The Accidental Entrepreneur: How a Side Project Turned into a Thriving Business featuring Arthur Bigeard
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In this episode of The Uncharted Podcast, host Poya Osgouei sits down with Arthur Bigeard who shares his journey from a passion project to a thriving business, turning a side hustle into a full-time venture. He discusses the long-term mindset behind building scalable software, the lessons learned from working at Morgan Stanley, and the strategic decisions that helped shape g.v, a graph database client. Tune in for insights on entrepreneurship, tech evolution, and making the leap into the unknown!
About our speaker:
Arthur Bigeard is the founder at gdotv, a universal, plug-and-play graph database client to simplify & accelerate the day-to-day tasks of graph database users. He started this project following a 10 years long cyber security career, specialising in Identity & Access Management and cryptographic solutions.
You can connect and/or follow Arthur on LinkedIn
From Founder to Operator: Lucas Lovell from Paddle on Startup Lessons & Benefits of a Founder Mindset in a Scaling Company
Listen to this week’s episode below via Spotify, Apple Podcast, or your favorite podcast platform.
In this episode of The Uncharted Podcast, host Poya Osgouei sits down with Lucas Lovell, VP of Product at Paddle, to discuss his journey from law school to founding a SaaS company and ultimately transitioning into a leadership role at a fast-growing scale-up. Lucas shares insights on navigating the shift from founder to operator, the value of cross-functional relationships, and the importance of customer empathy in product development. He also offers valuable advice for early-career professionals on prioritizing learning and leveraging strengths to create a lasting impact.
You can connect and/or follow Lucas on LinkedIn
Why Curiosity Wins: Hypermode’s Ryan Fox-Tyler on Tech, Teams, and Staying Ahead
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This week's guest is Ryan Fox-Tyler who is currently building Hypermode, an AI development platform that makes it easy to build intelligent apps and knowledge graphs. Prior, he led product at Astronomer (the data orchestration company) and spent a decade in various roles at Manulife/John Hancock.
You can find Ryan on LinkedIn and learn more about what they are working on at Hypermode.com
From Colleagues to Lifelong Friendships: How Shared Success Drives Bigger Wins featuring Kevin Mulrane and Poya Osgouei
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In this episode ofUncharted, we explore the power of collaboration in sales and leadership. Our guest shares insights on how a strong partnership mindset—rather than a zero-sum approach—can drive bigger wins, foster trust, and create lasting professional relationships. From splitting deals to scaling success, we discuss the key ingredients that make teamwork thrive and how these lessons apply to leadership, decision-making, and career growth. Tune in for stories of mutual support, business insights, and advice on building relationships that stand the test of time.
Lessons from a Serial SaaS Founder on Pivots, Perseverance, Self Awareness and AI in Business featuring Phil Carr
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This episode of the Uncharted podcast features Phil Carr, a tech entrepreneur discussing his journey from founding and exiting My PT Hub (a successful B2B2C fitness platform) to his current venture, Upzelo. Phil shares insights about his recent pivot from a SaaS retention product to an e-commerce loyalty platform, discussing the challenges of second-time entrepreneurship, knowing when to pivot, and his perspective on AI's impact on technology. The conversation covers valuable lessons about self-awareness in entrepreneurship, raising capital, and adapting to changing market conditions.
Navigating the AI Hype: Insights from Autoblocks AI CEO Haroon Choudery
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In this episode of Uncharted, Poya kicks off 2025 with an insightful conversation with Haroon, CEO of Autoblocks AI, a company pioneering tools to ensure the safe deployment of AI. Haroon shares his journey from being an ML engineer to co-founding Autoblocks, highlighting his passion for building trust in AI systems. The discussion explores the AI industry's rapid evolution, the challenges startups face in standing out, and the strategic importance of solving immediate customer pain points. Tune in to hear Haroon's grounded perspective on navigating the hype around AI, his thoughts on the battle between AI-native startups and industry incumbents, and advice for those entering the space.
About our guest:
Haroon is the Co-Founder & CEO at Autoblocks AI, one of the first-ever AI evaluation platforms.
He is also the host of the Building With AI podcast, where he interviews & distills best practices from top AI product teams at companies like OpenAI, Intercom, and Retool.
Haroon previously founded one of the top AI literacy nonprofits in the US, AI For Anyone, and is passionate about democratizing knowledge about AI.
2024’s Most-Downloaded Episode: Building Resilience, Growing Revenue, and Mastering Founder Fundamentals with Firaas Rashid
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Today's guest is Firaas Rashid, CEO and Founder of Hook. Hook is the B2B SaaS platform focused on predictable revenue growth from existing customers. Backed by Lightspeed and LocalGlobe, Hook is revolutionising the way companies forecast their revenue growth using product usage and customer data. He is passionate about changing the way Customer Success is run and building the leading workplace for ambitious people who want to be part of a team. Before founding Hook, Firaas was CTO and Head of Customer Success (EMEA) at AppDynamics, scaling from $170m to $550m Annual Recurring Revenue in 2 years. He led a rapid journey of rebuilding Customer Success to focus on data-driven prioritisation and scale. Prior to that he was a Director of IT at Credit Suisse.
