The Silicon Valley Podcast

Ep 203 Data the Final Frontier with Gunja Gargeshwari

Show notes for Gunja Gargeshwari
Gunja Gargeshwari works as a Chief Revenue Officer at Bright Data, which is a Data Collection & Internet Portals company with an estimated 450 employees; and founded in 2014. They are part of the Sales Executive team within the C-Suite Department and their management level is C-Level. Gunja graduated from Wayne State University in 1996 and is currently based in United States. They used to work at Amazon.com and Théâtre de Paris a
Previous Work Experience
Gunja Gargeshwari's career began 27 years ago. Prior to joining Bright Data, Gunja worked at 4 companies.
2018 - 2022Zendesk
Platform, Zd Sunshine Conversations & Zd Sell Vice President, Worldwide Sales
2015 - 2018Amazon.com
Isv Accounts Sales Leader
2015 - 2018Théâtre de Paris
Mid Market Isv Accounts Sales Leader
1996 - 2015Oracle
Senior Director, Oracle Consulting Sales, Retail & Financial Services
 
We talk about
How is Artificial Intelligence impacting data?
Are companies really utilizing internal data?
What are some good causes for use of public data?
What does a Chief Revenue Officer, CRO do?
The story of the first 1 billion dollar deal for Amazon?
And more
Connect with Gunja  https://www.linkedin.com/in/gunja-gargeshwari-5bb37/

Ep 202 Startup Due Diligence with Zamir Shukho

Zamir Shukho is the Founder and General Partner of the Vibranium.VC venture fund. With 20 years of professional experience, he has a background as a serial entrepreneur having created 10 companies and organizations. He is also an expert in venture capital, management, and corporate innovation. In addition to this, he is a startup mentor and a certified coach of the Stanford I2M program.
We talk about
How does the selection process change depending on the stage of the company?
What are some of the metrics a company should know at the seed stage of its life cycle?
What takes place during Financial due diligence?
What happens in an Investment Committee meeting?
 
Connect with Zamir
VC and Podari.life charity program - https://www.podari.life/vibranium
VC Softlanding Program - https://vibranium.vc/softlanding
VC website - https://vibranium.vc/
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/vibraniumvc
Twitter - https://twitter.com/Vibranium_VC

Ep 201 Your Network is your Net Worth with Drew Sechrist

Show Notes for Drew Sechrist 
Drew Sechrist the Co-Founder and CEO, of Connect The Dots. Drew was part of the team that grew Salesforce from $0 to over $1B in revenue. During that time, he was both the #1 sales manager (globally), and the #1 account executive (globally).
‍
He helped define best practices for both high volume sales and large enterprise transactions. A huge part of Drew’s success was leveraging the relationships in his network and mastering the art of the warm introduction.
 
We talk about
 
What was the ride like being at Salesforce from $0 to over $1billion in revenue?
Where do most startups mess up with sales training?
How should a startup think about their sales processes?
How should young companies think about their sales compensation packages?
How important is timing, how important is luck when building a company?
 
 
Connect with Drew
drew.sechrist@gmail.com
https://twitter.com/drewsechrist
 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/drewsechrist/
Website https://www.ctd.ai/

Ep 200 Silicon Valley & Beyond; Celebrating 200 Episodes with Host Shawn Flynn

Shawn Flynn is a seasoned mid-market investment banker and distinguished Podcast Host. With a rich background as a successful business owner in Beijing, China, Shawn returned to Silicon Valley, where he immersed himself in the dynamic startup ecosystem. He has held diverse roles, from Head of Incubation for an AI and blockchain-focused incubator to President of the second oldest Angel group in the Valley. Leveraging his extensive experience across various business stages and sectors, Shawn currently serves as Principal at a premier middle market investment bank, specializing in mergers and acquisitions, growth capital raising, and secondaries.
Shawn holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from UCSD, and his global perspective is enriched by his proficiency in Mandarin and Spanish, acquired during almost 8 years of living abroad. As the host of the acclaimed "The Silicon Valley Podcast," Shawn shares valuable insights and conversations with thought leaders and industry pioneers.
Feel free to connect with Shawn on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawnpflynn/Explore his podcast here: https://link.chtbl.com/TheSiliconValleyPodcast

Ep199 Uncover the Financial Truth: Knowing the Real Numbers with Elliott Holland

Show notes for Elliot Holland  
Errors made in buying a business can be very costly. My clients avoid these mistakes.
We provide a better Quality of Earnings for #SMB, #SelfFundedSearcher & #ETA buyers which includes help with tough negotiations during their deal alongside pieces of commercial and operational diligence.
How are we different & better?:
Alongside each Quality of Earnings, we advise our clients on how to execute better deals leveraging our 20+ years acquiring small and medium sized businesses. We are deal guys who manage accountants who help entrepreneurs buy better businesses.
Want to know if a CPA firm or a full-service diligence firm like Guardian is the right choice for you? Take our 5 question assessment here: guardianduediligence(dot)com/assessment
Call or email me at (404) 441-2637 or eholland@guardianduediligence.com.
 
