SphereCast: Recent Episodes
Sphere Partners
SphereCast is a podcast all about technology — technology advice, technology inspiration, and how real entrepreneurs have used technology to build their businesses from the ground up. If you’re wondering how technology can support your business goals, rest assured. Our guests have been there and done that.
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Engineering culture is a system: incentives, habits, standards, and how decisions get made when things break. On SphereCast, host Adin Heric sits down with Krzysztof Ras to explain how to design that system from zero – and evolve it through scale across the Middle East and China.
Kris breaks down what “culture” really looks like before the first engineer is hired, how the first 100 days set long-term norms, and how leadership must shift as teams grow from a handful of builders into distributed organizations.
In this episode, we cover:
- What “culture” means before the team even exists
- The first 100 days: what to prioritize (hiring, values, process, delivery)
- How culture is defined through daily behavior, not decks
- Speed vs. stability: architecture, testing, and discipline under pressure
- Lessons from building teams in the Middle East
- What China’s execution pace changes about leadership expectations
- Leading across languages and time zones while maintaining trust and shared values
- How AI is reshaping engineering culture – where it helps, and where it can harm collaboration
Whether you’re a founder hiring your first engineers, a CTO scaling a team, or a leader managing globally distributed development, this episode offers practical frameworks for building a culture that holds up under growth.
Key Topics: engineering culture, scaling engineering teams, first 100 days, hiring and values, engineering leadership, clean architecture, testing discipline, startup vs scale-up, distributed teams, cross-cultural leadership, Middle East tech leadership, China tech leadership, AI in software development, SphereCast, Sphere Inc.
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In this episode of SphereCast, host Adin Heric sits down with Nicolas Cava — serial founder, former Zendesk engineering leader, and now a fractional CTO and executive coach helping tech teams scale without burning out.
Nicolas has built startups, led engineering organizations through hypergrowth, and personally experienced burnout twice. Today, he shares practical insights on how tech leaders, CTOs, founders, and engineering managers can build sustainable systems for growth.
In this episode, we cover:
- What burnout really looks like for engineering leaders
- The subtle early warning signs most founders ignore
- How “grind culture” still shapes tech organizations
- Delegation as a burnout-prevention tool
- Leadership habits for scaling teams 500%+
- How AI and uncertainty contribute to stress and “AI anxiety”
- Why fractional CTO roles are rising
- How to stay ambitious without sacrificing wellbeing
Whether you’re a founder navigating rapid scaling, a CTO managing distributed teams, or a leader struggling to balance ambition with sustainability, this episode offers actionable strategies and real-world stories to help you lead with clarity — not burnout.
Key Topics: Burnout in tech, CTO burnout, engineering leadership, startup scaling, tech leadership podcast, hypergrowth teams, fractional CTO, AI anxiety, engineering management, leadership wellbeing, sustainable tech culture, avoiding burnout in startups, leadership coaching, Nicolas Cava, SphereCast.
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In this episode of SphereCast, we sit down with Wes Ezzeddine, a seasoned technology leader who’s built and scaled engineering teams across startups and growth-stage companies. Joined by Sphere’s COO and Director of Talent Delivery, Katya Savenkova, we explore what it really takes to scale tech organizations sustainably – balancing speed, quality, and culture.
From knowing when to hire internally versus bringing in external experts, to identifying high performers, to keeping accountability clear across blended teams: this conversation dives deep into the real-world challenges behind rapid growth in tech.
💡 You’ll learn:
- How to structure scaling beyond headcount — and where most teams go wrong
- When to leverage external talent delivery to move faster without compromising quality
- How to spot and nurture true high performers
- How to keep execution sharp and accountability clear as teams grow
Whether you’re a CTO, COO, or founder, this episode offers practical frameworks and lessons to help you scale smarter, not just bigger.
🎧 Tune in and get insights you can put to work right away.
SphereCast #TechLeadership #TeamScaling #EngineeringManagement #AI #TalentDelivery #Sphere
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In this episode of SphereCast, host Adin Heric, Head of Marketing at Sphere, and Mario Schwartz, Director of Data and AI, sit down with Ken Pickering, Chief Technology Officer at Scripta Insights, to explore the real-world balance between innovation, risk, and responsibility in AI adoption.
Ken brings decades of experience leading engineering teams at Hopper, Starburst, and now Scripta Insights, where he’s helping organizations use data and AI to transform decision-making in healthcare and beyond.
Together, we dive into:
- How Ken’s leadership style evolved across fast-growth tech environments.
- The most practical, immediate use cases of AI in business today.
- The trade-off between stability and experimentation in AI-driven systems.
- Building strong data governance frameworks for trustworthy AI.
- How the role of the CTO is evolving as AI becomes central to every product and process.
From lessons in leadership to the realities of implementing AI responsibly, this episode offers a candid look at what it really takes to lead through technological transformation.
If you’re a CTO, tech founder, or business leader looking to understand how to balance AI innovation with reliability and governance — this episode is a must-listen.
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In this powerful episode of SphereCast, Adin Heric (Head of Marketing at Sphere) and Mario Schwarts (Director of Data & AI Practice at Sphere) sit down with Erika Kiely — a transformational tech leader, AI advocate, and founder of ProTechtive Strategies. From growing up in politically unstable Peru to driving AI transformation in insurance and launching her own purpose-led venture, Erika’s story is a masterclass in resilience and intentional leadership.
The conversation spans AI in enterprise project management, ethical innovation, and building technology with a human lens. Erika breaks down real-world use cases from her time at American Fidelity, how she personally leveraged AI tools like ChatGPT and low-code platforms to launch her business, and why she believes AI should expand human capacity — not replace it.
We also dive into global perspectives: Erika and her daughter travel the world with a mission to give back and grow. She shares how emerging tech, especially AI, can help bridge inequality and accelerate global development — and what legacy she hopes to leave behind.
Whether you're a CTO, AI strategist, insurance innovator, or purpose-driven founder, this episode unpacks practical lessons on using AI at scale, building with ethics in mind, and leading through disruption.
Topics covered:
- Resilience in leadership: Erika’s journey from Peru to tech leadership
- Why she founded ProTechtive Strategies and its mission
- The role of AI in enterprise project management (insurance & regulated industries)
- Using AI tools (ChatGPT, automation, site builders) to launch and scale a business
- Ethical innovation and Erika’s vision for a national AI program
- AI as a force multiplier, not a replacement for people
- Global development, tech inclusion, and Erika’s legacy
Listen to this episode if you:
- Want to understand how AI can be used responsibly in highly regulated industries
- Are building or scaling a tech-enabled business with ethical foundations
- Care about global impact, inclusion, and leaving a legacy through innovation
Special Guest:
Erika Kiely — Founder of ProTechtive Strategies, Former Enterprise Tech Leader at American Fidelity
Hosts:
Adin Heric — Head of Marketing at Sphere
Mario Schwarts — Director of Data & AI Practice at Sphere
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This SphereCast episode features Adin Heric, Head of Marketing at Sphere, in conversation with Wes Ezzeddine, Director of Engineering at Mamo Pay. Together, they unpack Wes’s journey from early-stage startup environments to leading engineering at a fast-scaling fintech company.
Topics span everything from scaling tech teams in VC-backed vs. revenue-driven startups, to balancing speed with code quality, and how to report technical progress in terms business leaders actually understand.
A major theme in this episode is AI integration in engineering workflows. Wes shares real-world examples of using tools like ChatGPT, GitHub Copilot, and custom GenAI agents to boost productivity and decision-making.
We explore what the rise of AI, from Sam Altman’s OpenAI to Google Gemini, means for the future of engineering leadership — including the skills developers need to stay relevant in a rapidly shifting landscape.
Whether you're growing your startup from 0 to 1 or scaling a tech team past 100, this episode dives into the practical and strategic sides of AI implementation, team building, and navigating the next era of software development.
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In this episode of SphereCast, we sit down with Alex Ter-Zakhariants, Field CTO at Sphere, to dive deep into how artificial intelligence is transforming software development, infrastructure resilience, and the battle against technical debt.
With 20+ years of experience across startups and large enterprises, Alex shares sharp, real-world insights into:
- Why AI can’t magically erase tech debt—but how it can accelerate clean-up when used with strong engineering fundamentals
- How to clean up messy, siloed “data swamps” and unlock the real value of AI
- Why human-in-the-loop oversight is still essential when scaling AI systems
- The growing role of AIOps platforms like Dynatrace, New Relic, and Datadog in identifying bottlenecks before they break things
- The pros and cons of today’s AI-powered developer tools such as GitHub Copilot, CodeWhisperer, Tabnine, Replit Ghostwriter, and Cursor AI
- The future of intelligent CI/CD, observability, and how to build AI-ready, resilient platforms without cutting corners
Whether you’re a CTO, software architect, DevOps lead, or ML engineer, this conversation cuts through the AI hype and delivers pragmatic advice for integrating AI into modern engineering workflows.
Perfect for anyone looking to stay ahead in an age where GenAI, LLMs, and AI-assisted development are fast becoming the new normal.
This week, the SphereCast speaks with Emilia De Stasio, COO and Founder at Artscapy. The mission of Artscapy is to lower the barrier to entry into art collection. Within the platform, users can both purchase contemporary art and track the art pieces they own, including documentation and value. Artscapy is merging the worlds of fine art and complex technology — such as blockchain technology — to make the art world more welcoming to new audiences.
Emilia has always had an interest in art and art collection — a common thread through a relatively uncommon career path. Emilia thought she was destined for a job as an economist and pointed her life plans in this direction. However, when economics didn’t pan out as expected and through several twists and turns, Emilia began building a business to drive traffic in the direction of that one common thread — art. For Emilia, Artscapy is a place where her passion meets tech. And on the podcast, she dives into both the passion and the technology as she reflects on her time as an entrepreneur.
Noteworthy Quotes:
”Our mission is to democratize the art world — to make it accessible. To make it possible for anyone to come in and learn about art. Overcoming those initial barriers to entry. That initial intimidation.”
“A key to building any sort of tech business is being in it from the beginning. Understanding what’s the backbone of the business.”
“Many people who are interested in building a tech business think, ‘Okay, I need to build every single thing from scratch.’ And that’s not necessarily true. One of the key strengths of a good entrepreneur is finding out how to optimize solutions. Aggregating different solutions. Bringing in the skeletons built by others and expanding on that.”