Beyond his role, Firaas finds joy in travel, exploring new restaurants, and even taking to the skies.
This episode is brought to you with support from Netsuite. Learn more at Netsuite.com/scale
From College Quadmates to AI Co-Founders: Dean Shu Discusses the AI Hype, Validating Product-Market Fit, and the Top 3 Insights from Founder-Led Sales
Listen to this week’s episode below via Spotify, Apple Podcast, or your favorite podcast platform.
In this episode of Uncharted, Poya sits down with Dean Shu, founder and CEO of Arphie (https://www.arphie.ai), an AI-driven platform that accelerates RFP and questionnaire responses. Dean shares his journey from software consulting and investing to scaling startups like Scale AI, where he learned the skills that prepared him for entrepreneurship. He discusses how personal pain points and deep market research inspired him to become a founder, as well as shares his approach to founder-led sales, building customer trust, and differentiating in a crowded AI market. Dean emphasizes the importance of choosing the right co-founder, setting realistic expectations, and staying outcome-focused. Tune in for insights on navigating startup challenges and lessons from Dean’s entrepreneurial path.
About our Guest: Dean Shu is the CEO and Co-Founder of Arphie (https://www.arphie.ai), a platform that streamlines the process of responding to tedious requests for proposal (RFPs), security questionnaires, and more. Arphie was born out of his prior experience in responding to these RFPs at Scale AI, where he was the General Manager of a software business unit. Prior to Scale AI, Dean invested in B2B software companies at Insight Partners, a $90B fund based in New York, and served as a consultant to tech companies at McKinsey & Company. Dean graduated from Harvard University, where he met his Arphie co-founder Michael Chen. When he's not building Arphie, Dean spends time with his wife and their Samoyed puppy.
This episode is brought to you with support from Netsuite. Learn more at Netsuite.com/scale
From Elton John to 25 Days of Giving: The Art of Event Production, Client Relationships, and Giving Back with Ashley Montgomery
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This week's episode features Ashley Montgomery, the CEO of Montgomery Entertainment, a boutique event production agency with over 20 years of experience creating unforgettable moments across the globe. Ashley shares her approach to selecting clients, the key ingredients for successful collaborations, and why trust is at the heart of her work.
Ashley's stories inspire and offer valuable lessons in leadership and integrity. Plus, she opens up about her annual 25 Days of Giving initiative, where she’s bringing holiday cheer through community partnerships and exciting giveaways.
Tune in for a conversation filled with actionable insights, heartwarming stories, and the spirit of giving. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, event enthusiast, or just looking for a dose of inspiration, this episode is for you!
This episode is brought to you with support from Netsuite. Learn more at Netsuite.com/scale
Beyond Business: Elevating Leadership and Growth Through Health and Relationships with Chris Gannon
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About our speaker:
Chris Gannon is the Founder of Captivate Talent, a recruiting firm specializing in hiring top-tier go to market talent. In this episode, Chris dives into the importance of culture, importance of healthy decisions and the value of bringing authenticity to business. Genuine, insightful, and refreshingly no-nonsense, Chris is a leader who truly walks the talk.
This episode is brought to you with support from Netsuite. Learn more at Netsuite.com/scale
Jill of All Trades: Lessons from Ashley Wilson on Growth, Change and Embracing Uncertainty
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About our speaker:
This week's guest is Ashley Wilson, the co-founder and COO of Momentum.io. Prior to Momentum, she founded Olivine, a product marketing agency, working with companies like ServiceNow, Aruba, Diligent, and Mercury. Before that, she was an early employee and marketing leader at Sauce Labs. Ashley lives in Argentina, by way of SF, and is the mother of 3 energetic kids.
This episode is brought to you with support from Netsuite. Learn more at Netsuite.com/scale
From CS to CEO: Varun Sharma on Risk, Resilience, and Real-Time Feedback
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About our speaker:
This week's guest is Varun Sharma, CEO and co-founder of Enterpret.
Varun's journey to founding Enterpret began at Amplitude, where, as employee 15, he helped scale product analytics for startups to Fortune 500s. During this time, Varun identified a major gap: product teams knew what was happening with their data but not the why. The solution? Insights were buried in unstructured feedback—messy, inconsistent, and impossible to scale. Today, Varun and his team at Enterpret help companies like Canva, Notion, Vimeo, and Strava turn feedback into actionable insights, empowering teams to drive growth and build products users love.
