Founded & Funded
Listen to conversations between Madrona investors and entrepreneurs, founders, and startup personalities who talk about some of the key moments in building a company. Designed to give would-be founders and others interested in working with or for startups a view into the struggle and the lessons learned, these conversations are informal and informative. With more than 25 years of investing in early-stage technology companies, Madrona has worked with founders from day one to help build their company for the long run. We invest in seed and Series A companies in the Pacific Northwest building across the information technology spectrum and in Acceleration (B and beyond) stage companies building with AI, regardless of geography.
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Breaking into Enterprise: How Anagram Landed Disney with Cold Outbound
06/26/2025
Breaking into Enterprise: How Anagram Landed Disney with Cold Outbound
In the latest episode of Founded & Funded, Madrona Partner Vivek Ramaswami sits down with Harley Sugarman, founder and CEO of Anagram, to unpack how one pivot, a flood of cold outreach, and relentless focus on behavior change transformed a niche tool into an enterprise platform serving companies like Disney and Pfizer. From landing enterprise logos off of nothing but wireframes, to outmaneuvering the 800-lb gorilla in a legacy industry — Harley's tactics are a masterclass for any founder trying to stand out in a crowded market. Transcript: https://www.madrona.com/how-anagram-landed-disney-with-cold-outbound-security-awareness-training Chapters: (00:00) Introduction (01:53) Harley Sugarman's Background and Journey (03:24) Founding Anagram (04:21) Initial Vision and Pivot (05:50) Challenges and Market Realities (06:54) Customer Feedback and New Direction (09:25) Executing a Startup Pivot (11:31) Cold Outreach Success (14:20) Security Awareness Training that works (18:52) Competing in a Crowded Market (24:48) Enterprise Sales Strategy (27:04) Fundraising Journey (28:54) Choosing the Right Investors (33:32) Advice for Founders (36:33) Future of Security Training
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Building Biotech in Seattle: Madrona Investor Spotlight with Joe Horsman
06/11/2025
Building Biotech in Seattle: Madrona Investor Spotlight with Joe Horsman
What happens when a scientist becomes a VC? We sat down with Madrona’s Joe Horsman to find out. In this episode, Joe shares his journey from late nights in the lab to helping biotech founders bring life-changing science to market. You’ll hear: Why Seattle’s biotech + AI ecosystem is heating up What founders need beyond funding to commercialize world-changing science. Why weekend adventures fuel Monday creativity
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The End of Biz Apps? AI, Agility, and The Agent-Native Enterprise from Microsoft CVP Charles Lamanna
05/29/2025
The End of Biz Apps? AI, Agility, and The Agent-Native Enterprise from Microsoft CVP Charles Lamanna
In this Founded & Funded episode, Madrona Managing Director Soma Somasegar sits down with Charles Lamanna, Corporate Vice President at Microsoft, to unpack his journey from startup founder to corporate leader. They dive into what it takes to build a successful AI-transformed organization, how the nature of business applications is evolving, and why AI agents will fundamentally reshape teams, tools, and workflows. From "customer obsession" to "extreme ownership," Charles delivers insight after insight for startup founders and enterprise leaders navigating the age of AI. They dive into: Why business apps as we know them are dead How AI agents and open standards like MCP and A2A are reshaping software The shift toward generalist teams powered by AI What startups are doing today that enterprises will follow in 3–5 years How to focus deeply on a few high-impact AI projects instead of chasing 100 pilots Transcript: https://www.madrona.com/the-end-of-biz-apps-ai-agility-and-the-agent-native-enterprise-from-microsoft-cvp-charles-lamanna Chapters: (00:00) Introduction (01:20) Charles Lamanna's Entrepreneurial Journey (01:39) Customer Obsession and Ownership in Startups (03:54) The Future of Business Applications with AI (05:56) AI-Powered Business Agents (08:22) The Role of AI in Modern Business (11:11) Startups Are the Blueprint for the Future of Work (14:33) Industry-Wide AI Adoption (18:32) Driving AI Transformation in Enterprises (21:51) Maintaining Agility in Large Companies (25:03) Personal Impact of AI on Daily Life (27:55) Conclusion and Final Thoughts
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Building AI That Sells: Scaling Smarter with Luminance CEO Eleanor Lightbody
05/15/2025
Building AI That Sells: Scaling Smarter with Luminance CEO Eleanor Lightbody
