The VentureFizz Podcast

Welcome to Episode 130 of The VentureFizz Podcast, the flagship podcast from the leading authority for jobs & careers in the tech industry. For this episode of our podcast, I interviewed Eddie Geller, Co-Founder and CEO of Tinybeans. Eddie is a serial entrepreneur who is originally from Australia. He founded his first company, a software development services firm called Unique World in 1999 with just $5,000 in the bank. By the time he sold the company, he had grown the business to $15M with nearly 100 employees. Tinybeans is a company that is dedicated to storing family memories through its secure photo-sharing platform and mobile app. Every day millions of people including celebrities, politicians and high-profile families rely on Tinybeans as their primary platform for capturing, storing and sharing their children’s life stories. It is a product that I wish existed when my kids were younger. In this episode of our podcast, we cover lots of other topics, like: -The importance of having a transparent company culture. -The story of building and scaling Unique World to an exit. -The background story of Tinybeans and how Eddie got involved, plus the current state of their business and scale. -The benefits of having a concentrated, rather than a general, audience as your users. -And so much more. If you have been enjoying The VentureFizz Podcast, then please leave us a 5-star review on iTunes. The more reviews we have, the more that people will discover these amazing stories about entrepreneurs across the Boston and New York entrepreneurial ecosystems. Thanks in advance—we appreciate it! Lastly, if you like the show, please remember to subscribe to and review us on iTunes, or your podcast player of choice!

Welcome to Episode 129 of The VentureFizz Podcast, the flagship podcast from the leading authority for jobs & careers in the tech industry. For this episode of our podcast, I interviewed Alicia Lindgren, CEO at CollegeLab. Alicia’s career started out in the financial services industry and then she later moved into the non-profit sector before transitioning into the educational field where she has developed a deep level of expertise around college admissions. CollegeLab is an AI-driven college admissions tool that helps families and counselors better navigate and manage the college admissions process. Built using machine learning methods, CollegeLab utilizes over 4 million student applications with outcomes to tell students their chance of admission at 500 colleges and universities, comparing 12 data points and identifying areas they should focus on to improve their chances. I have a confession to make about this podcast episode. Not only do Alicia and I have a deep conversation about the CollegeLab platform, but we also talk in great detail about the college admissions process, which was of great interest to me. I have a daughter who is a sophomore in high school, and while we are not out there doing college visits just yet, it is all right around the corner. In this episode of our podcast, we cover lots of other topics, like: -The truth behind college rankings and their data. -Alicia’s background story in terms of her professional career. -All the details on CollegeLab and what makes the platform valuable to students, parents, and counselors. -Her thoughts on the SAT and ACT, and the current status of these tests. -How colleges and universities make their decisions around admissions. And so much more. Our Job Board has over 4,500 positions listed, and the design of our job listings just went through a major overhaul. It is a much cleaner design and you’ll find highly relevant information on each listing like employee testimonials, photos, video, and the latest featured story from VentureFizz. This way you can learn a lot more about the company and its culture direct from each job listing. Go to venturefizz.com/jobs to check it out. Lastly, if you like the show, please remember to subscribe to and review us on iTunes, or your podcast player of choice!

