The Founder Formula

Chris Kirsch, Co-Founder runZero - Combining the arts of marketing and pickpocketing Dec 12, 2022

This Founder has some surprising additional talents outside of founding a company that’s raised $20 million in VC funding to hunt for networked devices. After helping several start-up brands market their solutions, Chris Kirsch joined the founding team of runZero and is currently the company’s CEO. In addition to a fun round of “fact or fiction,” The Founder Formula co-hosts Todd Gallina and Sandy Salty talked with Chris about:

The evolution of a winning name for a company
Developing a culture
Mindful growth
Celebrating client wins

Listen in to learn all of this and more on this episode of The Founder Formula with Chris Kirsch, Co-Founder of runZero. Additional episodes of The Founder Formula can be found on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or the Trace3 website.

Guy Podjarny, Founder Snyk – Pursuing through a catastrophic failure Oct 27, 2022

Security teams sometimes need to tackle big transformations as they keep up with today’s threat landscape. This two-time Founder set out to make that transformation less intimidating. In this episode, our co-hosts Todd Gallina and Sandy Salty interview Guy Podjarny, the Founder and President of Snyk. The three of them discuss how Guy was able to overcome a catastrophic failure, the importance of winning over a user, and rethinking the way security teams defeat threats.

The conversation in this episode covers:

The importance of Snyk’s dev-first posture
Depth versus breadth in the world of cybersecurity
Guy’s perspective on a company’s fundraising story
The nuances of a product lead growth company
The evolution of decision making within an IT organization

Listen to this and all of The Founder Formula episodes at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.

Mohit Tiwari, Co-founder Symmetry Systems - Planning an attack strategy in cybersecurity Sep 26, 2022

Identity and data are intrinsically linked. In fact, our guest in this episode tells us 10 years from now the only things that will mater in cloud computing and cybersecurity will be people and data. The rest is just details.

In this episode, co-hosts Todd Gallina and Sandy Salty of Trace3 interview Mohit Tiwari Co-Founder & CEO at Symmetry Systems. Mohit tells us all about his transition from teaching in academia to becoming a tech founder, unpacks what a good culture fit really is, and discusses some of the ethical challenges the cybersecurity space is facing currently.

Some of our favorite highlights you’ll want to listen for include:

How Mohit landed a member of his founding team by sending fan mail.
What exactly is MATH ART and how does it apply to user experience?
What book this founder *should* have read before starting his company.
The answer to the age old question.. when you are attacked, can you attack back?

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Arick Goomanovsky, Co-founder Ermetic - Reasons to Launch a Startup Sep 12, 2022

This Founder challenges others looking to start a business to ask themselves - Why do you want to start a company? Ermetic Co-Founder Arick Goomanovsky is a two-time founder who appreciates the ever-evolving journey of founding a company. In this episode, co-hosts Todd Gallina and Sandy Salty sit down with Arick to discuss the inner workings of launching Ermetic, a cloud security startup which has raised a total of $97.3M in funding over 4 rounds.

Listen in with this Founder and learn more about the different challenges between starting a services company versus a product company, and the power of people who help you think outside your own box, a good team, a unique culture, and open communication.

Listen to this and all of The Founder Formula episodes at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.

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Vikram Kapoor, Co-founder Lacework – Navigating the Startup Marathon Aug 25, 2022

This entrepreneur knows that to build a successful company, the clients’ experiences, motivations, issues, and mindset comes first. Vikram Kapoor, Co-founder and CTO of Lacework, talks about the origins of his customer-centric mentality in his journey of building a Series D funded technology startup.

Vikram tells co-hosts Sandy Salty and Todd Gallina about the most important factors in scaling Lacework - the shared principals and keeping a pulse on competition. Hear about the ins and outs of building a founding team, what happens at different capital funding stages, ups and downs in different global economic times, and a Founder’s Slack messaging strategy in this episode of the Founder Formula.

Listen to this and all of The Founder Formula episodes at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.

Rakesh Loonkar, President & Co-founder Transmit Security - Introducing the Largest Series A in the History of Cybersecurity Oct 11, 2021

You need these two things to start a company: a really big idea and a plan for how to get there. Our guest today has an absolutely mammoth idea…

Passwordless authentication.

