Shows
UNPAK3D PodcastEp. 21: Disrupting the Custodial Duopoly and Building the "Robinhood for Advisors w/ Jason Wenk CEO @ AltruistIn this episode, we sit down with Jason Wenk, Founder and CEO of Altruist. Jason shares the "lightbulb moment" he had watching Robinhood take off, realizing that Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) were stuck using archaic, disjointed technology while consumers were getting sleek, digital experiences.We unpack how Altruist is taking on the industry giants (the "Duopoly") through vertical integration and why Jason believes legacy custodians have zero incentive to innovate. We also dive deep into the controversial side of company building: the return of "hardcore" work culture, hiring for intensity, and why Jason believes...
2025-12-181h 10
UNPAK3D PodcastEp. 20: From Hype to Production: Inside Writer’s Playbook for Deploying Enterprise AI w/ Waseem Alshikh, CTO @ WriterIn this episode of UNPAK3D, we sit down with Waseem Alshikh, co-founder and CTO of Writer, to unpack the reality of deploying Generative AI in the enterprise. While the consumer market chases the latest AGI hype, Waseem explains why the enterprise roadmap requires a different approach: predictability, domain specificity, and a shift from simple content generation to executing complex actions.We dive deep into Writer's "full-stack" strategy—owning the LLM family (Palmera), the graph-based context layer, and the application layer—and why this architecture is critical for security and accuracy in regulated industries like...
2025-11-261h 00
UNPAK3D PodcastEp 19: Community Is the New Moat: Stack Overflow’s Second Act with Prashanth ChandrasekarStack Overflow has been the home for developers for over a decade — but the rise of AI is changing everything. In this episode, we talk to Prashanth Chandrasekhar, CEO of Stack Overflow, about how he’s reinventing the company from an ad-based community platform to an enterprise SaaS and data licensing business at the center of the AI ecosystem.We discuss:How Stack Overflow’s data powers models from OpenAI and GoogleWhat it takes to lead a “people transformation” during industry disruptionThe future of developer communities and the rise of agentic...
2025-10-301h 11
UNPAK3D PodcastEp. 18: AI for the CFO — Numeric’s Playbook with Parker Gilbert, CEO of NumericParker Gilbert, founder & CEO of Numeric, joins the UNPAK3D podcast to walk through why finance teams are finally ready for AI-driven modeling, how Numeric approaches the hardest part (financial data and reliability), and the practical GTM playbook for selling to CFOs.Parker explains his path from strategy and scaling early-stage companies to starting Numeric, the “aha” problem Numeric solves for the office of the CFO, and how the product balances automation with auditability. We dig into data quality, model scaffolding, customer feedback loops, pricing and go-to-market lessons, and the fundraising choices that shaped Numeric’s early growth...
2025-09-181h 00
UNPAK3D PodcastEp. 17: Why the Smartest Companies Will Fire SaaS and Hire AI with Surojit Chatterjee from Ema AIFrom $50B mobile ads at Google to taking Coinbase public, Surojit Chatterjee has spotted — and seized — every major tech inflection point. Now, as CEO of Ema, he’s betting on “AI employees” to transform how enterprises work.In this episode: spotting trillion-dollar trends, building AI that works across industries, and why the future belongs to first-principles thinkers.(0:16) Surojit’s journey: Google, Flipkart, Coinbase, and the leap to Ema(7:20) The “AI employee” vision — and why no one got it at first(14:07) Spotting tech inflection points: lessons from mobile, crypto, and AI(17:1...
2025-08-141h 05
UNPAK3D PodcastEp. 16 Security for the Cloud + AI Era: A Conversation with Sanjay Beri, CEO of NetskopeIn this episode, we sit down with Sanjay Beri, founder and CEO of Netskope, to explore how he built one of the most innovative cybersecurity companies of our time—now generating $500M+ in revenue and protecting over one-third of the Fortune 100.We dive deep into:The vision behind Netskope and its role in a multi-hundred billion dollar market shiftWhy balancing strategic foresight with day-to-day customer interaction is core to Sanjay’s leadership styleHow Netskope hires for culture over pedigree, and why empathy and openness are part of formal performance revi...