Entrepreneurs often ask: When do I know it’s time to scale? Or, how do I lead when I wasn’t the original founder? In this week’s Founded & Funded, Madrona Partner Chris Picardo sits down with Eleanor Lightbody, CEO of Luminance, who shares how she took a promising AI product and built a company culture, go-to-market motion, and product strategy that’s scaled 6x in just two years. Eleanor’s candor and tactical insights on hiring, selling, and navigating founder dynamics make this a must-listen. Transcript: Chapters: (00:00) Introduction (01:29) Eleanor's Career Journey (03:22) Joining Luminance and Initial Challenges (05:46) Navigating CEO Role and Company Dynamics (11:01) Transforming Luminance's Growth Trajectory (19:03) Balancing Innovation and Core Product Delivery (24:42) Building a Collaborative Culture (28:44) Challenges and Rewards of Scaling a Company (34:57) Future of AI
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Customer Obsession & Agentic AI Power Ravenna’s Reinvention of Internal Ops
05/01/2025
Customer Obsession & Agentic AI Power Ravenna’s Reinvention of Internal Ops
Most startups bolt AI onto old products. @ravennahq reimagined the entire workflow. When we first met Kevin Coleman and Taylor Halliday, it was clear they weren’t just chasing the hype cycle. They were pairing AI-native architecture with deep founder-market fit, and rebuilding how internal ops work — from first principles. Their new company, Ravenna, is going after a $160B+ market dominated by legacy players. But instead of being intimidated by incumbents, they got focused, making some smart moves that more early-stage teams should consider: 1) Speak with 30+ customers before writing a line of code 2) Define a clear ICP and pain points 3) Build natively for Slack — where support actually happens 4) Prioritize automation, iteration, and real workflow transformation 5) Stayed radically transparent with investors and early customers At Madrona, we love backing teams that combine ambition with discipline — and Kevin and Taylor are doing just that. In this episode of Founded & Funded, they sit down with Madrona Managing Director Tim Porter and talk through their journey, what they’d do differently the second time around, and how they’re building a durable, agentic platform for internal support. If you're a founder building in AI, SaaS, or ops — this conversation is full of lessons worth hearing. Transcript: https://bit.ly/4ju2Cml Chapters: (00:00) Introduction (00:23) Meet the Founders: Taylor Halliday and Kevin Coleman (02:05) The Birth of Ravenna: Identifying the Problem (03:05) The Concept of Enterprise Service Management (04:02) The Journey from Idea to Execution (04:31) Customer Insights and Market Fit (06:42) Building a Next-Generation Platform (10:43) Slack Integration and AI Automation (14:37) Partnering with Slack: A Strategic Move (17:13) Leveraging Slack for Knowledge Management (20:13) Balancing Focus and Vision (21:07) Discovering ITSM: A Hidden Market (21:40) Expanding Beyond IT: The Universal Help Desk (24:30) ServiceNow and the AI Revolution (27:03) Building a Transparent and Collaborative Culture (29:37) Recruiting Top AI Talent (31:59) Navigating Market Realities and Customer Focus (37:59) Advice for Aspiring Founders
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Reinventing Recruiting: SeekOut’s Anoop Gupta on the Rise of Agentic AI
04/24/2025
Reinventing Recruiting: SeekOut’s Anoop Gupta on the Rise of Agentic AI
In this episode of Founded & Funded, Madrona Managing Director Soma Somasegar sits down with Anoop Gupta, co-founder and CEO of @SeekOut — an AI-first company transforming how organizations discover, hire, and manage talent. They explore: 1) SeekOut’s evolution from LLM-powered workflows to the launch of SeekOut Spot, their agentic AI solution that delivers hires in as little as 3 days. 2) Why "service as software" is the future of recruiting. 3) How founders and talent leaders can reimagine hiring in the age of AI agents. 4) Lessons from building an AI-native company through market shifts. 5) The real business model shift from tools to outcomes. With customers like Discord, 1Password, HP, and even Madrona itself, SeekOut is redefining what fast, high-quality hiring looks like. Transcript: Chapters: (00:00) Introduction (01:56) SeekOut Background and AI Evolution (03:55) The Role of Agentic AI in Recruiting (07:59) Business Model and Flexibility (12:59) Recruiting Process and Efficiency (16:49) Navigating Challenges and Product-Market Fit (20:29) Focus on Outcomes not on Hype (22:25) Do you Need a Data Moat? (23:45) Don't build a recruiting org too early (25:50) The biggest hiring mistakes (29:15) Agentic AI for recruiting is here
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Unscripted: What Happened After the Mic Went Off with Douwe Kiela
04/18/2025
Unscripted: What Happened After the Mic Went Off with Douwe Kiela
This bonus episode of Founded & Funded is a follow-up to Madrona Partner Jon Turow's conversation with Douwe Kiela, CEO of Contextual AI and co-inventor of RAG. In this quick chat, they dive into: 1) Why storytelling—not just GTM—needs to be vertical2) How to build a platform by showing what’s possible3) The tension between “doing one thing well” vs. building the whole stack 4) Multimodal content moderation at Meta & what it taught Douwe This 10-minute post-show chat is a must-listen for founders thinking deeply about where to plant your flag — and when to break the rules.
