The Social Radars Founder Mode: Christina Cacioppo, Founder & CEO, Vanta
18 snips
Sep 16, 2025 
Christina Cacioppo, Founder and CEO of Vanta, shares insights on navigating the challenges of building trust and compliance in business. She delves into 'Founder Mode' and her unconventional choice to delay fundraising until Vanta achieved $100 million in ARR, defying traditional VC expectations. Christina discusses the early days of transforming spreadsheets into viable products and the balance of delegation versus control as a leader. Her experiences emphasize the importance of intuition in decision-making and the rewarding nature of enjoying the entrepreneurial journey.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Spreadsheet Prototype Validated Product-Market Fit
- Christina built Vanta's first product as a no-code spreadsheet prototype by sitting in YC customers' offices and standardizing SOC 2 reports.
- She validated the approach by iterating the spreadsheet with other startups to confirm standardization worked.
From Spreadsheet To Billion-Dollar Company
- Vanta grew from a spreadsheet prototype to serving 12,000 customers and employing 1,000 people globally.
- Christina announced a Series D valuing the company at $4.15 billion.
Founder Mode Is Permission To Lead Your Way
- Founder Mode means giving yourself permission to run the company the way you want over a long, hard journey.
- Christina frames it as making the company enjoyable so you can persist through inevitable difficulties.
