#347: Andrew Berman of Vowel, on Growing Organically via Twitter, Building Remote-First Company Culture, and Taking on Legacy Brands
Release Date: 11/10/2022
How Delphi Raised $16M from Sequoia to Build Digital Minds with Dara Ladjevardian (Just Go Grind Episode #369)
Just Go Grind
Episode 369: Justin Gordon interviews Dara Ladjevardian, Founder and CEO of Delphi, a company that creates a digital you - available 24/7 for coaching, Q&A, education, and more. Learn more about Delphi: Watch this episode and others on . Thank you to our sponsor, Relay Human Cloud! Find your next team member in minutes with Relay Human Cloud. Offshore talent, in Relay Human Cloud's offices, dedicated to you. Save up to 75% on labor costs while improving the quality of life for your team. Use code LAGRIND for $500 off every resource every year. Learn more about Relay Human...
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How Boardy Raised $8M on Its Own Platform with Founder Andrew D'Souza (Just Go Grind Episode #368)
Just Go Grind
Episode 368: Justin Gordon interviews Andrew D'Souza, Founder and CEO of Boardy, an AI Super Connector that helps you get the right introduction at the right time. Boardy raised an $8M seed round early in 2025, just months after announcing a $3M pre-seed round. Learn more about Boardy: Watch this episode and others on . Thank you to our sponsor, Relay Human Cloud! Find your next team member in minutes with Relay Human Cloud. Offshore talent, in Relay Human Cloud's offices, dedicated to you. Save up to 75% on labor costs while improving the quality of life for your team. Use code...
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0 to $9.5M Series A: Inside Guidesly’s Journey with David Lord (Just Go Grind Episode #367)
Just Go Grind
Episode 367: Justin Gordon interviews David Lord, Founder of Guidesly, the platform for booking the world's best outdoor trips and activities. Learn more about Guidesly: Applications now open for 43North, the accelerator David went through with Guidesly: Watch this episode and others on . --- Connect with Justin: Twitter: Instagram: LinkedIn: --- What Justin is working on: Just Go Grind Newsletter: The LA Grind Local Newsletter: Newsletter Founder Course & Community: Running (Strava): Hiring: Scouting:
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How 43North Built a $5M-Per-Year Startup Accelerator in Buffalo (Just Go Grind, Episode #366)
Just Go Grind
Episode 366: Justin Gordon interviews Colleen Heidinger, President of 43North, a pioneering startup competition and venture program focused on building Buffalo into a thriving center for innovation and entrepreneurship. invests $5 million annually in companies that relocate to Buffalo through its immersive accelerator program. Applications now open: Watch this episode and others on . --- Show Notes: 00:00 What’s coming in the episode… 00:23 Introduction 01:01 What is 43North? 03:27 The early days of 43North 07:08 Covid days at 43North 09:14 Admission process 16:02 Getting the...
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How Mehul Nariyawala Built Matic, the Smartest Home Robot Vacuum (Just Go Grind, Episode #365)
Just Go Grind
Episode 365: Justin Gordon interviews Mehul Nariyawala, Co-Founder of Matic Robots, about his experience building two successful venture-backed startups, Flutter and Matic. Learn more about , the world’s most advanced floor cleaner. Watch this episode and others on . --- This episode is brought to you by . With Rho, founders get: A single pane of glass they can use to run and scale their business from Day 1: Bank account, corporate cards to start running – and expense management, bill pay automation, and accounting to help you move fast as you scale. Rho is...
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How to Actually Scale a Startup, From a Founder Who Did It 3x (Just Go Grind, Episode #364)
Just Go Grind
Episode 364: Justin Gordon interviews Waseem Daher, Co-Founder of Pilot, about his experience as a 3x founder building a startup that's raised $150M+ in venture capital. Check out the . Watch this episode and others on . --- This episode is brought to you by . With Rho, founders get: A single pane of glass they can use to run and scale their business from Day 1: Bank account, corporate cards to start running – and expense management, bill pay automation, and accounting to help you move fast as you scale. Rho is trusted by thousands of companies ranging from...
