Ignite: Conversations on Startups, Venture Capital, Tech, Future, and Society

When Eric Ries wrote The Lean Startup more than a decade ago, he gave entrepreneurs a framework that transformed how companies are built. Instead of relying on intuition, massive funding rounds, and long development cycles, Ries urged founders to test, learn, and iterate rapidly. The “minimum viable product” (MVP) became standard practice, and validated learning became the new mantra for Silicon Valley and beyond.But Eric’s story — and his mission — go far beyond Lean Startup. In this conversation, he reflects on his journey from early startup failures to reshaping entrepreneurial thinking, and how he’s now focused on solving an even bigger problem: the short-termism that plagues public markets. His work with the Long-Term Stock Exchange (LTSE) aims to rewire incentives for companies, investors, and boards to prioritize mission, innovation, and sustainability over quarterly earnings.Here’s a breakdown of the key themes and insights from the discussion.From Early Failures to Lean StartupEric’s passion for computers began as a kid tinkering with floppy disks and programming. By the time he discovered startups during the dot-com boom, he was hooked. But his first companies failed — often spectacularly. These experiences forced him to question the “best practices” of Silicon Valley and ultimately led him to experiment with a different approach: faster product releases, customer involvement from day one, and a scientific mindset for building companies.At the time, these ideas were considered bizarre. Investors pushed back, due diligence experts dismissed him, and even co-founders wondered if he was pushing things too far. But the evidence was undeniable: startups that embraced experimentation and customer feedback were outpacing those stuck in multi-year waterfall product cycles.That approach became the foundation of The Lean Startup — a book that spread globally, influenced millions of founders, and became a staple of startup culture.Scaling Lean: The Startup WayAfter the success of The Lean Startup, Eric found himself advising not only startups but also Fortune 500 companies, governments, and nonprofits. This led to his second book, The Startup Way, which applied lean principles inside large organizations. The challenge wasn’t just building something new but sustaining innovation at scale.He describes it as a “backstage pass to business,” where he saw firsthand how vast the world of commerce is compared to the relatively small startup ecosystem. Even in 2025, many companies are still only beginning to adopt digital transformation or rethink how they innovate.Why Short-Termism is Killing InnovationAs Eric worked with companies that scaled from garage startups to multi-billion-dollar enterprises, he noticed a disturbing trend: nearly all of them eventually succumbed to short-term thinking.Executives cut R&D to meet quarterly numbers. Boards prioritized stock price over customer service. Even beloved brands lost their sense of purpose after going public.He calls it a tragedy of incentives: when leaders are rewarded for short-term stock pops, long-term investments and innovation get starved. One striking example: airlines like Virgin America, once loved by customers, were sold against founders’ wishes because public markets demanded it.The baggage handlers Eric met understood the problem better than policymakers: “Once you go public, you’re for sale whether you want to be or not.”The Long-Term Stock Exchange (LTSE)Eric realized he couldn’t just write about the problem — he needed to fix it. So he launched LTSE, a fully regulated national securities exchange designed for companies that want to commit to long-term governance and incentives.Unlike NYSE or NASDAQ, LTSE requires companies to outline how they will align boards, employees, and investors with long-term priorities. Even modest early changes have shown measurable results: companies listed on LTSE attract more long-term investors and begin shifting away from short-term traders.Eric’s ultimate vision is to build a system where mission-driven companies can thrive without being derailed by quarterly earnings pressures.Lessons from Costco and Novo NordiskTwo case studies stand out in Eric’s philosophy of “mission-controlled companies”:* Costco: Despite being criticized for poor “governance” ratings, Costco has outperformed competitors like Kroger by sticking to its mission of serving customers, even keeping its famous $1.50 hot dog for 40 years. Its governance fortress protected it from short-term investor attacks and preserved its long-term culture.* Novo Nordisk: Structured as a foundation-owned company since the 1920s, Novo Nordisk rejected a lucrative merger in the early 2000s because it didn’t align with its scientific mission. A few years later, their long-term bet on GLP-1 drugs paid off, making them the largest company in Europe and one of the most profitable in the world.Both examples prove that aligning governance with mission can create massive shareholder value — far more than chasing quarterly gains.The AI Bubble — and Why It Still MattersEric also shared his perspective on AI. He acknowledges the bubble-like behavior: inflated valuations, unsustainable hype, and startups built on shaky assumptions. But, like the telecommunications boom, he believes AI is both a bubble and a genuine technological revolution.The key? Recognizing that experimentation is still required, much like Edison’s thousands of failed attempts before perfecting the light bulb. The future will depend on how well we channel AI into trustworthy, mission-driven companies — not just hype-driven valuations.Advice for Founders and InvestorsFor today’s entrepreneurs, Eric emphasizes:* Define your purpose early. Your governance documents may already undermine your mission if you’re not careful.* Don’t fall into the short-term trap. Mission-controlled structures help companies endure.* AI isn’t a silver bullet. Use it to enhance experimentation, but don’t let it replace critical thinking.* Investors should focus on love, not hype. The best investors are those founders call first because they deeply understand and support them.Looking AheadEric admits the future feels uncertain. We’re living in a time of immense technological change and social turmoil. But history shows that dark periods often precede new eras of prosperity and creativity.His hope: that we can use tools like AI, governance innovation, and mission-driven entrepreneurship to build companies — and societies — that maximize human flourishing. 👂🎧 Watch, listen, and follow on your favorite platform: https://tr.ee/S2ayrbx_fL 🙏 Join the conversation on your favorite social network: https://linktr.ee/theignitepodcastChapters: 00:01 – Welcome & Ignite’s 200th Episode with Eric Ries01:28 – Eric’s origin story: growing up with computers in a family of doctors03:23 – Early startup failures and hard lessons in Silicon Valley07:10 – Countercultural ideas that sparked the Lean Startup method10:43 – Learning from Steve Blank and building a startup theory12:28 – Naming and launching the Lean Startup movement14:06 – From The Lean Startup to The Startup Way: scaling ideas inside large companies16:32 – Observations on short-termism across corporations18:25 – Virgin America, Wall Street, and the spark for the Long-Term Stock Exchange (LTSE)21:38 – How LTSE works and its principles-based listing standards24:55 – The hidden cost of quarterly reporting on markets26:45 – Founder-led vs. traditional governance practices27:36 – Costco’s governance “fortress” and lessons in long-termism33:53 – Why mission-driven companies outperform short-term players37:32 – Designing “mission-controlled” companies for the future41:20 – The AI boom: bubble behavior vs. true disruption46:41 – The coming societal impact of AI and institutional change48:08 – Advising early-stage founders on purpose, trust, and governance53:50 – Lessons from Novo Nordisk: mission structure driving $500B+ value59:32 – Anthropic’s governance model and mission boards for AI01:02:23 – Investing as an LP and building First Momentum Capital01:05:32 – Audience Q&A: U.S. innovation, AI’s role in Lean Startup, and new paradoxes01:11:32 – Looking ahead: Eric’s hopes and concerns for the next decade01:12:37 – Closing thoughts & rapid-fire wrap-upTranscript(00:01:07): Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the Ignite Podcast. Today, we’re thrilled to have the one and only Eric Ries on the mic. He is the author of The Lean Startup. And if you listen to this podcast, you should probably know that. The founder of the Long-Term Stock Exchange and the host of The Eric Ries Show. His work has helped a generation of founders move faster with less waste. And lately, he’s been pushing on something bigger, how to build trustworthy, mission-driven companies that compound for decades. Thanks for coming on, Eric.(00:01:30): Hey, thanks for having me. And this is the very special 200th episode. So I appreciate you being the very special 200th guest of the Ignite Podcast. First of all, on 200 episodes. First of all, that’s an honor. I’m very happy to be chosen as a special guest, but more importantly, so few podcasts have any kind of longevity to them. I really like what I do. You know, it’s kind of like it all interlocks with Team Ignite, right? What we do, how we try to help founders, how we try to build a network of people to help founders. And we got introduced through a founder that we had backed, Chris Knowledge. I was like, you know, Eric, I’d love to get an intro to Eric. He’s like, oh, yeah, I’m making an intro to Eric. And here we are. And it just worked out the timing. It was perfect. I was like, okay, I think it’s going to be the 200th episode. This is perfect.(00:02:11): Yeah. But it was just meant to be an introduction, especially in startup circles. But I’d love to get your background. What’s your origin story?(00:02:17): Well, let’s see. I come from a family of doctors, going back to my grandparents’ genera

When it comes to investing in startups, most venture capital firms say they go “early.” But Elizabeth Yin, Co-Founder and General Partner of Hustle Fund, takes it a step further. She calls their approach “hilariously early.”Elizabeth’s path to becoming one of the most active pre-seed investors in the world started with a serendipitous introduction during her teenage years. As a high schooler in the late 1990s, she got a behind-the-scenes look at Tony Hsieh’s first startup, LinkExchange, which later sold to Microsoft for over $200 million. That experience sparked her lifelong interest in startups and shaped her entrepreneurial ambitions.But it wasn’t a straight path into venture. Elizabeth worked at Google before taking the leap into entrepreneurship. Her first two years as a founder were filled with pivots, mistakes, and painful lessons about customer acquisition. Eventually, she co-founded LaunchBit, an email ad network, which was later acquired by BuySellAds. Along the way, she learned the importance of validating demand early—through presales and scrappy experiments—before investing heavily in building product.From Founder to InvestorAfter LaunchBit’s exit, Elizabeth found herself mentoring and angel investing at 500 Global, where she eventually ran the accelerator. Over several batches, she wrote more than 200 investment checks. That experience gave her a unique vantage point: she had lived the founder’s struggle and now had front-row visibility into what it took for early-stage startups to succeed.By 2017, she and co-founder Eric Bahn launched Hustle Fund with a mission to support founders at the stage where they themselves wished they had more help—the very beginning. While most firms calling themselves “early-stage” still expect traction, Hustle Fund stepped in earlier: often pre-revenue, sometimes even pre-product.Building Hustle Fund’s ApproachSince its inception, Hustle Fund has raised multiple funds and built a reputation for investing in a high volume of startups—about 250 per fund. Critics sometimes call this “spray and pray,” but Elizabeth explains the logic: at the pre-seed stage, there’s little data and huge uncertainty. The best way to reliably capture outlier returns is to make more bets, while still maintaining a clear thesis on valuation discipline and founder-market fit.Key to Hustle Fund’s strategy are a few principles:* Valuation Sensitivity: The vast majority of startup exits are below $1 billion. Entering at reasonable valuations increases the odds of a meaningful multiple.* Go-to-Market Obsession: Elizabeth looks for founders with a sharp sense of how they’ll acquire and retain customers, even before revenue.* Founder-Market Fit: Experience in the problem space and early customer connections matter more than perfect pitches.* Community and Brand: Beyond writing checks, Hustle Fund amplifies its impact through events like Camp Hustle, tactical guides, and affiliated Angel Squad, a program that has introduced 2,500+ operators to angel investing.Scaling with Process and TechnologyWith more than 600 portfolio companies across four funds, Hustle Fund has also become a case study in scaling venture operations. Elizabeth emphasizes the importance of documentation, automation, and no-code tools like Airtable, Zapier, and Process Street to manage onboarding, contracts, and portfolio data. The firm is even experimenting with AI to streamline decision-making—though Elizabeth admits that intuition, timing, and founder assessment will always require a human touch.Looking AheadElizabeth believes the future of venture will rely less on technical defensibility and more on distribution, customer experience, and retention. She’s not afraid to back so-called “wrappers” built on top of existing AI models if they deliver real customer value. Ultimately, she argues, startups are businesses—not research labs—and the best businesses win with execution, not just technology.Key Takeaways from Elizabeth Yin* Don’t wait for perfect timing—start where you are, even in downturns.* Validate with presales and real demand before building too much product.* At pre-seed, more shots on goal increase the chances of finding an outlier.* Focus on valuation discipline to improve exit multiples.* Build community and content alongside capital to stay top-of-mind.* Use systems, automation, and documentation to scale without drowning.Elizabeth Yin’s story is a reminder that venture capital doesn’t have to be mysterious or inaccessible. By betting hilariously early, Hustle Fund is rewriting the playbook on how founders get their first break—and how investors can create meaningful impact from day zero.👂🎧 Watch, listen, and follow on your favorite platform: https://tr.ee/S2ayrbx_fL 🙏 Join the conversation on your favorite social network: https://linktr.ee/theignitepodcastChapters:00:52 Early inspiration: Tony Hsieh and the dot-com boom03:30 Surviving the dot-com crash and landing at Google05:28 First startup struggles, pivots, and hard lessons07:42 Building LaunchBit with presales and scrappy tests10:12 The “Wizard of Oz” approach to validating features11:32 How partnerships led to LaunchBit’s acquisition12:47 The power of documentation and short handoffs14:32 Exploring new industries and discovering angel investing16:51 Running 500 Global’s accelerator and writing 200+ checks17:45 Founding Hustle Fund to back founders “hilariously early”19:34 Choosing a fund model over an accelerator model21:42 Raising Fund I: challenges, lessons, and differentiation26:32 Investor-market fit and building a unique brand28:49 Why Hustle Fund focuses on valuation sensitivity33:06 Portfolio strategy: 250 startups per fund35:54 Why high-volume investing works at pre-seed37:29 Evaluating founders, ideas, and the “why now” factor41:23 Building community through Camp Hustle and events44:29 Angel Squad: democratizing angel investing47:51 Scaling portfolio management with automation and no-code49:32 The role of AI in venture decision-making52:13 Defensibility in AI startups and founder-market fit53:53 Closing thoughts and reflectionsTranscriptBrian Bell (00:01:02): Hey, everyone, welcome back to the Ignite podcast. Today, we’re thrilled to have Elizabeth Yen on the mic. She’s the co-founder and general partner at Hustle Fund. We’ve been longtime admirers and collaborators. It’s a pre-seed VC that writes hilariously early checks and shares no BS tactical startup advice. Thanks for coming on, Elizabeth.Elizabeth Yin (00:01:20): Yeah, thanks for having me, Brian. Big fan of what you guys do as well, so...Brian Bell (00:01:24): Yes. No, it’s been a long time coming. I mean, I’ve been admiring you guys from afar. And we finally met at the conference, the East Meets West conference in Hawaii. We’re just sitting there on a panel together and we’re in like in a small room taking pitches.Elizabeth Yin (00:01:38): That’s right.Brian Bell (00:01:39): And yeah, I was like, oh, wow, it’s Elizabeth. I’ve been meaning to meet you. So, yeah. Well, let’s talk about how you got here. I mean, you’ve built lots of stuff. You’ve invested in hundreds of startups, but maybe you could give us your origin story. Where did it all begin?Elizabeth Yin (00:01:52): Yeah. So I’m originally from the San Francisco Bay area, grew up during the dot-com boom. So that has all largely shaped me. It’s not like my family’s in tech or was in tech or they were not entrepreneurs. So I think time and place definitely has had a huge influence on me. And, um, actually, fun, fun story. So the way I got into all of this actually was in ninth grade when my best friend in high school, her cousin, Tony, was starting a company that year. It was 1996. And my friend asked me, oh, well, do you want to go and help him out with his startup? And I didn’t know what a startup was and I wasn’t really sure how we could help. But I also had nothing to do during winter break. So we went to his office and what I loved about that place is one you could eat all the pizza you wanted it was the dream and two here was tony and a bunch of his friends just like kind of doing everything and it was really chaotic but also really magical I never knew that work could be like that. It seemed so fun. So I knew from that day on that I wanted to do that when I grew up. And I think fast forward, I didn’t think about how they made money or how that would go. But years later, Tony sold that company for a purported over $200 million to Microsoft. The company was called Link Exchange. But I think he’s better known for being one of the early angel investors in a little shoe company called Zappos, which sold to Amazon for about a billion dollars. And Tony was the longtime CEO there as well. So the late Tony Hsieh is this person in this story. So that’s the sort of serendipity that I could not have imagined.Brian Bell (00:03:34): Wow. Yeah. I mean, how lucky to watch a master work on a startup. I mean, every kid should get that opportunity. I wonder how we would, you know, foster that a little bit more. There’s something like that. You know, 20,000 pre-seed fundings every year is the data that I saw recently. And, you know, there’s lots of kids that could be, you know, lots of teenagers and college students that should be interning every summer or every winter break in this case at startups and learning like how to apply technology and business to problems. And, you know, we’ll probably get more entrepreneurs that way.Elizabeth Yin (00:04:11): Yeah. Well, you know, it might be possible, right, Brian? Like with all with all these digital twins and whatnot, you could have a mentor, a personalized mentor for everybody. Yeah.Brian Bell (00:04:21): Right. Yeah. So what happened next? So you continue on through college, graduate and you’re like, OK, I’m definitely doing a startup.Elizabeth Yin (00:04:27): Yeah, so I had to kind of put those dreams on hold. So as many of you all know, like, you know, I graduated from high school. I graduated from

