Building Blocks: Recent Episodes
Daivik Goel
In this episode of Building Blocks, we dive deep into the world of hospitality tech with Venkat Sakamuri, co-founder of Stayflexi, a Y Combinator-backed modern operating system for hotels and vacation rentals.
Venkat shares his journey from working on core database technology at Oracle to revolutionizing the hospitality industry. He discusses the challenges of building a comprehensive platform that caters to both independent hotels and vacation rentals, and how Stayflexi is leveling the playing field for small and mid-tier properties. Learn how this YC alum is disrupting the hospitality tech space and scaling to over 30,000 properties across 15 countries.Guest: Venkat SakamuriLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/venkatsakamuri/Company: Stayflexi (https://www.stayflexi.com/)Connect with Daivik: https://bento.me/daivikFollow the Podcast: https://bento.me/thebbpodTopics:0:00: Introduction2:40: Venkat's transition from Oracle to hospitality tech7:15: The genesis of Stayflexi and Y Combinator experience12:30: Stayflexi's unique approach to property management systems18:45: The launch of Empower tool and its impact on small hotels24:00: Stayflexi's four-hub structure and product philosophy29:15: Scaling strategies and navigating the COVID-19 pandemic35:30: The role of passion and communication in startup success41:00: Venkat's approach to sales and marketing as a technical founder46:15: Future plans for Stayflexi and industry disruption51:35: Book recommendations53:00: Closing thoughts
In this episode of Building Blocks, we sit down with Vivian Zheng, a product leader who has made waves at Snap, TikTok, and Databricks, and is now embarking on her own entrepreneurial journey.
She shares her insights on building industry-leading products from the ground up, the nuances of achieving product-market fit, and the challenges of scaling two-sided marketplaces like TikTok's Branded Mission. Guest: Vivian ZhengLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vivian-zheng-931048122/Connect with Daivik: https://bento.me/daivikFollow the Podcast: https://bento.me/thebbpodTopics:0:00: Introduction2:40: Vivian's journey into product management6:15: Experience building Branded Mission at TikTok12:30: Strategies for achieving product-market fit18:45: Balancing advertiser control and creator incentives24:00: Transitioning from TikTok to Databricks29:15: The challenges of building a two-sided marketplace35:30: Vivian's experience as a first-time founder41:00: The impact of AI on entrepreneurship46:15: Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs51:35: Book Recommendation53:00: Vivian's next steps and future plans#ProductManagement #Entrepreneurship #CreatorEconomy #StartupLife #TikTok #Databricks #BuildingBlocksPodcast #podcast
Join us for an enlightening episode with Arvind Radhakrishnan, Associate Director at WeWork Labs and founder of 21Dojo. Dive into his unique perspective on the startup ecosystem in India and uncover the strategies that have helped numerous startups secure funding and accelerate growth.
Don't miss out on valuable insights into startup strategies, investment criteria, and the challenges of building a two-sided marketplace from someone who has successfully played both roles of founder and investor.
Learn more about WeWork Labs: https://wework.co.in/labs/
Guest: Arvind Radhakrishnan
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arvindrad/
Connect with Daivik: https://bento.me/daivik
Follow the Podcast: https://bento.me/thebbpod
Topics:
- 0:00: Introduction
- 1:30: Arvind's journey into the startup world
- 5:00: WeWork Labs' approach to evaluating startups
- 9:15: The WeWork Labs program and its four pillars
- 15:00: The unique characteristics of the Indian startup ecosystem
- 24:00: Strategies for startup scaling
- 30:30: The story behind 21Dojo and its 21 factors
- 38:00: How 21Dojo worked for both startups and investors
- 41:45: Building relationships with investors
- 44:15: The decision to sell 21Dojo
- 47:45: Promising sectors in the Indian startup ecosystem
- 51:35: Recommended books: Winning Middle India & Chip War
- 53:00: Arvind’s next steps and what to look forward to
startups #venturecapital #investment #incubators #WeWorkLabs #21Dojo #BuildingBlocksPodcast #podcast
Join us for an insightful episode with Utkarsh Sengar, Director of Engineering at WebFlow, as he delves into the experience of transforming website building with WebFlow.
