Podcasts about Twilio

In this episode of Builders Wanted, we're joined by Ann Rich, Senior Director of Design at Adobe. Kailey and Ann dive into the intricate world of product design where empathy drives innovation. They discuss the challenges and strategies in leading design at scale, how Adobe builds trust in the era of generative AI, and the importance of cross-functional collaboration. Ann shares insights on inclusive design, co-innovation with customers, and the evolving role of designers in creating user-centric and technologically advanced solutions.-------------------Key Takeaways:Successful AI-era design requires deep technical understanding alongside creative craft—designers must know the models and technology behind their interfaces to bridge human needs with AI capabilities.Speed and adaptability are essential as market paradigms can shift between conception and launch, requiring experimentation, customer co-innovation, and iterative validation over traditional research cycles.Design leadership gains influence by grounding decisions in data and user needs rather than aesthetic opinion, transforming design into a strategic driver in executive and engineering conversations.-------------------“ [Design] is really changing from a two-way model of communication and interaction to a three-way or more discussion. That's really thinking about it being a human, the interface they're working on, and then all of the things happening behind the scenes. In order for someone to be successful with what you're designing, designers have to start understanding the technology behind it. Because in order to deliver on the use case, you actually have to understand the technology and it will change the interface.” – Ann Rich-------------------Episode Timestamps:‍*(01:50) - Ann's mission at Adobe as a design leader‍*(08:15) - How trust factors into Adobe's design process‍*(16:53) - Ann's approach to inclusive design‍*(25:08) - What design teams should stop doing‍*(31:12) - A recent project that made a measurable difference for users‍*(39:06) - Ann's advice for designers looking to elevate their voice-------------------Links:Read Ann's Article How to Adapt Your Design Practice for the Age of Generative TechnologyConnect with Ann on LinkedInConnect with Kailey on LinkedInLearn more about Caspian Studios-------------------SponsorBuilders Wanted is brought to you by Twilio – the Customer Engagement Platform that helps builders turn real-time data into meaningful customer experiences. More than 320,000 businesses trust Twilio to transform signals into connections—and connections into revenue. Ready to build what's next? Learn more at twilio.com. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Recorded live at NRF 2026: Retail's Big Show, this episode of the RETHINK Retail Podcast features Michelle James, Vice President at CTIA, in conversation with Melissa Blassingame, RVP of Partner Alliances at Twilio. As consumers increasingly ignore unknown calls, this episode explores how Branded Calling ID in retail is helping brands rebuild trust and improve voice engagement. - Why trust in voice communications is critical for modern retail - How Branded Calling ID improves answer rates and customer experience - Real-world retail use cases, including delivery and customer support - How industry standards and collaboration are restoring trust in voice

After building products at Microsoft (Xbox, Surface), a gaming startup acquired by Disney, Twilio, and Box, Vanessa Larco joined NEA where she led seed investments in Greenlight (debit card for kids), Majuri (C2C jewelry), and Limitless (acquired by Meta). She served on Robinhood's board for five and a half years through IPO and the GameStop crisis. In this conversation, Vanessa breaks down the specific traits that separate top 1% founders from the rest, why venture capital is experiencing structural chaos from simultaneous mega-fund expansion and generational transition, and why technical founders who deeply understand consumer behavior change represent the next wave of breakout companies. Topics Discussed: How customer-focused decision-making at Robinhood during GameStop contradicted public perception The specific paradox great founders must balance: maniacal focus versus recruiting ability Why venture is simultaneously dealing with fund size chaos and generational leadership transition The decision framework for staying in venture versus returning to operating Why consumer is radically underinvested despite users' demonstrated willingness to pay for "magical" experiences How AI tools create internet-scale behavior change by synthesizing information rather than just accessing it The authentic voice problem in VC personal branding and platform-specific challenges GTM Lessons For B2B Founders: Great founders possess maniacal focus on the right problems, not all problems: Vanessa describes exceptional founders as having an "insatiability" where "they pick the thing and they can focus on the thing and not get distracted by anything else and be maniacal about it." This isn't generic persistence—it's the ability to identify which specific problem deserves obsessive attention while ignoring everything else. Employees often push back ("we have these other fires"), but top founders maintain "one track" focus. The implementation challenge: most founders spread maniacal energy across too many initiatives. The best founders are "obsessive compulsive about how they build" on 1-2 things maximum, then deliberately de-prioritize everything else, even when it feels irresponsible. Incentive structure misalignment creates unwinnable scenarios: During GameStop, Robinhood faced retail traders whose incentives were fundamentally incompatible with traditional market participants. As Vanessa notes, "if your team and your company is bound by a certain set of incentives and you're up against someone with a very different set of incentives, that never really ends well." The Wall Street Bets mantra—"we can stay irrational longer than they can stay solvent"—explicitly weaponized this mismatch. For founders: map not just competitor strategies but their underlying incentive structures. Are they optimizing for growth, profitability, strategic acquirer appeal, or something else? When your incentives conflict with a market participant's (customer, partner, regulator, competitor), you cannot win through superior execution alone—you need structural repositioning. Technical founders who ship faster capture AI-era market position: Vanessa specifically seeks "technical founders with an eye for consumer behavior change" because "speed is really important in this era." This isn't about being first to market—it's about iteration velocity. When foundational models improve every few months and user expectations evolve weekly, the team that can "deliver on it faster than anyone else" compounds advantages. Non-technical founders add product/sales/fundraising cycles between insight and deployment. Technical founders collapse these cycles, testing behavioral hypotheses in days rather than quarters. In markets where "what's possible" changes monthly, this velocity differential determines who owns category definition. Behavior change wedges beat feature superiority: Vanessa looks for founders who understand "how this new technology is changing how people behave and changing what people expect of their tools" and can identify "what need can I fulfill better because I can build this thing that couldn't be built before." The critical insight: users don't adopt based on capability—they adopt when technology enables a behavior they already want but couldn't execute. She emphasizes products that are "radically faster, radically cheaper, radically easier" (not 10% better) and founders who understand "how they'll wedge into behaviors." Implementation framework: don't ask "what can this technology do?" Ask "what behavior is currently blocked by cost/speed/complexity that this technology removes the blocker for?" Category creation happens post-problem-solving, not pre-launch: Discussing Robinhood's positioning, Vanessa reveals how the team "stayed focused" on enabling "people to continue participating in the markets" rather than defending an abstract category. The company focused on structural problems (settlement times, capital requirements) rather than category messaging. For founders: solve the acute problem your customer articulates, even if it seems tactically narrow. Category definition emerges after you've solved related problems for enough customers that the pattern becomes obvious. Premature category creation forces you to defend an abstract positioning rather than deepen specific problem-solving. Personal brand building only works at the intersection of authenticity and utility: Vanessa admits "I can't find my authentic voice on Twitter to save my life" and her successful posts are "when I'm on an airplane and it's delayed by like over an hour and I'm angry." Meanwhile, "video and audio, way more my comfort zone" but requires "discipline that I don't think I yet possess." The lesson for founders: audience building helps ("people then know what you are, what you stand for... it helps establish trust faster, it helps people find you") but forced authenticity backfires. Better to own one channel where your natural communication style works than maintain mediocre presence across all platforms. LinkedIn for thoughtful analysis, Twitter for real-time reaction, podcasts for deep conversation—pick the format that doesn't require you to perform. // Sponsors: Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership. www.FrontLines.io The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe. www.GlobalTalent.co // Don't Miss: New Podcast Series — How I Hire Senior GTM leaders share the tactical hiring frameworks they use to build winning revenue teams. Hosted by Andy Mowat, who scaled 4 unicorns from $10M to $100M+ ARR and launched Whispered to help executives find their next role. Subscribe here: https://open.spotify.com/show/53yCHlPfLSMFimtv0riPyM

(0:00) Intro(1:45) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel(2:31) Start of interview(3:04) Jeff's origin story. Began career in investment banking at First Boston before transitioning to a 25-year run as CFO across media companies (King World, Nielsen) and tech (DoubleClick, Oracle).(7:16) Transitioning to Bessemer Venture Partners.(8:40) Focusing on his board career and audit committee member. ValueClick, Priceline (Booking Holdings).(11:06) Growth in Public vs. Private Markets(12:49) The State of European Entrepreneurial Ecosystem(13:41) The Role of BVP CFO Council(15:31) Understanding California and Silicon Valley's Unique Culture(18:44) AI's impact on the CFO role(20:54) Dynamics Between CEOs and CFOs(23:12) CFOs in Startups vs. Public Companies "We've observed that about 5% of the headcount of any co' at any size is in the finance dpt.")(25:25) CFOs as Board Members(27:35) Board decisions on CEO hiring and firing. "The CEO's role is to articulate an effective strategy, to hire a great team, and then to execute that strategy well using that great team." "If over five years the CEO has never changed their mind based on board input, you have the wrong board."(30:36) On effective Board Composition(32:41) Navigating Shareholder Activism, including his experience at Twilio(37:35) The Debate: Stay Private or Go Public. "There are three ownership structures: public companies, PE-owned companies (where PE controls CEO), and founder-controlled private companies" "I think you're going to see quite a few companies stay private forever or for decades."(39:30) Preparing for the Future of Venture Capital (41:13) Optimizing Board Meeting Content. "Effective boards: 2/3 of time on未made decisions. Ineffective boards: show and tell." "Best-run companies: CEO encourages board members to meet with executives outside board meetings."(45:50) Books that have greatly influenced his life:The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life by Alice Shroeder (2008)My Early Life by Winston Churchill (1930) How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish (1980)(47:07) His mentors (50:50) Quotes that he thinks of often or lives his life by "You want to live your life to have a seamless web of deserved trust" by Charlie Munger(53:15) An unusual habit or an absurd thing that he loves. Reading adventure stories from G.H. Henty(54:01) The living person he most admires: Warren BuffettJeff Epstein is an operating partner of Bessemer Venture Partners where he leads BVP's CFO Council. He is a former CFO of Oracle and currently serves on the boards of Autodesk, AvePoint, Okta, and Twilio (previously at Kaiser Permanente and Booking Holdings). You can follow Evan on social media at:X: @evanepsteinLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/epsteinevan/ Substack: https://evanepstein.substack.com/__To support this podcast you can join as a subscriber of the Boardroom Governance Newsletter at https://evanepstein.substack.com/__Music/Soundtrack (found via Free Music Archive): Seeing The Future by Dexter Britain is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License