Welcome to Episode 128 of The VentureFizz Podcast, the flagship podcast from the leading authority for jobs & careers in the tech industry. For this episode of our podcast, I interviewed Leslie Borrell, VP of Smart Cities at Intersection. When we talk about the next 5, 10, 15 or more years of urban living, the phrase “smart city” will almost definitely be a part of the conversation. Now, smart city can mean a number of different things, from good public Wi-Fi to autonomous cars and much, much more. Intersection is a company at the forefront of the smart cities revolution. Its mission is to improve the experience of public places through technology that provides connectivity, information, and engaging content and experiences to civilians across various cities. You might know them from LinkNYC, the largest and fastest free public Wi-Fi network in the world. Leslie is part of the team that is making Smart Cities a reality and as we discuss her background, you’ll notice that she has not been afraid to take chances and go for it. This has all paid off as she has held engineering leadership roles at a variety of tech companies in NYC. In this episode of our podcast, we cover lots of other topics, like: -Leslie’s thoughts on what our smart city future will look like. -The full background story of her career and how she worked her way into engineering leadership roles. -All the details on Intersection’s products and how they are powering smart cities, plus their business model. -The company’s culture, including their approach to diversity and inclusion, and advice for companies on building a diverse workplace. -Advice for women on pursuing leadership roles in tech. -And so much more. Ok - quick side note - Our Job Board has over 4,400 positions listed, and we just went through a redesign of the job listings. It is a much cleaner design and you’ll find highly relevant information on each listing like employee testimonials, photos, video, and the latest featured story from VentureFizz. This way you can learn a lot more about the company and its culture direct from each job listing. Go to venturefizz.com/jobs to check it out. Lastly, if you like the show, please remember to subscribe to and review us on iTunes, or your podcast player of choice!

Welcome to Episode 127 of The VentureFizz Podcast, the flagship podcast from the leading authority for jobs & careers in the tech industry. For this episode of our podcast, I interviewed Doron Reuveni, Founder and CEO of Applause. Building a successful company is incredibly difficult. It is definitely not a sprint, it’s not even a marathon… it is more like an Ironman competition where you have to train for multiple events and do it at a massive scale. Well, Doron can definitely relate to this analogy, as an Ironman competitor, biker, and marathoner. He and his co-founder, Roy Solomon, disrupted the software testing industry with a new approach by leveraging a crowdsourcing model. Applause went on to raise over $115M in funding and was acquired by Vista Equity Partners in 2017. Here’s a fun fact: Applause was originally known as uTest and they were one of the very first sponsors of VentureFizz. It was uTest, General Catalyst, and Akamai. Without their support in the early days of VentureFizz… we might not even exist! In this episode of our podcast, we cover lots of topics, like: -Doron’s background story and professional history. -How the idea for uTest originated, how they built out the community of testers, and started to gain traction with customers. -The story behind the rebranding of the company. -The current state of their business in terms of size and scale. -Advice for founders on how to remain as CEO of your company over the long term. -The hardest part of scaling a business -How to build a management team. -And so much more. Did you know that you can get customized job alerts delivered to your inbox every day? It’s a great way to keep informed of the over 4,000 jobs listed on VentureFizz and have jobs from a specific category sent directly to you. Don’t let that career-defining opportunity pass you by, go to venturefizz.com/email to sign up. Lastly, if you like the show, please remember to subscribe to and review us on iTunes, or your podcast player of choice!

Welcome to Episode 126 of The VentureFizz Podcast, the flagship podcast from the leading authority for jobs & careers in the tech industry. For this episode of our podcast, I interviewed Melody Koh, Partner at NextView Ventures. Melody has a strong mix of professional experience as an entrepreneur, operator, and investor. At Blue Apron, she was the company’s first product hire. She went on to lead a 35-person team through the company's hypergrowth years to an IPO. At NextView Ventures, she’s part of the team that is redesigning the “Everyday Economy,” which we dive into, as it is the firm’s investment thesis. Melody is passionate about working closely with founders at early-stage companies where she can leverage her experience in things like product, go-to-market strategies, hiring, and more. In this episode of our podcast, we cover lots of other topics too, like: -How parenting relates to entrepreneurship, which is relevant, as Melody and her husband recently welcomed a newborn son to the world. -Her background story and how she landed in venture capital early on in her career and later transitioned into product management. -The details of her experience at Blue Apron and the hypergrowth years where she led product, design, and analytics. -Her current role as a venture capitalist and what she is targeting for investments. -Advice for founders who haven’t made their first product hire yet and finding the right product manager for your company. -Tips on how to pursue a career in venture capital. -And so much more. Is your company hiring? If yes, then you might want to add a BIZZpage subscription. It is our employment branding and hiring solution that helps to keep your company top of mind for our targeted audience of professionals in the tech industry. A BIZZpage subscription includes an employment branding page, unlimited postings to our Job Board, access to our exclusive content series, and more. Send an email to info@venturefizz.com for more details. Lastly, if you like the show, please remember to subscribe to and review us on iTunes, or your podcast player of choice!

