Off to the Valley

Hello everyone and welcome to a special year-end episode of Off To The Valley! I'm your host, Prateek Panda, and before we wrap up the year, we're hitting pause to look back on a season that broke patterns and reminded us why we started. We revisit game-changing insights, from Peter Loving's essential advice on design to Yang Cheung's strategy of generating revenue pre-product. Hear again why you...

Are you struggling to hit the $1M ARR mark because your customer growth is constantly offset by high churn? You have a leaky bucket, and that's a problem we're solving today! I’m joined by the incredible Anika Zubair, a former immigrant to Europe and a global Customer Success leader, to discuss the critical shift founders need to make. We tackle the common misunderstanding that Customer Success is...

When Hila Lauterbach moved from Israel to the U.S. with a six-week-old baby, she didn’t have an office, a network, or a roadmap. For months, her desk was a restroom at a small restaurant, and from that space, she built teams, launched startups, and led go-to-market strategy for some of the most exciting SaaS companies in tech. Today, Hila is the Co-Founder of 10XGTM, a consultancy that helps high-...

When Sophie Alcorn was a shy little girl in Southern California, she would follow her father, an immigration lawyer, to his office on Saturdays. If she managed to send a fax correctly to the INS, she’d earn a sugar cube as a reward. That small ritual planted the seeds of what would become her life’s calling. Years later, after resisting the path of “becoming just like dad,” Sophie returned to immi...

In this episode of Off to the Valley , I sit down with Jane Fisher, journalist-turned-founder of imii , an AI-powered platform helping immigrants navigate life in a new country. Jane’s story is one of resilience, identity, and building with purpose. Born in Japan to parents from the USSR, Jane grew up as a classic third-culture kid, never fully belonging anywhere. That experience, combined with he...

In this episode of Off to the Valley , I sit down with Sasha Yablonovsky, Co-Founder & Co-CEO of Loanspark and former President at CareerBuilder, to unpack her extraordinary journey from immigrant beginnings to building a fintech that’s reshaping small business lending. Sasha shares how Loanspark went revenue positive in under 24 months with a lean team of just 20 hires, proving that speed and...

In this episode of Off to the Valley , I sit down with Evan Burkosky, Co-Founder & CEO of Kimaru.ai, to explore his extraordinary journey, from growing up on Vancouver Island and working summers on his family’s fishing boat, to spending over two decades building businesses in Japan. I share in Evan’s reflections as he talks about how an early dream of importing Canadian seafood to Japan transf...

Yang Cheung turned her kid’s doodle into a business idea, and it’s now helping children become creators, earn royalties, and build confidence through their art. In this episode of Off to the Valley , Yang shares the journey behind PixyIt, a platform where children’s artwork is transformed into products like t-shirts, mugs, and more. But it’s more than just a feel-good story. This is a real startup...

Joseph Lee started his entrepreneurial journey at 15, flipping electronics on Craigslist to fund his education. Today, he’s the founder and CEO of Supademo, a fast-growing platform that’s transforming how teams create interactive product demos. In this episode of Off to the Valley , Joseph shares how he went from dropping out of university to launching Supademo and landing over 2,000 users in the...

In this episode of Off to the Valley , I sit down with Nida Ateeq, founder and CMO of Anagar Media, a marketing agency that helps B2B companies transition from brand confusion to pipeline clarity. Nida shares her journey of moving from India to Canada, launching a business in a new country, and landing her first clients through trust, community, and personal branding. She unpacks how she built a t...

What happens after the visa gets approved? In this episode of Off To The Valley , I sit down with Nino Melikidze, co-founder and CEO of Immitracker, to talk about the invisible side of immigration, the identity shifts, career resets, and emotional weight that don’t make it onto official paperwork. Nino shares what it felt like to start over in Canada, how long it really takes to feel at home, and...

What do you do when customers ask for the wrong things? Toni Hopponen, founder of LandingRabbit and previously Flockler (acquired in 2023), joins Off To The Valley to unpack what 13 years of bootstrapped SaaS taught him. From building a self-serve product without a sales team to decoding landing pages that actually convert, Toni shares real, hard-earned lessons about customer interviews, product i...

From one rupee rentals to building Goldcast, Palash Soni’s founder story is as real as it gets. In this episode of Off to the Valley , Palash, Co-founder and CEO of Goldcast, walks us through his early entrepreneurial sparks in a small Indian town, launching a side hustle at age 10, and eventually founding a VC-backed SaaS company out of Harvard. We talk about: Building Goldcast in the middle of b...