In this episode of Run the Numbers, CJ sits down with Chris Brubaker, SVP of Finance at Postscript, who's helped build the finance function from the ground up. Chris shares how he partners with sales through deal desks, sets pricing guardrails, and makes sure finance helps close deals instead of slowing them down. They dig into his hands-on approach to automation using AI with limited engineering resources, how Postscript's metrics evolved as the company scaled, when to trust internal data over benchmarks, and where teams get tripped up. Plus, a private jet accounting story—because of course.—SPONSORS:Rillet is an AI-native ERP built for modern finance teams that want to close faster without fighting legacy systems. Designed to support complex revenue recognition, multi-entity operations, and real-time reporting, Rillet helps teams achieve a true zero-day close—with some customers closing in hours, not days. If you're scaling on an ERP that wasn't built in the 90s, book a demo at https://www.rillet.com/cjTabs is an AI-native revenue platform that unifies billing, collections, and revenue recognition for companies running usage-based or complex contracts. By bringing together ERP, CRM, and real product usage data into a single system of record, Tabs eliminates manual reconciliations and speeds up close and cash collection. Companies like Cortex, Statsig, and Cursor trust Tabs to scale revenue efficiently. Learn more at https://www.tabs.com/runAbacum is a modern FP&A platform built by former CFOs to replace slow, consultant-heavy planning tools. With self-service integrations and AI-powered workflows for forecasting, variance analysis, and scenario modeling, Abacum helps finance teams scale without becoming software admins. Trusted by teams at Strava, Replit, and JG Wentworth—learn more at https://www.abacum.aiBrex is an intelligent finance platform that combines corporate cards, built-in expense management, and AI agents to eliminate manual finance work. By automating expense reviews and reconciliations, Brex gives CFOs more time for the high-impact work that drives growth. Join 35,000+ companies like Anthropic, Coinbase, and DoorDash at https://www.brex.com/metricsMetronome is real-time billing built for modern software companies. Metronome turns raw usage events into accurate invoices, gives customers bills they actually understand, and keeps finance, product, and engineering perfectly in sync. That's why category-defining companies like OpenAI and Anthropic trust Metronome to power usage-based pricing and enterprise contracts at scale. Focus on your product — not your billing. Learn more and get started at https://www.metronome.comRightRev is an automated revenue recognition platform built for modern pricing models like usage-based pricing, bundles, and mid-cycle upgrades. RightRev lets companies scale monetization without slowing down close or compliance. For RevRec that keeps growth moving, visit https://www.rightrev.com—LINKS:Chris on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wchrisbrubaker/Postscript: https://postscript.io/CJ on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com—RELATED EPISODES:So You're Looking for a “Strategic” CFO? Bloomerang's Steve Isom on What That Really Meanshttps://youtu.be/cgHOtvG1CesThe IPO Playbook: Expert Advice from Lee Kirkpatrick, Twilio's Former CFOhttps://youtu.be/PTKAUD7PSWUThe CFO Case for Probabilistic Forecasting With AI | Bruno Annicqhttps://youtu.be/Dl8nDZPJMpE—TIMESTAMPS:00:00:00 Preview and Intro00:02:22 Sponsors — Rillet | Tabs | Abacum00:06:55 Interview Begins00:07:36 First Finance Hire and Early Scale at Postscript00:09:02 Usage-Based Margins, COGS, and the Twilio Parallel00:10:31 Partnering With Sales and Building Deal Desk00:13:16 Pricing Guardrails, Payback, and Deal Economics00:15:35 How Deal Desk Evolves Over Time00:16:01 Sponsors — Brex | Metronome | RightRev00:19:44 Making Finance a Deal-Closing Partner00:20:44 Automating Deal Desk With a Slack Bot00:23:48 How Technical Finance Leaders Need to Be00:25:17 Automating Without Engineering Help00:27:12 Why Human Touch Still Matters in SaaS00:27:53 Postscript's Finance Tech Stack00:28:30 ERP Migration and Month-End Efficiency00:29:42 The Reality of Continuous Close00:30:34 First Real AI Wins in Accounting00:31:18 Experimenting With AI Forecasting00:33:32 Metrics That Matter: Usage as a Leading Indicator00:35:49 How Metrics Evolve as the Company Scales00:37:41 Understanding the Product in a Usage-Based Model00:39:27 Micro-Seasonality and Forecasting Volatility00:42:21 How to Use Benchmarks Without Misusing Them00:43:50 Long-Ass Lightning Round: A Costly Modeling Mistake00:45:45 Advice to a Younger Finance Leader00:47:05 The Private Jet Accounting Story00:49:11 Credits#RunTheNumbersPodcast #FinanceLeadership #DealDesk #UsageBasedSaaS #AIinFinance This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cjgustafson.substack.com

Hubble Network is redefining what's possible in satellite connectivity by connecting standard Bluetooth chips to satellites over 500 kilometers away using advanced antenna arrays and digital beamforming. Founded in 2021 by Alex Haro (co-founder of Life360, which IPO'd in 2019 and grew to 80+ million monthly active users) and Ben Longmier (whose previous company's protocol became Amazon Sidewalk after acquisition), Hubble has launched seven operational satellites via SpaceX and is serving enterprise customers across intermodal logistics, off-grid construction, and outdoor recreation. In a recent episode of BUILDERS, I sat down with Alex to explore how Hubble is building the infrastructure layer for global IoT—positioning as the "T-Mobile of space" rather than competing in device markets. Topics Discussed: The technical architecture behind connecting Bluetooth to satellites: lowering bit rates, optimizing modulation, and deploying hundreds of antennas for digital beamforming SpaceX's rideshare program mechanics and what it actually takes to book satellite launches as a startup Why Hubble deliberately chose to be network infrastructure rather than building hardware for specific verticals The psychology barrier of overcoming Bluetooth's short-range association—even among experienced RF engineers from Google, Amazon, and Starlink Strategic focus decisions when facing unlimited market opportunity across construction, agriculture, mining, logistics, and defense Transparent pricing as a developer-first GTM strategy versus traditional enterprise carrier sales models The transition from Life360's consumer hardware exploration to founding a satellite networking company GTM Lessons For B2B Founders: Choose your competitive layer strategically—infrastructure scales differently than applications: Hubble explicitly positioned as network infrastructure, not a device manufacturer. Alex stated: "We're not focused on building the hardware or devices. We very much view ourselves as a networking company." This allows enterprise customers to integrate Hubble connectivity into their existing devices with just a software change to the Bluetooth chip. The result: each B2B customer can deploy hundreds or thousands of devices to their end users, creating exponential reach. For founders building horizontal technology, consider whether competing at the infrastructure layer—even if less immediately tangible—creates superior unit economics and market leverage versus building full-stack solutions. Developer-first positioning requires operational commitment, not just marketing: Hubble's pricing transparency wasn't a marketing tactic—Alex described it as "hardcore to our ethos" because their goal is connecting billions of devices. They explicitly modeled after Twilio and Stripe rather than Verizon or AT&T, making it possible for engineers to validate unit economics independently and start free trials without sales conversations. This wasn't debated internally because both co-founders and the early team aligned on this approach. For infrastructure companies targeting massive scale, half-measures on developer experience will fail—the entire go-to-market motion must support self-service validation and transparent economics. Constraint forces clarity—unlimited TAM demands disciplined ICP filtering: Despite viable use cases across construction, oil and gas, mining, agriculture, supply chain, and defense, Alex emphasized: "In the early stages, focus is the most important thing. Every hour matters and being able to focus matters quite a bit and defocusing yourself can really hurt." Hubble's "sexy hook of Bluetooth to space" generates inbound interest across industries, creating constant pressure to expand. Their active debate centers on which industry leaders are "solving important use cases" with existing customer bases of "hundreds, if not thousands of customers." For founders with horizontal technology, resist opportunistic deals—filter aggressively for partners who provide concentrated distribution rather than one-off deployments. Physical demonstration collapses credibility timelines for counterintuitive technology: Hubble faced skepticism even from sophisticated RF engineers because of hardwired associations between Bluetooth and short range. Alex noted: "Some of the investors that joined our A or B, they passed on our seed and A because they thought, well, I believe in Alex, but is this really physically possible?" Post-launch with working satellites, the conversation shifted from "is this possible?" to commercial terms. The lesson isn't just "show don't tell"—it's that for technically improbable innovations, rushing to demonstrable proof compresses months of explanation into minutes of validation. Founders should potentially sacrifice feature breadth to reach a single, undeniable proof point faster. Operational domain expertise reveals infrastructure gaps others can't see: Alex spent years as CTO of Life360 attempting to build connected hardware for families—smart pet collars, GPS watches for kids, fall detectors—but existing networks had "super short battery life, very bulky, no global coverage, way too expensive." He invested in Ben's previous mesh network company and became a close advisor before co-founding Hubble. The insight wasn't theoretical—it came from failing repeatedly to solve the problem with existing infrastructure. Founders should treat operational frustrations in previous roles as proprietary market intelligence: you've already paid the learning cost that competitors will need years to acquire. // Sponsors: Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership. www.FrontLines.io The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe. www.GlobalTalent.co // Don't Miss: New Podcast Series — How I Hire Senior GTM leaders share the tactical hiring frameworks they use to build winning revenue teams. Hosted by Andy Mowat, who scaled 4 unicorns from $10M to $100M+ ARR and launched Whispered to help executives find their next role. Subscribe here: https://open.spotify.com/show/53yCHlPfLSMFimtv0riPyM

The AI boom isn't a level playing field—and most startups are running a race they're set up to lose. In this episode, Dr. Manu Kumar explains why the real winners of this AI wave are the incumbents who already control distribution and customers, not the scrappy upstarts.Dr. Manu Kumar is the founder of K9 Ventures and an early investor in companies like Lyft, Twilio, Lucidchart, Carta, Auth0, and Everlaw, with over 15 years backing more than 50 early-stage startups. Drawing from his experience as a founder, PhD in Human-Computer Interaction, and solo GP, Manu breaks down why this AI cycle is structurally different from past tech shifts—and what that means for founders, operators, and VCs.In this conversation, Manu argues that the biggest moat in AI today isn't the model, the data, or the tech—it's distribution. Companies like Google and Microsoft already have massive customer bases and control the channels where AI products are discovered and adopted, which tilts the game heavily in their favor. He explains how this changes the calculus for AI startups, what kinds of products still have a shot, and why some founders should stop pretending they're competing on a fair field.You'll also hear Manu's philosophy on founder success: why he optimizes for grit, “insane perseverance in the face of complete resistance,” and technical founders who can actually build the product themselves. He shares how he evaluates early-stage teams at the two-person-and-an-idea stage, why gut instinct still matters when there's no data, and how to think about market size when the category doesn't really exist yet.If you're building in AI, investing in AI, or just trying to understand where this wave is really headed, this episode gives a brutally honest look at who has the power—and what founders can still do about it.

In this episode of Builders Wanted, we're joined by Michelle Suzuki, Chief Marketing Officer at Commerce. Kailey and Michelle delve into the impact of agentic commerce, the evolution of AI in customer engagement, and strategies for maintaining consistency and relevance in marketing. Michelle also shares insights on the challenges and opportunities in rebranding and driving data-driven marketing.-------------------Key Takeaways:Embracing change and leveraging data-driven insights are essential for marketers to stay relevant and effective in a rapidly evolving commerce landscape.The most successful marketing strategies combine creative brand-building with rigorous data analysis, ensuring that emotional connection and measurable outcomes drive growth.Truly understanding your audience and meeting them where they are enables organizations to deliver more personalized, impactful experiences.-------------------“ The front end and the back end, it's sort of like that brand and demand element is how do you make this holistic ecosystem that is really productive for the experience and really driving what that looks like as you put together your overall strategy.  It's so important to think holistically about what it is that you're meaning to deliver and incorporating all of those elements together so that there aren't jagged, hard edges between them. But it's all one entire ecosystem that presents something that is more comfortable and relative to what it is that the user is hoping to experience with you.” – Michelle Suzuki-------------------Episode Timestamps:‍*(01:56) - What being a builder means to Michelle ‍*(06:07) - The shift most critical for brands right now‍*(13:05) - Bridging the gap between data-driven and creative marketing‍*(27:30) - Lessons from rebranding‍*(33:04) - Building teams for speed and effectiveness‍*(35:13) - Quick hits-------------------Links:Connect with Michelle on LinkedInConnect with Kailey on LinkedInLearn more about Caspian Studios-------------------SponsorBuilders Wanted is brought to you by Twilio – the Customer Engagement Platform that helps builders turn real-time data into meaningful customer experiences. More than 320,000 businesses trust Twilio to transform signals into connections—and connections into revenue. Ready to build what's next? Learn more at twilio.com. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Revenue teams are dealing with more tools, more data, more automation - and more pressure - than ever before. Growth isn't just about selling better anymore. It's about how the entire revenue engine actually works.For the first time, RevOps isn't a background function — it's shaping how companies grow, scale, and make decisions.In this episode of the Belkins Podcast, Michael Maximoff sits down with Jen Igartua, Founder & CEO of Go Nimbly, to unpack what's really happening inside modern revenue organizations — and why RevOps is suddenly at the center of it all.Jen has helped architect revenue systems for some of the most respected SaaS companies in the world, including Twilio, Zendesk, Snowflake, Intercom, and Superhuman. But this conversation isn't about theory or frameworks. It's about what breaks when companies scale, where AI actually helps (and where it creates chaos), and why the future of sales, marketing, and RevOps looks very different than most teams expect.What you'll learn in this episode:Why RevOps is having a moment — and how rising complexity, AI adoption, and executive pressure have pushed RevOps into a strategic roleWhat Revenue Operations actually does beyond automation, reporting, and tooling — including enablement, strategy, and protecting the customer experienceHow AI is changing RevOps teams — from workflow automation and data architecture to the risks of agent and automation sprawlThe real future of sales roles — why junior SDR roles are disappearing, and why business development is becoming more senior, not automated awayHow to know when your company needs RevOps — including revenue thresholds, organizational signals, and common mistakes founders make too earlyWhat strong RevOps teams get right — clean data, shared definitions, cross-functional trust, and decision-making that actually sticksThroughout the episode, Jen and Michael go deep on the messy, human side of scaling revenue — misaligned incentives, broken handoffs, over-engineered stacks, and the uncomfortable truth that most companies don't actually have a single view of the customer.This isn't a hype conversation about tools. It's a grounded look at how modern revenue organizations are being rebuilt — and why RevOps is now one of the most critical functions inside growing B2B companies.Chapters:00:00- Intro: Who is Jen Igartua03:17- What is RevOps?09:25- AI Changed RevOps: AIOps, When to Hire RevOps, Build vs Outsource17:25- Workflow Automation Is Getting Out of Control24:02- What's Next: Platform Consolidation in RevOps27:46- Clay, HubSpot, and the Reality of the Modern RevOps Stack33:48- The Limits of AI in Sales & Marketing39:25- How SDRs, Marketing, and Social Selling Are Merging49:50- RevFest: Building Real RevOps Community01:00:49- Go Nibly's Evolution and Strategy01:12:44- Curated Dinners as Acquisition Strategies01:21:26- Creativity, Leadership, and “Follow the Fun”About the ShowWhat does it really take to grow a B2B business today? We ask the people doing it.The Belkins Podcast dives deep into the strategies, decisions, and behind-the-scenes insights driving real growth at top B2B companies. Each episode features candid conversations with industry heavyweights — CROs, CMOs, founders, and seasoned operators — who've navigated market downturns, scaled teams, and dealt with the realities of modern revenue growth.You'll hear hard truths, unfiltered insights, and actionable perspectives from leaders who've actually built and operated revenue engines at scale.