”Working within a startup, I’ve never worked as much as I am now. But I’ve never been happier than I am now.”
“Don’t get too worked up around what you think you need to be doing. Or that there’s only one path for you and that you need to pursue it ad nauseam… In life, the places where you can add the most value develop over time.”
“The beauty and the curse of entrepreneurship is that no day is the same. There’s always a challenge. There’s an infinitely growing to-do list. It’s a living, breathing animal that needs love, care, sweat, tears. And that’s also the beauty of it.”
“There are different routes to entrepreneurship. At the end of the day, if you can drive your business forward while also staying sane, that’s what matters.”
Bullet List of Resources –
Emilia De Stasio
Artscapy
- Company Website
This week, the SphereCast interviews Andy Bray, Chief Financial Officer at Sermo. Sermo is a social platform, connecting more than 1.3 million healthcare providers across 150 countries. This physicians-first online community allows clinicians to communicate about issues that are important to them and their patients. In no other industry is mind-share more important than healthcare, as sharing expertise can literally mean saving lives. The sum is much greater than its parts.
Bray has held financial positions in various companies across many different industries — including an early run at one of the “Big 4” accounting firms. Having seen and experienced much over the course of his seasoned career, he offers a unique perspective on what makes a “good” finance department. But one prevailing attribute that spells success in a financial professional? Nosiness. On the podcast, Andy deep dives on the value of curiosity in finance, offers some insightful leadership advice, and much more.
Noteworthy Quotes:
”To be a strategic CFO, you absolutely need a strong team. The most important parts of your FP&A team are the people that you have in it. And they need to have an analytical mindset and a curiosity. You need to be nosy and understand what’s going on inside of the company. To look beyond the numbers.”
”Excellence is not perfection.”
”Agility is just huge and is such a key attribute. It’s massively linked to your culture. If you want agility and to be agile, it’s important to live that culture and harness that.”
”As a leader, you have to be respectful of people’s time. You get to meetings on time. You don’t change things at the last minute. You don’t move things around… You have to put your team first.”
”As a leader, listen more than you talk. That’s key. Listen and understand different perspectives, facts, and viewpoints. And once everything has been put forward, make the right decision based on that data.”
”Don’t be afraid to make career decisions that aren’t orthodox. Everyone has a long career, and going down the route that is nontraditional is hugely beneficial. And sometimes people think it’s risky. But that risk is never as great as people fear it is.”
”As a leader, you have to be focused on what needs to be done. Especially when people are going off in many different tangents.”
Bullet List of Resources –
Francois Casanova
Sermo
- Company Website
This week, the SphereCast speaks with Francois Casanova, Founder and CEO at Fitogram. Fitogram is a digital service that takes the pain out of administrative logistics for fitness professionals and business owners. Fitogram offers comprehensive online booking, payment processing, customer management, and accounting — all in an easy-to-use SaaS platform. In its own words, Fitogram believes that “nothing should stand between people and their passion for sports.”
In 2012, Fitogram began as a humble Germany-based startup. Since its inception, the company has grown its customer base to tens of thousands of fitness providers across more than 11 European countries. With the growth, Francois’s role has shifted from a fully hands-on CEO to more of a visionary, casting direction for the company and trusting his team to see the vision to reality. On the podcast, among many other things, Francois discusses entrepreneurship, leadership, and trusting your team to do what’s right.
Noteworthy Quotes:
"Now, my role in management is to serve the company. I don't see myself as a leader. I see myself as a servant of the business. The team is really doing the big chunk of the work at this point. And that has been a massive switch... That helped us unlock so much potential and growth."
"When you're the CEO, you feel that you need to help and need to be involved and need to know everything. But you can't. Definitely not... My role has to be as a [visionary]."
"A good leader is a good listener. It's about understanding and listening your team and your market. Really taking the time to do that is very important."
"I've been part of an entrepreneurial club for a long time now. And we organized an event called Leap and the Net Will Appear. And I think that's very true for every entrepreneurial journey. If you really work hard and go in the right direction, you make stuff happen."
"You cannot underestimate the value of a good customer journey."
Bullet List of Resources –
Francois Casanova
Fitogram
- Company Website
- YouTube
This week, the SphereCast team interviews Yuli Levtov, Chief Technology Officer at Volta XR. Volta is a self-serve XR creation platform that makes producing innovative digital experiences accessible to all. Prior to Volta’s platform, truly engaging digital experiences were reserved for the makers with extensive resources and extremely deep pockets. With Volta, that is no longer the norm. Volta is initially focused on extending its services to the music industry — effectively offering limitless scale to live music performance — but has plans to extend into other verticals as well.
For Levtov, Volta is a dream convergence of two of his highest passions — music and technology. And Yuli can rest easy, knowing that he’s doing the good work of making great technology — and, by extension, great live experiences — accessible to more people. On the podcast, Yuli lays out his history with Volta XR, recounts some of its early challenges, and discusses some learnings made along the way.
Noteworthy Quotes:
"When you have limited resources — as every startup does, by definition — it's very tricky to know exactly where to be directing the resources. There are lots of interesting options on the table — lots of ways the product could go."
"Productivity comes in different ways. You have to work smarter, not harder."
"Be more structured around personal development... If you want to be a CTO or a founder or an entrepreneur or something like that, the ability to pull in bits of expertise from different subject areas makes for something greater than the sum of the parts. In order to do that, you have to take a keen interest in learning."
Bullet List of Resources –
Yuli Levtov
Volta XR
- Company Website
- YouTube
This week, the SphereCast team speaks with Gandolf Finke, Founder and MD at Mika. Mika is a digital companion platform that walks with cancer patients through every step of their difficult journeys through sickness. The app offers up personalized evidence-based content, including digital interventions and trusted education. Prior to his work at Mika, Finke spent time as a consultant with a large global firm, primarily focusing on healthcare organizations.
Cancer in no stranger to Gandolf. Several instances of cancer that personally impacted him ultimately drove him towards creating a solution like Mika. Easing others’ difficulties with this horrible disease is at the core of Mika’s mission, and Finke is dedicated to maintaining focus on this objective. In fact, in a world where the norm for digital apps is to sell personal data, Mika has drawn a line in the sand and has chosen to forego short-term monetary gains for the good of its users. On the podcast, hear the full inspirational story and pick up some solid entrepreneurial advice along the way.
Noteworthy Quotes:
"One really important aspect for us is to stick to our core... In the digital healthcare industry, it's very easy to get pulled into, 'Why don't you create this great tool that takes all of the data from patients and then monetizes on that and sends it to pharma companies?' And I get it. Totally fine. But we took a conscious decision against some of these demands. We believe, at our core, that we want to empower the people that are using Mika that are impacted by cancer.”
"When building a business based on a nontraditional model, you very much relay on the story that you can tell. If you don't have a great story that's valuable and helpful, you can't find people to give you money."
"A huge challenge for my company in our journey is constantly questioning and iterating around what we're doing. Are we doing the right thing? Is it really working how we want it to? What are the proof points?"
"Being an entrepreneur is about facing challenges and dealing with them. There were tough times. There were easy times. And you have to celebrate the highs and, somehow, manage to go through the lows."
"In order to hire the right people, you have to have a very clear understanding of what you actually need. Write it down, and be very strict in grading people against that."
"Human resources is different now. People look at their employer differently now than they would have 30 years ago. It's no longer a, 'I'm going to join this company and work there for the rest of my life.' It's much more of a, 'I want to work on things that are purposeful. I want to pursue things outside of work.' So you have to adjust how you operate the company accordingly."
Bullet List of Resources –
Gandolf Finke
Mika
- Company Website
This week, the SphereCast team interviews Emma Kay, Founder and Chief Marketing Officer at WalkSafe. The WalkSafe app visualizes real-time crime reports by plotting these incidents clearly onto a map, allowing users to build a detailed understanding of local area crime patterns and plan safer walking routes. The WalkSafe app also features loads of other pro-safety functionality, keeping users safe while out and about.
Emma was inspired to start this business after speaking with her brother about her fears — and other women’s fears — of walking alone. And she was ultimately brave enough to take a step out as a female entrepreneur. But a key part of Emma’s journey was finding a belief in herself — by proving to herself that she had what it takes and that her gut instincts were right and true. Only then did she experience true success. On the podcast, hear Emma’s entire entrepreneurial journey and how she hopes her story inspires other women to find their voices and trust their intuitions.
Noteworthy Quotes:
"I've learned that my intuition is right. And if I fundamentally believe in something and feel very strongly about something, I need to stand up for what I believe in and speak about it."
"You can't pull from an empty cup. I'm trying to learn that. I want to say 'yes' to everything... And I'm always striving for perfection. Taking time to prioritize is really important. What can wait? Asking the question is the best course of action."
"As a leader, it's important to know where your strengths and weaknesses lie and where you can learn from someone else."
"We fundamentally believe in keeping the majority of our app free for the user. We believe that personal safety is a basic human right — one that everyone should feel."
"I truly feel that our users' voices are really important. We have spent a lot of time fine-tuning things, and we will continue to do that to keep evolving the app and making the best it can be."
"With a startup, you're always learning. The power of hindsight is always there."
Bullet List of Resources –
Emma Kay
WalkSafe Ltd.
- Company Website
This week, the SphereCast team speaks with Ansgar Lange, Chief Operating Officer at Nostos Genomics. Globally, nearly 300 million people live with a rare genetic disease, and, for many, discovering and diagnosing these illnesses can take years. Nostos Genomics is changing the game by leveraging new technologies to dramatically reduce this timeframe. Prior to his work at Nostos Genomics, Ansgar worked in various senior-level roles at other healthcare-related companies.
Ansgar is a master of scalability. His resume tells the story of one who can prep a small company for fast expansion. This skill is a difficult one to master, but its level of difficulty is elevated even higher, considering Ansgar’s industry-of-choice — healthcare. How does one go about building a rapid growth, innovative company in a highly regulated industry? On the podcast, Ansgar discusses the challenges of a COO in a healthcare startup and how to properly innovate within the bounds of your chosen industry.
Noteworthy Quotes:
"It's really interesting for me to use cutting edge technologies to help others and innovate the healthcare sector."
"Trust with startups in the digital healthcare sector is always a challenge."
"I've seen this many times. People have great ideas, but if you don't play it back to your customers, you'll never get back to a proper product that's adopted quickly."
