Category Visionaries

Minoa is pioneering the value intelligence category, helping B2B companies transform how they sell by connecting product capabilities to customer outcomes. With $2.7 million in funding, the platform enables go-to-market teams to build personalized business cases at scale and move beyond feature-selling to value-based selling. In this episode of Category Visionaries, I sat down with Max Elster, CEO and Founder of Minoa, to explore his journey from product manager at CSP Co to building a platform that bridges the disconnect between product development and go-to-market execution. Topics Discussed: Minoa's evolution from solving internal product-to-GTM communication challenges The emergence of value engineers as a new role in B2B organizations Building and co-creating the "value-based selling tools" category on G2 Leveraging customer advisory boards for evangelism and network growth The shift toward AI-powered personalization in B2B sales processes Mid-funnel optimization strategies for reducing deal drop-off rates GTM Lessons For B2B Founders: Co-create categories with platforms early: Max successfully worked with G2 to establish the "value-based selling tools" category within six months by building genuine relationships with researchers and sharing market insights consistently. He explains, "I connected with different researchers... and just shared my thoughts. I didn't have actually any idea that they could be launching this category in the near future." B2B founders should proactively engage with category-defining platforms like G2 and Gartner by sharing authentic market observations rather than pushing for category creation. Optimize for AI-powered buyer research: Max discovered that prospects increasingly use ChatGPT and Perplexity to build vendor shortlists, and these tools reference G2 as a primary source. He notes, "If you are not there, if you're not existing in your category, it's going to be hard for ChatGPT to shortlist you." B2B founders should ensure their presence in authoritative databases and directories that AI tools commonly reference, as this represents a new channel for buyer discovery. Build strategic advisory networks with equity + recognition: Max created a "Star Path Collective" of advisors incentivized with equity shares and bottles of wine for successful referrals. His approach is refreshingly simple: "Just say, hey, we're trying to build this market... are you interested?" This generates warm introductions and ongoing strategic guidance. B2B founders should systematically identify potential advisors who are already bought into their vision and offer meaningful but not overcomplicated incentive structures. Focus on mid-funnel conversion, not just top-funnel generation: Max emphasizes that many companies obsess over lead generation while ignoring massive drop-offs in the middle stages. He explains, "You can solve everything around pipeline, but if you don't get your mid funnel right... you're also going to lose." B2B founders should analyze their CRM data to identify specific drop-off points and create targeted collateral and processes to address these conversion bottlenecks rather than simply generating more leads. Leverage customers as category evangelists: Max's most successful content and growth strategies center on customer stories and insights. He advises, "The customers are the best people to tell a story about what they have achieved with your product." Rather than creating generic thought leadership, B2B founders should systematically capture and amplify customer transformation stories, which serve dual purposes of social proof and category education. Maintain founder-led sales longer with AI augmentation: Max continues doing founder-led sales while building scalable processes, noting that AI tools enable small teams to maintain high personalization at scale. He believes this approach is more sustainable than rushing to hire sales teams. B2B founders should consider extending their founder-led sales phase by leveraging AI and automation tools rather than defaulting to rapid sales team expansion.     //   Sponsors: Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership. www.FrontLines.io The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe.  www.GlobalTalent.co   //   Don't Miss: New Podcast Series — How I Hire Senior GTM leaders share the tactical hiring frameworks they use to build winning revenue teams. Hosted by Andy Mowat, who scaled 4 unicorns from $10M to $100M+ ARR and launched Whispered to help executives find their next role. Subscribe here: https://open.spotify.com/show/53yCHlPfLSMFimtv0riPyM   

Carmen Li spent decades in financial services across trading floors and data companies before spotting a massive inefficiency in the AI/compute economy. After managing global data partnerships at Bloomberg, she witnessed AI startups struggling with unpredictable compute costs that could swing their margins from healthy profits to devastating losses overnight. Drawing parallels to how airlines hedge oil prices through futures markets, Carmen realized that compute—despite being one of the fastest-growing commodities—lacked basic risk management tools. Within months of leaving Bloomberg, she built Silicon Data into the world's first GPU compute risk management platform, raising $5.7M without ever creating a pitch deck and publishing the industry's first GPU compute index on Bloomberg Terminal. Topics Discussed: The systemic problem of compute cost volatility destroying AI company margins Why compute lacks the risk management tools available