The VentureFizz Podcast

If you are a Venture Capitalist, you are most likely looking for entrepreneurs who can identify problems ahead of the market, but of course not too-too early. And, you’re looking for founders who are uniquely qualified to solve those problems, plus build a world class company at scale. It’s a tall ask, but entrepreneurs like Andres are made for this. He’s a serial entrepreneur who loves hard tech. He likes the technical challenges that most people don’t have the expertise or desire to solve. He has built many successful companies and the common thread is his ability to see how the market will evolve and in his case how it will evolve around the world of data storage, especially in the cloud. His latest company, Nasuni, is the world’s first cloud-native global file system. As previously noted, being early to market can be a competitive advantage and this is certainly the case for Nasuni, as the company has been growing at a very rapid pace. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * A fun discussion about a failed startup that Andres was building with his brother, Antonio, which was aiming at solving the problem of home media storage for consumers which was a very different landscape back in 2000. * How his graduate work in Physics at Boston University helped shape the foundation of his expertise. * The details on Abuzz, a first generation social media company, that was acquired by The New York Times. * Building Archivas, the first enterprise-class cloud storage system which was acquired by Hitachi. * All the details on Nasuni - from its creation to it’s aggressive growth plans ahead. * Advice on hiring and building out a company's initial engineering team. * And so much more. If you like the show, please remember to subscribe and review us on iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

Landing a job in venture capital is challenging and one of the main reasons why is based on the scarcity of positions available. This stat might be a bit old, but at one point, the number of professional athletes in the US was about equal to the number of VC positions. Pretty crazy when you paint the picture that way. To top it off, there’s no defined career path on how to get there and oftentimes the jobs are not advertised. However, this has changed in recent years due to the availability of information and John was one of the first to really provide a deep level of insight into how to land a job in venture capital and he also started aggregating the positions available. If you type the search term venture capital jobs or something related in Google, John’s blog - which started in 2008 - appears on the first page of the search results. Fast forward, John and his co-founder, Arno Niazi, have taken this expertise to build GoingVC, a VC education and career acceleration program to help you land that ideal job in the industry. The program already has hundreds of members & alumni. Oh… and one would think this is a full time job, but believe it or not, John also has a very successful career in product management for tech companies. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * Tips and advice on time management, which is something that he needs to be very good at. * John’s background growing up and a look at how he was able to break into the VC industry. * A deep dive into his professional career at companies like Turbonomic, AWS, and DigitalOcean. * The full background story on how John started his blog and started aggregating jobs in venture capital. * How he went on to start GoingVC, the impact it has made, plus what people can expect by going through the program. * How a VC firm is structured by each role. * And so much more. If you like the show, please remember to subscribe and review us on iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

Successful serial entrepreneurs are unique in their ability to see transformational shifts before they happen and then they ultimately build a company to meet this future demand. In Jon’s case, it started during his time at MIT when he saw an opportunity in the CAD industry to automate an engineer’s sketchbook. It led him to start his first company called Premise which was later acquired. The next shift was recognizing the difficulty of using CAD software for product designers and thinking there has to be a better way. This led to the launch of SolidWorks and they built their software to run on Microsoft Windows, which was groundbreaking at the time. The company scaled rapidly and it led to another successful acquisition. As technology evolved to more of a SaaS business model and cloud based architecture, this opened the door for his latest company called Onshape. It changed the game for product designers in many ways, but especially for team based product development collaboration. The company also scaled aggressively and another amazing acquisition, this time by PTC in 2019. Oh, and not only is Jon a great entrepreneur, but he was also part of the famous MIT Blackjack Team, which we discuss in lots of detail about this experience and also his interest in magic. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * His experience using a computer for the first time at his high school which includes a very precious fun fact about a popular movie from the 80’s. * Why he chose to study Mechanical Engineering at MIT and how he got involved in the CAD software industry. * A journey through Jon’s entrepreneurial career including lots of stories around the companies he’s built. * All the details about the launch of Onshape, its acquisition by PTC, including the growing popularity of the platform as well as their focus on making a meaningful impact on important initiatives like education where over 1M educators and students have free access to their software. * Advice for founders on building out their core foundational team. * And so much more. If you like the show, please remember to subscribe and review us on iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

