Episode 410: Paul Holder - CEO & Co-Founder, OnRamp

Episode 410 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Paul Holder, CEO & Co-Founder of OnRamp.us. I’ve been working with startups since 1998—that’s nearly 28 years now! Since the beginning, I’ve noticed the massive impact that startups can have on one's career. Take Paul… who joined an early-stage startup called Troops, which was later acquired by Salesforce. During his tenure there and at a software company prior (VTS), he didn't just experience the rocket-ship growth and accelerated career path that comes along with a successful startup—he also identified the massive challenge that led to OnRamp. It’s a challenge that faces every company, not just software companies: Customer Onboarding. Founded in 2020, OnRamp is the intelligent, AI-enabled customer onboarding and engagement platform that helps companies accelerate adoption, strengthen customer relationships, and unlock revenue growth. The company recently announced its $15M Series A round of funding led by Koch Disruptive Technologies, with contributions from existing investors like Contour, Javelin, Pear, and others. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * Advice on taking the entrepreneurial "leap of faith" and why you have to commit to a decade-long vision to build something meaningful. * Paul’s background studying Finance at Boston College and his early career in strategy consulting. * His time at HighTower (where he met his co-founder Ross Lerner) and leading customer success and post-sales revenue at Troops. * How the friction of onboarding customers led to the original idea behind OnRamp. * Building their first version using Bubble (a no-code solution) long before "Vibe Coding" became a buzzword, and how they landed those crucial early adopters. * How OnRamp stays disciplined with their product roadmap while integrating AI to solve real-world customer pain points. * How they’ve successfully moved upmarket to land some of the world's largest companies and their philosophy on hiring the first sales leader. * And so much more!