Episode 403 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Nick Ornitz and Shannon Kay, Co-Founders of Topline Pro.
Make something people want is the motto behind Y Combinator. It sounds simple, yet so many founders miss this fundamental requirement.
Topline Pro is a perfect case study in getting it right. They didn't fall victim to early false positives; instead, they listened, experimented, and successfully pivoted to solve a true, massive problem for an underserved market.
Topline Pro is building AI that empowers local home service pros to grow and scale their businesses. They provide a critical platform to help with the marketing, sales, and operations of running a business in the trades, allowing these business owners to focus on their craft.
The company recently announced a $27M Series B funding round led by Northzone, with new participation from Tactile Ventures, and Industry Ventures, alongside continued support from existing investors Forerunner Ventures, Bonfire Ventures, TMV, Flybridge, and BBG Ventures.
In this interview, we dive into:
* The inspirational backstory of Nick and Shannon and how they decided to build a company together after meeting at HBS.
* Their initial concept called Dwelling, the "false positive" they experienced, and the strategic pivot.
* Their time at Y Combinator and how early access to GPT opened their eyes to the potential of AI.
* The value that Topline Pro is providing customers and the exciting opportunities ahead following their Series B.
* Growth plans, hiring goals, and the culture they're building at Topline Pro.
* Advice for non-AI native companies that are starting to build out their own AI strategy.
* And so much more!
Episode Sponsor:
As a longtime champion of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank supports innovative companies with the solutions and financing they need through every stage of growth. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors, and $42B in loans as of Q2 2024 – SVB delivers the right people, service and resources to support your entire financial journey. Learn more at SVB.com.
All content for The VentureFizz Podcast is the property of VentureFizz and is served directly from their servers
with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.
Episode 403 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Nick Ornitz and Shannon Kay, Co-Founders of Topline Pro.
Make something people want is the motto behind Y Combinator. It sounds simple, yet so many founders miss this fundamental requirement.
Topline Pro is a perfect case study in getting it right. They didn't fall victim to early false positives; instead, they listened, experimented, and successfully pivoted to solve a true, massive problem for an underserved market.
Topline Pro is building AI that empowers local home service pros to grow and scale their businesses. They provide a critical platform to help with the marketing, sales, and operations of running a business in the trades, allowing these business owners to focus on their craft.
The company recently announced a $27M Series B funding round led by Northzone, with new participation from Tactile Ventures, and Industry Ventures, alongside continued support from existing investors Forerunner Ventures, Bonfire Ventures, TMV, Flybridge, and BBG Ventures.
In this interview, we dive into:
* The inspirational backstory of Nick and Shannon and how they decided to build a company together after meeting at HBS.
* Their initial concept called Dwelling, the "false positive" they experienced, and the strategic pivot.
* Their time at Y Combinator and how early access to GPT opened their eyes to the potential of AI.
* The value that Topline Pro is providing customers and the exciting opportunities ahead following their Series B.
* Growth plans, hiring goals, and the culture they're building at Topline Pro.
* Advice for non-AI native companies that are starting to build out their own AI strategy.
* And so much more!
Episode Sponsor:
As a longtime champion of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank supports innovative companies with the solutions and financing they need through every stage of growth. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors, and $42B in loans as of Q2 2024 – SVB delivers the right people, service and resources to support your entire financial journey. Learn more at SVB.com.
Episode 388: Andy Ellner - Founder & CEO, Quilt Health
The VentureFizz Podcast
59 minutes 51 seconds
4 months ago
Episode 388: Andy Ellner - Founder & CEO, Quilt Health
Episode 388 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Andy Ellner, Founder & CEO of Quilt Health.
Yes, there are endless possibilities in terms of the platform shift to AI and how it will disrupt industries, but the one that I’m most excited about is the healthcare industry. Could there be a great moment to hopefully improve lives and maybe even eradicate diseases or even cure cancer someday? The future is unknown but these advanced in technology certain give a lot of hope.
To tackle these big problems, we need people who are not only the top brilliant minds on this planet, but they also need to be risk takers in terms of building these companies.
Andy fits the bill. Not only is he an MD with top academic credentials, but he’s also a serial entrepreneur. And probably the most important quality of Andy is that he comes from a medical family that’s passionate about making a difference across the world and that quality is deeply rooted into his mindset as well.
His latest company is Quilt Health, a digital health company dedicated to bridging gaps in treatment access for complex diseases. They are focused on sickle cell disease and plan to expand to address other complex conditions. Quilt Health just announced a $6M seed round of funding led by MaC Venture Capital and Underscore Ventures, with participation from Meridian Street Capital, BoxGroup, Watershed VC, and Coalition Operators.
In this episode of our podcast, we cover lots of great topics like:
* Some key lessons learned while building healthcare startups, including the importance of finding the right business model.
* Andy’s background story including his connection to the Baseball Hall of Fame and his work helping to solve the global HIV pandemic where his learnings from this timeframe have carried over to Quilt Health.
* Co-Founding the Harvard Medical School Center for Primary Care.
* Starting Firefly Health to address the inefficiencies of primary care with a virtual-first care model.
* What led him down the path of starting Quilt Health and their plans for disrupting the industry.
* His Minimum Viable Team philosophy and advice around hiring.
* What excites him about the potential AI use cases in the healthcare industry.
* And so much more.
The VentureFizz Podcast
Episode 403 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Nick Ornitz and Shannon Kay, Co-Founders of Topline Pro.
Make something people want is the motto behind Y Combinator. It sounds simple, yet so many founders miss this fundamental requirement.
Topline Pro is a perfect case study in getting it right. They didn't fall victim to early false positives; instead, they listened, experimented, and successfully pivoted to solve a true, massive problem for an underserved market.
Topline Pro is building AI that empowers local home service pros to grow and scale their businesses. They provide a critical platform to help with the marketing, sales, and operations of running a business in the trades, allowing these business owners to focus on their craft.
The company recently announced a $27M Series B funding round led by Northzone, with new participation from Tactile Ventures, and Industry Ventures, alongside continued support from existing investors Forerunner Ventures, Bonfire Ventures, TMV, Flybridge, and BBG Ventures.
In this interview, we dive into:
* The inspirational backstory of Nick and Shannon and how they decided to build a company together after meeting at HBS.
* Their initial concept called Dwelling, the "false positive" they experienced, and the strategic pivot.
* Their time at Y Combinator and how early access to GPT opened their eyes to the potential of AI.
* The value that Topline Pro is providing customers and the exciting opportunities ahead following their Series B.
* Growth plans, hiring goals, and the culture they're building at Topline Pro.
* Advice for non-AI native companies that are starting to build out their own AI strategy.
* And so much more!
Episode Sponsor:
As a longtime champion of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank supports innovative companies with the solutions and financing they need through every stage of growth. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors, and $42B in loans as of Q2 2024 – SVB delivers the right people, service and resources to support your entire financial journey. Learn more at SVB.com.