In this special episode of Builders Wanted, recorded live from Twilio Transform in New York City, we're joined by Rikki Singh, Twilio's VP of R&D for Emerging Technologies. Rikki explores groundbreaking advancements in AI, security, and communications, touching on the evolution of technology and customer expectations as we approach 2026. The conversation delves into the role of AI in software engineering, the importance of trust and privacy by design, changes in customer engagement, and the future of agentic workflows.-------------------Key Takeaways:Building robust systems and prioritizing speed empowers organizations to drive innovation rapidly while maintaining high standards of quality.Reliable, well-structured data and clearly defined, measurable objectives are critical for achieving success in AI and analytics initiatives.The most impactful product enhancements stem from actively listening to customers, understanding their challenges, and reimagining features as needed.-------------------“ The fact that we want to give you contextual memory that is able to capture communication, that matters. Because that's where you're expressing your satisfaction, your happiness, your joys. So how do we take that and then use that to help you rather than microsegment you on demographics and target you? I think that's the positive pivot I hope we make as this technology allows for that.” – Rikki Singh-------------------Episode Timestamps:‍*(01:48) - What excites Rikki heading into 2026‍*(02:54) - What feels different about today compared to a year ago‍*(07:14) - Themes shaping the next 12 months for builders‍*(19:43) - What's evolving fastest: the tech stack, the buyer, or the org chart?‍*(27:50) - What builders underestimate about AI and where it's going‍*(43:36) - Quick hits-------------------Links:Connect with Rikki on LinkedInConnect with Kailey on LinkedInLearn more about Caspian Studios-------------------SponsorBuilders Wanted is brought to you by Twilio – the Customer Engagement Platform that helps builders turn real-time data into meaningful customer experiences. More than 320,000 businesses trust Twilio to transform signals into connections—and connections into revenue. Ready to build what's next? Learn more at twilio.com. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Alexis Garcia and Ed Carson walk through Tuesday's market action and discuss key stocks to watch in Stock Market Today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How do you make sense of an industry that is changing at a pace few predicted, especially with SIGNAL London still fresh in our minds and Twilio unveiling the next stage of its vision for customer engagement? That question sits at the heart of today's conversation with Peter Bell, VP of Marketing for EMEA at Twilio, who joined me to unpack what the past year has taught both companies and consumers about AI's role in shaping modern experiences. Peter begins by grounding everything in a single, striking shift. Only a year ago, AI-powered search barely registered in global traffic. Today it accounts for around a fifth of all searches. That leap signals a broader behavioral shift as consumers move instinctively toward conversational interfaces, which, in turn, leaves brands with a clear message. The clock has moved on. AI is no longer a nice-to-have. It is a direct response to how people now choose to discover, question, and buy. Our conversation turns to the gap between customer expectations and the experiences they receive. Peter discusses why brands often struggle to integrate channels, data, and AI coherently. He explains how first party data has become the anchor for any serious AI strategy, why generic public models cannot solve brand-specific tasks, and why the most successful teams start with simple, tightly scoped problems. A password reset may not sound glamorous, yet it is the kind of focused use case that teaches teams how to govern data, automate safely, and build confidence in the process. We also spend time on branded calling, RCS, and the evolution of voice. Peter breaks down what modern messaging now looks like and why trust sits at the center of every interaction. His explanation of Conversational Relay shows why natural voice exchanges finally feel within reach after years of frustration with rigid IVR systems. The thread running through all of this is clear. Consumers want speed and clarity, but they want reassurance too, and brands need to honor both sides of that equation. Later in the conversation, Peter makes one of the episode's most compelling points. Brand visibility has become harder, not easier, because much of the early research now occurs within AI tools. Buyers form opinions long before they speak with a sales rep. That shift explains why so many B2B companies are returning to high-impact brand channels, whether that is F1 sponsorships or other standout moments that keep them in the initial consideration set. We close with the topic that Peter believes will define the next stage of enterprise AI. Model Context Protocol. MCP has emerged as a quiet breakthrough, enabling LLMs to access data across CRM systems, files, and other software through a standard protocol. This removes one of the biggest blockers in AI projects: the practical challenge of connecting disparate data to a model built for a specific purpose. As Peter puts it, MCP gives companies a realistic way to make the special-purpose models that deliver reliable ROI. It is a wide-ranging conversation shaped by SIGNAL London's announcements, the evolving customer journey, and a year in which AI moved from curiosity to expectation. I would love to know what part stood out most to you. Are you seeing the same shifts Peter describes in your own business, and how are you preparing for the year ahead? Useful Links Interact with the Inside the Conversational AI Revolution report. Learn more about the Signal event Connect with Peter Bell, VP of Marketing for EMEA at Twilio. Tech Talks Daily is sponsored by Denodo

Today's episode of the Punk CX podcast is with Sharath Keshava Narayana, CEO and Co-Founder of Sanas, which provides a real-time speech understanding platform with accent translation, noise cancellation and now real-time speech translation technology. Sharath and I talk about the challenges with current translation methods, what they are doing with regards to real-time speech translation, the possibilities that this type of technology offers for customer service and experience and the exciting fact that Douglas Adams' Babelfish application/device that featured in his book The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is getting much closer. We also finish off with Sharath's best advice, his Punk CX brand and his very own good news story. This interview follows on from my recent interview – Twilio's secret sauce and CarFinance247's road to success – Interviews from Twilio SIGNAL London 2025 – and is number 566 in the series of interviews with authors and business leaders who are doing great things, providing valuable insights, helping businesses innovate and delivering great service and experience to both their customers and their employees.

On the podcast, I talk with Greg about knowing when to pivot, why most consumer apps shouldn't raise VC, and why making free trials optional outperformed making them the default.Top Takeaways:

Today's episode of the Punk CX podcast a two-parter that I recorded while attending the Twilio SIGNAL event in London on November 19th. My first guest is Peter Bell, VP of EMEA Marketing at Twilio. Peter and I talk about his highlights from the event, what he is seeing companies do well/right to help them harness the obvious potential of all of the new technology that is emerging, as well as some examples of brands that they are working with, what they are doing, what challenges they are overcoming and what outcomes they are driving. Following my chat with Peter, I spoke to Michael Binks and his colleague Paul Mawson, who are Director of Technology and Head of Product, respectively, at CarFinance247, the UK's leading digital car finance platform. We talk about their motivations for attending the event, what they spoke about in their breakout session, their journey with Twilio and some advice/lessons learned along the way. This interview follows on from my recent interview – Are machines making marketers more human? – Interview with Elizabeth Maxson of Contentful – and is number 565 in the series of interviews with authors and business leaders who are doing great things, providing valuable insights, helping businesses innovate and delivering great service and experience to both their customers and their employees.

In this episode of Builders Wanted, we're joined by Sumeet Arora, Chief Product Officer at Teradata. Sumeet shares his insights on the importance of speed and innovation in the fields of data analytics and AI, emphasizing how Teradata delivers impactful business results by transforming complex data challenges into actionable solutions. The discussion dives into product leadership principles, the balance between speed and reliability, and the evolving landscape of analytics.-------------------Key Takeaways:Building strong systems and focusing on velocity enables organizations to innovate quickly without sacrificing quality.Trustworthy, well-modeled data and clear, measurable outcomes are essential for successful AI and analytics.The best product improvements come from listening to customers, obsessing over their problems, and being willing to rethink or remove features.-------------------“ I think it's equally important for people in my role to not just build a great product, but also build it fast. It has to be fast and excellent, both. And doing things faster in this era means that you have to also treat velocity as a product itself.  It's almost like setting up the right system and then great things come out.” – Sumeet Arora-------------------Episode Timestamps:‍*(02:06) - Defining the mission of a builder ‍*(03:12) - Velocity as a product ‍*(07:51) - The shift to invisible, frictionless analytics ‍*(23:04) - Lessons from product failures ‍*(34:28) - Quick hits-------------------Links:Connect with Sumeet on LinkedInConnect with Kailey on LinkedInLearn more about Caspian Studios-------------------SponsorBuilders Wanted is brought to you by Twilio – the Customer Engagement Platform that helps builders turn real-time data into meaningful customer experiences. More than 320,000 businesses trust Twilio to transform signals into connections—and connections into revenue. Ready to build what's next? Learn more at twilio.com. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In der heutigen Folge sprechen die Finanzjournalisten Anja Ettel und Holger Zschäpitz über starke Zahlen von Crowdstrike, Kurssprung bei Bayer und eine wilde Wende bei Bitcoin. Außerdem geht es um Ether, Intel, xLight, Meta, Boeing, Airbus, Marvell, Celestial AI, Nvidia, Broadcom, GitLab, Adobe, Workday, DocuSign, Apple, Microsoft, MongoDB, Credo Technology, Wacker Neuson, Doosan Bobcat, Hochtief, Hypoport, Hugo Boss, Rheinmetall, Nvidia, Lockheed Martin, Hensoldt, Renk, TKMS, VW, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Continental, Porsche, Schaeffler, Daimler Truck, Bank of America, KeyCorp, PNC Financial Services, US-Bancorp, Truist Financial, Aon, Marsh & McLennan, Willis Towers Watson, Accenture, Cognizant, EPAM Systems, IBM, Twilio, DXC Technology, SAIC, Guidewire Software, Manhattan Associates, Pegasystems, Tyler Technologies, Labcorp, IQVIA, Certara und Siemens Energy. Die aktuelle "Alles auf Aktien"-Umfrage findet Ihr unter: https://www.umfrageonline.com/c/mh9uebwm Wir freuen uns an Feedback über aaa@welt.de. Noch mehr "Alles auf Aktien" findet Ihr bei WELTplus und Apple Podcasts – inklusive aller Artikel der Hosts und AAA-Newsletter.[ Hier bei WELT.](https://www.welt.de/podcasts/alles-auf-aktien/plus247399208/Boersen-Podcast-AAA-Bonus-Folgen-Jede-Woche-noch-mehr-Antworten-auf-Eure-Boersen-Fragen.html.) [Hier] (https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6zxjyJpTMunyYCY6F7vHK1?si=8f6cTnkEQnmSrlMU8Vo6uQ) findest Du die Samstagsfolgen Klassiker-Playlist auf Spotify! Disclaimer: Die im Podcast besprochenen Aktien und Fonds stellen keine spezifischen Kauf- oder Anlage-Empfehlungen dar. Die Moderatoren und der Verlag haften nicht für etwaige Verluste, die aufgrund der Umsetzung der Gedanken oder Ideen entstehen. Hörtipps: Für alle, die noch mehr wissen wollen: Holger Zschäpitz können Sie jede Woche im Finanz- und Wirtschaftspodcast "Deffner&Zschäpitz" hören. +++ Werbung +++ Du möchtest mehr über unsere Werbepartner erfahren? [**Hier findest du alle Infos & Rabatte!**](https://linktr.ee/alles_auf_aktien) Impressum: https://www.welt.de/services/article7893735/Impressum.html Datenschutz: https://www.welt.de/services/article157550705/Datenschutzerklaerung-WELT-DIGITAL.html

