BUILDERS

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Samson Magid, Co-founder and CEO of HealthSnap,  a remote patient monitoring platform for chronic condition management that's raised over $12 Million in funding, about why the time has come for a whole new approach to long-term health and wellbeing. Breaking with the established ‘fee for service’ model that prioritizes products and services over health outcomes, HealthSnap provides real time monitoring, notifications, and coordination services to make sure patients get the care and support they need for chronic conditions.

We also speak about Samson’s background in the exercise science and nutrition space, why he decided to forgo medical school to start an entrepreneurial journey with HealthSnap, how the US healthcare system found itself spending trillions of dollars on chronic conditions without delivering on outcomes, and how covid became a forcing function for the rise of the remote health industry.

Topics Discussed:

• Samson’s educational background in the exercise science and nutrition space

Favorite book: 

Shoe Dog

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Michael Witte, CEO & Co-founder of Workrise, a marketplace for on demand services and skilled labor in the energy industry that's raised over $750 Million in funding, about why the energy sector’s needs for digital innovation are equal to its dependence on advanced extraction technologies, and how Workrise fits in to the future of energy. A B2B marketplace to bring together skills and expertise from disparate vendors and individuals to implement energy projects to the highest possible standard, Workrise is set to drive efficiency and expediency in this foundational part of our economy.

We also speak about Michael’s background as a native Texan and as a energy engineer, the staggering technology in the energy extraction process but why the sector lags behind in terms of digitalization, how personal experience led him to found Workrise, and how he manages to balance being a father, husband, dog owner and CEO.

Topics Discussed:

• Michael’s life as a native Texan and his career in the oil and gas sector

Favorite book: 

The Hard Thing about Hard Things by Ben Horowitz

Resources: 

Easier, Faster, Safer: How Workrise is Absorbing Complexity to Bring the Energy Industry Into the Future

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Jack McDonald, CEO of PolySign, a fintech company building institutional grade infrastructure for digital assets, about why trusted investment custodians for crypto have been a long time coming, and how PolySign positions itself as the ideal solution. Regulated, insured, and conflict-free, Polysign provides the infrastructure for tomorrow’s digital-native trading and investment environment.

We also speak about Jack’s unusual path to the position of Polysign CEO, how an outsider found himself at the top of the organization, Jack’s background in financial services, the current state of the crypto and digital assets space, and how Polysign found the balance between feedback from the market and keeping their leading innovation under wraps until it was ready to launch.

Topics Discussed:

• Jack’s career in the financial sector, from big banks to smaller, more nimble institutions

Favorite books: 

• The Leadership Fables of Patrick Lencioni

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Damien Hutchins, Co-Founder of Rollzi, a full truckload carrier provider that's raised over $8 Million in funding, about why it’s time for a whole new approach to trucking and how Rollzi is making it happen. Deploying an innovative ‘single-lane relay’ strategy in which a network of local transit nodes keep trucks on the road while taking the pressure off drivers, Rollzi is reducing costs, increasing efficiency, and providing a less grueling work lifestyle for the drivers at the heart of their business.

We also speak about how, despite being a ‘non-tech guy,’  Damien found himself with a career-long history in tech, what excites him about the trucking industry in particular, how drivers deal with difficult schedules, and what Rollzi plans to do about it, and where autonomy might fit into the freight network of the future.

Topics Discussed:

• Damien’s background in the tech sector despite being  self-professed ‘non-tech guy’

Favorite book: 

Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Sean Knapp, Founder & CEO of Ascend, a data engineering platform that's raised $50 Million in funding, about why, in an era where every company is transforming into a software company, getting the right digital infrastructure in place is critical for optimizing productivity. Providing a single ‘pane of glass’ through which their clients can create, ingest, transform and ultimately utilize data, Ascend is positioning itself as an essential backend software system for the digital economy.

We also speak about Sean's career in tech, what it was like getting in on the ground floor during the early days of google, the lessons he brought forward to his own tech startup, why the inexorable rise of data presents its own challenges of scale for an increasingly interdependent commercial landscape.