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AI, Ambition, and a $3 Trillion Vision: Satya Nadella on Microsoft’s Bold Bet
04/10/2025
AI, Ambition, and a $3 Trillion Vision: Satya Nadella on Microsoft’s Bold Bet
Microsoft Chairman & CEO Satya Nadella sat down with Madrona Managing Director Soma Somasegar at Madrona’s 2025 Annual Meeting to discuss the key inflection points in his leadership journey, Microsoft’s AI strategy, and the massive economic impact AI will have on the world. From redefining company culture to betting big on AI and OpenAI,Satya shares deep insights into Microsoft’s transformation — and what’s next. Watch now for leadership lessons, AI predictions, and the future of innovation! Transcript: https://www.madrona.com/satya-nadella-microsfot-ai-strategy-leadership-culture-computing Chapters: (00:00) Introduction (03:34) Satya Nadella's Journey as CEO (09:57) Cultural Transformation at Microsoft (14:03) The Influence of Cricket on Leadership (18:27) The AI Revolution and Microsoft's Role (28:30) The Future of AI and Economic Impact
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RAG Inventor Talks Agents, Grounded AI, and Enterprise Impact
03/27/2025
RAG Inventor Talks Agents, Grounded AI, and Enterprise Impact
What does it take to invent a foundational AI paradigm — and then build a company to bring it to the enterprise? In this episode of Founded & Funded, Madrona Partner Jon Turow sits down with Douwe Kiela, co-founder and CEO of Contextual AI and the co-inventor of RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation). They dive into the origins of RAG, its misunderstood role in the enterprise, and how Contextual is redefining what production-grade AI systems can do. Douwe shares what most companies get wrong about RAG, why chunking shouldn't matter, how to think about hallucinations, and what founders need to know in the era of RAG agents. Transcript: Chapters: (00:00) Introduction (01:27) The Origin of RAG (04:00) Challenges and Innovations in RAG (09:49) Enterprise Adoption and Use Cases (20:46) Scaling and Innovations at Contextual AI (23:39) The Future of RAG Agents (24:43) Challenges in Enterprise Data (26:34) Building a Research-Driven Company (27:55) The Intersection of Research and Product (32:10) Advice for Founders and AI Companies (38:14) Understanding and Addressing Hallucinations (40:50) Company Building is Harder Than You’d Think (42:00) The Importance of Evaluation in AI (44:14) Concluding Thoughts
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Dropzone’s Edward Wu on Solving Security’s Biggest Bottleneck
03/12/2025
Dropzone’s Edward Wu on Solving Security’s Biggest Bottleneck
The security industry has a math problem: 12 million job postings, only 7 million qualified professionals. The solution? AI. Edward Wu spent nearly a decade at ExtraHop, pioneering AI-driven security detection. But instead of just alerting security teams about potential threats, he saw a bigger opportunity — what if AI could act as an actual security analyst? That question led to Dropzone, a company that’s not just throwing AI at security but strategically using it to solve one of the most overwhelming problems in the industry — alert fatigue. In this episode of Founded & Funded, Edward and Partner Vivek Ramaswami dive into: The "aha moment" that led Edward to leave a successful career to start Dropzone Why most AI security startups will fail, and what it takes to stand out How Dropzone landed UiPath as a customer—without a single cold email The future of security in an AI-first world Watch/Listen to the full conversation for insights from Edward on what it takes to build in one of the most competitive categories in security today. Transcript: Chapters: (00:00) Introduction (01:40) Edward Wu's Journey into Security (02:48) The ExtraHop Experience (05:10) The Leap to Entrepreneurship (07:59) The Aha Moment: Founding Dropzone (10:28) AI's Role in Security (16:30) Navigating the Competitive Landscape (19:15) Marketing and Customer Acquisition Strategies (21:30) Landing a big-name customer without cold outreach (25:40) Push v. pull when selling into security (28:25) ChatGPT was startups' greatest marketing gift (30:18) Lessons Learned as a Solo Founder
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AI+Data in the Enterprise: Lessons from Mosaic to Databricks
02/26/2025
AI+Data in the Enterprise: Lessons from Mosaic to Databricks
