Building a company from scratch is soul-sucking and mind-numbingly hard - but it’s the best thing ever.
We know this because we’ve built a couple ourselves - and we’re building a lot more right now.
We’ve made a lot of money for our employees, our shareholders, ourselves - we’re proud of that - and that’s why we want to talk about how it’s done.
Join us - Tom Chavez and Vivek Vaidya - in The Closed Session, where we reveal all the joys and sorrows of company building. From the guttermost to the uttermost, we’re not going to hold back.
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Building a company from scratch is soul-sucking and mind-numbingly hard - but it’s the best thing ever.
We know this because we’ve built a couple ourselves - and we’re building a lot more right now.
We’ve made a lot of money for our employees, our shareholders, ourselves - we’re proud of that - and that’s why we want to talk about how it’s done.
Join us - Tom Chavez and Vivek Vaidya - in The Closed Session, where we reveal all the joys and sorrows of company building. From the guttermost to the uttermost, we’re not going to hold back.
Ringside Tales from Serial Startup Champion Omar Tawakol
The {Closed} Session
31 minutes 8 seconds
2 years ago
Ringside Tales from Serial Startup Champion Omar Tawakol
Like Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed, the fiercest competitors can sometimes become friends. Omar Tawakol is a prime example. As the founder and CEO of BlueKai, he went head-to-head with Tom, Vivek, and the 'Krux mafia' for dominance in the Data Management Platform arena. A serial entrepreneur with roots in New York and Egypt, Omar eventually steered BlueKai to a successful acquisition by Oracle before creating Voicea, which Cisco acquired. Today, he's pioneering a new venture called Rembrand (rembrand.com), which innovates in product placement through generative fusion AI.
Have you ever heard of a 5-year-old CEO? Omar Tawakol made his first sale by pitching coasters to neighbors. From playground profits to knockout big exits, Omar shares how he had “no choice but to build companies” from an early age. What makes the human element the most rewarding part of company building? Are better algorithms or richer data the key to winning in tech? Where does AI stand in the current hype cycle? How do you intertwine AI into human workflows? And, how not to let success get to your head.
Omar joins Tom and Vivek on the latest episode of The {Closed} Session to recount tales from the entrepreneurial ringside, insights from his journey as a serial startup champ, and a sneak peek at his latest venture that's punching above its weight in the AI arena. Plus, a totally unpaid-for-promotion: where to find the best coffee in Menlo Park.
Learn more about Rembrand at rembrand.com
Learn more about super{set} at superset.com
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The {Closed} Session
Building a company from scratch is soul-sucking and mind-numbingly hard - but it’s the best thing ever.
We know this because we’ve built a couple ourselves - and we’re building a lot more right now.
We’ve made a lot of money for our employees, our shareholders, ourselves - we’re proud of that - and that’s why we want to talk about how it’s done.
Join us - Tom Chavez and Vivek Vaidya - in The Closed Session, where we reveal all the joys and sorrows of company building. From the guttermost to the uttermost, we’re not going to hold back.