Ricky Doar is the VP of Solutions at Cursor, where he leads forward-deployed engineers. A seasoned product and technical leader with over a decade of experience in developer tools and data platforms, Ricky previously served as VP of Field Engineering at Vercel, where he led global technical solutions for the company's next-generation frontend platform.Prior to Vercel, Ricky held multiple leadership roles at Segment (acquired by Twilio), including Director of Product Management for Twilio Engage, Group Product Manager for Personas, and RVP of Solutions Engineering for the West and APAC regions. He also worked as a Product Engineer and Senior Sales Engineer at Mixpanel, bringing deep technical expertise to customer-facing roles.Thanks to  Prosus Group for collaborating on the Agents in Production Virtual Conference 2025.In this session, Ricky Doar, VP of Solutions at Cursor, shares actionable insights from leading large-scale AI developer tool implementations at the world's top enterprises. Drawing on field experience with organizations at the forefront of transformation, Ricky highlights key best practices, observed power-user patterns, and deployment strategies that maximize value and ensure smooth rollout. Learn what distinguishes high-performing teams, how tailored onboarding accelerates adoption, and which support resources matter most for driving enterprise-wide success.A Prosus | MLOps Community Production

On this week's episode, Joe Fairless interviews Jeffrey Brogger. Jeffrey shares practical ways to revive “dead” contacts using AI voice agents that hold natural two-way conversations and surface real buying signals. He explains where these tools outperform blast emails and basic SMS, why latency and compliance matter, and how he builds lower-cost, highly customizable stacks with VAPI, Twilio and modern LLM voices. The discussion closes with an omnichannel playbook that uses ads, email, website activity and AI automations to turn quiet databases into qualified call-backs. Jeffrey Brogger Current role: AI Strategist, Growth Architect, Founder of JJB Industries Based in: Huntington Beach, California Say hi to them at: https://jjbind.com/ Alternative Fund IV is closing soon and SMK is giving Best Ever listeners exclusive access to their Founders' Shares, typically offered only to early investors. Visit smkcap.com/bec to learn more and download the full fund summary. Join us at Best Ever Conference 2026! Find more info at: https://www.besteverconference.com/  Join the Best Ever Community  The Best Ever Community is live and growing - and we want serious commercial real estate investors like you inside. It's free to join, but you must apply and meet the criteria.  Connect with top operators, LPs, GPs, and more, get real insights, and be part of a curated network built to help you grow. Apply now at⁠ ⁠⁠⁠www.bestevercommunity.com⁠⁠ Podcast production done by⁠ ⁠Outlier Audio⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In today's episode, I'm talking with Andrew Wilhelms, VP of Talent Management at Databricks and a seasoned leader with a wealth of experience from organizations like Twilio and Tesla. In t his conversation, we explore the evolving world of talent development and break down the difference between building individual capabilities and managing organizational systems, and why understanding both is crucial in today's dynamic business landscape.Andrew also shares insights from his unique journey, including how his philosophy background shaped his approach to leadership, what he believes actually transforms good teams into high-performing ones, and why the next wave of talent will require us all—no matter our title—to start thinking (and leading) like executives. They also dig into the impact of AI on both work and leadership, the importance of designing a positive employee experience, and practical ways to move beyond “knowing” to actually “doing” when it comes to developing great leaders.Key Notes and topics we cover in this episode:The Nature of LeadershipPreparing Future LeadersChallenges in Corporate LeadershipTalent Management vs. Talent DevelopmentThe Next Paradigm Shift in Talent: AIAI and Tools in Talent DevelopmentThe “Brickster Experience” at DatabricksPsychological Safety and Growth MindsetManager and Leadership Development ModelsCareer Development PhilosophyLessons Learned & ReflectionsTalent Development TrendsRecommended ResourcesCareer Advice for Talent ProfessionalsThis episode is also sponsored by LearnIt, which is offering a FREE trial of their TeamPass membership for you and up to 20 team members of your team. Check it out here.Connect with Andy here: Website | LinkedInConnect with Andrew Wilhelms here: LinkedInOrder my new book, Own Your Brand, Own Your Career on AmazonAnd my first book, Own Your Career Own Your Life, is on Amazon as well.

Você já parou para pensar por que personalizar o atendimento em escala segue sendo um desafio, mesmo com tanta tecnologia disponível? Neste episódio, vamos além do hype da inteligência artificial para discutir o que realmente importa quando o assunto é criar experiências únicas e humanas para milhões de clientes, sem perder o controle.Pedro Waengertner recebe Tamaris Parreira, Country Director da Twilio no Brasil, com mais de 30 anos de experiência em gigantes como Oracle, SAP, Amazon e HP. Referência quando o assunto é ecossistemas, canais e growth em tech, Tamaris compartilha uma visão pragmática e provocadora sobre como escalar negócios com inteligência: conectando dados, empatia e tecnologia de forma orquestrada.Neste papo, você vai descobrir:Por que implantar IA sem revisar a base do relacionamento com o cliente é receita para o fracassoComo escolher e testar canais de comunicação — do WhatsApp ao RCS — de forma estratégicaA importância de ecossistemas e parcerias para destravar crescimento e escalar com menos custoInsights sobre a metodologia “Scale Under Control” e como alinhar cultura, métricas e execuçãoSe você está repensando como usar dados e tecnologia para se conectar melhor com seu mercado, esse episódio ajuda a enxergar o que está por trás da promessa de “personalização em massa”.Dá o play e vem com a gente!Quer começar a aplicar IA de forma prática no seu negócio? Conheça o Programa IA no Centro, da Future Dojo — a edtech da ACE Ventures. Ele começa com um diagnóstico gratuito e ajuda empresas a colocarem a IA no centro das decisões, com foco em resultado real.

In this episode of Builders Wanted, we're joined by Filip Verley, Chief Innovation Officer at Liminal. Filip sheds light on the challenges companies face with increasing fraud due to advances in generative AI and deepfakes, and the importance of balancing security with customer experience. The conversation covers practical strategies for unifying data across teams, leveraging behavioral signals, and investing in converged identity platforms.-------------------Key Takeaways: Digital fraud is rapidly evolving due to generative AI and deepfakes, making it harder for companies to distinguish between real and fake interactions.Unifying data and aligning company goals around trust and security is essential for effective fraud prevention.Balancing customer experience with security requires smart, context-aware friction and continuous monitoring.-------------------“ The best teams or organizations don't think in an either-or, it's the balance. They always are able to balance and they design these systems to adapt to what they need.  It's not just about reducing the fraud, it's making sure that users are protected without slowing them down. Smart friction.” – Filip Verley-------------------Episode Timestamps:‍*(01:52) - How generative AI and deepfakes are making fraud detection harder ‍*(04:07) - Insights from Liminal's Seminal Report‍*(16:19) - Why behavioral intent is a game changer for fraud detection‍*(22:54) - The 4 layers of defense every company needs ‍*(25:52) - Where companies are investing for the biggest impact‍*(35:13) - Quick hits-------------------Links:Connect with Filip on LinkedInRead Liminal's Seminal ReportConnect with Kailey on LinkedInLearn more about Caspian Studios-------------------SponsorBuilders Wanted is brought to you by Twilio – the Customer Engagement Platform that helps builders turn real-time data into meaningful customer experiences. More than 320,000 businesses trust Twilio to transform signals into connections—and connections into revenue. Ready to build what's next? Learn more at twilio.com.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Twilio's Chief Social Impact Officer, Erin Reilly, joins Behind the Impact to discuss how the company built a social impact function that drives business value and generates revenue. She also shares her career journey and lessons for practitioners working to sustain and scale their impact work.

Ken Shreve and Ed Carson analyze Wednesday's market action and discuss key stocks to watch on Stock Market Today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Builders Wanted, we're joined by Anne Marie O'Keefe, Chief Operating Officer of Inc. and Fast Company. Anne Marie discusses her approach to fostering creativity and operational excellence in a rapidly changing media landscape.  The conversation covers the balancing act between legacy and innovation, simplifying systems for better efficiency, and the critical role of listening to customers.-------------------Key Takeaways:Media brands should focus on constantly evolving products, touchpoints, and strategies rather than chasing industry trends or competitors.Reducing complexity in workflows and technology enables organizations to adapt faster and deliver more value.Effective leadership requires adapting management styles to different teams, celebrating small wins, and empowering people to do their best work.-------------------“ Simplification is transformative. I think a lot of times we read these amazing stories in Fast Company about innovators and we think, Oh, they took this really complicated problem and they solved it. And that leads us to believe that we need a lot of complexity in what we do. Stripping that complexity away really lets the team be creative and innovative where it matters most, where they can build something that has impact for the audience.” – Anne Marie O'Keefe-------------------Episode Timestamps:‍*(01:59) - What Anne Marie builds at Inc. and Fast Company ‍*(07:28) - Simplifying operations and driving innovation‍*(21:42) - Balancing editorial integrity and business growth‍*(34:21) - Quick hits-------------------Links:Connect with Anne Marie on LinkedInConnect with Kailey on LinkedInLearn more about Caspian Studios-------------------SponsorBuilders Wanted is brought to you by Twilio – the Customer Engagement Platform that helps builders turn real-time data into meaningful customer experiences. More than 320,000 businesses trust Twilio to transform signals into connections—and connections into revenue. Ready to build what's next? Learn more at twilio.com. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We all want real advice on how to grow a career, right? Meet this week's guest, Laura Schaffer, Vice President of Growth at DigitalOcean. Laura got her start in sales, and now leads a cross-functional team that includes Growth R&D and Marketing. Prior to DigitalOcean, she built Growth and Product teams at companies like Twilio, Amplitude, and Bandwidth, bringing a depth of experience in product-led growth and experimentation. In conversation with host Shannon Peavey, Laura offers her perspective on making your mark as a product manager, and talks about the power of spending time on validation and fast-fail experimentation. 00:00 Introduction and Sponsor Message01:48 How a sales job lead to a growth career06:50 North Star metrics for the win09:03 How PLG work WITH, not INSTEAD of sales10:00 Bringing sales “snacks” to yield a “buffet”18:34 Validation doesn't have to mean A/B testing24:00 Experiment fast - and often27:00 Big wins can come from small changes30:00 How is product management changing?33:00 Make time for AI

Today's episode of the Punk CX podcast is a three-part episode featuring conversations I had with Vinod Muthukrishnan, the VP & COO for the Webex Customer Experience Business Unit at Cisco, Chang Chang, a Senior Director of Product for Cloud CX Solutions at Cisco and a Cisco Webex customer - Patrick Cornish, a Senior Network Engineer specialising in collaboration Architecture and Engineering at BancFirst, while at WebexOne recently in San Diego. We talk about their highlights from the event, what stood out for them from the slew of announcements and their views about some of the big challenges that organisations are facing in trying to improve their customer service and experience, particularly when it comes to harnessing the potential that new AI-powered innovations offer. This interview follows on from my recent interview – The State of Customer Engagement – Interview with Chris Koehler of Twilio – and is number 558 in the series of interviews with authors and business leaders who are doing great things, providing valuable insights, helping businesses innovate and delivering great service and experience to both their customers and their employees.

