The Room Podcast

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Welcome to The Room! Feb 17, 2024

Show notes

Welcome to The Room Podcast! A series interviewing your favorite tech founders and funders.

Our guests were in the room where it happened and they're sharing their stories.

The Room is hosted by Claudia Laurie and Madison McIlwain, two digital natives based in SF, who are challenging the status quo just like our guests.

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S9E8: Cristina Junqueira is Revolutionizing Digital Banking Services with Nubank Oct 31, 2023

Show notes

Welcome back to Season 9 of The Room Podcast. In our final episode of the season, we sit with Cristina Junqueira. Cristina co-founded Nubank, a Brazilian fintech that revolutionized the industry with its user-friendly digital banking services. Nubank's transparent fee structures and mobile app have disrupted traditional banking, setting a new industry standard. Their innovative approach has made a significant impact, especially in Latin America, where Nubank has gained wide popularity. When NuBank went public in December of 2021 it was valued at 45 billion at IPO.

In this episode, we discuss key themes for today's business world, including product diversification, innovation as a practical strategy, customer-centricity, problem-solving, and the importance of resilience in a dynamic environment.

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4:38 - Where did Cristina grow up and how did this shape her view of the world?
7:22 - When Cristina was younger did she always want to become a founder?
8:40 - Why did Cristina get an MBA and come to the U.S.?
10:27 - What were some learnings from Cristina’s early career?
13:41 - What was the “aha moment” that inspired Cristina and David to start Nubank?
16:19 - What was the initial product of Nubank?
18:48 - Why does Cristina think word of mouth was so important to the success of Nubank?
20:52 - What advice does Cristina have for any new founders in the fintech world?
22:23 - Who was the first person to say yes to investing in Nubank?
24:05 - How was the experience of starting a daily while also starting a business?
26:52 - Are there any memorable moments from the IPO of Nubank?
28:49 - What was a moment in Nubank's life cycle where things didn't go as planned?
31:40 - What should customers be excited about for the future of Nubank?
33:46 - What trends has Cristina seen over the past year as the global economy is shifting and how has that impacted what products customers leveraging?
35:46 - What are Cristina’s thoughts on the future of leadership in fintech?
38:01 - Who is a woman in Cristina’s life who has had a profound impact on her and her career?

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S9E7: Christelle Rohaut is Matching Employers with Modern Office Spaces using Codi Oct 24, 2023

Show notes

Welcome back to another episode of The Room Podcast! This week’s guest is Christelle Rohaut, the CEO and co-founder of Codi. Christelle and Codi are leading the way to happier urban living through innovative approaches encompassing remote work, sustainability, and intelligent urban design. That’s why Codi’s mission is to offer more flexible and secure office spaces, providing a convenient alternative to traditional office setups. Companies of all sizes use Codi to attract and retain talent, reduce commuting hassles, and adapt to evolving needs, contributing to a broader workplace revolution.

In this episode, we expand on ideas such as personal transformation through parenthood as a catalyst for achieving business success, transforming underutilized neighborhood spaces into flexible hubs for businesses to share and revitalize local economies, and emphasizing in-person interactions, and streamlining operations to maximize supply and demand matching.

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4:29 - Where did Christelle grow up and how did that shape her view of the world?
5:00 - Did Christelle always think she would become a founder?
5:39 - Where does Christelle get her interest in cities?
6:39 - What is a key difference between cities in France and cities in the States?
7:51 - How has Christelle’s previous work impacted her journey as a founder?
10:26 - What was the earliest inception of what Codi could and should be?
12:16 - What was the “aha moment” that sparked the start of Codi?
13:38 - How has Codi’s core product evolved over time?
14:10 - What was Codi’s original cord product?
15:39 - How did Codi’s roadmap change over time?
17:50 - What does Christelle think about the current commercial real estate climate?
19:18 - How does Christelle adapt to changes in the commercial real estate market?
21:34 - How are startups plugging into the current commercial real estate landscape?
34:28 - How does Christelle envision being creative about a business model that's breaking in front of our eyes?
26:56 - Who was the first person to say yes to investing in Codi?
27:38 - What advice would Christelle give to someone who is going out into the market today?
29:24 - What was a moment in Codi's life cycle where things didn't go quite as planned?
32:17 - How does Christelle think about marketplace growth and how does that affect the future of Codi?
34:02 - Where does Christelle think physical space for startups and businesses is going to be in the next five years?
35:23 - What is Christelle excited about in her personal life?
35:48 - Who is a woman in Christelle’s life that has had a profound impact on her and her career?