"A COO typically has to really juggle lots of different activities and make sure they're all aligned nicely in the end… And saying ‘no’ is one of the most difficult decisions a COO has to make.”
"COVID brought the remote-first hybrid model. The opportunity that is offering is to work across the globe with different people in different time locations. It was a negative impact in the short run, but in the long run, it's an advantage."
"It's an illusion to stay on top of all business and technology innovations. There are so many out there that you have to focus quite a bit."
"In retrospect, I could have spent less time focusing on academics. In general, people value commercial achievement over academic achievement."
"I wish I would have started building my network earlier... Having a network of many different people is extremely valuable, especially when building a company."
Bullet List of Resources –
Ansgar Lange
Nostos Genomics
- Company Website
This week, the SphereCast team interviews Miruna Bicoli, Chief Operating Officer at BlueBat Games — a Vancouver-based company that produces white label social casino games for ground-based casinos. Before being promoted to Chief Operating Officer in January of 2022, Miruna spent nearly two years as BlueBat’s VP of Product and Managed Services. Prior to her run at BlueBat, Miruna held a variety of product, operations, and customer service roles at various gaming and software companies.
Miruna’s passions for product and leadership come to the forefront throughout this interview. To Miruna, the data only tells part of the story. A true product professional will know how to find the balance between hard data and real customer feedback. And, for product leaders, even while navigating this friction, they must stay concerned with developing employees, encouraging innovation, and promoting integrity. All of this and so much more on this week’s episode of SphereCast.
Noteworthy Quotes:
"The role of leaders has dramatically changed over the past few years... They need to be enablers of innovation, even if it means making mistakes... They must focus on developing and mentoring others... And they need to be promoters of ethics and integrity."
"Data without context tells you nothing... If you don't combine data with actual feedback, you basically have nothing. You only have assumptions."
"There are moments in the product world where data will say one thing, but end user feedback will say another thing... That's when the value of a real product person is shown... You must pay attention to why the end user is giving you that feedback."
"Here, we build a platform for our clients — the casinos. But we need to have in mind the end users — the players. So the main challenge with our product is having to always have B2B-world and B2C-world aligned... Sometimes you know what the client wants is not what the end user needs."
"You never really get it right. Product isn't about getting it right. Product is about putting something out and iterating on it, based on feedback you get. You throw something against the wall and see what sticks."
"I am a product-focused person at the core. Working in customer service, I witnessed how bad products impact customers."
"When it comes to the latest technology innovations, I have to say I 100% rely on my team... I know products, and I know what I want to do with the product that I'm managing. I don't know how to get there, so I have to rely on everyone around me to take me there."
"If you hire someone, you start by trusting them right away. They don't have to earn your trust. Otherwise, don't hire them."
"You need to be ready for anything. You plan for something, and your plans change. You need to be able to quickly adapt everything in your life to the new plan."
Bullet List of Resources –
Miruna Bicoli
BlueBat Games
- Company Website
This week, the SphereCast team speaks with Kris Rupay, Executive Vice President Engineering at aero hygenx. Through a combination of robotics and medical-grade ultraviolet light, Kris’s company is making pandemic-era travel safer. aero hygenx’s product, aptly named RAY, is a robot that moves throughout transportation cabins, sanitizing surrounding areas using UVC light — a technology proven to neutralize COVID-19 and its variants.
Typically, businesses are born by way of identifying a problem to solve. Kris and his team sought to tackle a huge problem — making travel safe once again, during a global pandemic. Per its website, aero hygenx is a company “inspired by the need to bring consumer confidence back to travel.” And through extremely innovative technology, it is accomplishing its goal. On the podcast, Kris lays out his company’s short but impactful journey, recaps any lessons learned along the way, and discusses what constitutes a good team.
Noteworthy Quotes:
"Never stop learning... You learn a lot at school, but it never stops. Continue learning every day. Try to read. Try to grow. If you're in your career and you realize that you've stopped learning, it's probably time to move on."
"Our biggest challenge is getting innovation out there and driving adoption. Getting folks to think in a different way. Once that happens, it opens everything up."
"It's important to surround yourself with the right folks — to build the right team... It's really all about bringing the right people together."
"Emails are so distracting... I had a colleague that once told me, 'If someone really needs you, they'll pick up the phone and call you.'"
"We were able to build a business around a pandemic. We created a business where working from home is the norm."
"When hiring, more than anything, it's personality that makes such a difference. Finding the person that you will connect with. That will relate with your team and work well with others."
Bullet List of Resources –
Kris Rupay
aero hygenx
- Company Website
- YouTube
This week, the SphereCast team speaks with Justin Tung, Head of Business Technology at Segment, an enterprise platform that allows businesses to activate their customer data. The platform supports a variety of use cases, including activating data in marketing, product, and engineering. Segment is used by over 20,000 companies, including elite organizations like VMware, Google, Optimizely, Gap, Instacart, and more. In November 2020, Segment was acquired by Twilio for $3.2B.
As the Head of Business Technology, Justin has been tasked with the seemingly impossible task of streamlining tools and processes between teams in a high growth environment — from marketing to sales, from sales to finance, and everywhere before, after, and in between. And, today, when there seem to be more applications than employees, that job is both painful and necessary. On the podcast, Tung explores his role, discusses some key challenges in the world of business technology management, and describes the importance of team building and development.
Noteworthy Quotes:
"Today, systems integration has to be a part of a business technology project's end-to-end delivery. Not only do you have to create the process automation and stand up the application itself, but you have to think of integration into other systems as a part of a delivery."
"There's a role in the world for someone who can blend entrepreneurship and technology in really any industry... There are opportunities everywhere, essentially."
"As you grow a team, prioritization and bandwidth of your team becomes a huge challenge. How to ensure that you're growing the team in the right direction. That you're growing and finding the right skillsets. Building your team for success in the future so that you're able to support that future need."
"A huge challenge today is making sure you're creating narrative from the data that you're cobbling together across all the disparate applications you may be using. And that's requiring more expertise than ever from every single team."
"Don't neglect the networking piece because you're busy doing your day-to-day or are busy solving the problems of the business. This could be reaching out to someone within your company to learn more about that organization. This could also be reaching out to someone outside of your company."
"Physical health is a really important foundation to mental health and work-life balance. It's something I don't negotiate, essentially. I have to have it. I have to do it."
Bullet List of Resources –
Justin Tung
Segment
- Company Website
- GitHub
This week, the SphereCast team interviews Álvaro Ybáñez, Chief Product Officer at Fly-Fut. Fly-Fut uses modern drone technology and loads of creativity to make every amateur futbol player — or soccer player, as some say — feel like an idol. Fly-Fut’s main product offering features an aerial view of match highlights, paired with professional narration and energizing music. Though futbol is its first love, Fly-Fut aspires to delve into other sports such as basketball, tennis, volleyball, and more.
Ybáñez, who is both a veteran product expert and futbol lover, truly believes that Fly-Fut is going to revolutionize the game. But, while the rewards of startup innovation are high, Álvaro knows that getting a young company off the ground is no walk in the park. On the podcast, Ybáñez discusses some of Fly-Fut’s biggest challenges but also divulges the myriad ways he stays grounded as a senior executive at a fast-moving company.
Noteworthy Quotes:
"The most important thing for any company — and not just startups — is to talk to customers. Every single week. Discover and research, regardless of the phase you're in. You have to talk to customers all the time. Not a single euro that goes into research or discovery is badly spent."
"Technology never stops. And it's evolving faster. So, not knowing what is coming in the next 18 months is our biggest challenge."
"The thing about choosing technologies for a startup is that you never know what to use properly until you have a very well-defined business case."
"I plan my days ahead with time blocking... You can plan the day ahead and make sure you're producing the most work possible. That's a very proactive way to organize your day. Because if you keep responding to emails and let other people push you around, you don't get much done... Organizing days beforehand has been a life-changer for me."
"I don't need to relax. I have a couple of habits that have made me not need to relax."
Bullet List of Resources –
Álvaro Ybáñez
Fly-Fut
- Company Website
- YouTube
This week, the SphereCast team speaks with Sophie Schwerdtfeger, Co-Founder and Co-CEO at welearn — the parent company of wehorse and wedog. welearn’s goal is to be the go-to destination for educational content on certain niche topics. welearn’s first endeavor — wehorse — offers users the world’s largest library of equestrian content, all from one single streaming platform. welearn’s second project — wedog — is currently in early stages but, similar to wehorse, will give its users access to an enormous library of streaming content related to dog training.
Even before acquiring the horse-riding content library in 2018, Sophie knew that, to succeed, she’d have to radically change how this content had been historically distributed — through DVD sales. And, with that mission in mind, she and her co-founder embarked on a journey to build and lead a company, while also digitally transforming that company to a streaming platform. On the podcast, Sophie shares tons of knowledge on leading well — and particularly on leading well in times of major transition and growth.
Noteworthy Quotes:
"Communication and feedback among your team is the most important thing. You must implement a feedback culture straight away so that everybody can live in your company and live to the highest potential."
"In order to be an effective CEO or leader, you have to be a good communicator and you must be emotionally intelligent... Leading by example is also extremely important as well."
"When it comes to decision making as a CEO, the most difficult thing is making the right decision at the right time. Especially since technology is changing all the time."
"Early as an entrepreneur, you must be flexible and be willing to adjust. And always be reflective of what you do and appreciate all feedback you get... But at the end of the day, entrepreneurship will always be unpredictable. You can't really learn it beforehand."
"I think it's very important for co-founders to have like-minded interests... You have to be aligned on what you want and your vision. And be accepting of the others' ideas."
"Hiring remote employees is a huge advantage for us. We no longer, for example, hire on location but hire on motivation and skill set."
"When I'm at my desk, I'm 100 percent focused... In our busy days, you must use the time you have in a very efficient way."
Bullet List of Resources –
Sophie Schwerdtfeger
wehorse – The Online Riding Academy
- Company Website
- YouTube
wedog – The Online Dog Academy
- Company Website
This week, the SphereCast team interviews Mariano Vazquez, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer at ELEM Biotech. ELEM Biotech uses patient data to build “virtual humans,” replicating human cells, tissues, and organs and all their functions. Medical professionals can then run predictive modeling and simulation against these avatars to display the effects of various diseases and to forecast the effectiveness of treatments. ELEM’s earliest work has centered around virtually replicating the human cardiovascular system.