Today's episode of the Punk CX podcast features Chris Koehler, the Chief Marketing Officer at Twilio. We discuss Twilio's recently published State of Customer Engagement Report, how many brands are using AI to personalise experiences and the impact they are seeing as a result, customer concerns about the use of their data, the rise of first-party data strategies, how increasingly customers want control over their personalisation settings, whether we are witnessing a convergence of marketing, sales, and customer service teams, data sharing and collaboration, and finally, why executives need to step out of their “ivory towers.” This interview follows on from my recent interview – Closing the CX chasm – Interview with Jamie Anderson of UserTesting – and is number 557 in the series of interviews with authors and business leaders who are doing great things, providing valuable insights, helping businesses innovate and delivering great service and experience to both their customers and their employees.

At WebexOne, John Ortiz, Technology Sales Manager at MiaRec, joined Doug Green, Publisher of Technology Reseller News, to discuss how MiaRec is using AI to reshape the way businesses analyze and improve their customer interactions. MiaRec's platform leverages large language model (LLM) technology to deliver insights across three key use cases: Automated QA: Using AI to review and score 100% of customer interactions, ensuring that agents meet performance and compliance standards while eliminating the limitations of manual quality assurance. CX Intelligence: Automatically generating metrics such as customer satisfaction (CSAT), net promoter score (NPS), effort scores, and churn risk, giving companies a real-time understanding of customer sentiment and retention trends. Revenue Intelligence: Tracking sales opportunities and performance metrics across calls — including upsell and cross-sell effectiveness, objection handling, and missed revenue potential — to help managers identify top performers and training needs. Ortiz emphasized that the platform's customizable LLM framework allows businesses to extract any metric they need, regardless of industry or use case. “Every customer we get has different goals,” Ortiz said. “Having the flexibility to extract custom insights is absolutely key.” MiaRec integrates seamlessly with leading communication platforms such as Webex Calling, Webex Contact Center, RingCentral, NICE, Five9, and Twilio, while remaining platform-agnostic for clients with mixed environments. To learn more, visit www.miarec.com.

In this episode of Builders Wanted, we're joined by Kevin Stang, Chief of Staff to the President of the US Professional Products Division at L'Oréal. Kevin shares his unique perspective on aligning purpose with performance, leading high-powered teams, and fostering innovation in the beauty industry. He highlights the importance of investing in talent, the role of 360 marketers, and the real-world insights and adaptability required to stay ahead of trends.-------------------Key Takeaways:Building strong customer engagement requires a 360-degree approach: balancing B2B and B2C strategies, investing in talent, and fostering cross-functional collaboration.Data should be paired with direct insights from salons and stylists to drive innovation and effective marketing.Speed and adaptability are crucial to keep up with cultural trends, but maintaining authenticity is key to lasting success.------------------- “ What would happen if you had an individual send you a video, you get approval by mid-morning and you're in the content center by the afternoon shooting the content, and it's up within 48 hours? That is the type of speed and change that we've really made internally to help take that story that that storyteller is creating and try to remove all of those operation or hierarchical barriers that exist in very modern or traditional groupings and try to put that at the forefront to allow fast speed and reaction.” – Kevin Stang-------------------Episode Timestamps:‍*(02:12) - The importance of people and talent development at L'Oreal‍*(08:47) - Turning data into actionable insights through field immersion‍*(14:25) - How TikTok and YouTube are transforming stylist training and brand engagement‍*(17:17) - The “storyteller” role in keeping up with trends and authentic content creation‍*(22:43) - Empowering stylists authentically without over-prescription‍*(35:01) - Quick hits ‍-------------------‍Links:Connect with Kevin on LinkedInConnect with Kailey on LinkedInLearn more about Caspian Studios‍-------------------SponsorBuilders Wanted is brought to you by Twilio – the Customer Engagement Platform that helps builders turn real-time data into meaningful customer experiences. More than 320,000 businesses trust Twilio to transform signals into connections—and connections into revenue. Ready to build what's next? Learn more at twilio.com. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

How AI and Data Shape Modern Customer Experience and Engagement  Shep interviews Chris Koehler, Chief Marketing Officer at Twilio. He talks about creating exceptional customer experiences by leveraging personalization, customer trust, and AI.  This episode of Amazing Business Radio with Shep Hyken answers the following questions and more:    What defines an amazing digital customer experience today?  How can businesses personalize digital interactions?  Why is trust crucial in building long-term customer relationships?  Why is it important for companies to use customer data responsibly and transparently?  How does reducing friction impact customer satisfaction and retention?  Top Takeaways:    Personalization isn't just about using someone's name but about remembering their preferences, past actions, and making timely suggestions that fit their needs. When customers receive an experience that feels like it was made just for them, it leaves a strong, positive impression.   Customers love it when a company remembers who they are and what they like, so they don't have to repeat themselves every time they interact or use another channel to communicate.  Customers expect brands to use their data wisely and responsibly. It's not just about protecting information. It is also about applying it in ways that matter to customers. Trust is built when companies use data to solve problems or anticipate customer needs.  Transparency is the foundation of customer relationships. When companies are up front about when customers are talking to AI and make it easy for them to connect with a human when necessary, they like the experience and feel respected and cared for.   Making every step in the customer journey easy encourages customers to keep doing business with a company. If it's quick and simple to sign up, get help, or find what they need, customers are much more likely to come back.  Customers want to communicate in the way that fits their situation and preferences. Companies need to be mindful of where their customers want to interact with them, whether it is by phone, chat, email, or social media.   Different generations may have different preferences for communicating with a brand, but everyone likes having options. For example, customers may start with a chatbot but end up needing to talk to a human to solve complex or sensitive issues. Modern customer expectations include a consistently positive experience across multiple channels.  Automating routine tasks through AI can make processes faster and more consistent, but it shouldn't detract from the human element of customer service. While technology can handle simple tasks quickly and efficiently, there are complex issues that need human intervention.   Plus, Chris shares important and interesting stats on customer experience, AI, and personalization from Twilio's 2025 State of Customer Engagement Report. Tune in!  Quote:   "At the end of the day, people really don't care which channel they use. They just want the problem solved."    About:    Chris Koehler is Chief Marketing Officer at Twilio, a cloud communications platform that enables businesses to seamlessly integrate messaging, voice, and video capabilities into their applications to enhance customer engagement.    Shep Hyken is a customer service and experience expert, New York Times bestselling author, award-winning keynote speaker, and host of Amazing Business Radio.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Many usage-based companies like Twilio don't disclose ARR as their North Star metric. So, what do they track instead to communicate growth and efficiency to investors? In episode #314, Ben Murray shares his research from 10-Q filings, press releases, and earnings calls to uncover the seven most common financial metrics that usage-based companies highlight. From revenue growth and gross margin improvements to AI adoption and RPO (Remaining Performance Obligations), you'll learn what matters most to analysts, investors, and acquirers when ARR isn't the headline. This is a must-listen if you're building a usage-based business model and want to understand how to position your company for valuation and fundraising success. What You'll Learn Why many usage-based companies don't lead with ARR or MRR. The 7 key metrics How AI adoption is becoming a narrative driver in earnings calls. Why RPO is gaining importance as a measure of forward visibility and future revenue. Why It Matters For Investors: These metrics provide confidence in growth and scalability, even without ARR disclosures. For Founders: Tracking and segmenting these numbers helps communicate the right story to Boards and potential buyers. For Valuation: Metrics like RPO and NRR are increasingly driving company valuations in usage-based models. For Finance Leaders: Understanding which financial systems and SaaS metrics to track ensures more effective reporting and better alignment with investors. Resources Mentioned The SaaS Metrics Academy: https://www.thesaasacademy.com/ Quote from Ben “If usage-based companies aren't tracking ARR, what are they tracking? The answer is seven key metrics that investors want to see — from gross margin to RPO.”

Bret Taylor is the CEO of Sierra and Chairman of the Board of OpenAI. He previously served as co-CEO of Salesforce. I sat down with Bret to explore how the AI revolution compares to previous platform shifts and what it means for both startups and incumbents navigating this transition. (00:00) Introduction and Recent Milestone (00:38) AI Market and Historical Comparisons (02:30) Competitive Landscape and Business Models (06:02) Outcome-Based Pricing and Value Creation (13:52) Technological Shifts and Business Transitions (26:32) Adoption Challenges and Forward Deployed Engineering (37:21) Early Investment in Snowflake and Cloud Strategy (38:02) Enterprise Software Market Dynamics (38:38) AI Agents and Implementation Costs (41:06) Democratization of Software Development (43:35) The Future of Software Companies and AI Agents (49:36) Consumer Behavior and AI Agents (58:56) The Role of AI in Customer Experience (01:01:25) Career Advice in the Age of AI Executive Producer: Rashad Assir Mixing and editing: Justin Hrabovsky Check out Unsupervised Learning, Redpoint's AI Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@UCUl-s_Vp-Kkk_XVyDylNwLA

Every SaaS company is racing to “add AI,” but most are doing it wrong. In this episode, Megh Gautam, Former Chief Product Officer at Crunchbase, reveals the hard truths behind building AI into established SaaS products. From avoiding hype-driven features to building trust through data quality and transparency, Megh shares how Crunchbase rolled out AI-powered capabilities without breaking user trust. He also breaks down the internal alignment, cross-functional execution, and relentless feedback loops required to ship AI features that actually matter.Key Takeaways -Start with Real User ProblemsAI should not be an “add-on story” — it must solve a core customer pain.Crunchbase began with AI in search, a high-usage, high-friction feature.Prioritize critical workflows over “nice-to-have” gimmicks.Data Quality Determines TrustBad data in = garbage out, especially with AI models.Crunchbase spent a decade building clean, reliable data pipelines before layering AI.Trustworthy results require grounding AI outputs in verified “truth sets.”User Trust Demands TransparencyCustomers don't just want answers — they want to know how those answers were derived.Explainability and confidence thresholds are essential for adoption.If unsure, don't hallucinate — caveat results and suggest alternatives.AI is a Company-Wide Effort, Not Just a Product LaunchDesigners, engineers, PMs, marketing, and GTM must move in lockstep.Pricing, packaging, and positioning are as critical as the technical build.Internal discomfort is normal — priorities will shift faster than in traditional SaaS launches.Continuous Feedback Loops Drive IterationEarly adopter programs and dense customer feedback cycles are critical.Patterns of confusion often surface only after repeated customer interactions.AI workflows blur traditional SaaS team boundaries — ownership must evolve.Chapters: 00:10 - Introduction 00:50 - Megh's SaaS journey (Twilio, Dropbox, Crunchbase) 02:45 - AI hype vs. solving real user problems 06:05 - Why Crunchbase started with AI in search 10:17 - Data quality as the foundation for trustworthy AI 15:07 - Overcoming AI skepticism with transparency 20:01 - Aligning product, engineering, marketing, and GTM on AI launches 25:46 - Feedback loops and customer education 30:32 - Lightning Round: Megh's favorite AI tools 36:27 - Closing thoughts and key remindersVisit our website - https://saassessions.com/Connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunilneurgaonkar/

