The VentureFizz Podcast

Episode 348 of The VentureFizz Podcast, sponsored by Silicon Valley Bank, features Jonathan Bensamoun, Founder & CEO of Fi. It’s crazy to think that The VentureFizz Podcast has been around since 2018 and I believe that I’ve only had one repeat guest and that founder was talking about a new company. Thus, this is the first time I am doing a follow up episode and Jonathan was my guest for Episode 110 back in 2019. I ran into Jonathan at the Lerer Hippeau summer party in NYC and as we were chatting about his business, it seemed very obvious that we needed to do a new interview. What’s cool about this episode is the format, as it is different from most of my interviews. Since we already discussed his background story in the original episode, we were able to go deeper into Fi’s business and what has happened over the past 5 years. If you are not familiar with Fi, they are the creators of the Fi Smart Dog Collar which not only has real-time location tracking, but the device also includes activity, sleep, and behavior monitoring. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * A brief overview of Jonathan’s background story and what was the inspiration behind Fi. * The latest about the Series 3 product line, plus a demo and all the cool features. * The importance of sleep tracking for your dog and how the movement to health tracking is a key piece of Fi’s strategy. * Lessons learned from retail and why a straight direct-to-consumer model is the right fit for them at this point in time. * Building out a company’s leadership team and Board of Directors. * What the fundraising process has looked like through Fi’s journey. * Creating a category and why more competition in the industry would be a good thing. * And so much more. More about our sponsor: As a longtime champion of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank supports innovative companies with the solutions and financing they need through every stage of growth. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors, and $42B in loans as of Q2 2024 – SVB delivers the right people, service and resources to support your entire financial journey. Learn more at SVB.com.

Episode 347 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Joe Caruso, Investor & Mentor. Lots of people know of Joe as an angel investor, but when I think of Joe… I think of a mentor to so many entrepreneurs and a major supporter of the Boston startup ecosystem. If you go through Joe’s portfolio of investments from his Bantam Group website, it will give a strong perspective to the depth of his connection to the Boston tech scene. This podcast interview is a bit different. We start off by talking about his role as a mentor and during that conversation, we weave in his background like leaving high school before getting his diploma and enrolling into Northeastern. He shares lots of great advice throughout the conversation. What I found to be incredibly fun was the talk down memory lane and getting to hear the inside story of some of his investments in companies like HubSpot, Constant Contact, Carbonite, and LevelUp, plus the missed opportunity with DraftKings. And one of my favorite stories actually has nothing to do with tech… he was on the board of the company that invented the Frappuccino. Oh, you think that was Starbucks? You’ll have to listen to find out…

Episode 346 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Scott Weller, CTO & Co-Founder at EnFi. The formula for a thriving tech ecosystem ideally looks something like this: * Entrepreneurial-minded person works for startups and learns a ton. Perhaps they even witness success at scale to an exit. * Said person takes lessons learned and builds their own company to an exit. * Said person then starts to mentor and invest back into the ecosystem to fund the next generation of companies. * Said person eventually finds an idea that they can’t get out of their head and launches another company. This is the case for Scott, as he was involved in tech from an early age and connected with a talented group of entrepreneurs who were building the first generation of online gaming where he witnessed a couple of exits. He then co-founded and was the CTO of SessionM which led to a successful exit to Mastercard. He was angel investing and advising companies when he and another successful entrepreneur, Josh Summers, saw a problem which was a perfect opportunity to disrupt an industry using AI. Josh has the same startup founder pedigree as he was part of the WHERE team that was acquired by PayPal and then went on to found Clypd which was acquired by Xandr. The two have come together to build a company called EnFi which recently announced $7.5M in seed funding led by Unusual Ventures with participation from Boston Seed, Argon Ventures and Impellent Ventures. EnFi is accelerating complex credit analysis and risk monitoring with AI Assistants for bank and private lending origination, underwriting, and portfolio management teams. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * A discussion about the AI landscape in the Boston tech scene. * Scott's background story and his early involvement with one of the very first Internet Service Providers called Intelecom Data Systems as a teenager. * Working at an early stage web gaming startup called Gamesville which was acquired by Lycos. * GameLogic and the early innovation of working with regulated games and the level of innovation in terms of patent creation which was acquired by Scientific Games. * Being early to market with an online video product for SMBs called SnapYap that he started with others. * The founding story of SessionM with Mark Hermann & Lars Albright and how the company evolved through the years, plus its acquisition by Mastercard and how things materialized post-acquisition. * SessionM’s involvement in building the very successful mobile app for Starbucks and its bonus & loyalty campaigns. * The background story and all the details about EnFi and how they are disrupting the market. * Common startup mistakes that he sees entrepreneurs make over and over again. * And so much more.