This episode is brought to you with support from Netsuite. Learn more at Netsuite.com/scale
From Panic Mode to Building a Scalable Business featuring Taylor Hersom
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In this exciting episode we sit down with Taylor, founder of Eden Data, to discuss his incredible pivot from corporate life to entrepreneurship. Taylor shares the bold decision to quit his job just before the pandemic hit, leading him to turn to Upwork. From gamifying client acquisition to navigating the challenges of scaling a bootstrapped startup, Taylor reveals the highs and lows of his journey. Tune in to hear how he built a successful cybersecurity company, all while staying grounded with lessons on growth, community, and the importance of setting your own scoreboard.
About our speaker:
Taylor Hersom is the Founder and CEO of Eden Data, the leading cybersecurity firm from SOC 2 to IPO. The Texas-native Deloitte-veteran has built Eden Data into a team of 30+ ex-Big 4 security advisors with 200+ clients including Zendesk and Kindbody. The firm is the back-to-back winner of Drata’s Partner-of-the-Year award. You can follow him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylorhersom/
This episode is brought to you with support from Netsuite. Learn more at Netsuite.com/scale
Unlocking Career Growth Through Peer Communities
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More about our speaker:
Jeremy is an entrepreneur whose goal is to create products that positively impact people's lives. He caught the startup bug 18 years ago and has been building and growing products ever since. His first startup journey concluded when his team was acquired by Facebook, where he went on to spend nine years in growth and product roles. Now, Jeremy is focused on building Sidebar, a platform with a mission to connect leaders and catalyze their extraordinary success. Outside of work, he enjoys spending time with family and friends in the mountains, skiing and trail running, or at the beach, learning how to surf.
You can follow him at https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremytbarton
Embracing Failure and Leading with Values in Engineering With Balki Kodarapu
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More about our speaker:
Our guest is Balki Kodarapu, an all-in engineering leader and entrepreneur at heart. Balki has a proven track record of leading SaaS products from inception to hyper-growth, helping companies achieve 2x to 10x revenue growth, including two successful exits. He loves being a hands-on engineer, director, and VP of Engineering (all at once!), shaping product strategy and building high-performing teams. Currently, Balki leads engineering at Lōvu Health where his team helps create positive, joyful & healthy experiences for pregnant & postpartum moms every single day!
You can follow him at https://www.linkedin.com/in/balki/
This episode is brought to you with support from our sponsor, Oracle Netsuite. download the CFO’s Guide to AI and Machine Learning at NetSuite dot com slash SCALE. Learn more at netsuite.com/scale
Metrics and Data Points That Matter: Insight from Ray Rike
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More about our speaker:
Our guest this week is Ray Rike. Ray has over 30 years of experience in subscription-based software, service, and SaaS companies. His passion for data-driven, metrics informed decision making started with his selection to the GE Executive Management Development program and was subsequently enhanced by his experiences across five successful SaaS and software company exits.
These experiences, coupled with his innate analytical orientation provides the foundation for our mission to enable companies to embrace a data-driven, KPI informed decision making approach to accelerate revenue performance.
Follow Ray on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rayrike/
Manoj Agarwal on Navigating Tech's Highs and Lows, Innovation, and Building Customer-Centric Companies
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More about our speaker:
Our guest this week is Manoj Agarwal, President, and Co-founder of DevRev. Manoj is the co-founder and President of DevRev, one of the hottest startups in Silicon Valley with unprecedented seed funding and recent $1B series A round. Previously, he held executive positions at Nutanix (Nasdaq: NTNX), leading engineering teams and playing a vital role in the company's successful IPO in 2016, which was the largest tech IPO at the time. Manoj is an alumnus of IIT Kanpur and has worked in notable technology startups and companies like Synopsys and Sandisk. He left his role as SVP Engineering at Nutanix, where he spearheaded their cloud efforts, to co-found DevRev with Dheeraj Pandey in 2020.
Connect with Manoj at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/devreveler/
From Passion-Driven Teams to Startup Success: Tido Carriero on Hiring, Building Value, Overcoming Challenges, and Taking Risks in Business Leadership
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More about our speaker:
Tido was an early engineering leader at Facebook, Dropbox, and Chief Product Officer @ Segment from early days through its acquisition by Twilio. He now is Co-Founder @ Koala, which is an end-to-end pipeline generation platform used by thousands of Sales teams.
From Founder to CMO: Lessons on Marketing, Innovation, and Global Expansion featuring Andrew Davies
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More about our speaker:
Andrew Davies is the CMO of Paddle, a payments infrastructure platform for high-growth SaaS companies serving over 3000 customers. He has more than 20 years of experience in start-ups ranging from leading global demand, advisory and consultancy, and even teaching.
Tony Barbagallo's Key Lessons in Engineering, Marketing, and Leadership for Success
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More about our speaker:
Tony Barbagallo is the VP of Marketing at DuploCloud, a company that automates the most tedious tasks of DevOps. Prior to DuploCloud, Tony served as the CEO of Caringo where he was previously spearheading marketing. Prior to that, he held a variety of roles across startups and large enterprises in product management, sales, marketing and engineering. A graduate of Syracuse University, Tony currently resides in the Bay Area.