Tailscale has been a huge success, raising over $113 million and growing to 80 employees. They discovered that if developers love the product, they will tell their decision makers in their organization to buy it, and the money will follow. To ensure customer satisfaction, they use Net Promoter Score to move people from the middle to the top and offer free support for everyone, even those on the zero dollar plan. NachoNacho is a marketplace for B2B SaaS, a single platform for you to manage all yo...
Jul 14, 2023•26 min•Season 8Ep. 6
Vishal Sunak, Founder of LinkSquares, shares his journey of building software for legal teams. Listen as he speaks to Sit Down Startup's host Adam O'Donnell about raising $161 million over five rounds of venture capital, overcoming fundraising struggles, and unlocking the secrets to growth. Discover the importance of building a strong product, founder-led sales, and knowledge assembly, as well as how to validate product ideas before building solutions. Vishal also gives invaluable advice on unde...
Jun 21, 2023•19 min•Season 8Ep. 5
Join Adam O'Donnell on Sit Down Startup as he sits down with David Cummings, the founder of Pardot, which eventually sold to Salesforce. In this episode, they discuss pivoting from unsuccessful strategies, customer discovery, and marketing automation platform, while sharing their personal stories of startup challenges.
Jun 07, 2023•22 min•Season 8Ep. 4
Adam O'Donnell sits down with Elliot Shmukler, former Chief Growth Officer at Instacart and co-founder of Anomalo, to discuss the challenges data teams face in detecting and solving data quality issues using machine learning. Despite the initial failure of their product to meet customer needs, Anomalo was able to grow 10x ARR during the big recession by listening to customer feedback and building a fully-featured product to address gaps in their initial product. Elliot emphasizes the importance ...
May 24, 2023•21 min•Season 8Ep. 3
Welcome to the Sit Down Startup podcast, where host Adam O'Donnell interviews entrepreneurs and startup founders about their inspirational stories. In this episode, Adam brings in Ami Luttwak, the CTO and co-founder of Wiz , one of the largest cloud security companies. Ami shares the hands-on culture of the company, where all managers do the work themselves, and explains how they identified a gap in the market by combining vulnerability, application, network exposure, and identity analysis. Toge...
May 10, 2023•21 min•Season 8Ep. 2
Glean was founded in 2019 as an AI-powered workplace search engine aimed at helping people browse through their company apps to find the information they need and boost productivity. Since then, Glean has raised $155M+ and grown to 200+ employees while staying true to its initial mission. In this episode its founder, Arvind Jain, shares his experience and provides a few key insights: Ask the hard questions. Make sure prospective clients are willing and able to implement what you’re offering. Qua...
Apr 26, 2023•21 min•Season 8Ep. 1
Jesse Lipson initially thought he would become a philosophy professor — until he took a job with a startup that changed his career path. After founding his first company Sharefile in 2005, he sold it to Citrix in late 2011 for almost $100M. And in October 2017 he established Levitate, which helps relationship-based businesses keep in touch with clients in a more personal and authentic way. This entrepreneur offers a few insights from his career to date: Acquisitions are a rollercoaster. Deals ca...
Mar 29, 2023•23 min•Season 7Ep. 8
During Truora’s first year, they raised no money. Four years later, this customer-engagement and WhatsApp-first startup has come a long way, with 8M USD in ARR, 14M USD in revenue, and presence across seven Latin American countries. Co-Founder and CEO Daniel Bilbao shares his tips for founders looking to succeed: Hire the best people you can. Talent comes first; good recruiting never fails. Do the homework beforehand. Spend time on the setup and talk to founders before going to market. Don’t avo...
Mar 22, 2023•26 min•Season 7Ep. 7
When Chris Ebeling co-founded entertainment company Virtually Human back in 2018, Blockchain was just becoming popular. Since then, the company has raised $21M+ and their online horse racing game ZED RUN gained an impressive following. In this episode, Chris talks to Adam about his experience launching in the digital world and shares a few tips: Innovation comes with risks. Don’t be afraid to seek advice; be transparent and self-critical. Nothing is permanent. If you believe in an idea, don’t ov...
Mar 08, 2023•27 min•Season 7Ep. 6
Zapier has one mission: to help companies use automation to connect tools and apps so data can automatically move between them. The business was founded in 2012 and their remote team has since expanded worldwide across 40 countries. Founder Mike Knoop shared some takeaways from their 11-year journey so far: Stay patient. Growth is organic, so be prepared to play the long game. Tap into search. Creating landing pages will make your product more visible to potential customers. Always look ahead. W...
Mar 01, 2023•19 min•Season 7Ep. 5
Back in 2008, when mobile apps were the talk of the town, Mark Ghermezian had an idea: build a bridge between app developers and users. That was the seed for Braze, a customer engagement platform, which has grown to 1200+ employees and 3.5M+ monthly active users. In this episode, Mark tells his story and teaches us a few lessons: Iteration is key. Listen to feedback from designers and people using your app in order to innovate. Trust the process. Sometimes the market won’t be ready for your prod...
Feb 22, 2023•21 min•Season 7Ep. 4
Cristina Fonseca, our very own VP of Product, knows a thing or two about being a founder. She has set up two companies specializing in CX: Talkdesk, back in 2011 (right after college!), which went on to raise over 250M USD; and Cleverly in 2017, now acquired by Zendesk. In this one-to-one with Adam, she shares her experience: Build trust. Stay present and proactively communicate with your customers. Be aware of the market. If there is more than one company offering the same product, that means t...