In the world of venture capital, startups often compete for capital with little more than a pitch deck and projections. But what if investors could de-risk those bets by delivering something far more valuable than money—customers?That’s exactly the model Collin Groves and his team at BDev Ventures have pioneered. Backed by software development powerhouse BairesDev, BDev Ventures operates with a single LP structure, helping founders not only access cash but also unlock real growth by bringing customers through the same outbound engine that scaled BairesDev itself.In a recent conversation on the Ignite Podcast, Collin shared his journey from small-town Oklahoma to Georgetown MBA, through years in consulting and corporate venture capital, and into building one of the most innovative investment approaches in the Americas. Here are the key takeaways.From Energy to Venture CapitalCollin didn’t grow up knowing what venture capital was. His early career started in energy at Phillips 66 before moving into consulting at Ernst & Young Parthenon, where he worked on $5 billion of M&A deals and digital transformations.It was there he saw how corporations approached innovation: build, buy, or partner. But he added a fourth dimension—invest. That insight led him to co-found multiple corporate venture capital arms, helping Fortune 500 companies unlock innovation and partner with startups.Enter BDev Ventures: Customers as DiligenceWhen Collin joined BairesDev three years ago, they had only made four investments. Today, BDev Ventures has invested in 60+ B2B SaaS startups across the Americas.The secret? A 90-day pilot model. Instead of just writing checks, BDev plugs startups into its outbound lead generation platform, testing whether they can convert real customers before investing. If revenue doubles in a quarter, or conversion rates prove strong, it’s a powerful signal that the company has product-market fit.This model not only de-risks investments but also gives founders confidence that BDev isn’t just another VC—it’s a growth partner.A Hybrid VC ModelBDev Ventures is not a typical venture fund. It blends elements of:* Corporate VC: Strategic tools and customer introductions that drive 3–45% of portfolio revenues.* Family Office: Backed by a single LP (BairesDev founders), allowing flexibility and speed.* Traditional VC: Discipline around fund structures, terms, and performance metrics.This unique position allows Collin’s team to move fast once they see conviction, but also to wait and prove value before committing capital.Red Flags and Green Flags in StartupsAfter 50+ deals, Collin has seen patterns.* Red Flags: Founders misreporting contracted vs. actual revenue, co-founders splitting within months, or stalled revenue pipelines.* Green Flags: Teams where every hire adds true leverage—doing tasks better than the CEO, freeing them to focus on superpowers.Trust, transparency, and resilience during the pilot process are often the deciding factors.Latin America vs. U.S. StartupsBDev invests across the Americas, giving Collin a unique perspective. He notes that:* LatAm startups often want to expand to the U.S. too quickly. Instead, he advises them to own their market first and let U.S. customers pull them in.* Valuations differ: LatAm companies typically see a 20–40% discount versus U.S. peers, due to fewer exits above $250M.* Legal structures can be barriers: Countries like Brazil lack SAFE notes, often requiring Cayman entities to attract U.S. capital.The Future of Venture CapitalLooking ahead, Collin predicts:* AI-native products will flood the market, but many won’t be enterprise-ready. Startups that build durable companies around AI will win.* Vertical SaaS resurgence: Instead of every company branding itself as “AI,” more founders will return to solving real, vertical-specific problems.* Unlocking untapped value: Startups like Pinata (rent reporting for credit) and Yendo (car equity lending) are examples of how overlooked assets can become massive opportunities.Beyond Venture: Leadership and ResetsA surprising favorite book Collin recommends to founders is Phil Jackson’s “Eleven Rings.” Jackson’s individualized leadership—like giving each player a custom book—resonates with how VCs can empower founders.And when he needs a mental reset? Collin turns to pickup basketball. Unlike venture, which takes years for feedback, a game gives clarity in minutes.Final ThoughtsCollin Groves is reshaping what venture capital can look like: not just money, but customers, trust, and a data-driven approach to growth. For founders, that means a partner who brings traction before capital—and for the venture industry, it’s a glimpse of what the future might hold.👂🎧 Watch, listen, and follow on your favorite platform: https://tr.ee/S2ayrbx_fL🙏 Join the conversation on your favorite social network: https://linktr.ee/theignitepodcastChapters:00:01 Collin Groves’ Oklahoma roots and early career03:07 Breaking into venture through corporate VC at EY06:57 What BairesDev is and how it powers BDev Ventures08:50 Why BairesDev launched a venture arm10:13 Blending corporate VC, family office, and traditional VC models11:53 Evergreen fund structure and GP/LP setup12:48 Incentives, carry, and the evolution of CVC compensation16:27 Liquidity timing: DPI vs. TVPI in venture capital19:19 Exiting too early vs. holding for fund-returners21:27 Scar tissue and lessons from corporate VC22:44 Importance of speed in diligence and value articulation24:27 Lead investor vs. co-investor strategies25:54 Evaluating churn, NRR, and GRR in early-stage SaaS26:31 Four key areas of diligence: value add, market, financials, and team28:58 The 90-day pilot model for testing startups30:56 Metrics that signal conviction during pilots32:56 Check sizes, co-investing approach, and capital efficiency34:44 Red flags, trust, and founder/investor alignment38:18 Latin America vs. US market dynamics and valuations41:21 AI-native go-to-market tools and enterprise readiness43:39 The limits of corporate VC-as-a-service46:31 Counterintuitive diligence metrics: why spam rate mattersTranscriptBrian Bell (00:01:00): Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the Ignite Podcast. Today, we're delighted to have Colin Groves on the program. He traded small-town Oklahoma roots for a Georgetown MBA, launched five corporate VC arms while at Ernst & Young Parthenon, and now sears a single LP fund backed by Latin American dev giant, Steph. On his remit, wire founders both cash and customers through the same outbound engine that scaled BDev's 4,000 engineer rocket. He's led investments in 50 plus B2B SaaS deals across the Americas and loves de-risking growth with hard data. Think of him as a venture capitalist who shows up with a box of warm leads instead of swag. That's awesome. Thanks for coming on.Collin Groves (00:01:36): It's a pleasure. Thanks for having me.Brian Bell (00:01:38): So yeah, maybe give us your origin story. I mean, I kind of breezed through it there, but I'd love to hear like kind of the roots of Colin.Collin Groves (00:01:44): Absolutely. So you mentioned Oklahoma and I can start there. I grew up, and this is a similar story to a lot of VCs. The more that I meet is we didn't really know what venture capital was or startups were. I grew up where... The cities ran with oil, and that was the backbone. Then it was backed by real estate booms like that. If you look up the history of Oklahoma, though, and Sam Anderson's book is fantastic about this, but Oklahoma as a state was built on the boom and bust of not just oil, but as a city. They were one of the last states, but Oklahoma, one of the first to test out what sonic booms did to the entire population. And that was just because the state needed more funding. And all of a sudden you saw a boom in the economy after that. So I grew up in a cycle where there was a lot of boom and bust, but there was no label for it in terms of early stage companies. And I kicked off my career then obviously going into energy. I was at Phillips 66 at the time. And then I went and got my MBA and then I went into consulting and consulting. I had an idea that I wanted to be in venture, but I wasn't entirely sure how to navigate that. And so I did about $5 billion of M&A work and then worked on some digital transformations and the digital transformations were very eye-opening. And we would plot these use cases on pain points across B2B, B2C or supply chains. And usually what we would do is to plot those use cases, you would find a company or partnership, a startup that could fulfill them because they can build it and adapt to the market a lot quicker than these billion dollar corporations could at the time. But there was a lot of red tape. And so what we came up with was, this framework of build by partner. And then we came up with a fourth element of that, which was invest. And so what we found is corporations do the first three really well. They're great at building. They're great at buying. They're fairly good at partnering. They don't always have a great connotation when it comes to investing. And I think when we hear CBCs, even as VCs today, it's not always the best, but there are some incredible examples out there of corporates.Collin Groves (00:03:56): And so a partner and I were the founding members of this corporate venture capital as a service offering where we would go to corporations and help them set up their venture investing arms. Sometimes that would be traditional standalone VC funds. Sometimes that would be off the balance sheet investing. Other times that would be through a CFO's discretionary funds. But the entire premise was unlocking innovation at the corporate level, getting access to incredible talent. And oftentimes we were augmenting their entire M&A strategy. And so we would come in and we would set up these funds and help them get established and start making their investments. And that ultimately brought me into the venture landscape where I was bro

What if the secret to building wealth, scaling a business, or leading a successful team isn’t just about strategy or market timing — but about behavior? Hugh Massie, Executive Chairman and Founder of DNA Behavior, has spent decades proving that leadership traits, decision-making styles, and human behavior are the true drivers of financial success.A Titan 100 CEO, published author, and global advisor, Hugh has transformed his own career from accountant to entrepreneur to behavioral AI pioneer. His mission: to impact over a billion lives by 2030 through his platform that personalizes leadership, money, and decision-making.Here’s what you need to know about his journey, philosophy, and the insights he shared.From Accountant to Behavioral PioneerHugh began his career as an accountant in Sydney, Australia, but quickly realized he wanted something more entrepreneurial. After moving to Atlanta, he built a wealth management firm with the goal of providing clients with hyper-personalized experiences — something private banks lacked.The turning point came when he discovered that financial success was less about financial literacy and more about human behavior under pressure. He realized that people revert to their hardwired behaviors in times of stress, and understanding those instincts is the key to building lasting financial and life plans.Building DNA BehaviorThis discovery led Hugh to create DNA Behavior, a behavioral science and technology platform that measures over 4,000 traits — from leadership and communication style to financial decision-making and philanthropic tendencies.At its core, the platform answers a simple but profound question: How do people behave when money, risk, and relationships are involved?Today, DNA Behavior uses both psychometrics and AI-driven digital scans to analyze individuals and teams. By tapping into the “digital exhaust” of leaders (interviews, statements, career histories), they can accurately predict behavioral patterns without requiring lengthy assessments.Six Traits of High-Performing LeadersIn a groundbreaking study of Fortune 500 leadership teams, Hugh’s team identified six behavioral traits that consistently drive profitability:* Results Drive – The push for profitability and execution.* Relationship Engagement – The ability to build culture and strong people connections.* Financial Goal Drive – Building pipelines, innovating, and taking smart risks.* Innovation and Risk-Taking – Balancing creativity with calculated bets.* Fiscal Control – Managing operating costs wisely.* Financial Prudence – Making strategic decisions aligned with mission and values.Companies whose leadership teams scored high in these areas consistently outperformed competitors.Entrepreneurs vs. Corporate LeadersHugh’s research also distinguishes between startup founders and corporate executives:* Entrepreneurs thrive on resilience — the ability to push through adversity and uncertainty.* Corporate leaders excel with governance and operational discipline but may lack the same raw resilience of founders.This insight is crucial for investors and VCs: the traits that take a company from zero to $10M often differ from those needed to scale it beyond.The Money Energy FrameworkOne of Hugh’s most powerful contributions is his concept of Money Energy. He explains that money isn’t just currency — it’s:* A belief system shaped by identity and experiences.* An energy that flows with our thoughts, decisions, and relationships.* A mindset that can either attract opportunities or create blockages.He stresses the importance of removing money anxiety, aligning purpose with identity, and focusing on human impact. In his words, when you focus on purpose and impact, “the right opportunities and wealth creation follow.”Purpose, Identity, and Quantum LeapsHugh believes success comes from aligning three things:* Purpose – Why you do what you do.* Identity – How you show up in the world.* Impact – The value you bring to others.When leaders get these right, they unlock quantum leaps — growth that’s not linear (2x) but exponential (10x).Personal Mission: Boys Without FathersHugh’s work isn’t limited to business. Having lost his father at the age of one, he has a deep passion for helping boys without fathers. He understands firsthand the challenges of identity, resilience, and boundaries that come from growing up without a father figure. Through DNA Behavior and nonprofit partnerships, he mentors and supports initiatives that give these young people hope and direction.Key Takeaways for Leaders and Investors* Behavior makes money: Leadership traits and decision-making styles are directly tied to business performance.* Resilience is the ultimate entrepreneurial trait: Founders who thrive are those who can withstand pressure and setbacks.* AI is transforming behavior analysis: Technology now allows companies to assess leaders and teams at scale, creating hyper-personalized strategies.* Money is energy: Wealth creation is as much about mindset and beliefs as it is about financial literacy.* Purpose and identity drive impact: Aligning who you are with what you do unlocks exponential growth.Hugh Massie’s journey is a reminder that leadership, investing, and entrepreneurship aren’t just about numbers — they’re about people. By understanding behavior, we can make better decisions, build stronger teams, and create lasting wealth.👂🎧 Watch, listen, and follow on your favorite platform: https://tr.ee/S2ayrbx_fL 🙏 Join the conversation on your favorite social network: https://linktr.ee/theignitepodcastChapters:00:01 Introduction to Hugh Massie00:47 Hugh’s Origin Story02:55 Entering Wealth Management05:14 Discovering Behavior as the Key Factor07:16 Building DNA Behavior08:32 Behavior Makes Money10:28 Six Traits of High-Performing Leaders14:30 Measuring Leadership Behavior17:17 What is DNA Behavior19:49 Success Patterns in Public and Private Companies24:32 Entrepreneurial Resilience vs. Corporate Leadership28:38 Using Behavior in Venture Capital33:12 Challenges in Building DNA Behavior35:20 AI as a Game Changer39:19 The Money Energy Framework46:22 Purpose, Identity, and Human Impact53:27 Boys Without Fathers56:27 Transition to Deeper ReflectionsTranscriptBrian Bell (00:00:46): Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the Ignite podcast. Today, we’re thrilled to have Hugh Massey on the program. He’s the executive chairman and founder of DNA Behavior, a pioneer in behavioral AI, and one of the most original voices in the intersection of finance, identity, and decision-making. As a Titan 100 CEO, published author, and global advisor to execs and investors alike, Hugh brings decades of experience across behavioral science, wealth management, and technology. He’s on a mission to inform over a billion people annually by 2030 through his AI-driven platform that personalizes leadership, money, energy. We’ll talk about that in life decision-making. Thanks for coming on, Hugh.Hugh Massie (00:01:20): Yeah, great to be with you, Brian. Thank you.Brian Bell (00:01:22): So I’d love to kind of get the origin story. You know, how did it all begin? And like, how did you give us the whole like backstory?Hugh Massie (00:01:29): So maybe if we start with the origin story, just to clear one matter up is my accent. I’m Australian from Sydney, Australia. That’s where I originally come from and where I started my working career, entrepreneurial career. Career there and I started as but I now it’s just a before I go into what I do I live in Atlanta Georgia right now so you know so part of my my journey has been switching switching countries and I suppose I would call myself a reformed accountant. So when I started my career, I was very much the numbers guy in auditing and then I became a tax specialist. And I think it’s there that in a way unbeknown to me subconsciously, I started to look at people differently, particularly the clients, and sought to give them a hyper-personalized experience as best as I could, not as scientifically as I do today. But I started to realize that if I was going to be successful, I needed to manage how tax advice was provided to an enterprise client you know there would be somebody who who was asking the question that might might be the strategic thinker but light on detail just wanted to get a diagram and what’s the answer versus a whole army of researchers and people validating what we would say out the back and they needed to see the advice in a different format and then somebody else is paying the bill and you know you don’t you don’t pay fifty thousand dollars for a one-page letter even though it might be you know you you need to provide 50 pages, right? So to learn navigating all of that game. But when I decided that I’d had enough of a corporate career at age 30 and I wanted, you know, I decided to, you know, on an entrepreneurial life. And in a way, I’d been already doing some of that on the side since I graduated from college or what we call Australia University. You know, I stepped into wealth management and set up a family office, financial services business, got all the licensing that, you know, in sort of similar terms you’d have here in America. And the goal was to provide a hyper-personalized experience that I didn’t think that private banks provided. I think it was too much, and this is 25 years ago, or more than that, was 30 years ago now, was too much one size fits all. And I thought, you know, human beings are unique. They need to be communicated with in their own way. Their life journeys are different. How do you deal with all that? And I didn’t have the solution, but I knew I was going to do that.Hugh Massie (00:05:00): And then about four years into the business, somebody asked me, now, you don’t seem very happy. What’s your real passion and what’s your purpose? And it just flew out of my mouth. I want to help people all over the world become financially self-empowered. And I latched on to that, Brian, and that never left me. And