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How Abdul Al-Asaad of Basic Capital is Building a New 401(k) (Just Go Grind, Episode #363)
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Episode 363: Justin Gordon interviews Abdul Al-Assad, co-founder and CEO of Basic Capital, about how he created the startup solution to finance investments and close the American ownership gap. Check out . Watch this episode and others on . --- This episode is brought to you by . With Rho, founders get: A single pane of glass they can use to run and scale their business from Day 1: Bank account, corporate cards to start running – and expense management, bill pay automation, and accounting to help you move fast as you scale. Rho is trusted by thousands of companies...
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Building a $100M+ home services empire with Jeremy Yamaguchi (Just Go Grind, Episode #362)
Just Go Grind
Episode 362: Justin Gordon interviews Jeremy Yamaguchi, founder of Lawn Love and Cabana Pools, about how he built and grew several “high-suck” companies in the home services industry. Check out Jeremy's company, . Watch this episode and others on . --- This episode is brought to you by . With Rho, founders get: A single pane of glass they can use to run and scale their business from Day 1: Bank account, corporate cards to start running – and expense management, bill pay automation, and accounting to help you move fast as you scale. Rho is trusted by thousands of...
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Zero to $80M in 4 years with John Andrew Entwistle of Wander (Just Go Grind, Episode #361)
Just Go Grind
Episode 361: Justin Gordon interviews John Andrew Entwistle, Founder and CEO of Wander, about how he built a luxury travel business at the age of 23. Book a Wander with inspiring views, hotel-grade amenities, dreamy beds, top-tier cleaning, and 24/7 concierge service. It’s a vacation home, but better: Watch this episode and others on . --- This episode is brought to you by . With Rho, founders get: A single pane of glass they can use to run and scale their business from Day 1: Bank account, corporate cards to start running – and expense management, bill pay automation, and...
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How Nick Huber Built a $100M+ Empire with "Unsexy" Businesses (Just Go Grind, Episode #360)
Just Go Grind
Episode 360: Justin Gordon interviews Nick Huber, entrepreneur, investor, and author of "The Sweaty Startup", about how he built three thriving companies and a well-known online brand. Link to buy Nick's book on Amazon: --- This episode is brought to you by . With Rho, founders get: A single pane of glass they can use to run and scale their business from Day 1: Bank account, corporate cards to start running – and expense management, bill pay automation, and accounting to help you move fast as you scale. Rho is trusted by thousands of companies ranging from two-person YC...
info_outlineAndrew Berman is the Co-Founder and CEO of Vowel, the world's first complete meeting solution designed to make every meeting more inclusive and worthwhile – before, during, and after. Vowel is a collaboration platform that makes meetings searchable, shareable centers of knowledge for your business. By redefining what data capture is capable of, they are optimizing the potential of every team.
They are a remote-first company whose 20+ employees span four continents. Their team is made up of engineers, designers, inventors, entrepreneurs and security experts – from leading organizations like Google, Bridgewater, Nanit, Airbnb, Casper, Recombine and others. They’re building both an inclusive product and an inclusive team that celebrates diverse cultures and backgrounds.
Andrew’s inspiration is to apply new technology to build products that can touch millions of people in ways that were impossible before. He is also the founder of Nanit, the first camera to track human behavior (the leading baby monitor), an experienced investor from seed to LBO stages (Silicon Valley, NY and other markets), and an active and experienced angel investor (with investments in SaaS, Security, Healthcare, Consumer and CV/AI).
Use coupon code: JUSTGOGRIND for 3 months free of unlimited seats on Vowel's Pro plan (monthly only)!
Topics Covered by Andrew Berman in this Episode
- How vowel is creating instant searchable, shareable knowledge through a modern video conferencing tool
- Andy's journey to founding Vowel
- How the idea for Vowel stemmed from Nanit’s pain points as a distributed team
- Early distribution and organic growth through Twitter
- How Vowel’s original use-cases have expanded naturally and leaning into user-led product development
- Giving their users a 10x improved media experience through their next generation video platform
- The challenges of building Vowel
- Recruiting the original founding team
- Building remote-first company culture
- The fundraising process and Vowel’s powerful cap table of operator- angel investors
- How to vet investors
- Their B2B growth strategy
- Developing their freemium business model
- How they view competition and taking on legacy brands
- Learnings as a multi-time founder and former VC
- What motivates Andy to challenge the status quo and build innovative companies
- Andy's thoughts on the future of work and running remote teams
- Snagging the vowel.com domain name
Listen to all episodes of the Just Go Grind Podcast: https://www.justgogrind.com
Follow Justin Gordon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/justingordon212