2016 was a pivotal moment for VentureFizz and it was Greenhouse that helped us get to where we are today. We saw lots of companies adopting its ATS to help out with their recruiting initiatives and it was their open APIs which allowed us to scale our job board by pulling in jobs automatically through a feed. It was game changing for us. Historically, companies had to manually add their jobs to our site which was easy but let’s face it, incredibly inefficient and time consuming. Needless to say, I was excited to speak to Daniel and learn more about the history of the company. Yes, I’m always fascinated by the entrepreneurial journey, but this one was unique based on its impact the company had on our business. I actually looked at some stats and over 40% of our customers are users of Greenhouse. Daniel is a serial entrepreneur and now an author, as he and his co-founder, Jon Stross, wrote a book that was recently published called TALENT MAKERS. It’s a step by step guide for implementing a structured hiring process and it captures their experiences at working with more than 4,000 companies. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * The details and what you can expect from reading TALENT MAKERS. * His journey into entrepreneurship and how Lab49 opened his eyes to the world of talent acquisition and how challenging it is yet if you do it right, it’s a competitive advantage. * What led him and Jon down the path of starting Greenhouse and the full story of how it built a market leading product and scaled. * The future ahead for the company including it’s recently reported $500M investment to further their mission of helping every company become great at hiring. * Advice on how companies can build a more diverse pipeline of candidates. * And so much more. If you like the show, please remember to subscribe and review us on iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

The world of medical billing is incredibly complex and let’s face it, most times it’s a mystery from the consumer’s point of view. The descriptions of service provided are in codes and how to make payment is not simple. It was through a challenging medical billing experience with his wife where Florian saw firsthand how the process was broken. As a serial entrepreneur and former physician, the light bulbs went off where he saw an opportunity to radically transform this industry. Not only was it a situation where you could digitize the process and make it more consumer friendly, but it was an opportunity to fundamentally redefine the patient experience. Thus, Cedar was born. Cedar has been scaling aggressively and has tremendous momentum. The company recently announced a $200M Series D round of funding at a $3.2B valuation and they also announced a definitive agreement to acquire OODA Health, where the combined companies will offer the only complete financial technology platform in the healthcare industry. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * How ideas are easy to come by, but his advice on the hard part, how to execute. * Florian’s background story in terms of his early career in medicine to his transition to McKinsey's healthcare practice and what this experience taught him. * Launching a daily deals site in Brazil, which was acquired by Groupon. * The full story behind Cedar and all the details on the company’s platform and growth ahead. * Why building a diverse workforce is such a competitive advantage. * 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 was time. The insurance industry had been lagging in terms of its digital transformation. But, in recent years, lots of startups have accelerated a change in this market through the use of technology and innovative business models. Investors have certainly noticed the opportunity, as well. Crunchbase recently reported that VC firms have invested over $20B in Insurtech companies over the last three years. It’s perfect timing for an entrepreneur like Phil. He gained critical domain experience and insights about the commercial insurance industry through the success of his prior company and his current startup is scaling at a massive rate. Corvus Insurance is the leading provider of smart commercial insurance products powered by AI-driven risk data. The company recently announced a $100M Series C round of funding. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * Phil’s background story and his experience in the insurance industry, including scaling his own insurance brokerage firm which was acquired. * What led him down the path of starting Corvus Insurance and how they are transforming commercial insurance by leveraging advanced data science, with an AI-driven approach to empower brokers and policyholders to better predict and prevent loss. * The details on their latest round of funding and growth plans ahead. * Phil’s experience as an investor in the Insurtech industry and the areas that he believes are still ripe for disruption. * And so much more. If you like the show, please remember to subscribe and review us on iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

Entrepreneurship is not for everyone, but for some people… they were just born with the ability to recognize opportunities in the market that are ripe for disruption and let’s face it, some were just born with that plain old hustle and desire to succeed. Take Ryan, a successful 3X entrepreneur who started his first company at the age of 17, an action sports video production company that was acquired by USA Today while he was still in college. His second company, Swarm Mobile, was acquired by Groupon and it was his experience running this company where he witnessed the frustration and problems with IT for companies. Someone had to wear the IT support hat internally for a small to mid-sized company and in some cases, it’s the founder (as was the case at Swarm), which triggered the aha moment… there has to be a better way. Electric was launched to solve this problem and the company recently closed a $40M Series C round of funding to revolutionize IT by making it simple, accessible, and cost-effective for businesses everywhere. The company provides real-time IT support to 25,000 users and centralized IT management to over 400 customers. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * Advice for founders on figuring out your ideal customer profile before leaping into a business 100% of your time. * Some great stories around building his first company and how starting a company as a teenager benefited him… think “no fear.” * The details on Swarm Mobile and the lessons learned from this experience. * What led Ryan down the path of starting Electric and the incredible value they are providing companies. * A discussion around branding and how he wanted to make the Electric brand bold and memorable. * What founders should be thinking about as it relates to building the company’s culture. * And so much more. If you like the show, please remember to subscribe and review us on iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