Welcome to Episode 125 of The VentureFizz Podcast, the flagship podcast from the leading authority for jobs & careers in the tech industry. For this episode of our podcast, I interviewed Amy Spurling, Co-Founder and CEO of Compt. By the time Amy started Compt, she was well-versed in the world of startups. As a COO or CFO for multiple venture-backed companies, where many had exited, she knew the playbook around raising funding, negotiating an acquisition, and running the operations of a startup. This experience all led her down the path to where she is today as a Co-Founder & CEO. The idea behind Compt came from a real-world problem that Amy was experiencing. Companies give a standard list of benefits, but not all employees are able to leverage them. So, Compt’s is changing this with their platform that allows employers to develop and manage lifestyle spending accounts so employees can get the perks they want and need the most. In this episode of our podcast, we cover lots of topics, like: -Amy’s background as a northern California native and how she ended up on the east coast. -A walk through her career and how Amy methodically prepared herself to run a company. -All the details about Compt and the company’s mission to empower employees to choose their own benefits. -How you need to think about the valuation of your company when raising funding and why you shouldn’t always swing for the fences with the highest number. -Advice on how to negotiate the sale of your company. -When a company should think about hiring a CFO. -And so much more. Did you know that every Monday at 9:15 & 10 am, we send out two weekly digest emails? There is one for Boston and one for NY. It is your weekly email to stay connected to all the “must-know” information from the local tech scene. It includes information on companies, jobs, events, deals and more. Go to venturefizz.com/email and look for the “Weekly Tech Buzz” to sign up. Lastly, if you like the show, please remember to subscribe to and review us on iTunes, or your podcast player of choice!

Welcome to Episode 124 of The VentureFizz Podcast, the flagship podcast from the leading authority for jobs & careers in the tech industry. For this episode of our podcast, I interviewed Stephen Sokoler, Founder and CEO of Journey Meditation. I have to admit, I don’t have a history of meditating. Even though I understand the benefits and have seen the growth in terms of its increasing popularity, I just haven’t taken the leap yet. However, as you’ll hear from this podcast, I feel like it is time and like the analogy Stephen shares: it’s kind of like going to the gym. You just need to get started and build from there. Who knows, maybe we’ll do another podcast a year from know where I can discuss my experiences with meditation. Stephen is a serial entrepreneur with several years of experience founding, building, and running companies. His latest company, Journey Meditation, is building the world’s largest, most supportive, inclusive meditation community, both online and off. Journey’s history has B2B roots, but the company recently announced its consumer product called Journey LIVE, a group meditation app, which TechCrunch referred to it as the “Peloton for Meditation.” In this episode of our podcast, we cover lots of topics, like: -Why meditation is so valuable for entrepreneurs, and how to get started. -Stephen’s background story and his experience building successful businesses. -How he got into meditation and how it was the inspiration that led him to start Journey. -All the details behind getting the business started with corporate customers and the launch of Journey LIVE. -The benefits of group meditation. -Growth plans for the company. -And so much more. Our Job Board has over 4,300 positions listed across all functional areas, and we just went through a major redesign of the job listings. It is a much cleaner design and you’ll find highly relevant information on each listing like employee testimonials, photos, video, and the latest featured story from VentureFizz. This way you can learn a lot more about the company and its culture direct from each job listing. Go to venturefizz.com/jobs to check it out. Lastly, if you like the show, please remember to subscribe to and review us on iTunes, or your podcast player of choice!

