Unicorn Builders

Sean Duffy: The GTM Story of Omada Health ($1+ Billion Valuation)

In today's episode of Unicorn Builders we speak with Sean Duffy, Co-Founder and CEO of Omada Health, a virtual first chronic care provider that's raised nearly $500 Million in funding.
Topics Discussed:
Sean’s background in medicine and tech, including his time at Google and Harvard
The reasons why Sean finds Netflix’ Reed Hastings an inspirational entrepreneur, and why he loves the book The Martian
How Omada brings the best design of technology into health care, and how this helps both patients and people working in that space
Why publishing studies was a good way for Sean to market his product, and the crucial factor behind every “overnight success” story
What it was like to become an unicorn, and how Sean manages to stay invested in Omada after more than ten years
 
Favorite book:
The Martian

Johanna Småros: The GTM Story of RELEX Solutions ($5.7 Billion Valuation)

In today's episode of Unicorn Builders we speak with Johanna Småros, Co-Founder of RELEX Solutions, a supply chain and retail planning platform that's raised over $700 Million in funding.
Topics Discussed:
Johanna’s background in engineering and management, and how a series of random unplanned events led her to where she is today
Finland’s startup scene, and whether or not Finland is “the happiest place on earth”
The two reasons why Johanna is reluctant to get inspired by individual founders, and why she likes to read fiction rather than practical books
How planning processes in supply chain management and operational execution are siloed, and what RELEX does to help integrate them, to maximize business impact
Why it’s good to fall in love with the problem rather than the technology, and what’s the most painful thing that can happen to an entrepreneur
 
Favorite book: 
The End of Eddy: A Novel

Karl Siebrecht: The GTM Story of Flexe (1+ Billion Valuation)

In today's episode of Unicorn Builders, we speak with Karl Siebrecht, Co-Founder and CEO of Flexe, an omni-channel logistics solution that's raised $263 Million in funding.
Topics Discussed:
Karl’s background, his time as a Special Operations diving officer in the US Navy and his start in tech in the late 90s
Why Karl admires Nike’s Phil Knight and likes the novel The Goal
The problems that static warehouses pose for logistics chains, and how Flex offers warehouse operators and their clients a marketplace that taps into wasted infrastructure
Problems, challenges and opportunities that Flexe faced and overcame
The importance of customer focus, and what advice Karl would give to early-stage tech startup founders
 
Favorite book: 
The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement

David Blake: The GTM Story of Degreed ($1.3 Billion Valuation)

In today's episode of Unicorn Builders we speak with David Blake, CEO and Co-Founder of Degreed, a learning platform that has raised nearly $400 Million in funding.
Topics Discussed:
Why the current education system is outdated, the personal experience that made David want to change it, and being a great learner vs. being a great student
How Degreed aggregates all that a person has learned and showcases it as skills
Degreed’s monetization model, and how corporate learning has changed in the past 15 years
A decisive experience David went through as a young founder that highlights the importance of kindness and empathy 
The feeling of becoming an unicorn, and transitioning out of the role of CEO, then back into it

Tomer Shiran: The GTM Story of Dremio ($2 Billion Valuation)

In today's episode of Unicorn Builders, we speak with Tomer Shiran, Founder and CPO of Dremio, a data lakehouse platform that has raised $400 Million in funding.
Topics Discussed:
Tomer’s background, getting a book published at a young age, and the lessons he learned from being a very young Navy commander 
Why the geographical location of a startup matters less now than it did in the past
The challenges of a bigger company versus those of a startup, and why work never gets boring for Tomer
How Dremio helps companies store and use their data in a flexible way, and the advantages of moving into an existing market category versus creating one
What it’s like being a CPO, a near-death experience Dremio went through, and building trust with customers

Tom Livne: The GTM Story of Verbit ($2 Billion Valuation)

In today's episode of Unicorn Builders, we speak with Tom Livne, Founder and CEO of Verbit, an AI-powered transcription platform that's raised over $600 Million in funding.
Topics Discussed:
Tom’s background, including lessons learned from his time in the Israeli military, and founding his first tech company in his 20s
His favorite book, and why Walt Disney is the founder who most inspires him.
How the startup and unicorn ecosystem in Israel evolved, and what it’s like today
How Tom’s time as a practicing lawyer led him to identify a problem and start Verbit
Resisting the temptation of premature multi-million dollars SPAC deals, the importance of taking a stance when you believe in something, and the state of Israeli democracy
Favorite book: 
The Alchemist

Justin Borgman: The GTM Story of Starburst ($3+ Billion Valuation)

In today's episode of Unicorn Builders, we speak with Justin Borgman, CEO and Co-Founder of Starburst, a data lake analytics platform that's raised $414 Million in funding.
Topics Discussed:
Why Justin prefers to be called a “workhorse” rather than an unicorn
The entropy in the data universe and how Starburst aims at giving customers the freedom to analyze their data regardless of where it’s stored
Why Justin has over 10 co-founders, and how this has been an advantage for Starburst
Justin’s transitioning away from sales, what keeps him awake at night, and what he does to balance his work and personal life
The lowest point for Justin as a founder, the importance of finding the right mentors, and the day Starburst became a unicorn

Arvind Jain: The GTM Story of Glean ($1 Billion Valuation)

In today's episode of Category Visionaries, we speak with Arvind Jain, CEO of Glean, an AI-powered workplace data search and management platform that has raised $155 Million in funding.
Topics Discussed:
Arvind’s background, including a decade in Google in the early 2000s and being a unicorn builder twice in a row
Why Arvind thinks luck plays a big role in building unicorns, what his superpower is, and his vision on leadership
Why employees spend up to 25% of their work time searching for data in the company’s servers
How Glean uses the power of generative AI to help people find enterprise information quickly
Why a startup founder starting out should look for a big problem to solve, and the challenges of achieving unicorn status

Abhay Parasnis: the Story of Typeface ($1 Billion Valuation)

In today's episode of Unicorn Builders we speak with Abhay Parasnis, Founder and CEO of Typeface, an enterprise AI platform that has raised $165 Million in funding.
Topics Discussed:
Abhay’s background, including his time at IBM, Microsoft, Oracle and being CTO at Adobe, and working on the project that became Java
Photography, Abhay’s favorite photo he ever took, and landscapes he would love to photograph
What Abhay has learned being a board member at Schneider Electric and Dropbox
How Typeface personalizes AI content generators to each company’s brand and voice
What Typeface is doing that makes it stand out in the market, and lessons Abhay learned from fundraising

Rodrigo Liang: the Story of SambaNova ($5+ Billion Valuation)

In today's episode of Unicorn Builders, we speak with Rodrigo Liang, Co-Founder and CEO of SambaNova, an enterprise generative AI platform that's raised over $1 Billion in funding.
Topics Discussed:
Rodrigo’s decades-long background in the tech industry, including Sun, Oracle, and HP
What are the two qualities that Rodrigo most admires in the great CEOs he has met, and what it was like to work with Larry Ellison
Why companies have difficulty breaching the chasm from pre-AI to post-AI, and how SambaNova helps them do that
Lessons from “near-death” corporate experiences, and fundraising skills
Why, for Rodrigo, a startup is first of all a mentality