In this episode, we sit down with Kumar Ramachandran, Founder and CEO at CloudGenix, to discuss his experiences as an entrepreneur and advice to founders. Topics include Kumar’s experience founding CloudGenix (0:51); How he created and fostered a successful founding team (4:03); The importance of leveraging early customer relationships to validate and refine products (6:30); Kumar’s advice for founders on achieving consistent growth (10:03); How CloudGenix created a non-linear growth trajectory (15:07); and the key factors to achieving success from startup inception to exit (21:07).

Enterprise Masters

Kumar Ramachandran of CloudGenix / Palo Alto Networks

In this episode, we sit down with Rei Carvalho, Co-founder and former CEO at Emailage, to discuss his entrepreneurial experiences, achieving predictable growth and managing competition. Topics include Rei’s background (1:10); His experience founding Emailage (1:35); The importance of building a successful team (3:06); What he looks for when hiring and how to know when to let someone go (5:25); Rei’s advice for CEOs on predicting growth and profitability (10:48); How to minimize internal, partner and competitor conflict (18:47); and Rei’s career plans post-Emailage (27:56).

Rei Carvalho of Emailage

In our eighth episode, we sit down with Matthew Halliday, Co-founder and SVP of Product Strategy at Incorta, to discuss product management, decision-making and advice for founders during this unprecedented time. Topics include Matthew’s experience founding Incorta (1:35); How to acquire a strong customer base via product-market fit (4:07); How to build a product for a variety of use cases and Matthew’s advice to product managers (8:56); The importance of knowing when to say yes and when to say no (14:55); How to make sense of the crowded BI and Analytics landscape (17:19); and the opportunities Matthew sees for a post-COVID-19 world (24:19).

Matthew Halliday of Incorta

In our seventh episode, we sit down with Manish Lachwani, CEO and co-founder of HeadSpin to discuss the enterprise SaaS market, managing profitable growth and navigating the uncharted waters we find ourselves in today. Topics include Manish’s experience founding HeadSpin (1:35); How to find a product-market sales fit (5:45); The benefits of maintaining profitable growth (8:49); The biggest challenges of scaling a global SaaS company and Manish’s advice to founders (13:35); HeadSpin’s journey to a billion-dollar valuation (18:54); and how Manish and HeadSpin are approaching the new normal of a post-COVID-19 world (22:30).

Manish Lachwani of HeadSpin

In our sixth episode, we sit down with T.M. Ravi, Managing Director and Founder of The Hive to discuss developments in the Artificial Intelligence landscape and his experiences successfully co-creating over 25 startups. Topics include The Hive’s mission (1:09); The philosophy behind their co-creation model (3:50); How they’ve remained competitive against Silicon Valley’s traditional venture firms (6:10); The motivation behind T.M.’s focus on AI (7:00); Recent trends in AI development (10:17); How enterprises are integrating AI operations (11:20); The movement from AI frameworks to full optimization (13:56); T.M.’s perspective on the ‘black box’ risks of AI decision making (14:44); The importance of AI explainability (17:15); Changes in the fundraising landscape (18:53); The consequences of VC consolidation (21:08); The value of culture-building in startups (22:45); and T.M.’s advice for founders (24:39).

T.M. Ravi of The Hive

In our fifth episode, we’re joined by Kathi Rawnsley, Managing Partner of Lowenstein Sandler to discuss the legal framework of fundraising and her successes partnering with startups in Silicon Valley. Topics include Kathi’s background as a lawyer in Silicon Valley (1:28); her role at Lowenstein Sandler (1:48); legal trends in venture capital (3:45); the challenges of an excess of stakeholders (6:10); why unpriced rounds have gained popularity (10:03); the importance of investor mentorship (12:36); Kathi’s term sheet advice (13:54); how to best approach investment terms (15:34); leveraging strong investor relationships (16:50); the difference between corporate vs. traditional VCs (18:30); and Kathi’s advice for startups considering Mergers & Acquisition and/or Liquidity (24:02).

Kathi Rawnsley of Lowenstein Sandler

Venu is joined by Jay Leek of ClearSky to discuss his successes as a cybersecurity investor in companies including Demisto, Verodin and BigID. Topics include Jay's background (0:23); how his experiences running security at big corporations prepared him for his role as a VC (1:03); how the life of a CISO has changed in recent years (2:43); what CISO's can do to keep track of the growing security market (4:28); what Jay looks for when making a new investment (8:07); the difference between best-of-breed and all-in-one from a customer adoption and product vendor perspective (9:20); the movement towards DevOps in data security (14:00); ClearSky's investment thesis (18:45); Jay's view on the role people will play in future cybersecurity delivery models (23:30); his anti-portfolio and investments he's passed on and regretted (25:53); and Jay's advice to founders in the cybersecurity space (27:55).

Jay Leek of ClearSky

In our third episode, Venu is joined by Shuly Galili of UpWest  to discuss her successes building Israeli startups, breaking into the U.S. market and the intricacies of early stage investment. Topics include UpWest's mission (0:50); Shuly’s founding of the California Israel Chamber of Commerce (1:20); changes in the early seed funding investment (2:45); Shuly’s investment decision criteria (7:03); Israel’s diverse startup landscape (10:26); distinguishing successful companies at an early stage (13:45); the growing demand for healthcare investment (17:35); Shuly’s advice to founders based outside the U.S. (19:45); and the future of UpWest (24:50).

Shuly Galili of UpWest

In our second episode, Biplab sits down with Jake Flomenberg of Wing to discuss the AI investment thesis that helped him build companies like Demisto, Oasis Labs and Radar. Topics include Wing’s mission (1:00); how to distinguish good investments from bad investments (1:54); approaching AI investment in a crowded marketplace (3:20); asking founders ‘why’ over ‘how’ (6:27);  the importance of a strong vision (12:00); the difference between revolutionary vs. evolutionary AI (13:03); Jake’s investment decision criteria (16:37); prioritizing transparency when a partnership doesn’t go as planned (18:20); differentiating optimism from misrepresentation (20:00); what investment has surprised Jake most (20:50); and his biggest investment regrets (21:56).

Jake Flomenberg of Wing VC

In our first episode, Venu interviews Ed Sim from Boldstart  to learn about the investment strategies that helped him build companies like Kustomer, SecurityScorecard and Big ID. Topics include what entrepreneurs should know about Boldstart (1:14); how Ed makes investment decisions (3:30); how to inspire passion, conviction and flexibility in entrepreneurs (6:17); first time entrepreneurs vs. those with experience (11:30); do’s and don’ts of a first time founder (15:06); how to approach advising a Founder to hire a CEO (17:12); when an early stage company should hire their first salesperson (26:49);  the importance of culture at software startups (30:21).

Ed Sim of Boldstart VC

A podcast from Wipro Ventures about enterprise software start-ups and how to scale in the world of SaaS.

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Enterprise Masters

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