Founder Files

Mark Fershteyn, CEO of Recapped.io, breaks down how to scale sales with structure, speed, and visibility.

You’ll hear how his team uses AI daily, why every hire must be A+, and what happens when process replaces guesswork.

Hosted by ⁠⁠Salma Hatim⁠⁠, Founder & CEO of ⁠⁠Cypher⁠⁠.

Topics include:

– Sales systems that scale

– Hiring reps who move fast

– AI as a leadership tool

⁠⁠💡 New episodes drop every Tuesday at 7 AM EST.

⁠⁠Talk to Cypher

Kate raised $6 million without VC, built proprietary generative AI before the market named it, and leads in a space still dominated by bias.

LatelyAI Co-founder & CEO Kate Bradley Chernis joins Founder Files to talk about what it takes to build a real company while being underestimated every step of the way.

Hosted by ⁠Salma Hatim⁠, Founder & CEO of ⁠Cypher⁠.

Topics include:

– Inventing generative AI before it was a category

– Fundraising bias female founders still face

– Early grants from IBM, Microsoft, and Anheuser-Busch

💡 New episodes drop every Tuesday at 7 AM EST.

⁠⁠Talk to Cypher

Daren Lauda, CEO of Outset, joins Founder Files to break down one of the most common mistakes startups make: confusing bookings with revenue.

Outset helps SaaS companies forecast bookings with AI, align finance with sales and marketing, and build models that actually reflect reality.

Hosted by Salma Hatim, Founder of Cypher.

Topics include:

– The difference between bookings, invoices, and recognized revenue

– Why sales forecasts often collapse after month 3

– How AI can power bottoms-up revenue modeling

– Aligning CROs and CFOs around one forecast

💡 New episodes drop every Tuesday at 7 AM EST.

⁠Talk to Cypher

Zach Barney, CEO of Mobly, joins Founder Files to share how tracking the right metrics helped Mobly raise $4.3M.

There's a difference between reporting numbers and actually using them. You'll learn how to reduce CAC payback, and why early-stage profitability can hold you back. Hosted by Salma Hatim, Founder of Cypher.

Topics include:

– Burn, growth rate, CAC payback: the 3 metrics that matter

– Why most startups can’t calculate CAC payback

– The fundraising trap first-time founders fall into

– When profitability matters — and when it doesn’t

– Building systems to scale with lean teams

💡 New episodes drop every Tuesday at 7 AM EST.

Talk to Cypher

Pierce Johnson, CFO of Galaxy Digital, joins Founder Files to share how his team scaled operations, improved retention, and stayed lean — all while serving mission-driven organizations.

We talk about the strategic use of outsourcing, the shift away from growth at all costs, and how Galaxy transformed scattered data into real SaaS metrics.

Hosted by Cypher.

Topics include:

- Using outsourcing to scale finance, marketing, and product

- Moving from data overload to actionable SaaS metrics

- How nonprofit SaaS demands discipline, not just growth

- Metrics that matter: CAC, LTV, retention, health scores

🎧 New episodes drop every Tuesday at 7 AM EST.

Lew Schulman, CEO & Chairman of iBUILD Global, joins Founder Files to talk about what founders get wrong about fundraising — and what it really means to raise capital that fits.

We dig into what it takes to scale in overlooked markets, how to build trust with mission-critical partners, and why raising reactively can cost more than just equity. Hosted by ⁠⁠Salma Hatim⁠⁠, Founder of ⁠⁠Cypher⁠⁠.

Topics include:

– The role of public-private partnerships in global expansion

– Why culture (not product) is the barrier to tech adoption in emerging markets

– What founders should consider before taking outside capital

🎧 New episodes drop every Tuesday at 7 AM EST.

Cyrus Kazi, CEO of Quantibly (Nonprofit SaaS), joins Founder Files to talk about the hidden cost of disconnected systems — and why founders need more than just dashboards to drive growth.

We discuss why most financial and CRM tools were built for compliance, and how that creates blind spots for decision-makers. Cyrus shares lessons from building tech for nonprofits that actually thinks, and why high-growth startups should be thinking the same way. Hosted by ⁠Salma Hatim⁠, Founder of ⁠Cypher⁠.

Topics include:

– Why disconnected tools kill your visibility

– How data without context leads to bad decisions

– Lessons from building AI for finance + fundraising

– Why founders should demand smarter systems

– The shift from dashboards to decision-making

Chetan Saiya, CEO of Zoomifier (sales enablement for B2B teams), joins Founder Files to discuss where sales strategies often falter and how to build smarter, scalable systems in 2025.

We delve into common startup pitfalls like over-relying on a single major client, the importance of follow-up, and how personalized content can help sales teams close more deals. Hosted by Salma Hatim, Founder of Cypher.

Topics include:

– The traction trap: why one big customer isn’t enough

– Building a repeatable sales strategy

– Finance’s role in scaling revenue

– The importance of follow-up over the initial pitch

– Leveraging content and video to drive results

🎧 New episodes drop every Tuesday at 7 AM EST.

Arnaud de La Taille, CEO of Springly by AssoConnect (B2B SaaS for the nonprofit industry), joins Founder Files to talk about balancing growth and profitability.

We discuss how Springly scaled to serve 40,000+ nonprofits, the strategic decisions behind staying lean, and what founders need to understand about burn, margins, and growth discipline. Hosted by Salma Hatim, Founder of Cypher.

Topics include:

– The evolving pressure to prove profitability

– Building a SaaS product for nonprofit operations

– Using AI to improve efficiency