The biggest AI breakthroughs won’t come from Ph.D. labs — they’ll come from people solving real-world problems. So how do AI founders actually turn cutting-edge research into real products and scale them? In this week’s episode of Founded & Funded, Madrona Partner Jon Turow sat down with Jonathan Frankle, Chief AI Scientist at Databricks to talk about the shift from AI hype to real adoption — and what founders need to know. They dive into: 1) How AI adoption has shifted from hype to real-world production 2) The #1 mistake AI startups make when trying to sell to enterprises 3) Why your AI system shouldn’t care if it’s RAG, fine-tuned, or RLHF — it just needs to work 4) The unexpected secret to getting your first customers 5) The AI opportunity that most startups are overlooking Transcript: Chapters: (00:00) Introduction (01:02) The Vision Behind MosaicML (04:11) Expanding the Mission at Databricks (05:52) The Concept of Data Intelligence (07:42) Navigating the AI Hype Cycle (15:10) Lessons from Early Wins at MosaicML (20:50) Building a Strong AI Team (23:36) The Future of AI and Its Challenges (24:06) Evolving Roles in AI at Databricks (25:55) Bridging Research and Product (28:29) High School Track at NeurIPS (30:39) AI Techniques and Customer Needs (38:22) Rapid Fire Questions and Lessons Learned (42:49) Exciting Trends in AI and Robotics (45:40) AI Policy and Governance
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Scaling, AI, and Leadership after Big Tech: Lessons from Highspot's Bhrighu Sareen
02/12/2025
Scaling, AI, and Leadership after Big Tech: Lessons from Highspot's Bhrighu Sareen
Thinking about leaving Big Tech for a startup? In this episode of Founded & Funded, Madrona Managing Director Tim Porter sits down with Bhrighu Sareen, who took the leap from Microsoft to Highspot and has been leading AI-driven product innovation ever since. They talk about the realities of transitioning from a massive company to a high-growth startup, scaling AI-driven teams, and how Bhrighu’s helping transform sales enablement through automation and intelligence. His insights on navigating change, working with founders, and executing at speed are a must-listen for any leader considering the leap from stability to startup chaos. Tune in now for practical strategies and an inside look at how AI is reshaping go-to-market execution. Transcript: https://www.madrona.com/big-tech-to-startups-highspot-bhrighu-sareen Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 03:01 Bhrigu Sareen's Journey at Microsoft 06:52 Transition to Highspot 10:00 Working with Founders and Building Trust 16:31 Increasing Product Velocity and Efficiency 21:12 Cross-Team Dependencies and Offshore Strategies 23:02 Starting the Journey at Highspot 23:31 Navigating Economic Uncertainty 24:21 Expanding Talent Pool in Vancouver 25:37 Establishing a Development Center in India 27:54 Challenges and Surprises in Transition 29:50 Innovating Through Economic Challenges 31:01 HighSpot's AI and ML Innovations 33:03 AI-Powered Sales Training and Coaching 36:14 Future of AI in Sales and Marketing 43:31 Balancing Data and User Experience 47:28 Looking Ahead: AI Agents and Productivity Gains
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Serial Entrepreneur Mohit Aron on Founding, Scaling, and Leading Category-Leading Companies
01/29/2025
Serial Entrepreneur Mohit Aron on Founding, Scaling, and Leading Category-Leading Companies
What does it take to go from engineer to founder, from startup CEO to scale CEO? In this special live episode of Founded & Funded, Madrona Managing Director Karan Mehandru sits down with Mohit Aron, founder of Nutanix and Cohesity, to uncover the lessons behind his success. Mohit shares his unique hiring strategy, how to identify product-market fit, and the power of balancing vision with execution. Whether you’re navigating your first company or scaling your third, Mohit’s advice is a masterclass in resilience, grit, and building a legacy. Full Transcript: Chapters: (00:00) Introduction (02:04) Traits of Successful Founders (05:03) Challenges in Transitioning from CTO to Startup CEO to Scaling CEO (07:51) Effective Hiring Strategies (13:42) Defining Product-Market Fit 15:55 Balancing Vision and Focus (17:48) The Importance of a Bigger Vision (20:12) The Role of a CEO Post Product-Market Fit (22:00) Delegation and Leadership Strategies (24:23) Generative AI: Hype vs. Reality (27:09) Crafting a Vision and Minimum Lovable Product (28:56) Choosing the Right Investors and Building a Board (32:15) Framework for Startup Success