Uncover the strategies that propelled Webflow to dominate the market and explore how the platform navigates the line between no code and traditional coding functionalities.Don't miss out on valuable insights into AI startup growth strategies, as Utkarsh shares his perspectives on platform growth, addressing challenges in maintaining relevance for both B2B and B2C!Learn more about Webflow: https://webflow.com/Guest: Utkarsh SengarLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/utsengar/Connect with Daivik: https://bento.me/daivikFollow the Podcast: https://bento.me/thebbpod
Topics
0:00 - Intro
1:29 - What brought him into Product Building?
4:53 - How has decided what to pursue next?
8:38 - What does he think WebFlow did really well to get itself to this point, where it is the dominant player?
14:20 - How has WebFlow gone about retaining simplicity while allowing for true customization?
21:50 - How does WebFlow determine how deep to go? 28:40 - How does he think about ensuring the platform that the platform stays relevant to both B2C and B2B?
33:30 - Is there any fear that another company can come and build a competing platform that just focuses on one side?
41:00 - If he was doing an AI startup, how would he think about creating a growth strategy?
51:30 - Upwork's Growth Explained49:23 - How has he transferred his skills into new products and companies?
58:38 - Wrapup#product #growth #nocode #tools #technology #productmanagement #BuildingBlocksPodcast #podcast
In this episode, we delve into the mind of Aayush Mudgal, a visionary in the realm of Machine Learning and AI. Currently spearheading Ads Ranking and Privacy Aware Conversion Modeling at Pinterest, Aayush shares his journey from an ML researcher to a tech leader at one of the most innovative social media platforms.
We explore how Pinterest continues to revolutionize the way people discover things online and the evolving role of machine learning in ad targeting amidst growing privacy concerns. Aayush also sheds light on his experiences with computer vision at Netflix, his views on the future of General AI, and his venture into seed investing, focusing on Ad and EdTech startups.
Guest: Ayush Mudgal
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aayushmudgal/
Connect with Daivik: https://bento.me/daivik
Follow the Podcast: https://bento.me/thebbpod
productmanagement #AIInnovation #BuildingBlocksPodcast#AI #ML #data #syntheticdata #computervision #product #technology #startup #podcast #founders #productbuilding
Join us in a captivating episode with Aly Madhavji, Managing Partner at Blockchain Founders Fund, as we traverse the evolving landscapes of venture capital, blockchain, and AI. Aly, also a consultant with the United Nations and an author, unpacks his unique insights into crypto trends, investment strategies, and the future of Web3 and generative AI. Dive into a discussion rich with expertise and predictions about the next big waves in technology.Learn more about the Blockchain Founders fund: https://blockchainff.comGuest: Aly MadhavjiLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alymadhavji/Connect with Daivik: https://bento.me/daivikFollow the Podcast: https://bento.me/thebbpod#productmanagement #AIInnovation #BuildingBlocksPodcast#AI #ML #data #syntheticdata #computervision #product #technology #startup #podcast #founders #productbuilding
Join us as we sit down with Charles Gellman, CEO of Hido Health, to explore the groundbreaking work being done by his startup in using AI & robotics for patients.Discover how these cutting-edge technologies are transforming the way we deliver healthcare, empowering individuals to take charge of their own well-being. We explore the potential of AI robotics to revolutionize the healthcare landscape!Learn more about Hido Health: https://us.hidohealth.com/Guest: Charless GellmanLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mshicgellman/Connect with Daivik: https://bento.me/daivikFollow the Podcast: https://bento.me/thebbpod
Use my special link https://zen.ai/_mMA3vhasMDPeC_bFTy-4aGDtb9c_viq5eHIDYEbXMM to save 30% off your first month of any Zencastr paid plan.