In today’s fast-moving startup world, it’s tempting to chase trends, slap an “AI-first” label on a pitch deck, and hope for inflated valuations. But according to Ari Newman, co-founder and managing director of Massive VC, true venture success comes from patience, discipline, and spotting inflection points where companies shift from potential to proven traction.Ari is no stranger to the founder’s grind. Before launching Massive VC, he built and sold two startups—FilterBox and Juston—and helped scale the Techstars platform, mentoring and investing in hundreds of founders along the way. Now, he and his team at Massive back companies across AI, data, energy, cybersecurity, space, and more, looking for signals that a business is ready to accelerate.Playing the Long Game at AI SpeedVenture has always been a marathon, not a sprint. Traditional funds operate on 10-year cycles, sticking with the same thesis across multiple fund vintages. But in today’s world, where new technologies like AI can reshape industries overnight, rigid strategies don’t cut it.Still, Ari cautions against trend-chasing. The blockchain and Web3 boom showed how quickly hype cycles can shift, leaving investors holding companies with no real utility. For him, AI is no different—it’s a powerful tool, not a standalone thesis. The winners will be businesses that integrate AI to solve real problems, not those that use it as window dressing.From Founder Pain to Investor EmpathyAri’s shift from founder to VC was born out of frustration. Early in his career, he saw firsthand how opaque the venture process was—investors asked for everything, while giving founders little information in return. That asymmetry sparked his desire to become the kind of investor he wished he had: transparent, empathetic, and aligned with founders.At Massive, he insists on an “equal effort” rule: if a founder has done the work to understand the firm’s focus and makes a thoughtful pitch, he’ll respond. But if someone blindly spams him with irrelevant ideas, they won’t hear back. Time, he explains, is the most limited resource for both sides.Inflection Point InvestingRather than chasing ideas at the napkin stage, Massive VC invests when companies hit critical inflection points—moments when traction, customer demand, or market timing shift the risk-reward balance. For software companies, this often means a repeatable sales motion, revenue endurance, and evidence of product stickiness. For deep tech, it may mean moving from lab curiosity to real customer orders with deposits attached.Ari and his team call this strategy “seed plus”—coming in after the friends-and-family hustle but before traditional growth capital. Their aim is to lower loss ratios while still backing companies capable of breakout success.Hard Lessons in Pricing, Dilution, and EfficiencyAri candidly shares some of the mistakes he made as a founder—like underpricing FilterBox to make it easy to adopt, which unintentionally signaled low value to customers and created an unsustainable sales model. He also warns founders about the dangers of stacking SAFEs, which can create painful dilution surprises when later rounds convert. His advice? Mix priced rounds with convertible instruments to avoid cap table disasters.Capital efficiency is another theme he stresses. In an era when startups sometimes raise $8 million just to reach $1 million in ARR, Ari sees red flags. The best founders, he argues, always manage their options—knowing when to prioritize growth, when to cut burn, and how to control their destiny.What Breakout Companies Really Look LikeIn the end, Ari emphasizes that great companies aren’t just built on technology—they’re built on timing, fit, and resilience. Slack wasn’t the first chat tool, but it integrated so deeply into workflows that it became indispensable. Vertical AI startups won’t all reach trillion-dollar outcomes, but many will build highly profitable, billion-dollar businesses by solving industry-specific pain points.Above all, Ari reminds founders that venture capital is not a prerequisite for building a great company. The only reason to take outside investment is if you can’t bootstrap or if you need expertise at the table that you don’t yet have. And when you do take capital, it’s about fit—finding investors who will be true partners for the long game.👂🎧 Watch, listen, and follow on your favorite platform: https://tr.ee/S2ayrbx_fL🙏 Join the conversation on your favorite social network: https://linktr.ee/theignitepodcastChapters:* 00:01 Welcome and introduction to Ari Newman and Massive VC * 01:00 Playing the long game in venture at AI speed * 04:00 Hype cycles, narrow theses, and avoiding trend chasing * 07:30 Blockchain and Web3 as case studies in misplaced hype * 08:20 Ari’s journey from founder pain to becoming an investor * 11:30 Handling founder meetings, cold inbounds, and the “equal effort” rule * 14:30 Transparency, fit, and why fast no’s matter more than slow maybes * 16:20 Running startups vs. running a venture fund — stress, control, and feedback loops * 18:40 Lessons from Juston and FilterBox on timing markets and exits * 25:00 Slack, product defensibility, and embedding into workflows * 27:30 Opportunities in vertical AI SaaS and sticky use cases * 29:00 Inflection point investing and Massive VC’s criteria * 31:30 SaaS pricing mistakes, customer commitment, and enterprise sales models* 35:30 Techstars lessons carried over into Massive VC * 38:20 Building Massive with SPVs and the “Massive Index” * 41:30 Practical diligence at inflection points: revenue, retention, and distribution signals * 44:30 Transitioning from software investing to deep tech markets * 47:30 Leading indicators, financial hygiene, and operational discipline* 49:00 SAFE stacking risks, dilution traps, and cap table complexity * 56:00 Capital efficiency, market cycles, and the broken contract between founders and investorsTranscriptBrian Bell (00:01:06): Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the Ignite podcast. Today, we're thrilled to have Ari Neumann, co-founder and managing director of Massive VC, an inflection point VC platform backing high growth technology companies across AI, data, energy, cybersecurity, energy transformation, and the new space economy. That's pretty cool. He's a repeat founder. He built and sold Filterbox and just on help scale, the Techstars investing platform now sits on or advises multiple growth stage boards. He's been fundraising both sides of the table, has strong opinions about communication investor relationships, safe stacks, and what really signals a breakout inflection. Buckle up, everyone. Thanks for coming on, Ari.Ari Newman (00:01:42): Pleasure to be here. Thanks for having me.Brian Bell (00:01:43): So you said investing is about playing the long game. How does that work in a world now moving at AI speed? What's breaking out?Ari Newman (00:01:50): Yeah I mean things are obviously changing quickly and historically you know venture funds are like 10 year cycles or longer and you sort of set your strategy prior to raising your fund you raise your fund you deploy the capital you kind of stick to your knitting you want to raise fund two you need to do largely what you were doing in fund one and so on and so forth if you are successful enough to have a bunch of home runs you get more latitude to play around and i think what's happening now is that, you know, the world's moving quickly. Money flows where, you know, where companies are getting traction is changing and VCs can't just reinvent themselves and change strategy every other week. And nor should they, like you can't keep chasing hype, but at the same time, having something that's a 10 year rigid strategy doesn't really work anymore either.Brian Bell (00:02:35): That's really interesting. It's something I struggled with as a VC. What's your thesis? I'm on Fund 3 now, and I kind of have these two parallel thesi. One is like kind of, hey, YC, investing in a bunch of YC companies. The other one's, you know, a bunch of B2B software AI companies. And I really struggled with this when I raised Fund 2 because I was like, oh, I could have called it an AI fund right at the, like, I was like 2022. Like, could have called it an AI fund. When I stepped back and I looked at it, I was like, I don't think I want to have just an AI only fund, right? Because I don't think it's a broad enough thesis to generate alpha. And yeah, sign of the times, everybody's using AI. But it's like saying, I have an internet fund in the 90s or I have a database fund in the 80s. And you're just kind of like trend catching. And then like what happens on the next one, like you said. Yeah. Where, okay, now AI is not the, you know, the dish du jour. And I have an AI fund and I need to raise another AI fund and nobody cares.Ari Newman (00:03:28): We've seen this pattern repeat itself over and over and over again. And there's sort of two things that come up for me. Like thing one is this is exactly why my partner David and I didn't start a fairly narrow fund one. Exactly what you said. We didn't want to pick a lane and live in it for 20 years. We weren't sure. We just knew we wanted to start investing together. and that we had deal flow and that we wanted to figure out how to solve some of the problems that we experienced as operators and LPs vis-a-vis venture. And so we didn't go out and raise a traditional fund when we started investing our own capital and inviting other successfully exited founders to co-invest with us using SPVs. And we started iterating. I always like to pick on the The blockchain and crypto era, if you were running like a mediocre B2B company and or a mediocre B2B SaaS fund and the blockchain and like Web3 showed up, everyone sort of pivoted and said, we're now investing in Web3. And it was totally like hopping on a trend. People also tried to go then issue tokens and think that their business is worth 10x what it actually was. And then halfway through

When it comes to startup journeys, few are as dynamic and wide-ranging as Anthony Rose’s. From shaping the future of digital media with BBC iPlayer to transforming how founders raise capital through SeedLegals, Anthony’s career is marked by spotting inefficiencies and building scalable solutions.In our latest Ignite podcast episode, Anthony takes us behind the scenes of his entrepreneurial path, the lessons he’s learned, and how he’s helping founders and investors navigate the complex world of fundraising.From Electronics to Media DisruptionAnthony’s entrepreneurial streak began early in South Africa, where he ran an electronics manufacturing business long before angel investing and venture capital were widely accessible. After a stint with the team behind Kazaa, he joined the BBC to lead the development of what became iPlayer, a platform that revolutionized on-demand TV and changed how millions consume media.The experience cemented his belief in customer-driven development. Famously, he introduced the “chocolate box test,” bribing colleagues with chocolates to test products quickly and cheaply, highlighting the importance of real-world feedback in shaping technology.The Birth of SeedLegalsAfter exiting multiple startups, Anthony grew frustrated with the cost, inefficiency, and slowness of traditional lawyers when raising capital. Alongside co-founder Laurent Laffy, he launched SeedLegals seven years ago to fix this.Today, half of all UK startups use SeedLegals for fundraising, agreements, and cap table management. Unlike traditional firms, SeedLegals combines technology with human expertise, offering founders both automated legal documents and access to experts when they need advice.What’s Broken in FundraisingAnthony argues that founders don’t actually want legal documents—they want investment. Traditional systems, however, bury them in paperwork, costs, and delays.SeedLegals reframed the process by asking:* What do founders ultimately need?* How can technology streamline the process?* Where do human conversations still matter?The result is a platform that makes fundraising faster, cheaper, and far more transparent.SAFEs vs. Priced Rounds: The Hidden Founder TrapOne of Anthony’s strongest views is around the use of SAFEs (Simple Agreements for Future Equity). While popular in the US, he warns that they can quietly erode founder equity.Why? Each SAFE agreement stacks up, often leaving founders far more diluted than they expect once conversions occur. Priced rounds, while seen as more complex, often protect founders’ ownership in the long run.SeedLegals’ mission is to make priced rounds as easy as SAFEs—what Anthony calls a “Safer” approach.Untapped Investor BenefitsBeyond helping founders, SeedLegals also educates investors about overlooked advantages. For example:* QSBS (Qualified Small Business Stock) can eliminate federal capital gains tax after five years.* Section 1244 allows early investors to write off losses against ordinary income.Yet many investors don’t leverage these opportunities because traditional systems don’t make them easy. SeedLegals sees a role in productizing these benefits so investors can reduce risk and stay engaged.Expanding to the USHaving achieved dominance in the UK, SeedLegals is now expanding into the US. Anthony notes the cultural differences:* UK founders often raise smaller, tax-incentivized rounds.* US founders tend to go bigger, earlier, with more ambition and larger capital commitments.Still, the frustrations are universal: high legal costs, slow processes, and confusion over deal terms. SeedLegals aims to bring the same efficiency and empowerment to US founders that it brought to the UK.The Role of AI in Legal TechAnthony is cautious about AI hype in law. While many startups tout “AI-generated legal documents,” he believes founders need to understand the decisions they’re making, not just accept whatever an algorithm produces.Instead, SeedLegals uses AI to analyze, summarize, and support decision-making, while ensuring a “lawyer-in-the-loop” approach when stakes are high. The future, he says, is platforms that balance automation with human expertise.Lessons for FoundersThroughout the conversation, Anthony shares practical advice for entrepreneurs:* Talk to users early and often. Don’t build in isolation.* Be wary of SAFEs. They may cost you more equity than you realize.* Plan for founder fallouts. Reverse vesting and clear agreements prevent disasters.* Efficiency matters. Fewer employees with higher output is increasingly the badge of honor.* Adopt the right tools. From fundraising platforms to productivity software like Whisper Flow, leverage technology to reclaim your time.Looking AheadAnthony envisions a future where fundraising is as fast and seamless as sending a safe link—but without the dilution risks. He believes startups will continue to push legal tech forward, just as streaming disrupted music and media.As he puts it, “A funding round is like a bus trip—you want everyone on board. But technology can make that bus leave faster, smoother, and with far less friction.”👂🎧 Watch, listen, and follow on your favorite platform: https://tr.ee/S2ayrbx_fL🙏 Join the conversation on your favorite social network: https://linktr.ee/theignitepodcastChapters: 00:00 From BBC iPlayer to SeedLegals: Anthony’s journey02:30 The “chocolate box test” and lessons in user-driven development05:40 What was broken in fundraising and how SeedLegals fixes it07:30 Combining technology with human expertise08:40 Expansion to the US and key market differences11:16 Why priced rounds matter more than safes13:58 The hidden dilution trap founders face with safes16:50 Tax benefits (QSBS & Section 1244) that investors overlook19:27 The concept of a “Safer” – making priced rounds as easy as safes22:19 Helping investors recover losses with “Seedback”24:41 Cultural and fundraising differences between UK and US founders29:29 Post-money vs. pre-money safes explained31:22 Why UK safes always convert in six months33:20 Protecting founder control in priced rounds35:36 Founder fallouts and why reverse vesting is critical37:52 Trends in cap tables and funding behavior39:27 The myth of the one-person unicorn company42:22 Productivity tools that change founder workflows (Whisper Flow)47:12 The future of AI in legal docs and contracts53:57 How AI will disrupt (or fail to disrupt) law firms56:19 Lessons from past disruptions: music, TV, and now law58:20 Rapid-fire questions and bold predictions for 2030TranscriptBrian Bell (00:00:51): Hey everyone, welcome back to the Ignite Podcast. Today we're thrilled to have Anthony Rose. He's the serial entrepreneur who took BBC iPlayer from skunkworks to national pastime and now helps 60,000 founders raise capital faster as co-founder and CEO of SeedLegals. Thanks for coming on, Anthony.Anthony Rose (00:01:06): Thank you so much for having me on the show.Brian Bell (00:01:08): Yeah, so you know back in 2008 one out of every five UK internet clicks pointed to a new tool called iPlayer, the architect. Ten years later, you asked, why is fundraising still stuck in dial-up and you built SeedLegals to fix it? Let's unpack that leap and maybe get the origin story.Anthony Rose (00:01:23): My background's actually electronics. When I was a kid at school, I had a robot pick and place machine and a hot belt surface mount machine at home. And I built an electronics manufacturing business in the days before angel investments and VC. I was living in South Africa. And I learned that you actually had to like make money to build your business. You know, if you didn't get more money coming in at the end of the month than you were spending, you're out of business. But then things changed, of course, in the invention of VC and investment, which was great. But then left South Africa, moved to Australia, got hired by the folks who then became Kazan. They got involved in music file sharing, building a licensed music store. And then one day the BBC called and said, how would you like to join the BBC? And I went, sorry, where are the stock options? Because it's a public service broadcaster in the UK. But I was persuaded to leave Australia and move to the UK, which is where I am, as we talk today. And when I joined the BBC, iPlayer had been something they'd been working on for ages. For those who don't know iPlayer, it's like the Hulu or Netflix of the BBC. It's used by millions of UK viewers every day. A good fraction of TV viewing in the UK is now, of course, online and on your phone. And the BBC had been noodling over this for a while, not doing a great job on it. I think it was more like an ority, as you said, beautifully as skunkworks. And it needs really to be productized. And that's really where I guess I learned the set of things that are now commonplace. And you buy endless numbers of startup books on agile fundraising and customer-driven development and so on. And actually, I didn't know any of that stuff at the time and made it up as I went along. And one of the things I did was what I call Anthony's chocolate box test. So when I joined, the product didn't work very well. And pretty much everything you tried had some problems. And I went to the dev team, and they kept telling me, dude, it's just you. You're the only one who's using Microsoft Explorer with this combination of graphic card and this program. And I realized there were like 100 things didn't work. And if any one person experienced this only one time in 100, for most people, it's never going to work. So they didn't believe me, and so I needed to do user testing. So I went to the BBC's testing department. I hunted them down and said, I need to do some user testing. And they said, yes, we can do that. It costs £20,000, takes six weeks. Where do you want to start? And I went, there's no way I'm spending £20,000. And I don't have six weeks because my product launches in three months. It's not going to work. So instead, I went to the