It’s not a stretch to claim that ELEM Biotech is revolutionizing medicine; it’s world-changing charter seems like something straight out of a science fiction movie. But it’s all true — and the ability to run experiments against real data-driven virtual humans is going to change the medical game and save some lives along the way. On the podcast, Mariano deep dives on his product and product architecture, details the benefits of this incredible technology, and discusses lessons learned from the beginning of his company to now.
Noteworthy Quotes:
"When healthcare companies work with data, it's like an oil company. Artificial intelligence is like dealing with oil. Oil is data. The oil will always be there... But the kinds of things that we do is like an alternative energy... If you take what we do and combine it with the oil — the data — you can start a revolution."
"With our product, we've always been very concerned about portability, flexibility, and modularity. And a fourth one — efficiency. With these four things in mind, we're in a position to deploy the different parts of the platform in various locations."
"You asked me for advice? Don't give up. No matter how difficult things are — don't give up."
"The most valuable lesson I learned was that, as a researcher, I do not understand business. It's a whole different arena. I learned that I must work with someone that really knows it. And it's what we're doing now."
Bullet List of Resources –
Mariano Vazquez
ELEM Biotech
- Company Website
This week, the SphereCast team speaks with Kevin Crosbie, Chief Product Officer at RavenPack. RavenPack is a platform that gives meaning to unstructured data. The platform offers speed and accuracy in analyzing large amounts of unstructured content — newspapers, emails, social media, and more. The company then enables clients to quickly extract value and insight from this processed data. Regarding speed, RavenPack can analyze one page of data every 300 milliseconds — which is, literally, the time it takes to blink.
Some estimate that between 80 and 90 percent of all the world’s data is unstructured, so the spoils go to those individuals and companies that find a way to interpret this goldmine. RavenPack has found a way to do just that. On the podcast, Kevin discusses all the key use cases his platform can meet, explains the difficulties of migrating to the cloud, shares some of the most difficult decisions he has to make, and describes what it’s like to be driving the direction of an industry-leading product.
Noteworthy Quotes:
"One of the hardest things to do is prioritize... There are so many things we want to do. We've got our fingers in lots of different pies because this world is moving very fast. And we're one of the leaders in that."
"For the most part, the pandemic hasn't impacted RavenPack itself... The pandemic actually made firms realize that they need to make more data-driven decisions and be able to monitor the media for important things that are happening."
"A lot of our financial industry clients prefer a rules-based approach because one of the issues you have with something like machine learning is that it's 'black box.' It's not easy to say, 'This is why I got this result.' And those clients require transparency... They must show the reasoning behind making decisions."
"Make sure the team you have is amazing. Otherwise you can't make amazing products."
"Trusting my team to get things done — that's how I manage my time. I try to keep them from getting stuck. I think they should be autonomous, take responsibility, and be owners... And start with the hardest problems first."
"Definitely there were some growing pains in the beginning [of our cloud migration]. Moving from a server-based solution to the cloud does require some re-architecture. It required some investment... But the benefits have paid off so much."
"A good leader must keep people motivated. Give people a purpose. Share the vision with them. Make sure they're on board and that everyone is working together."
"If you're a business that has a strong core with a reliable model, then you have a much better chance of surviving and prospering. The pandemic verified that."
Bullet List of Resources –
Kevin Crosbie
RavenPack
- Company Website
This week, as a part of our CFO podcast series, the SphereCast team interviews Adrian Gaveglia, Portfolio CFO at EmergeONE and Interim CFO at EnterpriseAlumni. Throughout his career, Gaveglia has held a wide variety of high-level finance roles at companies in the London area, including a lengthy stint at HarperCollins. Adrian has extensive experience making sense of digital platforms, navigating mergers and acquisitions, and providing in-depth financial analysis.
At the end of the day, Adrian is a master of the numbers. And like any good CFO, Adrian’s superpower is reading between the lines of the spreadsheets and asking the right questions, all to discern what’s important, what’s not, and where companies should be paying special attention. On the podcast, Adrian shares how he both finds what matters most and persuades others in the company that his point of view is correct. He also speaks to the attributes of a good financial leader, the nature of luck in business, and much more.
Noteworthy Quotes:
"The CFO basically sees everything in an organization. They've got the numbers. They can visualize everything that's going on. If you've got a very strategic CFO, they become very good at seeing the problems and successes in the business and thinking through how to make them better."
"It's not the CFO's job to know everything. It's their job to lead and put in the processes to get things done."
"The most important thing when presenting to a board is that you and the CEO are aligned on what's being presented."
"Good financial leaders are good at listening and taking in information to make decisions. The best financial leaders are transparent. They make sure information is available, timely, and correct for the audience."
"The most important thing for any leader is influence. Leaders are in place because they want to influence. To have a seat at the table and take the business forward... All other attributes funnel into this attribute."
"When presenting, I always think that less is better than more. But always be prepared to have that more in the back of your pocket if you need it."
"When a business starts scaling up, the FP&A function cannot be sitting outside of finance because finance brings the realism and the accuracy to that."
"If you're thinking about progressing in your career, you're always looking at the attributes that your role models have. For me, I could see that my role models were consistent, measured, thoughtful, and quite analytical."
"One important thing that's important for leaders is consistency... You have to have a method where people can trust you and trust how you will behave."
"Relationships are very important. Because for most people, luck plays a huge part in their success."
Bullet List of Resources –
Adrian Gaveglia
This week, the SphereCast team speaks with Brandon Mackay — Owner, President, and CEO of SnugZ. SnugZ is a Utah-based company that boasts the domestic manufacture of promotional products. Founded in 1989, Mackay’s company has spent over three decades creating custom gear for businesses, events, and various other promotions. SnugZ creates most of their customizable products in house, from hand sanitizer to PPE kits to sunscreen to lip balm to lanyards.
Brandon joined SnugZ five years after its inception and has shepherded the company through its highs and lows. During its 31 year history, SnugZ has lived through the “Dot Com” bubble, Y2K, the 2008 housing crisis, COVID-19, and other difficult events. And, as you would imagine, Mackay has picked up quite a bit of perspective living through such turbulent times. On the podcast, Mackay shares that perspective and explains how to survive and thrive during events that are out of our control.
Noteworthy Quotes:
"When it comes to navigating crises, business owners try to remember that there are some skills from the past that we can pull forward to today."
"Really, in the early years when you're in a business that's an upstart, everything feels like a crisis."
"In retrospect, the advice I'd give myself is to constantly breathe. If you knew how close you were to the finish line, you would always try just a little bit harder. Sometimes, we don't realize how close we are to our goal. We just need to pace ourselves. Be patient."
"When defining company values, first, you have to define what your own values are... Once we established our values, we went from an okay company with decent growth to a great company with momentum growth."
"Transparency is always the best policy... It allows everyone to be proactive versus reactive."
"When most startup businesses begin, there's always more work than there is people. There's just not enough revenue to hire the staff that you need."
"To find a good balance in life, you have to find those sacred times for yourself. Whether that's your lunch hour or dinner with your family or friends. Just respect those moments of time during the day."
Bullet List of Resources –
Brandon Mackay
SnugZ
- Company Website
- MediaHive
This week, the SphereCast team interviews Alex Balderstone, Co-Founder and CEO at Kaiku. Alex’s London-based startup features a data-driven scouting tool for venture funds, infused by artificial intelligence. Kaiku, which was founded in late 2019, works with over 300 venture funds across 50 different countries. The platform is already boasting a matchmaking accuracy score edging ever closer to 100 percent. And as Kaiku continues to find successes for its clients and enriches itself with data, that error margin will inch lower and lower.
As a non-technical co-founder, Balderstone offers a fresh perspective on the founding of a technology company. On the podcast, Alex walks through his unique role in the building of his platform, including the hand he had in the choosing of Kaiku’s tech stack. Along the way, Alex also shares a wealth of knowledge around meeting market needs and gives a helpful commentary on the current state of the venture capital industry.
Noteworthy Quotes:
"Go and get feedback before you build anything. Make sure there's a market need — some element of market validation."
"Don't forget business development. Don't forget partnerships. Don't forget community. Because you can build a lovely solution, but then not have any people to pay for it."
"Focus is key. Feedback is key... Can you narrow down on who you're focusing on and why you're focusing on them? And do you have feedback to make sure you're building something users really want?"
"No day is ever the same. That's what keeps things fun."
Bullet List of Resources –
Alex Balderstone
Kaiku
- Company Website
This week, the SphereCast team speaks with Iris Skrami, Co-founder at Renoon — the smartest tool for conscious fashion shoppers. Founded in February 2020, Renoon is the first global app that sources items from across the Internet and assigns sustainability attributes to them. Ultimately, the platform empowers consumers to realize their sustainable lifestyles and values when shopping fashion. Since its founding just over a year ago, it has processed over three million products and has attracted the attention of some of the top fashion industry veterans.
Iris is an incredibly successful entrepreneur. In addition to sitting at the helm of a rapidly growing startup, she recently breached the Forbes Italia Under 30 list of 2021. However, Iris would be the first to tell you that the road of entrepreneurship is one filled with challenges. But the hardest challenge? Just taking that first step. On the podcast, Iris shares her vision for Renoon and discusses the difficulties of entrepreneurship — most notably mustering up the courage to start.
Noteworthy Quotes:
"The most important thing to do in entrepreneurship — and the hardest thing — is to start. Because, sometimes, we're so tied to what we're doing. But then you have this burning thing that you can't stop thinking about... And once you've started, you need to be consistent."
"As with many other startups, it's so important to start with a problem — a burning problem. So one of the first things I did was check that other people had this problem as well."
"Team is the number one thing when you're building something."
"It's important to do an MVP step-by-step. From the idea, you get the funding. You need to show that you can execute and build something with the resources that you have. At the beginning of your startup, you're never going to build something amazing. But you have to start with what you have and make it work to get to the next stage."
"Schedule your days. Make sure you have things you want to get done every day. And measure that."
Bullet List of Resources –
Iris Skrami
Renoon
- Company Website
- Medium
This week, the SphereCast team interviews Kwaku Yeboah-Antwi, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer at DIZZBO. Kwaku’s company is revolutionizing an industry in desperate need of disruption — logistics. And through technology, DIZZBO is allowing its customers to get connected with shipping providers through a process that takes a matter of minutes, which is a far cry from the status quo of days or even weeks.