productmanagement #AIInnovation #BuildingBlocksPodcast#AI #ML #data #syntheticdata #computervision #product #technology #startup #podcast #founders #productbuilding
Veeraj is currently the Founder of Puzzl, a platform focused on letting companies manage their remote first workforce.Puzzl is backed by notable SF VC's and even at such a young age, Veeraj has already seen an exit as well as has been an angel investor in several high potential startups.Learn more about Puzzl: https://www.puzzl.app/Guest: Veeraj MehtaLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/veerajm/Connect with Daivik: https://bento.me/daivikFollow the Podcast: https://bento.me/thebbpod#productmanagement #AIInnovation #BuildingBlocksPodcast#AI #ML #data #syntheticdata #computervision #product #technology #startup #podcast #founders #productbuilding
Ido is currently the Director of Product at Datagen, a company focused on providing high-performance synthetic data, with a focus on data for human-centric computer vision applications
In 2022, Datagen closed a 50 million dollar Series B funding round and has been working with clients across the world like Nvidia, Google, IBM and Intel.
We dive deep into Ido's vast experience as a Product Manager and the nuances of using Synthetic Data to train AI models. We go through how Datagen goes about sourcing its data sets, how they go about curating their initial training set, how the evaluation of the AI models and the future of the platform.
Learn more about Datagen: https://datagen.tech
Guest: Ido Halevi
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ido-halevi-381603147/
Connect with Daivik: https://bento.me/daivik Follow the Podcast: https://bento.me/thebbpod
Topics 0:00 - Intro 1:30 - What brought him into Product Management? 7:45 - Talking about Datagen 14:50 - Talking about the benefits of Synthetic Data 22:40 - How does Datagen source data for its own models? 26:05 - How does Datagen decide what features to let its customer control? 31:30 - How do they evaluate Synthetic Data Models? 37:09 - AI Startups 43:40 - Building the platform 47:40 - Wrapup
In the upcoming episode of our podcast, we're thrilled to host Ido, an industry leader in Product Management and currently the Director of Product at Datagen, a pioneering startup focused on providing high-performance synthetic data, with a special emphasis on data for human-centric computer vision applications. Ido's journey began at Intel as an Engineer before venturing into Product Management at Logz.io and then serving as a Senior PM at Explorium before finally joining Datagen. Outside of work, he actively mentors at Scale Up, an organization addressing human capital challenges in the hi-tech ecosystem, and also contributes to Max initiative, an educational impact entrepreneurship program.
During the podcast, we'll delve into Ido's story, exploring what led him towards Product Management and how he has navigated his career decisions. We'll also discuss his invaluable experience building products at Datagen, a platform enabling users to generate synthetic data tailored for their machine learning models. We'll learn how Datagen addresses the critical role of data in model training, particularly in the challenging domain of Computer Vision. Ido will shed light on how they source data for their own models and the design considerations for their Neural Nets in generating realistic synthetic data. We'll explore the intricacies of evaluating GAN-based models and the compelling advantages of synthetic data over real-world data, from cost-effectiveness to mitigating bias.
The future of Datagen's platform will be a focal point, as we'll uncover how they strike a balance between offering user control while maintaining a generalized self-serve platform. Ido will share some recommended reading and offer insights into the next steps for himself and Datagen. Don't miss this enlightening episode that unravels the wonders of synthetic data and its transformative potential in the world of AI! 🎧 #ProductManagement #AIInnovation #Datagen #BuildingBlocksPodcast
AI #ML #data #syntheticdata #computervision #product #technology #startup #podcast #founders #productbuilding
Sayantan is currently the GM at Nubank, a fintech company challenging the status quo to create a new generation of financial services in LATAM
At Nubank he is leading their customer Experience Platform with over ~100 XFN reporting to him. They are building products and services used for all customer services needs for 70M+ global users and 10K+ support agents.
We delve into his vast experience in building technology for companies like Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter. We discuss how he thinks about building products in Fintech, how he thinks about product innovation and his time building funnels for ads within social media platforms.