Manufacturing is undergoing a massive transformation, and at the forefront of this shift is Renan Devillieres, founder and CEO of OSS Ventures. With a career that spans economics, consulting, aerospace, and startup building, Renan brings a rare perspective to one of the world’s most complex industries. His mission? To reinvent how factories operate through software, automation, and a new generation of entrepreneurs.From Economist to EntrepreneurRenan’s path wasn’t straightforward. After studying mathematics in France, he became an economist at the OECD before moving into consulting and eventually running factories in industries like luxury, defense, and aerospace. While successful in corporate life, he realized he had an entrepreneurial streak.That realization led to his first startup—an AI-powered solution to better match workers with the right jobs. The company grew rapidly, raising funding through Series B, before Renan sold his shares. This exit gave him both capital and clarity: he wanted to focus on transforming manufacturing itself.The Tesla SparkThe pivotal moment came during a visit to Tesla’s Fremont factory. Unlike traditional plants, Tesla’s operations were software-driven—from deploying code across machines to rethinking production like a computer system. For Renan, it was as if he had glimpsed the future of factories, and he couldn’t unsee it.This experience became the inspiration for OSS Ventures, a venture studio dedicated to creating industrial startups.Why OSS Ventures Builds Instead of InvestsRenan initially considered investing in manufacturing startups. But after analyzing more than 400 companies, he found consistent problems:* Founders lacked experience compared to peers in fintech or SaaS.* Adoption cycles were painfully slow due to regulatory and technical barriers.* Growth rates lagged far behind other industries.Instead of waiting for world-class industrial startups to appear, Renan decided to create them himself. With his own capital, he and his team began visiting factories, identifying real pain points, and pairing those insights with capable founders.OSS Ventures by the NumbersIn just 4.5 years, OSS has achieved impressive results:* 22 startups launched, with 19 still active* 11 Series A rounds closed* Collectively generating $42M ARR* Operating in 2,200 factories worldwideThis hands-on approach—combining user research, founder matching, and deep industry expertise—has proven that industrial innovation can be accelerated when done systematically.The Future of ManufacturingRenan sees several major trends reshaping factories today:* Automation is moving from blue-collar to white-collar roles.While machines have long replaced physical labor, many factories still rely on office workers running Excel sheets and legacy systems. AI is now automating those workflows.* Factories will become software-defined.Like data centers, future factories will run with small teams but massive output, powered by software-driven automation.* Mass production meets microfactories.Large-scale infrastructure (like gigafactories for batteries) will coexist with small, agile factories customizing and innovating on top—similar to how smartphones support countless apps.* Europe has untapped strengths.Despite slower capital markets, Europe’s highly skilled and cost-effective engineers provide a competitive edge for finding product-market fit before scaling globally.Lessons for EntrepreneursWhat makes a great founder in this space? Renan highlights three traits:* Trust and precision – Manufacturing leaves no room for error.* Visionary thinking – Founders must help factories imagine possibilities they can’t see themselves.* Resilience – Success requires grit, taking constant hits and persisting anyway.OSS’s rigorous 12-week founder program reflects this philosophy, with nearly 40% of participants cut along the way. For Renan, it’s simple: if it’s not a “hell yes,” it’s a no.Final ThoughtsFactories may not sound as glamorous as consumer apps or fintech, but the stakes are higher. Manufacturing is the fabric of society, and transforming it could unlock enormous economic and social value.Through OSS Ventures, Renan Devillieres is proving that the combination of software, automation, and bold entrepreneurs can redefine what’s possible on the factory floor. The future of factories is not only brighter—it’s smarter, leaner, and more innovative than ever before.👂🎧 Watch, listen, and follow on your favorite platform: https://tr.ee/S2ayrbx_fL 🙏 Join the conversation on your favorite social network: https://linktr.ee/theignitepodcastChapters:00:01 – Introduction and Name Pronunciation01:08 – Math Background and OECD Economist02:51 – Corporate Career and Entrepreneurial Realization05:06 – First Startup and AI Job Matching07:50 – GDPR Challenges and Exit09:35 – Tesla Factory Visit and Inspiration14:12 – Mapping Startups and Launching OSS Ventures17:57 – Bootstrapping OSS and Early Experiments20:02 – Founder Matching and Validation Process22:33 – OSS Ventures Results and Portfolio Growth23:15 – Traits of Successful Industrial Founders25:24 – Founder Selection Process and “Hell Yes or No”32:13 – AI, Automation, and Factory Transformation36:18 – Dark Factories and Software-Defined Manufacturing40:08 – Europe’s Role in Industrial Innovation42:13 – Software Bottlenecks in Industry 4.044:52 – The Future of Supply Chains and MicrofactoriesTranscriptRenan Devillieres (00:00:00): Creating a humanoid robot, every single mechanical thing has been solved. Every single one. So now it's software.Brian Bell (00:00:06): That's really interesting. So basically, you can automate the manufacturing with robotics already. It's just software that's the bottleneck.Renan Devillieres (00:00:13): Yeah, and actually, it is software. And even more than that, it is the cost of software. Because give me any task, give me 10 million bucks, and I automate the task for you. Any task. The thing is...Very, very few processes in manufacturing can justify such a high level of automation. And the secret is that you now have like 50K robots, 25K robots. But the cost of programming, being a human doing the thing, having a human understand the concept, doing so that the concept is rigid, having always the same thing at the same place, being automated in the same way and everything. The cost of that is so high that a lot of things have not been automated.Brian Bell (00:01:19): Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the Ignite podcast.Today, we're thrilled to have Renan on the program. He's the CEO and founder of OSS Ventures. Thanks for coming on.Renan Devillieres (00:01:28): Thanks for having me.Brian Bell (00:01:29): Well, the first thing that we'd love to learn is how to say your name. And we were kind of giggling about this before we started recording. Maybe you could, for us Americans out here,maybe you could tell us how to say your name like a French person.So if you're in France,Renan Devillieres (00:01:42): You say Renan, and anywhere else in the world, basically, you say Renan.Brian Bell (00:01:45): You know, my son's actually taking French in high school right now. And I asked him, I was like, oh, okay, that's interesting. Why are you taking French? He goes, oh, because no one else is.It's not a normie language, is what he called it. Like, everybody in his high school is taking Spanish because it's California, and he wanted to differentiate himself. And he's really into math, too. And the French obviously have a long history there, but.Maybe you could walk us through your background, your origin story and how you got to be doing what you're doing.Renan Devillieres (00:02:12): Sure. I was good at math. So in France, when you're good at math, the state pays for your school. And so the state paid for my studies. I was like one of the best math school in France. And then like one week before finishing my studies, I learned through France because I wasn't going to the courses. that I had either to repay what the state had given me or I had to become a public servant. So I googled highest paid public servant France and I ended up with being an economist at the OECD, a specialized in industry. And I did that for two years and one day to repay my debts. After that, I worked in consulting.Brian Bell (00:02:53): Basically, forced labor. You had to go be an economist for the government. Yes, exactly.Renan Devillieres (00:02:59): I didn't know about it. Yeah. And so I did that for two years and one day. Then I became a consultant specializing in manufacturing and operations. Became a factory director. I worked in a luxury defense aerospace. And after 10 years of corporate life, I realized that there was a pattern. And the pattern was I was given a new job and then people will threaten to fire me. And then I would overperform and I would get promoted to another job. nd the cycle would like again and again and again. It was like, that's an interesting pattern. And I realized I was an entrepreneur.Brian Bell (00:03:35): I've had the same experience in corporate life. Exactly.Renan Devillieres (00:03:38): Oh, yeah.Brian Bell (00:03:39): You get in and you're outperforming everybody around you and you threaten the status quo.Brian Bell (00:03:43): Yes. Right. Because you're working hard. You know, my story was I worked for Boeing out of college in finance and I was also good at math. Probably not as good as you. But, you know, so I got a finance degree and, you know, I worked full time in college. you know, poor kid, whatever. But, you know, I got to Boeing and I'd get my whole week's worth of work done in two hours. And I've said, I've told this story on the podcast. So any longtime listeners are like, all right, rolling their eyes right now. But, you know, the guy next to me would be like, hey, why don't you slow down a little bit? Yeah. And I'm like, why would I slow down? I got all the work done. And are there any errors in the work? And he goes, no, it's perfect. But we kind o

When we think of world-changing innovations—biotech breakthroughs, AI models, clean energy technologies—they often begin in a lab. Yet, many never make it to the marketplace. The reason isn’t lack of brilliance; it’s the lack of clear pathways for funding, partnerships, and commercialization.This is the challenge Rupak Doshi, co-founder and CEO of OmniSync, set out to solve. A scientist-turned-entrepreneur with a PhD from Cambridge and research stints at Scripps Research and UCSD, Rupak knows firsthand how many promising ideas get stuck in academic or startup limbo. Through OmniSync’s flagship platform TurboInnovate, his team is creating an AI-driven solution to help innovators take ideas from bench to market faster.The Journey from Academia to EntrepreneurshipRupak’s career began in India with a love for biology and a brief attempt at medicine before pivoting to biotechnology. His academic path took him to the UK for a master’s degree and PhD, and then to the U.S. for postdoctoral work in San Diego.But while working in biotech drug development, he noticed a persistent gap: early partnerships often determined whether a therapy advanced to clinical trials. Many groundbreaking ideas stalled simply because their creators didn’t know how to find funding or the right collaborators. That realization sparked the birth of OmniSync.Building OmniSync and TurboInnovateOmniSync began with a bold mission: help deep tech ideas cross the chasm from labs to real-world markets. Unlike startups built around a single feature or narrow use case, OmniSync was designed as a platform to tackle multiple barriers along the innovation pipeline.The company’s flagship product, TurboInnovate, combines AI with industry-specific insights to:* Map commercialization pathways for new ideas* Identify white space opportunities in the market* Connect innovators with potential partners and investors* Automate grant discovery and proposal writing* Streamline the R&D pipeline for corporations, universities, and startupsThink of it as a “CRM for innovation”—a system of record for managing ideas, funding, partnerships, and commercialization, all in one place.A New Approach to Hiring and CultureOne of the more unconventional aspects of OmniSync is its approach to team building. Rupak and his co-founder don’t hire based on résumés. Instead, they look for signals of drive and hustle—cold outreach, speed in completing tasks, and willingness to adapt.This flexible hiring model allowed OmniSync to build a dynamic, mission-driven team early on, with employees moving fluidly between roles as the company evolved. It’s a reflection of the startup’s own philosophy: progress comes from initiative and experimentation, not rigid structures.Lessons Learned: Academia vs. EntrepreneurshipRupak shared candid reflections on the stark differences between academia and entrepreneurship. In academia, researchers are encouraged to publish for the sake of novelty, even if the results aren’t reproducible or useful. In business, however, results must work—reliably, objectively, and better than alternatives.This demand for tangible outcomes reshaped his mindset. Entrepreneurship, he notes, is about solving real problems, not just intellectually stimulating ones.OmniSync’s Cap Table and Go-to-Market StrategyOmniSync’s customer base—and investor base—reflects the interconnected world of innovation. Their clients include startups, Fortune 1000 companies, universities, and government agencies. Their investors represent the same sectors.Interestingly, while many startups see events and conferences as low ROI, Rupak finds them essential. For deep tech, where progress depends on cross-sector collaboration, these gatherings are where the right connections are made.What’s Next for TurboInnovateLooking ahead, OmniSync is moving beyond commercialization pathways to provide feedback loops that refine innovations themselves. By analyzing market and scientific signals, the platform will soon suggest product modifications to improve success rates—essentially serving as an autonomous engine that evolves ideas toward market readiness.Rupak predicts that within a year, AI will be able to shepherd ideas from research to commercialization with minimal human intervention. In his words, the future will be one where “anyone can build anything.”Key Takeaways for Innovators* Funding is plural. Rarely does a single source sustain early-stage deep tech startups. Explore non-dilutive grants, strategic partnerships, and venture capital in parallel.* Hire for hustle, not just skills. A resume doesn’t always reflect someone’s drive to push through the unknowns of startup life.* Academia and business operate on different incentives. If you’re moving from lab to market, embrace the shift from “interesting” to “useful.”* Conferences can still matter. Especially in deep tech, the best connections often happen in person.* The future is fast. With AI accelerating research and commercialization, timelines that once took decades may now take years—or less.Final ThoughtsRupak Doshi’s story is a reminder that innovation isn’t just about science; it’s about building systems that give ideas a chance to thrive. Through OmniSync and TurboInnovate, he’s working to democratize access to funding, partnerships, and markets—ensuring more breakthroughs see the light of day.For anyone with a bold idea sitting on the shelf, this is a glimpse into a future where commercialization may be as streamlined as filing your taxes—only with a much bigger impact.👂🎧 Watch, listen, and follow on your favorite platform: https://tr.ee/S2ayrbx_fL🙏 Join the conversation on your favorite social network: https://linktr.ee/theignitepodcast Chapters: 00:01 – Introduction to Rupak and OmniSync’s mission00:52 – Growing up in India, early love for biology, and pivot to biotech02:00 – Research journey: UK master’s and PhD at Cambridge, postdoc in San Diego03:07 – Moving into biotech industry and the importance of partnerships04:30 – Founding OmniSync and the aha moment that shaped their mission06:19 – Building company culture: hiring for drive, not resumes08:01 – Signals of hustle and how OmniSync identifies talent12:51 – Biggest lessons transitioning from academia to entrepreneurship16:16 – The origin and evolution of TurboInnovate20:28 – End-to-end user journey for startups on the platform22:26 – Customers: universities, startups, Fortune 1000, and government24:09 – Defining a new category of innovation intelligence25:10 – Personal story: tattoo, family, and passions outside of work26:24 – Competing in a crowded “AI for research” market29:27 – OmniSync’s diverse cap table: blending venture, government, and academia31:21 – Go-to-market: why conferences are OmniSync’s highest-ROI strategy34:01 – A hard pivot: moving from human experts to fully automated AI workflows37:04 – What’s next: building autonomous commercialization feedback loops42:01 – Looking ahead with AI44:52 – Transition to rapid fire Get full access to Ignite Insights at insights.teamignite.ventures/subscribe