Ahhh… this episode takes me back. It takes me back to my childhood years in Hooksett, New Hampshire, hanging out with my buddies in the neighborhood trading baseball cards. I was a Red Sox fan and would collect cards of Jim Rice, Carl Yastremski, Dwight Evans, and lots of other Boston greats. I also collected baseball cards and memorabilia for Steve Garvey, the first baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers. I have a cousin who lives in LA, so that was the connection there. It was fun and all of my friends thought our treasures would appreciate in value and we would be set for life! Yet, the baseball card industry hit rough times, as the market ended up being flooded with cards that ultimately become worthless. I’m sure my friends who bought complete sets every year were crushed. Well, what’s old is new again and trading cards are hot! This time the card issuers are much smarter in their releases by having a scarce supply to drive up demand. It’s very similar to what the sneaker industry has experienced. To capitalize on this trend, StarStock has built a marketplace that essentially operates like a stock market for sports cards. Fans and card hobbyists can buy, sell, and invest in their favorite athletes while the sports cards are stored in a centralized vault, so there is no actual exchange of the cards. The company recently announced its $8M Series A round of funding led by Andreessen Horowitz. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * A deep discussion on the sports trading cards industry and how it has come full circle. * Scott’s background story including his entrepreneurial roots and building a company with his sister, Lynn, a recent Forbes Next 1000 recipient. * What led him down the path of starting StarStock and working with Nigel Eccles, a Co-Founder of FanDuel, who helped get the company started along with StarStock Co-Founder Mike Kuchera. * All the details on StarStock and how the business works. * The challenges of building a two-sided marketplace. * And so much more. If you like the show, please remember to subscribe and review us on iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

You hear about lots of venture firms who are working hard to build a strategy and network that will yield more investments with diverse founders. But for a firm like Mendoza Ventures, it’s rooted in their DNA… like literally, as it is both minority & woman owned and it’s the first LatinX founded venture fund on the east coast. As you would think, their portfolio has impressive diversity numbers. As of the beginning of this year, 67% of the portfolio included investments in minority, female, and immigrant founders. Needless to say, we were able to talk in detail about the venture industry and what other investors can do to back more diverse founders. Mendoza Ventures was launched five years ago by Senofer and her husband, Adrian. The firm is focused on making pre-seed investments in FinTech, AI, and Cybersecurity. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * Senofer’s background in interior design and what she learned as an operator. * How Senofer and Adrian got involved in tech investing. * All of the details on Mendoza Ventures and the types of companies they are backing. * Advice on how to build a career path into the VC industry. * And so much more. If you like the show, please remember to subscribe and review us on iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

Early to market… it can sometimes mean the kiss of death for a company. However, if you get it the timing right, it’s a competitive advantage and an opportunity to build a massive company. In this episode, we’ve got a great story about a company that was in this exact scenario, yet they executed, scaled and remain a pillar tech company in the industry. The company I’m talking about is Brightcove and in today’s interview we discuss the company’s full lifecycle journey. Brightcove was founded by Bob and serial entrepreneur, Jeremy Allaire. They were early pioneers in the world of online video back in 2004. Andy also joined the company early on as an executive and eventually served as its CEO. Thus, in this interview, we are able to get into all the weeds from the early days of the company to its IPO. And as a bonus,Bob provided a really cool video that shares the very first prototype of Brightcove's concept back in 2004. So, how much did they get right for online video? It’s pretty cool to see how a lot of their concepts still hold true close to 20 years later: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxaOpsSoHp8 Bob and Andy are now running Argon Ventures, a pre-seed venture fund, which is leading investments in Intelligent Industry Solutions. In this episode of our podcast, we also cover lots of other great topics like: * Their background stories, including some great details from Bob’s time at ATG and Andy’s experience at Lycos. * How Bob got into investing and his experience with Project 11 and as a mentor at Techstars. * All the details on Argon Ventures and the types of companies and investments they are targeting. * What it’s like being a CEO of a publicly traded 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.