Great Entrepreneurs with RJ Lumba

Becoming The Market Leader: GPRS’ Matt Aston

In this episode, we speak with Matt Aston, President and CEO of GPRS, who has built his company from an idea to over $160 million in annual revenue. GPRS or Ground Penetrating Radar Systems is the nation’s largest company specializing in the detection of underground utilities, video pipe inspection, and the scanning of concrete structures.
Matt founded GPRS in 2001 and the company has grown to be a great success in its market. Its 99.8%+ accuracy rating on over 250,000 projects leads the industry.  The company has worked on some of the largest and most significant construction projects in the country. GPRS is backed by CIVC Partners.
Matt supports LifeWise Academy. To learn more about this organization click here.
I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show.  If you like the episode, click to subscribe.

A Business Savant: Ardurra’s Ernesto Aguilar

In this episode, we speak with Ernesto Aguilar, the President and CEO of Ardurra, which is a multidisciplinary services firm, providing broad-based solutions that are tailored to the specific needs of the public and private sector. The company is backed by Littlejohn & Co, a middle market private equity firm.
Ardurra provides services in the areas of water, transportation, public works, environmental, aviation, civil, aquatics, emergency management, transit, surveying, structural, community relations and landscape architecture, among others.
Ernesto is a visionary leader and seasoned Professional Engineer with 30+ years of experience encompassing all aspects of operations, management, business development and project delivery for engineering and consulting. He also leads the sourcing, valuation and merging of acquired companies, with an emphasis on integration as the key to building a unified firm.
I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show.  If you like the episode, click to subscribe.

Best in Class Revenue Platform: Clari’s Andy Byrne

In this episode, we speak with Andy Byrne, CEO and Co-founder of Clari. Clari is a platform that uses AI and machine learning to support sales teams by integrating with their existing CRM systems.
Thousands of sales, marketing, and customer success teams at leading companies, including Okta, Adobe, Workday, Zoom, and Finastra, use Clari’s execution insights to make their revenue process more connected, efficient, and predictable.
The company is backed by Blackstone, Silver Lake, Sapphire Ventures, Tenaya, Bain Capital, Sequoia and other notable investors.
Prior to Clari, Byrne was a founding executive at Clearwell, which he helped grow from pre-product and pre-revenue in 2005 to an $80 million annual revenue run rate until its acquisition by Symantec in 2011.
Andy supports Rise Against Hunger. To learn more about this organization click here.
I am your host RJ Lumba. We hope you enjoy the show. If you like the episode, click to subscribe.

Engineering Healthier Sweets: Nick’s Niclas Luthman

In this episode, we speak with Niclas Luthman, Founding Partner of Nick’s. Based in Sweden, Nick’s develops "better for you" alternatives to popular sugar packed and carb loaded foods, such as confectionery, ice cream, snacks and sweeteners. Nick’s seeks to eliminate the gap between indulgent and healthy, through food innovation, to empower more people to make better food choices.
An entrepreneur with a mechanical engineering background, Niclas became a self taught food engineer in 2014 after having to change his diet and lifestyle.  He worked with food scientists to develop a range of sugar, wheat and gluten-free snacks that can be part of every-day life.  The Nick’s range has become a permanent fixture in the Swedish confectionery aisles and also has a home in the US.
I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show.  If you like the episode, click to subscribe.

The Education Entrepreneur: Elevate K-12’s Shaily Baranwal

Shaily Baranwal is the Founder-CEO of Elevate K-12. She started Elevate K-12 with a passion for bringing high-quality synchronous instruction to K-12 schools to solve the teacher shortage crisis.
Shaily is a non-conformist, disrupting the status quo to truly make an impact in the educational field and beyond. Prior to starting Elevate K-12, Shaily was a management consultant at AT Kearney and has founded both a chain of pre-schools and a chain of restaurants in India; her restaurant chain was acquired by India’s largest food and beverage conglomerate, Dabur.
Elevate K-12 is backed by General Catalyst, Arsenal Growth Equity and other notable investors.
Shaily holds degrees in Industrial Engineering and Early Childhood Education, as well as an MBA from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. She is on the board of the University of Michigan Zell Lurie Institute and advises the development of students who want to take and continue on the path to entrepreneurship.
Shaily launches the Baranwal Entrepreneurial Scholarship Fund at the University of Michigan - Stephen M. Ross School of Business and Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies. The scholarship will fund the entrepreneurial aspirations of University of Michigan students.
I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show.  If you like the episode click to subscribe

