Great Entrepreneurs with RJ Lumba

In this episode, we speak with Rahul Ponnala, the CEO and Co-Founder of Granica, an AI research and systems company helping enterprises leverage AI efficiently and safely.  Granica is backed by Bain Capital Ventures, New Enterprise Associates and other notable investors. In 2019, Rahul and his team’s mission was to increase the signal-to-noise ratio of information and thus make AI safer to use, more efficient, and more effective. Their research is deeply rooted in information science, machine intelligence, computer vision, natural language, and distributed systems, with a special emphasis on elevating the efficiency and safety of AI systems through fundamental and innovative research. Before Granica, Rahul was the Director of Solutions & Integrations Engineering at Pure Storage. I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show.  If you like the episode click to follow.

In this episode, we speak with Siva Namasivayam, the Co-Founder and CEO of Cohere Health, a clinical intelligence company that provides intelligent prior authorization as a springboard to better quality outcomes, by aligning physicians and health plans on evidence-based care paths for the patient's entire care journey. The company is backed by Deerfield Management, Polaris Partners and other notable investors. Prior to co-founding Cohere, Siva founded and grew SCIO Health Analytics from 0 to $90 million with 20% plus EBITDA margins and 1,100 employees and led the strategic exit at a valuation of $240 million in 2018. I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show.  If you like the episode click to follow.

In this episode, we speak with Matt Kunkel and Jon Seigler, the Co-Founders of LogicGate, a global market-leading SaaS company enabling cybersecurity, governance, risk and compliance teams to easily and effectively accelerate their GRC program maturity.  The organization's platform has received numerous praise from industry experts and analysts, noting the user experience is second to none. Based in Chicago, LogicGate serves almost 400 brands across the globe - simplifying the complex to help GRC leaders be more efficient, productive and effective. They have expertise in FinTech, Banking, Healthcare, Hospitality, Energy and many other industries. Matt and Jon support Seneca Foundation. To learn more about this organization click here. I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show.  If you like the episode click to follow.

In this episode, we speak with Jennifer Smith, the CEO and Co-Founder of Scribe, a process documentation platform that saves teams time by automatically creating and distributing step-by-step guides. In 2019, Jennifer helped create Scribe with the mission of unleashing know-how across teams, organizations, and communities. Her team built Scribe so that companies can capture what best performers know and quickly share it with anyone. Scribe cares about helping professionals do and share their best work. Prior to Scribe, Jennifer was Head of Business Development and Partnerships at Greylock Partners and before that was an Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Company.  Scribe is backed by Redpoint, Tiger Global, and other notable investors. I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show.  If you like the episode click to follow.

In this episode, we speak with Wardah Inam, the Founder and CEO of Overjet, which builds artificial intelligence that helps dental organizations give patients the highest quality of care. In 2018, Wardah was part of a group of computer scientists from MIT who came together with dentists from Harvard to build something special: Dental AI. Thousands of dental professionals rely on Overjet to perform their most important work — with a level of precision, consistency, and speed that is only possible with artificial intelligence. Before Overjet, Wardah was Lead Product Manager at Q bio and before that, a Postdoctoral Associate at MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.  Overjet is backed by March Capital, General Catalyst, Insight Partners, and other notable investors. Wardah supports Rise for Fistula Foundation. To learn more about this organization click here. I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show.  If you like the episode click to follow.

In this episode, we speak with Eric Kinariwala, the Founder and CEO of Capsule, a technology business rebuilding the pharmacy industry from the inside out with an emotionally resonant consumer experience and technology that enables customized outcomes for doctors, hospitals, insurers, and manufacturers. The origin of Capsule stems from a terrible experience Eric had at the drugstore. A sinus infection turned into Eric questioning the inconvenient way individuals have to jump through several hoops to get prescriptions. He created the type of pharmacy made up of friendly, caring pharmacists who carry prescriptions straight to your door, at the tap of your phone. Eric spent the early part of his career as an investor across healthcare, technology, and retail. I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show.  If you like the episode click to follow.

In this episode, we speak with Chris Crosby, the CEO of Compass Datacenters, a company that designs and constructs data centers for some of the world’s largest hyperscalers and cloud providers on campuses across the globe. The company has taken in over $4 billion of capital and is backed by Ontario Teachers and Brookfield, among others. In 2011, Chris’ vision was to focus on greenfield projects and deliver customizable, scalable, sustainable, and low-cost data centers in an expedited time frame.  Since its inception, Compass Datacenters has embraced sustainability with the efficient use of land, green energy, water-free cooling, and building materials. I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show.  If you like the episode click to follow.