Learn more about Nubank: https://nubank.com.br/en/
Guest: Sayantan Mukhopadhyay
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sayantanmukhopadhyay/
Connect with Daivik: https://bento.me/daivik Follow the Podcast: https://bento.me/thebbpod
Topics 0:00 - Intro 1:35 - What brought him into Product Building? 10:45 - How has decided what to pursue next? 21:28 - What set Nubank apart? 33:20 - How do you build products in different verticals at the same time? 37:30 - How do you choose what to keep that has worked and where to innovate? 49:23 - How has he transferred his skills into new products and companies? 57:30 - What trends shaped advertising? 1:07:49 - Wrapup
Sayantan, the current General Manager of Nubank, is a seasoned professional with a remarkable journey in the tech industry. He kickstarted his career as a Software Engineer and Consultant at Accenture before venturing into Data Science and Business Analyst roles at Twitter. His tenure at Twitter witnessed him taking on various key responsibilities, starting as a DS/Analyst for Global Ops, later advancing to become the head of sales analytics, and ultimately transitioning into a Product Manager for both their Internal Tools and Core Ads teams. Moving on to Pinterest, Sayantan assumed the role of Product Lead for their Ads Delivery Team, showcasing his diverse expertise. His journey continued to flourish as he made his way to Facebook, leading their Market Dynamics team with precision. Eventually, he joined Nubank as a Product Director, contributing to the company's vision of revolutionizing financial services in Latin America. Beyond his professional achievements, Sayantan shares his knowledge and experience as a guest lecturer at the Product School and fulfills a mentoring role at Fast Track, nurturing the next generation of talents in the industry.
nubank #product #technology #LATAM #fintech #startup #podcast #founders #productbuilding
This week, I had the pleasure of having David E. Weekly, the Head of The Capital One Lab, on the podcast.
We delve into his vast experience in building technology for startups, mid-sized companies, and international corporations. We discuss how he identifies problems that need to be solved, sets up a groundwork for products to ensure scalability and success, and achieves product-market fit.
David also shared his thoughts on balancing innovation while ensuring cohesion between products, fostering environments that encourage innovation, and transferring skills and past experience to new products in different domains. We also touched on his experience in bringing connectivity to developing markets and how entrepreneurs in these countries can compete on a global level.
Learn more about The Capital One Lab: https://www.thecapitalonelab.com
Guest: David E. Weekly
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dweekly/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/dweekly
Connect with Daivik: https://bento.me/daivik
Follow the Podcast: https://bento.me/thebbpod
Topics
0:00 - Intro
1:51 - What brought him into Entrepreneurship?
4:20 - How has decided what to pursue next?
10:59 - What was the motive behind joining The Capital One Lab?
13:31 - How has he identified problems worth solving?
17:49 - How do you make things that are scalable?
21:35 - The rise of new technology all over the world
25:40 - How does David make time to do all the things he does?
29:05 - Wrapup
David E. Weekly is the head of The Capital One Lab, leading engineers, product managers, designers, and strategists focused on exploring the intersection of emerging technology and finance. He is also a seasoned technical product executive with 30 years of experience building technology for startups of his own creation, mid-sized companies, and international publicly-traded corporations.
David has served as an angel investor and built and run commercial research teams for Google and Meta’s predecessor, Facebook. He brings a global perspective from a range of diverse experiences across the planet.
Earlier in his career, he formed a high performing seed-stage fund backing entrepreneurs from Mexico. In Africa, he worked with the Tunisian government on connectivity, witnessed fiber trenching in Uganda, and taught elementary school students about technology in Ghana.
On the continent of Asia, he reported for the Korean press and climbed mountains in northern India to support hilltop community wireless networks.
He is a certified PADI Rescue Scuba Diver, a certificated private rotorcraft (helicopter) and instrument-rated fixed-wing pilot, and a Part 107 licensed commercial drone operator. David received his Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Stanford University.
