven by direct feedback and the specific needs of operators in high-stakes environments.
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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
35 min - Jonathan Corbin, CEO and Co-Founder of Maven AGI: $28 Million Raised to Build the Future of Customer Experience
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 Jonathan Corbin, CEO & Co-Founder of Maven AGI, a customer experience platform that's raised $28 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
- The Maven AGI Vision: Jonathan discusses how Maven AGI was founded to revolutionize customer experience by leveraging large language models, aiming to provide seamless and instant customer support.
- Lessons from HubSpot: Jonathan shares insights from his time at HubSpot, focusing on building a strong company culture and the importance of creating "wow" moments for customers to ensure ongoing product engagement.
- Challenges in Customer Experience: He highlights the common issues in customer experience management, particularly the fragmentation of data across various systems, leading to poor customer journeys.
- The Role of AI in Customer Support: Jonathan explains how Maven AGI uses AI agents to address customer inquiries with a 93% success rate, reducing the need for human intervention and enhancing customer satisfaction.
- Navigating Market Complexity: Maven AGI positions itself as a horizontal solution, capable of solving customer experience challenges across multiple verticals, making it a versatile tool for businesses of all sizes.
- Marketing Strategy Insights: Jonathan discusses Maven AGI’s evolving marketing strategy, emphasizing the importance of showcasing customer success stories to demonstrate the platform's value.
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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
30 min - Mukund Karanjikar, CEO of CleanJoule: $55 Million Raised to Power the Future of Sustainable Aviation Fuel
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 Mukund Karanjikar, CEO at CleanJoule, a sustainable aviation fuel producer that has raised $55 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
- $55 Million in Funding: CleanJoule has successfully raised $55 million, including a strategic investment from Asia, bolstering their efforts in sustainable aviation fuel development.
- Sustainable Aviation Focus: Mukund emphasizes the importance of sustainable aviation fuel as a critical component in reducing the carbon footprint of the aviation industry.
- Development and Production Capabilities: CleanJoule is not only focused on developing sustainable aviation fuels but also on producing them, positioning itself as a key player in this emerging market.
- Strategic Investor Relations: The late addition of a strategic investor highlights the ongoing interest and potential in the sustainable aviation sector, especially from international markets.
- Market Positioning: By branding themselves as both a developer and producer of sustainable aviation fuel, CleanJoule is differentiating itself from competitors who may only focus on one aspect of the supply chain.
- Importance of Every Dollar: Mukund underlines the significance of every dollar raised, reflecting the high stakes and capital intensity of scaling in the clean energy sector.
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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
33 min - Kevin McNamara, CEO & Founder of Parallel Domain: $44 Million Raised to Power the Future of Autonomy
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 Kevin McNamara, CEO & Founder of Parallel Domain, a synthetic data generation and simulation platform that's raised over $43.9 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
- Parallel Domain’s Core Offering: Kevin explained that Parallel Domain provides simulation software used to develop, train, and test AI, particularly for real-world applications like autonomous vehicles, drone delivery, and security systems.
- From Pixar to Parallel Domain: Kevin's journey from working on animated movies at Pixar, to video games at Microsoft, and eventually to Apple's autonomous systems project provided the foundation for Parallel Domain.
- The Early Days and First Customer: The company’s early days were marked by ideation, prototyping, and the first significant breakthrough—a contract with Nio, a Chinese electric car company, which provided essential initial revenue and traction.
- Expanding Beyond Autonomous Vehicles: Although initially focused on autonomous vehicles, Parallel Domain now supports industries like agriculture, supply chain, and robotics, showcasing the broad applicability of its simulation technology.
- Shifting to Product-Led Growth: Kevin revealed that Parallel Domain is transitioning to a product-led growth strategy, including the introduction of a free trial tier, making their advanced simulation technology more accessible.
- The Vision for the Future: The long-term vision for Parallel Domain is to become the go-to platform for any developer working on vision or perception-enabled technologies, with plans to expand into broader applications like retail, manufacturing, and beyond.
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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
32 min - Albert Owusu-Asare, CEO & Co-Founder of Cadana: $7 Million Raised to Build the Future of Global Payroll Infrastructure
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 Albert Owusu-Asare, CEO & Co-Founder at Cadana, a global payroll infrastructure platform that has raised $7 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
- Global Talent Marketplaces: Cadana focuses on empowering talent marketplaces like Upwork and Fiverr, HR SaaS companies, and platforms looking to add global payroll capabilities. This strategic targeting aims to address diverse needs in the global payroll landscape.
- Buy vs. Build Dilemma: Albert shared insights on how Cadana addresses the buy vs. build dilemma, pitching the platform as a way for companies to go to market quickly and learn before investing in building their own solutions.
- Founding Story: The idea for Cadana originated from Albert’s experience at Goldman Sachs and his role as a CTO at a billion-dollar company, where he faced challenges with global payroll management.
- Risk Management: Albert discussed his approach to risk-taking, emphasizing minimizing regret as a framework for making bold career moves, including leaving stable positions to pursue entrepreneurial ventures.
- Early Product Pivot: Cadana initially launched as an earned wage access product. The team used feedback from early users to pivot and develop their current global payroll solution.
- Market Potential: Albert views Cadana’s market not just as existing payroll solutions but as a foundational infrastructure with the potential to unlock new opportunities for global payroll, similar to how Stripe transformed payments.
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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
23 min - Daumantas Dvilinskas, CEO & Co-Founder of TransferGo: $125 Million Raised to Build the Future of Cross-Border Payments
Shownotes & Key topics discussed:
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 Daumantas Dvilinskas, CEO & Co-Founder of TransferGo, a money transfer platform that has raised over $125 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
- Long-term Focus: TransferGo's 12-year journey has been defined by a commitment to solving the complexities of cross-border payments, a challenge that Daumantas recognized as a young entrepreneur.
- Innovation Through Partnership: The company's success lies in building a "network of networks," partnering with local financial institutions to bypass traditional international settlement systems like SWIFT.
- Regulatory Hurdles: Navigating regulatory landscapes and securing necessary licenses was a significant early challenge, especially when dealing with banks that were hesitant to work with a new and unproven company.
- Community Trust: TransferGo's marketing strategy focuses on building trust within migrant communities, emphasizing referral-based growth and strong brand credibility.
- Strategic Market Entry: The company's early entry into emerging markets like Ukraine, driven by a gut feeling rather than existing data, has paid off significantly, making it the largest digital money transfer service in the region.
- Expansion Lessons: Daumantas reflected on the challenges of segment expansion, particularly into business clients, which required a different organizational culture and strategy than consumer-focused 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
31 min
About BUILDERS
From the publisher's feed
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.