Welcome to another episode of Category Visionaries — the show that explores GTM stories from tech's most innovative B2B founders. In today's episode, we're speaking with Chris McCall, CEO & Co-Founder of Valid8, a verified financial intelligence platform that's raised $14.8 Million in funding.

Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:

• Genesis of Valid8: Chris shared the origin story of Valid8, inspired by a high-profile Ponzi scheme investigation and the need for verified financial data.
• First Customer Journey: It took two and a half years to acquire their first paying customer due to the high bar for quality and feature completeness required by accountants and lawyers.
• Market Segmentation: Valid8's primary markets are accounting, government, and legal, with accounting being the largest segment, followed by state and federal government clients.
• Marketing Philosophy: The company recently invested in marketing, focusing on a sage persona that delivers deep subject matter expertise to highly sophisticated professionals.
• Category Creation: Chris explained the emerging category of Verified Financial Intelligence (VFI), which ensures data quality and supports evidence-based professional opinions.
• Future Vision: Valid8 aims to drive transparency and efficiency in the financial system by reducing sample risk and enhancing data transparency, ultimately lowering the cost of capital.

Sponsors:

Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership.

www.FrontLines.io

The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe.

www.GlobalTalent.co