The Founder Initiative

- Rocketlane, founded by Srikrishnan Ganesan, spent its first year deeply researching the professional services automation (PSA) space, interviewing over 170 prospects and building conviction around unmet needs for customer-facing project management.
- The team identified a key pain point: companies struggled with the gap between contracted and live ARR, making effective onboarding and project delivery a board-level priority, especially for mid-market and upmarket tech companies.
- Rocketlane differentiated itself by building an all-in-one PSA platform tailored for services teams, integrating project management, customer collaboration, project accounting, and new AI-powered features like Nitro to automate and execute services...

Sponsored by Chargebee, subscription and revenue management → check out their startup offer: https://www.chargebee.com/startups Pankaj Patel, Founder of Nile https://www.linkedin.com/in/pankajpspatel/

Sponsored by Chargebee, subscription and revenue management → check out their startup offer: https://www.chargebee.com/startups

Jonah Midanik, Managing Partner of Forum Ventures

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonahmidanik/

Sponsored by Chargebee, subscription and revenue management → check out their startup offer: https://www.chargebee.com/startups

Kris Rudeegraap, Founder of Sendoso

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rudeegraap

Sponsored by Chargebee, subscription and revenue management → Founders, check out their upcoming $100k buyer pitch at Fort Mason in San Francisco: https://luma.com/beelieve

Helen Hastings, Founder of Quanta

https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenbhastings/

Sponsored by Chargebee, subscription and revenue management → check out their startup offer: https://www.chargebee.com/startups

Harish Abbott, Founder of Augment

https://www.linkedin.com/in/habbott/

Sponsored by Auth0 for Startups → 1-year free https://auth0.com/startups/vip Auth0 is an adaptable authentication and authorization platform that helps you secure your apps and AI agents. It delivers convenience, privacy, and security so you can focus on building a great UX. FOUNDER PROFILE: Ilya Levtov, Founder of Craft https://www.linkedin.com/in/ilya-levtov/

Sponsored by Chargebee, subscription and revenue management → check out their startup offer: https://www.chargebee.com/startups

Roberto Salcedo, Founder of Baubap

https://www.linkedin.com/in/roberto-salcedo-nieto/?originalSubdomain=mx

Danny Tomsett, Founder of UneeQ Digital Humans

https://www.linkedin.com/in/danny-tomsett/"

Sponsored by Chargebee, subscription and revenue management → check out their startup offer: https://www.chargebee.com/startups Sunil Dhaliwal, General Partner of Amplify Partners https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunildhaliwal/

Sponsored by Chargebee, subscription and revenue management → check out their startup offer: https://www.chargebee.com/startups

Jake Stauch, Founder of Serval

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakestauch/

Sponsored by Chargebee, subscription and revenue management → check out their startup offer: https://www.chargebee.com/startups James Wall, Founder of Phases.ai https://www.linkedin.com/in/j-m-wall/

Sponsored by Chargebee, subscription and revenue management → check out their startup offer: https://www.chargebee.com/startups

FOUNDER PROFILE:

Scott Stevenson, Founder of Spellbook

https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottas

Sponsored by Auth0 for Startups → 1-year free https://auth0.com/startups/vip Auth0 is an adaptable authentication and authorization platform that helps you secure your apps and AI agents. It delivers convenience, privacy, and security so you can focus on building a great UX.

FOUNDER PROFILE:

Gil Feig, Founder of Merge

https://www.linkedin.com/in/gilfeig/

Sponsored by Auth0 for Startups → 1-year free https://auth0.com/startups/vip Auth0 is an adaptable authentication and authorization platform that helps you secure your apps and AI agents. It delivers convenience, privacy, and security so you can focus on building a great UX.

FOUNDER PROFILE:

Rick Bente, Founder of Indomo

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rick-bente/

Sponsored by Auth0 for Startups → 1-year free https://auth0.com/startups/vip Auth0 is an adaptable authentication and authorization platform that helps you secure your apps and AI agents. It delivers convenience, privacy, and security so you can focus on building a great UX. VC PROFILE: Jeremy Burton, Founder of Platform Venture Studio https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremymburton

Sponsored by Auth0 for Startups → 1-year free https://auth0.com/startups/vip Auth0 is an adaptable authentication and authorization platform that helps you secure your apps and AI agents. It delivers convenience, privacy, and security so you can focus on building a great UX. 

FOUNDER PROFILE: Tom Firth, Founder of Cotera https://www.linkedin.com/in/tdfirth/

Sponsored by Auth0 for Startups → 1-year free https://auth0.com/startups/vip Auth0 is an adaptable authentication and authorization platform that helps you secure your apps and AI agents. It delivers convenience, privacy, and security so you can focus on building a great UX.