2025-06-261h 00
UNPAK3D PodcastEp. 15: Decoding AI Trust- A Conversation with Galileo AI's Atin SanyalIn this episode we had a fantastic time talking to Atin Sanyal the CTO of Galileo. Galileo is a fast-growing GenAI Evaluation platform, which ensures AI apps perform reliably. In this episode we cover a lot of ground from Atin's read on the state of AI in the enterprise to how you deploy it reliably. Please listen, like and subscribe!1:08 - Atin’s journey to Galileo3:49 - What does Galileo do?11:17 - AI as a Judge and How Galileo Works14:45- Generalizing AI Evals24:44 - Defining an ICP in the AI...
2025-05-2959 min
UNPAK3D PodcastEp 14: Mike Conover, CEO at Brightwave: Building AI for the EnterpriseA power-packed Unpak3d Podcast featuring Mike Conover, CEO of Brightwave, sharing battle-tested strategies for enterprise AI success. Mike breaks down exactly how to build, scale, and dominate in the AI-first era.Since recording this episode, Brightwave has launched Report Builder and Blueprints, two powerful new features that mark the debut of the first deep research platform purpose-built for private market investors. These tools help investment teams go from a 1,000-page data room to a fully sourced, sharable report in minutes—automating workflows like investment memos, expert call summaries, and comp analyses.Key...
2025-04-171h 04
UNPAK3D PodcastEp. 13: Jake Heller, CEO/Founder of Casetext: Riding the AI WaveWe had a fantastic conversation with Jake Heller who founded Casetext and sold the company to Thomson Reuters for $650M. We cover the Casetext journey to AI, how he positioned himself to take advantage of the AI wave and his lessons on creating a buzz for M&A. Listen, like and subscribe!1:00 - The Casetext journey5:00 - Learning to leverage AI21:00 - Moats in Vertical AI29:00 - Thoughts on Building an AI-native startup32:57 - Defining Customer Obsession and finding PMF55:23 - Lessons on hiring...
2025-03-131h 10
UNPAK3D PodcastEp 12: George Mathew, MD at Insight Partners: The Recipe for Building Generational CompaniesWe had a great conversation with George on his career lessons, coaching his founders to be great, how AI is shifting business models and where he sees the opportunity emerging
Please listen, like and subscribe!
1:42 - George's Journey10:36 - Lessons and Resilience born from Failure26:59 - Coaching Well-Rounded Founders33:56 - Remember the Fundamentals when Building AI40:22 - Changing business models to fit AI52:43 - Where do startups win in a noisy world?1:03:36 - Decompress
2025-01-091h 08
UNPAK3D PodcastEp 11: Ankit Jain, CEO of Infinitus: Selling AI in HealthcareIn this episode, we have a fantastic conversation with Ankit Jain, CEO of Infinitus. We cover a broad range of topics around selling, delivering value and building with a focus on how Infinitus has been successful in healthcare. We then talk about how AI going to be impact healthcare and how it will get adopted. Please listen and subscribe!
1:27 - Ankit's Journey to Infinitus
14:01 - Taking the entrepreneurial plunge
19:50 - Choosing and building the Services as a Software approach
30:58 - Spotlight on Infinitus
35:11- Pricing Service...
2024-11-1459 min
UNPAK3D PodcastEp 10 Shyam Rao (Founder @ Punchh): ROI for Early Customers = Repeatable GTMIn this insightful episode, we sit down with Shyam Rao, the founder and CEO of Punchh, for a deep dive into the world of startups and entrepreneurship. Shyam shares his wealth of experience, from bootstrapping Punchh in its early days to scaling it into a successful venture.
13:33 Finding Your First Customers
17:27 Bootstrapping and Early Growth Reflecting on Punchh's journey
27:07 Product-Led Approach
33:39 Focusing on ROI In the early days
35:11 Aligning with Customer Goals
44:09 Building a Strong Company Culture
50:10 Thoughtful Hiring as You Grow
2024-09-1257 min
UNPAK3D PodcastEp. 9 Sumit Agarwal (Ario CEO, Founder Shape Security): Building 3D Products- Defensible, Delightful, DifferentiatedWe talk to Sumit Agarwal the founder of Ario and Shape Security (acq by F5 for $1B). We decrypt the the journey from the military to building a deep cybersecurity product and now a personal AI assistant. Listen in to uncover his 3D framework that guided the journey of Shape and now Ario. We wrap with how to navigate M&A, a theme which we believe is going to be a key topic in several board meetings this and next year.
3:13 - Sumit's Journey from Air Force to Security to AI
10:07 - Identifying Hard...
2024-07-181h 01
UNPAK3D PodcastEp. 8 Cedric Bru (CEO Taulia): Navigating Crises and Reinventing the BusinessIn this episode, we talk to Cedric Bru, the CEO of Taulia. Cedric joined the company after spending 7 years as an exec at Visa. In this episode, we dive deeply into how Cedric put his imprint on the business and navigated a crisis with one of their partners going bankrupt.
