What if governments and companies could run simulations to test policy, forecast epidemics, or predict product adoption — before making a single decision?
In this episode of Pitch, Build, Scale, host Chris Fanchi sits down with John Cordier, CEO of Epistemix, to explore how digital twins and agent-based simulation are reshaping the way organizations understand human behavior and forecast change.
Epistemix’s platform builds synthetic populations — nation-scale digital twins that help health systems, pharma brands, and governments model complex societal scenarios from pandemics to consumer trends. Their work helped reopen the global events industry months ahead of schedule during COVID and is now redefining how data science teams simulate real-world systems at scale.
John shares how Epistemix is bridging public health, AI, and behavioral economics, using LLMs to generate models faster, reduce time-to-value from months to a week, and make simulation accessible for both data scientists and decision makers.
If you’ve ever wondered what “SimCity for the real world” looks like, this is it.
🕒 Chapters
00:00 Intro — From AI Agents to Faster Simulations
01:42 John Cordier’s Origin Story and Epistemix’s Founding
06:34 What Is a Digital Twin and How It Works
10:00 Why Pharma and Insurers Are Adopting Simulation
12:36 How Epistemix Helped Reopen the Global Events Industry
15:39 Using Data to Drive Better Decision Making
18:09 Integrating LLMs and AI to Reduce Time-to-Value
21:19 AI, Policy Modeling, and Empathetic Decision Making
25:59 The Future of Simulation in Health and Consumer Markets
28:55 What Success Looks Like in the Next 12 Months
31:41 Making Agent-Based Simulation as Accessible as ChatGPT
33:36 Where to Connect with John Cordier and Epistemix
🔗 Resources
🌐 Epistemix — https://www.epistemix.com
💼 Big North Marketing — https://www.bignorthmarketing.com
💬 Work With Chris & Big North Marketing
Are you a SaaS founder or software agency owner looking to turn your expertise into a revenue-generating content engine? At Big North Marketing, we help tech leaders build audiences and close clients through podcasts, content, and AI-driven outreach.
👉 Book a free growth session at BigNorthMarketing.com
What happens when decades of courtroom tradition meet the power of AI?
In this episode of Pitch, Build, Scale, host Chris Fanchi sits down with Tom Irby, Co-Founder of Skribe.ai, to explore how his company is transforming how testimony is captured, managed, and authenticated in the legal system.
After selling his first court reporting business to industry giant Veritext, Tom saw firsthand how outdated and inefficient the process was — and decided to rebuild it from the ground up. Skribe.ai replaces stenographs and videographers with an AI-powered testimony intelligence platform that’s faster, more accurate, and fully admissible in court.
Tom shares how they’re navigating regulation, building trust in a risk-averse market, and redefining what “official record” means in the digital era. Plus, he offers a refreshingly grounded take on AI adoption, innovation cycles, and the power of human adaptability.
🔑 Key Topics & Chapters
00:00 – The disruption of court reporting and testimony capture
02:00 – From PC industry to legal tech: Tom’s founder journey
05:45 – How Skribe.ai was born from pandemic-era change
09:45 – Turning depositions into a live, AI-powered platform
12:40 – Why generic transcription tools don’t work for legal testimony
14:20 – Ensuring court admissibility in every state
18:00 – Navigating old rules and modernizing legal frameworks
23:15 – From paper to video: The new gold standard in testimony
25:00 – Expansion beyond civil litigation and into law enforcement
30:20 – “You won’t lose your job to AI – you’ll lose it to someone who uses AI”
35:15 – The “magic wand” lesson: education, adoption, and early adopters
Resources
🌐 Skribe.ai — https://www.skribe.ai
🚀 Learn more about Big North Marketing — https://www.bignorthmarketing.com
Are you a SaaS founder or dev agency owner ready to grow your pipeline, scale your content, and attract higher-ticket clients through authority-driven media?
👉 Visit BigNorthMarketing.com to book your free growth consultation today.
#LegalTech #ArtificialIntelligence #Innovation #Startup #FounderStory
Some interviews are all business - and some interviews take you by surprise.
In this episode of Pitch, Build, Scale, host Chris Fanchi sits down with Jim Weldon, CEO of Prospect Desk, for an unfiltered conversation that spans the entire spectrum - from being ahead of the curve on AI and machine learning to navigating leadership in an increasingly divided world.