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Terray’s Jacob Berlin on The AI-Powered Future of Medicine
01/08/2025
Terray’s Jacob Berlin on The AI-Powered Future of Medicine
Terray Therapeutics CEO Jacob Berlin returns to Founded & Funded after three years to share how the company has scaled from an ambitious startup to an industry leader in AI-driven biotech. Learn how Terray's proprietary hardware combined with the world's largest chemistry data set is powering new discoveries in small molecule drug development. Jacob also discusses how the company’s $120M Series B fundraise will prepare their internal programs for clinical trials and further enhance their AI platform. He shares insights on where he sees the future of AI and drug design and dives into how founders can balance internal innovation and high-profile partnerships. Don’t miss this deep dive into the intersection of AI, biotech, and innovation! Transcript: Chapters: (00:00) Introduction 00:39 The Evolution of Terray Therapeutics (02:08) Understanding Small Molecule Therapies (04:12) The Journey of Data and AI (07:58) Series B Fundraise and Future Plans (11:20) Biotech Platform vs. Product Debate (14:20) Building a Long-Term Vision (16:39) Deep Dive into Terray’s AI and Science (36:05) The Importance of Partnerships (39:20) High-Performance Culture at Terray
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Curt Medeiros on Revolutionizing Precision Medicine and Scaling Ovation
01/02/2025
Curt Medeiros on Revolutionizing Precision Medicine and Scaling Ovation
Imagine a future where healthcare isn’t just reactive but deeply personalized — where every patient gets the right treatment at the right time based on a precise understanding of their biology. This is the future Ovation is building, and on this week’s Founded & Funded, Madrona Partner Chris Picardo dives into it all with Ovation CEO Curt Medeiros. From transforming underutilized clinical data into rich multiomics datasets to forging industry-leading partnerships with companies like Illumina, Curt shares how Ovation is shaping the future of precision medicine. He also opens up about the challenges of building a scalable, privacy-first platform, the lessons he’s brought from leading large healthcare businesses, and why collaboration and diversity are key to solving complex problems in healthcare. Transcript: https://www.madrona.com/curt-medeiros-on-revolutionizing-precision-medicine-and-scaling-ovation Chapters: (00:00) Introduction (01:32) Ovation's Role in Precision Medicine(03:17) The Importance of Data in Precision Medicine(06:12) Challenges and Opportunities of Genomic Data (11:17) Privacy and Pharmaceutical Applications (16:42) Ovation's Unique Approach and Partnerships (17:00) Expanding Research Beyond Pharma(18:28) Recent Successes and Future Plans(26:36) Curt Medeiros' Journey to Ovation(29:56) Leadership Philosophy and Company Culture(33:21) Future of Precision Medicine
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Breaking Conventional Wisdom: Jama Software's Blueprint for Profitable Growth
12/04/2024
Breaking Conventional Wisdom: Jama Software's Blueprint for Profitable Growth
In this episode of Founded & Funded, Madrona Managing Director Tim Porter and Jama Software CEO Marc Osofsky discuss the intentional strategies that fueled Jama’s transformation from $20M ARR to a $1.2 billion acquisition by Francisco Partners. Marc shares his blueprint for scaling with purpose, challenging conventional wisdom, and embedding efficiency into the DNA of a company. Key Takeaways Include: Accelerating Growth Conventional Wisdom: Scale your sales team rapidly to hit growth targets. Intentional Wisdom: Focus on improving win rates to double or 2.5x your capacity without adding headcount. TAM Conventional Wisdom: Prioritize the total size of your market potential. Intentional Wisdom: Target activated TAM—the demand being addressed in a given year—and aim to capture a larger share. M&A Strategy Conventional Wisdom: Burn cash and rely on strategic buyers for exits. Intentional Wisdom: Achieve profitable growth and rule-of-40 metrics to attract financial sponsors, giving you more control over the process. Transcript: Chapters: (00:00) Introduction (00:52) Challenging Conventional Wisdom (03:48) Focusing on Win Rates (06:13) Efficiency and Culture at Jama (08:45) Vertical Market Focus (10:49) Geographic vs. Vertical-focused GTM Teams (15:28) Culture: Jama's Focus on Habits (19:00) Customer Success Strategies (21:02) The Francisco Partners Acquisition (26:12) Focusing on a GM structure (28:30) Advice for Founders
