Episode 409 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Ilia Papas, serial entrepreneur and co-founder of Band and Blue Apron.
Do you know what the enchilada factor is? Probably not… unless you were part of the Blue Apron team that created a national brand and one of the pillar companies in the meal-kit food delivery category that ultimately went public.
In this interview, Ilia shares the inside look at those hypergrowth years, including the company’s use of machine learning for planning labor and food ordering, so they could fulfill those enchilada orders (also known internally as the enchilada factor) which always caused a spike when it was offered on the menu.
Ilia’s latest company is Band—and no, it’s not the musical kind. Instead, the company is focused on a massive, underserved sector where trillions of dollars flow between businesses, yet technical innovation has been severely lacking. Band has built the smart operating system for B2B trade agreements, providing AI-powered rebate and incentive tracking for distributors, manufacturers, and purchasing groups.
In this episode of our podcast, we cover:
* Ilia’s background story, plus the details on his siblings and their collective success in the tech industry.
* Interning at his brother Art’s company, Bullhorn, and then building the foundation of his career at web consulting firms like Molecular and Optaros, where he worked on the original version of Rue La La.
* How he met his co-founder, Matt Salzburg, and why they pivoted from a “Kickstarter for science” idea to food delivery in 2012.
* Bringing on a third co-founder, Matt Wadiak, who brought the culinary expertise and why they names the company Blue Apron.
* Their approach to growth marketing to compete against HelloFresh & Plated and scaling to millions of meals a week.
* The story of the IPO in 2017 and the unique challenges of running a publicly traded company
* All the details about Band and why Ilia chose this underserved industry, plus how his approach to building a company is different this time around.
* And so much more!
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Episode 409 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Ilia Papas, serial entrepreneur and co-founder of Band and Blue Apron.
Do you know what the enchilada factor is? Probably not… unless you were part of the Blue Apron team that created a national brand and one of the pillar companies in the meal-kit food delivery category that ultimately went public.
In this interview, Ilia shares the inside look at those hypergrowth years, including the company’s use of machine learning for planning labor and food ordering, so they could fulfill those enchilada orders (also known internally as the enchilada factor) which always caused a spike when it was offered on the menu.
Ilia’s latest company is Band—and no, it’s not the musical kind. Instead, the company is focused on a massive, underserved sector where trillions of dollars flow between businesses, yet technical innovation has been severely lacking. Band has built the smart operating system for B2B trade agreements, providing AI-powered rebate and incentive tracking for distributors, manufacturers, and purchasing groups.
In this episode of our podcast, we cover:
* Ilia’s background story, plus the details on his siblings and their collective success in the tech industry.
* Interning at his brother Art’s company, Bullhorn, and then building the foundation of his career at web consulting firms like Molecular and Optaros, where he worked on the original version of Rue La La.
* How he met his co-founder, Matt Salzburg, and why they pivoted from a “Kickstarter for science” idea to food delivery in 2012.
* Bringing on a third co-founder, Matt Wadiak, who brought the culinary expertise and why they names the company Blue Apron.
* Their approach to growth marketing to compete against HelloFresh & Plated and scaling to millions of meals a week.
* The story of the IPO in 2017 and the unique challenges of running a publicly traded company
* All the details about Band and why Ilia chose this underserved industry, plus how his approach to building a company is different this time around.
* And so much more!
Episode 404: Ben Sesser - CEO & Co-Founder, BrightHire
The VentureFizz Podcast
56 minutes 46 seconds
1 month ago
Episode 404: Ben Sesser - CEO & Co-Founder, BrightHire
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.
The VentureFizz Podcast
Episode 409 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Ilia Papas, serial entrepreneur and co-founder of Band and Blue Apron.
Do you know what the enchilada factor is? Probably not… unless you were part of the Blue Apron team that created a national brand and one of the pillar companies in the meal-kit food delivery category that ultimately went public.
In this interview, Ilia shares the inside look at those hypergrowth years, including the company’s use of machine learning for planning labor and food ordering, so they could fulfill those enchilada orders (also known internally as the enchilada factor) which always caused a spike when it was offered on the menu.
Ilia’s latest company is Band—and no, it’s not the musical kind. Instead, the company is focused on a massive, underserved sector where trillions of dollars flow between businesses, yet technical innovation has been severely lacking. Band has built the smart operating system for B2B trade agreements, providing AI-powered rebate and incentive tracking for distributors, manufacturers, and purchasing groups.
In this episode of our podcast, we cover:
* Ilia’s background story, plus the details on his siblings and their collective success in the tech industry.
* Interning at his brother Art’s company, Bullhorn, and then building the foundation of his career at web consulting firms like Molecular and Optaros, where he worked on the original version of Rue La La.
* How he met his co-founder, Matt Salzburg, and why they pivoted from a “Kickstarter for science” idea to food delivery in 2012.
* Bringing on a third co-founder, Matt Wadiak, who brought the culinary expertise and why they names the company Blue Apron.
* Their approach to growth marketing to compete against HelloFresh & Plated and scaling to millions of meals a week.
* The story of the IPO in 2017 and the unique challenges of running a publicly traded company
* All the details about Band and why Ilia chose this underserved industry, plus how his approach to building a company is different this time around.
* And so much more!