Jim shares how his team is building one of the most advanced independent data networks on the planet, what he’s learned scaling a $10K startup into a $60M business, and why the next era of work will be defined by AI agents, not SaaS apps.
This episode dives deep into the intersection of technology, humanity, and responsibility — and what it means to build something that lasts when the world around you is changing by the minute.
🔍 Chapters
00:00 From Filing Systems to $60M Startup
04:45 The Early Days of Machine Learning and Data Cooperatives
09:10 Bootstrapping vs. Venture Capital in the Age of AI
11:00 Smart Agents and the End of the SDR Role
17:45 Building the Largest Independent Data Graph
25:40 The Future of Automation and Human Work
31:10 SaaS Moats Are Dead — Here’s What’s Next
39:10 Technology, Politics, and the Human Divide
46:00 What It Means to Lead with Integrity in a Time of Change
📚 Resources
Prospect Desk → https://www.prospectdesk.ai
Connect with Jim → jim@prospectdesk.ai
Big North Marketing → https://bignorthmarketing.com
Grow your SaaS or dev agency with our Founder’s Growth Stack — personalized strategy, outreach, and podcast-led marketing systems designed to scale your revenue without scaling your workload. Learn more at BigNorthMarketing.com
#HumanWorkAfterAI #SaaS #AIFuture
In this episode of Pitch, Build, Scale, host Chris Fanchi talks with Christopher Gray, award-winning entrepreneur, Shark Tank alumnus, and CEO of Path — an AI-powered platform transforming how students prepare for college and professional exams.After helping millions earn scholarships with Scholly, Christopher is now tackling educational inequity from another angle: using AI to make test prep and essay coaching affordable and accessible to everyone.Christopher shares how AI is reshaping higher education, the future of work, and what “learning” really means in a world where machines can do almost everything faster. From the rise of “AI-native” students to the looming disruption of traditional universities, this is a must-listen for anyone curious about the intersection of technology, opportunity, and human potential.Key topics include:- How Path is democratizing test prep with AI- Why distribution is the new moat in the AI era- The coming wave of “AI-powered colleges”- Why degrees may soon matter less than AI certifications- What the next 5 years of AI regulation and disruption could bring⏱️ Chapters00:00 Christopher Gray’s Journey: From Scholly to Path04:15 The Role of Technology in Educational Access07:30 The AI Revolution in Test Prep10:55 Building an AI Agent for College Admissions15:10 Competing with Legacy Giants Like Kaplan18:20 How AI Will Disrupt Higher Education21:00 The Future of Learning and AI Certification27:00 Job Displacement, Mid-Career Risk, and Economic Shifts32:00 Regulation, Wealth Cycles, and the Five-Year AI Window38:00 Building Distribution as the Ultimate Moat📚 Resources🌐 Learn more about Path: https://yourpath.ai🚀 Work with Big North Marketing: https://BigNorthMarketing.comWant to grow your brand, audience, and revenue like the top tech leaders featured on this show?Big North Marketing helps SaaS founders and dev agencies turn podcasts into growth engines.👉 Start your growth plan at BigNorthMarketing.com
AI is rewriting the rules of software development. Joel Garcia believes that if your devs aren’t using AI, they may not be devs for much longer.
In this episode of Pitch, Build, Scale, host Chris Fanchi sits down with Joel Garcia, CEO of Allcode, an AWS Advanced Consulting Partner helping startups and SMBs modernize, migrate, and scale in the cloud.
Joel shares how AI is transforming development speed, the future of cloud automation, and why success now depends as much on adaptability as it does on code. From refactoring technical debt to closing enterprise deals, Joel explains how to build a company that moves faster and smarter in the era of intelligent automation.
If you lead a dev team or SaaS company, this is a must-listen on how to stay competitive as AI reshapes the industry.