In this episode of Off To The Valley , Aashni Shah, founder and CEO of HypeDocs, opens up about hitting a breaking point and what it took to rebuild with more clarity, purpose, and joy. From navigating a tough pivot, shutting down a version of her product, and questioning everything, to rediscovering her spark through a completely new approach, this is a raw and real look at what it actually feels...

What does it really take to build something from scratch in a new country, without a blueprint or a safety net? In this episode of Off to the Valley, I sit down with Sneha Saigal, founder and CEO of Geeks and Experts, to discuss building a startup as an immigrant, navigating the hidden pressures of PR, and the often-overlooked art of knowing when to pivot. We dive into: 1. Why pivoting doesn’t nee...

In this episode, I sit down with Gorish Aggarwal, co-founder of Sybill , an AI-powered platform that helps sales teams have more authentic conversations and close deals more effectively. Gorish shares why he thinks of Sybill as the therapist salespeople didn’t know they needed, how they are standing out in a crowded AI space, and what it really means to build product-led. We also talk about the em...

In this episode of Off to the Valley , I sit down with Bob Moesta, innovator, entrepreneur, and co-creator of the groundbreaking Jobs to Be Done framework, which is trusted by companies like Apple, Intercom, and GitLab. Bob shares incredible stories, including how breaking both legs as a child led him to uncover his superpower, why customers lie (and how founders can discover the truth), and the s...

You Are Not Your Startup! And Other Hard-Won Lessons from Shruti Kapoor What happens when an investment banker turns tech entrepreneur, builds a sales enablement platform, gets into Y Combinator, and then sells her company to an industry giant? You get a masterclass in navigating the founder journey. In this episode of Off to the Valley , Shruti Kapoor, founder of Wingman (acquired by Clari), shar...

Arjita Sethi’s entrepreneurial journey began at just 16 when she co-founded a vocational school that transformed the lives of over 100,000 people. Fueled by a deep passion for education and impact, she made her way to Silicon Valley, where she faced the realities of building a startup as an immigrant founder. From visa restrictions to raising venture capital, she pushed through intense challenges...

In this episode of Off to the Valley , Nick Jain, CEO of IdeaScale, shares his insights on AI, innovation, and leadership. From turning around struggling businesses without layoffs to leveraging AI for creativity, Nick provides a data-driven perspective on what it really takes to foster innovation in today’s competitive landscape. Key takeaways from this episode: • The Reality of AI-Driven Creativ...

In this episode of Off To The Valley , I sit down with Tara Sakhuja , Founder & CEO of Data Dumpling , to explore her transition from big tech to startup life and how she’s leveraging AI to revolutionize B2B customer acquisition . Tara’s career has taken her around the world, from Meta and Bumble to launching her own venture in London . She shares how working in Singapore, the Bay Area, and th...

I’m kicking off Season 2 of Off to the Valley with a special guest: Peter Loving, founder of User Active. This product design agency helps B2B SaaS companies transform user experiences and drive meaningful growth. In this episode, Peter and I explore what makes great product design and why good UX can be a game-changer for SaaS founders. We discuss how the best SaaS products focus on removing fric...

Welcome to a special year-end episode of Off to the Valley ! In 2024, we journeyed across borders, cultures, and industries to uncover the inspiring stories of founders and innovators who left the familiar to create something extraordinary. In this episode, we’re looking back at the most unforgettable moments from our first season. From Melissa Kwan’s bold leap with $600 in NYC to Esben Friis-Jens...

In this episode of Off To The Valley , we chat with Tim Grassin, a serial entrepreneur with three successful exits, including TendoPay and Candy Banners. Tim’s journey takes us through his experiences scaling businesses across Southeast Asia and beyond, with a focus on B2B startups. We explore Tim’s approach to building successful companies, highlighting his 3x exits and the importance of validati...

In this episode of Off To The Valley , we sit down with Alessio Pieroni, founder of Scale for Impact, an agency focused on transforming online education businesses. Alessio’s journey takes us from his small town in Italy to the global stage, working with renowned authors like Tony Robbins and Jordan Peterson, and scaling Mindvalley from $25 million to $75 million in revenue as CMO. Alessio shares...