Great Entrepreneurs with RJ Lumba

Data-Powered Consumer Brands: Amperity’s Derek Slager

In this episode, we speak with Derek Slager, the Co-Founder and CTO of Amperity, a customer data platform that helps brands build the unified first-party customer data foundation they need to grow revenue, reduce costs, save time, and stay compliant.
Founded in 2016, Amperity’s main drive in business is to enable larger consumer brands such as Wyndham and Alaska Airlines, to develop and maintain a unified view of their customer, using patented AI and ML methods. Now with more than 400 brands on their roster, Amperity is a trusted resource for turning data into business value.
The company has raised over $180 million and is backed by HighSage Ventures, Tiger Global, Madrona, and others.
Prior to Amperity, Derek was on the founding team at Appature and held engineering leadership positions at various business and consumer-facing startups, focusing on large-scale distributed systems and security.
I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show.  If you like the episode click to subscribe. 

Serial FinTech Entrepreneur: Cognaize’s Vahe Andonians

In this episode, we discuss the practical applications of artificial intelligence in financial services and banking with the Founder and CEO of Cognaize, Vahe Andonians. Vahe is a software engineer, data scientist, academic, senior lecturer, and visionary with decades of experience in the financial services industry.
In 2018, Vahe tapped into an issue many businesses are facing - too often, businesses are sitting on immense data stores without a good system for accessing all that information. Through Cognaize’s intelligent document-processing products, clients such as banks, insurers, and asset managers, can now transform unstructured data into an even better asset that drives more informed decisions and delivers powerful competitive advantages.
I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show. If you like the episode click to subscribe.

Business AI Maestro: Fractal’s Srikanth Velamakanni

In this episode, we speak with Srikanth Velamakanni, Co-Founder, Group Chief Executive & Executive Vice-Chairman of Fractal, a provider of artificial intelligence to companies. Fractal's businesses include:  Crux Intelligence , which provides AI driven business intelligence;  Eugenie.ai  for sustainability;  Asper.ai  for revenue growth management; and Senseforth.ai, conversational AI for sales and customer service.
Since its founding in 2000, the company has raised more than $680 million from TPG, Apax, TA Associates and other notable investors and has empowered more than 100 Fortune 500 companies with its AI, data, and analytics-driven business strategies.
I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show.  If you like the episode, click to subscribe.

Cookie Monster Growth: Crumbl Cookies’ Founder Jason McGowan

In this episode, we speak with Jason McGowan, one of the Co-Founders of the fastest-growing cookie companies in the nation since 2017. With over 700 locations in the US and Canada, Crumbl Cookies is powered by cutting-edge technology, iconic branding, delicious desserts, and passionate people.
In 2017, two cousins, Jason McGowan, with career experience in technology and marketing, and Sawyer Hemsley, still finishing his college degree, teamed up to create a new kind of cookie company. What started as a side hustle and several trials and errors in their baking quests, eventually led to creating the world’s best chocolate chip cookie.
From there, the rest is history. Opening their first store in Logan, Utah, which only served their signature chocolate chip cookie, they eventually expanded to a weekly rotating menu of several flavor options and quickly made their way to opening locations throughout the states.
In 2023, Crumbl Cookies expanded internationally and opened stores in Canada. The company’s famous pink branded box and weekly flavor rotations make them stand out from the baking crowd.
I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show.  If you like the episode click to subscribe

Supercharging With Protein: The EVERY Company’s Arturo Elizondo

In this episode, we speak with Arturo Elizondo, Co-founder and CEO of The EVERY Company, which is an American biotechnology company that develops proteins and other products traditionally sourced from animals.
The company’s versatile proteins are proven solutions for a variety of applications, from bars and beverages to bakery, alt meat and novel foods and beverages that benefit from a protein boost.
Arturo has led The EVERY Company as its Co-founder and CEO for the last decade from concept through commercialization.  The Company has raised over $200 million dollars from notable investors.
I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show.  If you like the episode, click to subscribe.

A 1000x Faster Database Solution: ClickHouse’s Aaron Katz

In this episode, we speak with Aaron Katz, Co-Founder and CEO of ClickHouse. ClickHouse is an open-source database management system which allows users to generate analytical reports using SQL queries in real-time.
Its technology works 100-1000x faster than traditional database management systems, and processes hundreds of millions to over a billion rows and tens of gigabytes of data per server per second.
Before founding ClickHouse, Aaron helped grow salesforce.com between 2002 - 2014 from a private, 200 employee startup, to a $200 billion market leader. He was also part of the team that took Elastic public and drove revenue from $5 million to $500 million.
I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show.  If you like the episode, click to subscribe.

Tech Entrepreneur Polymath: Figment’s Lorien Gabel

In this episode, we speak with Lorien Gabel, Co-founder and CEO of Figment, the leading provider of blockchain infrastructure. The company has raised over $150 million and is backed by Thoma Bravo, B Capital, Two Sigma, and other notable investors.
Figment provides comprehensive staking solutions for over 250 institutional clients. The world’s largest asset managers, custodians, exchanges, foundations, and token holders leverage Figment’s infrastructure and APIs to earn staking rewards. Staking is a process in which token holders can earn rewards by helping to secure a blockchain network.
Before Co-Founding Figment, Lorien was both a serial entrepreneur and corporate executive.  Along with his brother, Lorien founded three companies - 1) pingg.com, which was acquired by 1800-Flowers, 2) Bird on a Wire Networks, which was acquired by AT&T Canada and 3) Interlog, one of Canada’s first commercial ISPs, which was acquired by a large multinational telecommunications provider.
Lorien also spearheaded the exponential U.S. growth of UK-based tech company MessageLabs as Global VP Business Development, ran a division of Fortune 500 company Micron, and has served on the advisory board of a number of start-ups.
Lorien supports The Murph Challenge. To learn more about the annual event click here.
I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show.  If you like the episode, click to subscribe.

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.