Join us in our digital den and immerse yourself in the inspiration born from exploring the hidden narratives and inevitable plot twists that shape every compelling startup journey.
The Bearhug Experience Podcast
(#13) David Connors: The Swarm, Go-To-Network is the new Go-To-Market, Carving Signal from the Noise, Growth, Evolution, Power of Warm Introductions & Relationship-Driven Sales in the Age of AI.
David Connors is the Co-Founder & CEO of The Swarm. The Swarm is the first “Go-To-Network” platform giving companies and investors the keys to their networks and the relationship data they need to accelerate sales, recruiting, and fundraising. David is a 3x startup founder, including an exit to Sequoia Capital who acquired his outbound recruiting automation startup Automately. After the acquisition, David joined the Sequoia team as their Director of Recruiting Operations, where he went on to build custom tools for Sequoia's recruiters, investors, and founders. After a 2 year earn-out period, David went on to Co-Found The Swarm, with backing by the founders of Superhuman, Thumbtack, Lookout, Bearhug Recruiting, and many more successful operators, in addition to prominent VCs like 500 Global, Contrary Capital, and Sequoia Capital.
(#11) Aaron Rubens: Kudoboard, Celebrating Moments That Matter At Work, Building Products that Deliver Joy, Gratitude & Appreciation At Scale, Staying Capital Efficient & Riding Viral Waves.
Aaron Rubens is the Co-Founder & CEO of Kudoboard. An online workplace appreciation software that’s helping tens of millions of people every day at top companies globally, work harder, and stick around longer, thanks to feeling more appreciated at work. Aaron graduated from Tulane University, after becoming a high school math teacher through Teach for America. After teaching, he led the creation of Khan Academy’s White House-sponsored 4-year college admissions technology resource, for low-income, high potential students. From there, he got his MBA from Harvard Business School, and went on to build Kudoboard, growing it into the incredible cash-efficient enterprise it's become today.
(#9) Jake Braly: Krisp.ai, Digital Voice Productivity, Identifying & Scaling Revenue Growth, Perseverance, Solution Orientation, Being a “Sorting Hat” & Unbounded Growth.
Jake Braly, the Chief Revenue Officer of Krisp.Ai – the world’s first AI-powered Call & Meeting Assistant software that enhances voice communication through audio cleansing, noise cancellation, accent localization, call transcription, and summarization. Krisp processes over 75 billion minutes of voice conversations each month helping thousands of businesses deliver better business outcomes. Jake has a proven track record of driving new venture creation, market development, and revenue growth for technology businesses. Prior to Krisp, Jake served as the Head of Global Marketing and Strategic Alliances for Highspot, playing a vital role in guiding the company's valuation of $50 million to over $3.6 billion, in addition to notable roles at companies such as Apptio, K2 Software, Microsoft, and IBM.