Founded & Funded

In this episode of Founded & Funded, Madrona Managing Director Karan Mehandru hosts Brian Raymond, founder and CEO of 2024 IA40 winner Unstructured. Unstructured turns raw, messy, unstructured data into something AI tools can actually process — a typically expensive and time-consuming process for companies hoping to save money with the tools themselves. Brian and Karan explore some of the biggest trends in AI, including moving from prototype to production, the rise and fall of vertical applications, the shift toward powerful horizontal solutions, whether the ROI will be there on all this capital investment into AI, and the trough of disillusionment and why expectations in AI often don't match reality. They also discuss how an unlikely source, the public sector, is driving AI innovation today. It's a conversation you won't want to miss. Full Transcript: https://www.madrona.com/prototype-to-production-ai-insights-unstructured-brian-raymond Chapters: (00:00) Introduction  (01:14) Trends in AI: From Vertical to Horizontal Solutions  (01:47) The First Mile of AI: Preprocessing and Data Ingestion  (03:43) Displacement of knowledge graphs for RAG  (06:19) The AI Stack: Layers and Competition  (08:55) Is the current level of investment in AI justified?  (11:19) The Speed of Change in AI(12:47) Public Sector vs. Private Sector Roles in AI Innovation(16:52) "Two completely incongruous narratives"(19:15) Advice for AI Entrepreneurs(21:49) Unstructured's Future

In this episode of Founded & Funded, Madrona Managing Director Tim Porter and Venture Partner Patrick Ennis host Chris Diorio, co-founder and CEO of Impinj, the pioneer and world leader in RFID technology. Patrick and Chris have known each other for more than 24 years — since Madrona and ARCH Venture Partners co-led Impinj's first round of financing in the summer of 2000. In this episode, these three reminisce about old times and share some fun stories while diving into what it takes to truly launch a new category — and the patience required by both entrepreneurs and investors when doing so. They also discuss developing new speculative technology, navigating channel partner relationships, making it through an IPO during uncertain times, and how Impinj became the least known $4.6 billion public company in Seattle. This is a must-listen for any entrepreneurs out there. Full transcript: https://www.madrona.com/perseverance-over-speed-creating-a-new-category-with-impinjs-chris-diorio Chapters: (00:00) Introduction  (02:01) Creating a category, early days of Impinj  (03:22) Pivot to RFID(04:40) Struggles and Breakthroughs(08:50) Principles and Company Culture(13:01) Struggles with RFID Standards  (14:27) Surviving and Thriving  (15:11) Adoption and Scaling Challenges (18:01) End Customer Scenarios and Partnerships (20:52) Financing Strategy and Key Partnerships(23:27) Patrick Meeting Morris Chang: A Career Highlight(24:50) Remembering Tom Alberg's Influence(27:55) The Art of Hiring and Mentorship(33:13) The Journey to IPO(36:42) Strategic Partnerships and Investments  (37:01) Company Principles and Future Outlook (38:35) Balancing Work and Life

In the latest episode of Founded & Funded, Madrona Managing Director Tim Porter hosts Pradeep Rathinam, a seasoned software executive with over three decades of leadership experience. Paddy was the Founder and CEO of Madrona portfolio company AnswerIQ, which Madrona invested in back in 2017. It was one of the early machine learning applied to SaaS companies that Madrona invested in. Paddy sold AnswerIQ in 2020 to Freshworks, where he started out as chief customer officer, helped take the company public, became chief revenue officer, and really drove a series of incredible accomplishments for Freshworks. Today, Tim and Paddy dive into that world of SaaS go-to-market. Paddy shares his experiences on how to not just grow a company, as every company needs to do, but how to grow efficiently and how that includes reducing churn, expanding accounts, and landing new logos. This is something that all go-to-market leaders and startup founders have a lot of questions about how to unlock, so it is a must-listen for founders.   View the full transcript here: https://www.madrona.com/startup-efficient-growth-gtm-pradeep-rathinam/ You can find Paddy's writings on these topics here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paddyrathinam/recent-activity/articles/ Chapters:  (00:00) Introduction (00:31) Meet Pradeep Rathinam (01:36) The AnswerIQ Journey (04:06) Joining Freshworks: Tackling Churn and Growth (05:25) Efficient Growth Strategies (06:10) Framework for Efficient Growth (09:09) Challenges and Solutions in Sales Transformation (14:12) Change Management and Organizational Alignment (17:28) New Business Development (23:01) Customer Retention Strategies (36:05) Driving Expansion Within Accounts (41:10) When to Hire a CRO

Scott Stephenson, Co-Founder and CEO of Deepgram, discusses his transition from particle physics to developing voice AI technology. He shares insights on building a developer-centric platform that enables speech-to-text solutions for over 500 companies, including NASA. The conversation dives into the challenges of moving from prototypes to practical applications, outsmarting larger tech giants, and the transformative impact of voice AI across industries. Stephenson also highlights how Deepgram differentiates itself with tailored accuracy for B2B applications.