In this episode, we interview Rakesh Loonkar, President & Co-Founder at Transmit Security and four-time founder, about how his latest company achieved the largest series A in the history of cybersecurity with a big idea and a plan.

Join us as we discuss:

Why we should do away with passwords forever
How to pitch to a VC and what VCs want to know
Why Rakesh was drawn to entrepreneurship
Focusing on competition versus focusing on solutions

Listen to this and all of The Founder Formula episodes at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.

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Armon Dadgar, Co-founder HashiCorp - Changing Hats as a Founder Aug 16, 2021

Big tech companies have their pros and cons; but compared to the freedom found in startups, the choice was a no-brainer for Armon.

In this episode, we interview Armon Dadgar, Co-founder and CTO at HashiCorp, about how his company gained success through a balanced relationship with the co-founder, seed money from trusted investors, and changing hats as the CTO to best fit the specific concerns of the quarter.

In this episode, we discuss:

Armon’s journey to startups & HashiCorp’s origin
Startup success & funding through friendship
Changing hats as a founder
The HashiCorp Employee Exchange and COVID-19 epiphanies
Building an open source business vs. open source project

Check out the resources below:

Shout out to HashiCorp Co-founder and best friend to Armon, Mitchell Hashimoto

Listen to this and all of The Founder Formula episodes at Apple Podcasts , Spotify, or our website .

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Amir Ben-Efraim, Co-founder Menlo Security - A Mission to 100% Eliminate Malware Aug 02, 2021

Menlo was founded, in part, because five cybersecurity experts were fed up. Security products should stop bad things from happening — but they didn’t.

Founding his second company on the premise of “Hey, we can do better” has taken this entrepreneur all the way to validation in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant within a decade.

In this episode, we interview Amir Ben-Efraim, CEO at Menlo Security, about lessons learned from the acquisition of his first company and the wild success of his second one.

In this episode, we also discuss:

Menlo Security’s origin story
The balance of business and technology in entrepreneurship
What Amir learned from founding Altor
Validation from Gartner and tracking the competition

Check out these resources we mentioned during the podcast:

Shout out to Menlo Co-founder and Chief Product Officer Poornima DeBolle
Menlo named a Visionary by Gartner for third year

Listen to this and all of The Founder Formula episodes at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.

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Andrew Rubin, Founder Illumio - Leveraging the "Zero Trust" Strategy Jul 19, 2021

Celebrating a massive milestone - $225 million in Series F funding for Illumio - our guest today is startup guru and network security expert, Andrew Rubin. Illumio is at the bleeding edge of the cybersecurity maelstrom with their groundbreaking work in Zero Trust Segmentation.

Andrew offers up his entertaining insights on cyber security, his history as a successful entrepreneur and fashion investor, and paying it forward by mentoring up-and-coming founders.

Here's a sneak peek:

Leveraging the “zero trust” strategy.
The importance of segmentation to prevent catastrophes.
Founders need a balance between being passionate and being data-driven.
CEOs and entrepreneurs are constantly trading notes, and constantly asking each other for advice.
The exciting world of investing in high fashion & being part of the Tory Burch phenom.

Check out these resources we mentioned during the podcast:

Andrew Rubin, CEO and Founder of Illumio
Trace3, the premiere provider of cutting edge business tech
Your hosts, Todd Gallina, VP of Marketing, and Tony Bushnell, Chief Transformation & Strategy Officer

You can find this interview, and many more, by subscribing to the The Founder Formula podcast on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or your preferred podcast app.

Mike Pfeiffer, Founder CloudSkills.io - Sharpening the Skills of Millions of Technologists Jul 05, 2021

For this Founder, getting out of the cubicle and teaching completely changed his life and his career.

We’re talking to Mike Pfeiffer this week on The Founder Formula. He’s the CEO and Founder of CloudSkills.io, the most immersive cloud and devops learning community in the world. Mike realized as he was working in tech support and cloud architecture that his true calling is to teach, but on his own terms.

Our conversation on this episode covers:

- The importance of training and evolvement for businesses and individuals in technology

- The learning experiences that ultimately lead to entrepreneurship

- How to build an audience and continue impacting that audience

- The real scoop on authoring a book

- And, the rules of the dog park, as told by Todd Gallina and Sandy Salty
Listen to this and all of The Founder Formula episodes at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.