⏱ Chapters
00:00 Introduction — AI as a game-changer for developers
02:45 Joel’s early tech roots and startup journey
05:20 How Allcode helps startups migrate and modernize in the cloud
08:30 Partnerships, clients, and scaling through AWS
09:45 “If your devs aren’t using AI, they may not be devs for much longer”
11:15 Amazon Q Developer and the future of developer productivity
13:50 Adapting to new client expectations in the AI era
15:30 Modernizing legacy codebases and migrating from colo to cloud
18:40 Customizing AI to internal codebases and workflows
19:35 Turning forms into conversations: real-world AI applications
21:00 Using Bedrock, Crew AI, and SageMaker to automate at scale
22:30 Breaking into enterprise and landing government deals
23:30 The biggest bottleneck: closing deals in a technical sales cycle
24:03 Where to learn more about Allcode
🔗 Resources
🌐 Allcode: https://www.allcode.com
🌐 Big North Marketing: https://www.bignorthmarketing.com
💡 Ready to grow your tech company?
If you’re a founder or CEO looking to generate qualified leads and close bigger deals, visit Big North Marketing.
👉 Learn more at BigNorthMarketing.com
AI is rewriting the rules of enterprise risk management, but can we trust the systems shaping our decisions?
In this episode of Pitch, Build, Scale, host Chris Fanchi sits down with Lily Yeoh, founder and CEO of C1Risk, a governance, risk, and compliance platform that helps enterprises automate cybersecurity programs using AI.
Lily shares her journey from early days in cybersecurity at Texas Instruments and RSA to leading C1Risk — and the lessons she’s learned about AI trust, data transparency, and responsible automation.
You’ll learn:
- How AI is transforming compliance, risk, and cybersecurity oversight across industries
- Why enterprises need standards for AI transparency and model integrity
- How C1Risk is building GRC assistants that leverage AI ethically to improve accuracy and productivity
- The future of AI governance and how companies can prepare for new risk models
🕒 Chapters
00:00 Intro & AI Trust in Data
02:00 Lily Yeoh’s Path into Cybersecurity
06:00 Evolution of Cyber Threats Over 25 Years
10:00 Why She Founded C1Risk
14:00 Building API-First Compliance Automation
20:00 Who Owns Risk in the Enterprise?
23:00 The AI Triad: Misinformation, Models & Cost
27:00 How C1Risk Uses AI Internally
31:00 Building AI-Driven GRC Assistants
33:00 Scaling Challenges & AI Talent Demand
35:00 Funding, Focus & Her “Magic Wand” Wish
Resources
• C1Risk — Enterprise GRC platform: https://C1Risk.com
• Big North Marketing — growth for dev shops & SaaS: https://BigNorthMarketing.com
Want pipeline you can measure and a podcast that drives sales conversations, not just downloads?
→ Book a Free Growth Plan consult at BigNorthMarketing.com or DM me “GROWTH” and I’ll send the 3-part Creator to Client checklist we use to turn episodes into revenue.
That viral moment your brand missed? It’s probably already costing you.
In this episode of Pitch, Build, Scale, host Chris Fanchi sits down with Chelsie Hall, CEO of ViralMoment, whose company helps brands like Coca-Cola, Disney, and Warner Brothers decode social video before the rest of the world catches on.
We explore:
- How AI is reshaping social video monitoring and trend detection
- Why deepfakes pose the next big risk to brands and personal reputations
- The difference between going viral vs. understanding virality
- How even small brands can now access enterprise-level intelligence
If you want to understand the future of social media and how AI is changing what it means to protect and grow a brand, this episode is for you.
⏱️ Chapters
00:00 Generative AI and the deepfake challenge
01:36 Chelsie’s path from Carnegie Mellon to ViralMoment
03:26 Building AI that can actually read video
07:18 The Coca-Cola “Healthy Coke” turning point
09:31 How ViralMoment lands enterprise clients
12:39 Democratizing brand intelligence for smaller companies
13:58 The shift from social networks to algorithmic feeds
16:16 Detecting AI-generated and deepfake content
17:45 Personal brands as the new frontier of brand safety
18:52 Rethinking metrics for measuring social video
19:47 Platforms to watch and how to prioritize
20:14 Long-form video support and enterprise use cases
🔗 Resources
ViralMoment: https://www.viralmoment.com
Big North Marketing: https://www.bignorthmarketing.com
💡 Your company’s next growth engine might be sitting idle in your pipeline. At Big North Marketing, we help SaaS companies and dev agencies land bigger clients and scale faster using modern growth systems.
👉 Want to see how it could work for you? Connect with us at BigNorthMarketing.com.