Welcome to Episode 123 of The VentureFizz Podcast, the flagship podcast from the leading authority for jobs & careers in the tech industry. For this episode of our podcast, I interviewed Nitzan Shaer, Co-Founder and CEO at WEVO. Nitzan was early in the mobile world that we live in now. I’m talking about a pre-iPhone era, when he was part of the team that was figuring out early mobile strategy from Microsoft and Skype. He’s a serial entrepreneur and his latest startup is called WEVO. You might be familiar with A/B testing after your website is launched. Well, WEVO is taking a radically different approach by helping companies optimize your website before going live. It does this through artificial intelligence and a proprietary behavioral model which generates recommendations that have proven to significantly increase conversion. In this episode of our podcast, we cover lots of topics, like: -Nitzan’s background in terms of growing up in Israel what he learned from being a member of the Israeli Air Force. -His experience at Microsoft, which included an interesting story of a mobile strategy session at Bill Gates’ house. -His time at Skype where he helped the company launch the mobile version of their product. -All the details on WEVO, including what led them down the path of starting the compan and the value of their platform. -What makes a great product manager. -Advice for founders on starting a consulting firm. -And so much more. Our Job Board has over 4,500 positions listed, and we just went through a redesign of the job listing. It is a much cleaner design and you’ll find highly relevant information on each listing like employee testimonials, photos, video, and the latest featured story from VentureFizz. Go to venturefizz.com/jobs to check it out. Lastly, if you like the show, please remember to subscribe to and review us on iTunes, or your podcast player of choice!

Welcome to Episode 122 of The VentureFizz Podcast, the flagship podcast from the leading authority for jobs & careers in the tech industry. For this episode of our podcast, I interviewed Brandon Gell, Founder and CEO of Clyde. Product protection is one of those things that you don’t think you need until you really need it. Clyde is disrupting this industry with a radically different approach and it is a massive market which currently stands at $44B. The company’s platform is making it easy for retailers to offer product protection plans online. It is not only an opportunity to increase revenue, but through Clyde’s platform and approach, it is also a way to drive customer loyalty at the same time. In this episode of our podcast, we cover lots of topics like: -Brandon’s foundation years and his experience at Venture for America. -The aha moment that led him to start Clyde and how they got the company started, including a great story about a hard decision to say “no” which ended up being the best decision for the company. -All the details on Clyde in terms of the complexity of their platform and how they are building a better experience for consumers. -Advice for first-time founders raising capital. -His thoughts on hiring the first layer of employees at a company. -And so much more! Have you checked out our YouTube channel? It is loaded with lots and lots of great content from our interviews with founders, executives, and investors. You will find lots of advice shared from these podcast interviews, plus our popular Inside and CxO briefing series. Go to youtube.com/venturefizz to check it out. Lastly, if you like the show, please remember to subscribe to and review us on iTunes, or your podcast player of choice!

Welcome to Episode 121 of The VentureFizz Podcast, the flagship podcast from the leading authority for jobs & careers in the tech industry. For this episode of our podcast, I interviewed Bryanne Leeming, Founder and CEO of Unruly Studios. I am always fascinated with entrepreneurs who are launching physical products. There is such a greater level of complexity and ultimately risk behind their business. You have to design the product, get it manufactured, and then sold, which is also very challenging in terms of figuring out which sales channel is going to get your product in the hands of consumers. Do you go direct with an eCommerce model, sell to retailers, or figure out a B2B2C business model. There is so much that goes into it. Bryanne Leeming’s company, Unruly Studios, is taking this challenge head-on with a product that is very cool, different, and needed. Unruly Splats are the company’s first product and it teaches kids critical STEM skills while being active and having fun all at the same time. In this episode of our podcast, we cover lots of topics, like: -All about Bryanne’s background including her first jobs and the decision to go back to business school. -The story of how Unruly Studios came to be, and how they named the company. -Her experience building hardware and how she went about getting feedback on the product. -All the details on Unruly Splats in terms of how kids play with it and what they learn. -Her experience creating a successful Kickstarter campaign and what channels have been effective for sales. -Advice for entrepreneurs trying to build and bring a physical product to market. -And so much more. Is your company hiring? If yes, then you might want to add a BIZZpage subscription. It is our employment branding and hiring solution that helps to keep your company top of mind for our targeted audience of professionals in the tech industry. A BIZZpage subscription includes an employment branding page, unlimited postings to our Job Board, access to our exclusive content series, and more. Send an email to info@venturefizz.com for more details. Lastly, if you like the show, please remember to subscribe to and review us on iTunes, or your podcast player of choice!