We talk about
What is the difference between a “Quality of Earnings” and a “Quality of Earnings lite”?
What are some key factors that can impact the quality of earnings?
What is the relationship between earnings quality and a company's valuation?
How do one-time events or special circumstances impact the quality of earnings?
How does the quality of earnings differ for private versus public companies?
 
Connect with Elliot
 
 https://www.linkedin.com/in/elliottholland/
elliott.e.holland@gmail.com
Guardianduediligence.com/services
(8) King of QoE (@ElliottEHolland) / Twitter

Ep 198 Tech Titans at the ACG 2023 Grow Awards

Guest interviewed in this episode include:
 
Jay Chaudhry
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaychaudhry/
Seasoned and successful entrepreneur and CEO. Looking for ambitious, driven professionals to join the Zscaler family.
 
Jay Chaudhry is an accomplished entrepreneur, having founded a series of successful companies, including AirDefense, CipherTrust, CoreHarbor, Secure IT and Zscaler. Chaudhry has a history of introducing visionary innovations that address the demand for securely enabling emerging technologies, such as the Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange for distributed and highly mobile enterprises. His work in the IT security sector has made him a trusted advisor for many enter
 
Ashley Tarver
Data & AI Cloud EvangelistData & AI Cloud Evangelist
Microsoft
 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashley-bigdata/
 
Responsible for driving better insights from data, cloud, machine learning and AI. I am the strategic advisor to business, community and government leaders in all areas involving joint solution vision, strategy and success metrics of their data. I provide guidance to corporate and regional leaders involving product development, sales revenue targets, pipeline growth, and market share capture. I evangelize joint value propositions and solutions through an ecosystem interlock with partner executives, regional partners, marketing, field sales and customers.
 
 
Philippe Bousissou PH.D
https://www.linkedin.com/in/phbouissou/
TEDx speaker, best-selling book author, growth expert, entrepreneur, CEO, venture capitalist, board member. Three decades in Silicon Valley growing and running businesses. Managing Partner at Blue Dots Partners LLC, a management consulting firm focused on top-line revenue acceleration for companies or business units with at least $10 million in sales.
 
 
Guy Kawasaki
https://www.linkedin.com/in/guykawasaki/
 
Guy is on a mission to make people remarkable. He is the host of the Remarkable People podcast featuring people such as Jane Goodall, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Marc Benioff, Angela Duckworth, Bob Cialdini, Arianna Huffington, and Kristi Yamaguchi. He possesses extensive knowledge of innovation, entrepreneurship, social media, podcasting, and marketing. Plus, he is a mediocre surfer.
 
Chris Gentle
https://www.linkedin.com/in/cgentle/
I help boards and senior executives generate enhanced top-line growth so as to help map the path to a successful future for their organisation. By defining and identifying the most important insights, I work with decision makers to put this into practice. I also help organisations build the reputation and influence required to ensure they achieve their strategic goal. My contributions can be captured under three headings:Board Level Professional: I have international experience in 25 countries working with the leaders at the very highest levels including Big Four executive leadership at Deloitte and KPMG, businesses across EMEA region and in government with the UK Prime Minister and President of EU to fashion strategies which engage stakeholders and drive lasting change….
 
Velchamy Sankarlingam
https://www.linkedin.com/in/velchamy/
Experienced in hardware, software and service industries on engineering and management areas. Advanced degrees in Engineering and Management. Excellent track record on delivering products.Specialties: Strong technical and management skills.
 
and more

Ep 197 From $0 -$20M ARR Without Funding with Guillaume Moubeche

Show Notes for  Guilliame Moubeche CEO of Lemlist
 
Co-Founder and CEO of lemlist.
On a mission to help 1,000,000 entrepreneurs to build profitable businesses by 2025.
In 3.5 years, we went from $0 to $10 million in ARR at lemlist, 20k+ customers worldwide, without any funding.
Guilliame loves SaaS businesses, B2B growth strategies and cool people
 
We talk about
When selling a business how long does it take and what are possible surprises along the process?
How should a founder go about building a personal brand?
What are the five stages of a business?
What are 4 things to avoid at all cost?
How should a founder go about negotiating a term sheet?
 