How much more can one person do with AI? For Brett Hollman, the answer is: a lot more.
In this episode of Pitch, Build, Scale, host Chris Fanchi sits down with Brett Hollman, Co-Founder & CEO of Enji and former engineering leader at Amazon and Intuit. Brett shares how he and his wife turned years of marketing consulting experience into an AI-powered platform that helps solopreneurs and small business owners build marketing strategies that actually work.
We explore:
- Brett’s journey from leading massive AI teams at Amazon and Intuit to building Enji
- Why small businesses often fail at marketing (and how AI can fix it)
- How Enji blends human expertise with automation to create actionable strategies
- The future of AI for small business: enablement vs. replacement
- Scaling a startup from founder-led sales to product-led growth
Whether you’re a SaaS founder, software development leader, or solo entrepreneur, this episode offers a candid look at how AI is reshaping marketing and what it really takes to scale.
Chapters
00:00 Intro: Doing more with AI, not less
01:11 Brett’s early tech journey
05:20 From Amazon to AWS leadership
07:25 Building AI platforms at Intuit
10:23 Why Enji exists: solving marketing by accident
18:28 How Enji’s AI is different from a ChatGPT wrapper
29:36 The road to automated marketing
32:05 Startup bottlenecks: founder-led sales vs PLG
35:26 Where AI is headed for small business
38:06 Where to find Brett and Enji
Resources
🔗 Automate your marketing strategy with Enji: https://enji.co
🔗 Grow your revenue with Big North Marketing: https://bignorthmarketing.com
👉 Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and hit the bell for more conversations with tech leaders shaping the future of work.
#smallbusiness #ai #marketingautomation
What happens when you take enterprise-level AI innovation and apply it to one of life’s most human experiences - travel?
In this episode of Pitch, Build, Scale, we speak with Robert Coverdale, Founder of Khonsu, about how his platform blends artificial intelligence and local expertise to transform the way people experience cities like New York.
Robert shares his journey from flipping a coin between photography and computer science to building innovation labs at LivePerson, and eventually launching Khonsu, a travel company that prioritizes authentic, human-driven experiences powered by AI behind the scenes.
We explore the challenges of scaling human interaction with AI tools, why simplicity often wins over complexity, and how trust in real experiences is becoming more valuable in an AI-saturated world.
Whether you’re a SaaS founder, software agency leader, or tech executive, Robert’s story is a blueprint for combining human value with AI scale.
⏱ Chapters
00:00 Robert’s Iron Man Analogy: AI as Human Empowerment
01:27 Welcome and Guest Introduction
02:15 Flipping a Coin into Tech: Robert’s Origin Story
03:21 Early Entrepreneurship: Penny Candy Hustle
04:11 Innovation Labs at LivePerson
05:45 The Aha Moment: Travel Meets Technology
06:09 Khonsu’s First Iterations with AI
08:01 Testing the Model During the Pandemic
09:46 Who Khonsu Serves: Leisure vs. Business Travelers
13:47 Monetization and Local Designers
14:59 Scaling City by City
16:06 AI Behind the Scenes, Humans Up Front
17:43 Hotel Concierges Reimagined with AI
20:09 Pricing Tiers and AI vs. Human Options
22:24 Growth Goals: Expanding to Washington, DC and Beyond
23:16 B2B Partnerships and Perks
23:59 The Challenge of Content Creation
25:14 Marketing Bottlenecks in 2025
26:13 How to Try Khonsu Today
📚 Resources
Travel with Khonsu: https://www.askkonsu.com
Connect with Robert: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertcoverdale
Grow your revenue with Big North Marketing: https://bignorthmarketing.com
In this episode of Pitch, Build, Scale, we sit down with Garret Grajek, CEO of YouAttest, to explore the future of identity governance, automation, and cybersecurity in an AI-driven world.
Garret has spent over 30 years shaping enterprise security, holding 13 patents and building solutions at RSA, SecureAuth, and now YouAttest. His perspective is clear: data is the crown jewel, and automation is the key to protecting it.
We discuss how enterprises can move beyond spreadsheets and manual audits to achieve rapid, scalable user access reviews, why non-human identities (NHIs) are the next big security frontier, and how managed service providers (MSPs) are reshaping go-to-market strategies in security and SaaS.
