The Thread Podcast

Ben Emmrich , CEO and Co founder of Tusk joins the show to talk about: Disrupting FedEx and UPS with a better way to ship. The process Ben went through to sell and establish Tusk's first network partners. Diagnosing customer pain by checking the labels on the purchases we make every day. Ben's hustle selling dry ice and his approach to constructing monopolies. 

Jesse Lipson , CEO and Co founder of Levitate and ShareFile , joins the show to talk about Bootstrapping his SaaS company, ShareFile, to a $93M acquisition by Citrix . What the acquisition process looked like during the sale of ShareFile to Citrix. The keys to building successful companies with and without venture capital. Becoming the diagonal aSaaSin and dominating in categories that cut across...

Stephanie Bowker , Co Founder and CMO of Ourspace , joins the show to talk about The "people puzzle problem", and the biggest challenge individual contributors face as they transition to managers of people. The rise of the marketing aSaaSin and why marketers make great founders. Brand building and positioning during the stage of going from 0 to 1. The growth of the international tech sce...

Bryant Chou , Co founder and CTO of Webflow , joins the show to talk about Bryant, Sergie and Vlad's journey to building a unicorn, and the three signals that gave Bryant conviction they were on to something really big with Webflow Bryant's suggestions for entrepreneurs looking for a technical co founder and traits of what makes an exceptional founding CTO Webflow's origins as a sel...

Bryan Tublin , Owner and Co Founder of Kitava , joins the show to talk about Taking the leap to leave a stable tech job to start a restaurant. How Bryan validated the concept for his restaurant by bringing soup to house parties. His process for gathering customer and employee feedback to inform his menu and dining experience Bryan's decision to expand Kitava to multiple locations and how he u...

Howard Lerman , CEO and Co founder of Roam and Yext joins the show to talk about Building Yext, pivoting after $20M in ARR, and replacing the Yellow Pages Whether or not remote work is here to stay, the impact of the Zoom meeting boom, and the death of the recurring meeting with Roam. The importance of founder stock and making employees founders.

Rajat Suri , CEO and Co founder of Presto and previous Co founder of Lyft joins the show to talk about: The customer insight that led to starting Zimride (aka Lyft) "Fork in the road" moments that have defined Raj's career as an entrepreneur. The thought process that led Raj to drop out of MIT to wait tables in a restaurant, and ultimately found Presto. Raj's decision to take P...

Roger Obando , CTO at Loyalsnap and Co founder of Baker Technologies (acquired by TILT Holdings ), joins the show to talk about The evolution of the cannabis space, customer segmentation in weed, and the customer profile of the Chardonnay mom! Roger and team's experience raising capital for Baker, and his experience authoring his book, "The Highest Common Denominator",  The differen...

Bill Clerico , Founder and Managing Partner at Convective Capital , and Co founder and CEO of WePay , joins the show to talk about Building companies in a recession and Bill's model for evaluating investment opportunities. How Bill and his team uncovered PM fit for WePay, and the signals that helped WePay make the transition from a consumer to B2B company. Current state of the payments indust...

Brian Wang , founder and executive coach at Dashing Leadership joins the show to talk about: The similarities and differences of starting a venture backed startup and a coaching and services business. How early stage startup founders and leaders can get the best out of their people, specifically creating an environment that encourages risk taking and setting a clear short term AND long term vision...

Cam Doody , Co founder and GP of the Brickyard , joins the show to talk about: Cam's first successful venture, Bellhop , and how he scaled one of the fastest growing companies in the moving industry.  Brickyard's approach to accelerating and "insulating" great companies The benefit of relocating your early team to an island and the importance of physically working together in t...

AJ Forsythe and Jordan Barnes , Co founders of Coop , join the show to talk about Building the world's largest decentralized food network. The future of AgTech and putting automated agriculture systems on the moon. Pros and Cons of raising (and then being asked to spend) Venture Capital. Most importantly, unpacking what a cheese factory is all about.

Stefan Seltz-Axmacher , CEO and Co founder of Polymath Robotics , joins the show to talk about The importance of timing when tackling an emerging category. How Polymath thinks about customer segmentation and the customer profile(s) it's solving for. Finding the right technical co founder and building a strong engineering team. Opportunities for automation in specific verticals and the future...

