Jake Stauch is the Co-founder and CEO of Serval. Serval automates IT with AI.

We talk taking on incumbents with an AI-native product, why IT departments haven’t had much automation historically, the 12+ month journey of landing their first customer, and how teams can increase talent density as they scale.

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Timestamps:

(0:14) AI-native employee support

(5:15) How an early work trial almost ended the entire company

(9:05) Why IT hasn’t had much automation

(13:09) Vibe coding for IT professionals

(15:31) Competing against publicly traded incumbents

(23:32) Having less than three months of runway for seven years building his first hardware consumer health startup

(33:15) Lessons from five years at Verkada

(39:11) The single question that led birthed the idea for Serval

(44:19) Navigating 12+ months of zero revenue

(52:05) Knowing when not to pivot

(55:15) Finally landing the first three customers

(58:07) Getting pre-empted for a Series A

(1:01:04) Getting a Series B term sheet the next day

(1:05:54) How to structure design partnerships that convert

(1:08:48) Building a mirror instead of system of record

(1:13:49) Make the implementation part of the product

(1:15:24) How to increase talent density as you scale

(1:21:32) Why every new hire should help you recruit

Referenced

Try Serval: https://www.serval.com/

Careers at Serval: https://www.serval.com/careers

Episode with Filip @ Verkada: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXI3GdicIHw

Follow Jake

Twitter: https://x.com/jakeserval

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakestauch

Follow Turner

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TurnerNovak

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/turnernovak

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