Meet Adrian Spataru, the founder of Cleanvoice AI - Cleanvoice AI is an AI-Powered Podcast Editor . Currently, Cleanvoice is an artificial intelligence, which removes filler sounds (uh’s, um’s), mouth sounds (Ex. Lip-smacking) and stuttering from your podcast or audio recordingHe has worked in various roles such as a senior data scientist at Know-Centre and is a Lecturer at Technische Universität Graz, FH Joanneum , FH CAMPUS 02Try out Cleanvoice AI - https://cleanvoice.aiGuest: Adrian SpataruLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/spataru/Connect with Daivik: https://linktr.ee/DaivikGoelFollow the Podcast: http://linktr.ee/bbpod1:00 Intro and shift from Academia to Entrepreneurship9:40 The beginnings of Cleanvoice AI14:40 Solving the problem of Training the Datasets for General Models21:40 The AI hype phase25:00 What excites Adrian about AI Space33:40 Thoughts on Growth and Acquisition Channels41:00 Wrapup
Meet Navdeep Singh, the co-founder, and CEO of Kandor - Kandor is an AI-Powered International Education Platform. Currently, Kandor helps students ace English language exams like IELTS through an AI-powered tool and apply to colleges through personalized and data-driven counseling. He has worked in various roles such as Product Development, Business Analyst, and even Fraud management at top startups like Ola, Flipkart, and FareportalPrepping for an IELTS exam? Check out Kandor: https://www.trykandor.com/Guest : Navdeep SinghLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/snavdeep27/ Connect with Daivik: https://bento.me/daivikFollow the Podcast: https://bento.me/thebbpod
0:00 - Intro1:15 - What got Navdeep into entrepreneurship and Startups?10:25 - What is Kandor?22:45 - Reason for the massive influx of students abroad29:04 - Importance of flexible architecture for AI startups35:29 - Growth Acquisition strategies used by Kandor41:00 - Thoughts on the future of the EdTech Space45:17 - Book recommendations48:00 - Wrap up
Karapet Gyumjibashyan is the senior Director of Product at Krisp, a renowned noise cancellation application that removes background noise and echo during online calls in real time. If you have ever wondered how Discord filters out the noise so well, it is a result of Karapet's work at Krisp!
Prior to Krisp, Karapet started his career as an Engineer and Manager. He is one of the industry leaders in Product Management and a thought leader not only locally in the Armenian Tech Scene, but also on a Global level.
Try out Krisp: https://krisp.ai/
Guest: Karapet Gyumjibashyan
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karapetgyumjibashyan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/gyumjibashyan
Connect with Daivik: https://linktr.ee/DaivikGoel
Follow the Podcast: http://linktr.ee/bbpod
Topics
0:00 - Intro
1:12 - What got him into Krisp?
11:25 - What is Krisp doing so well against competitors?
16:49 - How does Krisp approach partnerships?
21:45 - Krisp's New Features and Roadmap
30:30 - How does Krisp approach retention?
37:41 - What does he look for in Product Managers?
45:39 - The Armenian Tech Scene
51:30 - Wrapup
Doug Weiss, co-founder and CEO of Deets, a platform that helps users find the right restaurants and events for them, joins the podcast to discuss his journey to entrepreneurship and his new company.
His career began in corporate strategy roles at McKinsey and Pepsi. He later transitioned to a Product Growth Manager role at Facebook for the Lead Ads and Offline Conversion Platform. After several position changes within Facebook he eventually became the Head of Creator Commerce at Instagram. He is also an active investor in early stage startups and holds an MBA and MS in Product Design from Stanford, and a BA in International Relations and a BS in Business from UNC.
This podcast was an opportunity to get insight into how Doug and his cofounder, Paul English, are going about optimizing the restaurant discovery process.
Try out Deets: https://info.deets.com/
Guest: Doug Weiss
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dpweiss/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/douggiequest/?hl=en
Twitter: https://twitter.com/douggiequest
Connect with Daivik: https://linktr.ee/DaivikGoel
Follow the Podcast: http://linktr.ee/bbpod
Topics
0:00 - Intro
1:16 - What got him into entrepreneurship?
8:40 - Building Deets
23:00 - How does Deets keep the creator and user at the center?
28:58 - What is his approach to growth?
37:00 - Wrapup
Logan Underwood is the co-founder and CEO of Ad Auris, a platform that transforms publications written stories into customized, podcast-like audio. With a one-time set-up, their platform replaces the need for narrators, sound designers, and producers, in creating engaging audio content.
It was exciting to have Logan on the podcast to have a glance at how we can go about facilitating a transformation of content from text to audio to further aid accessibility and convenience.