Samar Abbas and Maxim Fateev, co-founders of Temporal, discuss their journey from tech giants like AWS and Microsoft to launching an open-source microservices platform. They delve into the challenges of balancing open-source goals with commercial success, emphasizing the importance of developer engagement. The duo shares insights on navigating AI advancements and the dynamics of building a startup team, including the transition of leadership roles and onboarding independent board members. It's a treasure trove for aspiring founders!

Madrona Partner, Chris Picardo, discusses the importance of cross-disciplinary skills and unique worldviews in founders. He highlights AI, biotech, and consumer verticals, sharing insights on innovative approaches and communication. An engaging episode for entrepreneurs seeking VC partnerships.

In this episode of Founded & Funded, Madrona Venture Partner Len Jordan sits down with Sean Muller, Founder and CEO of iSpot, to talk about the company's evolution in measuring TV advertising for both conventional and streaming platforms. Sean delves into strategic partnerships, acquisitions, and the rise of ad-supported streaming. They discuss the impact of sports on advertising, challenges for marketers in balancing investments across various channels, and the innovative strides iSpot is making with AI-driven planning and real-time data. Tune in to explore the future of TV advertising and iSpot's role in shaping it. Transcript: https://www.madrona.com/transforming-tv-advertising-ispot-sean-muller-the-role-of-ai-future-of-streaming (00:00) Introduction (01:35) The Rise of Ad-Supported Streaming (02:42) Streaming vs. Traditional TV Advertising (04:43) The Impact of Sports on Advertising  (05:51) Challenges for Modern Marketers  (06:37) Audience Differences and Interactivity  (10:40) iSpot's Evolution and Strategic Moves  (12:04) Real-Time Data and Optimization  (12:36) Planning and Programmatic Buying  (17:13) Navigating the Competitive Landscape  (22:57) Acquisitions and Integration Success  (27:23) Innovation and Future Trends

In this episode of Founded & Funded, host Coral Garnick Ducken interviews Madrona Investor Sabrina Wu for the latest Investor Spotlight. These two discuss Sabrina's transition from private equity to venture capital and the learnings that translate to building successful VC-backed startups, Sabrina’s focus on intelligent applications, and the characteristics she looks for in founders — grit, authenticity, and intellectual honesty. Sabrina also shares her approach to engaging with early-stage founders and her interests outside the office. This is a great episode for entrepreneurs interested in working with VCs.   (00:00) Introduction (00:44) Sabrina Wu's Experience at Vector Capital (02:50) Transition to Venture Capital (04:26) Focus on Intelligent Applications (05:32) Aspiring for Intelligence Newsletter (06:56) Traits of Successful Founders (09:00) Responding to Cold Emails (09:53) Recommended Books and Podcasts (10:47) Interests Outside of Work

Dev Rishi and Travis Addair, co-founders of Predibase, discuss their AI platform for developers, LoRA Land collection, and commercializing open-source projects. They highlight the challenges in AI infrastructure, the importance of fine-tuning smaller AI models, and the future outlook for Predibase. They also share advice for first-time founders in the AI space.

In this episode, Madrona Managing Director Matt McIlwain hosts David Shim, founder and CEO of Read AI. These two have known each other for over two decades, having worked together at Farecast and then Placed, which David founded in 2011. They came together again in 2021, when David started Read AI, which delivers AI solutions that make meetings, emails, and messages more valuable to teams with AI-generated summaries, transcripts, and highlights. In this episode, David and Matt examine how leveraging emerging technologies, getting engagement from multiple members of your ecosystem in the early days, and learning your way into a business model have been three themes across David's startup journeys. They explore the challenges and success of implementing AI in various categories, the benefits of using AI model cocktails for more accurate and intelligent applications, and where they see the opportunity for founders well beyond productivity AI. It's a great discussion you won't want to miss. Transcript:  https://www.madrona.com/read-ai-david-shim-efficient-meetings-intelligent-agents Chapters:      (00:00) Introduction (01:51) The Genesis of Read AI: From Concept to Reality (04:26) Leveraging Emerging Technologies: The Journey of Placed and Read AI (09:10) The Evolution of Business Models: Learning from the Market (12:13) Engagement and Distribution: Partnering with Platforms (14:07) Innovating Meeting Summaries: Read AI’s Shift to Intelligent Recaps (16:06) The Power of Model Cocktails: Enhancing AI Applications (18:03) From Zero to Growth: The Momentum of Read AI (21:06) Read AI: The Future of AI Productivity & Intelligent Agents (26:12) Exploring Product-Led Growth and Market Expansion (29:56) Horizontal v. Vertical (31:46) Gen-native v. Gen-enhanced (35:45) Importance of Model Cocktails (35:55) Opportunities for Founders