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Archon's Jamie Lazarovits on Unlocking the Full Power of Antibodies With AI
11/13/2024
Archon's Jamie Lazarovits on Unlocking the Full Power of Antibodies With AI
What does it take to move from cutting-edge academic research to launching a biotech company that could transform medicine? In this week’s episode of Founded & Funded, Madrona Partner Chris Picardo sat down with Jamie Lazarovitz, CEO and co-founder of Archon Biosciences, to uncover the story behind their groundbreaking protein-based biologics and their unique Antibody Cages (AbCs). From bootstrapping deep tech investments as a student to navigating the challenges of commercializing revolutionary science, Jamie shares the pivotal moments, tough decisions, and key lessons that led to Archon’s creation. This isn’t just a story for biotech enthusiasts — every founder can take away valuable insights on: 1) Asking for help and building teams with complementary skills — no founder succeeds alone. 2) Applying AI thoughtfully — it’s a tool, not a magic wand. 3) Patience — ensure your foundation is strong before scaling. 4) Partnering with investors you trust and who align with your mission. 5) Setting a high bar for talent and culture — great people build great companies. 6) Communicating your differentiation — make your value clear to all stakeholders. Full Transcript: Chapters: (00:00) Introduction (00:55) Jamie Lazarovitz's Journey from Deep Tech to Biotech (01:45) Early Ventures and Lessons Learned (05:03) The Motivation Behind Jamie’s Biotech Passion (07:40) Joining the Institute for Protein Design - David Baker (09:40) Meeting Co-Founder George Ueda and the Birth of Archon (12:46) Revolutionary Protein Design at Archon: Antibody Cages (AbCs) (25:23) The Role of AI in Protein Design (27:50) Building a Successful Biotech Company (38:47) Future Prospects
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Beyond the Model: Taking AI From Prototype to Production with Unstructured’s Brian Raymond
10/31/2024
Beyond the Model: Taking AI From Prototype to Production with Unstructured’s Brian Raymond
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: 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
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Perseverance Over Speed: Creating a New Category with Impinj's Chris Diorio
10/09/2024
Perseverance Over Speed: Creating a New Category with Impinj's Chris Diorio
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: 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
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Startup to Scale: A Mini Masterclass in Efficient Growth and GTM
09/16/2024
Startup to Scale: A Mini Masterclass in Efficient Growth and GTM
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
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From Dark Matter to Voice AI with Deepgram Founder Scott Stephenson
08/28/2024
From Dark Matter to Voice AI with Deepgram Founder Scott Stephenson
Today Madrona Managing Director Karan Mahandru and Scott Stephenson, Co-Founder and CEO of Deepgram, a foundational AI company building a voice AI platform providing APIs for speech-to-text and text-to-speech. From medical transcription to autonomous agents, Deepgram is the go-to for developers of voice AI experiences, and they're already working with over 500 companies, including NASA, Spotify, and Twilio. Today, Scott and Karan dive into the realities of building a foundational AI company, meaning they're building models and modalities from scratch. They discuss the challenges of moving from prototype to production, how startups need to out-fox the hyperscalers while also partnering with them, and, of course, how Scott went from being a particle physicist working on detecting dark matter to building large language models for speech recognition. This is a must-listen for anyone building in AI. Full Transcript: Chapters: (00:00) Introduction (01:15) From Particle Physics to Voice AI (03:16) The Birth of Deepgram (03:40) Building a Developer-Centric AI Company (06:11) Challenges and Early Decisions (09:49) Navigating the AI Market (13:33) OpenAI's Whisper and Deepgram's Response (17:30) The Future of AI and Speech Recognition (21:59) Deepgram's Real-World Applications (31:19) From Prototype to Production