Kwaku’s company has experienced early success. In fact, since its founding in 2018, DIZZBO has already reached profitability. However, Kwaku would be the first to admit that their earliest technology prototypes were no match for the volume they’ve experienced since opening their doors. And, now, if they want to expand their footprint on the logistics industry, their technology has to evolve. On the podcast, Yeboah-Antwi walks through DIZZBO’s entire journey, shares some advice on how to manage time, and discusses the importance of never being satisfied with your current technology.
Noteworthy Quotes:
"We're never done. Just because we're serving you right now doesn't mean we can serve you the exact same way tomorrow... With technology, you have to run in place. That means keeping aware of what's happening from the technological side... Product market fit is never achieved. The market is always moving."
"One of the things we realized is that, as we were building, we never thought far in advance. You don't think about scalability when you're building your first MVP. So now we need to engineer this as we move ahead."
"The challenge in business is always convincing people, 'Yes, it can be done. And this is how we're doing it. And here's how it is foolproof.' Yes, the biggest challenge is always that human side — it's trust. Yes, you can trust us that it's going to work."
"When you're trying to digitize an industry, one mistake can set you back years. Every step we took was very purposeful. It was a life and death type of thing."
"For us, we're lucky. We have a lot of experience in the domain. It makes our customer conversations much better, knowing that some of our people have spent 40-plus years in the industry. And we are really transparent. We're open about our problems and what we can do."
Bullet List of Resources –
Kwaku Yeboah-Antwi
DIZZBO
- Company Website
This week, the SphereCast team speaks with Lucy Mullins, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer at StepLadder UK — a social FinTech company that is helping people feel empowered about their money. Specifically, StepLadder seeks to unify those who are saving money for housing down payments so that they can hold each other accountable and raise money faster together.
Lucy, who was an executive coach prior to founding her current company, is a firm believer that every person possesses his or her own “superpower” — a collection of talents and abilities that can help themselves or their peers achieve their goals. And, as a coach and now as a co-founder, her life goal is to help others discover their superpowers and take advantage of them. On the podcast, Lucy deep dives on the story of StepLadder and how she’s helping her coworkers find their superpowers and, ultimately, help their end users achieve their own financial goals.
Noteworthy Quotes:
"[When founding a company,] all you can do is focus on your superpowers... In an ideal world, you'd go out and hire an amazing technical person. But obviously that's not always possible. So you just get as far as you can on the superpowers that you've got. And I feel like we did that really well."
"Everybody should think about what their purpose is in life. You should do something that aligns with your purpose and not just puts money into your bank account."
"If you put something out there that you're really proud of, then you've waited too long. You just have to throw something out there. There's no place for perfection in starting a business."
"You want to know a bit and be prepared and be resilient. But, if there's anything this past year has taught us, it's that you can never know what's coming along. You have to be flexible and ready to adapt to whatever challenges or unpredicted obstacles that come your way."
"The biggest challenge for me as a non-technical co-founder is how much do you need to know versus how much can you allow your team to do?"
"We have a rule here at StepLadder that it doesn't matter what mistake you make. But, the moment you spot it, just shout it out."
"In an ideal world, technology can help your business decisions. And your business decisions back up the technology that you're using... You always have to think about how technology can augment your business decisions. Don't just use technology for the sake of technology."
"I'm really passionate about what we do at StepLadder, and I'm always passionate about what we're doing. And if I'm not passionate about it, I don't do it."
Bullet List of Resources –
Lucy Mullins
StepLadder
- Company Website
This week, the SphereCast team interviews Tyler Childs, President and CEO at Sports-Travel. Since 1998, this Ontario-based company has worked with thousands of sporting events and organizations around the globe to create professionally run events. Sports-Travel runs the gambit when it comes to sporting events, whether it be fully sponsoring tournaments, running events from end-to-end, or aiding in global team travel. According to Childs, his company’s goal is simple: to make running events easier for everyone.
Childs, who started in business development at Sports-Travel, saw immense growth potential for the company, which started as a family business. From his position in business development, he dared the company’s founder to change his definition of “success” and, ultimately, found himself holding the reins as CEO. As a result, the company moved into a new era and has experienced tremendous growth. On the podcast, Tyler recaps his incredible journey and shares deep wisdom on leadership, building a team, and daring to be better.
Noteworthy Quotes:
"When it comes to leadership, do you want to be someone that dictates? Or do you want to empower the people on the team to take control of those decisions and, therefore, not doubt the right thing? ... This way, your team brings you the best solutions. The best advice I could give is to trust the people around you."
"Starting a dev team — you don't know where to start. It's an impossible step to get right. And I think anyone who has gotten the first step right needs to talk about it more because I don't think that happens very often."
"You could have the best piece of tech in the world, but it means nothing if your people don't appreciate who you are as a group and who you are as a company."
"Don't be afraid to ask dumb questions. That's how you learn. You have to move forward by making mistakes and asking questions that maybe don't make sense for the moment."
"There's a difference between a great employee and a great team member."
"You don't make mistakes after setting expectations; you make mistakes in setting expectations... It's okay to miss a deadline. It's not okay to pretend you're not going to miss it."
"There are ways to win business, and there are ways to win the right business. And we go with the latter."
"Find the right budget for the right people earlier."
Bullet List of Resources –
Tyler Childs
Sport-Travel
- Company Website
This week, the SphereCast team speaks with Scott Millett, IT Director at Iglu.com. Since 1998, Iglu has been disrupting the UK’s ski and cruise travel industries. In these niche industries that often lag on technology, Iglu has set up an online portal for ski and cruise trip booking. This innovative and disruptive approach to booking has garnered the agency multiple awards and has allowed Iglu to be named the UK’s number one specialist travel agency.
As a disruptor himself, Scott has become passionate about domain-driven design — to the point of writing his own book, titled Patterns, Principles, and Practices of Domain-Driven Design. At its core, this concept attempts to bridge the gap between technical and non-technical team members through tools like a shared language and vocabulary. On the podcast, Scott deep dives on domain-driven design and discusses how his work has made Iglu the success that it is today.
Noteworthy Quotes:
[On his interest in domain-driven design] "What drives many of us to get into IT? Really, it's all about solving problems and learning. You're always looking to learn something — that thirst for knowledge. But I found that it was difficult to understand how much of what I was learning... I realized that others were probably struggling with this vast amount of information too."
"If we think fundamentally about the purpose of domain-driven design, it was really a way to manage solutions for complex problems... It bases solutions to problems around the domain you're working in, so that both technical and non-technical people can reason about the solution to the problem you're tackling."
"Technology is a means to an end; it's not an end in itself. It's a way to help solve problems."
"Leaders are making it up as we go along. There's more data now than ever before, but you still need good judgment to take action on that data. And we can never be 100 percent sure about anything. It's all based on hypotheses."
"Nine times out of ten, problems come down to system — the systems of how we work, rather than the people. A bad system will beat a good person every time."
"When working remotely, you don't get that instantaneous flow of conversation. So ensuring that people understand the narrative and are aligned to the purpose and goals we're trying to achieve [in this volatile industry] really helps. Then, they're more empowered to do something about the problem.”
"Our biggest challenge is driving innovative and creative ways to improve online transactions, with the constraint of working with our [IT-constrained] suppliers."
Bullet List of Resources –
Scott Millett
- Patterns, Principles, and Practices of Domain-Driven Design on Amaz
This week, the SphereCast team interviews Lucas Hild, Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder at Knowunity. Hild’s platform is the first interactive platform of its kind in Europe. On Knowunity, students can view and download any relevant school-related study material or content, including presentations, flashcards, notes, and much more. The content on Knowunify is user-generated — uploaded by students, for students.
In only six months since its launch in September 2020, Knowunity has gained more than 700,000 users — even as the platform is currently only offered in German. However, Hild and his co-founders were not shocked by this outcome. In fact, their research showed that students were more likely to retain information when being taught by fellow students. On the podcast, Hild — who is only 19 years old — shares wisdom well beyond his age and discusses the wild ride that is founding a company and learning to scale up at breakneck speed.
Noteworthy Quotes:
"Successful leaders should create a vision and impassion other people to share that vision... It's also important that every team member understands the mission and the goals in front of them. You must remind them of the big picture."
"In terms of our processes, we work with OKRs to keep our focus on the topics that really matter to us... We define around 5 objectives per quarter. We ask ourselves, 'How do we want our company to look by the end of the quarter, if everything works perfectly?'"
Bullet List of Resources –
Lucas Hild
Knowunity
- Company Website
- TikTok
This week, the SphereCast team speaks with Luke de Haas, Chief Executive Officer and Founder at MOSEA — a Toronto-based digital platform offering an easier way to pool money with large groups of friends and send those funds directly into bank accounts. Think of it as a Venmo-type of platform, but for the masses. MOSEA offers familiar one-to-one digital funds transfers but also offers the option to quickly and easily create crowdfunding projects amongst friends.
Luke and his co-founders are young, and having been raised in the digital age, they know the real value of seamless, non-physical funds transfers. And as digital payments continue to rise in adoption and popularity, these types of capabilities must continue to expand. On the podcast, Luke explains how he and his team spotted a gap in this ever-growing industry and built a solution to meet the need.
Noteworthy Quotes:
"The amazing thing about working with really smart, invested people is that you're always trying to come to the truth and figure out what's the best thing we can put in front of our users' faces."
"Being naive when you're young is really useful. Because if I knew everything I know now, I might not have started this idea... It allows us to keep pushing forward when other people may not do so."
"We have an advantage. We're young. We understand the demographic we're going to — we're in the demographic we're going to. And we're not afraid to take much bigger risks, as opposed to older people."
"We get through challenges with a never-ending belief that we're going to succeed."
Bullet List of Resources –
Luke de Haas
MOSEA
- Company Website
This week, the SphereCast team interviews Ingmar Kruse, CEO of SunSniffer — a technology that measures solar power module performance using artificial intelligence. Kruse’s platform provides information on each module’s power usage and whether the module needs to be replaced, all with the push of a button. Prior to the advent of SunSniffer, this type of work was expensive — more expensive, in fact, than the panels themselves. However, through his work, Kruse hopes to take the pain out of solar energy and to, ultimately, encourage more widespread sustainable energy adoption.
