In this episode of Founder Real Talk, host Glenn Solomon speaks with Edgard Capdevielle, President & CEO and Andrea Carcano, Co-founder & CPO of Nozomi Networks. They dive into the journey of pioneering industrial cybersecurity, discuss their growth from a seed-stage startup to a global leader, and reflect on the innovative techniques that set them apart. From protecting critical infrastructures like the 2024 Paris Olympics to their "Jarvis"-like software framework, this episode unpacks lessons in building a world-class team, maintaining culture, and scaling globally. Edgard and Andrea share their future aspirations and the evolving landscape of cybersecurity.KEY TAKEAWAYSEarly Focus on Mission Over Profit: Nozomi’s origin wasn’t about building a company but solving real-world industrial cybersecurity problems.Strategic Growth in Harsh Markets: Starting in heavy industries like oil, gas, and utilities gave Nozomi credibility and allowed for easier expansion into other verticals.Innovative Software Development: Their disciplined approach to architecture and agile methodologies ensures product scalability and adaptability.The Rise of Ransomware: Nozomi's solutions address critical vulnerabilities as ransomware reshapes how attackers monetize cyber incidents.Vision for Longevity: With a strong focus on sales efficiency and global expansion, Nozomi positions itself for long-term growth and potential IPO readiness.CHAPTERS00:00 Introduction to Nozomi Networks03:01 Founding Story and Early Challenges05:54 The Importance of Team Dynamics09:03 Growth and Market Potential11:59 Product Development and Innovation14:58 Understanding Industrial Control Networks17:48 Securing High-Profile Events20:54 The Rise of Industrial Cybersecurity23:47 Building a Global Company26:55 Maintaining Company Culture29:58 Future Aspirations and Closing ThoughtsRESOURCESLearn more about Notable Capital: www.notablecap.comLearn more about Nozomi Networks: https://www.nozominetworks.com CONNECTConnect with Glenn Solomon on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glennsolomon/ Follow Glenn Solomon on Twitter: https://x.com/glennsolomonConnect with Edgard Capdevielle on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edgardcapdevielle/ Follow Edgard Capdevielle on Twitter: https://x.com/capdevielle Connect with Andrea Carcano on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreacarcano/ Follow Andrea Carcano on Twitter: https://x.com/andreacarcano Produced by Saschi ProductionsMusic by Gus Culpo

In this episode of Founder Real Talk, Glenn Solomon welcomes back Rich Waldron, CEO of Tray.ai. Rich discusses how the company recently rebranded from their original name, Tray.io to mark their intensified focus on integration and automation with AI. They discuss the challenges organizations face in adopting AI and the need to be fast, flexible, and safe. Rich shares insights on customer feedback, memorable moments in the company's journey, and valuable lessons for founders and IT leaders.KEY TAKEAWAYS:A Rebrand To Support On-Going Growth: After shifting the company from Tray.io to Tray.ai, the team has aligned on a significant pivot towards AI-driven integration.AI Integration Success: For successful AI implementation, it’s crucial for companies to align on data, agility, and security. Composable Tech Stacks: IT leaders should focus on building composable tech stacks to adapt to AI changes.CHAPTERS00:00 Introduction to Tray.ai and Rich Waldron01:26 The Rebranding Journey: From Tray.io to Tray.ai05:02 Challenges of Integrating AI in Organizations07:48 Tray.ai's Unique Value Proposition10:15 Positioning as an AI-Ready iPaaS Platform12:10 Product Evolution: Introducing Merlin and AI Palette15:55 Speed and Agility in AI Implementation17:53 Security Considerations in AI Projects20:10 Customer Feedback and Adoption of AI Solutions23:27 Memorable Moments in Tray.ai's Journey27:39 Lessons Learned as a Founder30:23 Advice for IT Leaders on AI Readiness33:41 Rapid Fire Round: Fun Insights and Future VisionRESOURCESLearn more about Notable Capital: www.notablecap.comLearn more about Tray.ai: https://tray.ai/ CONNECTConnect with Glenn Solomon on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glennsolomon/ Follow Glenn Solomon on Twitter: https://x.com/glennsolomonConnect with Rich Waldron on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richwaldron/ Follow Rich Waldron on Twitter: https://x.com/richwaldron Produced by Saschi ProductionsMusic by Gus Culpo