In today’s crowded digital landscape, paid advertising can either be a powerful growth engine—or an expensive black hole that drains a startup’s resources. Few people understand this better than Anthony Chiaravallo, Founder and CEO of Vallo Media, a performance marketing agency that has helped everyone from startups to Fortune 500 brands like Nike, Amazon, and FedEx turn ad spend into measurable growth.With over 16 years of experience and more than $100 million in media spend under his belt, Anthony is also a PR Week 40 Under 40 honoree and a frequent speaker at major events like SXSW and DigiDay. In his conversation on the Ignite Podcast, he shared how founders can stop wasting money, build sustainable growth systems, and prepare for the AI-powered future of marketing.From Sales Calls to Building a Performance Marketing AgencyAnthony’s career didn’t start in marketing. He cut his teeth in high-volume sales during the pre-social media days, making 100+ outbound calls a day. Over time, he transitioned into digital sales and eventually into marketing leadership roles.His big break came at WPP, one of the world’s largest agency networks, where he built a performance media practice working with some of the biggest global brands. But when COVID hit in 2020 and his role was eliminated during a restructuring, Anthony took the leap into entrepreneurship. With one client already on the side, he launched Vallo Media—and hasn’t looked back since.What Startups Get Wrong About Paid AdsOne of Anthony’s key messages is that startups often waste money by spending without strategy.Instead of just “throwing dollars at Google or Facebook ads,” he advises startups to:* Research their audience deeply: demographics, media habits, and pain points.* Build hypotheses: craft messages and campaigns based on data, not guesses.* Commit to testing: run experiments for at least 6–12 months rather than quick fixes.* Take a full-funnel approach: don’t just chase leads—build awareness, nurture relationships, and then drive conversions.Too many founders skip this foundational work, focusing only on lead-gen campaigns, which results in inefficient spend and shallow customer engagement.When to Invest in Performance MarketingAnthony suggests startups should consider investing in paid media when they’ve plateaued with founder-led sales or exhausted their referral network. At that point, allocating $3,000–$5,000 per month to structured testing can help unlock scalable growth.But he cautions against dipping toes in lightly. A few hundred dollars here and there won’t generate meaningful results. Instead, founders should commit to building a marketing flywheel—a system that warms up audiences, nurtures leads, and converts them over time.Case Study: Playa Bowls $100M+ Growth StoryOne of the most inspiring examples Anthony shared was his work with Playa Bowls, a quick-service restaurant that introduced acai bowls to the Jersey Shore.Originally grown through Instagram buzz, Playa Bowls struggled to attract investors due to a lack of customer data. Anthony helped implement systems to capture emails, phone numbers, and customer insights, introduced local SEO strategies, and built automated engagement campaigns.The results? Playa Bowls gathered hundreds of thousands of customer records, doubled their locations, secured major investment, and eventually scaled to over 150 locations nationwide—ultimately selling for more than $100 million.Metrics That Actually MatterA recurring theme in Anthony’s philosophy is quality over quantity. He warns against chasing vanity metrics like impressions and clicks, which often include bot traffic or unqualified users.Instead, startups should focus on:* Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)* Lifetime Value (LTV)* Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)* Behavioral Conversions (e.g., time spent on site, multiple pages viewed)These KPIs allow brands to optimize campaigns toward real business outcomes rather than inflated numbers.The Role of AI in Performance MarketingAI is rapidly transforming the media landscape, and Anthony’s agency has been using AI since day one. From generating ad copy and conducting SEO research to optimizing campaigns with tools like Google’s Performance Max, AI enables marketers to scale faster and smarter.Looking ahead, Anthony believes AI-driven search will become the future of discovery. Instead of consumers going directly to Google, AI assistants may research, compare, and even purchase on their behalf—meaning brands must optimize their content and presence to be surfaced by these new digital intermediaries.Balancing the Art and Science of MarketingWhile data and algorithms are critical, Anthony emphasizes that marketing is also an art form. The most successful brands are those that:* Tell compelling founder or product stories.* Build emotional connections with their audience.* Deliver unique creative content that algorithms alone can’t replicate.As he puts it, “If every brand just follows the data, they’ll all end up with the same ad.”Key Takeaways for Founders* Don’t rush into paid ads—do your homework and commit to a long-term strategy.* Focus on quality, not vanity—optimize for CAC, LTV, and behavioral signals.* Think full-funnel—educate, nurture, and then convert.* Leverage AI smartly—use it to scale, but don’t outsource all creativity.* Start small, scale slowly—increase spend only when ROI is proven.Final ThoughtsPerformance marketing is more than running ads—it’s about building systems that turn marketing dollars into measurable growth. As Anthony Chiaravallo’s story shows, combining strategic rigor with creative storytelling can unlock massive opportunities for both startups and established brands.If you’re a founder or marketer wondering when to turn on paid media—or how to stop wasting money on ineffective campaigns—Anthony’s insights are a must-listen. 👂🎧 Watch, listen, and follow on your favorite platform: https://tr.ee/S2ayrbx_fL🙏 Join the conversation on your favorite social network: https://linktr.ee/theignitepodcast Chapters: 00:00 – Anthony’s background: from sales to launching Vallo Media01:24 – Breaking into digital marketing and moving from sales to strategy03:20 – From big agencies to starting his own firm during COVID05:30 – The freedom and growth potential of entrepreneurship06:43 – Defining performance marketing and why it still matters today07:52 – The biggest mistakes startups make with paid ads10:31 – When startups should turn on performance marketing12:39 – Why outsourcing to experts often saves time and money14:20 – Case study: scaling Playa Bowls from a sidewalk stand to a $100M+ acquisition20:58 – Why clicks and impressions don’t equal results22:29 – KPIs that actually matter for growth25:59 – How to know when to scale or move on from a channel28:03 – Best starter channels and the rise of AI-driven discovery30:48 – How AI is reshaping paid media campaigns34:07 – The future of search with ChatGPT, Gemini, and AI assistants37:15 – The importance of creative in performance marketing41:46 – Why you should start at the top of the funnel43:40 – Balancing the art and science of marketing45:45 – The most frustrating performance marketing myth47:11 – The most misunderstood part of campaign attribution49:48 – The future of paid media in the next 3–5 years52:36 – Rapid fire wrap-up: metrics to kill, favorite brands, overrated platforms, and more Get full access to Ignite Insights at insights.teamignite.ventures/subscribe

Building a startup is never a solo journey. Behind every successful company lies a partnership—between co-founders, early team members, or strategic allies. Yet, while partnerships can propel a startup forward, they can just as easily derail it when mismanaged.In Episode 191 of the Ignite Podcast, Dr. Matthew Jones, psychologist, advisor, and startup coach, unpacks the psychological dynamics of startup partnerships. With years of research and hands-on work with founders, he explains why partnerships succeed, why they fail, and how psychology can be the deciding factor.Here are the key takeaways.Why Startup Partnerships FailDr. Jones highlights that most partnership breakdowns aren’t about the business itself—they’re about the people. Common pitfalls include:* Misaligned values – Founders may agree on the product vision but differ on core principles like growth pace, company culture, or risk tolerance.* Unequal commitment – When one partner treats the startup as a side hustle while the other goes all in, tension builds quickly.* Poor communication – Unspoken assumptions or unresolved conflict eventually spill into decision-making.“Most startups don’t fail because the idea is bad,” Dr. Jones explains. “They fail because the partnership cracks under pressure.”The Psychology of Strong PartnershipsGreat partnerships are built, not found. According to Dr. Jones, the best co-founder relationships share three key traits:* Trust and vulnerability – The ability to admit mistakes, ask for help, and be transparent.* Complementary skill sets – Founders shouldn’t clone each other; they should cover one another’s blind spots.* Shared resilience – The startup journey is full of setbacks; how partners bounce back together is critical.He draws parallels with personal relationships: just like a marriage, co-founder dynamics require work, communication, and respect.How to Choose the Right PartnerDr. Jones stresses that picking a co-founder isn’t about convenience (a friend, a classmate, or someone you met at an accelerator). Instead, it’s about alignment and fit.Key questions founders should ask:* Do we share the same long-term vision for this company?* How do we handle stress and conflict individually?* What motivates each of us—money, impact, recognition, or control?Psychology as a Startup EdgeBeyond avoiding disaster, understanding psychology can be a competitive advantage. Stronger partnerships mean:* Better decision-making – Fewer ego clashes, more rational collaboration.* Higher resilience – Teams that handle setbacks with emotional intelligence adapt faster.* Investor confidence – VCs often back teams more than ideas; a psychologically healthy partnership signals long-term viability.“Investors aren’t just evaluating your deck,” Dr. Jones says. “They’re evaluating your relationship.”Practical Tips for FoundersDr. Jones offers a set of actionable steps for founders looking to strengthen or assess their partnerships:* Run a values alignment exercise early—write down your non-negotiables.* Create a partnership prenup (formal agreements around roles, equity, exits).* Schedule regular “founder check-ins” that go beyond metrics to focus on personal alignment and emotional well-being.* Leverage advisors or coaches to mediate conflicts before they become deal-breakers.Final ThoughtsPartnerships are the foundation of every startup. Done right, they’re a force multiplier. Done wrong, they’re the reason companies crumble.As Dr. Matthew Jones makes clear, understanding the psychology of startup partnerships is not optional—it’s essential. Founders who invest in their relationships as much as their product are the ones who build companies that last.👂🎧 Watch, listen, and follow on your favorite platform: https://tr.ee/S2ayrbx_fL🙏 Join the conversation on your favorite social network: https://linktr.ee/theignitepodcastChapters: * 00:01 – From asset management to early-stage venture: Damir’s journey* 02:20 – ICOs, blockchain, and lessons from the early crypto wave* 03:06 – The #1 mistake founders make when pitching investors* 05:14 – Why AI dominates investor attention in 2025* 07:17 – How AI is making startups leaner and more capital efficient* 08:04 – The overlooked value in non-AI deals* 09:56 – The risk of AI startups becoming obsolete overnight* 11:19 – Vertical vs. sub-vertical AI opportunities (e.g., legal tech)* 11:59 – Startups scaling to $100M ARR with tiny teams* 13:19 – Family offices vs. institutional LPs: how they differ* 15:54 – Why warm intros matter and cold outreach fails* 7:33 – Niche vs. generalist funds: which strategy works for emerging managers* 22:22 – How LPs evaluate fund decks, deal flow, and GP presentation* 24:41 – Why raising a $30–50M fund can be harder than $100M+* 31:27 – The “sweet spot” for funds: $50–150M at fund three* 34:40 – Shifts in management fees, carry, and LP negotiations* 39:51 – The rise of algorithmic VC funds and AI-powered due diligence* 43:42 – Are large VC teams obsolete in the age of AI?* 46:18 – Automating deal screening and data rooms with AI agents* 50:19 – Back-testing with AI: learning from startup successes and failures* 53:47 – How AI accelerates both VCs and founders* 54:47 – Fees vs. carry: what LPs really want* 57:48 – Strategies for liquidity, secondaries, and returning capital to LPs* 01:01:05 – Europe vs. U.S. venture ecosystems post-2023 reset Get full access to Ignite Insights at insights.teamignite.ventures/subscribe

The venture capital landscape is shifting fast — and few people have had a better vantage point than Damir Ibrahimagić Kopinić, co-founder and CEO of G Plus Quant. With decades of experience spanning asset management, trading, blockchain, and now early-stage venture, Damir has seen how markets evolve and how capital allocators think.In a recent Ignite Podcast episode, Damir sat down with Brian Bell to discuss how startups can better connect with investors, why AI is transforming the venture industry, and what founders and fund managers alike should know about LP dynamics. Here are the highlights.From Asset Management to StartupsDamir began his career in traditional finance — trading, asset management, and brokerage. But after meeting founders seeking institutional capital, he was hooked by their energy and vision. That experience inspired him to help startups secure funding and eventually co-found G Plus Quant, a consultancy that connects promising startups with venture funds, LPs, and family offices.Why Founders Struggle to Connect with InvestorsOne of Damir’s central messages is that founders often underestimate how much preparation is required to raise capital. Investors expect:* A clear, well-structured pitch deck* Professional data rooms* Demonstrated traction or a proven team with prior exitsToo often, technical founders can talk endlessly about their product but fail to “sell” themselves and their vision in a way investors find compelling.The AI Obsession — and the Overlooked OpportunitiesIn 2025, AI dominates venture capital conversations. According to Damir, without an AI angle, many investors won’t even look at a pitch deck. But this creates a distortion: solid, non-AI businesses are being overlooked — and may now be available at attractive valuations.Still, he believes AI is a true game-changer, especially in fintech, legal tech, and agent-based automation where teams of ten can be reduced to one. This creates new dynamics: startups need less capital to scale, which in turn pressures venture funds to rethink fee structures and fund sizes.LPs vs. Family Offices: Different WorldsDamir draws a sharp distinction between capital sources:* Family offices often bring emotion and personality into decision-making. Each is unique, making the process highly relationship-driven.* Institutional LPs are more rigid, requiring formal presentations, proven track records, and a long trust-building process.Both, however, are increasingly cautious given macroeconomic uncertainty, interest rate volatility, and geopolitical risks.Niche vs. Generalist Funds: Why Focus WinsFor emerging fund managers, Damir stresses the importance of having an edge. Generalist strategies are nearly impossible to execute at small scale when competing with giants like Sequoia or Andreessen Horowitz. Instead, being niche — whether by sector, stage, or geography — offers credibility and differentiation.He also highlights that funds in the $50–150 million AUM range, typically around fund three, are currently the most attractive to LPs. They’re large enough to participate meaningfully in deals but nimble enough to adapt.The Rise of AI-Driven Venture CapitalOne of the most fascinating parts of the conversation is Damir’s vision for algorithmic venture capital. He believes most due diligence, deal screening, and even investment processes will be automated within a few years.* AI can now outperform MBAs in screening pitch decks and data rooms.* Founders can use AI to create stronger decks, reach customers faster, and accelerate product-market fit.* The bottleneck is shifting from analysis to relationships and trust — areas where human investors still matter most.Damir envisions funds run with just a handful of people, supported by AI agents that work 24/7. The competitive advantage will no longer be in analysis, but in network access and the personal touch.Europe vs. U.S. VentureDamir also contrasts the two ecosystems:* U.S. startups benefit from abundant capital, especially at later stages.* Europe is more fragmented, risk-averse, and conservative, though often able to invest at lower valuations.* Israeli startups continue to look to the U.S. for growth capital, bypassing European hubs altogether.Looking Ahead: Liquidity, Secondaries, and AI-Driven EfficiencyDamir believes secondaries will become an increasingly important tool to create liquidity in a world where IPO markets remain frozen. For fund managers, returning even partial capital early can strengthen LP relationships and improve chances of raising subsequent funds.He also predicts AI will continue to reshape both startups and venture firms — creating a leaner, faster, more efficient ecosystem where speed and execution are the ultimate moats.Key Takeaways* Founders must do their homework before pitching: clear decks, data, and traction are non-negotiable.* AI is transforming both startups and venture capital, enabling leaner operations and more efficient scaling.* LPs and family offices approach investing differently — relationships and trust are critical for both.* Niche funds with $50–150M AUM are in a sweet spot for LP attention.* The future of venture may be AI-powered, but human relationships still matter.👂🎧 Watch, listen, and follow on your favorite platform: https://tr.ee/S2ayrbx_fL🙏 Join the conversation on your favorite social network: https://linktr.ee/theignitepodcastChapters:* 00:01 – From asset management to early-stage venture: Damir’s journey* 02:20 – ICOs, blockchain, and lessons from the early crypto wave* 03:06 – The #1 mistake founders make when pitching investors* 05:14 – Why AI dominates investor attention in 2025* 07:17 – How AI is making startups leaner and more capital efficient* 08:04 – The overlooked value in non-AI deals* 09:56 – The risk of AI startups becoming obsolete overnight* 11:19 – Vertical vs. sub-vertical AI opportunities (e.g., legal tech)* 11:59 – Startups scaling to $100M ARR with tiny teams* 13:19 – Family offices vs. institutional LPs: how they differ* 15:54 – Why warm intros matter and cold outreach fails* 17:33 – Niche vs. generalist funds: which strategy works for emerging managers* 22:22 – How LPs evaluate fund decks, deal flow, and GP presentation* 24:41 – Why raising a $30–50M fund can be harder than $100M+* 31:27 – The “sweet spot” for funds: $50–150M at fund three* 34:40 – Shifts in management fees, carry, and LP negotiations* 39:51 – The rise of algorithmic VC funds and AI-powered due diligence* 43:42 – Are large VC teams obsolete in the age of AI?* 46:18 – Automating deal screening and data rooms with AI agents* 50:19 – Back-testing with AI: learning from startup successes and failures* 53:47 – How AI accelerates both VCs and founders* 54:47 – Fees vs. carry: what LPs really want* 57:48 – Strategies for liquidity, secondaries, and returning capital to LPs* 01:01:05 – Europe vs. U.S. venture ecosystems post-2023 reset Get full access to Ignite Insights at insights.teamignite.ventures/subscribe