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S9E6: Optimizing Security and Compliance Using Vanta’s Trust Management for SaaS Businesses with Vanta CEO Christina Cacioppo Oct 17, 2023

Show notes

We continue this season of The Room Podcast with another incredible guest, Christina Cacioppo, co-founder and CEO of Vanta. Vanta is an automated security monitoring platform that helps companies get SOC 2, HIPAA, or ISO certified quickly and easily. We and Christina share experiences working for Dropbox as she details what she learned from her time there and how that impacted her decision to start Vanta.

In this episode, we learn more about topics such as transitioning from product manager to founder and the path of finding a problem to solve, product and marketing differentiation in the competitive landscape of enterprise SaaS and, building out an early enterprise Go-To-Market team in motion.

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Check out our guide to podcasting here!

4:10 - Where did Christina grow up and how did that shape her view of the world?
4:49 - Did Christina always think she was going to become a founder?
6:16 - How did Christina’s first jobs in venture impact her?
8:14 - What was the “aha moment” when Christina knew she wanted to start her first company?
10:30 - How was Christina’s experience at Dropbox?
13:14 - What was the “aha moment” when Christina knew she wanted to start Vanta?
14:17 - What is the core product of Vanta?
16:41 - What key problem is Vanta working to solve?
18:17 - How should a company think about the right time to get compliant?
19:59 - Who was the first person to say yes to investing in Vanta?
21:06 - What advice would Christina give founders thinking about getting started in the security space today?
22:42 What was a moment in Vanta's life cycle where things did not go as planned?
24:38 - How do Christina and Vanta consider differentiating themselves in the market?
28:29 - How did Christina think about building and scaling her company from a Go-To-Market perspective?
31:18 - How is Vanta thinking about AI?
32:18 - How can we build an ecosystem that works to achieve parity with SAS companies founded by women?
34:39 - What is Christina looking forward to in her personal life?
36:08 - Who is a woman in Christina’s life that has had a profound impact on her and her career?

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S9E5: Powering the Future of Blockchain with Kathleen Breitman of Tezos Oct 03, 2023

Show notes

We are back again with another episode of the The Room Podcast! We take a deep dive into blockchain technology with Kathleen Breitman, the co-founder of Tezos. Kathleen sets the stage for a fascinating discussion about Tezos' contributions to the blockchain space. We talk about Tezos’ self-amending nature and community-driven governance, how companies are tokenizing real assets on Tezos, and how these features drove Tezos to become a pioneering force in the blockchain industry.

In this episode, we cover themes such as security in the early blockchain landscape, approaches to funding startups in the crypto space, self-governance in Web3, and the current regulatory environment.

For The Room Podcast in your inbox every week, subscribe to our newsletter.

Check out our guide to podcasting here!

4:00 - Where did Kathleen grow up and how did that shape her view of the world?
4:50 - Did Kathleen always think she was going to become a founder?
6:46 - How did going to an all-girls school impact Kathleen?
8:29 - How did Kathleen end up working in the blockchain industry and what was the landscape like when she started?
12:14 - What was the “aha moment” that sparked the start of Tezos?
14:39 - What pushed Kathleen to make Tezos one of the first blockchains to leverage a proof of stake mechanism to provide high security and low energy usage compared to the popular proof of work chains?
16:30 - How was Kathleen’s fundraising journey for Tezos?
19:42 - What was a moment when starting Tezos when things didn’t go as planned?
26:25 - What is Kathleen looking forward to in the back half of 2023?
29:43 - What are Kathleen’s thoughts regarding some of the reputational damage that has been done by bad actors in the blockchain ecosystem?
32:38 - What are some current projects that Kathleen is looking forward to?
35:27 - How is Kathleen thinking about the relationship between self-governance and the current regulatory environment?
37:25 - How has Kathleen’s work in the blockchain ecosystem interacted with the art world, and how does she see that aspect of crypto really evolving?
39:37 - Who is a woman in Kathleen’s life that has a profound impact on her and her career?

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S9E4: Guillermo Rauch, Co-Author of Next.js, is Revolutionizing Web Development with Vercel Sep 26, 2023

Show notes

Hey, The Room Podcast Family!

