Enterprise Weekly #490: Product Hot Takes from Ramp & Figma, Final 2024 Events, and More
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Happy Friday!
Earlier this week, we hosted our first Live Podcast Recording offering a candid look at how Ramp and Figma became product powerhouses with Geoff Charles (VP of Product at Ramp) and Mihika Kapoor (Product Lead at Figma). Some of their spicy takes 🌶️:
Product vision: Forget roadmaps beyond 6 months. Long-term roadmaps are rarely accurate, so avoid planning for an unpredictable future.
Communicating product strategy: Don’t spend hours crafting the perfect strategy document…no one will read it. Instead focus on how you can visually present your idea – a mock up / demo / etc. goes a much longer way.
Driving impact for customers: There’s nothing wrong with being a features factory if needed. But be intentional about impact and have a strong POV on how these features will drive change and impact.
Push through the “nos:” Mihika’s tenacity in making Figma Slides a reality, despite countless “nos” from the founders, was a great lesson on the lengths needed to justify a product into existence.
Always be shipping: Velocity is everything. Geoff gave an example of getting off a customer call one night and having the team build a new feature by morning. This speed is what sets you apart from sleepy incumbents.
Product meet Sales: Become BFFs with your top sales reps. They're often most in tune with customer needs and can be your pulse on customer resonance and invaluable allies.
➡️ See more recaps from Geoff, Mihika, and others. ⬅️
For more tactical talks, join our upcoming Work-Bench events:
🗓️ Enterprise Masterclass on Post-Sales Process (11/13) featuring our trusted Sales Advisor Kiran Narsu on building a rock-solid post-sales model from implementation to onboarding to training to product adoption and beyond.
🗓️ #Womenterprise Panel with AI icons OpenAI, Hebbia & Runway (11/13) to dive into the tactics on the front lines of selling cutting-edge AI products.
Lastly, please be sure to vote!
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Company: Arthur
Role: Machine Learning Engineer
Technology: AI Monitoring & Explainability
Funding: $60.3M from Work-Bench, Index Ventures, Acrew, Plexo Capital, Homebrew
🌟 Company of the Week 🌟
Persana AI raises $2.3M led by Race Capital, Stage 2 Capital and Others
Sales / Marketing • Seed • San Francisco, CA
Co-Founders: Sriya Maram (CEO), Rush Shahani
Boardy raises $3M led by 8VC, Precursor, and Others
Future of Work • Pre-Seed • Remote
Avina raises $3.2M led by RRE Ventures and nvp capital
Sales / Marketing • Seed • New York, NY
Advex AI raises $3.5M led by Construct Capital
Data / AI / Machine Learning • Seed • San Francisco, CA
Auquan raises $4.5M led by Peak XV
Future of Work • Seed • London, UK
Moondream raises $4.5M led by Felicis, M12 and Ascend
Data / AI / Machine Learning • Pre-Seed • Seattle, WA
GlassFlow raises $4.8M led by Upfront Ventures
Infrastructure / Dev Tools • Seed • Berlin, Germany
Cornerstone AI raises $5M led by Acrew Capital
Data / AI / Machine Learning • Seed • San Francisco, CA
Diffblue raises $6.3M led by Citi Institutional Strategic Investments, Oxford University and Others
Infrastructure / Dev Tools • Venture • Oxford, UK
Verax AI raises $7.6M led by TQ Ventures
Data / AI / Machine Learning • Seed • Tel Aviv, Israel
Bifrost AI raises $8M led by Carbide Ventures
Data / AI / Machine Learning • Series A • San Francisco, CA
iGent AI raises $8.2M led by HV Capital
Infrastructure / Dev Tools • Seed • London, UK
Sapien raises $8.7M led by General Catalyst
Collaboration / Productivity • Seed • San Francisco, CA
Matia raises $10.5M led by Leaders Fund and Secret Chord Ventures
Data / AI / Machine Learning • Seed • Miami, FL
Brightwave raises $15M led by Decibel Partners
Collaboration / Productivity • Series A • New York, NY
Semble raises $15M led by Mercia Ventures
Future of Work • Series B • London, UK
Speakeasy raises $15M led by FPV Ventures
Infrastructure / Dev Tools • Series A • San Francisco, CA
Tabs raises $25M led by General Catalyst
Sales / Marketing • Series A • New York, NY
Spot AI raises $31M led by Qualcomm Ventures, StepStone Group and Others
Data / AI / Machine Learning • Series B • San Francisco, CA
Reality Defender raises $33M led by Booz Allen Ventures, IBM Ventures and Others
Risk / Security • Series A • New York, NY
Filigran raises $35M led by Insight Partners
Risk / Security • Series B • Paris, France
Zenity raises $38M led by Third Point Ventures and DTCP
Risk / Security • Series B • Tel Aviv, Israel
Regal raises $40M led by Emergence Capital
Future of Work • Series B • New York, NY
Sana raises $55M led by NEA
Data / AI / Machine Learning • Series B • Stockholm, Sweden
DoorLoop raises $100M led by JMI Equity
Future of Work • Series B • Miami, FL
Fingercheck raises $115M led by Edison Partners
HR Tech • Venture • New York, NY
Armis raises $200M led by General Catalyst and Alkeon Capital
Risk / Security • Series D • San Francisco, CA
Sana acquires CTRL for an Undisclosed Amount
Collaboration / Productivity • Acquisition • Tel Aviv, Israel