ASCEND Podcast

Anne Gherini  recently sat down with Vercel's VP of Engineering,  Lindsey Simon,  to discuss what changes when code becomes abundant, why management now requires staying technical, and what separates great engineers from average ones in an AI-native world. Read more: https://www.sierraventures.com/ascend/vercel-vp-of-engineering

In this episode of the ASCEND podcast, Adam Ward, Executive Recruiting Leader at Cursor, breaks down what it really takes to build a strong recruiting culture at early-stage startups. Adam shares why founders should spend up to 50% of their time on recruiting and the three key pillars of success: scoping roles clearly, building networks early, and sharpening assessment skills. He highlights the im...

In this episode of the ASCEND podcast we sit down with Dhiren Bhatia, CEO and Co-Founder of Inventive AI. One thing I love about my role here at Sierra Ventures is working with our early-stage founders and helping them with their journeys. The Seed stage is challenging and founders that have exited previous startups and are willing to roll back up their sleeves and do it again always come with a l...

In this episode of ASCEND, we sit down with Jerry Brooner, a seasoned sales leader with a wealth of experience in driving growth and building high-performing teams in the tech industry.  We also discuss Jerry's insights on Enable Software, his criteria for choosing the right company to join, and the essentials of building a customer-focused sales culture. Whether you're an early-stage foun...

In this interview with Nikhil Gupta, Founder and CEO of ArmorCode, he discusses his entrepreneurial journey and advice for founders. KEY HIGHLIGHTS: - Nikhil has always had an entrepreneurial spirit, inspired by seeing his father's small business while growing up in India. - He tried starting companies multiple times, failing over 20+ years before finally having a successful exit with his prev...

In this episode of the ASCEND podcast, we talk to  Hu Liang , CEO and Founder of Omniex, which crypto giant  Gemini  acquired. Omniex was a trading technology platform that provides order, execution, and portfolio management system solutions for institutional crypto trading. The acquisition enabled Gemini to launch Gemini Prime, a crypto prime brokerage offering. Before founding Omniex, Hu was SVP...

We got to sit down with Vetri Vellore , Founder at Ally.io (Acq by Microsoft), for this podcast, diving into many questions that are top of mind for founders. Vetri Vellore is an accomplished entrepreneur with two exits to date. His most recent exit was in 2021 when Microsoft acquired Ally.io, and he became corporate vice president in charge of building Microsoft's Viva Goals.  Before founding...

Sierra's Anne Gherini will be talking to early-stage leaders about building incredible brands, filling the pipeline, and helping retain key customers all on a startup budget. Roundtable Speakers: Joe Andrews is the CMO at SupportLogic ; previously, he was a marketing leader at OODA , InsideView, Zuora and VMware . Jake Braly is the CMO at Krisp ; previously, he was a marketing leader at Highsp...

In today's competitive environment, customer success is crucial to establishing a solid foundation and building long-term growth at any SaaS company . This session will provide essential strategies, best practices, and practical tips to construct an effective customer success team that drives customer satisfaction and retention. Sierra Ventures' Anne Gherini talked to two incredible custom...

We got to sit down with Carol Carpenter , CMO at Unity , for this podcast, diving into many questions that are top of mind for founders. Carol has led an incredible career. Before Unity, she was the CMO at VMware , ClearSlide and the Global VP of Marketing for Google Cloud. Carol also stepped in and became CEO of ElasticBox, which she helped get acquired by Lumen. One area of focus was building ex...