Topics Discussed:

• Sean’s career in the software engineering space, and what he learned from joining Google during the early days of 2004

Favorite book: 

Amp It Up: Leading for Hypergrowth by Raising Expectations, Increasing Urgency, and Elevating Intensity

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Matt Giffune, Co-Founder at Occupier, a lease management platform that's raised $16 Million in funding, about why businesses need help to handle this major area of expense, and how Occupier’s integrated real estate workflow tool for provides everything their client’s need. Guiding people through the entire life cycle of a lease, from transaction management to lease administration and keeping in line with pertinent regulations, Occupier finds itself functioning as the backbone of many companies’ real estate operations.

We also speak about the origin story of Occupier in Matt’s years as a real estate broker, why he was less than impressed with the state of technology in the industry, the current state of the commercial real estate space, and why people might be surprised to learn that Occupier’s ideal product-market fit came long after they actually launched.

Topics Discussed:

• Matt’s career trajectory in the real estate space, from broker to joining a startup and eventually founding his own

Favorite book: 

John Adams

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Otto Hanson, CEO at TermScout, a contract review platform that's raised $7 Million in funding, about why the current approach to signing contracts wastes time, money and risks potentially souring key relationships, and how TermScout plans to trim the fat from this most basic business process. Providing neutral, independent, third-party data to build confidence in the terms of a deal, TermScout has achieved an incredible rate of more than 40% of their clients agreeing to a contract without any further negotiation necessary.

We also speak about the TermScout story and Otto’s background in business law, exactly what inspired him to start such a specific startup, the big ideas which have shaped his career and why he’s happy to leave the corporate world behind, and why keeping agile and always pivoting can help you identify unique approaches to solving profitable problems.

Topics Discussed:

• Otto’s career in business law and what it taught him about contracts as the critical components of doing modern business

Favorite book: 

The Lean Startup by Eric Ries

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Tomas Reimers, CEO of Graphite, a code review platform that's raised $22.5 Million in funding, about why high-speed teams need more than what the open source software space can offer, and how Graphite delivers development solutions in real-time, with relevant insights to guide people with their nose to the grindstone. Their unique offering has seen the company generate impressive growth, with more customer requests than they can handle.  

We also speak about Tomas’ experience working at Facebook, and the lessons he learned from one of the world’s tech giants, how networking with users helped Graphite develop a unique PLG strategy, the fundamental differences between developing software in an open source vs. closed environment, and exactly what it means to be part of a ‘fast moving team.’

Topics Discussed:

• Tomas’ career in tech, and what three years at Facebook taught him about good team and engineering culture

Favorite book: 

The Last Days of Night: A Novel

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Florian Wimmer, Co-Founder & CEO at Blockpit, a crypto tax platform that's raised $15 Million in funding, about why their comprehensive cryptocurrency calculations are set to become an essential product for those looking for trouble-free future trading in the crypto markets. Inspired by Florian’s personal experience trying to tabulate his own crypto investments, Blockpit gives users the tools they need to get their earnings in order without the headache of manual calculations.

We also spoke about Florian’s career across multiple industry sectors, why he’ll never go back to the corporate world, how what started s hobby, and why starting in Austria was a great incubator for the company’s European expansion.eventually grew into the Blockpit business we see today, 

Topics Discussed:

• Florian’s career across multiple corporate sectors, and why he’s much happier in the startup space now

Favorite book:

Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Joshua Aaron, CEO of Aiden, a software packaging and deployment platform that’s raised over $3 Million in funding, about how the power of automation is bringing exponential change to our modern high-tech economy, and where Aiden fits into this exciting future. By layering automation onto a people-focused approach to software development, Aiden delivers innovative solutions for mid-market clients across a whole range of countries.

We also speak about some of the books and business leaders which have influenced Joshua’s approach to business, his career in technology building innovative solutions for several major financial and business institutions, what makes Aiden’s offering so attractive to their clients, and exactly why AI & Natural Language Processing is such an important part of their business model.

Topics Discussed:

• Joshua’s career in consulting, designing data centers and trading floors for companies like Credit Suisse First Boston.

Favorite book: 

Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don't