in every other commodity market Building the world's first GPU compute index and benchmarking service Raising venture capital without pitch decks through product-first demonstrations Operating as a solo non-technical founder leading a team of engineers The unique buyer dynamics when selling to CTOs, portfolio managers, and AI researchers simultaneously GTM Lessons For B2B Founders: Price on value, not cost, and let customer conversations reshape your understanding: Carmen admits that every client conversation changes her valuation of the product's impact, typically making it bigger than initially thought. She prices based on the value delivered rather than cost structure. B2B founders should remain flexible in their value proposition and pricing as they learn more about customer impact through direct engagement. Product demonstrations beat pitch decks for technical buyers: Carmen raised $5.7M without ever creating a pitch deck, instead letting prospects interact directly with her product and writing a simple memo. For technical products solving complex problems, demonstrating actual capabilities often proves more effective than polished presentations. B2B founders should prioritize building working products over perfecting sales materials. Embrace being the "dumbest person in the room" for learning velocity: Carmen describes consistently being the least technical person in rooms full of CTOs, AI researchers, and GPU experts, but leverages this as a learning advantage. She asks hard questions and co-creates products on the fly based on these conversations. B2B founders should view knowledge gaps as opportunities for rapid learning rather than weaknesses to hide. Target systemic problems that span multiple sophisticated buyer types: Silicon Data serves everyone from chip designers to hedge funds to AI companies, requiring Carmen to handle technical GPU questions, financial modeling queries, and AI workflow concerns in single meetings. This breadth creates natural expansion opportunities and defensibility. B2B founders should look for problems that affect multiple stakeholder types within their target market. Leverage unique background intersections to spot obvious-but-overlooked opportunities: Carmen's combination of financial services expertise and data company experience let her quickly identify that compute needed the same risk management tools available in every other commodity market. The solution was "extremely intuitive" to her but invisible to others. B2B founders should examine how their unique background combinations reveal opportunities others might miss.   //   Sponsors: Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership. www.FrontLines.io The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe.  www.GlobalTalent.co   //   Don't Miss: New Podcast Series — How I Hire Senior GTM leaders share the tactical hiring frameworks they use to build winning revenue teams. Hosted by Andy Mowat, who scaled 4 unicorns from $10M to $100M+ ARR and launched Whispered to help executives find their next role. Subscribe here: https://open.spotify.com/show/53yCHlPfLSMFimtv0riPyM   

Spot AI is pioneering the transformation from traditional video surveillance to intelligent video AI agents that can monitor, analyze, and respond to events in the physical world. With $93 million in funding, the company has evolved from providing simple camera management to building AI security guards and operational agents that can process hundreds of video feeds simultaneously, take autonomous actions, and augment human workers in manufacturing, retail, and security roles. In this episode of Category Visionaries, I sat down with Sudarshan Bhatija, Co-Founder and COO of Spot AI, to explore the company's journey from video surveillance to video AI agents and their vision for physical AI. Topics Discussed: Spot AI's evolution from video surveillance to video intelligence to video AI agents The shift from IT-focused security tools to operations-wide business applications How AI agents can monitor hundreds of camera feeds and take autonomous actions The role of customer feedback in driving product development and market expansion Marketing philosophy focused on authenticity and customer outcomes Building high-performing marketing teams based on capability over experience The future of physical AI and AI agents with "eyes, hands, and legs" GTM Lessons For B2B Founders: Capture existing demand and redirect to your category: Spot AI initially targeted customers searching for "video surveillance" but converted them by demonstrating superior value in video intelligence and operational insights. Sudarshan explained that customers "are still married to the old category and starts looking for that, but the subset of customers that wants more" responds to messaging around deeper insights and operational outcomes. B2B founders should identify customers searching for legacy solutions who are actually underserved by existing categories and ready for innovation. Let customer demand pull you upmarket and into new use cases: Rather than forcing expansion, Spot AI allowed existing customers to drive their evolution into higher-value AI agent applications. Sudarshan noted, "customers proactively pulling us into higher value use cases, pulling us up market, and basically the demand has already been created and we've been responding to that." B2B founders should build strong customer listening mechanisms and let proven demand from existing customers guide product development and market expansion. Build an early organic acquisition engine around