In this episode, host Laura Tacho speaks with Jesse Adametz, Senior Engineering Leader on the Developer Platform at Twilio. Jesse is leading Twilio's multi-year platform consolidation, unifying tech stacks across large acquisitions and driving migrations at enterprise scale. He discusses platform adoption, the limits of Kubernetes, and how Twilio balances modernization with pragmatism. The conversation also explores treating developer experience as a product, offering “change as a service,” and Twilio's evolving approach to AI adoption and platform support.Where to find Jesse Adametz: • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jesseadametz/• X: https://x.com/jesseadametz• Website: https://www.jesseadametz.com/Where to find Laura Tacho:• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauratacho/• X: https://x.com/rhein_wein• Website: https://lauratacho.com/• Laura's course (Measuring Engineering Performance and AI Impact) https://lauratacho.com/developer-productivity-metrics-courseIn this episode, we cover:(00:00) Intro(01:30) Jesse's background and how he ended up at Twilio(04:00) What SRE teaches leaders and ICs(06:06) Where Twilio started the post-acquisition integration(08:22) Why platform migrations can't follow a straight-line plan(10:05) How Twilio balances multiple strategies for migrations(12:30) The human side of change: advocacy, training, and alignment(17:46) Treating developer experience as a first-class product(21:40) What “change as a service” looks like in practice(24:57) A mandateless approach: creating voluntary adoption through value(28:50) How Twilio demonstrates value with metrics and reviews(30:41) Why Kubernetes wasn't the right fit for all Twilio workloads (36:12) How Twilio decides when to expose complexity(38:23) Lessons from Kubernetes hype and how AI demands more experimentation(44:48) Where AI fits into Twilio's platform strategy(49:45) How guilds fill needs the platform team hasn't yet met(51:17) The future of platform in centralizing knowledge and standards(54:32) How Twilio evaluates tools for fit, pricing, and reliability (57:53) Where Twilio applies AI in reliability, and where Jesse is skeptical(59:26) Laura's vibe-coded side project built on Twilio(1:01:11) How external lessons shape Twilio's approach to platform support and docsReferenced:The AI Measurement FrameworkExperianTransact-SQL - WikipediaTwilioKubernetesCopilotClaude CodeWindsurfCursorBedrock

Pre-seed founders want explosive growth early on, but are you following the wrong playbook too soon? These days strategies, acronyms, and well-intended advice are everywhere, but today's guest argues that the path forward is a simple one: talk to customers, run experiments, and embrace rejection as part of the journey.In this episode, Yaniv Bernstein speaks to guest Ashley Smith (ex-Twilio, Parse, GitLab, GitHub, and now General Partner at Vermilion Cliffs) and unpacks what it really takes for your startup to go from zero to one. Ashley has been at the helm of some of the most successful developer tool companies in the last decade and now invests in the next generation of technical founders. She shares raw insights from the trenches on how to build community, experiment with growth, and keep your startup alive through grit and iteration.In this episode, you will:Learn why investor playbooks can be dangerous for early-stage foundersUnderstand why customer conversations matter more than LinkedIn hot takesDiscover how product and marketing should be treated as one cohesive strategyExplore how companies like Twilio, Parse, and GitLab grew by leaning into community, content, and relentless product shippingSee why hiring generalists and “specialists in experimentation” is the best early-stage moveGain tactical tips on creating authentic founder content in the age of AI slopEmbrace rejection as a natural (and necessary) part of fundraising and early customer acquisitionThe Pact Honor the Startup Podcast Pact! If you have listened to TSP and gotten value from it, please:Follow, rate, and review us in your listening appSubscribe to the TSP Mailing List to gain access to exclusive newsletter-only content and early access to information on upcoming episodes: https://thestartuppodcast.beehiiv.com/subscribe Secure your official TSP merchandise at https://shop.tsp.show/ Follow us on YouTube for full-video episodes: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNjm1MTdjysRRV07fSf0yGg Give us a public shout-out on LinkedIn or anywhere you have a social media followingKey linksGet your question in for our next Q&A episode: https://forms.gle/NZzgNWVLiFmwvFA2A The Startup Podcast website: https://www.tsp.show/episodes/Learn more about Chris and YanivWork 1:1 with Chris: http://chrissaad.com/advisory/ Follow Chris on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrissaad/ Follow Yaniv on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ybernstein/Producer: Justin McArthur https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-mcarthurIntro Voice: Jeremiah Owyang https://web-strategist.com/

If you're still debating whether HR deserves a seat at the table, let me save you the suspense:  Your seat is already cemented there.  Hell, depending on the day, it might even be a throne! And today, I've got Ana King, CPO at SAPI, joining me to dig into this hard truth.  With experience at Twilio, Trainline, and Google, Ana knows firsthand that no leadership meeting should ever happen without the leaders in the room, and that includes People Leaders. We're not support, we're strategy. And if your exec team hasn't figured that out yet…buckle up. 0:01:25 - One Hard Truth About Work 0:04:56 - Why No Leadership Meeting Should Happen Without Leadership in the Room 0:07:35 - Why Does HR Even Need to Earn a Seat at the Table? 0:11:27 - The Consequences of the “Earn It” Narrative 0:16:03 - A Time When Excluding People Leaders Backfired 0:19:21 - The Direct Link Between a Strong People Leader in the C-Suite and Commercial Success 0:21:50 - Why HR is a Strategic Partner, Not Just a Support Function 0:25:40 - What Separates Modern Leaders Today from Traditional Head of HR Roles 0:30:27 - Balancing Being an Employee Advocate and Being Accountable to the Business 0:36:22 - Why HR Sees Things That Nobody Else Can See in an Org  0:40:51 - How AI Will Reshape Everything We Do 0:47:07 - Ana's Vision of the C-Suite of the Future Choosing the wrong HR platform is rife with regrets: losing a top performer, promoting the wrong person, or failing to engage your team when the business needs it most. Fortunately, you don't have to choose between investing in people programs and consolidating your tech stack. With Lattice, you can have both. Visit ⁠⁠lattice.com⁠⁠ to learn more. And if you love I Hate It Here, sign up to Hebba's newsletter! It's for jaded, overworked, and emotionally burnt-out HR/People Operations professionals needing a little inspiration. https://workweek.com/discover-newsletters/i-hate-it-here-newsletter/   And if you love the podcast, be sure to check out  https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here for even more exclusive insider content!   Follow Ana: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anastancu/  Follow Hebba:  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ihateit-here/videos LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef Twitter: https://twitter.com/hebbamyoussef

Welcome back to another episode of the EUVC Podcast, where we gather Europe's venture family to share the stories, insights, and lessons that drive our ecosystem forward. Today's conversation takes us on a global journey from Croatia to San Francisco to uncover how one founder caught lightning in a bottle and is now racing to harness it.Our guest: Ivan Burazin, founder of Daytona. With a career spanning Toronto, Croatia, Infobip, Shift Conference, and now Daytona, Ivan brings a rare, global perspective on how Europe can lead in DevTools and AI infrastructure. Alongside him, our dear friend Enis Hulli from E2VC joins to spotlight Daytona's story, the lessons from its dramatic pivot, and what it means for founders and investors navigating this new AI wave.Ivan has spent two decades at the intersection of infrastructure and developer communities. From racking servers in the early 2000s to launching one of the first browser-based IDEs in 2009 to scaling the Shift Conference to thousands of attendees, his career has consistently circled around enabling developers.Daytona's first act was a cloud IDE provider for enterprises — “one-click setup for secure developer environments.” With Fortune 500 customers onboard, revenue flowing, and a healthy pipeline, Daytona 1.0 showed promise. But something was missing.Six months ago, Ivan and his team made a bold decision to pivot. Daytona 2.0 is no longer about provisioning dev environments for humans — it's about powering AI agents with the computers they need.“Agents are not computers themselves. They need access to computers to run browsers, clone repos, analyze data. Daytona gives them that — an isolated sandbox with machine-native interfaces built for agents.” – IvanThe differences between human and agent runtimes turned out to be massive:Humans tolerate 30 seconds of spin-up; agents need milliseconds.Humans solve problems sequentially; agents branch into parallel “multiverse” solutions.Humans parse terminal output; agents require clean APIs.By recognizing this, Daytona carved out a new category: the computer for agents.The pivot coincided with a deliberate move to San Francisco. Ivan recalls how Figma embedded with designers at Airbnb, or how Twilio found adoption among early Valley startups. To own mindshare in a new category, location mattered.“From San Francisco outwards, adoption flows naturally. From Europe inwards, it's like pushing uphill.” – IvanSo Daytona went all-in: presence at AI meetups, team members flying in and out, and early product evangelism on the ground.HAfter the pivot, Daytona saw extraordinary pull from the market:Customer conversations ended with “send me the API key”.Infrastructure demand showed power-law dynamics: just a handful of fast-growing customers could drive scale.Instead of polished decks, Ivan shared raw revenue dashboards with authenticity.The momentum was immediate and tangible.Ivan admits he hadn't explicitly asked permission to pivot. He hinted at it in updates, tested the idea with a hackathon, and only later informed his cap table. The response? Overwhelmingly positive.“Almost half the angels replied. Go f***ing go. Let's go. I should've told them sooner.” – IvanEnis highlights this as a key distinction: experienced angels with broad portfolios encourage bold swings, while less diversified angels may fear the risk.Catching lightning is one thing. Harnessing it is another. Ivan's current focus:Hiring deliberately: keeping the team small and ownership-driven.White-glove onboarding: every serious customer gets a Slack channel with the whole team.Balancing speed and reliability: ship daily, but solve today's scale problems without over-engineering.Enis introduces a new term: seed-strapping — raising a seed, skipping A and B, and scaling straight to unicorn status.Ivan is cautious. Infra is capital-intensive, and while Daytona could raise a Series A today, he's committed to doing it on his terms.

Logan is joined by Marc Benioff, the legendary co-founder and CEO of Salesforce, for a wide-ranging conversation on the rise of AI in enterprises. Marc explains how Salesforce has become the testing ground for its own “agentic” technology, using AI agents to handle customer support, boost sales, and transform marketing. He also shares his perspective on what's hype vs. reality in the AI race, the opportunities for startups, and why the future is about humans and agents working together. (00:00) Introduction and Salesforce's Lead Management (00:35) Reflecting on the Last Eight Months (01:14) The Impact of AI on Salesforce Operations (02:15) AI's Role in Customer Support and Sales (03:45) Salesforce's Vision for an Agentic Enterprise (05:00) Public Market Sentiment and AI Adoption (06:15) Salesforce's Data and Application Foundations (08:13) The Future of CRM and ITSM Markets (12:57) Managing Agents and Human Workers (17:45) Salesforce's Growth and AI Product Line (19:38) Pricing Models and Customer Success Stories (23:26) The Role of AI in Different Market Segments (28:51) Salesforce Ventures and Startup Investments (36:05) Advice for Young Professionals and Future Trends (41:04) Dreamforce Executive Producer: Rashad Assir Producer: Leah Clapper Mixing and editing: Justin Hrabovsky Check out Unsupervised Learning, Redpoint's AI Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@UCUl-s_Vp-Kkk_XVyDylNwLA

In this episode, Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia interviews Inbal Shani, Chief Product Officer at Twilio, the $18B customer engagement powerhouse trusted by over 320,000 businesses worldwide.Inbal is a trailblazer in AI-first product development. Before joining Twilio, she led the launch of GitHub Copilot—one of the most transformative AI tools for developers, reshaping how engineers write code. Now at Twilio, she's steering a product portfolio that infuses AI into the heart of customer communications, helping companies unlock smarter, more personalized digital experiences at scale.In this conversation, Inbal shares why successful AI adoption goes far beyond adding models to features—it requires a rethinking of product strategy itself. She also dives into how Twilio measures real business impact from AI, why PMs need technical fluency more than ever, and what it takes to lead a product org into the AI-native future.What you'll learn:- How GitHub Copilot shaped Inbal's approach to building AI-native products.- Why AI adoption alone is not a product strategy—and what to focus on instead.- The metrics Twilio uses to evaluate AI's business impact.- The evolving technical skill set required for PMs in the age of AI.Key Takeaways

Byron Deeter is a Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, and one of the most renowned SaaS investors. Byron has led 19 unicorn investments, including IPO successes like ServiceTitan, Procore, Twilio, Box, Gainsight, Intercom, DocuSign, SendGrid. His portfolio includes eight companies that have gone public. Insane.  Agenda: 00:00 – Why are the stakes in AI higher than ever before? 05:20 – Is defensibility in AI gone for good? 07:40 – Do margins even matter when backing the next Anthropic or Perplexity? 09:50 – How does Byron think about future dilution when investing in AI today? 12:10 – With 40% of venture money going to 10 deals, is there any point investing elsewhere? 13:40 – Is vertical SaaS dead? Is there any point when the large players can own it? 18:00 – Will AI shift from the tech budget to the human labor budget and unlock trillions? 21:10 – Are we entering the era of billion-dollar businesses built by 10 people? 25:20 – Is treble-treble-double-double now too slow for AI companies? 33:10 – In today's AI gold rush, is it better to scream the loudest or just build the best product? 41:10 – What specific growth rates are best in class, good and not good enough today?  55:00 – Is venture now just a game of scale — Chanel vs. Walmart?    