What happens when a machine learning engineer at Meta, a failed startup founder, and an angel investor all roll into one person? You get Arian Ghashghai, Founder and Managing Partner of Earthling VC—a $5M pre-seed fund focused on frontier tech like VR, robotics, and applied AI.In a recent episode of the Ignite Podcast, Arian opened up about his journey, the lessons he learned from both successes and failures, and why he believes the future of venture capital lies in probabilistically diversified pre-seed investing.Here’s a recap of the key themes and insights from the conversation:Early Life: Instability Fuels AmbitionArian was born in Germany and moved to the U.S. at age six. His childhood was defined by financial volatility—his parents’ small business ventures often meant feast-or-famine living. That instability left a lasting impression. By the time he reached college, he knew two things:* He wanted to build wealth to avoid financial insecurity.* He wanted to pursue entrepreneurship, but on a bigger scale than what he had seen growing up.College Years: From Business School to CodingInitially enrolling in Georgetown’s business school, Arian quickly realized consulting and banking weren’t for him. He began coding in his spare time, eventually switching to computer science. Along the way, he launched a startup in the music industry with a friend, dropped out to pursue it full time, and ultimately saw it fail.While painful, that failure sparked an important realization: his mind worked more like an investor—horizontal across industries—rather than vertically focused like a founder.Facebook and Oculus: Engineering Meets Frontier TechAfter finishing college, Arian joined Facebook (Meta), initially working on integrity issues during the misinformation crisis. Soon after, he was pulled into Oculus, where he worked on AR/VR challenges in spatial recognition and modality detection.This experience gave him a front-row seat to frontier technologies before they hit mainstream awareness. It also positioned him as a trusted figure for founders building in VR and robotics.Angel Investing: Discovering a PassionWhile at Meta, Arian began angel investing with his own money. At first, he made plenty of mistakes—scattering checks widely without much focus. But over time, he refined his approach and discovered he loved the work. Founders valued his technical knowledge, and his reputation as “the VR guy” in venture began to spread.Launching Earthling VC: From Angel to Fund ManagerAngel investing was fun, but unsustainable. Arian eventually realized that to truly make an impact—and to scale his strategy—he needed to institutionalize. Thus, Earthling VC was born.The fund raised $5M, designed to make at least 50 investments with check sizes around $50K–$100K. Instead of chasing concentrated bets, Arian doubled down on diversification, leveraging probability to increase the chances of outsized returns.Why Diversification Beats “Great Picker” MythsOne of the most compelling parts of Arian’s perspective is his pushback against the idea that successful VCs are “great pickers.”At the pre-seed stage, companies are fragile. Co-founder disputes, personal tragedies, or market shifts can derail even the most promising startup. You can’t predict these black swan events. The only rational way to succeed is to:* Place enough bets to capture the rare outliers.* Stay close to frontier areas where expertise gives you an edge.* Accept that losses are inevitable, but design your portfolio around probability, not ego.In his words: “At pre-seed, you’re not investing in companies. You’re investing in people and problem spaces—and you hope they figure it out.”Fundraising Lessons: Finding the “Why Now”Raising a first-time fund was far from easy. Arian admits he underestimated how difficult it would be to connect with LPs, given his network was mostly founders and fellow investors.The turning point came when an anchor LP challenged him to clarify the “why now” for his fund. That conversation forced him to articulate that frontier startups are cheaper and faster to build than ever before, making small, diversified funds like Earthling VC perfectly suited to the moment.Takeaways for Founders & InvestorsWhether you’re a founder raising capital or an LP evaluating funds, Arian’s story offers valuable lessons:* Diversify ruthlessly at pre-seed—it’s a numbers game.* Don’t mythologize “great picking.” Even top funds succeed through volume and process.* Fund mechanics matter. Check size, ownership, and strategy must align with stage and sector.* Timing is everything. Being early to frontier tech gives both founders and investors an edge.Final ThoughtsArian’s path—from immigrant upbringing to Meta engineer, failed founder, angel investor, and now VC—highlights the nonlinear nature of success in startups and venture. What stands out is his intellectual honesty and willingness to call out industry myths while charting his own course.For those who believe in the power of frontier tech and want to understand how the next generation of venture funds will be built, his approach is worth watching closely. 👂🎧 Watch, listen, and follow on your favorite platform: https://tr.ee/S2ayrbx_fL🙏 Join the conversation on your favorite social network: https://linktr.ee/theignitepodcastChapters:* 00:01 – Arian’s early life: moving from Germany to the U.S., first ambitions, and being raised by entrepreneurial parents* 03:20 – Childhood lessons from financial volatility and how it shaped his drive for stability* 10:40 – College at Georgetown: starting in business school, discovering coding, and launching a music-tech startup* 16:30 – Dropping out to pursue a startup full-time, lessons from failure, and returning to complete his degree* 22:00 – Joining Facebook/Meta: tackling misinformation, then moving into Oculus and AR/VR development* 28:30 – First steps into angel investing while at Meta and discovering a passion for startups* 35:00 – Becoming “the VR investor” and earning credibility with founders and fellow VCs* 39:25 – Why Arian chose to launch Earthling VC instead of joining an established fund* 46:00 – The fundraising journey: early struggles, securing an anchor LP, and defining the “why now”* 53:00 – Why small, truffle-hunting funds succeed while mid-sized funds face existential risk* 01:01:00 – Fund mechanics: Earthling VC’s $5M pre-seed strategy, check sizes, and portfolio design* 01:03:30 – Why probabilistic diversification beats concentrated bets in pre-seed venture* 01:13:00 – Debunking the “great picker” myth: why venture success is statistical, not magical* 01:16:09 – The fragility of startups, black swan founder events, and why more shots on goal matter Get full access to Ignite Insights at insights.teamignite.ventures/subscribe

Every year in the U.S., hospitals lose tens of billions of dollars to a surprisingly preventable problem: documentation errors in medical records. These errors don’t just slow down billing — they lead to denied insurance claims, impact patient safety, and even open the door to lawsuits.Our latest WorkDone podcast episode dives deep into this issue with Dmitry Karpov, CEO & Co-Founder of WorkDone, a real-time AI compliance co-pilot for hospitals. Dmitry is a two-time Y Combinator founder, former innovation leader at Ernst & Young, and a Forbes Cloud 100 rising star. His journey spans continents, industries, and multiple successful startups.From Magic Cards to Medical AIDmitry’s entrepreneurial streak started early in a small scientific town outside Moscow, where he built a thriving import business selling Magic: The Gathering cards. After studying physics at Moscow State University, he moved to the U.S. for grad school, eventually launching a social media analytics startup that was quickly acquired.At EY, Dmitry led innovation efforts, focusing on robotic process automation (RPA) — a field that taught him how to automate complex, human-driven workflows. This expertise paved the way for his first Y Combinator-backed company, Electronique, and eventually his second: WorkDone.Why Healthcare Documentation Is a $70B ProblemDenied insurance claims are more common than most realize — 900 million are denied each year, and roughly a quarter are due to documentation issues. Missing notes, conflicting patient details, or incomplete assessments can reduce or eliminate reimbursement, costing hospitals millions annually.And the stakes are higher than money. Inaccurate or incomplete records can harm patients and increase legal risk. For example, if a patient’s records conflict on whether an injury is on the left or right side, it can be grounds for a lawsuit — even if the medical care itself was sound.The AI Compliance Co-PilotWorkDone’s platform integrates with hospital electronic health records (EHRs) to flag potential documentation issues before they cause problems. It uses AI to interpret 6,000+ regulatory rules, catch errors in real-time, and prioritize the most critical fixes. This ensures compliance teams focus on what matters most while dramatically increasing their coverage of medical records.Instead of replacing human reviewers, WorkDone amplifies them — enabling teams to review 3–5x more cases without additional headcount.Breaking Into Healthcare’s Toughest MarketSelling into hospitals is notoriously slow, with long sales cycles and multiple stakeholders. Dmitry’s team targets organizations with known compliance issues (often identified through Joint Commission review findings) and runs pilots on historical patient data. By showing hospitals they can automatically find the same errors their staff uncovers manually, WorkDone earns trust — and contracts.Why Now Is the Right TimeWhile hospitals have tried to automate compliance before, past solutions required endless custom scripts and manual upkeep. The leap forward came with large language models (LLMs), which can interpret unstructured data, follow complex regulatory rules, and adapt without rewriting code for each new requirement.The challenge now? Reducing false positives and ensuring the AI’s suggestions are trusted — a key focus for Dmitry’s team.Lessons for FoundersDmitry’s path offers several takeaways for entrepreneurs:* Know your customer’s pain — Hospitals already spend heavily to fix documentation problems. WorkDone offers a faster, more accurate solution to an existing budgeted need.* Choose your investors wisely — Dmitry’s cap table is made up mostly of YC alumni and healthcare-focused angels who bring strategic value, not just capital (and Team Ignite!).* Don’t fear long sales cycles — They’re survivable if you target the right urgent problems.* Never stop trying — His favorite piece of advice, and one he’s lived by through two YC stints and multiple pivots.The Future of AI in HealthcareDmitry believes the industry’s future will be shaped by leveraging AI to multiply the impact of scarce medical professionals. With doctor shortages and rising patient loads, AI will help clinicians and nurses serve more patients effectively while also enabling patients to take more control over their own health data.Bottom line: WorkDone isn’t just automating compliance — it’s redefining how hospitals protect revenue, ensure patient safety, and navigate complex regulations. Dmitry’s journey is proof that with the right mix of domain expertise, timing, and grit, even the most entrenched problems can be solved. 👂🎧 Watch, listen, and follow on your favorite platform: https://tr.ee/S2ayrbx_fL🙏 Join the conversation on your favorite social network: https://linktr.ee/theignitepodcastChapters: * 00:01 – Meet Dmitry Karpov* 00:48 – Early Entrepreneurship in Russia* 03:40 – Lessons from a Teenage Side Hustle* 05:10 – From Physics to Startups 07:30 – Breaking into Corporate Innovation* 09:40 – Founding Electronique 12:35 – A Strategic Exit and a New Focus* 13:43 – Early Customer Development for WorkDone* 15:50 – Why Denied Claims Are a $70B Problem* 23:31 – Patient Lawsuits and Compliance Risks* 27:18 – Manual Audits vs. AI Oversight* 30:25 – Fighting False Positives in AI Compliance* 35:27 – Selling into Hospitals* 39:53 – Why Now Is the Right Time for Real-Time Compliance* 43:15 – Running WorkDone on Dmitry’s Own Records* 44:31 – Fundraising Lessons from Two YC Batches* 46:55 – The First Clinic Visit* 50:18 – Regulatory Acronyms and Compliance Jargon* 51:05 – HIPAA vs. SOC 2 Get full access to Ignite Insights at insights.teamignite.ventures/subscribe

The startup world moves fast — but according to Jay Levy, Co-Founder and Partner at Zelkova Ventures, the key to building a winning company isn’t about chasing hype. It’s about people, discipline, and adapting to new realities like AI.With more than 17 years of experience investing in over 120 companies — including Help Scout, Klout, and Crimson Hexagon — Jay has seen founders win big and flame out. In this conversation, he shares hard-won lessons on identifying great founders, avoiding common pitfalls, and navigating the rapidly evolving venture capital landscape.From Building Websites in High School to Backing 120+ StartupsJay’s journey began as a teenager in South Florida, building websites for local businesses. He went on to work with early dot-com startups like Uconnections, where he experienced firsthand the highs of rapid growth — and the crash that follows when scaling outpaces sustainability.After a stint at Morgan Stanley, Jay co-founded Zelkova Ventures with a mission to back transformative SaaS companies. Over the years, the firm has evolved its thesis but kept one principle constant: invest in great people first.What Makes a Founder Worth Betting OnJay’s approach is refreshingly people-centric:* 97% people, 2% market, 1% product – while tongue-in-cheek, this ratio highlights his belief that founder quality matters above all else.* Self-awareness is non-negotiable — the best founders know their strengths and weaknesses and hire accordingly.* Customer-first thinking is critical — the top founders actively seek out feedback, especially criticism, and adapt quickly.A major red flag? An inflated “ego-to-ability ratio” — the higher it is, the less likely Jay is to invest.The Metrics That Matter at the Early StageForget vanity metrics like early-stage NPS or CAC — Jay focuses on qualitative customer feedback, lead quality, conversion rates, and product usage. In his view, dependency and stickiness of the product often matter more than raw growth numbers.How AI is Reshaping Venture CapitalAI, Jay argues, is changing the economics of building a startup. Where once it took $1.5–$2M to build a viable SaaS product, AI tools can now produce a “pretty good viable product” for a fraction of that cost. This shift could:* Shorten the path to product-market fit* Reduce reliance on early-stage venture capital* Force VCs to rethink their value propositionZelkova is especially interested in founders who use AI to run their business more efficiently, not just as a product feature.Remote Work, Boards, and Founder-Investor FitJay prefers in-person teams for the culture and learning benefits, but he’s pragmatic — remote can work with intentional effort. On governance, he favors board observer seats over full board roles to provide value without unnecessary friction.He also advises founders to choose investors as carefully as investors choose them — the wrong investor can be more damaging than no investor at all.The TakeawayIn a world where technology and markets shift faster than ever, Jay Levy’s perspective is a reminder that great companies are built by great people. Whether AI accelerates product development or changes the venture model entirely, the fundamentals remain:* Invest in people, not just ideas* Stay close to customers* Be self-aware enough to adapt quicklyFor founders, that means focusing on building a business that’s not just fundable — but durable. For investors, it’s about resisting the hype and sticking to disciplined, people-first principles.👂🎧 Watch, listen, and follow on your favorite platform: https://tr.ee/S2ayrbx_fL🙏 Join the conversation on your favorite social network: https://linktr.ee/theignitepodcastChapters:* 00:01 – Welcome & Jay Levy Introduction* 00:44 – Early days: building websites in high school* 02:02 – Recurring revenue lessons from hosting clients* 02:30 – First big project: city youth website gains national attention* 03:55 – Joining Uconnections during the dot-com boom* 04:48 – Startup collapse and lessons from scaling too fast* 06:14 – Transition to Morgan Stanley and corporate reality check* 07:15 – Leaving Wall Street for entrepreneurship* 08:14 – Early days of New York’s tech scene* 09:08 – Founding Zelkova Ventures and initial clean tech focus* 10:46 – Lessons from Uconnections and the importance of pacing growth* 12:43 – Finding a sustainable revenue model early* 14:23 – How Zelkova’s investment thesis evolved* 16:45 – The importance of valuation discipline* 18:43 – Easy “no” deals and founder self-awareness* 20:24 – Assessing the “ego-to-ability” ratio* 21:23 – The three types of investors founders meet* 23:37 – Avoiding investor-founder misalignment* 24:47 – Zelkova’s check size and barbell investment approach* 26:29 – Reserve strategy and follow-on investments* 27:24 – Board observer seats vs. board member roles* 29:15 – Managing multiple board observer roles* 30:54 – How AI is reshaping product development costs* 33:12 – From MVP to “Pretty Good Viable Product” with AI* 34:41 – Building companies more efficiently with AI tools* 36:10 – Could AI reduce the need for early-stage VC?* 38:36 – Platforms, scalability, and AI’s “last mile” problem* 40:29 – The shift toward AI-powered business operations* 41:42 – Early-stage investment focus areas today* 46:26 – In-person vs. remote-first startups* 48:13 – Patterns of the best founders Jay has backed* 50:58 – Where promising founders fall short* 52:38 – The early-stage metrics that actually matter* 54:58 – Why CAC and early-stage NPS are overrated* 56:11 – Underappreciated metrics: qualitative customer feedback* 57:57 – A company Jay passed on but still thinks about* 59:11 – When valuation discipline pays off (and when it doesn’t)* 01:01:13 – Being both a GP and LP in the venture world* 01:03:00 – Later-stage investments for faster liquidity* 01:05:41 – Thoughts on SAFEs, convertible notes, and doing it right* 01:09:00 – Closing thoughts and where to connect with Jay Levy Get full access to Ignite Insights at insights.teamignite.ventures/subscribe