category transition: Spot AI captured significant early growth by ranking for legacy category searches while converting visitors with next-generation messaging. They "built an organic strategy on Google to be able to acquire a lot of these leads" searching for video surveillance but presented solutions for video intelligence. B2B founders in evolving categories should dominate SEO for legacy terms while using landing pages and demos to educate prospects about superior alternatives. Hire marketing talent based on "can do" over "has done": Sudarshan emphasized that marketing success comes from "the ability to learn really fast and are deeply, you know, take strong ownership of their outcomes" rather than just experience. He found that "people who have the right bent of mind, the marketing bent of mind, but just have really high horsepower" outperform resume-based hires. B2B founders should prioritize intellectual curiosity, ownership mentality, and learning velocity when building marketing teams. Develop authentic, customer-centric marketing that speaks human-to-human: Spot AI's marketing philosophy centers on "focusing all our efforts on high value customer outcomes" and "authenticity" rather than "manicured" corporate messaging. Sudarshan noted that even in B2B, "you're selling to a business, but you're actually selling to a person." B2B founders should embrace authentic, conversational marketing that addresses real customer problems rather than polished but generic corporate communications.     //   Sponsors: Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership. www.FrontLines.io The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe.  www.GlobalTalent.co   //   Don't Miss: New Podcast Series — How I Hire Senior GTM leaders share the tactical hiring frameworks they use to build winning revenue teams. Hosted by Andy Mowat, who scaled 4 unicorns from $10M to $100M+ ARR and launched Whispered to help executives find their next role. Subscribe here: https://open.spotify.com/show/53yCHlPfLSMFimtv0riPyM 

Climate change isn't just an environmental issue—it's a market opportunity waiting to be captured. Invert, a carbon reduction and removal company, has raised $26 million to transform how companies think about nature-based investments. Starting from a villa in Antigua during COVID lockdowns, co-founder and CEO Andre Fernandez has built a business that's helping companies put nature on their balance sheets as an accretive investment. In this episode, Andre shares the tactical decisions that took Invert from a cottage conversation between friends to a cash-flow positive business serving some of the largest buyers in the carbon credit space. Topics Discussed: Transitioning from mining focus to broader industry verticals based on market readiness Building customer-centric product development in a complex, non-fungible market Navigating the shift from Carbon Markets 1.0 to premium Carbon Markets 2.0 Balancing direct B2B sales with broker/trader distribution channels Leveraging network effects and domain expertise for customer acquisition Managing long sales cycles in annual purchasing environments Educating buyers in a market where 75% lack dedicated due diligence teams GTM Lessons For B2B Founders: Start with network advantages, then expand strategically: Andre's team began in mining because they had a strong network of mining engineers from Queen's University, one of only two Canadian schools with mining engineering programs. However, they quickly discovered mining was 2-4 years behind other industries in decarbonization readiness. The lesson: leverage your network for initial traction, but don't let it constrain your market expansion. Use early success to identify industries that need your solution today, not in 2-4 years. Build customers into your business from day one: Invert's most important GTM decision was starting with customer input before building anything. Andre emphasized: "We don't build things that we want. We build our customers into our business. Whenever we're developing something new, we ask them for feedback. Sometimes we lock up the contract before we've actually developed the project or the product." This approach reduces market risk and ensures product-market fit from the outset. Navigate complex markets with education-first marketing: In markets where 75% of companies lack dedicated teams for due diligence, marketing must serve dual functions: education and simplification. Andre noted that carbon credits aren't fungible—buyers care about jurisdiction, social impact, biodiversity protection, and other project-specific attributes. Founders in complex B2B markets should design marketing to educate while simultaneously streamlining the buying process for overwhelmed buyers. Pivot distribution strategy based on market liquidity: Initially focused purely on direct B2B relationships, Invert learned that in markets with lower liquidity, partnering with brokers and traders accelerates growth. Andre explained: "Carbon credits is a 12-month at least buying cycle because it's annual, so it takes a lot of time. If you have a network of people who already have those relationships in place and they have buyers who are ready to buy, they can introduce you as a credible counterparty." When your sales cycles are long, leverage existing relationships rather than building everything from scratch. Differentiate through execution, not just messaging: As the carbon credit market matured, Andre observed that "everybody's talking about quality or high integrity. No longer is high integrity or quality just the differentiator." Invert's competitive advantage shifted to actual execution—developing projects, investing balance sheet capital, achieving cash flow positivity, and demonstrating results with large buyers. In maturing markets, operational excellence becomes the key differentiator when messaging parity emerges.   //   Sponsors: Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership. www.FrontLines.io The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe.  www.GlobalTalent.co   //   Don't Miss: New Podcast Series — How I Hire Senior GTM leaders share the tactical hiring frameworks they use to build winning revenue teams. Hosted by Andy Mowat, who scaled 4 unicorns from $10M to $100M+ ARR and launched Whispered to help executives find their next role. Subscribe here: https://open.spotify.com/show/53yCHlPfLSMFimtv0riPyM     

Anagram is pioneering a new approach to security awareness that treats employees as assets rather than liabilities. With $10 million in funding, the company is reimagining how organizations address their most significant security vulnerability: human error. In this episode of Category Visionaries, we spoke with Harley Sugarman, Founder and CEO of Anagram, about his journey from venture capitalist to founder and how he's challenging decades of ineffective security awareness training with a human-driven security platform that drives real behavior change. Topics Discussed: The fundamental problems with traditional security awareness training How AI is amplifying attackers' capabilities and the need for better human defenses Anagram's approach to personalized, puzzle-based, and in-the-moment security training The shift from treating humans as "risks to be mitigated" to valuable security assets Founder-led marketing strategies in the security industry Pivoting from security professional training to broader security awareness GTM Lessons For B2B Founders: Identify opportunities where market perception doesn't match reality: Harley noticed a massive gap between what CISOs considered their biggest vulnerability (human error) and how they addressed it (outdated, ineffective training). "If you ask 100 CISOs where an attack will come from, 90-95 will say one of their people will click on a phishing link," yet solutions remained antiquated. This disconnect signaled an opportunity to create a truly differentiated product. B2B founders should look for areas where customer actions don't align with their stated priorities, as these represent prime opportunities for innovation. Frame your solution to break industry paradigms: Rather than accepting the industry framing of "human risk management," Harley positioned Anagram around "human-driven security" — shifting from seeing employees as liabilities to valuable assets. "I hate that framing so much because it puts the onus on the human," he explained. "What I have been trying to frame our company around is this idea of human-driven security, which is taking humans and making them a line of defense." This reframing helps differentiate Anagram from competitors and resonates more positively with both security leaders and end users. Use data to overcome status quo inertia: In industries with deeply entrenched practices, the biggest challenge is often skepticism about whether a new approach can actually work. Harley's solution? Let the data make the case. "For us, we are very insistent on looking at the data showing customers, 'Hey, before you introduced us, this is the number of incidents you were seeing. After you introduced us, this is the number of incidents you're seeing.' And I think that's ultimately the thing that changes minds." Data-driven results help overcome the "it's always been this way" mindset that can derail innovative B2B solutions. Employ a land-and-expand strategy for complex purchases: Anagram uses a methodical approach to win over skeptical buyers: "We very much take a land and expand strategy where we'll go in, augment a specific part of the program, show them that this is actually making a meaningful difference in the data, and then that becomes a very easy business case." For B2B founders selling complex or paradigm-shifting solutions, demonstrating tangible value in a limited implementation can pave the way for broader adoption throughout the organization. Don't dismiss "old school" outreach tactics: Despite the emphasis on modern marketing techniques, Harley found success with traditional outbound methods: "So far, it has been pretty much exclusively outbound. So emails, LinkedIn, cold calling...which still works, by the way. I was shocked." B2B founders, particularly those targeting enterprise customers outside the tech bubble, should remember that traditional outreach methods can still be highly effective even when they seem outdated in startup circles. Embrace personal branding with authenticity: After initially feeling uncomfortable with founder-led marketing, Harley found success by finding an authentic voice while taking inspiration from founders like PostHog's James Hawkins. "It does feel cringy. I hate most social media things... It was very much an intentional decision to step out of my comfort zone." By focusing on engagement metrics rather than personal comfort, Harley discovered that his personal content consistently outperformed company posts. B2B founders should measure the results of their personal branding efforts rather than judging them solely on comfort level. Know when to pivot quickly: Perhaps Harley's most critical decision was recognizing when their initial product wasn't gaining traction and pivoting decisively: "The biggest decision that we made was pivoting... I'm really proud of the fact that we very quickly made the decision to basically throw away all this work that we had done and move into this more general purpose awareness tool." B2B founders should be willing to abandon their original vision when market signals indicate a better opportunity, even if it means discarding substantial work.   //   Sponsors: Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership. www.FrontLines.io The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe.  www.GlobalTalent.co   //   Don't Miss: New Podcast Series — How I Hire Senior GTM leaders share the tactical hiring frameworks they use to build winning revenue teams. Hosted by Andy Mowat, who scaled 4 unicorns from $10M to $100M+ ARR and launched Whispered to help executives find their next role. Subscribe here: https://open.spotify.com/show/53yCHlPfLSMFimtv0riPyM     

Craig Letton has transformed the beverage industry's approach to marketing with hyble, a martech platform that has grown from under $1 million to nearly $20 million in annual revenue in just seven years. With only $8 million raised across three funding rounds, hyble has achieved remarkable capital efficiency while expanding from Scotland to become a global player serving major beverage companies worldwide. In this episode, Craig shares how his experience in the family print business led to identifying a critical need in the beverage industry: a solution that helps salespeople create high-quality marketing materials in minutes instead of days or weeks. Topics Discussed: hyble's evolution from a family print business to a global martech platform for the beverage industry How Craig identified a market need from personal experience in field sales The challenges and strategies of winning a contract with the largest wine and spirits distributor in the U.S. Why Craig relocated his life from Scotland to Boston after winning a game-changing contract The impact of changing consumption trends in the alcohol industry hyble's approach to growth through international expansion and adjacent verticals     //   Sponsors: Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership. www.FrontLines.io The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe.  www.GlobalTalent.co   //   Don't Miss: New Podcast Series — How I Hire Senior GTM leaders share the tactical hiring frameworks they use to build winning revenue teams. Hosted by Andy Mowat, who scaled 4 unicorns from $10M to $100M+ ARR and launched Whispered to help executives find their next role. Subscribe here: https://open.spotify.com/show/53yCHlPfLSMFimtv0riPyM     

Realtime Robotics is transforming manufacturing through AI-powered robotics automation, having raised $70 million to build a SaaS platform that enables system integrators to deploy robotic solutions in half the time with half the labor. In this episode of Category Visionaries, we sat down with Peter Howard, CEO of Realtime Robotics, to explore his journey from multiple successful IPOs to tackling one of manufacturing's most persistent challenges: making robotics deployment economically viable and operationally reliable. Topics Discussed: The evolution from hardware-based robotics solutions to cloud-based SaaS platforms Realtime Robotics' position within the product lifecycle management software category The gap between robotics hype and production reality in manufacturing environments Strategic pivots and market repositioning based on customer feedback and industry resistance The challenge of selling transformational technology to risk-averse manufacturing organizations Deterministic AI for robotics versus probabilistic AI for language models

  Persana AI is transforming how B2B teams handle go-to-market operations by unifying fragmented data sources and deploying intelligent agents to automate complex workflows. With $2.3 million in funding and a growing community of 6,000 sales professionals, Persana has evolved from a simple email personalization tool to a comprehensive agentic platform that helps companies identify, reach, and convert their ideal prospects. In this episode of Category Visionaries, we sat down with Rush Shahani, Co-Founder and CTO of Persana AI, an agentic platform that helps B2B teams move faster and close more deals by automating the most complex parts of go-to-market execution. Persana connects and reasons over hundreds of fragmented data sources — like CRMs, enrichment tools, hiring signals, and intent data — and uses LLM-powered agents to automate workflows such as prospecting, lead scoring, and sales outreach. What used to take sales and marketing teams weeks of manual work now happens in seconds, helping teams turn insights into action and convert pipeline faster. Rush is also the author of the upcoming book “LLM Reliability” with Manning Publications, where he shares practical strategies for making large language models dependable in real-world use cases — from reducing hallucinations to improving execution accuracy.   