Ingmar’s journey into solar power was far from linear, and his story is incredibly interesting. In fact, Ingmar’s earliest work was with color printing and scanning and its associated software. However, his diverse experience fostered a certain “out of the box” thinking that ultimately led him to his work today — work that is, quite literally, saving the world. On the podcast, Ingmar talks through his full story, gives details on how SunSniffer got off the ground, walks through his typical day, and so much more.
Noteworthy Quotes:
"It's a great time to start a business. There are so many resources that are free of charge. There are great videos on YouTube. There's not the burden of paying a lot of money [for training]."
"I like to listen to advice. I listen to other opinions. Because it helps me develop my own opinion... It helps me find my own way."
Bullet List of Resources –
Ingmar Kruse
SunSniffer
- Company Website
- YouTube walkthrough of analytics dashboard
This week, the SphereCast team speaks with Ryan Grant, Founder & CEO at Vori Health — a virtual-first healthcare provider that practices a holistic, integrated approach to musculoskeletal care. On May 7 of this year, Vor Health announced a $45MM Series A investment, led by New Enterprise Associates, Inc. This funding round is a huge vote of confidence for Vori Health’s mission, which is to care for the whole person and cater to the real problem, rather than throwing temporary and often ineffective remedies onto one-off symptoms.
Having a background in neurosurgery, Ryan is fully aware of the shortcomings of the neuroscience normal — an environment where conclusions are drawn too quickly and medicines are doled out too liberally. However, with enough grit and determination, Ryan is convinced that the status quo of this international issue can be shifted. On the podcast, Grant shares the story of how his company came to be, educates listeners on the shortcomings of neuro medicine, deep dives on the challenges of entrepreneurship, and sells us on his mission to make medicine human again.
Noteworthy Quotes:
"Medicine across the planet is very dehumanized for a variety of reasons. And it's overdue to make it more humanized — practicing what's ethically-sound, evidence-based medicine."
"Here's how you change the world over time: everybody's got to win, in a better way. Patients. Providers. Payer partnerships. The team. If everyone benefits and you do it in a nice way, that's how you start to change the conversation."
"It's really about helping the world be a better place and doing the right thing all the time. And making medicine more fun... You're obviously dealing with serious things in medicine, but that doesn't mean you can't make it more engaging. And make it more fun and human."
"You never have perfect data... Even with the most pristine data, at best, it's 60 percent accurate. So you're always making decisions on incomplete data."
"The most challenging part of startups or new endeavors is managing your own emotions... It can be a roller coaster."
"Feedback. You want as much feedback as possible. You want as much criticism as possible — the good and the bad. That's the only way you keep making something better."
"People always do better with a mentor or a coach. Even Olympians have a coach. Who do you go to in tough decisions?"
Bullet List of Resources –
Ryan Grant
Vori Health
- Company Website
This week, the SphereCast team interviews Patricia Salas, President and “Chief Dream Enabler” at SBHIS Insurance Services, Inc. — a firm maniacally focused on finding its customers the best Medicare or Medi-Cal plans to meet their individual needs. Founded in 2006 in southern California, the firm has grown to have a nationwide presence and is known for its superior customer service. SBHIS boasts partnerships with NBC Universal, ABC, Univision, Medi Healthcare Solutions, and many other large companies.
Patricia has lived this truth: that entrepreneurship isn’t for the faint of heart. In fact, Salas will be the first to admit that, when she started on her journey as a founder, her entrepreneur acumen was lacking. However, Patricia quickly discovered that the very people she was helping through her business — seniors — had deep lived experience she could tap into and became invaluable consultants (and friends) that helped her on her journey. On the podcast, Salas tells some inspiring stories about partnering with those who have gone before and shares some wisdom she’s picked up along the way.
Noteworthy Quotes:
"Early in the pandemic, we were one of the highest producing agencies in the country... because, more than anything, we showed people that we cared. And we were out there caring."
"We had a growth anywhere from 60 to 100 percent year-over-year for the first few years. And it was because we did the right things for the senior."
"One of the most important characteristics of a leader is empathy. You have to feel and understand where your team is."
"We've had to transition from a very high touch, high need senior to a senior that is very practical and very quick. And if you don't give them what they want, they're going to flip to someone else. And my job is to lead the company through this transition."
"I want to change my name to 'Chief Dream Enabler'... What a blessing to be able to help other people achieve their dreams. The more dreams I achieve, the better I do... It's all about helping others. And that's how it all started."
"Don't give up — expect the no's. You're going to get more no's than yes's... It's easy to believe that the no's are correct. And then the dream dies down and you settle... No one can kill your dream for you unless you accept the 'no' as the final verdict."
"I believe the trick to becoming successful is allowing others to become empowered and feel they can make a difference themselves."
"Change or die. If you don't change the way you think and accept that the market is changing, you're going to die."
"If you want to change things, you have to change yourself."
"When we started, nothing went as planned because nothing was planned."
Bullet List of Resources –
Patricia Salas
SBHIS Insurance Services
This week, the SphereCast team speaks with Matt Hagel, Chief Financial Officer at Freshly. Freshly is a meal delivery service that delivers fresh-made meals straight to your door that are ready to heat-and-eat in three minutes or less. Freshly has been featured in The Huffington Post, Entrepreneur, Glamour, TechCrunch, and other high-profile publications and has experienced an explosion of popularity over the past year due to the pandemic, given less people wanting to leave their homes.
Over the course of his career, Matt has held a variety of leadership positions at some of the world’s most respected brands and fastest-growing startups — Deloitte, Sony Music Entertainment, AppNexus, and Bark & Co., to name a few. And, as you would imagine, Hagel has become a wealth of knowledge on issues of effective leadership. On the podcast this week, Matt deep dives on issues of keeping a team inspired and efficient — both in and beyond the finance and accounting disciplines.
Noteworthy Quotes:
"As a leader, I've learned to effectively delegate. And in order to delegate, you have to build up the team. But more so than that, it's about the process. When you join a company, you must first establish a process... There's some pushback here sometimes because it feels like you're going slower. But while it feels like we're going slower, it will enable us to go a lot faster. If you have good process design, it should make you more effective."
"Saying 'thank you' is free. Recognition comes in many forms... Gratitude means a lot. Recognition is a lot."
"Good leaders are good listeners."
"Sometimes mentorship is just about having an ear to speak to. It just helps talking some things out. We all deal with very similar problems, both personally and professionally. And it's not like we're recreating the wheel every time."
"Teamwork is key. You can't solve all of this yourself."
"You want to use tools to enhance the work you're doing... Excel will still always be a part of the formula. Now, we're just more of a gourmet meal, using other tools."
"There's no typical day; I learned that a long time ago. But that's really something I enjoy. Each day poses a new challenge that keeps things interesting."
"I think your past is a sum of all the parts, and you really learn to rely on your gut based on all of your prior experiences."
Bullet List of Resources –
Matt Hagel
Freshly
- Company Website
This week, the SphereCast team interviews John Mark Nalocca, a former professional track and field athlete who is now an Attache of the Italian Embassy in Israel and an MBA candidate at IDC Herzliya. As a track and fielder, John Mark competed in both national and international competitions and was on the verge of qualifying for two rounds of Olympic games, were it not for back-to-back leg injuries. Nalocca is set to graduate with his MBA in Strategy and Business Development this year, in 2021.
John Mark’s story is a tale of resilience in the face of adversity, but more than anything, his story is the prime example of someone who has mastered the art of the pivot. When unfortunate events derailed his dreams, Nalocca did not hesitate to pinpoint an alternative path and start moving. On the podcast, John Mark lays out his entire story, speaks to the importance of being driven and passionate, and shares some helpful tips on gracefully pivoting towards a new career path.
Noteworthy Quotes:
"The first trick to achieving a career in a different field is being hungry."
"I knew that the best way to achieve some greater path towards the future was to move into something new... You have to begin with something you're passionate about."
"Athletes are seen like superheroes. At the end of the day, they are normal people. But normal people that are only a little bit more committed."
"Success in sports is just an instance of many good habits carried out consistently together."
"Currently, I don't have a specific answer as to what's next for me. But one thing that keeps on driving me and pushing me to go forward is curiosity, hunger, resilience, and achievement. I want to be successful and be an example to people."
"A little bit of training — for sure, no result. A lot of training — probably, result."
Bullet List of Resources –
John Mark Nalocca
- Athlete Profile
This week, the SphereCast team speaks with Michael Kohen, Co-Founder and CEO at SparkAI. Kohen’s impressive resume includes senior-level experience at Zoox — an AI-powered autonomous vehicle company that was eventually acquired by Amazon. In his career, Kohen has learned that, though an automation product may have loads of momentum, it always slows down before market deployment as the team perfects the machine learning algorithms. SparkAI partners with companies to push their automation products past the finish line and get to market faster.
Having been on the front lines of automation product development, Kohen is intimately familiar with these development pains. However, as with every good entrepreneur, Kohen has created an innovative solution to meet a real market need. On the podcast, Michael dives into SparkAI and the benefit his company brings its clients and also discusses the freedom of spending your life in a job that you truly love.
Noteworthy Quotes:
"With automation products, it's seemingly easy to make early progress that lets you get in front of your first customers. Show some demos; show some progress. But it's really that back part — the back 10 percent of that automation challenge — that's very difficult."
"It's interesting. Both my cofounder and I had a front-row seat to the promise and excitement of automation and robots. But we also had a front-row seat to some of the challenges and frustrations of what it took to get to market."
"The most successful career paths are the ones where people can look back and say, 'Listen, I was doing the thing that I would have been doing if this was the last day of the universe.'"
"In our careers, at the end of the day, all of us are figuring this stuff out for the first time. And we're learning things along the way — in many cases, the hard way. But over time, each of things we learn — those experiences we have — make us better people and make us better professionals."
"Ultimately, you need to find that thing that you are absolutely passionate — that keeps you up at night... when you find that thing and throw yourself at it, you will inherently be successful. You will work harder. Think faster. Think better and more broadly about that problem because you are deeply attached to it."
"The greatest successes that I've had in choosing what my next moves are are the times when I've let my decisions be guided by the things I deeply care about and the things that inspire me. And, frankly, the things that I find myself still thinking about after hours, when I'm not on the clock."
Bullet List of Resources –
Michael Kohen
SparkAI
- Company Website
LinkedIn
Ever wonder what goes into developing an AI-powered product?
