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Decagon’s Jesse Zhang: Closing Customer Service Doom Loops With AI Concierges
When it comes to calling customer support, startup CEO Jesse Zhang knows your pain. ”It's just a very frustrating experience, because you're stuck in a loop,” he says.
In 2023, he and co-founder Ashwin Sreenivas launched Decagon to solve the problem with powerful new technology: AI agents. Today, customers like Avis Budget Group, Duolingo and Fanatics all work with Decagon, helping it reach a $4.5 billion valuation.
But as AI unlocks new possibilities in support, Zhang faces serious competition from more established and better-funded rivals. On the Upstarts Podcast, Zhang shares how Decagon wins by using speed as a weapon, but not a moat; why 10x better products can fend off the big AI labs; and how his AI concierge can help future customers beyond just solving problems.
Plus, he shares his Upstart Moment: winning uphill sales battles with a bottoms-up hustle that turned “red dots” into green buyers.
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
02:38 Why support was still a problem
05:34 Jesse Zhang’s founder story
15:23 Three pillars of startup strength
16:20 A 10x name and first customers
19:24 Winning with speed and scale
24:20 Jesse’s Upstart Moment in sales
31:35 Why you need to be 10x better
33:43 Revenge of the AI ‘wrapper’
37:17 Long-running agent ‘duets’
40:44 Your future concierge
For more, visit https://www.upstartsmedia.com/
Season 1 of the Upstarts Podcast is presented by Mercury: https://mercury.com/
Produced & edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod: https://lightningpod.fm/
View all episodes
By Alex KonradWhen it comes to calling customer support, startup CEO Jesse Zhang knows your pain. ”It's just a very frustrating experience, because you're stuck in a loop,” he says.
In 2023, he and co-founder Ashwin Sreenivas launched Decagon to solve the problem with powerful new technology: AI agents. Today, customers like Avis Budget Group, Duolingo and Fanatics all work with Decagon, helping it reach a $4.5 billion valuation.
But as AI unlocks new possibilities in support, Zhang faces serious competition from more established and better-funded rivals. On the Upstarts Podcast, Zhang shares how Decagon wins by using speed as a weapon, but not a moat; why 10x better products can fend off the big AI labs; and how his AI concierge can help future customers beyond just solving problems.
Plus, he shares his Upstart Moment: winning uphill sales battles with a bottoms-up hustle that turned “red dots” into green buyers.
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
02:38 Why support was still a problem
05:34 Jesse Zhang’s founder story
15:23 Three pillars of startup strength
16:20 A 10x name and first customers
19:24 Winning with speed and scale
24:20 Jesse’s Upstart Moment in sales
31:35 Why you need to be 10x better
33:43 Revenge of the AI ‘wrapper’
37:17 Long-running agent ‘duets’
40:44 Your future concierge
For more, visit https://www.upstartsmedia.com/
Season 1 of the Upstarts Podcast is presented by Mercury: https://mercury.com/
Produced & edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod: https://lightningpod.fm/