In this exciting episode of the series, we dive headfirst into the open-source world of tech entrepreneurship with Guillermo Rauch, the visionary founder behind Vercel and Next.js. Guillermo takes us on his incredible journey, from growing up in Argentina to moving to Switzerland to becoming a driving force in shaping the future of web development. He shares the pivotal moments that led to the creation of Vercel, the platform that's revolutionizing front-end development on top of the react framework.

Join us as we explore the tech landscape and gain insights into Guillermo’s journey from MooTools to Next.js to Vercel, many pieces of advice for founders in the open-source landscape about timing and fundraising, the future of open-source development alongside AI, and much more!

For The Room Podcast in your inbox every week, subscribe to our newsletter.

Check out our guide to podcasting here!

4:29 - Where did Guillermo grow up and how did that shape his view of the world?
6:00 - Did Guillermo always think he was going to become a founder?
7:12 - What inspired the creation of MooTools?
9:13 - What was it like moving across the world to Switzerland and then to San Francisco after, especially during this “post .com boom”?
11:23 - What advice does Guillermo have for founders considering acquisition opportunities?
15:46 - How did Socket and Mongoose change the development landscape and what did Guillermo learn through co-authoring and contributing to those projects?
18:58 - What was Guillermo’s experience co-authoring Next.js?
22:26 - What was the “aha moment” that led to creating Vercel and the early Go-To-Market strategy with it?
27:56 - How was Guillermo’s transition from Next.js to Vercel and how do the two differ?
31:33 - How did Guillermo unlock his first enterprise customers and what advice does he have for founders who are also looking to make that leap?
35:05 - Who was the first person to say yes to investing in Vercel?
36:52 - What advice does Guillermo have for founders working in open source who are thinking of getting fundraising?
38:43 - What was a moment in Guillermo’s journey with Vercel when things just did not go as planned?
40:48 - What is Guillermo’s take on the future of AI and development and what's next on Vercel's roadmap in regards to AI?
46:25 - What is Guillermo excited about for this upcoming year?
47:22 - Who is a woman in Guillermo’s life that has had a profound impact on him and his career?

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S9E3: Julianna Lamb and Reed McGinley-Stempel are Unlocking Secure Authentication for Businesses of all Sizes with Stytch Sep 19, 2023

Show notes

We are back again this week with another episode of The Room Podcast! This week we are joined by Julianna and Reed, the co-founders of Stych. TTopics in this episode include; the need for transparency and enabling conversations for potential M&A deals in the startup environment, the need for a more user-friendly and secure authentication method, and advice for other up-and-coming founders in the enterprise SaaS space.

For The Room Podcast in your inbox every week, subscribe to our newsletter.

Check out our guide to podcasting here!
5:00 - Where did Julianna and Reed grow up and how did that shape their view of the world?
7:27 - Did Juliana ever think that becoming a founder would be something she pursued?
9:47 - How did Reed relate to being a founder when growing up and what was his path from undergrad to becoming a founder?
12:32 - How did Julianna and Reed meet at Plaid?
17:38 - What was the “aha moment” that sparked the start of Stych?
22:05 - Who are the core buyers of Stych and what is the Go-To-Market strategy for Stych?
24:39 - What advice would Julianna and Reed give to new founders in the enterprise SaaS space?
27:39 - What advice do Julianna and Reed have for deciding if someone is a good partner?
32:10 - Who was the first person who said yes to investing in Stytch?
33:27 - What was a moment when things did not go as planned?
35:25 - What are some learnings from being the buyer persona for another startup that is looking to sell to another startup?
38:17 - What was/is the most successful growth channel? And how have Julianna and Reed thought about outbound versus
inbound marketing as a result?
40:25 - What's kind of next for Julianna and Reed personally?
42:44 - Who is a woman in your life that has had a profound impact on you and your career?

WX Productions

S9E2: Devo Harris, Founder of Adventr, Is Producing Success From G.O.O.D. Music to Building AI Brands Sep 12, 2023

Show notes

Season 9 continues with another multi-dimensional guest. DeVon “Devo” Harris went from producing platinum records with G.O.O.D. Music to founding Adventr, an interactive AI-powered marketing tool that makes content more interactive to reach and connect with audiences more easily. “Adventr makes it easy to create smart, interactive video content that allows engaged viewers to connect with your message on demand.”

In this episode we discuss; when to use the art of “fake it till you make it,” how to challenge other people’s perceptions, how to apply lessons from one industry to another, and the future of interactive content.

For The Room Podcast in your inbox every week, subscribe to our newsletter.

Check out our guide to podcasting here!