Brian Wheeler, Co-founder Morpheus Data - Already Having your Dream Job Before Launching a Company Jun 21, 2021

Why would you launch a company when you’re already working at your dream job?

If you’re Brian Wheeler, the answer is simple: you can stay a partner at your dream job, while also able to Branch out and launch a new company. It was a win/win.

On this episode of The Founder Formula, we talk to Brian, who is a partner at Bertram Capital, and the cofounder of Morpheus Data, a cloud application management platform company, all about:

Why he felt comfortable taking the leap and launching a company while working at his dream job
The journey from creating an idea, to making that idea a reality
Why you MUST be willing to put your own money into your idea if you’re going to be taken seriously
Why there are SO many smart people in Colorado

Listen to this and all of The Founder Formula episodes at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.

Ian Tien, Co-founder Mattermost - How to Solve a Problem Before Knowing it Even Exists Jun 02, 2021

How do you know when you’ve built a winning culture? More importantly, how do you know when you’ve succeeded in instilling your core values across the entire company?

We’re talking this week to Ian Tien, CEO at Mattermost, an enterprise messaging workspace for teams to collaborate securely and effectively. His career has taken him through various areas of the entertainment industry including founding Spinpunch, an independent game studio.

Our conversation on this episode centered all around:

Building a company to address a customer need when YOUR company is the customer
Listening to the market
Building open source platforms and why they’re so beneficial
The 5 core pillars of culture at Mattermost and why each one is crucial to their success

Listen to this and all of The Founder Formula episodes at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.

Evan Macmillan, Co-founder Gridspace - Creating Voice Robots and Making Them Video Stars Mar 30, 2021

When was the last time you or your company made a product video?

If you’re not using video to communicate your message, odds are that you’re missing a huge array of potential investors, consumers, and users. And before you make excuses about your company not being exciting, or your product not sexy enough for video, take a listen to this episode of The Founder Formula.

We’re talking this week to Evan Macmillan , CEO and Co-F ounder at Gridspace, an AI-driven, voice automation company. Evan has an incredibly rich background. He was born in Silicon Valley, and his dad worked at Sun Microsystems and rubbed shoulders with legends like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. Evan went on to Stanford University at the same time as another famous alumni, Mark Zuckerberg. Evan even spent some time at Stanford's version of the Harvard Lampoon called the Stanford Chaparral

Our conversation on this episode centered all around:
What Silicon Valley USED to be like before it became the tech playground that it is today.
What he learned from Product Design
Seeing a problem that needed solving… Better voice based customer service
leveraging video as a MUST for your company and your product
What it looks like to scale, and the hardest part of scaling effectively
lessons learned from his previous successful start-up

Listen to this and all of The Founder Formula episodes at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.

Nolan Bushnell, Co-founder Atari, Inc. - When Two Titans Cross Paths Mar 11, 2021

Last Episode we spoke with a man who has been called the Father of Video Games. Silicon Valley legend Nolan Bushnell. If you haven’t listened to that interview, make sure you go back and do so, because we talked all about his career up through his time at Atari, and ultimately the sale of Atari to Warner Media. So again, if you haven’t listened to that episode, make sure to go back and do that.

In part 2 of our interview with Nolan, we’re covering the second half of his career. With someone as storied and experienced as Nolan is, he wasn’t content to just sell Atari and fade into the background.

The second part of our conversation centered around:

Nolan’s first adventure after leaving Atari
His fascinating relationship with the iconic Steve Jobs
Why Chuck E Cheese was more of an arcade business than a restaurant business
The technology that he sold that became the bedrock of Pixar
Did Steve actually solicit help from his Buddy Steve Wozniak
How would Nolan describe their relationship?
What percentage of Apple did Steve offer Nolan when seeking investment?
Why did Nolan turn him down?

Listen to this and all of The Founder Formula episodes at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.

Nolan Bushnell, Co-founderAtari, Inc. - A Crash Course in Founding Jan 29, 2021

For the 25th episode of The Founder Formula, we thought we’d pull out all the stops, and invite one of the most famous founders in Silicon Valley history on the show for a two part extravaganza. If you spent any amount of time in the 1970’s & 1980’s playing Atari, you have our guest, Nolan Bushnell to thank.