In this episode of Founder Real Talk, host Glenn Solomon, Managing Partner at Notable Capital, sits down with LocalStack’s co-founders, Gerta Sheganaku and Waldemar Hummer, to discuss how LocalStack is revolutionizing the developer experience. LocalStack enables developers to emulate cloud environments on their local machines, drastically reducing testing times and costs while accelerating product development.Listen as Gerta and Waldemar share the journey behind LocalStack, from its humble beginnings as an open-source project to its growth into a full-fledged business with over 900 paying customers, including Fortune 100 companies. They dive into the unique challenges of cloud-based development, how LocalStack provides a faster alternative, and why speed in the development cycle—what they call “product velocity”—is crucial for innovation in tech.Glenn also explores why Notable Capital led LocalStack’s Series A funding and what makes LocalStack stand out in the crowded cloud development space.Key Topics Discussed:How LocalStack’s local cloud emulation tool saves time and cost for developersLocalStack’s journey from an open-source project to an enterprise-grade productGerta and Waldemar’s backgrounds and what led them to build LocalStackThe future of cloud development and how LocalStack plans to expand and innovateRESOURCESLearn more about Notable Capital: www.notablecap.comLearn more about LocalStack: www.localstack.cloudCONNECTConnect with Glenn Solomon on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glennsolomon/ Follow Glenn Solomon on X: https://x.com/glennsolomonConnect with Gerta Sheganaku on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gerta-sheganaku/Follow Gerta Sheganaku on X: https://x.com/Sheg_GeConnect with Waldemar Hummer on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/whummer/Follow Waldemar Hummer on X: https://x.com/w_hummerProduced by Notable CapitalMusic by Gus Culpo

Dani Grant, the Founder and CEO of Jam and former product manager at Cloudflare, shares her insights on scaling a developer-focused company. She highlights how Jam assists 150k builders in fixing bugs faster, emphasizing the critical role of community and empathy in leadership. Dani discusses the launch of the Dev Starter Pack to support aspiring founders and the importance of AI in evolving software development. Additionally, she touches on the challenges of being a first-time CEO and how user feedback shapes product roadmaps.

In a world where enterprises are moving faster than ever to adopt generative AI solutions, Patronus AI offers solutions to scalably and reliably catch mistakes and evaluate the performance of large language models (LLMs). In this episode of Founder Real Talk, host Glenn Solomon and guest host Dan Cahana sit down with AI visionaries and Patronus AI co-founders Anand Kannappan and Rebecca Qian to explore their journey from CS students at the University of Chicago to AI leadership roles at Meta and the reasons they felt compelled to start Patronus after recognizing the need for robust evaluation tools following the release of ChatGPT in late 2022.Anand and Rebecca illuminate the challenges enterprises face in adopting AI and the ways they’ve built Patronus to mitigate challenges like hallucinations and brand alignment. Against the backdrop of rapid AI adoption at large companies, the founders share their vision for creating the enterprise standard for unbiased, independent evaluations.KEY TAKEAWAYSAI Visionaries: Anand and Rebecca's extensive experience in AI and machine learning, including their time at Meta and the University of Chicago, laid the foundation for Patronus.Day -1 for AI: The founders see AI adoption as still being in the very early stages, describing it as "Day -1." Large companies are moving faster than ever to adopt AI technologies but face challenges in navigating the rapidly evolving landscape.Solving Critical AI Issues: Patronus addresses the challenges of LLMs, such as hallucinations, unexpected behavior, and brand misalignments, making AI deployment safer and more reliable for enterprises.API-First Approach: Patronus's API-first solution allows for seamless integration into various parts of the tech stack, offering flexibility and scalability for real-time and offline use cases.Enterprise Adoption: The rapid adoption of AI by enterprises, driven by the need for reliability and safety, highlights the importance and urgency of Patronus's solutions.Future of AI: Patronus describes “Scalable oversight" and how humans will learn to supervise increasingly intelligent AI systemsRESOURCES• Learn more about Notable Capital: www.notablecap.com• Learn more about Patronus AI: https://www.patronus.ai/ CONNECT• Connect with Glenn Solomon on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glennsolomon/ • Follow Glenn Solomon on Twitter: https://x.com/glennsolomon• Connect with Dan Cahana on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dancahana/ • Follow Dan Cahana on Twitter: https://x.com/dan_cahana • Connect with Anand Kannappan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anandnkannappan/ • Follow Anand Kannappan on Twitter: https://x.com/anandnk24 • Connect with Rebecca Qian on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccaqian/ • Follow Rebecca Qian on Twitter: https://x.com/rebeccatqian Produced by Saschi ProductionsMusic by Gus CulpoCHAPTERS00:00 Intro and Introductions 5:00 What does Patronus do? 6:55 What’s been some of the surprises in AI?10:00 The Patronus Product12:15 How are customers using Patronus?15:27 Why is an API-first approach important? 16:45 How did you know this was the right place to focus?19:40 Large companies of the world are moving faster than ever26:40 Into the Future: What will you look for to know that AI has been successful?29:00 How do customers plan to deploy this type of technology?32:00 AI Predictions 35:00 What motivates the Patronus founders?36:40 What advice would you give to founders looking to start a company in the AI field? 

