Category Visionaries

Front Lines Media
  • 5,0 (6)
  • EMPREENDEDORISMO
  • QUINZENAL

Welcome to Category Visionaries — the show dedicated to uncovering the go-to-market journeys behind the world’s most exciting B2B tech startups. In each episode, we sit down with a visionary founder who’s not just building a company, but creating or redefining a category. We’ll explore how they identified their market opportunity, crafted their early GTM strategy, scaled traction, and navigated the challenges of building something truly new. If you’re a builder, marketer, or founder, this show is your backstage pass to the GTM blueprints powering category-defining companies. Brought to you by:  www.FrontLines.io/FounderLedGrowth — Founder-led Growth as a Service. Launch your own podcast that drives thought leadership, demand, and most importantly, revenue. 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

  1. How Surgical Safety Technologies targeted the most challenging customers first (massive hospitals) | Teodor Grantcharov

    HÁ 3 H

    How Surgical Safety Technologies targeted the most challenging customers first (massive hospitals) | Teodor Grantcharov

    Surgical Safety Technologies is pioneering the transformation of operating rooms from secretive environments into data-driven spaces that optimize patient outcomes. With their "Operating Black Box" platform now deployed in over 50 hospitals across the US, Canada, and Western Europe, the company has generated over 100 peer-reviewed publications demonstrating the ability to reduce patient morbidity and mortality by more than 30% while increasing hospital efficiency by $20 million annually for a typical 40-50 OR facility. In this episode, we sat down with Teodor Grantcharov, founder of Surgical Safety Technologies, to explore his 20-year journey from academic researcher to category-creating entrepreneur in the challenging world of healthcare innovation. Topics Discussed: The evolution from virtual reality surgical simulators in the late 1990s to comprehensive OR analytics platforms Breaking through the cultural resistance to measurement and transparency in surgical environments The strategic decision to target top-tier academic medical centers as early adopters Building a platform with four distinct modules: efficiency, compliance, quality/safety, and education The 10-year journey from research hypothesis to proven commercial success with measurable patient outcomes Creating the category of "data-driven healthcare" in traditionally dogma-driven medical environments GTM Lessons For B2B Founders: Use demanding customers as product validation engines: Teodor's team deliberately targeted top-tier academic medical centers as their initial customer base with a specific thesis: "If we can make the best in the world even better, then we can make anyone better." This wasn't just about prestige - these customers had "internal, very sophisticated systems" and "very knowledgeable professionals and leaders" who would stress-test the platform in ways that revealed product gaps early. The approach creates a competitive moat: once you can satisfy the most demanding buyers in your category, you possess capabilities that competitors serving easier customers lack. Build category credibility through academic validation at scale: Surgical Safety Technologies generated over 100 peer-reviewed publications before their sales process accelerated, creating what Teodor calls "irrefutable" evidence. This wasn't just marketing - the publications came from top hospitals proving 30% mortality reduction and $20 million annual efficiency gains per 40-50 OR facility. The strategy transforms sales conversations: instead of pitching features, they present peer-reviewed outcomes data that procurement committees and clinical leaders cannot dismiss. Category creators in regulated industries should consider academic validation as sales ammunition, not just credibility building. Structure modular platforms for multi-stakeholder enterprise sales: Rather than forcing binary adoption decisions, Surgical Safety Technologies created four distinct platform modules (efficiency, compliance, quality/safety, education) that can be sold individually or as a complete suite. This addresses the reality that "each of those have different stakeholders" within hospital systems. The modular approach enables two distinct sales motions: land-and-expand with single-module entry points for budget-constrained buyers, or comprehensive platform sales when "we usually upsell additional modules to the subscription." This architecture is particularly valuable in complex enterprise environments where different departments control separate budget lines. Leverage mission-driven culture as a competitive advantage: Teodor emphasizes that every hire must understand "what we do, why we do it" and that the company constantly reminds itself "this is not just a gadget or an application. We have a responsibility for improving performance and ultimately improving quality of care for patients." In industries where trust and outcomes matter more than features, a genuine mission-driven approach becomes a critical differentiator that influences everything from branding to employee retention. Time market entry with regulatory and cultural shifts: The company's success accelerated as healthcare systems became more willing to measure performance and embrace transparency. Teodor observes: "Now we see hospitals recognize that you can't improve what you can't measure." B2B founders should identify when broader industry trends create openings for previously resistant categories, and position themselves to capitalize on these inflection points.   //   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