In this episode, we speak with Chris Bach, the Co-Founder of Netlify, a platform for developers to build highly-performant and dynamic web sites, e-commerce stores and applications. In 2015, Chris and his team saw that the web would be endlessly more performant, secure and scalable if it would move off the traditional monoliths to a new decoupled architecture. By uniting an extensive ecosystem of technologies, services and APIs into one workflow, Netlify unlocks new levels of team productivity, while saving time and money. Netlify has raised over $200 million from Andreessen Horowitz, Bessemer, Bond, EQT and other notable investors. I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show.  If you like the episode click to follow.

In this episode, we speak with Al Goldstein, the Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Amount, which provides financial institutions with a range of products and services designed to deliver a seamless digital and mobile customer experience. In 2016, Al founded Amount to build software that re-engineers consumer, small business, and embedded finance solutions to make banking simpler, safer and more convenient for today’s digital-first customer. Al Goldstein has an extensive work background in various industries. Prior to Amount, he co-founded Pangea Properties and Avant. He is also currently the Co-Founder, CEO, and Chairman at StoicLane. I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show.  If you like the episode click to follow.

In this episode, we speak with Harshit Jain, the Founder and Global CEO of Doceree, the first global network of physician-only platforms for programmatic marketing. In 2019, Harshit designed Doceree by trying to address the problem of rising costs of healthcare by bringing in efficiency and effectiveness in healthcare marketing, using data and creativity. Doctor HJ is a physician with a vast history in the healthcare field. Before founding Doceree, Harshit held a series of positions including Country Head, Marketing Director, and Innovation Lead for McCann Health. He was also Vice President of both Via Media Health and Altruista Health. I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show.  If you like the episode click to follow.

In this episode, we speak with Chen Amit, the Co-founder and CEO of Tipalti, the only global payables automation solution to streamline all phases of the accounts payable and payment management workflow in one holistic cloud platform. In 2010, Chen Amit and Orez Zeev created Tipalti to transform global payables with true, end-to-end automation that removes the pains and risks of paying suppliers around the world.  Tipalti has raised over $700 million from notable investors including Durable Capital Partners, G Squared and others. Prior to Tipalti, Chen was CEO of Atrica, a Carrier Ethernet company that Nokia-Siemens acquired. Before Atrica, Chen was co-founder and CEO of Verix, a provider of business intelligence software. I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show.  If you like the episode click to follow.

In this episode, we speak with Amir Nathoo, the Co-founder and Head of Outschool, a community marketplace of live online classes for kids. In 2015, Amir founded Outschool with Nick Grandy and Mikhail Seregine. The company’s mission is to inspire kids to love learning by providing them with innovative learning opportunities outside of the regular classroom. The classes are offered by independent teachers and take place in small-groups over live video chat with assignments and feedback between the live sessions. Outschool has raised over $240 million from notable investors including Tiger Global, Coatue, Lightspeed and others. Prior to Outschool, Amir was a product lead for Square Payroll and a software developer for IBM. His passion for writing software started at a young age and he strives to find technological and social levers that can drive positive change in the world. I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show.  If you like the episode click to follow.

In this episode, we speak with Vijay Tella, the Co-founder and CEO of Workato, a platform for intelligent integration and workflow automation. In 2013, Workato was founded by Vijay Tella, Gautham Viswanathan, and Harish Shetty. Their intention was  automating workflows through a no-code platform. Prior to Workato, Vijay was CEO of Qik, a consumer video communications company acquired by Skype. Workato has raised over $400 million and is backed by Battery Ventures, Altimeter, Insight Partners, Norwest, and other notable investors. I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show.  If you like the episode click to follow.

In this episode, we speak with Scott Voigt, the Founder and CEO of FullStory, a behavioral data platform that helps technology leaders make better, more informed decisions. In 2014, Scott teamed up with two former Innuvo colleagues to develop the earliest iterations of Fullstory. Scott’s mission is for organizations to understand their customers like never before. FullStory’s platform allows businesses to create world-class experiences that increase funnel conversion, easily detect malicious behaviors and fraud, and identify their highest-value customers effortlessly. Prior to co-founding Fullstory, Voigt led marketing at Silverpop before the company was acquired by IBM. Previously, he worked at Noro-Moseley Partners, the Southeast's largest Venture firm, and also served as COO at Innuvo, which was acquired by Google. I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show.  If you like the episode click to follow.