FOUNDER PROFILE:

Krish Subramanian, Founder - Chargebee - https://www.linkedin.com/in/krishs/

Guy Marion, CMO - Chargebee- https://www.linkedin.com/in/guymarion 

Sponsored by Auth0 for Startups → 1-year free https://auth0.com/startups/vip Auth0 is an adaptable authentication and authorization platform that helps you secure your apps and AI agents. It delivers convenience, privacy, and security so you can focus on building a great UX.

FOUNDER PROFILE:

Rebecca Hu, Founder of Glacier Robotics

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccabhu

Sponsored by Auth0 for Startups → 1-year free https://auth0.com/startups/vip Auth0 is an adaptable authentication and authorization platform that helps you secure your apps and AI agents. It delivers convenience, privacy, and security so you can focus on building a great UX. VC PROFILE: Dave Lambert, Founder of Right Side Capital Management https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidlambert55/

Sponsored by Auth0 for Startups → 1-year free https://auth0.com/startups/vip Auth0 is an adaptable authentication and authorization platform that helps you secure your apps and AI agents. It delivers convenience, privacy, and security so you can focus on building a great UX. VC PROFILE: Alexei Agratchev, Founder of RetailNext https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexeiagratchev/

Sponsored by Auth0 for Startups → 1-year free https://auth0.com/startups/vip Auth0 is an adaptable authentication and authorization platform that helps you secure your apps and AI agents. It delivers convenience, privacy, and security so you can focus on building a great UX.

FOUNDER PROFILE:

Nalin Senthamil, Founder of Storylane

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nalinpradeep

Sponsored by Auth0 for Startups → 1-year free https://auth0.com/startups/vip Auth0 is an adaptable authentication and authorization platform that helps you secure your apps and AI agents. It delivers convenience, privacy, and security so you can focus on building a great UX.

FOUNDER PROFILE:

Oliver Keh, Founder of Gleam

https://www.linkedin.com/in/oliver-keh

COMPANY: https://joingleam.com/

Gleam automatically extracts data from any source, intelligently validates it against protocol, eliminates queries before they occur, and instantly populates your EDC—accelerating database lock a...

Sponsored by Auth0 for Startups → 1-year free https://auth0.com/startups/vip Auth0 is an adaptable authentication and authorization platform that helps you secure your apps and AI agents. It delivers convenience, privacy, and security so you can focus on building a great UX.

FOUNDER PROFILE:

Andrew Yates, Founder of Dropbox, Promoted.ai

https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-yates-0217a985

Sponsored by Auth0 for Startups → 1-year free https://auth0.com/startups/vip Auth0 is an adaptable authentication and authorization platform that helps you secure your apps and AI agents. It delivers convenience, privacy, and security so you can focus on building a great UX.

VC PROFILE:

Nate DaPore, Founder of Roo Capital

https://www.linkedin.com/in/natedapore/

Sponsored by Auth0 for Startups → 1-year free https://auth0.com/startups/vip Auth0 is an adaptable authentication and authorization platform that helps you secure your apps and AI agents. It delivers convenience, privacy, and security so you can focus on building a great UX. 

FOUNDER PROFILE: Conor Brennan-Burke, Founder of Hyperspell (YC F25) https://www.linkedin.com/in/conorbrennanburke

Sponsored by Auth0 for Startups → 1-year free https://auth0.com/startups/vip Auth0 is an adaptable authentication and authorization platform that helps you secure your apps and AI agents. It delivers convenience, privacy, and security so you can focus on building a great UX.

VC PROFILE:

Seema Amble, Partner at Andreessen Horowitz

https://www.linkedin.com/in/seema-amble-b404126/

Sponsored by Auth0 for Startups → 1-year free https://auth0.com/startups/vip Auth0 is an adaptable authentication and authorization platform that helps you secure your apps and AI agents. It delivers convenience, privacy, and security so you can focus on building a great UX.

FOUNDER PROFILE:

Claire Tomkins, Founder of Future Family

https://www.linkedin.com/in/claire-tomkins-b122422/

Sponsored by Auth0 for Startups → 1-year free https://auth0.com/startups/vip Auth0 is an adaptable authentication and authorization platform that helps you secure your apps and AI agents. It delivers convenience, privacy, and security so you can focus on building a great UX. VC PROFILE: Ram Venkatesh, Founder of Sema4.ai https://www.linkedin.com/in/ram-venkatesh-34166/

Sponsored by Auth0 for Startups --> 1-year free https://auth0.com/startups/vip

Auth0 is an adaptable authentication and authorization platform that helps you secure your apps and AI agents. It delivers convenience, privacy, and security so you can focus on building a great UX.

FOUNDER PROFILE:

Arvind Parthasarathi

https://www.linkedin.com/in/arvindparthasarathi/

Sponsored by Auth0 for Startups --> 1-year free https://auth0.com/startups/vip

Auth0 is an adaptable authentication and authorization platform that helps you secure your apps and AI agents. It delivers convenience, privacy, and security so you can focus on building a great UX.