If you’re a SaaS founder, software agency leader, or enterprise innovator, this episode is packed with insights on scaling securely while embracing AI and automation.
Chapters
00:00 Intro & Garret’s journey into cybersecurity
05:56 Building SecureAuth and the shift to YouAttest
08:34 Why identity governance is the missing link in Zero Trust
12:22 Data as the true battleground in 2025
16:07 The rise of non-human identities (NHIs)
19:34 Using AI to create identity trust scores
22:39 Scaling through MSPs and service-first resellers
27:47 Verticalization as a market advantage
29:17 Garret’s “magic wand” for growth
30:33 Advice for new founders in cybersecurity
Resources
🔗 YouAttest: https://youattest.com
🔗 Big North Marketing: https://bignorthmarketing.com
What happens when a tiny startup with one client grows into a customer-funded, enterprise-ready SaaS platform in healthcare?
In this episode of Pitch, Build, Scale, we sit down with Yossi Abraham, President & CEO of Zappix, to unpack how his team bootstrapped growth in one of the toughest markets: healthcare.
Yossi shares insights on:
- Overcoming the “pilotitis” problem in AI adoption
- Building customer-funded SaaS without venture backing
- Driving growth through partnerships and referrals
- Hyper-personalization in digital patient engagement
- Why lead generation is the single biggest constraint for SaaS founders in compliance-heavy markets
This conversation is a playbook for founders navigating complex sales, compliance barriers, and the messy reality of AI implementation.
Chapters
00:00 Intro & Yossi’s Background
03:25 Joining Zappix at Near Zero Revenue
06:09 From Visual IVR to Digital Engagement Platform
07:59 Scaling in Healthcare: Reducing No-Shows, Increasing Revenue
10:03 Where AI Fits into the Process
12:06 The AI “Implementation Gap” in Healthcare
15:38 Future of RAG and Conversational AI in Patient Journeys
18:26 Hyper-Personalization with Data
19:02 Growth Goals: 50–100% in 24 Months
21:30 Lead Gen Challenges & Partnerships
25:03 Outbound in Healthcare vs. Other Verticals
26:37 The Magic Wand: Fixing the Top of Funnel
26:50 Advice for Bootstrapped SaaS Founders
Resources
🔗 Automate patient engagement with Zappix: https://www.zappix.com
🔗 Grow your revenue with Big North Marketing: https://www.bignorthmarketing.com
#healthcare #saas #podcast #ai
What if AI agents aren’t just tools... but coworkers?
In this episode of Pitch, Build, Scale, we sit down with Tatyana Mamut, CEO of Wayfound.ai, to explore why the future of work isn’t about clamping down on AI, but learning to manage it with the same dignity, respect, and feedback we give humans.
Tatyana shares her journey from anthropology to Amazon, Salesforce, IDEO, and now Wayfound, where she’s building the world’s first AI supervisor platform: a manager for AI agents that ensures compliance, trust, and performance across the enterprise.
We dig into:
- Why cultural change - not technology - is the biggest barrier to AI adoption
- How ethnography helps predict what’s next in tech
- Why managing AI agents like employees could define the next era of business
- What a “multi-sapiens” future looks like when humans and AIs collaborate
- Where she sees AGI vs. ASI heading, and why supervision matters more than guardrails
👉 If you’re a SaaS founder, dev shop leader, or tech executive, this episode will shift how you think about AI, jobs, and organizational design.
Chapters
00:00 Intro: Why We Need to Rethink AI Agents
02:11 Tatyana’s Unconventional Path into Tech
06:57 Anthropology Meets Product Management
09:08 Founding Wayfound.ai: Supervising AI Agents
13:57 Guardrails vs. Guidelines: Building Trust in AI
17:23 Early Adoption in Finance, SaaS, and Services
24:30 Reorganizing Companies Around Human Skills
30:49 The AGI vs. ASI Debate
37:16 Building Institutions for a Multi-Sapiens Future
40:19 Why Culture Change is the Real Challenge
43:16 First Steps for Leaders Exploring AI Agents
Resources
🌐 Wayfound.ai: https://www.wayfound.ai
🔗 Connect with Tatyana: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tmamut
🚀 Big North Marketing: https://www.bignorthmarketing.com
𝗞𝗲𝗻 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝟯𝟱 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗵𝗲’𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗜-𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲.