Episode 345 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Laura Teicher, Executive Director at FORGE. Did you know that there are over 7,000 manufacturers in the state of Massachusetts? I certainly didn’t. My gut is that most entrepreneurs think that they need to go overseas for manufacturing versus leveraging local resources. And, let’s face it, building a startup is hard but when it is a physical product… it is a whole different ballgame. However... FORGE can help. Spun out of Greentown Labs, FORGE is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that helps startups figure out some of hard stuff through the journey from physical prototype to commercialization. The organization works with startups to help them figure out how to establish and scale manufacturing to sourcing from supply chains and suppliers. FORGE has supported over 800 startups with an amazing high survival rate. So, you are probably thinking… is this an accelerator… or what’s the cost… maybe they are expecting equity from your company… nope. It’s free and their impact is massive as you’ll hear from this interview with Laura. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * The specialized and collaborative nature of the organizations that support the Boston hardtech startup ecosystem. * Laura’s professional journey including how volunteering helped open doors for her career. * All the details about FORGE in terms of how companies can get involved and how they help companies at each step along the way. * The key benefits to manufacturing locally and some of the hidden costs that can arise from offshore manufacturing. * The Valleys of Death for building physical products. * And so much more.

Episode 344 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Wardah Inam, Founder & CEO of Overjet. Building a company in an underserved industry has its pros and cons. Yes, it’s nice to have less competition and a head start, but on the flip side… it might be harder to raise funding if it isn’t a sector of interest for investors or it might even tougher to acquire customers because you have to educate the market. But… if you can build it and the market is ready… it can be magic, just like you’ll hear from Wardah’s interview. Based on a personal dental experience, she recognized a problem and embarked on a journey to build a dental AI platform which ended up being the first FDA approved solution. From detecting oral disease with unmatched precision to educating patients with clearly annotated images to getting insurance claims approved 5X faster, Overjet is the dental AI platform that lets dental professionals put patients first and operate efficiently. Back in March the company announced a $53.2 million Series C round of funding which is the largest investment ever in an AI for dentistry company and it brings the total funding to date at approximately $133M. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * Wardah’s background story including how she got started in building autonomous robot during undergrad. * Her history as an entrepreneur starting multiple companies and her early experience working with AI. * The full story of Overjet and how a lucky Uber-pool ride helped her get started in terms of building expertise in the dental industry. * All the details about the company’s platform and value, plus the current state of the state of the company. * Fundraising advice for underserved markets and how the Overjet story evolved over time. * The importance of velocity for a startup. * And so much more.

Episode 343 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Jonathan Corbin, Co-Founder & CEO of Maven AGI and our first sponsored podcast episode! Yes, please welcome Silicon Valley Bank (more info about SVB below) as a supporter of The VentureFizz Podcast. Any time I see a funding announcement for a new company, I get excited, as I’m an optimist and I hope that every company will scale and reach great milestones… but when I saw the news about Maven and how they are using Generative AI for enterprise customer experience… it was different… it was a no-brainer moment and I’m calling it now… this is going to be an anchor company in the Boston tech scene. Why? The team. They have a world-class team from HubSpot, Google, Meta, Amazon, and Stripe. Take Jonathan for example. He was the Global VP of Customer Success & Strategy at HubSpot where he led a team that was responsible for over 200,000 customers. Prior, he held leadership roles with major tech companies like Sprinklr, Marketo, Adobe, and others. He is one example of a team that is uniquely qualified to solve this problem. The problem. The use case for Generative AI at Maven just makes a world of sense and they already have early customers with amazing results which he gets into in during our discussion. Backing. In May, Maven announced that it had raised $28 million from investors Lux Capital, M13, E14 Fund, Mentors Fund and 786 Ventures, with participation from executives from OpenAI, Google, HubSpot, and Stripe. Maven is absolutely a company to keep an eye on and one of the key companies that are part of the next wave in the Boston tech scene. Oh... and they are hiring - you can check out their jobs here. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * What the fundraising process looked like for Maven. * Jonathan’s background story and a journey through his career path, plus his early entrepreneurial roots as a kid. * How he learned to lead a global organization of over 1,000 team members at HubSpot. * What led Jonathan and his two co-founders Eugene Mann and Sami Shalabi down the path of starting Maven. * All the details about Maven and the velocity they have been operating under in terms of building the platform and getting early customer adoption. * Advice for startups on building out a customer success function. * The vibe for the AI startup community in the Boston tech scene. * And so much more. Episode Sponsor: As a longtime champion of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank supports innovative companies with the solutions and financing they need through every stage of growth. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors, and $40B in loans as of Q1 2024 – SVB delivers the right people, service and resources to support your entire financial journey. Learn more at SVB.com.

