Episode 363: Jay Batson - Acquia Co-Founder & Founding CEO, Serial Entrepreneur, Investor

Episode 363 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Jay Batson, Acquia Co-Founder & Founding CEO, serial entrepreneur, investor, and mentor. Lots of people like to make predictions, especially around this time of the year. Few are right. Jay on the other hand made some bold predictions about the future in a Forrester report that he published back in 1995 called Beyond Internet Gaga and it is pretty remarkable. So what does Jay predict in 1995? Yes, the internet was emerging but these predictions were made when there were only about 35 million internet users and before the Netscape IPO. He detailed three scenarios: 1. The first was internet-based cyberattacks. 2. The second was how a younger generation would be glued to the internet (think screentime) and how it would replace the television, plus the emergence of social media, & online gaming. 3. The third was the advancement of smart appliances. It’s really amazing and as you’ll hear, Jay has a knack for seeing the future and creating businesses that capitalize on shifts in technology, some that have been widely successful or some that just didn’t hit. We chat about all of them. In this podcast, we cover: * Jay’s background story and how he got started in entrepreneurship by building a company in the energy sector. * Moving to Boston and more of his early experiences in the tech industry. * All the details about founding PingTel and its innovation in IP phones and he even pulls out one of the phones for the visual, plus his reflection on why the company didn’t succeed. * The full story of how he met Dries Buytaert (who was a guest on Episode #326) and how they co-founded Acquia together and lots of great scaling stories to unicorn status. * His role post-Acquia as a mentor and investor. Why founders should spend more time on their go-to-market strategy. * The importance of co-founder and investor alignment. * And so much more.