In this episode of Pitch, Build, Scale, we sit down with Ken Francis, CEO of Actuate, to explore how AI is transforming video surveillance from a cost-heavy, false-alarm-plagued system into a scalable, efficient security solution.
Ken shares lessons from his 35+ years in security and technology—starting from his military background to leading billion-dollar businesses and now driving AI adoption in commercial monitoring centers worldwide.
We dig into:
- Why false positive reduction is the hidden engine of scalable AI surveillance
- The role of cloud vs. private infrastructure in global security deployments
- How to strategically say “no” to opportunities that will sink a startup
- The market forces making AI monitoring one of the fastest-growing security segments today
If you’re scaling a SaaS company, dev shop, or enterprise solution, Ken’s perspective offers a blueprint on balancing product focus, channel strategy, and global expansion.
Chapters
00:00 Intro & The “No Koala AI” Story
04:20 From Military to Security Tech Leadership
08:00 Founding and Scaling in Competitive Markets
11:45 The Real AI Advantage: False Positive Reduction
15:26 LLMs and the Future of Surveillance AI
17:50 Gun Detection, Healthcare & Public Safety Use Cases
21:31 Cloud vs. Private Cloud in Security Infrastructure
23:56 Global Regulations & Data Privacy Challenges
25:46 Competing in a Crowded AI Security Market
29:01 Growth Levers & Global Expansion Strategy
30:59 Magic Wand: The Infrastructure Ken Wishes He Had
Resources
🔗 Actuate: https://www.actuate.ai
🔗 Big North Marketing: https://www.bignorthmarketing.com
What happens when every regulatory change becomes an innovation opportunity?
In this episode of Pitch, Build, Scale, we sit down with Cody Pittman, CEO of Duett, to explore how his company is reshaping social care technology.
Duett helps social workers and care coordinators match seniors and people with disabilities to the right in-home care providers, digitizing a process that was once managed with phone calls, faxes, and spreadsheets.
Cody shares how his global journey, from teaching English in Chile to scaling a marketing agency in San Francisco, ultimately prepared him to lead Duett. Along the way, he reveals the bigger picture: why founders must treat policy changes as doors opening, not walls closing.
We dive into:
- Why healthcare marketplaces are so hard to scale
- The tension between efficiency and human-centered care
- How AI is being applied (and where it shouldn’t be) in healthcare
- Turning nonprofits into product advocates
- Why “stay-at-home” care is the future of U.S. healthcare policy
If you’re building SaaS or service platforms in complex industries, this episode is a blueprint for innovation, resilience, and impact.
Chapters
00:00 Policy Change as Opportunity
02:00 Cody’s Unlikely Path into Tech
06:00 From Startup Chile to San Francisco Marketing
10:00 Lessons from Serving Hundreds of Startups
20:00 What Duett Is & Who They Serve
24:00 Digitizing Referrals for Seniors & People with Disabilities
28:00 Challenges Scaling in Healthcare
31:00 AI in Healthcare: Liability & Limits
35:00 Navigating Policy Shifts
41:00 Duett’s Expansion Plans
Resources
🔗 Connect with Cody Pittman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jcodypittman
🌐 Learn more about Duett: https://duett.com
🌐 Big North Marketing: https://BigNorthMarketing.com
What happens when a tech innovator with 40+ years in the industry applies AI to help mission-driven organizations work smarter, faster, and at scale?
In this episode of Pitch, Build, Scale, we sit down with Chris Hanson, Co-Founder of The Databank, to explore how a pioneering nonprofit SaaS company evolved from dial-up databases in the ’90s to AI-powered CRM bots today.
Chris shares how AI is unlocking efficiency for nonprofits: freeing up precious time and resources, improving data insights, and enabling faster, more impactful decisions. From early struggles in the dot-com era to bootstrapping a social mission-driven SaaS, this is a story of resilience, innovation, and staying ahead of technology curves.
Whether you’re a SaaS founder, software agency leader, or simply curious about AI’s role in creating real-world change, you’ll find valuable takeaways here.