Episode 342 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Matt Weinberg, Partner at Max Ventures. Did you know that there are a ton of resources available for startups from the government including non-dilutive funding? I’m talking billions of dollars are allocated to hundreds of startups every year. This is a topic that has never been discussed on The VentureFizz Podcast and Matt is uniquely qualified to speak about this topic based on his experience in the public sector, including his time at the Small Business Administration’s Office of Investment and Innovation. Matt shares some very useful information about the pros and cons of exploring this potential funding path which includes information from organizations like the National Science Foundation’s SBIR program. Today, Matt is in the private sector as a Partner at Max Ventures, an early-stage venture firm based in New York City with a global reach and a primary focus on digital health, SaaS, and digital commerce. The firm has also co-founded 8 venture backed companies. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * Matt’s background story and getting his career started in government under the Obama administration. * How his various positions in the public sector helped him take his career into venture capital. * Joining Max Ventures in the early days of the firm and how it differentiates from other VC firms in terms of both investing and incubating its own companies. * The details about The Post and Elion, two of the companies it has launched. * How to get on Matt’s radar and what he expects to get out of a first meeting. * The benefits of small group dinners and some tips for success. * And so much more.

Episode 341 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Somak Chattopadhyay, Managing Partner at Armory Square Ventures. Yes, markets like the Bay Area, NYC, and Boston get a lot of attention when it comes to building startups and having the ability to raise capital, but there are lots of other places to build a successful company. This has always been the case, but the pandemic definitely pushed this reality further. This is why a firm like Amory Square Ventures exists. There are lots of secondary markets where entrepreneurs need access to capital and it is also a very important matter for the local economy for these companies to grow and create jobs, versus relocating. Somak shares the details of what led him down the path to start Armory Square Ventures, a seed and early stage venture fund, and why their approach of investing in seconday markets has not only been a differentiator for their firm but what they also consider as an optimism engine and a community catalyst for regions outside Silicon Valley. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * Advice on how founders can push back on advice from investors. * Somak’s background story and his early career in startups. * How he landed in venture capital at Edison Ventures and Tribeca Venture Partners. * The details on what they are targeting for investments and portfolio company examples like Machinery Partner and ACV Auctions, a Buffalo company that went public. * Somak’s anti-portfolio, companies that he reviewed and an investment didn’t work out and went on to be a successful company. * Advice on building a marketplace. * And so much more.

Episode 340 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Steph Johnson, Co-Founder & CEO at Multiplayer. Steph is an inspiration. As discussed in this interview, her background might not be the prototypical tech CEO profile for a few reasons. First, she came up through the agency world and then ran comms in-house for major tech companies like DigitalOcean and MongoDB. Second, she is a female founder of a dev tools platform startup and yes, we need more female founders. And third, she has a neurological condition called Tourette Syndrome. All of these factors have ultimately given her unique skills to thrive in her current role. Multiplayer is a visual collaborative platform that makes it easy for engineering teams to design, develop, and manage distributed software. The company is venture backed and on a mission to create better ways for developers to work. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * Steph’s background story and how she got her career started with agencies in NYC. * Her decision to move in-house to run comms at DigitalOcean and MongoDB, plus what she learned at each company like the importance of a developer community. * Advice for making the shift from agency to in-house roles. * Founding Multiplayer with Tom Johnson, her Co-Founder, CTO, and husband… and why being married was a strategic advantage when they raised capital. * The details on the Mutliplayer platform and its beta release. * Advice on the storytelling element for a company building technical products. * And so much more.

Episode 339 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Andy Palmer, serial entrepreneur, seed investor, and now author. Andy is one of my OG’s, that being original guests. If you go way back into the archives of The VentureFizz Podcast, you’ll find my first interview with him for Episode #22 back in 2018. In that interview, we talk about his full background story, his career building companies like Tamr & Vertica, plus investing in companies. For this interview, Andy and I connected for a different reason. He has written a book with his co-author, Paula Caliguiri titled “Live for a Living: How to Create Your Career Journey to Work Happier Not Harder.” The two met on a Bumble date which resulted in a friendship and a collaboration for this book, which is useful at any stage of one’s career. It’s ultimately a guide to designing a life that leverages your personal values, motivators, and goals in your career. I’m a fan of audiobooks, so it was fun listening to Andy and Paula narrate the book and I have to admit, they both have great voices for it. Plus, it was cool to know some of the people that they highlight in the book like Elizabeth Lawler, CEO & Co-Founder of AppMap, who we recently on my podcast. The format of this interview is different from my normal style which was a fun change of pace. In this episode, we chat about: * How Andy got involved in AI back in the 80’s and how this is his third AI hype cycle, plus the details about his latest company called DBOS. * The inspiration behind the book. * The 5 phases of ideal careers that being: Starter Phase, Foundational Phase, High-Growth Phase, High-Focus Phase, and Give-Back Phase. We go through each phase in detail. * Why a simultaneous career path can be a benefit. * The advantages of working at startups and how it can push your career forward. * And more! There is obviously a lot more to this book than what we had the opportunity to chat about, so make sure you check it out! The title again is Live for a Living and you can find it on Amazon or the audio version Spotify or any other major outlet.