Episode 404 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Ben Sesser, CEO & Co-Founder of BrightHire.
Well this is a first…
It’s common to time my podcast interview around a milestone for a company like a funding announcement. But, this is the first time that in the span between my interview with the founder to the publishing date that the company announced its acquisition.
Last week, BrightHire announced that the company has entered into an agreement to be acquired by Zoom. It certainly is a combination that makes a lot of sense.
BrightHire is an interview intelligence platform. We saw its influence firsthand this past summer when VentureFizz hosted a series of AI job searching events. Talent acquisition leaders consistently mentioned BrightHire as the most-adopted application—a signal that immediately led me to reach out to Ben for this interview.
As Ben shares, when they started, "interview intelligence" was a brand new category in hiring, and they faced plenty of doubters. But fast-forward to today, and much like the success of companies like Gong for sales teams, BrightHire's value is now obvious. But isn't that the case for all great companies in hindsight?
BrightHire's investors include Flybridge, Index Ventures, 01 Advisors, Zoom Apps Fund, and others.
Chapters
00:00 Intro
02:48 State of Hiring in the AI Era
06:51 Ben's Background Story
19:40 Getting Started in the Tech Industry
25:26 Origin Story of BrightHire
33:06 Creating a New Category
35:31 The Value of Video in the Hiring Process
41:17 BrightHire Screen - New AI Screening Platform
45:51 Experience of Raising Capital
48:36 Biggest Lessons Learned
50:22 Common Mistakes Companies Make When Hiring
51:57 Lightening Round Questions
Episode Sponsor: As a longtime champion of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank supports innovative companies with the solutions and financing they need through every stage of growth. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors, and $42B in loans as of Q2 2024 – SVB delivers the right people, service and resources to support your entire financial journey. Learn more at SVB.com.
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Episode 404 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Ben Sesser, CEO & Co-Founder of BrightHire.
Well this is a first…
It’s common to time my podcast interview around a milestone for a company like a funding announcement. But, this is the first time that in the span between my interview with the founder to the publishing date that the company announced its acquisition.
Last week, BrightHire announced that the company has entered into an agreement to be acquired by Zoom. It certainly is a combination that makes a lot of sense.
BrightHire is an interview intelligence platform. We saw its influence firsthand this past summer when VentureFizz hosted a series of AI job searching events. Talent acquisition leaders consistently mentioned BrightHire as the most-adopted application—a signal that immediately led me to reach out to Ben for this interview.
As Ben shares, when they started, "interview intelligence" was a brand new category in hiring, and they faced plenty of doubters. But fast-forward to today, and much like the success of companies like Gong for sales teams, BrightHire's value is now obvious. But isn't that the case for all great companies in hindsight?
BrightHire's investors include Flybridge, Index Ventures, 01 Advisors, Zoom Apps Fund, and others.
Chapters
00:00 Intro
02:48 State of Hiring in the AI Era
06:51 Ben's Background Story
19:40 Getting Started in the Tech Industry
25:26 Origin Story of BrightHire
33:06 Creating a New Category
35:31 The Value of Video in the Hiring Process
41:17 BrightHire Screen - New AI Screening Platform
45:51 Experience of Raising Capital
48:36 Biggest Lessons Learned
50:22 Common Mistakes Companies Make When Hiring
51:57 Lightening Round Questions
Episode Sponsor: As a longtime champion of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank supports innovative companies with the solutions and financing they need through every stage of growth. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors, and $42B in loans as of Q2 2024 – SVB delivers the right people, service and resources to support your entire financial journey. Learn more at SVB.com.
Episode 398 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Izzat Jarudi, Co-Founder & CEO at Edifii.
This episode was recorded live at Startup Boston Week at Suffolk University which is the third year that I’ve hosted it onsite. Thank you to Stephanie Roulic for the invitation, as it's a lot of fun and great to be involved in such a meaningful conference. And, since it was hosted live, this episode is audio only.
In this interview, we start out discussing a topic that Izzat is uniquely qualified to cover that being the potential impact of AI on our cognitive brain function. AI is very powerful and it has so many amazing use cases, but what are the risks in terms of how it is being adopted for the human element? Will things like our desire to solve problems or leverage our creative abilities decline over time? Izzat has a background in brain and behavioral science from MIT and Yale, plus his company, Edifii, is an AI and Neuroscience-based mentor for students, counselors, and parents. It’s definitely something to think about and I was excited to hear Izzat’s point of view.
In this interview, we also cover:
* Izzat’s background story and how he got his career starting in management consulting.
* How he landed in Product management and his rise to a VP of Product Management role at Cambridge Mobile Telematics.
* How he made the leap to entrepreneurship.
* All the details about Ediffi and the impact its platform is making.
* What makes a great Product Manager.
* And so much more.
The VentureFizz Podcast
Episode 404 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Ben Sesser, CEO & Co-Founder of BrightHire.
Well this is a first…
It’s common to time my podcast interview around a milestone for a company like a funding announcement. But, this is the first time that in the span between my interview with the founder to the publishing date that the company announced its acquisition.
Last week, BrightHire announced that the company has entered into an agreement to be acquired by Zoom. It certainly is a combination that makes a lot of sense.
BrightHire is an interview intelligence platform. We saw its influence firsthand this past summer when VentureFizz hosted a series of AI job searching events. Talent acquisition leaders consistently mentioned BrightHire as the most-adopted application—a signal that immediately led me to reach out to Ben for this interview.
As Ben shares, when they started, "interview intelligence" was a brand new category in hiring, and they faced plenty of doubters. But fast-forward to today, and much like the success of companies like Gong for sales teams, BrightHire's value is now obvious. But isn't that the case for all great companies in hindsight?
BrightHire's investors include Flybridge, Index Ventures, 01 Advisors, Zoom Apps Fund, and others.
Chapters
00:00 Intro
02:48 State of Hiring in the AI Era
06:51 Ben's Background Story
19:40 Getting Started in the Tech Industry
25:26 Origin Story of BrightHire
33:06 Creating a New Category
35:31 The Value of Video in the Hiring Process
41:17 BrightHire Screen - New AI Screening Platform
45:51 Experience of Raising Capital
48:36 Biggest Lessons Learned
50:22 Common Mistakes Companies Make When Hiring
51:57 Lightening Round Questions
Episode Sponsor: As a longtime champion of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank supports innovative companies with the solutions and financing they need through every stage of growth. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors, and $42B in loans as of Q2 2024 – SVB delivers the right people, service and resources to support your entire financial journey. Learn more at SVB.com.
