Solo or small team? Then you know the drill: 40 chat threads, half-finished docs, and no clear next step. In this episode, Samim Safaei, co-founder of SIIFT.AI, breaks down how their “Founder’s Compass” turns messy ideas into structured, repeatable validation — without losing speed.

We cover:

• Why generic chat tools say “yes” to everything — and how SIIFT removes the fluff
• The real blocker: information architecture (not another app)
• Guided chat plus a structured canvas: brain dump in, clean strategy out
• What beta users taught the team about UX, education, and overwhelm
• Partnerships with accelerators and mentors to scale guidance (not replace it)
• Privacy and IP: why paying for software beats paying with your data
• Go-to-market goals, pricing philosophy, and where SIIFT goes next

Guest: Samim Safaei — Co-founder, SIIFT.AI Topics: Early-stage ops, validation, founder workflows, AI tooling, product UX

Learn more: siift.ai Connect with Samim: LinkedIn (search “Samim Safaei”)

If this episode saved you from another “where did I write that?” moment, share it with a founder friend and subscribe for more no-BS playbooks for building from zero to one.

Most people underestimate nonprofits. They’re not small or slow—they’re a $400B U.S. engine (trillions globally) that run on trust. Our guest Cyrus Kazi, co-founder & CEO of Quantably, explains why trust is a data problem—and how his team built an “operating system for impact” that finally connects collection, analysis, and reporting.

We cover:

• The multi-tool mess: why orgs juggle 17–25 disconnected apps—and what to do first
• Data strategy > data entry: collecting only what serves outcomes (Theory of Change, operationalized)
• Quantably’s “Impact LLM”: automated analysis for CEOs, CFOs, fundraisers—no stats degree required
• Reporting that donors believe: SROI, audit-ready narratives, and younger data-native donors
• GTM that works in this sector: partner channels (auditors, fundraising consultants) over cold outreach
• The future: why “data entry” dies this decade—replaced by conversational capture and inference
• Founder lessons: go to market right vs fast, vision-aligned teams, and knowing your limits

Guest: Cyrus Kazi — Co-founder & CEO, Quantably Topics: Nonprofit ops, impact measurement, data strategy, SROI, AI for social good

Learn more: quantably.com

Connect with Cyrus: LinkedIn (search “Cyrus Kazi”) | Email: [email protected]

Sick of living in your calendar? Founder Dario De Santis (Tweenlin) breaks down how his team is cutting the meeting overload—turning endless 1:1s and “quick syncs” into fast, human conversations without scheduling gymnastics.

We dig into:

• The real cost of meeting sprawl (and why remote work made it worse)
• How Tweenlin’s AI deflects 1:1s and small-group meetings into on-the-fly conversations
• What early pilots show: measurable productivity gains and “empty calendar” serenity
• Selling true workflow change into 10k–100k-person enterprises
• Why you don’t fail if you don’t give up: Dario’s 4-year founder journey from idea → Gartner “Cool Vendor”

If your team complains about meetings, send them this.

Guest: Dario De Santis — Founder & CEO, Tweenlin Topics: AI collaboration, meeting reduction, enterprise workflow, remote culture, productivity

Connect with Dario: LinkedIn (search “Dario De Santis”) Learn more: Tweenlin

Subscribe for more founder playbooks on building the future of work.

On this episode of Off the Grid on the Record, I sit down with Trey DeMobile, founder of Immersive Agentics, to unpack how small teams (from 2–15 people) are plugging in AI “employees” to reclaim time, reduce busywork, and tighten security without adding headcount.

We dig into practical, repeatable workflows—like an autonomous social media manager and a personalization enginethat drafts 1,000 custom emails in a few hours—plus where AI shines (high-volume, repetitive tasks) and where humans still win (empathy, relationship building, lateral problem-solving).

What we cover:

• Building AI “employees” from real job descriptions (qualifying, research, social, outreach)
• Why the goal isn’t “replace people,” it’s free them to shake more hands & close more deals
• The limits today: AI needs a “pitch,” struggles with human nuance, and shouldn’t fake being human
• Security reality check: AI increases both attack velocity and defense—how to think about risk
• Tool sprawl vs. training: why teams underinvest in AI fluency and overpay for features
• Ideal fits: nonprofits, real estate, trades, solopreneurs—anyone who thrives on relationships
• Culture shifts: upskilling entry roles to higher-value work as AI takes the grunt work

Guest links:

• Immersive Agentics — immersiveagenetics.com

👉 Subscribe for more founder stories on tech, security, and the future of work.

This week on Off the Grid on the Record, I sit down with Andrew Barrow, founder of Revenue Arc, a white-label programmatic ad agency running campaigns for household names—and flipping the traditional agency model on its head with a 50% gross revenue share back to partners and lifetime referral commissions.