Try out Ad Auris: https://www.ad-auris.com
Guest: Logan Underwood
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/logan-underwood/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/loganjunderwood
Connect with Daivik: https://linktr.ee/DaivikGoel
Follow the Podcast: http://linktr.ee/bbpod
Topics
0:00 - Intro
1:15 - What got him into entrepreneurship?
7:35 - How does he choose what to do next?
10:35 - Why did he never go the corporate route?
13:31 - What led him to make Ad Auris?
20:22 - Accessibility and Convenience
27:32 - How did they make a natural tone in the AI product?
33:50 - Benefits of an Audio Format
37:57 - What is his approach for growth?
44:11 - Wrapup
Tomer Dean is the co-founder and CEO of Audio Labs, a generative AI company that allows podcasters to easily create video content for social media. Prior to Audio Labs, Tomer has created a variety of startups, such as Bllush and Doggy Finder, and has been featured in Forbes' 30 under 30 list.
It was exciting to have Tomer on the podcast to discuss what makes short form videos go viral and how him and his team are working on giving creators tools to create shorts in a fraction of the time!
Try out AudioLabs: https://www.audiolabs.io
Guest: Tomer Dean
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomerdean/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/tomerdean
Connect with Daivik: https://linktr.ee/DaivikGoel
Follow the Podcast: http://linktr.ee/bbpod
Topics
0:00 - Intro
1:15 - What got him into entrepreneurship?
7:48 - How does he choose what to do next?
9:50 - Why did he never go the corporate route?
11:01 - What led him to making AudioLabs?
15:56 - How does he ensure creators have control?
22:15 - How does he guide the AI to find moments to make shorts on?
32:18 - What will survive in AI past the hype phase?
40:40 - What is his approach for growth?
51:36 - Wrapup
Brennan Woodruff is the co-founder and COO of GoCharlie.AI. a generative AI company that assists content creators and entrepreneurs with creating successful content. Prior to his current role, he was a VP at Softbank Investment Advisors, a manager of Technical Revenue, Product, and Strategy at Uber, and a manager of Deal Advisory at KPMG. He also serves as an investor and advisor at Spaced Ventures.
This podcast was an opportunity to get insight into the creative ways people are using generative AI, as well as to get Brennan's expertise as an investor and industry veteran.
Try out GoCharlie.AI: https://dashboard.gocharlie.ai
Guest: Brennan Woodruff
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brennan-m-woodruff/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brennanwoodruff
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BrennanWoodruff
Connect with Daivik: https://linktr.ee/DaivikGoel
Follow the Podcast: http://linktr.ee/bbpod
Topics
0:00 - Intro
1:12 - What got him into entrepreneurship?
5:48 - What got him into an investor and back to a building role?
10:55 - What led him to build GoCharlie.AI?
19:50 - How does GoCharlie ensure that users have control over content?
28:15 - Is there a worry about content becoming too formulaic?
33:40 - What will survive past the hype phase?
42:55 - AI Influencers?
45:43 - Where did the branding for GoCharlie come from?
53:45 - How does community factor in?
