MGMT Boston - W2, Q2 24 - Starburst // Adam Fisk, Tech Superpowers // 2023 Learnings with York IE & JP Morgan
Starburst // Adam Fisk, Tech Superpowers // 2023 Learnings with York IE & JP Morgan
Welcome to MGMT Boston where we try to help 850+ of you manage your awareness of top Boston startups and local up & coming operators putting in the work. Glad to have you here!
TLDR:
Starburst - an end to end cloud software analytics platform for cloud and on-premise workloads, with industry leading price-performance
Thanks to everyone who has mentioned Starburst as a company to know locally
Adam Fisk, Director of IT Services @ Tech Superpowers - a fixer with a calming voice trained on FM radio waves, tinkering with machines from an early age and trained by the most prolific retailer in the world.
Thanks to Alyssa K. for the intro to TSP
Operators Club Corner - Learnings from 2023 with York IE, Co-Hosted by JP Morgan Startup Banking - whether you’re in the early days of producing revenue, finding product market fit and scaling to single digit millions of ARR, or even leading 2,000 person orgs at multi-billion ARR run rates at Oracle’s cloud unit it’s. all. relative. There are challenges at every stage!
Thanks to York IE, JP Morgan Startup Banking, Jess Meher & Adam Martel for a great event
Other Resources:
MGMT Boston Operators Club - helping up & coming operators grow beyond their day to day
Dana Wensberg, Senior Engineer @ Paperless Parts - 4 Pieces of Advice for the next Manufacturing SaaS Startup
Sean Smith, VP Product @ Denim - lessons from a product guy who spent time moonlighting in revenue
Dillon McDermott, Head of Sales @ Zowie - this one’s for the job hunters out there. A report from the front
2024 Boston Tech Big Board - updated snapshot of 2024 companies to watch. The comprehensive funding list needs work. If anyone knows an easy way to capture this holistic view (ex-biotech), reach out!
The Endeca Effect: Overview / Markets / People / Products / Conclusion / Bonus - Steve Papa Alumni Learnings
Q1 Startups Highlighted: Merlin, BlueTrace, Osmo, Boswell, Tomorrow.io, Vizit, Centaur Labs, Verve Motion, Duckbill, Circle, OneScreen, Causal Labs
Q1 Operators Highlighted: Parker Lawrence / Herald, Aaron Whittemore / Humatics, Lauren Viscariello / Candex, Joe Kiernan / Perch, Micah Lanier / Jump, Craig Minoff / Kasa, Dean Walsh / TiE Boston, Kelly Peters / Tomorrow.io, Annie Lindseth / Connie Health, Henry Gleason / iRobot
Would you like to sponsor MGMT Boston in Q2? Reach out by replying to this e-mail!
Starburst
Founders: Justin Borgman, Matt Fuller
Founding: 2017
Mission: Free our customers to see the invisible and achieve the impossible
Employees: 350 & ~20% Local
Workplace: Hybrid
Stage & Capital Raised: Series D & $414M Raised
Investors: Alkeon Capital with Altimeter, B Capital Group, a16z, Coatue Management, Index Ventures, and Salesforce Ventures
Key Customers: Comcast, DoorDash, ZoomInfo, Zillow, Standard Chartered, VMWare & many more
Glassdoor Rating: 3.3
Valuation (estimated): $2B - $3B+ (they were last valued at $3.35B in the Q4 ‘23 $250M fundraise)
^ this is a useless number. There is no tangible valuation until the business is sold or goes public. Don’t forget it!
Starburst is building an end to end cloud software analytics platform for cloud and on-premise workloads, with industry leading price-performance. Because you don’t need to bring sand to the beach trying to centralize & analyze data…when you can use Starburst’s more flexible open Lakehouse. Wabam!
Founded in 2017 by serial entrepreneur Justin Borgman & Matt Fuller, Starburst is on a mission to free their customers to see the invisible and achieve the impossible. What that means in cloud parlance is easier, more flexible access to data regardless of where it lives.
Pretend you work at a large retailer. You have multiple sales channels - physical stores, a website, and a mobile app. Each channel generates customer data…in separate systems. Unsung heroes spend their days gluing reports together and bending the curvature of the earth to get their bosses what they need. Shouldn’t there be a better way?
Starburst breaks down data silos by unifying customer data where they reside, without data warehouse centralization needed. Starburst Enterprise helps companies like the aforementioned large retailer and their stressed out reporting gurus produce usable analysis at scale more efficiently.
Starburst leverages Trino, fka PrestoSQL, created by former Facebook engineers Dain Sundstrom, David Phillips, Martin Traverso, and Eric Hwang who designed this open source project for interactive analytics. The Trino query engine provides a quick and easy way to allow access to datasets from a variety of sources. End users don’t have to learn any new complex language or new tool; they can simply utilize existing tools for analytics with which they are comfortable (and I didn’t need to learn it either as that sentence is right on Starburst’s website)!
Querying data accurately and on time is an essential workflow in 2024. AWS launched in 2006! We’ve spent almost 20 years getting data into the cloud and it’s proliferated into tools all across the enterprise. The cloud computing market is $600B+ and expected to eclipse $1T by the end of the decade (src). Unifying data without going through a painstaking centralization process helps make analysis easier without hiring expensive consulting integrations teams. I mean those people will stay on projects for years!