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
02:00 Chris Hanson’s journey into tech and nonprofits
04:41 From marketing consultancy to The Databank
08:41 Building a social mission into a for-profit SaaS
10:42 Pivoting from fundraising software to hybrid SaaS solutions
11:48 How the Sierra Club shaped The Databank’s early innovation
14:20 Why AI is a perfect fit for nonprofit efficiency
16:45 Overcoming adoption hurdles with AI
19:21 The mindset that drives ongoing innovation
20:21 Comparing AI to past tech revolutions
22:37 How The Databank uses AI internally
23:22 Legacy and impact stories
25:54 The future of nonprofit tech in an AI-driven world
28:04 The pace of AI change and ongoing learning
29:01 Where to connect with The Databank
Resources:
🌐 The Databank – https://www.thedatabank.com
🌐 Big North Marketing – https://www.bignorthmarketing.com
What if the most valuable knowledge in your company isn’t in your documents, but in people’s heads?
In this episode of Pitch, Build, Scale, Yumi Kimura, CEO & Co-Founder of LEAD, shares how her AI-powered platform transforms Fortune 500 companies from siloed and inefficient to connected and collaborative.
From building Meitu Japan to tackling the “attention gap” in knowledge management, Yumi’s journey spans billion-user apps, billion-dollar IPOs, and deep research into organizational behavior. She explains why most companies mistake “information” for “knowledge,” the five pillars of true knowledge management, and how AI can make invisible expertise visible without invading privacy.
Whether you’re scaling a SaaS, running a dev shop, or leading a large enterprise, Yumi’s insights will change how you think about collaboration, culture, and the future of work.
Chapters
00:00 - Intro & Yumi’s Background
03:33 - Scaling Meitu in Japan & Global Expansion
07:25 - The Frustration That Led to Founding Lead
09:21 - The Five Pillars of Knowledge Management
11:17 - How LEAD’s Products Work in Slack & Teams
13:34 - The Role of PLG in Enterprise Sales
15:30 - Integration Examples with Fortune 500 Clients
20:59 - AI’s Real Role in Knowledge Flow
26:15 - Why Digital Transformation Fails Without Culture
32:20 - LEAD’s Go-To-Market & Growth Strategy
34:54 - The Magic Wand to Fix Market Education
37:21 - Where to Learn More
Resources:
Lead: https://www.lead.app
Big North Marketing: https://bignorthmarketing.com
What does it take to build a tech consultancy that thrives for 20+ years while staying small, nimble, and deeply human?
In this episode, Emmy award-winning technologist and product strategist Ming Chan shares his journey from being yelled at by Steve Jobs, to launching The1stMovement, to navigating the promise and peril of AI.
Ming reveals why he intentionally limits his client base, how he’s kept enterprise partnerships for decades, and the moral questions every technologist should ask about AI’s role in society.
What you’ll learn in this episode:
- How early experiences with Apple shaped Ming’s vision for tech and creativity
- Why being a “lifestyle entrepreneur” can be a strategic choice
- The tolerance-of-risk gap between startups and enterprises when adopting AI
- Practical ways agencies can use AI to boost velocity without sacrificing quality
- How to build client relationships that last decades
Chapters
00:00 - The Morality and Perception of AI
01:54 - From Music to Tech: Ming’s Origin Story
04:53 - Getting Yelled at by Steve Jobs
08:17 - The1stMovement’s Mission and Evolution
10:49 - Client Base and Team Size Strategy
15:45 - Why Stay Small? The Lifestyle Entrepreneur Approach
17:15 - AI Adoption in Enterprises vs Startups
21:39 - Using AI for Speed and Efficiency
23:22 - Startup Clients and the Reality of MVPs
25:55 - Growing vs Staying the Course
28:42 - Building Without Outside Funding
31:54 - The One Piece of Advice to His Younger Self
Resources
The1stMovement: https://the1stmovement.com/
Connect with Ming Chan: http://www.linkedin.com/in/mingchan/
Big North Marketing: https://bignorthmarketing.com/
What happens when a surfer-turned-startup-CEO tackles one of the world’s most entrenched supply chain problems?
In this episode of Pitch, Build, Scale, we sit down with Kathleen Egan, CEO of ecomedes, to explore how sustainability, SaaS, and systems thinking converge to reshape how commercial buildings are designed, sourced, and built.
