The VentureFizz Podcast

Madeleine Smith, CEO and co-founder of Civic Roundtable, discusses her innovative approach to disrupting the government sector. She shares insights on integrating AI as a workflow enabler, and her journey from Mark43 to founding Civic Roundtable at Harvard. Madeleine highlights the importance of customer discovery, product pivots, and overcoming government skepticism in tech adoption. She also offers advice for first-time founders, emphasizes the need for more female entrepreneurs in tech, and shares personal interests that keep her inspired.

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!

Ilia Papas, a serial entrepreneur and co-founder of both Band and Blue Apron, discusses his fascinating journey in tech and startups. He reveals the 'enchilada factor' and how machine learning shaped Blue Apron’s growth during its IPO journey. Ilia also shares insights about Band, which tackles the complexities of B2B agreements with AI-powered solutions. He emphasizes the importance of human oversight in technology and reflects on finding balance in his personal life while navigating the challenges of entrepreneurship.

Matt Fates, Partner at Innospark Ventures, has a rich background in venture capital with over 100 investments. He discusses how to break into VC, emphasizing patience and domain expertise. Matt shares his transition from investment banking to venture capital during the dot-com boom. He highlights Innospark's innovative focus on AI-native companies, particularly in healthcare, showcasing investments like Fourier and Neurable. Additionally, he praises Boston's vibrant startup ecosystem and reflects on lessons learned from missed opportunities.

Episode 407 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Seth Rosen, Founder & CEO of CustomMade. A common theme that you’ll hear throughout this interview is the importance of resiliency. Sure - the media loves the story of the latest company that has achieved $100M ARR in a month (I’m obviously kidding), but the overwhelming majority of businesses are a grind. It’s about taking a bunch of punches, getting back up and figuring it all out. It’s not all rainbows and butterflies, which is why I was excited to interview Seth. The story of CustomMade has lots of twists and turns… from rapid growth… to later salvaging the company by structuring a deal with Wayfair to acqui-hire their employee base… to the insanely successful reboot! Today, CustomMade is a leading online custom jeweler that specializes in creating personalized, one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces, such as engagement rings, wedding bands, and more. The platform simplifies the entire custom process, helping buyers create their vision and working with master jewelers to bring it to life. Chapters: 00:00 Intro 00:11 Importance of Resiliency 01:20 The Right Business Model: Subscription vs Marketplace 02:52 Seth's Background 06:24 Meeting Mike Salguero While Working in Real Estate 12:51 Background Story of CustomMade 20:55 Raising Venture Capital for CustomMade 24:58 Building & Running an Online Marketplace 27:30 The Challenges of Running an Online Marketplace 29:24 Making a Deal with Wayfair 31:33 CustomMade Reboot 36:38 CustomMade Today - The World's Largest Online Custom Jeweler 40:10 What are Lab Grown Diamonds 44:24 SEO & GEO 49:20 Seth's Other Initiatives in the Gem Industry 50:46 Seth's Role as a Venture Partner at WTI

Episode 406 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Bill Simmons, serial entrepreneur and Co-Founder of Orbit.me and DataXu. I’m going to use the cliché: Bill actually is a rocket scientist. His background is in aerospace engineering, he holds a PhD from MIT, and he worked on 13 space missions. In addition, he was part of a major Government competition for simulating options for space travel to Mars. His team simulated 35 billion possible options to generate 1,100 different Mars missions that were all feasible. This groundbreaking technology that leverage Big Data, which we now recognize as AI and machine learning, launched his first company, DataXu, in 2008. DataXu became a pioneer in the programmatic ad platform category and raised over $87M in funding. The company scaled as a major player in the Boston tech scene, and was acquired by Roku in 2019. Now, Bill is tackling a challenge we all likely face with his new startup, Orbit.me. Information is scattered across texts, multiple email inboxes, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, and social apps—it’s impossible to keep track of what matters. Orbit.me is a perfect use case for AI, organizing your scattered messages into “Orbits” which are dedicated spaces built around the real contexts of your life, like parenting, work, or other important matters. Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 02:41 Current Status of Space Travel & Mars 08:34 Bill Simmons Background Story 10:21 Academic Experience 13:12 Space Missions including Mars Research 17:19 How DataXu Came to Fruition & Focus on AdTech 20:03 Scaling DataXu & Market Strategies 23:15 The Competitive Landscape of AdTech 26:20 The Technology Behind Real-Time Bidding 29:49 Building DataXu’s Culture During Growth 32:51 DataXu Acquisition by Roku 35:54 The Transition to Product Management & Experience at The Trade Desk 37:13 The Details of Orbit.me 43:07 The Team Behind Orbit.me 48:58 The Evolving Role of Software Engineers in the AI Era 52:01 Lightening Round Questions