VC PROFILE:

Micahel loffe, Founder of Arist

https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelaioffe/

Sponsored by Auth0 for Startups --> 1-year free https://auth0.com/startups/vip

Auth0 is an adaptable authentication and authorization platform that helps you secure your apps and AI agents. It delivers convenience, privacy, and security so you can focus on building a great UX.

VC PROFILE:

Promod Haque

https://www.linkedin.com/in/promodhaque/

Get 1-year free of Auth0 (authentication and authorization platform)--> https://auth0.com/startups/vip

Auth0 is an adaptable authentication and authorization platform that helps you secure your apps and AI agents. It delivers convenience, privacy, and security so you can focus on building a great UX.

FOUNDER:

Joseph Krause

https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephfkrause/

EPISODE DESCRIPTION EXAMPLE What does a real pitch in Silicon Valley look like? This might be as close as you can get without being here yourself! VC PROFILE Mercedes Bent, ex Lightspeed Ventures, Partner https://www.linkedin.com/in/mercedesbent/ FOUNDER PROFILE: Sandra Bustos, Founder of Meshly.ai https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandrabustos/ 🤔 VCs not responding to you? I’ll review your deck & send you a detailed video with my actionable recommendations: Submit here: https://airtable.com/appBXetKIMsy5r3bE/pagQlrExmVx38bk6W/form

In this episode, Robert, co-founder of Wordware, shares the story of turning a sauna brainstorm into one of the largest seed rounds in YC history. He walks us through the early pivots, the highs and lows of YC interviews, and how a viral Twitter Roast fueled their momentum. This is a raw look at conviction, timing, and how founders can compound small wins into historic outcomes. FOUNDER PROFILE: Robert Chandler https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertjhchandler/ 🎙️ 7 Most Interesting Moments The “sauna spark” in Warsaw that inspired the core idea for Wordware. How getting denied by YC initially led to killing their fir...

FOUNDER PROFILE: Ben Kim, Nitrode's Co-Founder https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-yoonsung-kim/ 🎙️ 7 Most Interesting Moments Michael Seibel’s brutally honest feedback in interviews—pushing them to scrap lines and “cut the crap.” Pivoting right before their YC interview and getting challenged on whether their new idea could ever reach a billion-dollar outcome. The week-long sprint to build a demo after Michael said, “I’ll see you Sunday.” YC’s insight that gaming and QA are their worst-performing sectors, and why the team was pushed to pivot. Paul Graham comparing their idea to the “YouTube of gaming.” The bold vision: building an AI-powered game engine...

🔑 7 Most Interesting Moments David shares how his first YC application was rejected despite 10% week-over-week growth. The surprising reason they later got accepted: adding two technical co-founders even while growth was flat. Insights into what YC actually values (team, determination, big market) vs. what most founders think matters. A pivotal YC interview moment where David “flipped a switch” at minute 7 and convinced the partners. The origin story of 60: live website builds over Zoom that turned “bad leads” into high-value customers. The founding story of Endorsed: an AI recruiting agent designed to cut hiring times dramatically. FOUNDER PROFILE: David Head https://www.linkedin.co...

What's it like to pitch an actual VC in Silicon Valley? We recorded a real one to show you :) This was not scripted and it was the first time the pitched this VC! Vignesh Ravikumar Partner at Sierra Ventures https://www.linkedin.com/in/vravikumar1/ Ajay Gulati Founder of Kitecyber https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajaygulaticloud/ 🤔 VCs not responding to you? I’ll review your deck & send you a detailed video with my actionable recommendations: Submit here: https://airtable.com/appBXetKIMsy5r3bE/pagQlrExmVx38bk6W/form

How to build a unicorn in under 2-years? Not exactly a step-by-step playbook, but you will learn something from a founder who actually did it! You will also hear a VC's perspective from Kevin Weber, Managing Director at Amex Ventures! Boom. Jesse Zhang Founder & CEO of Decagon https://www.linkedin.com/in/thejessezhang/ Kevin Weber Managing Director at Amex Ventures https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-weber-b77b8028/ 🤔 VCs not responding to you? I’ll review your deck & send you a detailed video with my actionable recommendations: Submit here: https://airtable.com/appBXetKIMsy5r3bE/pagQlrExmVx38bk6W/form

Will, Founder of Phonely, shares his raw journey into Y Combinator—including sleeping in his car before a 3AM interview. He reveals how founders should interpret investor rejections, the real path to product-market fit, and top lessons a long the way. A must-listen for anyone navigating the early-stage PMF journey or getting funded! Will Bodewes https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-bodewes/ 🤔 VCs not responding to you? I’ll review your deck & send you a detailed video with my actionable recommendations: Submit here: https://airtable.com/appBXetKIMsy5r3bE/pagQlrExmVx38bk6W/form