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Temporal Founders Bet on Open Source and Developers to Enable Invincible Applications
08/15/2024
Temporal Founders Bet on Open Source and Developers to Enable Invincible Applications
Madrona Managing Director Soma Somasegar hosts Temporal Co-Founders Samar Abbas and Maxim Fateev in studio. Temporal was founded in 2019 based on an open-source microservices orchestration engine project but is the result of a more than decade-long partnership between the two co-founders that spanned their time working on different iterations of the same thing at AWS, Microsoft, and Uber. In this episode, Soma, Samar, and Maxim dive into the challenges of building an open-source ecosystem while also working on a commercial offering and scaling a successful company, how to navigate and adjust a product roadmap in an ever-changing world of AI and large language models, and how to successfully build an early startup team, navigate through a CEO transition, and bring on a startup's first independent board member. It's a very compelling conversation and a must-listen for every builder out there. Full transcript available here: (00:00) Introduction(01:55) What is Temporal?(04:30) Temporal's Unique Advantages(07:37) Building a Commercial Entity from Open Source(11:15) Balancing Open Source and Commercial Goals(14:51) Temporal's Annual Developer Conference: Replay(16:41) Impact of AI on Temporal's Roadmap(22:35) Choosing the Right Co-Founder(25:56) Seamless CEO Transition(31:27) Bringing on an Independent Board Director
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Investor Spotlight: Chris Picardo on Cross-Disciplinary Innovation and Finding Unique Founders
07/25/2024
Investor Spotlight: Chris Picardo on Cross-Disciplinary Innovation and Finding Unique Founders
In this episode of Founded & Funded, host Coral Garnick Ducken interviews Madrona Partner Chris Picardo for the latest Investor Spotlight. With degrees in math and English, Chris shares his unique journey into venture capital. Chris highlights the importance of cross-disciplinary skills in understanding and communicating complex concepts and what he looks for in founders, emphasizing unique worldviews and innovative approaches, particularly in AI, biotech, and consumer verticals. This is a great episode for entrepreneurs interested in working with VCs. (00:00) Introduction to Madrona Partner Chris Picardo (00:46) Chris Picardo: From Math and English to Startups (01:26) Chris's Transition to Madrona and Venture Capital (03:20) Joining Madrona and Early Stage Ventures (05:50) Chris on AI-Enabled Biotech (08:28) Chis's Cross-Disciplinary Approach (11:24) What Madrona Looks for in Founders (14:49) Book Recommendations and Personal Interests
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Transforming TV Advertising: iSpot’s Sean Muller on the Role of AI and the Future of Streaming
07/10/2024
Transforming TV Advertising: iSpot’s Sean Muller on the Role of AI and the Future of Streaming
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
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Investor Spotlight: Sabrina Wu on Founder Grit, Authenticity, and Building Intelligent Applications
06/26/2024
Investor Spotlight: Sabrina Wu on Founder Grit, Authenticity, and Building Intelligent Applications
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 , 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
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Building Predibase: AI, Open-Source, and Commercialization with Dev Rishi and Travis Addair
06/12/2024
Building Predibase: AI, Open-Source, and Commercialization with Dev Rishi and Travis Addair
Madrona Partner Vivek Ramaswami hosts Dev Rishi and Travis Addair, co-founders of 2023 IA40 Rising Star, Predibase. Predibase is a platform for developers to easily fine-tune and serve any open-source model. They recently released LoRA Land, a collection of 25 highly-performant open-source fine-tuned models, and launched open-source LoRA eXchange, or LoRAX, which allows users to pack hundreds of task-specific models into a single GPU. In this episode, Dev and Travis share their perspective on what it takes to commercialize open-source projects, how to build a product your customers actually want, and how to differentiate in a very noisy AI infrastructure market. This is a must-listen for anyone building an AI. Full Transcript: Chapters (00:00) Introduction (01:29) The Founding Story of Predibase (04:03) Vision and Evolution of Predibase (06:23) Predibase's Response to the ChatGPT Hype (11:26) Commercializing Open-Source Projects (17:37) Bigger Isn't Always Better - LLMs (24:10) Challenges and Solutions in AI Infrastructure (30:47) Predibase's Unique Approach and Future Outlook (34:11) Over-Hyped vs. Under-Hyped in AI (38:37) Advice for First-Time Founders