Kathleen shares how ecomedes is streamlining the procurement and specification of green building products, helping everyone from sales reps to federal agencies save time, reduce emissions, and cut costs. Along the way, we dive into the future of AI in sustainability, startup bottlenecks, and why spreadsheets are killing collaboration.
If you’ve ever wondered what product-market fit looks like for early adopters of sustainability or how to scale without breaking the bank, this is one you don’t want to miss.
Chapters
00:00 – The Plastic Problem and Surf-Inspired Sustainability
04:28 – Building a Business Around Eco Data
08:34 – How ecomedes Works for Builders and Manufacturers
13:18 – AI in Construction Tech: Where It Works, Where It Doesn’t
18:00 – Collaboration Features and the Death of the Spreadsheet
21:54 – Why Adoption is Slower Than It Should Be
26:12 – Bottlenecks: Full-Stack Engineers and Long Sales Cycles
30:42 – What Comes After Early Adopters
32:00 – Magic Wand: Cloning Engineers and Building Virality
Resources
Learn more about ecomedes: https://www.ecomedes.com/
Grow your revenue with Big North Marketing: https://www.bignorthmarketing.com/
What happens when your AI product isn't the real product?
Todd Smith, CEO of TAHO (Formerly Opnbook), shares how a year into building a business intelligence tool for AI usage tracking, his team stumbled into something bigger - a game-changing infrastructure optimization layer that boosts high-performance computing across AI, gaming, crypto, and more.
In this episode, Todd walks us through:
- The original idea behind Opnbook and why they shelved it
- How pivoting to their infrastructure layer (TAHO) opened a massive market opportunity
- Why AI-era startups can run leaner, faster, and cheaper than ever before
- What most VCs get wrong about true innovation
- Why the next generation of enterprise wins will be powered by software efficiency
From pre-IPO tours at Facebook, Snapchat, and Docker to rolling the dice on his own venture, Todd brings decades of hard-earned infrastructure insight and startup humility to the table.
🧠 If you’re building in AI, high-performance compute, or B2B SaaS — this one’s essential listening.
⛓️ Resources
Learn more about TAHO: https://www.taho.is/
Grow your revenue with Big North Marketing: https://bignorthmarketing.com
🕒 Chapters (Timestamps)
00:00 – Todd’s path from DJ gear to Silicon Valley IT
03:40 – What big tech teaches you about scale
07:15 – Founding Opnbook and the first AI productivity tool
13:20 – Pivoting into infrastructure: the TAHO origin story
17:45 – What Nvidia’s backlog says about the real market gap
23:10 – How Opnbook’s tech slashes compute time and energy use
29:45 – Fundraising frustrations in a risk-averse VC climate
35:20 – Why most VCs can’t spot game-changing tech
43:00 – The next 12 months: landing a flagship enterprise customer
47:30 – The real bottlenecks: admin drag and scaling operations
Forecasting isn’t just about predicting revenue—it’s about changing the future.
In this episode of Pitch, Build, Scale, we sit down with Daren Lauda, CEO of Outset, to break down how most SaaS companies are investing in go-to-market growth with zero clarity on when returns will land.
Daren brings decades of enterprise GTM experience (Salesforce, PTC, Fortiv) and is now on a mission to fix revenue forecasting with interpretable AI. We talk about:
- The flaw in traditional pipeline models
- How to map campaign ROI to month-specific returns
- Why generative AI won’t replace human insight—but should enhance it
- The real reason your sales and marketing spend is under fire
If you're a SaaS founder or GTM leader navigating tighter budgets, complex buying cycles, and pipeline anxiety—this one’s for you.
🎧 Subscribe for more insights on scaling tech businesses in a world of intelligent automation.
⏱ Chapters
00:00 Intro & Daren’s Path from Infantry to CEO
03:45 Forecasting the when of ROI
06:10 Why near-bound referrals still win
08:42 Ideal customer profile for Outset
11:20 Predictive analytics vs. AI hype
14:25 Common forecasting mistakes
16:50 Managing sales & marketing like a P&L
20:10 Product roadmap & customer feedback
23:38 Outbound messaging that actually works
27:30 The magic wand: fixing customer acquisition
📚 Resources
🔗 Outset: https://www.outsetops.com
🔗 Connect with Daren: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darenlauda
🔗 Big North Marketing: https://www.bignorthmarketing.com