A lot of joy. A lot of heartache.
This week, the SphereCast team interviews Aviad Harell — Founder, Chief Operating Officer, and General Manager at Sisense. Sisense is a platform offering users custom analytics that can be embedded into essentially any platform via integration capabilities and open APIs. As the company’s mission statement states, Sisense allows users to “infuse analytics anywhere,” tapping into deep insights to inform better decision making. To date, Sisense has partnered with over 2,000 top companies to make this vision a reality.
Numbers don’t lie, and Aviad understands the competitive advantage that quality analytics can bring to an organization. On the podcast Aviad discusses the birth of his company, how his startup learned from some specific mistakes in its earliest days, how he’s learned to differentiate between temporary market trends and longstanding market changes, and why his company decided that openness and hyper customization is ultimately best for everyone — which was the biggest risk they ever took.
Noteworthy Quotes:
"In many ways, Sisense platform is a ‘tool belt’ of analytics tools or business intelligence (BI) value chain tools. You use the tools within that tool belt that you need — the right tool for the right ask."
"One of the biggest challenges in founding a business intelligence platform is to continue to adjust your offering to the evolution of the market."
"Before choosing a software platform to use at our company, I become intimate with the problem and how things operate in order to understand the requirement. Then I start with something that I can iterate and scale later on."
"Mistakes? We had tons of them... My approach is to make mistakes quickly and recover from them as quickly as possible."
"If you truly understand the market, you have some sense of what types of technologies are going to make an impact and which technologies are things that will fade away."
Bullet List of Resources –
Aviad Harell
Sisense
- Company Website
This week, the SphereCast team speaks with Boris Korenfeld, Director of Engineering over Waze and Carpool products at Google. Prior to his run with Google, Boris held various executive leadership roles within research and development — or R&D, for short. Korenfeld’s R&D experience began at Hewlett Packard and eventually moved to an Israeli transportation startup called Gett, where he was tasked with tripling the size of the R&D organization. At Gett, Boris held both Chief Technology Officer and General Manager roles before eventually taking his director role at Google.
Having architected and led a handful of R&D organizations, Boris is a wealth of knowledge around the best ways to construct and run research and development. On the podcast, among many other things, Boris speaks to the “ideal” R&D structure (if an “ideal” even exists), explains whether R&D is possible at small- and medium-sized companies, shares some lessons learned from having to triple his R&D staff at Gett, and even goes step-by-step on how to build a successful R&D org for any business.
Noteworthy Quotes:
"At the end of the day, the mission of R&D is to empower the business.”
"Research and development is not about some sort of ideal structure. It's about what's ideal for you and your company. You have to analyze many aspects which will lead you to the optimal org structure for your company. But if you do it right, it will take your company to the next level."
"Be listening to the triggers and adjust your R&D organization to your evolving business needs. Be brave and lead through the changes."
"The main dilemma of the R&D manager is maintaining flexibility and stability. It's all about balance. You can't maintain both 100 percent."
"Planning an R&D reorganization is generally a big and painful process. People don't like change... You have to invest appropriate time in building the change plan. Deep dive into details. Don't leave it at a high level."
"During R&D reorgs, it is critical to communicate to employees what is in it for them. What do they gain from this change? If that is communicated properly, it's a big push for success."
"Always assess business aspects before making plans to change an organization."
Bullet List of Resources –
Boris Korenfeld
This week, the SphereCast team interviews Dodd Haynes, an expert consultant in domestic and international finance and accounting. Prior to his current run as a consultant, Dodd was the Chief Financial Officer for three multinational companies — Muzak, ACN, and Mood Media. Each of these three companies operate in very distinct industries, giving Haynes a depth of business knowledge held by few others. Dodd holds degrees from the esteemed Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Though Haynes holds international accounting experience across a diversity of industries, he observed one unique truth — that, regardless of location or vertical, the language of finance is the same. Rows and columns. Numbers and characters. However, though the language is the same, complex organizations often require more than Excel to keep track of finances. On the podcast, Dodd discusses the importance of having one shared financial platform with a seamless integration and rollout — and shares a story of a time when the rollout was far less than perfect.
Noteworthy Quotes:
"During the merger, to successfully roll out a common financial reporting platform, you have to involve all areas of the business. It's not just an accounting implementation. You need salespeople. Back office people. And you clearly need accounting and finance assistance... Without all those teams heavily involved in the implementation, you're not going to have the success you're looking for when doing a large project like this."
"You need technical expertise on a team to carry out a complicated systems merger. But you also need to make sure the team leads understand the most complicated parts of the transactions."
"Sometimes, at the end of the day, you get international finance done by the basics — rows and columns. Numbers and characters... When you don't have common platforms, you have to ask yourself, 'How can I submit data in a way where I can do things.' And a lot of it is basic pivot tables and formulas."
"There's a lot of satisfaction in knowing the teams that you work with. And getting to know all of their customs and backgrounds."
"In my international experience, the commonality of business language seems to be global and globally accepted."
Bullet List of Resources –
Dodd Haynes
This week, the SphereCast team speaks with Spencer Dobrik, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer at SuperVisas. SuperVisas makes visa applications simple, affordable, and fast. Dobrik himself describes his company’s online platform as “the TurboTax for visas.” Through an extremely easy-to-use interface, a user can check eligibility, upload forms, consult with an immigration expert, and get approved to travel. The platform’s flat rate cost saves customers hundreds of dollars’ worth of fees, and the company boasts a 98 percent customer approval rating.
On the podcast, Spencer walks us through why he chose to cofound a company and gets into detail on the product strategy behind the platform. Spencer is also transparent about his company’s biggest challenges and gives some sage advice around staying grounded as a cofounder at a fast-moving startup.
Noteworthy Quotes:
"Learn how to fail early and fail quickly. You have an idea of what the ideal product is, but you really have to take steps on what's the best thing I can do today? And does that allow me to get to the next step? Yes, you want a website that's as good as Airbnb. But you don't get there in a month. You get there in four years. So how to I get to the next step that helps me keep going?"
"Our founding team is a hybrid model where we all meet in the middle and have different perspectives on the direction we're going as a company."
"Mine and my cofounders' own experiences have molded where we're going, why we built our company, and why we hold the values we have today."
"Regarding AI, we always want to keep humans in the loop. We always want people to have that peace of mind that someone is looking at their [visa or immigration] application. But it's really about augmenting them to perform better and have fewer mistakes."
"In the morning, I make my bed. I find it's great to start the day with a task that's accomplishable and brings that feeling of accomplishment."
"You don't feel as bad about your situation when you have someone to talk to who's gone through the same situation."
Bullet List of Resources –
Spencer Dobrik
SuperVisas
- Company Website
This week, the SphereCast team interviews Ugochi Owo, CEO of Flindel — a platform that is making consumer returns as easy as ordering a pizza from your phone. Flindel’s “Automated Returns Machine” allows tenants to return purchases from hundreds of retailers to a single apartment drop box. While the platform specifics are currently unreleased, Flindel boasts an advisory board of founders and executives from some of the world’s most well-known tech unicorns, publications, and venture capital groups.
Ugochi’s story is one of finding a market gap, inspired by her own shopping displeasure. In a world of retail convenience, no one yet seems to have “cracked the code” on returns, and a negative experience drove Owo to find a solution. On the podcast, she details the incredible story of how her company was born, shares what went into her platform’s proof of concept, discusses how she stays healthy and productive as a CEO, and so much more.
Noteworthy Quotes:
"Believe in yourself; be bullish on yourself... Sometimes you need to remind yourself of who you are to be in a positive mind-frame to kill your meetings or gain that partnership. It all starts with confidence."
"I used to work in 'sprints' and work for 2 days straight... I realized this was not healthy... Then I became that person who is focused on being the most optimal person I can be, energy-wise, and I'm more productive."
"We're pretty optimistic about technology's ability to create — to make something out of nothing and create magic."
"As an entrepreneur, you have to be very fluid and be married to the core idea of your business — not be married to the 'ideal picture.'"
"You never know who is willing to help you unless you ask. People aren't really that mean and scary in real life."
"We look for people who can give our company unfair advantages."
"Depending on what kind of business you have, it's okay to put out the crappiest version of your product. But if you're a B2B business, there's a certain level of 'togetherness' that you have to have as a company... Make sure you present yourself as polished to other businesses."
"We wanted to create a Jetsons-like experience, where things can happen instantly at the consumer's doorstep."
Bullet List of Resources –
Ugochi Owo
Flindel
- Company Website
This week, the SphereCast team connects with Emile Chouha, Co-founder at LunchBox — a Montreal-based digital app, all about helping friends discover new restaurants at the lowest prices possible. Founded in late 2016, LunchBox first broke onto the scene through a partnership with the University of Montreal — a deal which ultimately landed LunchBox at the top of food app charts, surrounded by giants like Uber Eats. Chouha’s app is a hype machine for restaurants, allowing them to publicize their cuisine to massive audiences in a relatively short amount of time.
Emile is a fountain of wisdom, and his deep introspection calls for a somewhat different podcast format. During the conversation, Luke and Xenia actually use a series of social media posts to help guide the conversation with Chouha — a conversation that touches on productivity and the nature of good work, on the strong tie between passion and motivation, on the humanity of startup companies, and, of course, on his own journey of building something from scratch.
Noteworthy Quotes:
"If you're mindful about today, tomorrow will be better... That idea could motivate a lot of people to put more effort into the present moment to change things."
"In a startup, it's easy to lose sight of the bigger goal while giving attention to those little hiccups on a daily basis."
"Passion is overrated, and preparation is underrated."
"Startups are different than Wall Street. A startup is more human. Wall Street is more savage... There's no place for spirituality in Wall Street. Startups don't lie — you're creating value for another human."
"Motivation is a consequence of finding your passion."
"You never fix a problem in one shot. It's a painting — a canvas. You take your brush, and you design a little thing. But then you come back to it the next day, and you're seeing something additional where, in the first day, you couldn't have seen. Because what you wrote on your whiteboard the first day is just a seed that's going to blossom in your head."
"When I started my first company, I was scared of not fitting in as an entrepreneur... I wasn't being real with myself. That mind state slowed me down as an entrepreneur."
"It's easy to work 12 hours, 15 hours — or more. It's more difficult to actually make progress. And, at the end, that's the only thing that matters."