Nolan founded Atari, and brought video games to the home user, selling over 30 million units. As if changing the video game industry wasn’t enough, Nolan also went on to found Chuck E. Cheese, which at the height of its popularity, had over 200 locations. Not to mention the countless boards he sits on, advisory roles he’s taken, and incubators he’s founded.

The first part of our conversation centered around:

- The history of Atari and what led to it’s founding

- The concept of “eat your babies” (Don’t worry, it’s not what it sounds like)

- Straddling the line between leading a company and inventing forward at the same time

- How the University of Utah & Silicon Valley had equal impact on his career

Listen to this and all of The Founder Formula episodes at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website

Renen Hallak, Co-founder VAST Data - Making Company Culture a Priority Dec 18, 2020

On this week’s episode of The Founder Formula, we talk with Renen Hallak, Founder and CEO of VAST Data. In 2019, he was honored for entrepreneurship by Goldman Sachs at their annual Innovator Summit. His company also recently made the news by raising $100M in Series C Funding — so it’s safe to say that Renen knows a thing or two about being a successful founder.

Our conversation was incredible, and we were fortunate that Renen was so generous with his time. We discussed, among other things:

The key differences between the hardware and software company and how those experiences differ greatly.

The journey to four successful fundraising cycles and why the most recent $100M cycle was so unique.

The complex decisions that go into selecting a board of directors for your company.

Making the company culture a foundation from day 1.

Listen to this and all of The Founder Formula episodes at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.

Rehan Jalil, Three-Time Tech Founder - Knowing and Never Losing Sight of your Customer Nov 19, 2020

On this week’s episode of The Founders Formula, we talk with Rehan Jalil. Rehan is a successful three-time founder, holds an AMP from Harvard Business School, has over 25 patents either granted or pending, and was named one of Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year finalists.
So it’s safe to say that Rehan knows a thing or two about the founder’s journey, and we were blown away with the wisdom and practical advice he had for us during this interview. We discussed, among other things:

- What to look for when assembling the winning founding team

- The most important part of the pitch

- The most gratifying moments for a founder

- The lessons he’s learned along the way that all founders should keep in mind

Listen to this and all of The Founder Formula episodes at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.

Justin Borgman, Co-founder Starburst - Ignoring Tradition and Going Bootstrap Sep 01, 2020

Our recent podcast guest & 2-time founder saw entrepreneurship as a way to have an impact on the world.

He & his employees wanted to do something to help fight against COVID-19, so they made their whole enterprise solution free to COVID-19 researchers.

That’s true impact. That’s wanting your work to do good in the world.

In this episode, we interview Justin Borgman, Co-founder & CEO at Starburst, about founding his second startup.

What we talked about:

- His impetus for entrepreneurship arrived at age 12

- The differences between his 1st and 2nd companies

- Company culture & values (not “the Silicon Valley mentality”)

- How he views his competitors

Listen to this and all of The Founder Formula episodes at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.

Todd Mostak, Co-founder OmniSci - How a Liberal Arts Kid Turned into an Accelerated Analytics Founder Jul 21, 2020

When I asked Todd what clued him in that he was destined to become an entrepreneur, he said, “Intense curiosity.”

The first-time founder taught himself Arabic, programming languages, data science, and entrepreneurship.

In this episode, I interview Todd Mostak, Cofounder and CEO at OmniSci, about his amazing startup journey.

What we talked about:

- Winning a contest for his first $100K

- Thesis at Harvard, research fellowship at MIT, and Verizon Wireless as an early client

- The mismatch between early hires, culture, and startup nimbleness

Listen to this and all of The Founder Formula episodes at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.

George Kurtz, Co-founder CrowdStrike - The Path from Accounting Major to Programmer to Ringing the IPO Bell Jun 30, 2020

George Kurtz is the President, Founder, & CEO of CrowdStrike, but his journey to the CEO of a $20B+ company isn’t one that a lot of people would expect.

On this episode of The Founder Formula, we sit down with George to discuss:

- What nearly got him fired from PricewaterhouseCoopers

- Why his lack of collegiate tech background makes him a more effective tech CEO

- How CrowdStrike had a remote work force model in place before COVID19 hit

- Why the IPO is the green flag for a company, not the checkered flag.

Listen to this and all of The Founder Formula episodes at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.