    23min
  2. How OpenInfer discovered unexpected government traction by focusing on data ownership pain points | Behnam Bastani

    HÁ 4 H

    How OpenInfer discovered unexpected government traction by focusing on data ownership pain points | Behnam Bastani

    OpenInfer addresses the enterprise infrastructure gap that causes 70% of edge AI deployments to fail. Founded by system architects who previously built high-throughput runtime systems at Meta (enabling VR applications on Qualcomm chips via Oculus Link) and Roblox (scaling real-time operations across millions of gaming devices), OpenInfer applies proven architectural patterns to enterprise edge AI deployment. The company targets three specific customer pain points: cost reduction for AI-always-on applications, data sovereignty requirements in regulated environments, and reliability for systems that must function regardless of connectivity. In this episode of Category Visionaries, CEO and Founder Behnam Bastani reveals how external market catalysts like DeepSeek's efficiency breakthrough transformed investor perception and validated their compute optimization thesis. Topics Discussed: System architecture pattern replication from Meta's Oculus Link to Roblox to OpenInfer The compute efficiency gap: why "throwing hardware" at AI problems creates market inefficiencies How DeepSeek's January 2025 breakthrough shifted investor sentiment from skepticism to oversubscription Customer targeting methodology: focusing on business unit leaders facing career consequences Government market discovery: air-gapped environments and data sovereignty requirements Technical demonstration strategies for overcoming the 70% edge deployment failure rate Privacy-first AI positioning unlocking previously inaccessible use cases GTM Lessons For B2B Founders: Target decision-makers with career-level consequences: Rather than pursuing prospects who might "take a risk," Behnam focuses on "those that lose their jobs if they're not solving the problem" - specifically business unit leaders whose profit margins or sales metrics directly impact their career trajectory. This creates urgency that comfortable cloud users lack and accelerates deal cycles by aligning solution adoption with personal survival incentives. Leverage external market catalysts for thesis validation: OpenInfer initially faced investor pushback ("Nvidia's got everything working well. Why you think you can do anything better?") until DeepSeek's efficiency breakthrough provided third-party validation. "January hits and then there's DeepSeek... People called us, hey, you're DeepSeek on edge." Founders should identify potential external events that could validate their contrarian thesis and be prepared to capitalize when these catalysts occur. Lead with technical proof points over explanations: In markets with high failure rates, demonstrations eliminate skepticism faster than education. "We definitely have metrics, demos, and we go with those. We demonstrate what's possible... we remove this skepticalism in terms of ease of deployments, power of edge in one shot." This approach recognizes that technical buyers need confidence before curiosity. Pursue unexpected traction sources aggressively: Despite targeting enterprise ISVs, government demand emerged due to air-gapped environment requirements. "Government is actually becoming huge traction primarily because data ownership was a major topic to them." Rather than forcing initial market hypotheses, founders should redirect resources toward segments showing organic product-market fit signals, even when they require different sales processes. Build credibility through architectural pattern repetition: Investors backed OpenInfer because "we are the people that have built this twice, scaled it to millions." Repeating proven technical patterns across different contexts creates sustainable competitive advantages that new entrants cannot replicate without similar experience depth.   //   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

    21min
  3. How Copernic Catalysts landed top-5 global ammonia producers as testing customers in year one | Jacob Grose ($10M Raised)

    HÁ 1 DIA

    How Copernic Catalysts landed top-5 global ammonia producers as testing customers in year one | Jacob Grose ($10M Raised)