1:29 - Cedric’s journey into entrepreneurship and going from big company to startup18:39 - Embracing the possibility of failure when running a startup23:40 - Developing a high performance culture35:28 - Putting your imprint on the business as a new leader...
2024-06-121h 08
UNPAK3D PodcastEp. 7 Varun Badhwar: Taking a Big Swing and Navigating CybersecurityIn this episode we have a great conversation with Varun Badhwar. Varun sold his first company, Redlock, to Palo Alto for over $200M. He recently embarked on his 2nd journey to build Endor Labs, where he raised a $70M Series A to secure the software supply chain.
In this episode we cover:
1:04 - Varun’s foray into startups8:57 - Hiring and building the best when $s are constrained17:33 - Positioning for success in a noisy market32:02 - Early GTM Success in an expensive environment41:08 - Navigating the Palo Al...
2024-05-301h 06
UNPAK3D PodcastEp. 6 Bob Muglia (CEO Snowflake): Scaling with Partnerships1:12 - Story at Microsoft9:54 - Dealing with ups and downs14:30 - Bob’s new book “The Datapreneurs: The Promise of AI and the Creators Building Our Future”17:55 - Culture through scaling24:26 - What do you look for when hiring35:20 - Strategies to compete in the modern landscape50:42 - Threading the needle
2024-04-2659 min
UNPAK3D PodcastEp. 5: Mahe Bayireddi (Co-founder Phenom): Leveraging AI for ScaleIn this episode we cover Mahe's journey to being a founder, how Phenom found it's niche and what makes them successful as a business
1:12 - Mahe’s journey8:01 - AI’s role in business20:09 - How do you find a wedge in today’s software saturated world?29:38 - Building/hiring for a sustainable organization45:32 - Scaling a business
2024-03-1557 min
UNPAK3D PodcastEpisode 4: Amr Awadallah- Winning in Competitive MarketsJoin us for this fantastic conversation with Amr Awadallah, the founder of Cloudera and Vectara. We covered a wide range of topics on company building and lessons learned during a long, successful career.
00:45- Amr’s journey to the Valley and breaking in as an immigrant
6:22- Embarking on the Entrepreneurial Journey and Building a Lasting Business
23:30- The art of blending simplicity with technical depth in product
25:05- Balancing culture and talent
31:20- Spotlight on Vector
38:05- Signs of PMF, When to Speed Up...
2024-02-1547 min
UNPAK3D PodcastEpisode 3: Glen Tullman (Founder Transcarent and Livongo) on Cultivating the Founder Mindset and Getting it Right in HealthcareIn this episode we cover:
00:56- Glen's journey to entrepreneurship + healthcare and the learnings along the way
15:19- Getting timing right in healthcare
21:04- Building great culture in tough times
26:40- Hiring the best leaders and putting together an exceptional board
30:11- Advice on scaling at different stages of the business
36:00- Accomplishing his life's mission and staying mentally energized through the journey
2024-01-1140 min
UNPAK3D PodcastEp 2: Andrew Lau (CEO Jellyfish)- Product Grit and the Power of "No"On this episode, we go through Andrew's journey through 2 startups and dive into some very interesting lessons learned along the way.
1:20- Andrew's background and journey
4:19- Why Jellyfish and why now? + The market opportunity
15:08- Selecting design partners + Learning from the "No's"
20:36- Tying Vision and Culture
24:58- Andrew's Leadership style + Hiring the right people
32:20- What kept Andrew up at night post-PMF
34:31- Decompressing + Staying mentally fit through the journey
2023-12-1438 min
UNPAK3D PodcastEp 1: Dheeraj Pandey (CEO Nutanix and DevRev) and Lessons on Scaling and HiringDheeraj Pandey was the Founder, CEO & Chairman of Nutanix. Nutanix was the fastest company to achieven US$1B ARR scale and the biggest IPO in 2016. He is now working on his next company DevRev. Prior to founding Nutanix, Dheeraj was the VP of Engineering at Aster Data (acquired by Teradata), where he helped build the product and its engineering team from the ground up.
In This Epsiode with Dheeraj, We Discuss:
Navigating Risk-taking and “connecting the dots” in entrepreneurial/operator journey
Building Nutanix and DevRev - with a focus on culture and hiring
Seed...
2023-11-081h 02