55:35 - Investment Philosophy with Space
1:02:52 - Wrapup
Andrew Oh is a former 4x Startup Founder and Product Manager at TikTok and Grab. He has worked in a lot of diverse areas such as B2C software applications, flying taxis, and fraud detection.We go through what drives Andrew towards choosing his opportunities, his experience being both a Founder and Product Manager, his experience creating products, and his thoughts on the Asian Market!Guest: Andrew OhTwitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/andrewoh2020LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewoh1Instagram: https://instagram.com/andrewoh93Connect with Daivik: https://linktr.ee/DaivikGoelFollow the Podcast: http://linktr.ee/bbpodTopics0:00 - Intro1:04 - What got him into Product Management?3:13 - Biggest Differences between a Product Manager and a Founder6:35 - How does he choose his next journey?8:00 - Finding and Talking to the Actual Founder of TikTok15:11 - How does he find problems to be solved?24:04 - What is the groundwork for setting your product up for success?27:21 - How do you achieve validation for moonshot startups?31:58 - How did he go about creating his growth strategy?42:02 - Finding Success as a multiple time founder46:30 - How to build skills in different areas?52:02 - His experience with the asian market1:04:25 - Wrapup
Ryan Daniels is currently Head of Partnerships and Ecosystem at A. Team, a members-only network of the world’s top professionals designed to help growing companies accelerate product development. Prior to A. Team, he studied at UPenn in Philosophy and Economics and later got a Juris Doctorate from Stanford Law School. He also worked as a columnist at the Daily Pennsylvanian and as Chief of Staff at Hired Score, the leading provider of talent orchestration technology.I had a great time learning how Ryan got into software, what he believes is the future of A. Team is and his perspective on partnerships in today’s tech world 🤝Talking to Ryan made it clear to me that Raphael Ouzan, Kobi Masri, and the whole team at A.Team will be a force to be reckoned with!Guest: Ryan DanielsInstagram: https://instagram.com/ryanjdanielsLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-daniels-0a502590Connect with Daivik: https://linktr.ee/DaivikGoelFollow the Podcast: http://linktr.ee/bbpodTopics0:00 - Intro1:19 - What led him into the world of software?3:35 - What made him interested in growth and partnerships?8:01 - What led him to choosing to work at A.Team?12:50 - How does he think about growth?17:54 - What led to them going out of stealth?24:23 - How do you mesh teams of builders?34:02 - How does he build partnerships with companies?43:09 - Wrapup
Tom Alterman is currently Head of Product at Asana, for Revenue and Monetization. Prior to Asana, he started his career as an Engineer before moving into UX design and later joining PlanGrid as well as StructionSite as a Product Manager. He briefly also worked as Head of Design at Olympus Dao. I had a great time going through what motivates Tom to pursue different opportunities, how Asana is able to retain its values within its products and employees as well as his views on what traits make up a great product manager.
Guest: Tom Alterman Twitter: https://twitter.com/tomalterman LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomalterman/ https://www.tomalterman.com Connect with Daivik: https://linktr.ee/DaivikGoel Follow the Podcast: http://linktr.ee/bbpod
Topics 0:00 - Intro 1:26 - What got him into Product Management? 3:48 - Biggest Differences between Corporations and Startups 8:13 - How does he choose his next journey? 11:15 - How to work with growing pains as a startup scales? 15:49 - When to introduce a second product in a startup? 21:04 - How to get buy in from customers who might not understand your value prop? 23:36 - How do you gain trust with customers? 26:30 - Why did he move to Asana? 27:05 - How does Asana permeate it’s mission throughout its products and employees? 30:01 - How does he approach creating product tiers for customers? 37:35 - What are traits he looks for when hiring Product Managers? 42:50 - What led him into Crypto and Olympus DAO? 54:40 - Productizing Crypto Technology 56:20 - Where can people go to get more insight into crypto? 58:51 - Wrapup
Kevin Huang is the founder of TruckingUp, a new digital community committed to creating content and products to address the field of Trucking!
We go through what led Kevin to become interested in Trucking, his experience building a digital community, and his thoughts on how new technologies like self-driving will affect the industry.
Check out TruckingUp: https://truckingup.io
Guest: Kevin Huang
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@truckingnewbie
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinzhuang10
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/truckingnewbie123/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEd_BTe2TtMCGTNYnJJWqoA
Connect with Daivik: https://linktr.ee/DaivikGoel
Follow the Podcast: http://linktr.ee/bbpod
Topics
0:00 - Intro
1:50 - What got him into Trucking, Logistics, and Entrepreneurship?
4:35 - What was the motivation for creating Trucking Up?
7:35 - Building Digital Communities
11:36 - Why is the right time to make products for trucking?
16:46 - What excites him about the future of trucking?
19:17 - Self-Driving Tech in Trucking
24:07 - Wrapup
Rishabh Jain is the founder of Mewt, a new fintech app that helps simplify business banking in India by unifying accounts offered by state and private banks under one account.
We go through what led Rishabh to create this App, his experience switching from the corporate route to startups as well as how he used Square's example to guide his creation of Mewt. I loved getting more insight into the opportunities and challenges of creating in the Indian Market.