    Copernic Catalysts is developing next-generation chemical catalysts using computational materials design to replace century-old technology in the $80 billion ammonia industry. The company has raised $10 million and is working with top-five global ammonia producers to prove their Neptune catalyst can deliver tens of millions in annual savings per plant while reducing the industry's 1% contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions. In this episode, Jacob Grose shares insights from his journey from BASF venture capitalist to deep-tech founder, revealing how his team is navigating one of the most conservative B2B markets while building transformational technology for both current chemical production and future sustainable shipping fuels. Topics Discussed: The century-old ammonia catalyst problem and why the industry hasn't innovated Copernic's computational approach to rationally designing drop-in replacement catalysts The extreme conservatism of chemical industry customers and how to overcome it Multi-stage go-to-market strategy from lab samples to pilot demonstrations to commercial scale Using toll manufacturing partnerships to scale capital-efficiently while building customer trust The historical significance of ammonia synthesis and its role in feeding 8 billion people Building a platform technology for multiple catalyst products across different chemical markets GTM Lessons For B2B Founders: Navigate ultra-conservative B2B markets with staged proof: Jacob outlined a methodical approach for entering markets where customers are "terrified of change" due to tight margins and operational risks. Start with small lab samples to top customers, progress to pilot-scale demonstrations over 6-12 months, then secure commercial installations. This staged approach allows conservative buyers to gradually build confidence while de-risking their decision-making process. Leverage toll manufacturing for customer credibility and capital efficiency: Rather than building manufacturing capabilities, Copernic partners with established catalyst manufacturers using an "Apple model" - they own the IP while trusted partners handle production. This approach provides three key advantages: faster scale-up, capital efficiency, and most importantly, customer comfort with proven quality control systems. For deep-tech founders, partnering with established players can accelerate market acceptance. Turn industry conservatism into a competitive moat: While chemical industry conservatism creates barriers to entry, Jacob recognized it also creates powerful moats once you're established. Companies using 100-year-old iron-based catalysts represent massive switching costs and customer lock-in opportunities. Founders entering conservative industries should view initial resistance as future protection against competitors. Design for drop-in replacement adoption: Copernic deliberately engineered their catalyst to work within existing plant infrastructure, minimizing customer adoption friction. Jacob emphasized using "base metals" (common, inexpensive materials) and standard manufacturing techniques to ensure compatibility. When disrupting established industries, reducing implementation complexity can be more valuable than maximizing performance gains. Build technical credibility through domain expertise transfer: Jacob's nine years at BASF provided deep industry knowledge that proved essential for both product development and customer trust. His background in corporate venture capital gave him insights into how large chemical companies evaluate new technologies. Founders targeting specialized B2B markets should consider how domain expertise - whether through hiring, partnerships, or personal experience - can accelerate credibility and customer relationships. Position platform technology for multiple market opportunities: While focused on ammonia catalysts initially, Jacob positioned Copernic as a platform company with computational catalyst design capabilities applicable across multiple chemical markets. This platform approach appeals to investors seeking larger addressable markets while providing strategic flexibility as the company scales.   //   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

    20min
  4. How Callidus scaled Google ads from 3 to 40 leads per day | Justin McCallon