Connect with Guillaume
https://www.guillaumemoubeche.com/
https://twitter.com/GuillaumeMbh

Ep 196 Software Profit Streams with Luke Hohmann

Luke Hohmann
I am a four time author, three time founder, a keynote speaker and internationally recognized expert in Agile Software Development. Coming from Silicon Valley, I know how often founders focus on building companies to flip. My passion is building companies that make the world better.
At FirstRoot, Inc. our mission is to create the next generation of impact investors. We want to get $1K into 1M schools globally and watch what happens when youth control $1B in capital.
The Every Voice Engaged Foundation is a 501c3 nonprofit that helps citizens, governments and nonprofit organizations collaboratively solve problems that are unsolvable without civic engagement. EVEF has been a leader in the Participatory Budgeting movement, helping citizens prioritize hundreds of millions of dollars through Budget Games.
Conteneo, Inc. was acquired by Scaled Agile, Inc. With our extraordinary development team, we created the Weave, Strategy Engine and Knowsy® decision agility platforms. In partnership with The Kettering Foundation (www.kettering.org), Conteneo created Common Ground for Action, the first scalable platform for deliberative decision-making.
At Applied Frameworks, we make the world better by helping our customers create sustainably profitable businesses. My most recent book, Software Profit Solutions, is co-authored with Jason Tanner and shares key insights from our experience to help transform businesses through profitable, sustainable software solutions.
Join our newsletter linked in my profile above for periodic Profit Streams updates and to be notified when the book is available! https://profit-streams.com/book
We talk about:
 
What is system thinking and how is it used?
What are some of the tools one would use to navigate the “Fog of uncertainty”?
When should one think about raising prices?
When does software eat Hardware?
What is Solution Life-cycle management?
 
Connect with Luke
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lukehohmann/
Website https://appliedframeworks.com/

Ep 195 Aligning the Dots with Philippe Bouissou PHD

Show notes for Philippe Bouissou, Ph.D
 
TEDx speaker, best-selling book author, growth expert, entrepreneur, CEO, venture capitalist, board member. Three decades in Silicon Valley growing and running businesses. Managing Partner at Blue Dots Partners LLC, a management consulting firm focused on top-line revenue acceleration for companies or business units with at least $10 million in sales.
 
Specialties:▷ Top-line revenue growth, business development, and business acceleration▷ Management consulting▷ Operations and execution▷ Entrepreneurship and new venture creation▷ Venture capital
 
What are the 5 stages of growth throughout a businesses life-cycle?
How do growth expectations change with the macroeconomic developments?
What is the sinking tower analysis?
What is the A4 precision alignment paradigm?
How do companies lose alignment and how can they get it back?
And much more
 
Connect with Philippr
 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/phbouissou/
BlueDotsPartners.com 
PhilippeBouissou.com (

Ep 194 Controlling Your Exit with Todd Sullivan

Todd Sullivan
 
I specialize in helping my fellow founders create the exits they deserve. My team and I at Exitwise.com help each business owner hire and manage the best team of M&A experts from our global network of industry specialized, investment bankers, M&A attorneys and tax accountants, to minimize the risk of a failed engagement and to maximize the outcome for every client.
We serve our fellow founders and business owners in more than 200 middle and lower middle market industries including aerospace and defense, specialty manufacturing, business services, tech enabled services, FinTech, EdTech, HCM, Gaming, SaaS, Marketplaces, eCommerce, IoT, HealthTech, Ad/MarTech, Med Device, SportsTech, CloudTech and many more industries.
I have been fortunate enough to have thoroughly enjoyed my entrepreneurial journey over last 20 years building and selling four businesses. I have learned how to launch, fund, grow and sell software and manufacturing businesses. Now I am eager to share my insights and experience with my fellow founders to ensure that each of you can create the exits you, your families and your employees deserve.
As an entrepreneur, my ventures have been funded by Accel Partners, Lightbank, Great Oaks Ventures, New Enterprise Ventures, CSA Partners, Detroit Venture Partners and various angel groups.
As a private investor and venture partner, I have been honored to invest in entrepreneurs who are developing solutions to improve how businesses and individuals work, connect, transact and perform.
 
Awards:
"Top 20 Entrepreneur" - Zell-Lurie Institute @ UofM
"Top Wireless Startup" - CTIA
"Top 50 Award" - TechCrunch50
"Entrepreneur of the Year"​ - Ross School of Business
 
We talk about:
When there is a timeline with a goal to get acquired, how does that impact the operations of a company?
What is the best way for a founder to mentally prepare for an exit?
How does the sale complexity  change with the dollar amount involved in the transaction?
What areas do sellers seem to have the most confusion over in the sales process?
 
 
And much more
 
 
Connect with Todd
https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddfsullivan/
todd@exitwise.com