Try MewtI: https://mewt.in
Guest: Rishabh Jain
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/randomittin
Twitter: https://twitter.com/randomittin?lang=en
Connect with Daivik: https://linktr.ee/DaivikGoel
Follow the Podcast: http://linktr.ee/bbpod
Topics
0:00 - Intro
1:14 - What got him into Entrepreneurship?
9:48 - How was jumping from corporate to startups?
19:54 - What is Mewt? How is it similar to Square?
32:12 - How does Mewt reach out to all Indians?
40:50 - How does he think about the roadmap for Mewt?
42:11 - Wrapup
Roy Hermann is the founder of Supercreator.AI, a new app, which allows creators to create short videos 10x faster using generative AI
We go through what led Roy to create this app, how Supercreator is competitive against incumbents such as Tiktok and Youtube Studio as well as what excites him with APIs such as GPT-3 and Whisper
Try Supercreator.AI: https://www.supercreator.ai
Guest: Roy Hermann
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/royhermann/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/roytomhermann
Connect with Daivik: https://linktr.ee/DaivikGoel
Follow the Podcast: http://linktr.ee/bbpod
Topics
0:00 - Intro
0:53 - What got him into Entrepreneurship?
11:39 - What is SuperCreator?
22:56 - SuperCreator vs TikTok and Youtube Studio
26:56 - Keeping Humanity within AI Content
29:55 - How to productize advancements in AI?
32:55 - What were pivotal advancements in AI?
38:35 - How far do we go with AI-generated content?
45:57 - Wrapup
Spencer Camp is the founder of Future, a new Super App, which aims to provide a centralized experience for all your FinTech needs.
We go through what led Spencer to create this app, how he believes Future can be competitive against companies like JP Morgan Chase, Robinhood, and Sofi as well as his perspective on bringing super apps to North America.
Try Future: joinfuture.com
Guest: Spencer Camp
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/spencercamp/
Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/spencercampInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/spencercamps/?hl=en
Connect with Daivik: https://linktr.ee/DaivikGoel
Follow the Podcast: http://linktr.ee/bbpod
Topics 0:00 - Intro 1:14 - What got him into Entrepreneurship? 2:45 - What is Future? 4:16 - What made this the problem for him to solve? 6:56 - Why do a Super App? 9:33 - What makes Future the Super App to adopt in North America? 16:28 - Approaching a problem with Design Thinking 17:53 - Talking about the Space of Super Apps 25:00 - Creating a Magical Product 31:45 - Book Recommendation 34:23 - Wrapup
Landon Sanford is the founder of Arwen and has created several ventures which have raised from funds like Sequoia, Y Combinator, and Craft Ventures
We go through the lessons Landon has learned creating his different ventures, how being part of programs like On Deck and Launch House has helped him, and how he stays motivated to keep pursuing entrepreneurship.
Guest: Landon Sanford
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/landon-sanford
Twitter: https://twitter.com/landon__sanford
Connect with Daivik: https://linktr.ee/DaivikGoel
Follow the Podcast: http://linktr.ee/bbpod
Topics
0:00 - Getting into Entrepreneurship
5:42 - How do you get started on an idea?
7:38 - Going the Corporate Route at Google
14:42 - How do you find a cofounder and share a collective vision?
20:28 - How do you go about validating an idea?
26:52 - How to keep motivated?
32:43 - How do you manage your relationship with risk?
35:30 - YC, On Deck, Sequoia Experience and Lessons
40:45 - Exciting Field For Him: Web3
45:33 - Talking about Arwen, Landon's Latest Startup
47:40 - Wrapup
Today I am super excited to introduce the Building Blocks Podcast. This podcast is focused on finding out what the next generation of products is going to look like! To do this, we have the minds behind these products coming on the podcast and are going to go through what they are building as well as their lessons building them.
We plan to dive into all the spaces you may have already heard of: Web3, Blockchain, Crypto, AI, Machine Learning, Space, E-Commerce, and the list goes on!
Let's Connect:
https://linktr.ee/DaivikGoel