The Future of Software Sales: Tackle’s John Jahnke

In this episode, we speak with John Jahnke, the CEO of Tackle, the leading solution built to help software companies generate revenue through a data-driven Cloud go-to-market (Cloud GTM).
John is a business and technology leader with a successful track record of building great teams to drive emerging technology patterns.
Tackle works with more than 550 software companies including CrowdStrike, HashiCorp, Lacework, New Relic, VMware, and many more at every stage - from companies scaling their go-to-market to the largest software companies in the world.
They are venture backed by three of the world's top SaaS investors - a16z, Bessemer Venture Partners, and Coatue.
I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show.  If you like the episode, click to subscribe.

Rapid Growth in Healthcare Franchising: Restore Hyper Wellness’ Jim Donnelly

In this episode, we speak with Jim Donnelly, Co-founder of Restore Hyper Wellness. Restore delivers expert guidance and an extensive array of cutting-edge health modalities, such as IV drips and cryotherapy, integrated under one roof. With multiple franchise locations across the U.S., the company is a national presence and leading brand in the Hyper Wellness space.
Restore was founded in 2015 in Austin, Texas after Jim used cryotherapy while training for a triathlon. The success of the Austin location accelerated the brand into a franchise entity, and they are planning to have 500 locations by the end of 2024.
Prior to founding Restore, and after serving in the military, Jim founded and backed multiple ventures.  He also co-founded IgoUgo.com, a  leader in user-generated travel website content, which was later sold to Sabre Holdings / Travelocity.
I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show.  If you like the episode, click to subscribe.

Game Changer In Web Development: Vercel’s Guillermo Rauch

In this episode, we speak with Guillermo Rauch, Founder and CEO of Vercel, the frontend cloud that gives developers the frameworks, workflows, and infrastructure to build a faster, more personalized web.
Founded in 2015, the company has raised over $300 million dollars and is backed by GGV Capital, Accel, Bedrock Capital, CRV, and other notable investors.
Vercel unlocks developer potential and enables users to go from idea to global application in seconds. Vercel enables customers like Under Armour, Nintendo, The Washington Post, and Zapier to build delightful user experiences on the Web.
I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show.  If you like the episode, click to subscribe.

The Enterprise 5G Revolution: Celona’s Rajeev Shah

In this episode, we speak with Rajeev Shah, the Co-Founder and CEO of Celona, the enterprise 5G company that enables a new generation of AI-powered business critical apps in the enterprise and helps organizations accelerate their digital transformation journey.
Before founding Celona, Rajeev was the VP of product management and marketing for Federated Wireless, where he launched the industry’s first and leading Spectrum Access System. Prior to Federated, Rajeev held multiple product management leadership positions at Aruba Networks, including creating its Cloud Wi-Fi business.
Taking advantage of the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) spectrum, Celona’s solution architecture is designed to simplify and automate deployment of cellular wireless technology by enterprise IT organizations and managed service providers.
The company was born with the idea that a combination of 5G radio technology, edge computing and machine learning software will fundamentally change how organizations work and do business.
Celona is backed by Digital Bridge Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures, Norwest, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and other notable investors.
I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show.  If you like the episode, click to subscribe.

Transforming Math Education: Cuemath’s Vivek Sunder

In this episode, we speak with Vivek Sunder, CEO of Cuemath, an online supplemental learning platform. Cuemath started in India in 2013 with a mission to transform the way children learn math.
The company started as an offline tutoring center with a small group of students but is now the world's leading online math education platform. Backed by marquee investors such as Google and Sequoia, Cuemath is present in 80+ countries today and is trusted by over 200,000 students for all their math needs.
Prior to working at Cuemath, Sunder worked for more than two decades at P&G and served as COO of Swiggy, an India-based food ordering and delivery platform. Sunder leads Cuemath’s mission to be a global math powerhouse with 21st century techniques and technology.
I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show.  If you like the episode, click to subscribe.