The VentureFizz Podcast

As with most entrepreneurs, you never forget the people who supported you from the early days of the company. I first met Matt towards the end of 2009. VentureFizz had recently launched and I was looking for advertising sponsors to help fund future development of the site. At that point in time, Matt was heading up marketing for a company called uTest (now called Applause) and they were looking to increase exposure for the company. It ended up being a great match and they were the first company to sponsor VentureFizz. Without that check… who knows what would have happened. So grateful. Matt has been involved in lots of venture backed tech companies that have scaled. His career progressed through the marketing ranks into leadership positions to the point of becoming a CEO for startups. Thus, I was excited to hear about his professional journey and all the stories of scaling companies, plus the lessons learned along the way. Matt recently joined GitKraken, the maker of some of the most popular developer tools in the entire Git ecosystem, as their CEO. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * Advice on transitioning through the leadership ranks to a CEO position. * Matt’s backgroundl in terms of growing up in Michigan and what he learned from his early experience at Herman Miller. * The story behind the fast track of his career to the point of leading marketing at startups and the details on scaling Applause. * How he transitioned into a CEO position at Mautic and their acquisition by Acquia. * All the details on GitKraken and their growth plans ahead. * And so much more. If you like the show, please remember to subscribe and review us on iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

Launching and scaling a successful company typically takes bold entrepreneurs who are willing to take the risk of building something in a market that doesn’t exist yet. They look at the world differently and they have a vision that some might think is crazy. But, it’s these entrepreneurs that go on to define markets and scale companies at unicorn valuations. In the case of Formlabs, Max and his co-founders set out to make 3D printing more accessible through its revolutionary desktop 3D printer. Fast forward, the company has scaled to about 700 employees, multiple products, and a global footprint. Just last year, the company announced a $150M Series E round of funding last year at a $2B valuation. However, when they started the company in 2011, raising capital for a company this complex was incredibly rare as it involves hardware, software, materials, and manufacturing. Landing their first investor - that being Mitch Kapor (the founder of Lotus and a legendary investor) - is absolutely one of the best funding stories that I’ve ever heard. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * The current state of the 3D printing industry, including the variety of use cases and predictions for the future. * Max’s background story growing up, his studies at Cornell & MIT, plus what sparked his interest in the 3D printing industry. * How he met his co-founders and how they got Formlabs started, plus the details behind their Kickstarter campaign which was one of the most successful of all time. * A look at Formlabs today in terms of its scale and growth plans ahead, plus the company’s culture. * Lessons learned around hiring and what has been the key criteria for successful hires. * And so much more. If you like the show, please remember to subscribe and review us on iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

Calendly, Zoom, Dropbox, Canva - are all great examples of Product-led Growth companies or what is commonly known as PLG for short. So, what is PLG? As defined on OpenView’s website, PLG is an end user-focused growth model that relies on the product itself as the primary driver of customer acquisition, conversion, and expansion. It’s a term that was actually coined by Blake in 2016 and has become the dream business model for entrepreneurs. Thus, I was really excited to interview Blake for our podcast as it was an opportunity to do a deep dive with the expert on PLG models and strategies, which is exactly where we begin our conversation. We take a look at some specific company examples and he shares some great advice on how to adopt an effective PLG strategy. In this episode of our podcast, we also cover: * Blake’s background story and how he got into the investing world including his time spent at Battery Ventures. * All the details on OpenView and the types of investments he is looking to make. * Portfolio company examples, including Calendly. * Advice for companies scaling their hiring during the expansion stage. * And so much more. If you like the show, please remember to subscribe and review us on iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

It’s very rare for a company to make it to the public markets. It’s even rarer to have the founder of the company as its CEO throughout the full lifecycle to that IPO milestone. EngageSmart provides vertically tailored customer engagement software and integrated payments solutions. The company went public back in September of last year and Bob had the honor of ringing the bell of the New York Stock Exchange as its CEO & Founder on a day when the stock had priced above its initial range as a publicly traded company. This was not Bob’s first company. He’s a serial entrepreneur, who was the founder of MicroFridge, a company that created a refrigerator-freezer-microwave appliance combo which was built for college dorm rooms and motels. The company scaled to millions of dollars in revenue and an acquisition, but as you’ll hear, Bob shares a powerful lesson from this experience that led to his future success. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * Bob’s background growing up and the importance of having a chip on your shoulder. * The full story of MicroFridge and how they were able to create an innovative product in a very complex and competitive market. * How he gained expertise in the payment industry and what led him down the path of starting Invoice Cloud, an early SaaS / cloud company. * Scaling Invoice Cloud and acquiring other vertical solutions to the point of launching the overarching EngageSmart brand. * Advice on building a company’s culture as it scales. * And so much more. If you like the show, please remember to subscribe and review us on iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

Companies strive to build a strong culture that will hopefully be the foundation for success. In the case of Seth, having a People First culture is the priority and it is why they operate with an upside down org chart. When you think about it, the upside down org chart makes a ton of sense. Aren’t leaders the ones who are ultimately working for their reports to do whatever it takes to ensure the success of each person in their position which ultimately translates into the company’s success? Another great example of Seth’s leadership and the culture at Conductor is the fact that when the company was purchased back from WeWork in 2019, every employee (which was over 250 at the time) were granted the same class of stock and were all labeled as co-founders in the company. Seth and I start out the conversation with a deep dive on this topic of a People First culture and he shares lots of useful info about its benefits. Conductor is an organic marketing platform built for enterprise SEO, Content, and Web teams— powering the organic marketing revolution. The company recently announced $150M in new funding at a $525M valuation. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * Seth’s background story including his first startup called MindMD, an online therapy website that was ahead of its time. * The rise and fall of LinkExperts, a link building business for SEO that he co-founded, which ended up being the precursor to Conductor. * A deep dive into Conductor and the value of its platform for companies, plus the details on its growth plans ahead. * The story of their acquisition by WeWork in 2018 and the buy-back in less than two years. * Advice on scaling hiring and culture at the same time. * And so much more. If you like the show, please remember to subscribe and review us on iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