Jon Oberheide, Co-founder Duo Security - Getting Early Customers by Sending Pizza and 5-hour Energy Jun 05, 2020

After growing up in Ann Arbor and attending the University of Michigan, Jon Oberheide and his partner Dug Song started their career as offensive security researchers.

They soon found that it’s really easy to break things in the security space but it's a lot harder to build something resilient.

Jon joins us on this episode of The Founder Formula to share the story of their journey, and some of the simple solutions they were able to identify early on such as:

- Changing the customer experience

- Making free trials available

- Offering a solution that can deploy in 5 minutes

- Purchasing with a credit card (which at that time was unheard of!)

Listen to this and all of The Founder Formula episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.

Craig McLuckie, Founder Heptio - A Founder's Two Most important Relationships Revealed Jun 02, 2020

"The only reason to launch a start-up is because you have to!"

In this episode, we talk to cloud entrepreneur and innovator Craig McLuckie.

He talks about the time to launch a startup when you see 2 things:

1) A total addressable market

2) A moment of disruption

Listen to this and all of The Founder Formula episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.

Cindy Padnos, Founder Illuminate Ventures - From Successful Tech Start-up Founder to Successful VC Founder May 29, 2020

Cindy Padnos has not only done it twice, she's in a great position to advise those who only need to do it once.

Cindy is unique in that she founded her own tech company that was purchased by Oracle. She then found her second company, one that funds entrepreneurs.

Her advice? Focus on the things that matter - then go off and build a great business!

Cindy believes she has founder genes in her DNA - always thought like a founder. She launched her first company Vivant because, as she put it, she had no more excuses.

When describing starting a company: It was back breaking, gut wrenching work - and the most fun she’d ever had!

What does she look for in a founder? Someone scrappy, resilient, who demonstrates the ability to attract talent and knows how to celebrate wins.

If you take away fear and uncertainty and focus on building a solid business you’ll be the better for it. Focus on getting a few things right then when the uncertainty is lifted you’ll be in a much better position.

Lior Div, Co-founder Cybereason - Software as a Weapon: A Soldier Founds a Cybersecurity Company May 26, 2020

“Software is a weapon.”

And the thing about weapons is, they can be used to attack.

Or they can be used to defend.

And if you know how they can be used to attack, it only makes them all the easier to defend when the time comes.

On a recent episode of The Founder Formula, we sat down with Lior Div, who traded his life in the Israeli army, for a life as a CEO & Co-Founder of a cybersecurity company. We talked all about:

- His time in the Israeli army and how his experiences there set him up for a career as a CEO

- What it was that prompted him to start his own company

- Why it’s not a matter of IF you get hacked, but a matter of WHEN

Listen to this and all of The Founder Formula episodes at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.

Gaurav Manglik, Co-founder WestWave Capital - Starting a Company During a Global Pandemic May 20, 2020

This is a terrible time to be trying to start a company.

Right?

Maybe not.

While it might seem like the worst possible time to be throwing your energy, time, and money into starting a company, what if this were the best possible time to embark on this crazy journey?

Gaurav Manglik thinks this might just be your time.

And it’s not just about starting a company. If you are starting, what do you need to do? How can you increase your chances of getting funded?

Gaurav was a guest on The Founder Formula recently, and was kind enough to talk with us all about:

- Some of the most common myths about working for a VC

- Why your business plan could be the thing that makes the difference between success and failure

- What it was like having your company purchased by one of the largest enterprise tech firms in the word: Cisco

Listen to this and all of The Founder Formula episodes at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.

Tim Delisle, Co-founder Datalogue - Executing Someone Else’s Ideas Inspired a 25-Year-Old Intern to Launch a Start-up May 05, 2020

After graduating from Cornell University, Tim’s first gig was executing the ideas of others. He soon realized the Data Science and Insight work he was doing wasn’t solving the pain point that was creating usable data.

The solution didn’t exist. It needed to be created – and he knew how to do it.

Thus, the launch of a new start-up and a founder's journey.

Tim Delisle started his company at just 25 years old. He did his first pitch between college classes, and rather than using a power point or whiteboard, he used a notebook and some sharpies from his backpack.