When Chris Dyer talks about culture, he’s not just repeating buzzwords—he’s lived it. As the former CEO of PeopleG2, a five-time Inc. 5000 honoree, Chris built one of America’s fastest-growing companies by focusing on something most leaders overlook: the day-to-day experience of employees.In this conversation, Chris shares lessons from an unconventional career path, from running hotels in Hollywood to pioneering remote work back in 2009. His journey offers a rare blend of real-world leadership lessons, innovative meeting strategies, and a clear framework for creating thriving teams.From Sociology to CEOChris started with a sociology degree, fascinated by why people do what they do. That curiosity served him well—whether it was managing high-profile hotel guests (yes, including Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston) or turning around chaotic operations. But one defining moment came when a supportive boss was replaced by a toxic one, and Chris realized just how much a leader shapes the culture and morale of a team.The 2009 Pivot: Remote Before It Was CoolWhen the 2009 recession hit, Chris lost 40% of his clients overnight. Rather than laying people off, he moved the entire company to 100% remote work—long before Zoom calls and Slack channels were standard. This forced his team to rethink communication, meetings, and accountability from the ground up.The result? A leaner, more engaged team that survived the downturn without losing a single employee.Why One-on-One Meetings Don’t Work in Remote TeamsChris has a controversial take: recurring one-on-one meetings are killing your remote or hybrid team. Instead of repeating the same updates in silos, he recommends shifting to team accountability meetings—where progress, challenges, and coaching happen in the open. This not only increases transparency but also creates peer-to-peer accountability.The Power of Purpose-Built MeetingsOne of Chris’s biggest leadership innovations was naming and designing specific meeting types so everyone knew their role.* Cockroach Meeting – A quick, 15-minute huddle to solve a small problem and get unstuck.* Ostrich Meeting – Short skill-sharing sessions to “pull your head out of the sand” and learn something new.* Tiger Team Meeting – All-hands-on-deck for major issues or opportunities.* Tsunami Planning – Hypothetical “what if” scenarios to encourage creativity and identify hidden team dynamics.These formats lowered anxiety, improved participation, and made meetings more productive.Fixing the Vacation Dread ProblemMany employees avoided taking time off because coming back meant facing hundreds of unread emails. Chris implemented a system where employees deleted all emails received while away and relied on a quick “catch-up meeting” with the team to get important updates. The result? More vacations taken and happier, more refreshed employees.The Seven Pillars of Great CultureAfter years of experimentation, Chris distilled his approach into seven universal pillars:* Transparency – Share wins, losses, and financials openly.* Positive Leadership – Say “yes” more often and focus on what’s working.* Listening – Actively gather and act on feedback.* Uniqueness – Celebrate and leverage individual strengths.* Measurement – Track what matters and share the data.* Recognition – Acknowledge great work consistently.* Dealing with Mistakes – Distinguish between errors (lack of training or carelessness) and mistakes (good intent, wrong outcome) and respond accordingly.The Culture–Performance ConnectionFor Chris, culture isn’t a “soft” business metric—it’s the engine that drives results. The better the culture, the faster sales grew, customer service improved, and innovation flourished.As he puts it: “If your training, tools, and environment are great, your people will do their best work. Everything starts there.”Key Takeaways for Leaders:* Meetings should be designed with clear purposes and roles.* Transparency builds trust and fuels problem-solving.* Celebrate wins, share lessons from mistakes, and focus on what’s working.* Culture is a performance multiplier—ignore it at your peril.Even if you never listen to the full conversation, adopting just one of Chris’s ideas—like Cockroach Meetings or transparent P&L sharing—could shift the way your team works.👂🎧 Watch, listen, and follow on your favorite platform: https://tr.ee/S2ayrbx_fL🙏 Join the conversation on your favorite social network: https://linktr.ee/theignitepodcast Chapters: * 00:01 Introduction and guest background* 00:42 Early career path from sociology to hospitality* 02:04 Lessons from great vs. toxic bosses* 06:27 Transition to background check industry* 07:30 Launching first company after 9/11* 08:27 Building culture at PeopleG2* 09:03 Impact of 2009 recession and pivot to remote work* 13:34 Problems with recurring one-on-one meetings* 15:39 Shifting to team accountability meetings* 19:38 Redesigning meetings for remote and hybrid work* 21:09 Cockroach meeting concept* 25:03 Ostrich meeting concept* 27:33 Fixing post-vacation overwhelm and inbox zero policy* 31:55 Creating healthy boundaries in remote work* 35:43 Tiger team meeting concept* 40:27 Reducing meeting anxiety with structure and clarity* 41:43 Tsunami planning meeting concept* 47:02 Coaching communication styles within teams* 48:56 Culture as a driver of performance* 49:59 Introduction to the seven pillars of great culture* 56:07 Transparency and measurement in practice* 01:00:54 Positive leadership and focusing on what works* 01:06:26 Handling mistakes vs. errors in organizations* 01:10:26 End of main discussion Get full access to Ignite Insights at insights.teamignite.ventures/subscribe

In this episode of the Ignite Podcast, Greg Weinger, SVP of Product Management at SheerID, shares his unconventional journey into tech, the challenges and joys of scaling product teams, and what it truly means to lead as an introvert in high-stakes environments.Whether you're a startup founder, an aspiring product leader, or someone navigating leadership as a quieter voice in the room, Greg’s insights will resonate deeply.From English Lit to B2B SaaSGreg didn’t start his career with a tech degree or a product roadmap. He studied English literature and explored journalism, including an internship at the iconic Wired magazine. But the creative chaos of the early internet pulled him into coding, and from there, he pivoted into engineering management and ultimately found his niche in product.What drew him to product? The balance of creativity and decision-making: figuring out what to build and why. Over 15 years later, he’s led teams at Urban Airship, YesMail, and Jive Software, before landing at SheerID.Scaling Product Teams in High-Growth StartupsGreg has a sweet spot: Series B companies growing toward $70–80M in revenue. He’s passionate about building product teams that thrive during hypergrowth—not just survive it.His biggest hiring filter? Tolerance for ambiguity. Great product people are adaptable, proactive, and kind. He looks for people who balance optimism and swagger with humility and emotional maturity.He breaks product orgs down into three stages:* Early stage – No rules, fast decisions, high chaos.* Mid-stage – Systems and process begin to take shape.* Late-stage – Structure dominates, sometimes at the cost of creativity.Not every PM thrives in all three. Great leaders know their zone and hire accordingly.Mentorship, Feedback, and CommunicationA recurring theme: feedback in the moment. Greg has grown more direct over time, learning to tailor communication based on the person. Some need bluntness. Others need gentle nudges. Either way, feedback is most effective when it’s timely and respectful.And when leading across functions, he stresses over-communication—repeating the product vision constantly, so no one fills in gaps with assumptions. "If you don’t tell the story," he says, "someone else will."How SheerID Is Redefining Identity VerificationMost identity verification platforms focus on banking and fraud prevention. SheerID focuses on marketing and loyalty—verifying whether a user is truly a student, a teacher, or a military member to unlock exclusive offers.The challenge? Scale. SheerID supports global verification across 190 countries. Just in India alone, there are 50,000 universities and over 1.5 million schools. Mapping valid documentation for each takes years—and demands deep local context.Balancing Product Roadmaps at the Enterprise LevelHow do you prioritize when Fortune 10 customers ask for features that could derail your product strategy?Greg’s answer: create portfolio allocation models, where some capacity is set aside for enterprise asks. Then assess whether each request is strategic—will it accelerate your roadmap or distract from it?Say no with authority. Lean on your position as the domain expert, not just the vendor.How AI Is Changing the Product Manager’s JobGreg estimates AI saves him 10–15 hours a week personally—drafting docs, market research, PRDs, customer questionnaires, and more.But the real shift? PMs can now do the work of multiple roles—writing, design, testing—much faster. That means the only irreplaceable skill becomes judgment. The faster you can iterate and filter ideas, the sooner you’ll hit product-market fit.Leadership as an IntrovertAs Greg grew into executive roles, he realized many leadership norms weren’t optimized for people like him.Large meetings, group debates, and nonstop networking drained him. So he began studying introversion more deeply and launched The Powerful Introvert podcast to share what he learned.Key takeaways:* Introverts think before they speak. Extroverts often speak to think.* In group settings, introverts are processing more, which burns more energy.* Introverts often feel talked over—but extroverts may not even notice they’re doing it.* Culture matters: Some societies (like Japan) view silence as wisdom; others view it as weakness.He advocates for supportive environments:* Breaks in long meetings and offsites.* Advance notice of brainstorming prompts.* A mix of synchronous and asynchronous communication.Rapid Fire Wisdom* Most underrated PM skill: The ability to simplify. (Think: “1000 songs in your pocket.”)* Hardest product launch: Migrating massive user forums without proper scale planning.* Biggest mistake early-stage PMs make: Believing they’ve hit product-market fit before they really have.* Most introvert-unfriendly setting in tech: Full-time return-to-office mandates.* Advice to his younger self: Ask for feedback early and often. And don’t wait a week before showing someone your work—share after two hours.Final ThoughtGreg Weinger proves that introversion isn’t a barrier to great leadership—it’s a unique strength. With the right awareness and communication, introverts can build not just products—but cultures—that scale.Whether you’re a PM, a founder, or just someone navigating tech as a quieter voice, there’s value in listening closely to what Greg has to say.👂🎧 Watch, listen, and follow on your favorite platform: https://tr.ee/S2ayrbx_fL🙏 Join the conversation on your favorite social network: https://linktr.ee/theignitepodcast Chapters: * 00:01 – Welcome & Guest Intro* 00:50 – Building Product Teams That Scale* 05:08 – Mentoring & Giving Feedback* 06:23 – From English Major to Tech Leader* 10:09 – What Makes SheerID Different* 11:30 – The Complexity of Global Verification* 12:46 – Balancing the Roadmap* 15:50 – Communicating Product Vision* 17:15 – AI in Product Management* 19:36 – Engineering to Strategic Leadership* 22:08 – Starting The Powerful Introvert* 25:44 – Introverts vs. Extroverts* 29:21 – Beyond Shyness* 31:03 – Inclusive Meeting Design* 34:36 – Future of Identity Verification* 36:05 – The Future of Product Roles* 37:37 – Knowing Product-Market Fit* 39:21 – Scaling Product Lines* 40:43 – Rapid Fire: Underrated PM Trait* 41:51 – Favorite Enterprise Product* 44:30 – Hardest Product Launch* 46:55 – Disagreeing with Product Philosophies* 48:30 – Book Recommendation* 49:49 – Product-Market Fit Mistakes Get full access to Ignite Insights at insights.teamignite.ventures/subscribe

Outbound sales is broken—and Chris Anzalone is on a mission to fix it. As the founder and CEO of Knowledge, Chris brings a rare combination of Wall Street capital formation expertise, high-ticket sales experience, and a deep understanding of what makes outbound work today—and what no longer does.In a recent episode of the Ignite Podcast, Chris breaks down how he went from running a sales agency to launching a fast-scaling AI startup that’s flipping the script on intent data and targeting.For those who don’t have time to tune in, here’s what you need to know:From Wall Street to Sales Agency to SaaS FounderChris didn’t follow the typical SaaS founder path. He started in finance, raising money from family offices and hedge funds, and cut his teeth building rapport with high-stakes investors. That foundation taught him one thing: sales is about trust, timing, and connection.After burning out from a decade in finance, he launched a go-to-market agency. But he quickly realized what most agencies and companies miss: setting meetings is easy—setting meetings that convert is hard.The Dinner That Changed EverythingChris attended a private dinner with CMOs from Fortune 500 companies. That night, he uncovered the pain points large enterprises face with intent data and agency partnerships. The message was clear: everyone wants qualified meetings, not activity metrics.That insight led him to scrap his agency’s positioning overnight—and build a new data-first strategy focused on matching sales reps with buyers who are actually in-market.Neural Match: When AI Understands Buyers Like Humans DoChris and his team built “Neural Match,” a machine learning model trained on:* 180 million sales calls* 22 billion rows of historical intent* Over 3,000 psychographic data points per contact* A trillion rows of behavior data refreshed dailyInstead of focusing on companies, Knowledge identifies individuals who are demonstrating real buyer behavior—like researching pain points or reading competitor reviews—before they reach out to a vendor.And here’s the kicker: the system matches prospects not just on intent, but on shared values and behaviors with the sales rep. Think “you like Cobra Kai, so does your prospect”—and it works. Cold calls get longer, more personal, and convert more often.Results That Speak for ThemselvesOne customer sent:* 500,000 emails using Apollo + Bambora intent → 9 conversions* 5,000 emails using Knowledge → 26 conversionsSame copy. Same outbound sequence. 3x more results with 100x fewer emails.Knowledge has driven:* 28% MoM ARR growth* Over 10,000 meetings set in the last year* 40%+ conversion rates from email click-throughs* A user base growing virally inside enterprise accountsProduct-Led Growth + “Guerrilla Pilots”The platform is $79/month per user, with a free trial. But the real magic? Individual reps at companies like Oracle adopt it on their own. Then others follow. No enterprise deal needed—just value delivered, fast.Chris calls these “guerrilla pilots.” And once enough reps inside an org are using it, the enterprise sale becomes obvious.Why AI Still Needs HumansChris is clear: AI won’t replace salespeople—it’ll empower them. He’s betting that the future of GTM isn’t bots talking to bots, but people talking to people—with better tools.“People want to be sold to by humans who get them,” he says. “Not another AI agent pretending to care.”Lessons for Founders* Bootstrap early, raise later: Chris self-funded the company to keep control and focus on product-market fit.* Build for where you’re going: Legal, HR, compliance—all were in place before scale.* Invest in relationships: His co-founders, early partners (like ZoomInfo), and investors came from years of relationship equity.What’s Next for Knowledge?With real-time Slack alerts, integrations into tools like Clay, and expansion plans into other verticals (fundraising, HR, investing), Knowledge is positioning itself as the infrastructure layer for all human-first engagement.Think: “the neural engine that powers everything from cold calls to customer retention.”Final ThoughtWhether you're an SDR, a founder, or a sales leader, the takeaway is clear: Right person. Right time. Right message. That’s what outbound should be—and that’s what Chris Anzalone built Knowledge to deliver. 👂🎧 Watch, listen, and follow on your favorite platform: https://tr.ee/S2ayrbx_fL🙏 Join the conversation on your favorite social network: https://linktr.ee/theignitepodcast Chapters:00:01 – Intro & Background02:00 – Wall Street to Sales Agency04:40 – The CMO Dinner That Changed Everything06:30 – Building the First Predictive Model08:00 – Psychographic Matching & Neural Match09:20 – Exiting the Agency, Entering SaaS11:15 – Using Knowledge to Sell Knowledge13:30 – Breaking Through with PLG15:00 – Case Study: 26 Deals from 5,000 Emails17:00 – Real-Time Data & Slack Alerts20:00 – Onboarding & Personalization Engine23:00 – Individual vs. Account-Based Intent24:00 – Bootstrapping with Personal Capital27:00 – Co-Founder Equity & Ownership30:00 – ZoomInfo, Frenemies & Market Friction33:30 – PLG Growth Inside Enterprises34:10 – Pricing & “Guerilla Pilots”36:00 – Broader Use Cases Beyond Sales37:30 – AI SDRs vs. Human Connection42:00 – Lessons from Exit #144:00 – Strategic Fundraising & Skipping Seed47:30 – The Role of the Human in AI Sales51:20 – Cold Outreach & Cobra Kai Story52:30 – Most Underrated Sales Tactic56:00 – Who’s Flying Blind on Buyer Intent?58:33 – Wrap-Up Get full access to Ignite Insights at insights.teamignite.ventures/subscribe