5:00 - Where did Devo grow up and how did that shape his view of the world?
6:27 - Did Devo always think he would become a founder?
7:10 - How did Devo find his passion for writing and producing music?
8:00 - What was Devo’s first job after college?
11:18 - How did Devo come up with the idea to start G.O.O.D. Music?
13:54 - What were some of the early highlights of G.O.O.D. Music?
17:27 - What lessons did Devo take from the music industry that he applies to being a founder?
21:30 - Was there ever a sense of satisfaction when receiving rewards for music?
23:12 - How did Devo feel when he joined Vimeo?
27:36 - What was the “aha moment” that sparked the creation of Adventr?
32:11 - Who are the buyers of Adventr and how did that impact the go-to-market strategy?
33:50 - Who was the first person to say yes to investing in Adventr?
35:44 - What was a moment when things didn’t go as planned?
37:08 - What’s next for Adventr?
41:14 - What work has Devo done with the Lehman program?
43:06 - Who is a woman in Devo’s life that has had a profound impact on him and his career?

WX Productions

S9E1: Iman Abuzeid and Incredible Health are Revolutionizing Healthcare via their Nurse Hiring Platform Sep 05, 2023

Show notes

Welcome back to another season of The Room! We are kicking off Season 9 by diving into healthcare innovation and entrepreneurship with Iman Abuzeid, the visionary Co-founder & CEO of Incredible Health. Incredible Health partners with hospitals to hire nurses more effectively by flipping the recruiting standard on its head and having hospitals search for nurses instead of the other way around. Incredible Health is known for its software that sources experienced candidates, so recruiters have more time to interview and close candidates.

In this episode topics include; what helped Incredible Health stand out in the healthcare labor marketplace, when to bring investors into your process, what impacts the pandemic is having on recruiting, and the future of the healthcare labor market.

For The Room Podcast in your inbox every week, subscribe to our newsletter.

Check out our guide to podcasting here!

4:52 - Where did Iman grow up and how did that shape her view of the world?
5:23 - Did Iman always think she would become a founder?
6:48 - How was Iman’s experience in college learning about healthcare?
8:51 - How did Iman’s experience in consulting assist her in healthcare?
10:46 - What lessons did Iman learn early on as a founder?
13:26 - How did Iman’s previous founding experiences impact what became Incredible Health?
14:18 - What was the early vision of Incredible Health?
16:16 - Why is it so important to have hospitals search for nurses instead of the other way around?
18:20 - What are some of the supply restraints in this market?
19:48 - Who was the first person to say yes to investing in Incredible Health?
22:22 - What value did investors and investment capital add to the journey?
24:11 - What are examples of a time when things didn’t go as planned?
26:32 - How did Iman approach selling to hospitals, a notoriously challenging clientele?
28:44 - What were some of the first hospitals to sign on and why did they?
30:21 - How does Increible Health balance keeping both nurses and recruiters happy?
31:47 - How is Incredible Health thinking about the future of Healthcare?
34:01 - What long-term impacts does Iman see the pandemic having on staffing and recruiting?
36:24 - What can we, as a society, do to better support healthcare professionals?
38:31 - What has Iman’s perspective been as a female founder?
40:26 - What’s next for Iman, personally?
41:45 - Who is a woman who has had a profound impact on Iman’s life and career?

WX Productions

The Room Podcast x Bessemer Venture Partners' Wish I Knew: Sarah Friar: Career lessons on community, conviction, and capital from Nextdoor’s CEO Jul 17, 2023

Show notes

While we are waiting for season 9, we are thrilled to share a podcast that we know you would love from our friends at Bessemer Venture Partners. Check out their podcast Wish I Knew's conversation with Nextdoor CEO Sarah Friar. Wish I Knew is about the revelatory, life-changing aha moments that founders, CEOs and leaders discover along their business journeys and why taking risks leads to growth. Presented by Bessemer Venture Partners. From consultant to investor to CFO to CEO, Sarah Friar has a business acumen rivaled by few others. Today, Sarah Friar is at the helm of NextDoor, the social network that services over 300,000 neighborhoods globally. On Wish I Knew, she shared why you should pay attention to what you both love and hate about your job, why strong conviction in a market thesis can buoy you through hard times, and why it’s never a bad time to raise money. She shares how she navigated her career and trusted her intuition to make smart decisions along the way. Listen to all the Wish I Knew episodes at bvp.com/wish-i-knew and subscribe to them wherever you get your podcasts!

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