There is so much disruption happening in the healthcare industry, it is truly an exciting time. Just last week, we published our interview with Sean Duffy, Co-Founder & CEO of Omada Health, which is helping people who are dealing with chronic conditions achieve long term improvements and if you go into the archives of The VentureFizz Podcast, you’ll find lots of other discussions with healthcare entrepreneurs. One particular sector that I’m really excited about is the area of personalization in the healthcare industry. We are all unique, so shouldn’t the way you treat your body in terms of diet, exercise medicine, etc., etc. - all be specific to what your body needs versus what works for a sampling of people? As you’ll hear, Lola had her own personal health situation which led her down the path to start Base. The company has built a new way to track your health and improve on critical items like diet, sleep, stress, fatigue, and more with affordable at-home lab testing. Our blood is the gateway and Base is unlocking the data to help you figure out the root causes to your health issues, make improvements, and continue to monitor & measure your health along the way. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * Lola’s background story including her experience at Amazon, Instagram, and a healthcare startup. * All the details about Base in terms of how it works and what you can expect as a consumer. * How they figured out their go-to-market strategy and growth plans ahead. * Advice for consumers on evaluating healthcare startups and ways to determine which ones you can trust. * Advice for female founders on raising capital. * And so much more. If you like the show, please remember to subscribe and review us on iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

There’s so much going on in the healthcare industry. It is truly a transformative time that spans across the full spectrum whether it’s advancements in medicine, operational improvements, and more, there is obviously no shortage of innovation and an opportunity to make a meaningful impact. Thus, I always get excited when I get a chance to interview an entrepreneur who is scaling a company in this industry. Omada Health has raised over $250M in venture captial funding and they are on a mission to help people make significant, lifelong changes through incremental steps. They are making it possible for people with chronic conditions to achieve long term improvements in their health and we get into the weeds in terms of how they are accomplishing this very meaningful cause. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * Sean’s full background story including his time working in the healthcare industry, Google, IDEO, and a side hustle business that still operates today. * His fascination with building out ideas and how it led him down the path of becoming an entrepreneur. * All the details on Omada Health and how they are making a difference in the healthcare industry, push the complexity of their business model. * A look at their Series D round of funding and growth plans ahead. * Hiring advice when scaling your company. * And so much more. If you like the show, please remember to subscribe and review us on iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

A disproportionate amount of capital invested into companies does not go to gender diverse teams and it’s a problem. It’s a problem and an issue that I’ve brought up multiple times in this podcast as I hope the continuous awareness of this issue creates a positive impact over time. Based on Lori’s background and the focus on her firm, it was a perfect opportunity to find out if we are making some level of progress in terms of capital fundraising for gender diverse companies. We kick off our interview on this topic and we address a recent report from Pitchbook that shares some positive statistics from this year in terms of company exits, funding activity, and unicorn valuations for women-led startups… but as you’ll hear… there’s still a long way to go. Victress Capital is working to address this issue with a focused on investing in early-stage consumer startups with gender diverse teams. The firm recently announced its second fund and portfolio company examples include companies like Daily Harvest (which was recently valued at over $1B), Droplette, Summersalt, Alyce, and many others. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * Lori’s background story and how she transitioned into an investor role, then co-founded a private equity firm called Lineage Capital. * What led Lori and her partner, Suzanne Norris, down the path of starting Victress Capital. * All the details on the firm in terms of the size of their fund, stage of investing, and how they evaluate startups. * Advice on building a consumer company and why you should focus on retention versus paid acquisition. * And so much more. If you like the show, please remember to subscribe and review us on iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

On Upper90’s website you’ll find the following phrase: It’s not how much you raise… it’s how much you own. It’s a very compelling statement that makes a ton of sense, yet every day in the world of tech news, there’s a concentration on the size of the round and company’s valuation. Wouldn’t it be cool if they also reported how much of the company the founders still own? Since the entrepreneurs are the ones taking the most risk, shouldn’t we celebrate their ownership stake instead? Upper90 is working on solving this exact challenge as the firm aims to help founders keep more of their ownership by potentially delaying or even skipping their Series A round of funding. They do this by leveraging alternative forms of financing, like debt, to provide the capital for the company’s growth. The firm is focused on eCommerce and fintech businesses and have been first investors in companies like Thrasio, Clearbanc, and several others. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * Common mistakes that founders make as it relates to equity and fundraising. * Billy’s background story in terms of time at Wharton and his experience in the financial services industry which focused on building electronic trading businesses and exchanges. * What led him and his Co-Founder, Jason Finger, down the path of creating Upper90. * All the details on their investment thesis and how their model works. * Hiring advice for founders on building out your initial leadership team for a company. * And so much more. If you like the show, please remember to subscribe and review us on iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

Dr. Meisha-ann Martin, Director, People Analytics at Workhuman, joined us to discuss how the great resignation will shape and impact the future of the workforce. As part of this webinar, we covered: * What is The Great Resignation and why does it matter? * Details from Workhuman's survey & Bureau of Labor statistics. * Why are people looking for a new opportunity? * More details on the type of flexibility employees are looking for these days. * Impact on DEI * What can companies do to reduce turnover? * And more!