"I think a startup is a science experiment. And you're trying to prove something with statistical significance about a certain type of customer that wants your product. That should be your only focus."
"If you can do valuable work in 40 hours, do it. If you can do more valuable work in 80 hours, do it. But start with 40 hours. You shouldn't need more."
Bullet List of Resources –
Emile Chouha
LunchBox
This week, the SphereCast team speaks with Yaniv Grinblat, Head of Business Development at Bridgify — a Tel Aviv-based travel and hospitality startup that uses technology to take the pain out of travel planning. At this point in his career, Yaniv is a travel industry expert. Prior to joining the team at Bridgify, he founded his own business — TripN’wize — which sought to make public transportation in Tel Aviv more accessible for area tourists.
It’s no exaggeration to claim that Yaniv, as the head of sales at a hospitality startup, might have the hardest job in the world right now. As a global pandemic has upended his beloved industry, Yaniv has been forced to innovate — creative sales strategies, nontraditional pricing models. Whatever it takes to keep the lights on and reach the post-pandemic travel boom. On the podcast, Yaniv deep dives on how COVID-19 has changed travel forever and how he’s been forced to live “outside the box” in 2020 to offer a product that can truly bring value to both businesses and consumers.
Noteworthy Quotes:
"As the head of business development and sales, I have to think, 'What are the ways to bring cashflow to our company within the COVID days, when I know that our most valued customers cannot pay.'"
"When we approach hotels now [post-COVID], we tell them that it's not just about delivering a better experience for travelers. It's also about helping you, as a hotel, recover faster. We're helping you get extra money from something you don't currently earn from."
"As a startup in the travel industry, we quickly found out that, in order to be a successful B2C company, we needed to have deep pockets marketing-wise. It's hard to acquire customers, especially in the early stages when you have no funds."
"I think the travel industry will try to forget as fast as she can what has happened here in 2020. Honestly, I'm unsure if there's any way to prepare for this type of scenario."
Bullet List of Resources –
Yaniv Grinblat
Bridgify
- Company Website
This week, the SphereCast team interviews Alexandra Detweiler, Director of Channel Partnerships, North America, at monday.com. Detweiler’s company is a “Work OS” — an open, visually-driven SaaS platform that allows teams to plan, organize, and track projects, all in one unified place. The platform features fully customizable workflows and a variety of off-the-shelf integrations with some of the world’s most popular software solutions. monday.com boasts more than 7,000 reviews of 4.6 out of 5 or higher on reputable review sites, including G2, Capterra, Trustpilot, TrustRadius, and GetApp.
On the podcast, Alexandra digs deep on the value of monday.com — a value that teams from some of the world’s largest and most successful companies have come to find. Companies like NBC, BBC Studios, Hulu, Discovery Networks, Adobe, and Coca Cola. Alexandra also talks through her career journey, including what drove her move from a large enterprise to a scrappy startup and what makes for a good mentor.
Noteworthy Quotes:
"What we see on monday.com is that brilliant and not often seen combination of simplicity and complexity. Simplicity of use, and complexity of use cases and integrations."
"It's hard to know if you've ever made 'the right choice.' What's the measure? There's the work you do. The people you work with. The results of the company. There's not just one thing."
[On moving to a smaller company] "I wanted to be a part of building something and creating an infrastructure, not just working within one."
"I find inspiration most in people who rise to whatever they're doing and however they find success in nontraditional ways. I'm attracted to people who fail before they succeed. And I love seeing people succeed because they really did what they loved."
"I probably stayed at the large corporation for two years too long. But I felt that 'itch,' and I knew that I wanted to create something of my own."
[On mentorship] "I surrounded myself with people who were committed to my success and wanted to help me. And me, them. It's a two-way relationship."
Bullet List of Resources –
Alexandra Detweiler
monday.com
- Company Website
- YouTube
This week, the SphereCast team interviews Aleksandra Efimova, CEO of RP Group International. RP Group began with a single brand — Russian Pointe — which Aleksandra began out of her college apartment. For over two decades, Russian Pointe has provided hundreds of thousands of student and professional ballet dancers with quality pointe shoes. Her shoe brand has since expanded into a popular podcast, and most recently, RP Group acquired FLX, which is a brand of innovative performance equipment and training for flexibility, strength, and recovery.
Aleksandra boasts an impressive resume — a Harvard business degree, countless speaking engagements, multiple Entrepreneur of the Year awards, several appearances on the vaunted Inc. 5000 list. However, as Aleksandra would attest, none of these accolades came easy. Aleksandra is an embodiment of the “American dream” — a US immigrant who got her hands dirty and built her empire from the ground. On the podcast, Aleksandra speaks to the entrepreneurial spirit, how to achieve your dream career, and the role that technology has played in making her own dreams a reality.
Noteworthy Quotes:
"Think about: What is it that you love? What do you know? What are the market trends and global trends? What are people willing to pay for? See where there's a synergy between those four lists that you've put together to see if you can develop a dream career."
"Make technology strategy part of the overall strategy of the business. If you're not doing it, you're falling behind on the competition... It is a driving force for every business."
"One of the most important things that we can do as brands is to create value and build community."
"In college, I was tasked to write a business plan. So, when I was 20 years old, I asked myself, 'What do I know? And what do I love?' And I wrote a business plan based on my passion."
"Uncertain times are the best times to go back to your core, identify what you want to do with your life, fine tune your idea, and do the market research. There's never a good time to start a business. At some point, you just need to do it."
"In business school, I learned that you need to make decisions with three letters — R.O.I. — and not make decisions with the other three letters — E.G.O."
"Talk to your customers. Ask them what is working and what is not working. Be willing to adjust your product to the current market."
"Just because I love dance and didn't become a professional ballerina on stage doesn't mean I can't still have a career in that area."
"I had an unstoppable desire to be successful. I didn't know how, and I didn't know when. But I knew I wanted to be successful."
Bullet List of Resources –
Aleksandra Efimova
- Personal Website
This week, the SphereCast team speaks with Sergiy Mesropyan, Managing Director and Head of Skunk Works at TransMarket Group — a Chicago-based global proprietary trading firm that uses technology to capture opportunities and manage risk in financial markets. Mesropyan joined TransMarket Group in 2010 and has since climbed the ranks into his current position, where he leads tech experts that are essentially free to drive whatever projects their hearts desire. Sergiy is an industry veteran, bringing nearly two decades of experience to the financial trading space.
With the help of some smart technology, TransMarket Group is able to augment its traders’ expertise to bring a new level of hindsight and foresight to financial markets. However, Sergiy knows that the performance of artificial intelligence and machine learning is only as good as its dataset. On the podcast, Sergiy deep dives on the ins and outs of how to make machine learning work for your business and sprinkles in some words of advice around failing fast and using time and energy wisely.
Noteworthy Quotes:
"The two critical pieces at being successful with AI are people and data... When it comes to dealing with data in AI, the old adage of 'garbage in, garbage out' still holds."
"Failing fast requires you to go and try to solve the problem that you feel least comfortable solving. Which is psychologically hard. But it saves a lot of trouble, resources, and money in case you can't solve it."
"Humans are terrible at actually failing at anything. We avoid it at all costs... In some cases, we're so bad at failure that our brains will rewrite reality in order to avoid emotional pain. So being able to tackle the hardest problems first is against human nature. It's hard."
"When it comes to technology, we all like toys. But we lose sight of the most important thing — the business needs to make money. So will this technology project help my business become more competitive?"
"Should I dive into machine learning? The short answer is that, if you don't have to, don't. The long answer is more nuanced."
"It's always a lot cheaper to learn from someone else's experiences."
"My professional journey has been an amazing journey so far. A path from an individual contributor to the business owner and executive — latitude to take whatever projects I want. A path of personal growth as well as business growth. Many people helped me on the way."
Bullet List of Resources –
Sergiy Mesropyan
TransMarket Group
- Company Website
This week, the SphereCast team interviews René Pfitzner, Co-Founder and CEO at experify.io. Pfitzner’s company fills a market gap for direct-to-consumer brands, connecting product shoppers with real product owners to get a hands-on trial before purchase. Experify boasts a “new way of authentic consumerism” and allows shoppers to cut through unreliable online reviews to more informed decision-making. The company is based in Zurich, Switzerland and is backed by various international think tanks. Pfitzner himself, prior to founding experify.io, worked as a data scientist in one of Switzerland’s most renowned news publications.
On the podcast, Pfitzner lays out the journey of experify.io thus far, including the process of identifying and meeting a market need. René spares no details in retelling his company’s story and even briefly highlights his platform’s infrastructure, which is built for speed and on-demand scale. Though only a business for 18 months, Pfitzner can attest to the ups and downs of startup life but shares how, even in the hardship, the proverbial “grind” is worth it to work alongside people you trust in building something that you truly believe in.
Noteworthy Quotes:
“There’s this saying: ‘If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go as a team.’ And, as a team, that is something that we truly believe in… We founders have three completely different personalities, but we have common ground. And the common ground is important."
“Our story is really not a typical ‘founder's story' where you start building something, then you try to sell it. It was really the other way around. We were first trying to see if there was a business and if people would actually use it.”
“As a startup, moving forward is success. If you feel like you’re moving forward and growing more comfortable with what you’re doing and gaining more clarity on the vision, that is success… At the moment, success is very much still being here."
“The most rewarding thing for me personally is to get up in the morning and know that you are actually moving forward with a team of people that you really like and trust on a project that you truly believe in."
“In terms of our technical strategy, the focus is on speed. Lightweight and organically scalable. Which is why I wanted a ‘backend-as-a-service’ approach where, at the end, I’d only feel the cost impact if things pick up and I’d have to scale, but I wouldn’t have to worry about picking up five more servers or something."
“Progress at the beginning of a startup is very slow. You develop skin as thick as an elephant because, at the beginning, getting buy-in is difficult — especially in Switzerland."
“The emotional support of others in a startup is super important. If you go on this journey, it’s full of ups and downs. You sometimes think, ‘Why am I actually doing this?’ You have to believe what you’re doing can really make an impact and is really worthwhile."
“To me, technology is a tool to achieve something. It’s not an end in itself. So I always prioritize the business side of things.”
Bullet List of Resources –
René Pfitzner
experify.io<!--
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Welcome to Spherecast. A podcast all about technology — technology advice, technology inspiration, and how real entrepreneurs have used technology to build their businesses from the ground up.