On this episode of The Founder Formula, we sat down with Tim to discuss:

- Finding his co-founder at a Hackathon

- Building culture by cooking and eating together

- Not knowing any VC’s when he started

- 3 keys stages: Seed Stage, Series A, and large growth rounds

- Translating gut instincts into clear communication

Listen to this and all of The Founder Formula episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.

Jack McCauley, Co-founder Oculus VR - From Guitar Hero to Oculus VR: Surviving a Start-Up Apr 22, 2020

What happens when you get the chance to sit down with someone who was the co-founder of Oculus VR, and was one of the chief IP leads for the famed Activision franchise Guitar Hero?

Someone who has made a career out of innovation and knows what it takes to succeed in the startup world?
You drop everything and have that conversation.

On the Season 2 kick off episode of The Founder Formula, we sat down with Jack McCauley to talk about:

- The story of the development of Oculus

- The soft skills needed to survive in a startup environment

- Advice for folks who want to hang on to their IP

- So, so much more

Listen to this and all of The Founder Formula episodes at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.

Jake Knapp, Founder Design Sprint - Why You Need Design Sprint Nov 26, 2019

Today’s guest is Jake Knapp, Designer, Advisor, & New York Times Best Selling Author, and someone who cut his teeth on Microsoft Encarta.

Who remembers Microsoft Encarta?

Show of hands.

For those of you under the age of 30, it was essentially Wikipedia on a CD-ROM. You’d buy it, and then at the end of the year, it would get updated and you’d have to buy it again.

On this episode we talked about:

The theory behind The Sprint
What he took away from Google and Microsoft
Success stories from companies that have embraced The Sprint.
How to write a book on the side while still being amazing at your job.

Listen to this and all of the Founder Formula episodes at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.

Benjamin Hindman, Co-founder D2iQ - A Great and Terrible Idea: Founding a Company With High School Buddies Nov 19, 2019

Today’s guest is Benjamin Hindman, Co-Founder of D2iQ (formerly Mesosphere).

After founding a company with buddies from high school, would you undertake a CEO search and an entire company rebrand? If you did, here’s what you’d learn:

Why founding a company with high school buddies is a great and terrible idea
What it’s like to search for a CEO
The process of rebranding

Listen to this and all of The Founder Formula episodes at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.

Nir Polak, Co-founder Exabeam - Embracing Design Partners Rather Beta Testers Nov 12, 2019

Today’s guest is Nir Polak, Cofounder and CEO at Exabeam.

Founders of tech solutions should sign design partners. Not beta testers.

What we talked about:

Design partners and how they’re superior to beta testers
Benefits of refining your product market fit early in your to market process
Creating a heat map of scaling communications
Finding investors

Find this episode and more Founder Formula at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website.

Elik Eizenberg, Co-founder BigPanda - Three Traits of People You Want to Found a Company Alongside Nov 05, 2019

Today’s guest is Elik Eizenberg, Founder & CTO at BigPanda. On this episode, he speaks with us about his enduring love for data algorithms.

The more you think about founding a company, the more you don’t want to do it. At some point, you’ll have to stop analyzing all the reasons not to and get started.

What we talked about:

Why analysis will keep you from founding your company
The kind of people you want to found a company with
Elik’s process of finding his target market
Starting with mockups
Why “Panda”

To hear this episode and more like it, subscribe to The Founder Formula on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or tune in on our website.

Jyoti Bansal, Co-founder Harness - Three Ways to Prove to VCs you’re a Billion-Dollar Company Oct 29, 2019

Today's guest is Jyoti Bansal, serial entrepreneur, tech visionary, and co-founder of Harness. As an entrepreneur, the hardest part about taking a chance on an idea often isn’t when the idea doesn’t work out. It’s when it does work out. Jyoti was kind enough to fill us in on what it takes to prove your startup plan is worth a billion dollars.

In this episode, we cover:

Being a first-time founder
The toll entrepreneurship can have on families
Solidifying a convincing pitch for VCs

To hear this episode and more like it, subscribe to The Founder Formula on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or tune in on our website.

Hayes Drumwright, Tech and Winery Founder, Author - The Myth of Entrepreneurship Oct 22, 2019

Today’s guest is Hayes Drumwright, founder or co-founder of multiple startups ranging from tech to the nonprofit space, including a few passion projects. He sits down to discuss with us his formula for being a serial entrepreneur.