Topics Discussed: Persana's evolution from LinkedIn search platform insights to comprehensive B2B orchestration The shift from email personalization to predictive prospect identification and data unification How reinforcement learning creates customized AI models for each company's unique sales motion Building strategic partnerships with data providers to create a unified orchestration layer The company's approach to combating negative perceptions around AI SDR tools Persana's vision to become the operating system for all B2B go-to-market processes   GTM Lessons For B2B Founders: Focus on data quality over feature quantity: Rush emphasized that their breakthrough came when they realized "the moat wasn't in the personalization. The moat was actually being able to predict who is the right account to reach to, who are the right people to reach out to." Rather than competing on email generation features, Persana built their competitive advantage around superior data aggregation and intelligent prospect identification. B2B founders should prioritize building defensible moats around data quality and prediction accuracy rather than adding more surface-level features. Scale existing sales motions rather than replacing them: Persana takes a fundamentally different approach from typical AI SDR tools by focusing on amplifying what already works. As Rush explained, "We take your existing team's motion and then scale that to what you would have a team of 20 do." This approach preserves the human expertise and proven processes while automating the execution at scale. B2B founders should design AI tools that enhance and scale proven human workflows rather than attempting to replace them entirely. Build win-win partnership ecosystems: Persana's growth has been largely driven by strategic partnerships with data providers, where both sides benefit from the relationship. Rush noted, "You gotta think about how do you actually help your revenue, but you want to make sure they are getting the benefit of also being on Persana. We're giving them that visibility." Rather than viewing data providers as vendors, they created a partner ecosystem where each provider gains distribution and visibility through the Persana platform. B2B founders should structure partnerships as mutual value creation rather than transactional relationships. Leverage reinforcement learning for company-specific AI models: Unlike generic AI tools, Persana builds customized models for each client through reinforcement learning. Rush explained, "Through reinforcement learning we're actually able to take that data in. And as you continue using Persana, the more emails you send, the more outreach data we have... we're able to capture that data, make sense of it just for your company." This creates increasing value over time and stronger customer lock-in. B2B founders should consider how their AI tools can learn and adapt specifically to each customer's unique context and data patterns. Use community and social proof for organic growth: Persana has built a 6,000-person Slack community and leverages customer-generated content for growth. Rush noted, "There's some people that have made courses on how to use Persana that drives tons of traffic. So just building that organic ecosystem." They also created a certification program for GTM advisors who can sell Persana to their clients. B2B founders should invest in community building and enable customers to become advocates and educators for their platform.  

Ethos is revolutionizing training and education with their adaptive readiness platform, which transforms passive learning materials into interactive, engaging lessons. With over $34 million in funding, Ethos has expanded from elite athletics to serving 40+ Department of Defense customers across Air Force, Space Force, Navy, and Marine Corps, while also developing a substantial commercial presence. In this episode of Category Visionaries, I spoke with Sasha Seymore, Co-Founder of Ethos, about the company's journey from a basketball playbook solution to becoming a critical technology partner for military readiness and corporate training. Topics Discussed:   Ethos' evolution from a sports team training tool to a defense technology company The AI-powered platform that converts passive materials into interactive "Rosetta Stone-like" training experiences How Ethos reduced failure rates by 50% at military training facilities, saving millions The changing perception of defense tech in Silicon Valley Navigating the complex Department of Defense procurement system The critical need for modernizing military training technology Expanding from DoD contracts to commercial applications in life sciences and manufacturing Ethos' vision for creating comprehensive knowledge and competency mapping systems   GTM Lessons For B2B Founders: Cross-sector application thinking is powerful: Sasha and his co-founder identified how learning methodologies that worked in athletics could apply to military training and beyond. B2B founders should regularly explore how their core technology could create value in adjacent or seemingly unrelated sectors, as the principles that make a solution effective in one domain often translate to others when properly adapted. Leverage educational institutions' innovation programs: Ethos used Stanford's "Hacking for Defense" program to validate their solution with real military stakeholders, accelerating their entry into the defense sector. B2B founders should identify and participate in specialized innovation programs that connect startups with enterprise customers for rapid problem validation and relationship building. Traditional marketing doesn't work in non-traditional markets: For DoD sales, Ethos discovered that LinkedIn ads and conventional outreach failed; instead, credibility came from demonstrating excellence and leveraging senior advisors who understood the ecosystem. B2B founders entering specialized markets should identify the unique information channels and trusted sources that decision-makers rely on rather than applying standard marketing playbooks. Revenue split strategy between government and commercial: Ethos maintains a 70% DoD and 30% commercial revenue split, with plans to move toward 50/50. Their approach of proving technology in one sector before expanding provides multiple growth paths and resilience against market fluctuations. B2B founders should consider how maintaining presence in multiple sectors can provide both stability and expansion opportunities. Balance innovation with insider knowledge: When entering complex markets like defense, Ethos found success by pairing their innovative technology with advisors who understood the internal workings and procurement processes. B2B founders need both breakthrough products and industry-specific expertise to navigate specialized markets effectively.   // Sponsors: Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership. www.FrontLines.io The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe.  www.GlobalTalent.co   // Don't Miss: New Podcast Series — How I Hire Senior GTM leaders share the tactical hiring frameworks they use to build winning revenue teams. Hosted by Andy Mowat, who scaled 4 unicorns from $10M to $100M+ ARR and launched Whispered to help executives find their next role. Subscribe here: https://open.spotify.com/show/53yCHlPfLSMFimtv0riPyM     

Atlas Invest is revolutionizing real estate financing as a marketplace connecting borrowers with institutional investors. With $13 million in funding, the platform provides an alternative to inefficient traditional lending models by offering borrowers quick, simple financing while enabling investors to access what Tal calls "the holy grail of asset classes" - real estate-backed bridge loans. In this episode of Category Visionaries, we sat down with Tal Shahar, CEO and Co-Founder of Atlas Invest, to discuss his journey from military special forces officer to venture capitalist to founder, and how Atlas is building a platform that delivers superior returns to investors while providing crucial financing for real estate developers. Topics Discussed: Tal's experience as an officer in Israeli special forces and how it shaped his approach to entrepreneurship The transition from venture capital at Deep Insight to founding Atlas Invest How Atlas addresses inefficiencies in real estate bridge loan financing through technology The platform's dual-sided marketplace connecting borrowers and institutional investors Atlas's ability to generate 12% net IRR for investors compared to traditional funds' 8% Strategies for building both sides of a marketplace business simultaneously The challenges of securing the first deals that validated the business model Atlas's approach to brand building and marketing experiments in the real estate space The evolving vision to become the go-to platform for all real estate financing needs   GTM Lessons For B2B Founders: Exercise disciplined due diligence in your own ventures: Before leaving his VC position, Tal created a comprehensive due diligence list and spent six months validating Atlas's potential during nights and weekends. B2B founders should apply the same rigorous validation processes to their own ideas that VCs would use, testing assumptions methodically before fully committing resources. Leverage market disruptions as entry points: Atlas launched during a period of rising interest rates when banks were pulling back from lending, creating an opportunity for new entrants. As Tal explained, "When we started Atlas, it was a crazy market environment... that actually enabled us to step into the market when each side was okay with us not having a lot of the other side." B2B founders should identify and exploit market dislocations that weaken incumbent advantages. Build marketplaces by continuously balancing both sides: Rather than solving the chicken-and-egg problem once, Atlas constantly rebalances supply and demand. Tal noted, "We're continuously balancing... Sometimes the challenging part is the deal flow, sometimes it's the investors. If it was always only one, maybe it's not the best product-market fit." The shifting nature of the challenge is actually a positive signal for marketplace businesses. Use white-glove service to win initial customers: For Atlas's first deals, personal relationships and exceptional service were critical. "It was a lot of white glove service... we're selling basically enterprise in a way," Tal shared. The team did "whatever it takes to win it, to make it successful." B2B founders should be prepared to deliver extraordinary service to early customers, especially in high-value transactions where trust is paramount. Test marketing channels empirically, not based on assumptions: Atlas discovered that LinkedIn performed poorly for their paid campaigns while Meta worked well, contrary to expectations for a B2B financial service. "I'm a big believer of not relying on our assumptions... always using data to make the decision," Tal emphasized. B2B founders should start with small tests across multiple channels, measure results objectively, and periodically retest channels that previously underperformed.     //   Sponsors: Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership. www.FrontLines.io The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe.  www.GlobalTalent.co   // Don't Miss: New Podcast Series — How I Hire Senior GTM leaders share the tactical hiring frameworks they use to build winning revenue teams. Hosted by Andy Mowat, who scaled 4 unicorns from $10M to $100M+ ARR and launched Whispered to help executives find their next role. Subscribe here: https://open.spotify.com/show/53yCHlPfLSMFimtv0riPyM