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Read AI's David Shim on Making Meetings More Efficient With Intelligent Agents
05/29/2024
Read AI's David Shim on Making Meetings More Efficient With Intelligent Agents
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
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Transforming Corporate Travel: A Conversation With Steve Singh and Christal Bemont
05/15/2024
Transforming Corporate Travel: A Conversation With Steve Singh and Christal Bemont
In this episode of Founded & Funded, Madrona Managing Director Steve Singh and Christal Bemont, CEO of Direct Travel, Madrona's newest portfolio company, delve into the acquisition of Direct Travel and its pivotal role in revolutionizing the $1.4T corporate travel ecosystem, along with , Troop, and Center. Full Transcript: (00:00) Intro (01:19) Direct Travel: Transforming Corporate Travel Management (03:56) The Challenges of Modern Business Travel (07:43) The Perfect Trip: A Vision for Seamless Travel (10:06) Spotnana: Building the Next-Generation Travel Platform (16:27) Integrating Solutions: Center and Troop's Role in the Travel Ecosystem (20:58) Direct Travel's Strategic Vision and Integration (25:15) Realizing the Perfect Trip: Timeline and Expectations
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Building a Modern Database: Nikita Shamgunov on Postgres and Beyond
04/18/2024
Building a Modern Database: Nikita Shamgunov on Postgres and Beyond
In this episode of Founded & Funded, Madrona Investor Paul Goel and Neon Co-founder & CEO Nikita Shamgunov dive into the database market and the importance of creating a killer developer experience while balancing that experience with performance and reliability. Nikita also shares just how bullish he is on AI, his excitement for AI agents like Devin, and advises founders to not wait on an idea they’re passionate about. Full transcript here: (00:00) Introduction (00:46) Nikita's Background and the Genesis of Neon (02:50) The Right Time to Build Neon and Database Market Insights (05:17) Neon's Differentiation in the Database Market (08:10) The Importance of Developer Experience (11:56) Building a Culture of Reliability and Performance (16:24) Strategic Growth and the Future of Neon (20:26) AI's Impact on the Future and Neon's Role (29:08) Intelligent Applications Nikita's Eyeing (30:53) Challenges and Advice for Founders
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How Bobsled is Revolutionizing Cross-Cloud Data Sharing
03/20/2024
How Bobsled is Revolutionizing Cross-Cloud Data Sharing
Investor Sabrina Wu hosts Bobsled Co-founder and CEO Jake Graham for the latest episode of Founded & Funded. Jake is revolutionizing data sharing across platforms, enabling customers to get to analysis faster directly in the platforms where they work. Madrona co-led last year, which put the company at an $87 million valuation. In this episode, Jake — who had stints at Neo4j, Intel, and Microsoft — provides his perspective on why enabling cross-cloud data sharing is often cumbersome yet so important in the age of AI. He also shares why you can't PLG the enterprise, how to convince customers to adopt new technologies in a post-zero interest rate environment, and what it takes to land and partner with the hyperscalers. Transcript here: https://www.madrona.com/bobsled-cross-cloud-data-sharing/ (00:00) Introduction (01:36) Why found a startup? (03:00) The Genesis of Bobsled: From Inspiration to Reality (05:26) Understanding Bobsled’s Functionality: Cross-Cloud Data Sharing (09:48) The Role of Cross-Cloud Data Sharing in the Age of AI (13:05) Redefining the Modern Data Stack and Its Future (18:04) Navigating Enterprise Sales and Partnerships in Tech (23:22) Strategic Partnerships and Navigating the Hyperscaler Landscape (29:40) Leadership Lessons and Vision for Bobsled
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