Episode 405 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Ed Jennings, CEO of Quickbase. The terms 'narrow' and 'growth' seem to contradict each other, yet in Ed’s mind, the two concepts go hand-in-hand. Based on his experience, true scaling doesn't always mean adding new products or wildly expanding into new industries. It can be a huge challenge to say "no" to new opportunities when the goal is increased revenue. But as Ed explains, the key to sustainable success is to look deeply at your core customer and double down on your core value. This focus is what helps you win and retain customers—a factor often overlooked, but insanely important for long-term growth. Quickbase is the AI operations platform used by more than 12,000 organizations worldwide to transform ordinary work into extraordinary impact. Combining powerful AI capabilities and the flexibility and ease of low code/no code technology, Quickbase boosts productivity, improves efficiency, and enhances employee safety for organizations managing large-scale projects and operations in industries like construction and manufacturing. Chapters 00:00 Introduction 02:00 Core Foundational Elements for Scaling Companies 06:21 Ed's Background Story & Post College in Japan 13:01 Career & Executive Roles in Tech 15:26 Experience at PTC 18:04 First CEO Role 21:55 Time at ADP 24:44 Experience at Veracode 28:22 Lessons Learned as CMO 30:13 COO Role at Mimecast 35:55 Details About Quickbase 36:56 Narrowing the Focus and ICP at Quickbase 39:09 The Culture at Quickbase 41:00 Hiring at Quickbase 42:44 Quickbase's Customer Community 44:23 Advice for Building a Career Path to CEO 46:56 Advice on Hiring Executives 49:51 Lightning Round Questions

Episode 404 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Ben Sesser, CEO & Co-Founder of BrightHire. Well this is a first… It’s common to time my podcast interview around a milestone for a company like a funding announcement. But, this is the first time that in the span between my interview with the founder to the publishing date that the company announced its acquisition. Last week, BrightHire announced that the company has entered into an agreement to be acquired by Zoom. It certainly is a combination that makes a lot of sense. BrightHire is an interview intelligence platform. We saw its influence firsthand this past summer when VentureFizz hosted a series of AI job searching events. Talent acquisition leaders consistently mentioned BrightHire as the most-adopted application—a signal that immediately led me to reach out to Ben for this interview. As Ben shares, when they started, "interview intelligence" was a brand new category in hiring, and they faced plenty of doubters. But fast-forward to today, and much like the success of companies like Gong for sales teams, BrightHire's value is now obvious. But isn't that the case for all great companies in hindsight? BrightHire's investors include Flybridge, Index Ventures, 01 Advisors, Zoom Apps Fund, and others. Chapters 00:00 Intro 02:48 State of Hiring in the AI Era 06:51 Ben's Background Story 19:40 Getting Started in the Tech Industry 25:26 Origin Story of BrightHire 33:06 Creating a New Category 35:31 The Value of Video in the Hiring Process 41:17 BrightHire Screen - New AI Screening Platform 45:51 Experience of Raising Capital 48:36 Biggest Lessons Learned 50:22 Common Mistakes Companies Make When Hiring 51:57 Lightening Round Questions Episode Sponsor: As a longtime champion of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank supports innovative companies with the solutions and financing they need through every stage of growth. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors, and $42B in loans as of Q2 2024 – SVB delivers the right people, service and resources to support your entire financial journey. Learn more at SVB.com.

Nick Ornitz and Shannon Kay, co-founders of Topline Pro, share their journey from meeting at Harvard Business School to creating AI-driven tools for home service professionals. They discuss the initial false positive of their concept, Dwelling, and how their pivot led to success. With insights from Y Combinator, they explore the power of AI in automating marketing and operations. The duo highlights the importance of customer feedback and their recent $27M Series B funding, setting the stage for future growth and innovation in service businesses.

Episode 402 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Aaron Sekhri, CEO & Co-Founder of Le Walk. Most apps are trying to get you to stare at your phone and create a stickiness factor for doomscrolling. Yet, Le Walk wants you to look up and take in the world. If you have ever experienced a group tour for a museum or some other historical location, it can be a crap shoot and for me, even with the best tour guide, I have a hard time focusing and taking it all in. This is where Le Walk comes to the rescue. It is your personal tour guide, right in your headphones. The company uses AI to enhance, not replace, human creativity. Every tour still relies on real guides, editors, and storytellers — AI just helps amplify their reach. Le Walk recently announced a $4.1M seed co-led by Adverb Ventures and Lerer Hippeau, with participation from Origins Fund and Point72 Ventures. In beta, Le Walk has reached 110k downloads, 160k+ social followers, and 20k+ tours taken. In this interview, we cover: * Aaron’s experience growing up in Hong Kong and how he landed at Stanford to study Symbolic Systems. * Getting his career started in Product Management while at Uber. * His experience at TikTok and what he learned there. * All the details about Le Walk and the plans ahead. * Their content playbook for customer acquisition and why content is king when it comes to building traction for a startup and their strategy around content. * And so much more.