BUILDERS

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Mike Adams, Co-Founder & CEO of Grain, a meeting insights platform that raised $22 Million in funding, about how to build the next in-demand product by really drilling down into the problems people deal with on a daily basis. Grain exists to capture, copy, and share key points from live conversations automatically so clients can concentrate more effectively on the conversation itself instead of losing focus on writing notes about it.

We also talk about how Grain acquires customers as a startup and builds strong relationships with them, tailoring their solution to a client’s specific problem. In addition to that, we also talk about Mark’s challenges in navigating remote work through the pandemic, despite his dislike towards remote working.

Topics Discussed:

• Mike’s journey from Utah to San Francisco where he built his first start-up and eventually started Grain

Favorite book: 

The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Jeff Crusey, a venture investor with a special interest in the world of deep tech innovation, about why investing in a startup should be about much more than just cutting a check with an eye to future returns. With years of experience in aerospace, climate and energy transition, cybersecurity and deep tech, Jeff brings credibility and critical insight to any venture he gets involved in, supporting new founders to flourish as they transform the future of technology.

We also speak about exactly what drives Jeff’s passion for venture investing, why it’s a promising time for many deep tech adjacent sectors, why Jeff is determined to bring more to an investment than just taking up space on the board, and his key tactical insights for those looking to secure startup investment.

Topics Discussed:

• How the deep tech space is driving the future of innovation, in everything from aerospace and defense to the green energy transition

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Mike Janke, Co-founder of Data Tribe, a venture capital firm driving change through a whole new approach to investing, about how a hyper-targeted and hands-on approach has helped them achieve a 96% success rate when it comes to guiding their partners to transformative market change and, ultimately, commercial viability. By carefully selecting only truly innovative startups and embedding deep in their operations, Data Tribe are making a name for themselves and their world-changing technologies.

We also speak about Mike’s unorthodox entrance into the startup sector from a background in the military, what really excites him about the investment cycles he’s involved in, why so many of Data Tribe’s partners originate from the state-supported sector, and why there’s no real way to scale the Data Tribe hyper-focused approach to venture beyond a few hand-picked partners.

Topics Discussed:

• Mike’s path to venture capital, from the military to being a six-time founder in the startup tech sector and beyond

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Taj Adhav, CEO of Leasecake, a location management platform that’s raised over $17 Million in funding, about why it’s time the commercial leasing industry got its own version of LinkedIn or Uber, and how Leasecake believes they’ve got what it takes to claim the space. Through empathy and building trust with their clients, Leasecake is able to provide simple, streamlined solutions to some of the sector’s most acute pain points, saving time and money for tenants and property owners alike.

We also speak about how Taj’s early experiences in a commercial tenant household helped make him aware of the stress and strains for tenants, how his family felt about him leaving behind a Fortune 500 career to move into the startup space, why he feels that being a great CEO means you never stop learning, and why he’s convinced that Leasecake are leading the way in creating their own category.

Topics Discussed:

• Taj’s career in everything from CPA to Disney Cruises, and why he left it behind to move into the startup space

Favorite book:

Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Pratap Ranade, Co-Founder & CEO of Arena, an enterprise decision making platform that’s raised $32 Million in funding, about why rapid advances in AI technology are leaving many enterprises in the dust, and why driving improved institutional learning cycles means a faster, more efficient world for all of us. By delivering rapid learning cycles through data feedback and automated decision making, Area intends to make its mark on the modern economy through the better business choices being made with its tech.

We also speak about how Pratap transitioned from physics to startup tech, his first forays as a founder and how they helped him understand what it took to be a leader in business, the history of hierarchy in human organization and how Arena promises that AI can do it better.

Topics Discussed:

• Pratap’s background education in physics and what eventually pushed him to set out on a startup journey

Favorite book: 

Player of Games by Anne Banks

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 Warren Lebovics, Co-Founder & CEO of Pequity, an employee compensation platform that has raised $19 Million in funding.

Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:

• Journey to Entrepreneurship: Warren’s transition from product and design roles at LinkedIn and other tech companies to co-founding Pequity with his wife Caitlin.

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Sam Fonoimoana, CEO of Datajoin, a personalization platform that’s raised $3.5 Million in funding, about why data-driven personalization is the future of marketing, and how Datajoin is positioning itself to be a driver and deliverer of that change. By integrating Salesforce pipeline and deal data back into marketing systems like Google Analytics or Adobe Analytics or Google Ads, Datajoin provides a closed-loop, 360-degree view of a company’s sales and marketing success, and insight into how they can move forward more effectively in the future.

We also speak about what it’s like to be a startup founder from the USA’s most remote state, how Sam came to a career in tech to begin with, the power of personalized marketing to save money and develop strategy for Datajoin’s clients, and why leadership is more about influence than purely your position in a company.

Topics Discussed:

• Being a native Hawai’ian and what that means for Sam as he grows and raises a family while representing his culture

Favorite book: 

The 5 Levels of Leadership: Proven Steps to Maximize Your Potential

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Lukas Gentele, CEO of Loft Labs, a kubernetes management platform that’s raised over $5 Million in funding, about why the way we develop software on the most popular platform out there needs a revamp, and exactly how Loft Labs can promise some truly attention-grabbing ROI by streamlining everything about the kubernetes cluster environment. By spinning up and tearing down developer environments in mere minutes, instead of the hours that most of us have become used to over the years, Loft Labs are creating a unique sub-category in the saturated software development space.

We also spoke about Lukas’ career as he transitioned from the service sector to the startup economy, how cloud-native development environments enabled entirely new business models, why Loft Labs believe Kubernetes’ functionality needed to be overhauled, and how their high-speed, sensitive and highly flexible environments promise attention grabbing savings that will ultimately pay for themselves.

Topics Discussed:

• Transitioning from the service sector to the tech startup economy, and what Lukas learned along the way

In this episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Suresh Mathew, the Founder and CEO of Sedai, an autonomous cloud management platform that's raised over $18 Million in funding, about why automated microservices can make major impacts on almost any enterprise deploying them. Suresh shares his background and how he left his job at eBay, PayPal to start Sedai in 2019, before the pandemic. Suresh also shares his belief that starting a company during the pandemic was actually a blessing in disguise, and what he learned during that challenging time. 

Suresh talks about the origin story of Sedai, why it's always better to focus on the problem statement instead of the cool solution, the success Sedai has achieved in the autonomous cloud management market category, and what the next few years might look like. 

Topics Discussed:

• Suresh's career, from major industry names to the fresh new startup space

Favorite book: 

Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Jeong-Suh Choi, CEO of Bobidi, an AI training platform that’s raised nearly $6 Million in funding, about why inclusive AI needs to be developed together, and how Bobidi’s global network is making it happen. By field-testing AI programs with the audiences they’re intended to serve, Bobidi is helping make the machine learning of tomorrow more effective, efficient, and sensitive.

We also speak about what Choi learned from years at Facebook and eBay, what it was like moving to the US in a time of economic turbulence, the outline of AI in the future and the choices we need to make about it, and Choi’s automated meal service nonprofit, Meal Forward.

Topics Discussed:

• Choi’s career with some of the biggest names in tech, and what lessons he brought forward to his own startup journey

Favorite book: 

Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success