Andrew pulls back the curtain on how programmatic really works (CTV, display, audio, premium publishers), why most brands overspend on fees, and how Revenue Arc’s model lets agencies earn from media instead of getting drained by it. We also cover the playbook behind consistent 5–8× ROAS (and a standout case that raised $145M on ~$2M ad spend), plus the AI systems that now spin up media plans in minutes.

What we cover:

• Programmatic in plain English: how every impression is auctioned in 1/100th of a second
• The 50% gross rev-share + lifetime referrals (why partners often make more than the trader)
• Budgets that work: why $500/day is a realistic floor for performance, and when to scale
• Predictive modeling: targeting people before they’re in-market (and outpacing competitors)
• The three biggest campaign killers: weak landing pages, bad targeting, and “not bought-in” leadership
• Beating “engagement farms,” avoiding toxic optimization data, and tightening guardrails
• AI as force-multiplier: media plans, decks, and daily optimizations generated in minutes

If you’ve ever wondered how the ads you see on Hulu, top news sites, Spotify, and mobile apps actually get there—and how to run them profitably—this episode is your blueprint.

🔗 Connect with Andrew & Revenue Arc:

• Website (Marketing): revenuearkmarketing.com
• Website (Corporate): revenueark.com

👉 More episodes: youtube.com/@yarekmatacz

This week on Off the Grid on the Record, I sit down with Sebastian Mourra, founder of Alphana.ai — a platform built to help creators, businesses, and even record labels turn one piece of content into 30.

We dive into how Alphana is building the future of content repurposing, going beyond short clips to power blogs, LinkedIn posts, newsletters, quizzes, eBooks, and even music marketing assets like Spotify canvases and lyric videos. Sebastian explains why workflows are the missing link for scaling creators and how his background at Universal Music shaped Alphana’s newest product, Visuals, which is already shaking up how artists and labels handle releases.

What we cover in this episode:

• Why content repurposing is the biggest growth hack creators are missing
• How Alphana’s “AI card” system works like Lego blocks for custom workflows
• The unexpected $3K–$5K problem Alphana is solving for record labels on every release
• Why simplifying onboarding increased conversions more than adding new features
• Sebastian’s biggest lesson as a founder: double down on what you know

Whether you’re a podcaster, a coach, or an artist, this episode shows how one video can become the fuel for an entire content machine.

🔗 Connect with Sebastian & Alphana:

• Website: Alphana.ai
• LinkedIn: Sebastian Mourra
• X (Twitter): @SebastianMourra

👉 For more episodes, visit: http://www.youtube.com/@yarekmatacz

This week on Off the Grid on the Record, I sit down with Lily Yeoh, co-founder and CEO of C1Risk, to explore how her company is reshaping compliance and risk management with automation and AI.

With over two decades in cybersecurity—from cryptography at Texas Instruments to consulting at Deloitte—Lily brings deep experience in helping Fortune 500 companies navigate evolving regulations, security threats, and governance challenges. But instead of stopping there, she built C1Risk to bring automation, scalability, and accessibility to organizations of all sizes.

We cover everything from:

• The challenges of being a first-time, bootstrapped founder in a competitive industry
• How C1Risk helps SMBs, law firms, financial services, and even local governments reduce risk and streamline compliance
• Why being risk-forward (not just compliant) is the real advantage for modern organizations
• How specialized LLMs are powering the future of governance and security
• Lily’s perspective on fundraising, grit, and what it takes to last in cybersecurity

Whether you’re in tech, finance, law, or government, Lily’s story is packed with lessons about resilience, scaling, and how AI is changing compliance forever.

🔗 Connect with Lily & C1Risk:

• Website: C1Risk.com
• LinkedIn: Lily Yeoh

👉 For more episodes, visit: http://www.youtube.com/@yarekmatacz

This week on Off the Grid on the Record, I sit down with Simon Groom, CEO and co-founder of Magnify B, to unpack how he and his co-founder, David, turned decades of consulting experience into a SaaS platform that’s now helping thousands of small businesses save time, cut costs, and scale smarter.

Born out of COVID lockdowns, Magnify B started as a consulting pivot and has already grown into what Simon calls “mission control for business success.” The platform integrates with tools like Xero and QuickBooks, benchmarks performance against peers, and even offers what-if scenario planning to help founders see the impact of every small decision.

Simon explains how Magnify B differentiates itself from traditional consulting, what feedback they’re hearing from early adopters like Action Coach, and why accounting firms with hundreds of thousands of clients are calling the platform “groundbreaking” and “game-changing.” We also dive into the challenges of UK fundraising, why scalability was baked in from day one, and why North America may be the next big move for the company.

🔗 Connect with Simon & Magnify B:

• LinkedIn: Simon Groom
• Website: MagnifyB.com
• Email: [email protected]

👉 For more episodes, visit: http://www.youtube.com/@yarekmatacz

🎙️ Show Notes & Highlights

00:00 – Intro Welcoming Simon Groom, CEO of Magnify B

01:00 – Origin Story How Simon and David built Magnify B during COVID after decades in consulting

02:00 – Non-Tech Founders Building SaaS Why coming from consulting (not tech) gave them a real advantage

03:20 – Explaining Magnify B Simply “Mission control for business success” → dashboards, benchmarking, learning, and what-if planning

05:10 – How It Differs from Consulting Bringing large company methodologies to small businesses affordably

06:45 – Shifts in Small Business Tech Adoption From fear of AI to increasing curiosity and adoption across Europe

08:30 – Industries Adopting Fastest Professional services like accounting and law firms surprising Simon with early interest

09:40 – How AI Reshapes Advisors’ Roles Why accountants and consultants now see Magnify B as a client attractor

10:50 – Feedback on Version 1.1 Users say: “I wish I had this years ago.”

12:30 – Partnerships with Coaches & Accountants Action Coach + major UK firms calling the platform “game-changing”

14:50 – Early Market Entry Strategy 60+ firms in the pipeline, from small practices to those with 200,000+ clients

16:50 – Scaling Vision & Bottlenecks Built for global scale, but UK fundraising remains the biggest hurdle

19:40 – Magic Wand Fix Overcoming mistakes with outsourced tech development

21:00 – Key Metrics That Matter 5,000–10,000 users in year one → exponential growth beyond year two

22:40 – 12–18 Month Plan Internationalization with North America, Singapore, and Europe on the roadmap

This week on Off the Grid on the Record, I sit down with Dan Gudkov, founder of DoDocs AI, to unpack the journey from legal tech to a global automation solution that’s helping companies eliminate manual data entry and double their client capacity.

Dan shares how DoDocs pivoted after customer feedback, the unexpected industries now reaching out (including a central bank in South America), and why staying open-minded has been his biggest entrepreneurial lesson.

🔗 Connect with Dan:

• LinkedIn: Dan Gudkov
• Website: DoDocs.ai

👉 For more episodes, visit: http://www.youtube.com/@yarekmatacz

🎙️ Show Notes & Highlights

00:00 – Intro Welcoming Dan Gudkov, founder of DoDocs AI

01:10 – Relocating to Vancouver Moving from Dubai to Canada and what the transition has been like

01:40 – Dan’s Backstory From six startups (AR, VR, and beyond) to discovering AI’s potential in document automation

04:00 – Pivoting Beyond Legal Docs Why customer feedback pushed DoDocs toward accounting and procurement automation

07:20 – Explaining DoDocs Simply Snap a photo → data instantly entered into accounting or ERP systems

08:40 – Customer Success Story How integrating with Sol.A Online increased customer capacity by 100%

09:30 – The Big Problem They Solve Removing scaling limitations in accounting with automation

12:00 – Explaining Value to Prospects How DoDocs tailors solutions for accounting firms, POS systems, and hospitality

16:45 – Unexpected Opportunities Hardware giants and central banks exploring automation with DoDocs

18:30 – Best Marketing Channel So Far Why Substack outperforms LinkedIn and Apollo for leads

20:00 – Ideal Customers (ICP) Accounting platforms, POS systems, and large enterprises with 1000+ employees

22:00 – What’s Next for DoDocs AI Building agentic AI features: voice agents, WhatsApp automation, and full-cycle integrations

24:00 – Staying Ahead of Competitors Why API-first integration makes DoDocs hard to replace

27:00 – Lessons for Founders Why staying open and adaptable is Dan’s biggest takeaway

29:00 – Wrap-Up & Where to Find DoDocs LinkedIn, Substack, YouTube, Instagram, and DoDocs.ai

In this episode, I talk with Jeremy Nielsen, founder of Sally.co, the all-in-one platform that makes Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) simple, clean, and headache-free. Jeremy has overseen more than 9,000 SPVs and took all that experience to build Sally — the first system that puts everything in one place instead of juggling spreadsheets, emails, and off-platform tasks.

We dig into:

• What an SPV actually is and why they’ve been so painful to manage
• Jeremy’s background in law, fund management, and why he built Sally
• The “lightbulb” moments that showed SPVs could be automated end-to-end
• How Sally solves the chaos of manual tasks, missing documents, and off-platform investors
• Who gets the most value from Sally today (from first-timers to large-scale fund managers)
• The future of SPVs: taxes, reporting, analytics, and even venture fund support

If you’ve ever run (or thought about running) an SPV, this episode is a must-listen. Jeremy shares both the scars and solutions from building five generations of SPV software — and why Sally is the one that finally fixes it.

Find out more about Sally: https://sally.co

Listen to more episodes here: http://www.youtube.com/@yarekmatacz