In this episode of Builders Wanted, we're joined by Sandeep Seth, Chief Growth Officer and President of Tapestry. Sandeep shares his mission to future-proof growth by transforming Tapestry into a brand growth engine. He explores the importance of consumer focus, continuous learning, and creating seamless experiences both online and offline.-------------------Key Takeaways:Strategies to future-proof growth by focusing on consumer insightsHow to balance authenticity and innovation for younger generationsThe seamless integration of physical and digital experiences-------------------“ The magic doesn't come from what [consumers] tell us. The magic comes from what they don't tell us. And how do you sense that tension that's kind of going on there? It's not easy, but a true insight is that unexpressed emotion or that unexpressed need and how the brand, in an authentic way, can fulfill that.” – Sandeep Seth-------------------Episode Timestamps:‍*(01:57) - Sandeep's mission at Tapestry‍*(03:29 - Sandeep's approach to growth and brand relevance‍*(12:02) - An exciting shift in consumer behavior‍*(21:09) - Gen Z, digital vs. physical, and evolving consumer behavior‍*(28:29) - Balancing near-term performance with long-term brand equity‍*(37:39) - Quick hits-------------------Links:Connect with Sandeep on LinkedInConnect with Kailey on LinkedInLearn more about Caspian Studios-------------------SponsorBuilders Wanted is brought to you by Twilio – the Customer Engagement Platform that helps builders turn real-time data into meaningful customer experiences. More than 320,000 businesses trust Twilio to transform signals into connections—and connections into revenue. Ready to build what's next? Learn more at twilio.com.

Are you building your customer data strategy around your goals, or are your goals constrained by your data platform? Agility in today's marketing technology landscape isn't just about speed—it's about flexibility. Brands need data architectures that adapt to their needs, not the other way around. And with the right approach, that agility can fuel personalization, better customer outcomes, and real business value. Today we're going to talk about composable customer data platforms and how AI is enhancing decision-making to increase customer lifetime value.To help me discuss this topic, I'd like to welcome Tejas Monahar, co-CEO and co-Founder of Hightouch. About Tejas Manohar Tejas Manohar is the cofounder/co-CEO of Hightouch. Prior to founding Hightouch, Tejas was an early engineer at Segment, the leading company in the Customer Data Platform (CDP) space that was acquired by Twilio for $3.2B. At Segment, Tejas realized that many of the challenges of building a best-in-class CDP would be better solved on top of the data warehouse and a modern data stack and hence, he founded Hightouch. When Tejas isn't thinking about data, he likes running and playing competitive table tennis. Tejas Manohar on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tejasmanohar/ Resources Hightouch: https://www.hightouch.com https://www.hightouch.com The Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://www.teksystems.com/versionnextnow Catch the future of e-commerce at eTail Boston, August 11-14, 2025. Register now: https://bit.ly/etailboston and use code PARTNER20 for 20% off for retailers and brandsDon't Miss MAICON 2025, October 14-16 in Cleveland - the event bringing together the brights minds and leading voices in AI. Use Code AGILE150 for $150 off registration. Go here to register: https://bit.ly/agile150" Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkihlstromDon't miss a thing: get the latest episodes, sign up for our newsletter and more: https://www.theagilebrand.showCheck out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com The Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.company

A story about turning personal frustration into breakthrough technology—and why great products come from pain you actually feel.This Episode is for SaaS founders struggling to identify their real target audience—and wondering how to separate urgent problems from nice-to-have features.Most SaaS companies don't fail because of bad tech. They fail because they try to solve problems they don't actually feel.Davit Baghdasaryan, CEO of Krisp AI, took a different path. Former head of product security at Twilio, he spent evenings in Armenia taking morning calls from San Francisco—dealing with background noise that existing solutions couldn't touch. One personal frustration became the foundation for technology that now processes over a billion minutes monthly and powers 80% of human-to-AI voice interactions.And this inspired me to invite Davit to my podcast. We explore how building from real pain creates unbeatable product-market fit. Davit shares insights about choosing problems with no alternatives, why great demos feel like magic, and how focusing on essence over speed built technology that companies like Discord and Twilio now license. You'll discover why their "marketing experiment" desktop app became Product of the Year—and how they accidentally created infrastructure that now processes over a billion minutes monthly.We also zoom in on two of the 10 traits that define remarkable software companies: – They focus on the essence – They offer something valuable and desirableDavit's story proves that breakthrough technology starts with problems that personally bother you.Here's one of Davit's quotes that captures his philosophy on problem selection:"In order to understand the pain, you need to understand the alternative. If you are in an office, the alternative is to go find a quiet room—probably not that painful. But if you're in an airport or call center with people speaking next to you, there is no alternative."By listening to this episode, you'll learn:Why understanding alternatives reveals true market urgency What separating horizontal from vertical markets actually meansWhen building hard technology first pays off long-termWhy great demos feel magical instead of technicalFor more information about the guest from this week: Guest: Davit Baghdasaryan, CEO of Krisp AI Website: krisp.ai Weekly Voice AI newsletter

In this episode of Builders Wanted, we're joined by Jon Kennedy, Chief Technology Officer at Quickbase. John discusses how Quickbase is helping businesses innovate through its no-code platform, enabling users to build custom solutions swiftly. He shares insights into the challenges of scaling a global engineering team, the importance of fostering an empowering work culture, and the transformative potential of AI in low-code development.-------------------Key Takeaways:The importance of empowering non-technical users, or "citizen developers," through Quickbase's no-code platform.The critical balance between fostering rapid innovation and maintaining strong governance, security, and reliability standards.Effective leadership and organizational transformation rely heavily on listening and adaptability.-------------------“ It's very empowering, like, I solved this problem. And guess what? You built a computer application and you're not a computer programmer.  I think it's pretty empowering for somebody that is not a technologist to be able to solve a real world problem like that.” – Jon Kennedy-------------------Episode Timestamps:‍*(01:59) - How Quickbase is helping businesses solve complex problems‍*(09:08) - How customers are pushing the boundaries of what's possible ‍*(11:04) - AI's role in transforming the low-code space ‍*(16:01) - Navigating speed and stability at scale‍*(21:24) - Successes and challenges of integrating FastField into Quickbase‍*(28:23) - Quick hits-------------------Links:Connect with Jon on LinkedInConnect with Kailey on LinkedInLearn more about Caspian Studios-------------------SponsorBuilders Wanted is brought to you by Twilio – the Customer Engagement Platform that helps builders turn real-time data into meaningful customer experiences. More than 320,000 businesses trust Twilio to transform signals into connections—and connections into revenue. Ready to build what's next? Learn more at twilio.com.

Bret Taylor's legendary career includes being CTO of Meta, co-CEO of Salesforce, chairman of the board at OpenAI (yes, during that drama), co-creating both Google Maps and the Like button, and founding three companies. Today he's the founder and CEO of Sierra, an AI agent company transforming customer service. He's one of the few people I've met who's been wildly successful at every level—from engineer to C-suite executive to founder—and across almost every discipline, including PM, engineer, CTO, COO, CPO, CEO, and board member.In this conversation, you'll learn:1. The brutal product review that nearly ended his Google career—and how that failure led to creating Google Maps2. The question Sheryl Sandberg taught him to ask every morning (“What's the most impactful thing I can do today?”) that transformed how he approached every role3. The three AI market segments that matter4. Why AI agents will replace SaaS products5. His framework for knowing whose advice to actually listen to—and how that came in handy during the OpenAI board drama6. The counterintuitive go-to-market strategy most AI startups get wrong7. Sierra's outcome-based pricing model that's transforming how enterprise software is sold (and why every SaaS company should adopt it)8. What he's teaching his kids about AI that every parent should know—Brought to you by:CodeRabbit—Cut code review time and bugs in half. Instantly: https://coderabbit.link/lennyBasecamp—The famously straightforward project management system from 37signals: https://www.basecamp.com/lennyVanta—Automate compliance. Simplify security: https://vanta.com/lenny—Where to find Bret Taylor:• X: https://x.com/btaylor• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brettaylor/—Where to find Lenny:• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/—In this episode, we cover:(00:00) Introduction to Bret Taylor(04:10) Bret's early career and first major mistake(08:24) The birth of Google Maps(11:57) Lessons from FriendFeed and the importance of honest feedback(31:30) The future of coding and AI's role(45:26) Preparing the next generation for an AI-driven world(48:46) AI in education(52:05) Business strategies in the AI market(01:04:38) Outcome-based pricing in AI(01:09:15) Productivity gains and AI(01:17:35) Go-to-market strategies for AI products(01:21:49) Lightning round and final thoughts—Referenced:• Marissa Mayer on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marissamayer/• “Lazy Sunday”—SNL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRhTeaa_B98• Quip: https://quip.com/• Sierra: https://sierra.ai/• FriendFeed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FriendFeed• Sheryl Sandberg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheryl-sandberg-5126652/• Jim Norris on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/halfspin/• Paul Buchheit on X: https://x.com/paultoo• Sanjeev Singh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sanjeev-singh-20a1b72/• Barack Obama: https://www.obamalibrary.gov/obamas/president-barack-obama• Oprah Winfrey: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oprah_Winfrey• Ashton Kutcher: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashton_Kutcher• PayPal Mafia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PayPal_Mafia• Sam Altman on X: https://x.com/sama• Warren Buffett on X: https://x.com/warrenbuffett• Unix: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unix• Fortran: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortran• C: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C_(programming_language)• Python: https://www.python.org/• Perl: https://www.perl.org/• Rust: https://www.rust-lang.org/• Eleven Labs: https://elevenlabs.io/• The exact AI playbook (using MCPs, custom GPTs, Granola) that saved ElevenLabs $100k+ and helps them ship daily | Luke Harries (Head of Growth): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-ai-marketing-stack• Confluent: https://www.confluent.io/• Databricks: https://www.databricks.com/• Snowflake: https://www.snowflake.com• Harvey: https://www.harvey.ai/• Behind the founder: Marc Benioff: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/behind-the-founder-marc-benioff• Larry Summers's website: https://larrysummers.com/• AutoCAD: https://www.autodesk.com/products/autocad/overview• Revit: https://www.autodesk.com/products/revit/• The art and science of pricing | Madhavan Ramanujam (Monetizing Innovation, Simon-Kucher): https://www.amazon.com/Monetizing-Innovation-Companies-Design-Product/dp/1119240867• Pricing your AI product: Lessons from 400+ companies and 50 unicorns | Madhavan Ramanujam: https://lenny.substack.com/p/pricing-and-scaling-your-ai-product-madhavan-ramanujam• Cursor: https://cursor.com/• CodeX: https://openai.com/codex/• Claude Code: https://www.anthropic.com/claude-code• The rise of Cursor: The $300M ARR AI tool that engineers can't stop using | Michael Truell (co-founder and CEO): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-rise-of-cursor-michael-truell• DirecTV: https://www.directv.com/• SiriusXM: https://www.siriusxm.com/• Wayfair: https://www.wayfair.com/• Akai: https://www.akaipro.com/• Chubbies Shorts: https://www.chubbiesshorts.com/• Weight Watchers: https://www.weightwatchers.com/• CLEAR: https://www.clearme.com/• Stripe: https://stripe.com/• Building product at Stripe: craft, metrics, and customer obsession | Jeff Weinstein (Product lead): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/building-product-at-stripe-jeff-weinstein• Twilio: https://www.twilio.com/• ServiceNow: https://www.servicenow.com/• Adobe: https://www.adobe.com/• Jobs to be done: https://jobs-to-be-done.com/jobs-to-be-done-a-framework-for-customer-needs-c883cbf61c90• The ultimate guide to JTBD | Bob Moesta (co-creator of the framework): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-ultimate-guide-to-jtbd-bob-moesta• Inception: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1375666/• Alan Kay's quote: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/alan_kay_100831• Jobs at Sierra: https://sierra.ai/careers—Recommended books:• Monetizing Innovation: How Smart Companies Design the Product Around the Price: https://www.amazon.com/Monetizing-Innovation-Companies-Design-Product/dp/1119240867• Competing Against Luck: The Story of Innovation and Customer Choice: https://www.amazon.com/Competing-Against-Luck-Innovation-Customer/dp/0062435612• Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage: https://www.amazon.com/Endurance-Shackletons-Incredible-Alfred-Lansing/dp/0465062881—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. To hear more, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com