Feb 15, 2023•19 min•Season 7Ep. 3
When Ashutosh Garg founded talent intelligence platform Eightfold AI in 2016, he had one clear goal in mind: to help businesses hire and retain the best professionals out there. The company has since grown to almost 700 employees and has raised $400M. Ashutosh sat down to discuss Eightfold’s journey with Adam, sharing a few learnings along the way: Strike the right balance. Both a lack of and overconfidence will stop you from going anywhere. Keep evolving. Adapting to market changes in order to ...
Feb 09, 2023•17 min•Season 7Ep. 2
Howard Lerman founded tech company Yext in 2006, recording revenues of $100M during his final quarter as CEO. In November 2022, he started building his next project: Roam, an all-in-one Cloud HQ — and predicts it’s going to be even bigger. The entrepreneur joined Adam for a chat to share some key insights and strategies from his +20 years’ experience: Make customers love you. Happy clients will get you everywhere. Try and try again. There’s no single magic trick to growth — except to try everyth...
Jan 25, 2023•22 min•Season 7Ep. 1
In 2013, e-commerce platform Shift set out with one simple mission: to make car sales and purchases a seamless experience. The company began accelerating in late 2015 before they went public in 2020, and last year recorded revenues of 630M USD, selling vehicles in all 50 US states. Co-Founder Toby Russell joined Adam to share a few insights from their journey: Keep it simple. When scaling, don’t try to do too much at once. Make your mission matter. Will your idea have an impact on people’s every...
Nov 16, 2022•25 min•Season 6Ep. 11
Carbon emission tracking company Sweep was founded in June 2020. In just over two years, they have evolved to employ +80 people across Europe and the United States and, in less than 12 months, raised an impressive 100M USD. We sat down with Co-Founder & CEO, Rachel Delacour, who shared some key learnings: Test your product with friends. Get in touch with past clients or contacts to present your new idea. Pick up the phone. Talk to big brands to get your product out to the markets and generat...
Nov 09, 2022•18 min•Season 1Ep. 61
Founded in 2019 with the goal of offering a simple solution for hiring freelancers and contractors internationally, Deel pivoted just a week before demo day. They restructured their program and grew to over 1,900 employees, 10K+ customers worldwide and raised $600M+. Here are the key takeaways from our chat with Co-Founder & CEO, Alex Bouaziz: Time is money. Move fast and see what sticks — you are defined by your growth. Be customer-centric. Have strong customer empathy and work hard to main...
Oct 26, 2022•23 min•Season 6Ep. 9
Mercury, a banking service for startups, was launched in 2019 but their business idea had been brewing since 2013. Mercury has now grown to 357 employees and tens of thousands of customers. CEO & Co-Founder Immad Akhund joined us to share some advice: Classic strategies work. Encourage your investors to talk about you on social media to get word-of-mouth going. Show ambition. Make sure your message encapsulates the scale of what you’re trying to achieve. Get talking. Participate in podcasts ...
Oct 19, 2022•15 min•Season 6Ep. 8
Founded in 2017, Pilot is a platform that offers bookkeeping, tax and CFO services for growing businesses. From a team of 10 to now 400, Pilot helps thousands of startups — crediting their speed, responsiveness and going above and beyond for customers as key to their growth. We sat down with CEO & Co-Founder, Waseem Daher, who shared his biggest takeaways: Be ‘in the weeds’. Stay close to the delivery of your product or service and know what your customer base is up to. Engage with your cust...
Oct 12, 2022•20 min•Season 6Ep. 7
In 2010, Beats by Dre saw a huge opportunity to pivot and make a mark. They were able to uniquely combine the world of sports and music in a way people hadn’t seen before. A clear vision and authentic messaging helped differentiate themselves. We talked with former CMO, Omar Johnson, who shared insights from Beats’ early days: Set clear objectives. Find an authentic place for your product. Discover interesting ways to tell the same story. Come up with a clear and simple focus and apply that mess...
Sep 28, 2022•26 min•Season 6Ep. 6
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 thei...
Sep 21, 2022•18 min•Season 6Ep. 5
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...
Sep 14, 2022•20 min•Season 6Ep. 4
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. In...
Sep 07, 2022•20 min•Season 6Ep. 3
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 custome...
Aug 31, 2022•21 min•Season 6Ep. 2
Since launching in late 2017, AI service experience startup Aisera successfully raised over $164M from VCs such as Zoom, Menlo Ventures, First Round Capital and Norwest Ventures — helping them grow to the +180 employee company they are today. Co-Founder and CEO Muddu Sudhakar gives his tips on fundraising: Vision is everything. Make sure your investors share it and are in it for the long haul. Board members matter. Get people who are running businesses now. Don’t waste your time. If they have se...
Aug 24, 2022•15 min•Season 6Ep. 1
It’s been a rocky two years since Ukrainian cloud-based financial company Fuel Finance opened their doors. In 2022, they faced the toughest challenge yet — the invasion of their home country. Here’s what Co-Founder & CEO Alyona Mysko had to say: Adapt your priorities. When times of uncertainty hit, it’s important to look out for your family and team — understand where they are and be there for them. Find purpose to boost growth . Fuel reshaped their mission to include supporting Ukraine, add...
Jun 29, 2022•18 min•Season 5Ep. 9
This week Adam sat down with Cy Scott, Co-Founder of Leafly — think Yelp, but for cannabis — now a publicly traded company listed on the NASDAQ ($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 partne...
Jun 22, 2022•21 min•Season 5Ep. 8
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...
Jun 15, 2022•21 min•Season 5Ep. 7
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...
Jun 08, 2022•20 min•Season 5Ep. 6
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 succ...
Jun 01, 2022•18 min•Season 5Ep. 5