    HÁ 4 DIAS

    How Callidus scaled Google ads from 3 to 40 leads per day | Justin McCallon

    Callidus Legal AI is transforming litigation practice by building comprehensive AI-powered workflows for legal professionals. With 1,200 customers and 100% quarter-over-quarter growth, the company has developed a product-led growth strategy that combines domain-specific AI tools with visual multi-step workflows. In this episode, Justin McCallon shares how Callidus has achieved rapid growth through a zero-friction PLG approach while building trust in a traditionally conservative industry. Topics Discussed: The current state and future potential of AI in legal practice  Callidus's approach to building domain-specific legal AI tools with visual workflows  The company's comprehensive case database containing 11 million U.S. cases  Product-led growth strategies that drove 100% quarterly growth and 1,200 customers  Performance marketing optimization for legal AI tools  Building trust and eliminating hallucination risks in AI-powered legal research  The evolution from chatbot-based tools to sophisticated visual workflows  Organic growth strategies including making case databases freely accessible on the web GTM Lessons For B2B Founders: Master zero-friction PLG for professional services: Callidus achieved 1,200 customers and 100% quarterly growth by eliminating traditional B2B sales friction. Justin explained their approach: "Initially we did this with zero touch points, zero friction. You don't need to talk to anybody. It's basically just you come to our website, you sign up for a trial, you start using the app." This model works particularly well for professional services where individual practitioners can make purchasing decisions independently. Focus on high buyer-intent keywords for performance marketing success: Rather than casting a wide net, Callidus targeted specific, high-intent search terms. Justin emphasized: "A lot of people focus on words that maybe are too informational with lower buy intent." They focused on keywords like "legal AI assistant" and "legal AI research" that indicated immediate need rather than general curiosity. Founders should prioritize keywords that align with their ICP and indicate purchase readiness. Create organic acquisition through valuable free resources: Callidus moved their entire 11 million case database to the web for free access, creating a powerful organic acquisition engine. Justin described the strategy: "People have free access to every case that we have. And they can search, say Brown versus Board of Education. And we'll be one of the groups that has a page dedicated to that." This approach generates organic traffic while demonstrating product value, creating a natural conversion funnel from free users to paid customers. Optimize every funnel step with ruthless precision: Callidus's performance marketing success came from methodical funnel optimization. Justin broke down their approach: "Every step of the funnel. Break it down. What conversion rate are we seeing on this step of the funnel? What's benchmark? And then for the areas that are below benchmark, why are we not doing well?" Founders should treat each funnel step as a conversion problem to solve, using data to identify bottlenecks and creative solutions to address them. Build trust through domain expertise, not just technology: In conservative industries like law, trust is built through demonstrating deep domain knowledge. Callidus differentiates itself by combining legal expertise with engineering: "We have really visual multi step workflows, we have really deep engineering, we've tied both the legal knowledge and the engineering expertise." Founders entering regulated or conservative industries should emphasize domain credibility alongside technical capabilities. Use evaluation systems to optimize AI model performance: Rather than fine-tuning models, Callidus built comprehensive evaluation systems to optimize performance across different foundation models. Justin explained: "We've gone through and had lawyers say, hey, here's my case I've worked on in the past. Here are all of the cases I would reference here... Then we can say, okay, it looks like for this API call, GPT-4 is the best, and this one's Claude." This approach allows for dynamic optimization without the overhead of model training.   //   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

    23min
  5. How Hamming AI accidentally created a new category by focusing on customer problems instead of category creation | Sumanyu Sharma ($3.8M Raised)

    HÁ 4 DIAS

    How Hamming AI accidentally created a new category by focusing on customer problems instead of category creation | Sumanyu Sharma ($3.8M Raised)

    Hamming AI has emerged as a pioneer in voice agent quality assurance, creating what founder Sumanyu Sharma calls a "new category" of QA for conversational voice agents. After spending a decade building data products at scale at companies like Tesla and Citizen, Sharma recognized an acute pain point as voice agents began proliferating: enterprises desperately needed confidence that their voice agents would work reliably before launching to production. In this episode of Category Visionaries, Sharma shares how his team accidentally created a new category by following their instincts and leveraging a decade of expertise in reliability testing, audio processing, and machine learning. Topics Discussed: The evolution from Tesla's data science team to founding a voice agent QA company How "wandering the desert" for months led to finding the perfect problem-solution fit Building a completely inbound-driven go-to-market strategy in an emerging category The decision to launch before feeling ready and building alongside customers Why the voice agent market skeptics were wrong about market size Creating enterprise trust through reliability testing at scale GTM Lessons For B2B Founders: Follow your instincts when you have deep domain expertise: Sharma spent months "wandering the desert" looking for the right problem until voice agent QA clicked. He emphasizes that when you have a decade of relevant expertise, you can recognize the perfect problem when it appears. As he put it, "when you see it, you kind of know... I am perfectly equipped to solve this specific problem. I'm built for this." Founders should trust their instincts when they have genuine domain expertise rather than overthinking market validation. Build something people want before focusing on category creation: Unlike many founders who start with category creation in mind, Hamming AI "accidentally" created their category by obsessively solving customer problems. Sharma notes, "We weren't looking to create a category. We were just looking to solve a problem that we feel passionate about, that we are already experts at." This customer-first approach led to organic category emergence and sustainable demand. Launch before you feel ready and build with customers: Sharma's biggest learning was launching with a "half-baked" product rather than perfecting it in isolation. "We didn't have a product that we thought was incredible. We just thought, hey, it kind of works, but let's actually build the product together with customers." This approach accelerated learning cycles and created stronger product-market fit than months of internal development would have achieved. Leverage contrarian insights from deep market proximity: While others dismissed voice agent QA as "too small," Sharma's data science background and proximity to builders gave him conviction. He analyzed the fundamentals: "Voice is a universal API for people. Voice agents are just becoming possible. They will be unreliable. Therefore, testing is very important. That's the math." Founders should develop conviction through first-principles thinking rather than consensus market opinions. Focus obsessively on customer success over marketing in emerging categories: Hamming AI remains completely inbound-driven, focusing entirely on making existing customers successful rather than traditional marketing. Sharma explains, "The voice space is so small where if you are doing a good job and if you build a product that people love, they will tell their friends about it." In nascent categories, product excellence and word-of-mouth can be more effective than broad marketing campaigns.   //   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

    20min
  6. How StretchDollar drives leads from LLM search | Marshall Darr

    HÁ 5 DIAS

    How StretchDollar drives leads from LLM search | Marshall Darr

    StretchDollar is transforming how small businesses approach employee health benefits by decoupling plan administration from funding. Rather than forcing all employees onto a single group plan, the platform allows employers to provide pre-tax monthly budgets that employees can use to purchase individual health plans they select and own themselves. In this episode, I spoke with Marshall Darr, Co-Founder and CEO of StretchDollar, about building a solution that addresses the unique challenges small businesses face in providing healthcare benefits. Topics Discussed: The limitations of traditional group health plans for small businesses under 50 employees How the 2020 IRS ruling on ICHRAs (Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangements) enabled new approaches StretchDollar's evolution from being their own first customer to serving diverse small businesses The company's cost-effective go-to-market strategy focused on inbound traffic and partnerships Building trust and brand credibility in a heavily regulated industry Optimizing content strategy for both traditional SEO and emerging LLM search traffic The decision to move away from paid marketing channels GTM Lessons For B2B Founders: Become your own first customer to validate the solution: Marshall's team used StretchDollar internally from day one, with his co-founder in San Francisco wanting Kaiser while Marshall was in Pittsburgh where Kaiser wasn't available. This real-world constraint validated their core value proposition. Rather than compromising on a "Frankenstein sort of national but very small group plan," they gave everyone $500 monthly budgets. B2B founders should consider how their own operational needs can serve as the initial proof point for their solution. SMB markets require ruthless cost-effectiveness in go-to-market: Marshall learned from Gusto that targeting small businesses demands extremely cost-effective acquisition strategies. With much smaller annual contract values than enterprise clients, "you need to rely a lot on inbound traffic, a lot on customer-to-customer referrals." B2B founders in SMB markets must build products compelling enough that customers actively recommend them, as traditional enterprise sales models don't work economically. Industry expertise enables superior content marketing: StretchDollar's content strategy works because Marshall spent years as a health insurance broker, selling "hundreds of group policies, hundreds to thousands of individual policies." This deep domain knowledge allows them to create genuinely useful content that attracts both traditional search traffic and increasingly, LLM-generated referrals. B2B founders should leverage their industry expertise to create content that demonstrates unique insights rather than generic advice. Paid marketing can be a distraction from fundamentals: Marshall's team discovered that stopping paid marketing resulted in only "a very marginal sort of drop in signups" while freeing up "tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars." The shift forced them to focus more on content quality and organic growth. For SMB-focused B2B founders, paid channels may be "so optimized right now that you need an insane budget and really good unit economics" to compete effectively. Self-service onboarding becomes competitive advantage: Drawing from Mercury's banking experience, Marshall realized SMB customers want to "knock this out" in 20 minutes without extensive sales calls. StretchDollar built their platform to allow self-onboarding while maintaining sales support for those who prefer it. B2B founders should consider how self-service capabilities can differentiate their solution while improving unit economics. Partnership strategy should target natural referral sources: StretchDollar partnered with Oscar Health, appearing on their website as the preferred destination for sub-20 employee groups. This creates a natural referral flow from a complementary service. B2B founders should identify companies whose customers represent natural expansion opportunities and build formal partnership channels.   //   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

    24min
  7. How Nevermined coined "AI commerce" in 2023 to create category language before market adoption | Don Gossen

    HÁ 5 DIAS

    How Nevermined coined "AI commerce" in 2023 to create category language before market adoption | Don Gossen

    Nevermined is pioneering the infrastructure for AI commerce, building payment rails specifically designed for agent-to-agent transactions. With a vision of trillions of AI agents functioning as both merchants and consumers, Don Gossen brings 20 years of AI experience to solving what he believes will be the foundational payment challenge of the next era of computing. In this episode of Category Visionaries, Don shares insights on creating an entirely new category—AI commerce—and the unique go-to-market challenges of building for a future that's rapidly becoming reality. Topics Discussed: The emergence of two distinct agent modalities: agent as proxy and agent as independent economic actor Why existing payment infrastructure cannot handle the scale and velocity of AI agent transactions Nevermined's commission-based business model focused on agent-to-agent payments The fundamental cost model differences between SaaS and AI agents Creating the "AI commerce" category and the strategic importance of early categorization Go-to-market strategy targeting verticalized AI agent builders with Series A+ funding The infrastructure investment phase versus deployment challenges in AI adoption GTM Lessons For B2B Founders: Target customers who have proven business models, not just potential: Don's go-to-market strategy specifically targets AI agent companies that have raised Series A or later rounds. His reasoning: "Hopefully the VCs that are backing them have done some due diligence. And the money they're earning is actually real." Rather than chasing every potential customer, focus on those who have already validated their revenue model and can immediately benefit from your solution. Understand the fundamental cost structure of your customer's business model: Don identified that AI agents have an inverted cost model compared to traditional SaaS—most costs are operational (OpEx) rather than capital (CapEx). He explains: "The cost model is basically flipped. Most of your cost is actually on the opex... Your operating costs fluctuate based on the request." This insight shaped Nevermined's entire value proposition around cost monitoring and settlement rather than just payment processing. Create category language early, even before market adoption: Don coined "AI commerce" in 2023 when "people were like, what the hell's an AI agent?" His approach: "It always helps to categorize and provide language that's going to allow people to understand what it is that you're talking about... It's the memeification of the category." Don't wait for your market to mature—create the vocabulary that will define it. Focus on the operational reality, not the theoretical use case: While competitors focus on connecting bank accounts to AI agents for consumer purchases, Don focuses on the underlying workflow costs: "How much does the workflow cost to actually render that outcome?" Understanding the true operational mechanics of your customers' business—not just their surface-level needs—can create significant competitive differentiation. Leverage deep domain expertise to identify non-obvious problems: Don's 20 years in AI revealed that variable AI agent responses create variable operational costs—a problem most founders wouldn't recognize. He notes: "Until recently most people didn't realize that is a major issue in operating these solutions." Deep industry experience can help you spot problems that newer entrants miss entirely.   //   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

    18min
  8. How Scalestack landed MongoDB as their first enterprise customer through cold email | Elio Narciso ($3.1 Million Raised)

    5 DE SET.

    How Scalestack landed MongoDB as their first enterprise customer through cold email | Elio Narciso ($3.1 Million Raised)

    Scalestack is revolutionizing go-to-market operations through intelligent automation, helping enterprise revenue teams eliminate what CEO Elio Narciso calls the "manual work tax" - the 72% of time sales reps spend on tedious data tasks instead of engaging with customers. With $3.1 million in funding and enterprise customers including MongoDB, Redis, and Astronomer, Scalestack has built an agentic orchestration platform that transforms how large organizations manage their revenue data. In this conversation, Narciso shares how his team discovered the massive ROI hidden in back-office automation and why the future belongs to companies that can seamlessly blend human strategy with machine execution. Topics Discussed: The concept of "manual work tax" and its impact on sales productivity  Why 95% of AI investments in enterprises are failing to produce results  Scalestack's evolution from automation platform to agentic workflow orchestration  The company's enterprise-first approach and deployment strategy with large customers  How Scalestack landed MongoDB as an early customer through targeted outbound  The role of podcasting as an ABM strategy for enterprise sales  Scalestack's vision to replace traditional CRMs with intelligent systems of action GTM Lessons For B2B Founders: Target the back-office before the front-office: While many AI companies rush to automate customer-facing roles like SDRs, Narciso emphasizes that the real ROI lies in back-office automation. He cites an MIT study showing that 95% of AI investments fail when focused on last-mile customer interactions, while back-office process automation delivers measurable results. B2B founders should prioritize automating the tedious work that doesn't directly touch customers but enables better customer engagement. Enterprise customers require co-creation, not just deployment: Scalestack's success with MongoDB, Redis, and other large customers came through what Narciso calls "deployment engineers" - essentially building custom solutions collaboratively. He draws inspiration from Palantir's model of developing technology alongside customers. This approach requires significant upfront investment but creates defensible technology that can be productized for the broader market. B2B founders targeting enterprise should be prepared to invest in customer success resources that can handle complex, bespoke implementations. Use customer language to refine your messaging: Narciso completely redid Scalestack's website based on language extracted from hundreds of customer calls and podcast interviews. He emphasizes that "customers always have the best words" because they've lived the pain most deeply. Rather than relying on internal assumptions about positioning, B2B founders should systematically capture and analyze how customers describe their problems and desired outcomes. Cold email still works with enterprise buyers when done strategically: Scalestack's first major customer, MongoDB, came from a cold email to their SVP of Sales Ops. The key was targeting someone (employee #8 at MongoDB) who had an entrepreneurial mindset and curiosity about learning from vendors. Narciso's insight: enterprise operators often want to learn from startups tackling similar problems, whether to buy the solution or implement it internally. B2B founders should research target prospects' backgrounds and approach those with startup experience or operational curiosity. Podcasting as ABM for enterprise sales: Narciso uses his "Revenue Engine Masters" podcast strategically as an account-based marketing tool, targeting specific people at target companies rather than focusing on broad reach. After recording nearly 20 episodes, he's seeing inbound interest and using the content to extract messaging insights. The podcast also strengthens relationships with prospects and customers who participate. B2B founders should consider podcasting not as a mass-market strategy but as a high-touch relationship-building tool for their ideal customer profile.   //   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

    32min
Ver tudo (764)

Classificações e avaliações

5
de 5
6 avaliações

Sobre

Welcome to Category Visionaries — the show dedicated to uncovering the go-to-market journeys behind the world’s most exciting B2B tech startups. In each episode, we sit down with a visionary founder who’s not just building a company, but creating or redefining a category. We’ll explore how they identified their market opportunity, crafted their early GTM strategy, scaled traction, and navigated the challenges of building something truly new. If you’re a builder, marketer, or founder, this show is your backstage pass to the GTM blueprints powering category-defining companies. Brought to you by:  www.FrontLines.io/FounderLedGrowth — Founder-led Growth as a Service. Launch your own podcast that drives thought leadership, demand, and most importantly, revenue. 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

Informações

  • Criado por
    Front Lines Media
  • Anos de atividade
    2022 - 2025
  • Episódios
    764
  • Classificação
    Livre
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2022 All rights reserved.
  • Site do podcast
    Category Visionaries

Você também pode gostar de