Troy Vosseller , Co founder of the Gener8tor accelerator and Co founder of Sconnie Nation joins the show to talk about Troy's experience founding a startup accelerator, and the similarities and differences of being an entrepreneur and investor. The story behind Sconnie Nation and how Troy established a meaningful and lasting brand. How Troy got into the business of selling his own brand of be...

Alan d'Escragnolle , CEO and Co Founder of Filmhub , joins the show to talk about How Filmhub approached the BD and enterprise sales process to secure distrubtion deals with incredible partners like Amazon Prime Video, Tubi, and The Roku Channel. The importance of focusing on partners that have high growth potential, versus only focusing on partners with the greatest market share. The future...

Anu Shukla , Co founder and Executive Chairman of Botco.ai , joins the show to talk about: - The keys to finding product market fit as an entrepreneur, and her experience finding product market fit, multiple times, in various market conditions. - Anu's experiences as a pioneer in the marketing automation space, as well as the ups and downs of building on someone else's platform.  - Anu&a...

Matt Danna , CEO and Co Founder of Boulevard , joins the show to talk about:  - How Matt uncovered product-market fit in the salon category - Boulevard's approach to customer segmentation and targeting, and the company's decision to build a vertical SaaS business versus horizontal SaaS business. - Matt's approach to fundraising, and how he closed a 70M Series C during one of the mos...

Rob May, Serial entrepreneur and CTO and Cofounder of Dianthus joins the aSaaSins Podcast to discuss: - His decision to start a company that wasn't SaaS first, and how Rob and his team are disrupting eCommerce.  - The evolution of AI and automation in the workplace, and what's missing for the space to really take off. - Industries that are ripe for disruption through practical applicatio...

Jen Abel , Co founder and Partner of JJELLYFISH joins the show to talk about: The importance of having the founder involved in the sales process when going from 0 to 1.  The point at which founders should hire their first full-time sales person. The signals that companies and founders should be looking for to know when they've hit Product-Market fit. Using customer feedback to inform how your...

Nate and Dave Evans, brothers and co founders of Fictiv join Jeremy and me on the show to talk about - How Nate and Dave combined their unique interests and strengths as kids to build Fictiv.  Dave's ability to break things and Nate's ability to think strategically. - The process that Nate and Dave work through to make critical business decisions, and avoiding the 'Mom and Dad Syndr...

On the aSaaSins 'Money Morning Quarterback' segment, our host Justin Vandehey breaks down the companies that raised their Seed, Series A, or Series B round of funding the prior week. This week, Justin plays 'Money Morning Quarterback' with Puttshack , an upscale, tech-infused, mini golf experience.  He analyzes their $150M growth round from BlackRock to takeover the indoor ente...

Federico Baradello, CEO and Co founder of Finalis , joins the show to talk about  - The evolution of the investment banking space and the opportunities to innovate in the back office of the financial services space. - Finalis' 'five year overnight success story' and finding product go-to-market fit through 200 failed sales calls. - Key insights and recommendations for first time fou...

On the aSaaSins 'Money Morning Quarterback' segment, our host Justin Vandehey breaks down the companies that raised their Seed, Series A, or Series B round of funding the prior week. This week, Justin plays 'Money Morning Quarterback' with Tumble , a smart laundry technology platform for property managers and renters. He unfolds their $7M Series A and the opportunity that Tumbl...

Legendary educator and the Godmother of Silicon Valley, Esther Wojcicki , and her co Founder and CEO of Tract , Ari Memar , join the show to talk about: - Esther's approach to empowering kids to be successful and how to raise successful kids. - How Ari and Esther are disrupting early stage education with collaborative, peer to peer learning. - Esther's experience working with her daughte...

On the aSaaSins 'Money Morning Quarterback' segment, our host Justin Vandehey breaks down the companies that raised their Seed, Series A, or Series B round of funding the prior week. This week, Justin plays 'Money Morning Quarterback' with Artly Coffee, an AI-powered machine that makes a perfect cup of coffee every time. He unpacks their $8M Series A and the opportunity that Ar...