Hayes has a new wine company as a passion project called memento mori--which is latin for “remember you will die.” It is a great metaphor for how he views life and entrepreneurship. Their company is a call for customers to remember to live. On the other hand, they also want to honor the struggles of their customers. Memento Mori, as a company wants their customers to do two things: be vulnerable and be brave.

For Hayes, entrepreneurship is tough because you are making a bet on yourself, and when you start a company you force a lot of people to also bet on you. He also shares what he believes is the myth of entrepreneurship: most people think you need an amazing idea in order to achieve a lot of success. But in reality all you really need is an unbelievable level of commitment to do it better than anybody else.

Raja Mukerji, Co-founder ExtraHop Networks - The Two Most Important Characteristics for Starting a Company Oct 15, 2019

Today’s guest is Raja Mukerji, Co-Founder and Chief Customer Officer at ExtraHop Networks.

There is only one purpose of any company: to provide VALUE to its users. In order to do that, you need a maniacal focus on the customer right from the outset of founding a company.

In this episode, Raja shares his thoughts on:

Showing up in Gartner’s upper-right hand quadrant.
The 2 most important characteristics you need to start a company.
The biggest myth about startups.
Why it’s important for your investors to appreciate the “Art of the Possible.”

Mohit Aron, Founder Cohesity, Co-founder Nutanix - From 2003 Google to the Smartphone for Enterprise Data Oct 08, 2019

Today’s guest is Mohit Aron, who was employee #600 at Google. When he left, four years later, Google had 30,000 employees. He worked there during a romantic era.

It was an amazing ride. He joined Google in early 2003.

Now Mohit is CEO and Founder of Cohesity.

He gave us incredible insight into:

How Google prepared him for entrepreneurship.
Why 80% of data lies beneath the surface.
How Cohesity is becoming the “smartphone” of enterprise data.
Why company values are the most important part of building a culture.

Guru Chahal, Founder Avi Networks, Partner Lightspeed Venture Partners - Three Crucial Things VCs are Looking for in Founders Oct 01, 2019

Today’s guest is Guru Chahal, a Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners (and former co-founder of Avi Networks).

In this episode, he told us he looks for three key things in founding teams:

1) Entrepreneurs who have a background in the market they want to take on.

2) The ability to execute.

3) The ability to monetize the technology.

Kumar Ramachandran, Co-founder CloudGenix - How to Pivot a Startup Without Losing your Way Sep 28, 2019

Today’s guest is Kumar Ramachandran, CEO and Founder of CloudGenix.

In this episode, he talks about the balance between pivoting and persistence, why Silicon Valley is a special place for startups, the joy of making your customer the hero, and how to maintain your company culture as you scale and hire.

Phil Tee, Founder Moogsoft - How to Maintain your Tech Startup’s Ethos as you Scale Sep 18, 2019

Today’s guest is Phil Tee, Co-Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Moogsoft. In this one, Phil tells the story of Moogsoft’s name, why he intentionally tries to make the company’s culture different than other tech startups around San Francisco, and how he’s managed to keep the ethos of the company intact after several years.

“There’s a fantastic line from a Cat Stevens song: you may be still be here tomorrow, but your dreams may not. You’ve got to keep the dream alive.”

Mario Ciabarra, Founder Quantum Metric - The Three Most Important Attributes Founding Tech Teams Need to Possess Sep 18, 2019

Today’s guest is Mario Ciabarra, CEO and Founder of Quantum Metric.

Mario tells his story about working nights and weekends to make his entrepreneurial dream a reality. He also gives advice on how to hone your pitch messaging for VCs, why the messaging for pitching CIOs is different, and the three most important attributes the core members of your team need to possess.

Why You Should Listen to The Founder Formula Sep 18, 2019

One of the leading indicators for technology that’s going to hit the market is whether or not it comes out of the major VC firms.

It’s very rare that the proverbial unicorns come out of a vacuum or one angel investor.

Typically the path runs through one of the top 50 VC firms in the world.

On this podcast, host Mark Campbell, Chief Innovation Officer at Trace3, will be sharing the journey of some of the founders who have taken that path.

He’ll talk to founders from all stages of the journey: those who are just starting, those who are just now hitting the market, and those who are hitting the inflection curve as their companies grow.

Listen in to hear what you’ll get out of this podcast.

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