In this episode of Builders Wanted, we're joined by Victoria Hornby, CEO of Mental Health Innovations. Victoria explores the intersection of empathy and technology in mental health support, the importance of accessibility, and the impact of leveraging digital platforms to build trust at scale. Learn more about the challenges and successes of adapting technology to create human connections and the continuous effort to innovate and reach marginalized communities.-------------------Key Takeaways:Technology can bridge gaps and make mental health support more accessible and effective.The importance of flexibility to pivot quickly in response to external factors while maintaining the quality of services.A data-driven approach helps tailor training for volunteers and adapt their methods to better meet the needs of specific user groups.-------------------“ We are using technology to connect a person who is struggling with another person who has decided and trained to help someone exactly in that moment.  There's a technical connection, and then that facilitates a human connection. And that means that we are able to provide that service and that connection at scale and 24 hours a day.” – Victoria Hornby-------------------Episode Timestamps:‍*(05:44) - What it means to “build trust” in the context of mental health‍*(09:50) - How Mental Health Innovations uses technology to expand access‍*(16:17) - How data helps MHI improve its services‍*(24:57) - The tradeoff between speed and stability ‍*(34:36) - A change or experiment that made a big difference at MHI‍*(37:20) - A shift in mental health or nonprofit tech Victoria is watching closely-------------------Links:Connect with Victoria on LinkedInConnect with Kailey on LinkedInLearn more about Caspian Studios-------------------SponsorBuilders Wanted is brought to you by Twilio – the Customer Engagement Platform that helps builders turn real-time data into meaningful customer experiences. More than 320,000 businesses trust Twilio to transform signals into connections—and connections into revenue. Ready to build what's next? Learn more at twilio.com.

Voice has always been a powerful way to connect with customers, but until recently, voice AI struggled to deliver the kind of seamless experience we associate with great service. That is starting to change. In this episode, I catch up with Sam Richardson from Twilio to discuss the renewed momentum behind voice AI and what it means for the future of customer experience. Sam explains why voice is gaining relevance again. It is not just because the technology has improved, but because customers still prefer natural conversations when solving problems.  According to Twilio's research, more than half of customers want to know when they are speaking to a bot, while nearly half do not mind as long as their issue gets resolved. That balance is important. It is not about deception. It is about resolving problems efficiently without losing the human touch. We talked about the balance between automation and empathy. Sam emphasizes the importance of escalation paths. When a customer is frustrated, repeating themselves, or directly asking for a person, they should be able to reach one. Without that, companies risk creating what he calls “reality privilege,” where only premium customers receive human support. Voice AI should serve everyone, not create unfair divides. Sam also shared how Twilio is helping businesses adapt without replacing everything. Using API-based tools, companies can integrate voice AI into existing systems. That flexibility matters, especially since 96 percent of Twilio customers are building custom customer experience solutions to fit their specific environments. This is especially relevant in industries like hospitality, retail, and automotive. The early results are promising. Some companies are seeing a 60 to 70 percent increase in call containment and a noticeable drop in contact volume. Customer satisfaction scores have not suffered. Still, Sam is realistic. Long-term impact takes time to measure. The key is testing thoroughly, choosing the right solution, and tracking how customers actually feel.

Peter Deng has led product teams at OpenAI, Instagram, Uber, Facebook, Airtable, and Oculus and helped build products used by billions—including Facebook's News Feed, the standalone Messenger app, Instagram filters, Uber Reserve, ChatGPT, and more. Currently he's investing in early-stage founders at Felicis. In this episode, Peter dives into his most valuable lessons from building and scaling some of tech's most iconic products and companies.What you'll learn:1. Peter's one‑sentence test for hiring superstars2. Why your product (probably) doesn't matter3. Why you don't need a tech breakthrough to build a huge business4. The five PM archetypes, and how to build a team of Avengers5. Counterintuitive lessons on growing products from 0 to 1, and 1 to 1006. The importance of data flywheels and workflows—Brought to you by:Paragon—Ship every SaaS integration your customers wantPragmatic Institute—Industry‑recognized product, marketing, and AI training and certificationsContentsquare—Create better digital experiences—Where to find Peter Deng:• X: https://x.com/pxd• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterxdeng/—In this episode, we cover:(00:00) Introduction to Peter Deng(05:41) AI and AGI insights(11:35) The future of education with AI(16:53) The power of language in leadership(21:01) Building iconic products(36:44) Scaling from zero to 100(41:56) Balancing short- and long-term goals(47:12) Creating a healthy tension in teams(50:02) The five archetypes of product managers(55:39) Primary and secondary archetypes(58:47) Hiring for growth mindset and autonomy(01:15:52) Effective management and communication strategies(01:19:23) Presentation advice and self-advocacy(01:25:50) Balancing craft and practicality in product management(01:30:40) The importance of empathy in design thinking(01:35:45) Career decisions and learning opportunities(01:42:05) Lessons from product failures(01:45:42) Lightning round and final thoughts—Referenced:• OpenAI: https://openai.com/• Artificial general intelligence (AGI): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_general_intelligence• Head of ChatGPT answers philosophical questions about AI at SXSW 2024 with SignalFire's Josh Constine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgbgI0R6XCw• Professors Are Using A.I., Too. Now What?: https://www.npr.org/2025/05/21/1252663599/kashmir-hill-ai#:~:text=Now%20What• Herbert H. Clark: https://web.stanford.edu/~clark/• Russian speakers get the blues: https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn11759-russian-speakers-get-the-blues/• Ilya Sutskever (OpenAI Chief Scientist)—Building AGI, Alignment, Future Models, Spies, Microsoft, Taiwan, & Enlightenment: https://www.dwarkesh.com/p/ilya-sutskever• Anthropic's CPO on what comes next | Mike Krieger (co-founder of Instagram): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/anthropics-cpo-heres-what-comes-next• Kevin Systrom on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinsystrom/• Building a magical AI code editor used by over 1 million developers in four months: The untold story of Windsurf | Varun Mohan (co-founder and CEO): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-untold-story-of-windsurf-varun-mohan• Microsoft CPO: If you aren't prototyping with AI, you're doing it wrong | Aparna Chennapragada: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/microsoft-cpo-on-ai• The rise of Cursor: The $300M ARR AI tool that engineers can't stop using | Michael Truell (co-founder and CEO): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-rise-of-cursor-michael-truell• Building Lovable: $10M ARR in 60 days with 15 people | Anton Osika (CEO and co-founder): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/building-lovable-anton-osika• Granola: https://www.granola.ai/• Inside Bolt: From near-death to ~$40m ARR in 5 months—one of the fastest-growing products in history | Eric Simons (founder and CEO of StackBlitz): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/inside-bolt-eric-simons• OpenAI's CPO on how AI changes must-have skills, moats, coding, startup playbooks, more | Kevin Weil (CPO at OpenAI, ex-Instagram, Twitter): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/kevin-weil-open-ai• Fidji Simo on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fidjisimo/• Airtable: https://www.airtable.com/• George Lee on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/geolee/• Andrew Chen on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewchen/• Lauryn Motamedi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurynmotamedi/• Twilio: https://www.twilio.com/• Nick Turley on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholasturley/• Ian Silber on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iansilber/• Thomas Dimson on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasdimson/• Joey Flynn on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joey-flynn-8291586b/• Ryan O'Rourke's website: https://www.rourkery.com/• Joanne Jang on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jangjoanne/• Behind the founder: Marc Benioff: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/behind-the-founder-marc-benioff• Jill Hazelbaker on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jill-hazelbaker-3aa32422/• Guy Kawasaki's website: https://guykawasaki.com/• Eric Antonow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/antonow/• Sachin Kansal on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sachinkansal/• IDEO design thinking: https://designthinking.ideo.com/• The 7 Steps of the Design Thinking Process: https://www.ideou.com/blogs/inspiration/design-thinking-process• Linear's secret to building beloved B2B products | Nan Yu (Head of Product): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/linears-secret-to-building-beloved-b2b-products-nan-yu• Jeff Bezos's quote: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27778175• Friendster: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friendster• Myspace: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myspace• How LinkedIn became interesting: The inside story | Tomer Cohen (CPO at LinkedIn): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-linkedin-became-interesting-tomer-cohen• “Smile” by Jay-Z: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSumXG5_rs8&list=RDSSumXG5_rs8&start_radio=1• The Wire on HBO: https://www.hbo.com/the-wire• Felicis: https://www.felicis.com/—Recommended books:• Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind: https://www.amazon.com/Sapiens-Humankind-Yuval-Noah-Harari/dp/0062316095• The Design of Everyday Things: https://www.amazon.com/Design-Everyday-Things-Revised-Expanded/dp/0465050654• The Silk Roads: A New History of the World: https://www.amazon.com/Silk-Roads-New-History-World/dp/1101912375—Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.—Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

The Gross Domestic Product of the United States fell last quarter by 0.3%. The big tech giants are still growing. Jason Moser and Asit Sharma join Ricky Mulvey to discuss: - If the U.S. economy is sliding into a recession. - Earnings from Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and Apple. - If investors should mind 20% of the S&P 500's market cap being tied to four companies. Then (19:11) Motley Fool Contributor Rick Munnariz joins Mary Long to discuss Universal Studio's new park, Epic Universe, and the state of the travel industry. (32:17) Asit and Jason break down two radar stocks: Twilio and Reddit. Host: Ricky Mulvey Guests: Jason Moser, Asit Sharma, Mary Long, Rick Munarriz Engineer: Dan Boyd Notes: How a millions of dollars worth of NFTs temporarily disappeared: https://www.404media.co/nfts-that-cost-millions-replaced-with-error-message-after-project-downgraded-to-free-cloudflare-plan/ This advertisement is sponsored content and is provided for informational purposes only. The Motley Fool and its affiliates (collectively, "TMF") do not endorse, recommend, or verify the accuracy or completeness of the statements made within this advertisement. TMF is not involved in the offer, sale, or solicitation of any securities advertised herein and makes no representations regarding the suitability, or risks associated with any investment opportunity presented. Investors should conduct their own due diligence and consult with legal, tax, and financial advisors before making any investment decisions. TMF assumes no responsibility for any losses or damages arising from this advertisement Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices