Sit Down Startup

In only three years, financial planning company Origin grew from 20 to more than 150 employees and raised over 70 million USD. While only beginning their journey, the company — created to help employers answer their employees’ tough questions about financial benefits — has found success by focusing on solutions for real-world problems. 

We sat down with Co-Founder & CEO Matt Watson, who shared tips from his experience: 

• Run towards the pain of your customer. Find out what you can take off their plate. 

• Tell your story. Gain trust in the industry by showing up and making yourself known.

• Be resilient. Expect adversity and stay true to why you started the company.

In March 2020, everything stopped for events company Bizzabo. So they quickly pivoted and designed a new product for the times we were living in — pairing in-person conference tools with a virtual event management platform. With offices spanning the globe and a team from all walks of life, the company is united by one mission: to define the future of hybrid events.

We chatted with Co-Founder, CMO and CCO of Bizzabo Alon Alroy about: 

• What to do when VCs are saying no, but prospects are saying yes
• Finding ways to provide value to core customers
• Investing in a strong company culture

BharatAgri began as a college project back in 2015 and came to reality when they launched in 2017. Since then, the company has stuck to their mission of being the bridge between tech and farming. Today, their app has over 100K subscribers and is available across India. Co-Founder & CEO Sai Gole gives us a glimpse of their journey:

• Think outside the box. When hit by adversity, work around it by changing your strategy.

• Personalize content. Keep users top of mind when designing your product.

• Innovate comms. Stay on the lookout for the best tools to reach your audience.

When digital B2B payment service Paystand launched in 2013, it had one mission: to democratize commercial payments. Today, the company has over 400,000 businesses making payments through their network, as well as $4B of volume on the block chain.

Co-Founder & CEO Jeremy Almond joins Adam to give some advice:

• Stay true to your mission. Imagine the world not as it is, but as what it could be. 

• Meet clients halfway. Make sure clients can understand what your business offers.

• Talk to your customers. Build a product and communicate with customers to lift off.

Since launching in late 2017, AI service experience startup Aisera successfully raised over $164M from VCs such as Zoom, Menlo Ventures, First Round Capital and Norwest Ventures — helping them grow to the +180 employee company they are today.

Co-Founder and CEO Muddu Sudhakar gives his tips on fundraising: 

• Vision is everything. Make sure your investors share it and are in it for the long haul.
• Board members matter. Get people who are running businesses now. 
• Don’t waste your time. If they have serious interest, they will invest early on.

Check out Founders Village: https://bit.ly/3QPApIe

It’s been a rocky two years since Ukrainian cloud-based financial company Fuel Finance opened their doors. In 2022, they faced the toughest challenge yet — the invasion of their home country.

Here’s what Co-Founder & CEO Alyona Mysko had to say:

• Adapt your priorities. When times of uncertainty hit, it’s important to look out for your family and team — understand where they are and be there for them.

• Find purpose to boost growth. Fuel reshaped their mission to include supporting Ukraine, adding core human value to their business objectives. 

Check out this week's podcast partner MassChallenge: https://bit.ly/3NrGisF

This week Adam sat down with Cy Scott, Co-Founder of Leafly — think Yelp, but for cannabis — now a publicly traded company listed on the NASDAQ ($LFLY). 

Here are some key learnings:

• Be smart about hacks — know when and when not to do them. In the long term, doing things the right way can bring far better results than cutting corners! 
• Keep user experience top-of-mind to choose when to fight for your convictions. Navigating through change means pushing through barriers.

Checkout this week's partner Startup Grind, a global community for startups and entrepreneurs: https://bit.ly/3tSUEvp

When Pair Eyewear first started, their focus was on making glasses a fun and dynamic accessory for kids. Today, they provide frames for everyone and employ over 90 people across the U.S. In this episode, Co-Founder and Co-CEO Nathan Kondamuri shares their journey as we discuss:

• The importance of evaluating possible paths when opportunities arise
• How social media channels like TikTok can be used as a trigger for growth 
• Why listening to what your customers want and need is the key to success

Check out this week's Zendesk partner SOSV: Learn more here.

Tammy Sun co-founded Carrot Fertility in 2016 with a mission to provide personalized fertility benefits for everyone, regardless of age, race, sexual orientation, income or geography. Since then, the company has gone global and their services are available in over 120 countries. Adam sat down with Tammy to get her take on:

• Why you should always listen to your customers and stay connected to your mission 
• Strategies for navigating rejection and developing resistance 
• The importance of understanding your category and business model better than anyone else

Jeremy Parker made the unusual switch from documentary filmmaker to entrepreneur in 2007 and hasn’t looked back. Since then, he founded promotional product platform Swag.com in January 2016, before it was acquired by major online apparel retailer Custom Ink in 2021. Adam sat down with Jeremy for a virtual chat to get the stories behind:

• How Swag.com landed Facebook as its first customer
• The importance of getting your foot in the door early on
• Why fully understanding your buyer is crucial to success

Check out this week's partner WeWork Labs: https://www.wework.com/labs/