In this episode, we speak with Brian Beutler, the Founder and CEO of Alianza, which delivers the only true cloud-native, carrier-grade communications platform built for service providers. In 2009, after previous years of helping businesses embrace cloud communications, Brian decided to take that same model and help service providers with their next-generation infrastructure. Service Providers that are powered by Alianza are growing faster, drastically simplifying their operations, and delivering better customer experiences. Before Alianza, Brian founded GetFon, which was sold to AT&T/Alestra in 2008. Brian supports Water for South Sudan. To learn more about this organization click here. I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show.  If you like the episode click to follow.

In this episode, we speak with Steve Meller, the CEO and Co-founder of CH4 Global, a company whose mission is to meaningfully impact climate change at scale, by developing gigatonne-scale greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation solutions for global industries and governments. In 2020, Steve Meller and his team’s initial focus was methane. They had an urgent initiative to research cutting methane emissions from livestock by making a sustainable, globally-scaled supply of a unique seaweed product available to the world. Steve leads a team of global business veterans with expertise in turning ambitious ideas into successful, fit-for-purpose products. Since an early retirement in late 2012 from a successful corporate executive career at P&G as Chief Innovation Catalyst, Steve has founded or co-founded four companies in the healthcare, tech, sustainability, and innovation sectors. I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show.  If you like the episode click to follow.

In this episode, we speak with David Flynn, the CEO and Co-Founder of Hammerspace, which delivers a global data environment which spans across data centers, AWS, Azure, and Google cloud infrastructure. David is a recognized leader in IT innovation and  has been architecting disruptive computing platforms since his early work in supercomputing and Linux systems. Early on, David had a fascination with understanding how things work, a passion for technology, and the potential to make significant contributions to society through innovation. Before Hammerspace, David pioneered the use of flash for enterprise application acceleration as founder and former CEO of Fusion-io, which was acquired by SanDisk in 2014.  He also served as Chief-Architect at Linux Networx where he was instrumental in the creation of the OpenFabrics stack and designed several of the world’s largest supercomputers leveraging Linux clustering, InfiniBand, and RDMA-based technologies. I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show.  If you like the episode click to follow.

In this episode, we speak with the CEO and Co-Founder of Peachtree Group, Greg Friedman. Peachtree Group is a vertically integrated investment management firm specializing in identifying and capitalizing on opportunities in dislocated markets, anchored by commercial real estate. Greg has successfully led Peachtree in more than $8 Billion in hotel acquisitions, investments and development since co-founding the company. Greg was formerly Senior Vice President of Business Development for Specialty Finance Group, a direct lender providing hotel first mortgage and FF&E financing, where he originated more than $2 billion of hotel debt.  He was also previously Vice President of Business Development for GMAC Commercial Mortgage Asset-Backed Lending Division. I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show.  If you like the episode click to follow.

In this episode, we speak with Snehal Antani, the CEO and Co-Founder of Horizon3.ai, a cyber security company that pioneered the use of AI to autonomously conduct penetration testing. In 2019, Snehal and his team began with a mission to help companies find and fix attack vectors before criminals can exploit them. By using the attacker’s perspective, Horizon3.ai helps enterprises prioritize defensive efforts. Before founding the company, Snehal served as the first Chief Technology Officer for Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). Before that, he was the CTO and SVP at Splunk, held multiple CIO roles at GE Capital, and was a Software Engineer at IBM. I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show.  If you like the episode click to follow.

In this episode, we speak with the Co-Founder and CEO of Armada, Dan Wright. Armada is the world’s first full-stack edge computing platform, revolutionizing connectivity, compute, and AI solutions. Armada enables companies to rapidly deploy, operate and monitor a complete modular data center to the remote corners of the world. Before Armada, Dan was the CEO of DataRobot and COO of AppDynamics. He is invested in the future of technology as an investor, advisor, and board member for various visionary startups, including Abnormal Security, Avi Networks (acquired by VMware), and Embrace. Dan is a Board Member of JDRF. To learn more about this organization click here. I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show.  If you like the episode click to follow.