Welcome to Episode 120 of The VentureFizz Podcast, the flagship podcast from the leading authority for jobs & careers in the tech industry. For this episode of our podcast, I interviewed Aleksandr Yampolskiy, Co-Founder and CEO of SecurityScorecard. It seems like there is a major data breach announcement every week these days. The most recent one being Capital One, where more than 100 million consumers had their personal information exposed. The issues that affect consumers are the ones that generally make the news, but if you are a business, you’d probably want to make sure any other business you are working with has a secure environment. That’s where SecurityScorecard comes into play. They provide a security ratings platform, so that you are able to reduce your company’s risk and exposure. SecurityScorecard recently announced $50M in Series D funding. In this episode of our podcast, we cover lots of topics, like: -Aleksandr’s background including his early interest in cybersecurity. -His experience leading security operations at leading companies and his career path to a Chief Information Security Officer position. -What led him and his co-founder to start SecurityScorecard and all the details behind the company. -The most common security issues that companies are dealing with these days. -What we can be doing as consumers to help keep our information safe. -And so much more! Did you know that you can get customized job alerts delivered to your inbox every day? It’s a great way to keep informed of the over 4,000 jobs listed on VentureFizz and have jobs from a specific category sent directly to you. Don’t let that career-defining opportunity pass you by, go to venturefizz.com/email to sign up. Lastly, if you like the show, please remember to subscribe to and review us on iTunes, or your podcast player of choice!

Welcome to Episode 119 of The VentureFizz Podcast, the flagship podcast from the leading authority for jobs & careers in the tech industry. For this episode of our podcast, I interviewed Gail Goodman, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer at Pepperlane. Gail is a legend in the Boston tech scene. As CEO of Constant Contact, she took the company from its earliest days to a successful IPO and later, an acquisition by Endurance International Group for over $1B. Constant Contact was a groundbreaking company that was going against the grain in terms of building a successful SaaS business while working with SMB’s (Small-to-Medium) sized businesses. This was unheard of back then and it is truly an inspirational story that all entrepreneurs should listen to. Gail is now working with an amazing team to hopefully build another pillar tech company that is unlocking a massive market opportunity. Pepperlane is on a mission to help mothers build successful businesses and become entrepreneurs on their own terms. In this episode of our podcast, we cover lots of topics, like: -A walk through Gail’s career and the different roles she held before Constant Contact. -A deep dive into the story of Constant Contact and how they overcome the odds to build one of the most successful tech companies in the Boston area. -The spider web effect that Constant Contact has made to the Boston tech ecosystem with several CEOs, founders, and executives who are building companies. -All the details on Pepperlane and why she is incredibly excited about the mission behind the company. -Why she is the company’s Chief Product Officer versus CEO. -Advice on how to land a seat on the Board of Directors at a company. -And so much more. If you are listening to this podcast, then it is highly likely that you are interested in the entrepreneurial journey and all the lessons learned around building companies. So, make sure you don’t miss any future episodes by subscribing to The VentureFizz Podcast on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or Soundcloud. Lastly, if you like the show, please remember to subscribe to and review us on iTunes, or your podcast player of choice!

Welcome to Episode 118 of The VentureFizz Podcast, the flagship podcast from the leading authority for jobs & careers in the tech industry. For this episode of our podcast, I interviewed Sam Dunn, Co-Founder and CEO at Robin. I have a strong appreciation for entrepreneurs, as it is really hard to build and scale a business. But, starting a company while you are still in college is a whole different ball game that requires guts and determination. Sam, along with his twin brother Zach, and Brian Muse, the 3rd co-founder and CTO, have never worked professionally for anyone else. They started One Mighty Roar while they were still in college and this business eventually evolved into Robin. Robin is SaaS workplace scheduling and management platform that is modernizing the open office. Back in May, the company raised a $20M Series B round of funding to help fuel their growth. In this episode of our podcast, we cover lots of topics, like: -Office trends, and some interesting hacks on how to set up workplaces. -The background story of Robin and how the company evolved from an agency to a product company. -A deep dive into Robin, its platform and the value it provides for their customers. -The experience of raising capital through multiple rounds. -Their thought process behind their pricing model. -The three questions Sam uses to evaluate talent. -And so much more. Have you checked out our YouTube channel? You’ll find videos from our podcast, plus lots of other interviews with founders and our very popular Inside: series, which gives you an inside look at a functional area in one of the fastest-growing tech companies. Go to youtube.com/venturefizz to check it out. Lastly, if you like the show, please remember to subscribe to and review us on iTunes, or your podcast player of choice!

Welcome to Episode 117 of The VentureFizz Podcast, the flagship podcast from the leading authority for jobs & careers in the tech industry. For this episode of our podcast, I interviewed Danielle Cohen-Shohet, Co-Founder and CEO of GlossGenius. While some children may aspire to become a doctor, astronaut, or firefighter, Danielle’s plan, even from an early age, was very different. Her plan was to start and build a company. Danielle’s aspirations became a reality with GlossGenius, the all-in-one solution for top beauty professionals. Their platform is helping very small business owners with the complexities of running a business. It simplifies and automates things like scheduling, client management, and payment, so the business owner can focus on servicing their customers. In this episode of our podcast, we cover lots of topics: -Danielle’s background story, including some of her entrepreneurial endeavors as a child. -All about GlossGenius and how they are helping very small business owners operate and run their business. -How narrowing the potential customer lens to a specific segment helped propel their business forward. -The Techstars experience and how they benefited from going through this accelerator. -Danielle thoughts on why all founders should learn how to code. -Lessons learned around hiring and onboarding. -And so much more. If you are listening to this podcast, then it is highly likely that you are interested in the founder journey and lessons learned around building companies. Please make sure you don’t miss any episodes by subscribing to The VentureFizz Podcast on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or Soundcloud. Lastly, if you like the show, please remember to subscribe to and review us on iTunes, or your podcast player of choice!

Welcome to Episode 116 of The VentureFizz Podcast, the flagship podcast from the leading authority for jobs & careers in the tech industry. For this episode of our podcast, I interviewed David Friedman, Co-Founder and CEO of Knox Financial. David is a serial entrepreneur and as you’ll hear from this episode, his latest company definitely struck a chord with me. My wife and I previously owned an awesome condo in South Boston about 13 years ago. Needless to say, if we were able to hold on to that property and rent it out without all the hassle of being a landlord, it would have been such an amazing investment. Knox makes this situation a reality and we get in lots of details on how the company operates. Back when he was at Tufts, David always knew that he wanted to start a company. His first company was Boston Logic, an integrated marketing platform for the real estate industry that was acquired by a private equity firm. In this episode of our podcast, we cover lots of topics, like: -David’s background and how he initially got a taste of startups. -The story of Boston Logic, including the evolution of their product and how they mostly bootstrapped the company and scaled it to an acquisition. -A deep dive into the process of hiring and working with an investment banking firm. -All the details on Knox Financial and how they are helping people turn their homes into investment properties. -Advice for entrepreneurs trying to build an advisory board. -And so much more. Did you know that you can get customized job alerts delivered to your inbox every day? It’s a great way to keep informed of the over 4,000 jobs listed on VentureFizz and have jobs from a specific category sent directly to you. Don’t let that career-defining opportunity pass you by, go to venturefizz.com/email to sign up. Lastly, if you like the show, please remember to subscribe to and review us on iTunes, or your podcast player of choice!