In this episode of Founder Real Talk, Glenn Solomon welcomes the team from Coder, including CEO Rob Whiteley and technical co-founders Ammar Bandukwala and Kyle Carberry. They discuss Coder’s journey from its inception, the company’s product pivots, and its growth trajectory. Listeners will gain insights into how Coder enables developers to write code directly in the cloud, enhancing productivity and security. They’ll also learn about the strategic decisions behind Coder's open-source approach, the challenges faced, and the recent successful $35 million funding round.KEY TAKEAWAYSShift to Cloud Development: Coder allows developers to write code natively in the cloud, improving productivity and security. This shift is akin to moving from old-school word processors to modern office suites.Open Source Evolution: The company pivoted from a consumer-focused SaaS application to an open-source project, resulting in the popular Code Server and later the Coder platform, which supports team-based remote development.Product Market Fit and Customer Adoption: Coder has achieved significant traction with large enterprises and tech companies by providing a product that enhances developer productivity while maintaining security.Strategic Leadership Changes: Bringing in Rob Whiteley as CEO and Josh Epstein as CRO helped Coder focus on large enterprises, leveraging their expertise in go-to-market strategies.Future Growth and Vision: Coder's recent $35 million funding round will support further development and expansion. The company aims to capitalize on opportunities in both the VDI market and the emerging generative AI tools sector.Tune in to hear how Coder's innovative approach is reshaping software development and their plans for the future.RESOURCESLearn more about Notable Capital: www.notablecap.comLearn more about Coder: www.coder.comCONNECTConnect with Glenn Solomon on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glennsolomon/Follow Glenn Solomon on Twitter: https://x.com/glennsolomonProduced by Saschi ProductionsMusic by Gus CulpoCHAPTERS00:00 Introduction to Coder and its Founders02:54 Evolution of Coder's Product and Business Model05:07 The Decision to Build Coder as an Open Source Company08:14 Building Code Server and Transitioning to Coder10:23 The Role of Open Source in Coder's Growth13:16 Justification for Coder in Different Customer Segments15:20 Bringing in a CEO and Building a Strong Culture20:43 Building the Go-to-Market Team and Strategy22:28 Future Opportunities in the Cloud Development Market26:40 Recent Fundraise and Milestones for Coder29:20 Critical Milestones and Innovations for Coder31:30 Rob's Biggest Learning as a First-Time CEO

Adam Bain is a co-founder and managing partner at 01 Advisors, a venture and advisory firm helping founders go from building a product to building a company. In this episode, Adam highlights the similarities between his storytelling roots as a journalist and how he now backs founders as an investor. Drawing on lessons learned as Twitter’s Chief Operating Officer pre- and post-IPO, Adam also shares how those key traits—intellectual curiosity, hustle, and resilience—shape the way he supports startup founders today.

Arie Zilberstein is the CEO and co-founder of Gem, a startup that’s building a Cloud Detection and Response platform for security operations teams. In this episode, Arie recalls how his experience in the Israel Defense Forces not only shaped his outlook but also introduced him to his future co-founders: CTO Ron Konigsberg and VP of Product Ofir Brukner. Together, they’re changing the way that organizations identify and stop attacks in the cloud. Tune in for Arie’s thoughts on the technology (and psychology) of managing incident response, how Gem is leveraging generative artificial intelligence, why he believes in distributed teams, and more. This episode is co-hosted by Oren Yunger, Managing Partner at GGV Capital.

CEO Tony Holdstock-Brown and CTO Dan Farrelly are the co-founders of Inngest, a startup that’s building a serverless, event-driven workflow platform to help developers create better apps with simpler, more intuitive tools. The duo reflects on the engineering career paths that ultimately led them to meeting in a co-working space in New York City, plus hear what shifts in technology are setting the stage for Inngest, what surprising customer feedback is shaping the platform, and what opportunities lie ahead. This episode is co-hosted by GGV investor Dan Cahana.

Nicole Perlroth is an advisor to the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and the bestselling author of the 2021 book This is How They Tell Me The World Ends, a groundbreaking in-depth exploration of the global cyber arms race. Prior to that, she spent a decade as the lead cybersecurity, digital espionage and sabotage reporter at the New York Times. She’s now building her new early-stage venture fund, Silver Buckshot Ventures, which she describes as “a mission fund backing next-generation cybersecurity startups that, together, take out every tool in an attacker’s arsenal.” Fighting cyber crime requires collaboration and multiple approaches. Nicole shares stories of how she fell into the cybersecurity beat, her advisory work with the DOJ, some of the challenges with cybersecurity work, and her thoughts about how Silver Buckshot Ventures can help.