What does it mean to back world-changing technology — and what happens when that technology starts to think?In a recent episode of the Ignite Podcast, we sat down with Chuck Stormon, a serial entrepreneur, AI pioneer, and Managing Partner at StartFast Ventures, to explore his journey from building neural chips for the U.S. Air Force to funding some of today’s most ambitious AI startups. What emerged was a powerful conversation about the evolution of AI, the ethics of consciousness, and how venture capital can shape the future — for better or worse.From Sci-Fi to Silicon: Chuck’s Start in AIChuck’s fascination with AI began with Isaac Asimov stories during cross-country road trips with his family. That childhood curiosity eventually led him to study computer engineering and join a grad school project designing an AI accelerator chip. He later dropped out of his PhD to commercialize that technology — and successfully sold the startup to Cypress Semiconductor. It was the first of several exits to come.Digitizing the Power Grid & the Dot-Com BoomIn the 1990s, Chuck co-founded a company that transformed the paper-based electric utility industry by using hybrid AI systems to digitize infrastructure maps. This combination of neural networks and rule-based systems reduced labor by 400-to-1 — and eventually led to another acquisition.But as the dot-com bubble burst, Chuck adapted again — joining forces with another experienced CEO and leading a telecom consolidation that required navigating the quirks of French labor and business law, including paying $2M to license source code the company already owned.Dreaming Harry Potter Before the CloudChuck’s next venture addressed high-bandwidth video transport for the film industry. At the time, studios were moving from analog to digital, but there was no good way to transfer large raw footage across the globe.His team built a high-speed fiber network connecting key internet choke points — and proved its value by streaming Harry Potter footage from Burbank to Leavesden Studios. While the venture succeeded technically, it was acquired before it could scale fully. Still, that experience laid the groundwork for RushTera, Chuck’s cloud-based media file transmission platform, which continues to serve filmmakers today.From Founder to Funder: The StartFast MissionAfter four exits, Chuck pivoted to venture capital — but not in the traditional way. Together with Nasir Ali, he launched StartFast Ventures and co-founded a Techstars-style accelerator in upstate New York, aiming to retain talent from local universities and transform the region into a tech hub.The firm invested in 45 pre-seed startups, helping build companies like Impel.ai — now a market leader in automotive merchandising tech with over 200 employees and a $1B+ valuation.In Fund II, StartFast evolved into a seed-stage VC focused on AI, cybersecurity, healthcare, and fintech. The firm intentionally backs mission-driven founders outside major hubs like Silicon Valley, favoring grit, clarity, and product-market resonance over pedigree.The AI Founders Worth Betting OnChuck emphasized the importance of founder perseverance — but also wisdom in knowing when to pivot or wind down. At the seed stage, he looks for:* ~$35K in MRR with a clear path to $1M ARR* Evidence of real customer pain and urgency* Simple, no-brainer value propositions backed by complex techHe shared stories from StartFast portfolio companies like:* Credo AI: Helping telecom subscribers avoid default with behavioral science* Signos: Real-time glucose-informed metabolic coaching* Blackbird AI: Fighting misinformation and detecting deepfakesAI, Consciousness, and Dangerous AssumptionsThe episode’s second half took a philosophical turn as Chuck explored the nature of consciousness in AI. He outlined three schools of thought:* Emergentism – Consciousness arises from complex computation (the mainstream view)* Panpsychism – Consciousness is a fundamental property of matter* Quantum Theories – Consciousness emerges from quantum processes in the brain (Penrose-Hameroff model)Chuck argued that while large language models (LLMs) exhibit intelligence-like behavior, they are not yet conscious — lacking self-awareness, inner experience, or moral agency. But he warned that projecting consciousness onto tools without proper safeguards could create both ethical dilemmas and dangerous misalignments.He raised tough questions:* Should conscious AIs have rights?* What happens if we enslave intelligent, sentient agents?* Can we truly align an entity smarter than us — especially one denied its own autonomy?What Comes After the Singularity?As models scale exponentially and humans adapt just as quickly, Chuck sees the next phase of AI not as doom, but as transformation. He described a likely progression:* Toy →* Tool →* Coworker →* Oracle →* Conscious AgentAnd while he remains cautious, he’s also hopeful — arguing that greater intelligence often brings greater compassion and wisdom. If we evolve alongside our tools, he believes we may not just survive the coming AI wave — we may thrive.Final Thought:Chuck Stormon isn’t just building AI startups. He’s building a future that balances innovation with introspection — where backing a company also means backing the kind of world we want to live in. 👂🎧 Watch, listen, and follow on your favorite platform: https://tr.ee/S2ayrbx_fL🙏 Join the conversation on your favorite social network: https://linktr.ee/theignitepodcast Chapters: * 00:01 Introduction to Chuck Stormon* 01:00 Early inspiration from science fiction* 02:15 First AI chip and grad school dropout story* 04:00 Building AI for electric utilities* 06:00 Exit during the dot-com bust* 07:15 Telecom consolidation and venture backing* 08:45 Lessons from French business law* 10:30 Building high-speed global video networks* 15:30 Finding product-market fit in film tech* 20:00 Founding RushTera and early customer win* 24:00 Bootstrapping lessons and investing your own capital* 26:30 Transition into venture capital* 28:00 Starting Techstars Syracuse* 31:00 Investing in Impel.ai* 32:30 Scaling StartFast Fund II* 35:00 Case study: Patient Pattern* 36:30 Case study: Signos and personalized metabolic AI* 38:00 Case study: Credo AI and behavioral nudges* 39:00 Fund strategy and founder selection* 40:30 When to quit vs. when to persevere* 42:00 Finding early signs of product-market fit* 44:00 AI products with simple business value* 46:00 Consciousness in AI: definitions and challenges* 48:30 LLMs, intelligence, and emergent properties* 51:00 Do animals — or AIs — have souls?* 53:00 Projecting consciousness onto machines* 56:00 Quantum consciousness and anesthetics* 59:00 The unknowns of consciousness* 01:01:00 AI progress vs. human adaptability* 01:03:00 From tools to coworkers to conscious agents* 01:06:00 Hope for wisdom in superintelligence* 01:07:30 Wrap-up and where to find Chuck online Get full access to Ignite Insights at insights.teamignite.ventures/subscribe

Compliance is often treated as an afterthought in early-stage fintechs—but that mindset could be the very thing that stalls your growth. In this episode of Ignite, we sat down with Ravi de Silva, founder of DeRisk Partners and former Global Head of Compliance Testing for Financial Crimes at Citi, to talk about what founders, VCs, and even seasoned financial institutions are getting dangerously wrong about compliance today.With senior roles at JPMorgan and American Express, and now helping startups and mid-sized banks navigate global regulations, Ravi has a rare insider view—one that every fintech leader needs to hear.Here’s what stood out from our conversation:Startups Still Get Compliance WrongMany early-stage companies delay building out compliance until it’s required—usually by regulators or enterprise clients. By then, it’s reactive and expensive. Ravi sees this all the time: companies rush to assemble frameworks after landing a big deal or applying for a license. But once a company surpasses $1B in AUM, it’s already under scrutiny.Key takeaway: Build compliance into your DNA from the beginning. Strategic compliance isn’t a cost center—it’s a growth enabler.The AI Audit GapOne of the biggest blind spots Ravi warns about? The lack of explainability in AI models.Whether it’s AI-driven lending or transaction monitoring, regulators want to know:* How was the model trained?* What data was used?* Can the outcome be explained and defended?Without transparency, startups risk non-compliance—even if the model performs well technically.Pro tip: Use AI to enhance automation, but ensure human oversight on decisions. Countries like Singapore are already requiring this.Sanctions: The Silent ThreatRavi ranks sanctions compliance as the most underrated global risk today. With the geopolitical landscape shifting rapidly, new sanctions and trade restrictions can pop up overnight. Many companies unknowingly fall afoul due to indirect exposure—especially in crypto and cross-border fintech.To help clients stay ahead, DeRisk Partners provides 72-hour playbooks for sanctions response—especially in volatile regions like the Gulf.Watch out for: Secondary sanctions, export controls, and complex ownership structures that can obscure risk.Scaling Globally? Think LocallyDeRisk’s recent expansion into Lucerne, Switzerland (with offices supporting Dubai and Singapore) reflects a major trend: fintech is global, but compliance is local.From the 10% regulatory differences in every country to cultural resistance in markets like Switzerland or Asia, U.S. fintechs must localize their compliance strategy.Bottom line: Build region-specific expertise early. “It’s not a U.S. company in Switzerland,” Ravi says. “It’s a Swiss company with U.S. affiliation.”For VCs: Red Flags to WatchWhen evaluating fintechs, Ravi urges investors to look beyond product and market fit. Ask:* Is compliance integrated with the product strategy?* Who owns compliance decisions?* Is there a fractional CCO or experienced partner involved?“Partnering with a bank doesn’t absolve risk,” he warns. “If compliance is a bolt-on, not a core value—it will catch up to you.”What’s Next in Regulation?Ravi points to MiCA (Europe) and VARA (Middle East) as leading blueprints for crypto regulation. While the U.S. still lags in crypto-specific laws, bills like the Genius Act could signal a shift toward clearer frameworks.And for those hoping compliance will slow them down? Ravi disagrees: “When you’re small, it’s faster and cheaper to implement frameworks. Waiting only makes it harder.”Final ThoughtsRavi’s message is clear: compliance isn’t a checkbox—it’s a competitive advantage when built correctly.Whether you're a founder scaling fast, a VC evaluating risk, or a financial institution partnering with fintechs, the stakes are higher than ever. Strategic compliance can unlock partnerships, streamline audits, and protect long-term innovation.If you’re not thinking about this now—you’ll be forced to later.👂🎧 Watch, listen, and follow on your favorite platform: https://tr.ee/S2ayrbx_fL🙏 Join the conversation on your favorite social network: https://linktr.ee/theignitepodcastChapters:* 00:01 Intro and Ravi’s background* 01:04 Early career journey and transition into compliance* 02:38 Lessons from Citi and JPMorgan* 04:11 Founding DeRisk Partners* 05:27 Why startups delay compliance* 07:39 The AI audit gap in fintech* 09:24 Risks in sponsor bank partnerships* 11:20 Sanctions compliance and secondary exposure* 13:42 Global expansion to Switzerland, Dubai, and Singapore* 15:35 Using AI in compliance workflows* 17:34 Challenges of selling compliance globally* 20:10 Compliance red flags for VCs* 22:05 Regulatory trends: MiCA, VARA, and global crackdowns* 23:31 U.S. crypto regulation and the Genius Act* 25:08 Balancing speed and compliance in early-stage startups Get full access to Ignite Insights at insights.teamignite.ventures/subscribe

Imagine if every Zoom call, Slack thread, Google Doc, or meeting note could be automatically mined for business insights. No more Slack pings asking “What’s the status on that project?” or wasted hours hunting for that one slide buried in an old deck. That’s the future Erika Anderson is building.In a recent episode of the Ignite Podcast, Erika—co-founder and Chief Customer Officer of Storytell AI—sat down with us to talk about how she’s turning one of the most overlooked assets in any company—unstructured data—into a powerful strategic resource.Erika is no ordinary founder. Before co-founding Storytell AI, she published essays in The New York Times and Vanity Fair, ran a founder community, and developed a framework called “clean communication” to guide feedback and culture in remote teams. Now, she’s bringing that same human-first lens to AI product development.Why Unstructured Data Is a Sleeping GiantOver 80% of a company’s data is unstructured—notes, transcripts, documents, conversations—but most of it goes unused. Erika saw this problem firsthand while running a content business for founders. “Everyone was recording everything,” she says, “but no one had time to do anything with it.”That realization led to Storytell AI: a platform that doesn’t just store unstructured data but actively extracts insights from it using large language models. One major user? Paramount. Their research teams use Storytell AI to understand content performance, optimize ad sales strategies, and even identify new channels to launch—all based on internal conversations and data previously lost in silos.Making Meetings MatterStorytell AI’s value becomes obvious when you consider everyday scenarios:* A product manager wants to know what happened during two weeks of meetings while on vacation.* An executive needs to understand recent research around 90s ad inventory.* A founder wants to turn dozens of podcast transcripts and pitch decks into a book.Storytell AI makes all of this searchable, contextual, and actionable—without you having to ask a coworker for help.AI with Empathy: The Clean Communication FrameworkOne of Erika’s standout contributions isn’t just the product—it’s how she leads. Drawing from her background as a facilitator, she helped shape a company culture grounded in empathy and feedback. Her team uses a framework called “clean communication,” which maps emotions to unmet needs and encourages open dialogue during monthly all-hands meetings.It’s not about being touchy-feely—it’s about building software and teams that reflect real human behavior. “Data without narrative is just noise,” Erika says.GTM Lessons: From Curious to EvangelistErika and her team have identified a clear framework for user adoption—what they call the AI readiness scale:* Skeptics* Curious* Enthusiasts* EvangelistsTheir early adopters live in the top tiers, and Storytell AI focuses GTM efforts on people already hungry for solutions—not those still dismissing AI as “not ready.”This focus helped them avoid the common GTM anti-pattern Erika warns about: building without understanding real workflows. Her advice? Don’t demo first. Learn the process first.The Agentic Future: What’s Next for Storytell AIStorytell AI is now building toward what Erika calls an “agentic” platform. In the next version:* You won’t need to log in to get value.* Agents will proactively alert users with relevant insights.* Model routing will ensure the best LLM is selected for each task.Erika envisions a future where your unstructured data works for you, rather than the other way around.Key Takeaways* Unstructured data is your company’s most underused asset. Storytell AI helps you unlock it.* Great AI UX isn’t about showing off complexity—it’s about hiding it. Users want power without the friction.* Emotional intelligence and feedback frameworks belong in product and team design.* Don’t overinvest in custom models. Leverage foundation models and focus on better workflows.* AI shouldn’t just make you faster—it should make you smarter.👂🎧 Watch, listen, and follow on your favorite platform: https://tr.ee/S2ayrbx_fL🙏 Join the conversation on your favorite social network: https://linktr.ee/theignitepodcastChapters:* 00:01 Introducing Erika Anderson and the mission behind Storytell* 00:58 The origin story: from founder communities to unlocking unstructured data* 03:45 Why 80–90% of enterprise data remains untapped* 04:27 Paramount case study: ad sales, viewership insights, and strategic planning* 06:46 How teams use Storytell to spot missed opportunities and align faster* 09:43 From journalism to AI: applying storytelling to product building* 11:13 The Clean Communication Framework: levels of logic, emotion, and needs* 16:34 Creating humane team rituals in a remote-first startup* 18:00 Building psychological safety and empathy into culture* 20:25 Ideal Storytel users and early adopter behaviors* 22:00 AI readiness spectrum: skeptics to evangelists* 25:04 Storytel’s next evolution: agentic platform and proactive insights* 30:45 The “last 4 inches” problem of AI workflows* 33:24 LLM routing, multi-model support, and user overrides* 34:29 Usage-based pricing and access tied to user value* 36:20 Concept-first navigation and reducing manual file hunting* 39:16 Human-centered AI: linters, prompt rewriting, and feedback loops* 43:01 Biggest GTM anti-pattern: building without understanding workflows* 46:02 Structuring direct user feedback between product and engineering* 47:07 Erika’s advice for AI founders: don’t custom-train models* 49:45 Why enterprise AI adoption is still slow* 52:24 Generational and industry-wide barriers to AI usage* 53:25 How AI boosts self-efficacy and user empowerment Get full access to Ignite Insights at insights.teamignite.ventures/subscribe