Starburst has two product platforms - Starburst Galaxy and Starburst Enterprise. Starburst Galaxy is their fully managed cloud offering and Starburst Enterprise allows self management anywhere. Both platforms handle a variety of use cases I’ll let you dig into on your own time, integrating with BI tools like Looker, Tableau, Metabase, etc. across 50+ data sources and leverage a usage based pricing model.
In February 2022 they announced a $250M Series D financing led by Alkeon Capital with Altimeter, B Capital Group, Andreessen Horowitz, Coatue Management, Index Ventures, and Salesforce Ventures participating.
In March of 2024 they announced the appointments of Steven Chung as President, Tobias Ternstrom as Chief Product Officer, and Adam Ferrari as Senior Vice President of Engineering (s/o Endeca mafia) to help guide them into the next era of company building & growth.
Operators to Know (Locally):
Katherine Kellogg Bannon, Senior Director, Sales Readiness
Emily Black, Senior Manager, Demand Generation
Rachel Chapman, Director, Brand & Digital
Elizabeth Curatolo, Senior Manager - Alliances
Kevin Haley, Product Manager
Harrison Johnson, VP Technology Partnerships
Elisa L., Senior Director of Support
Visha Singh, Head of Product
Maria Vasiliadas Medina, Product Manager
Abby Wisbach, Principal GTM Recruiter
Renee Wysopal, Senior Manager, Account Based Marketing
My investigative powers continue to need work so apologies to the Starburst team I know I missed many up & coming operators internally
Key Roles To Be Hired:
If I were interviewing here are some questions I’d ask:
What are the key goals for 2024 with the evolving leadership team?
What are the biggest challenges as you scale the team to an enterprise level across multiple global offices and product lines?
What is the long term vision for the company?
What are the most important roles you’ll be looking to add in 2024 // teams that need the most help?
We’re optimizing for readability here so to learn more about Starburst you’ll have to D.Y.O.R. I’m excited to watch this team bring more fragmented enterprises into aunified, accessible digital age. All analysts & strategists applaud your efforts. See you around town!
Adam Fisk, Director of IT Services @ Tech Superpowers
Adam Fisk is a fixer with a calming voice trained on FM radio waves, tinkering with machines from an early age and trained by the most prolific retailer in the world. Today he helps support the infrastructure of some of Boston’s fastest-growing startups and well-known institutions as the Director of IT Services at Boston-based IT services & cybersecurity provider Tech Superpowers.
The eldest of five, Adam was always an even-keeled captain trying to keep the peace with family and friends. He was born in Phoenix, but the family relocated to the Boston area when he was in middle school after his dad took a job with EMC. He’s been local ever since.
Adam’s dad worked in IT for his entire career at Honeywell doing infrastructure backup work before being recruited to EMC, and is now a Software Engineer for an Emergency Services RMS company. His mom has served as a cardiac intensive care nurse at Boston Children’s Hospital for the past 25 years. When the kids got a little older, she obtained her PhD in Nursing Science, is currently a clinical coordinator in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at Boston Children’s Hospital. She also works with an international NGO, primarily in India, to help teams in low and middle-income countries to improve care of children with congenital heart disease. . Moms, right??
Growing up around an IT professional, Adam did his best to break and quickly fix the first computer they had in the house. From an early age he was always monkeying around with technology. His high school had a radio station and Adam had his own radio show, always fixing things around the studio during the emerging era of the Internet.
Adam pursued video & voiceover work at Curry College as an aspiring broadcaster. When he graduated, he began working at independent alternative radio station WFNX, owned by the Boston Phoenix, doing live events & behind the scenes production. He even got to travel to California to work Coachella for the station.
But in the 2010’s the radio industry was changing, and Adam started putting in hours at a local Apple retail store. He became a Trainer (Creative), running workshops & doing training sessions for new employees. He really enjoyed teaching people and became a member of Apple’s Genius team, even traveling out to Cupertino HQ for a multi-week training.
Apple was all about serving customers with the utmost professionalism - acknowledging their customers, aligning with the customer’s needs, and assuring them their requests could be handled. It was interesting technical work troubleshooting devices but the daily grind juggling two jobs eventually wore on Adam. He began to look for a more traditional career path.
One of his current colleagues introduced him to Tech Superpowers, a local IT firm looking for a new Field Technician. They were helping local businesses install computers and printers, set up networks, and even did some residential work too. They were IT people for the people, whoever & wherever you were.
Adam became one of their hands-on technicians, running around Boston to the organizations the company serviced, doing what needed to be done for customers. They even had a Patriot Place retail store for a period of time. Eventually, the business evolved to become a managed services firm that handled less individual device repair & management work. Tech Superpowers became IT as a service.
This fit Adam’s skills perfectly. He built personal relationships with his clients, training and teaching them as he gained the skills to better understand their needs. His hard work was noticed, and he began leading the growing services team as their Team Lead, instituting best-in-class standards & practices.
Over the last five years, he has assumed a core leadership role as Tech Superpowers’ Director of IT Services, overseeing the Managed Services team for clients like Cohere Health, the Celtics, Accel, Equity Resources Investments, and Sublime Systems. He works with the executive team on internal and external strategy, acting as a problem solver and guide to a growing team of 5 direct reports managing a seven-figure book of business. Adam admits it hasn’t always been easy to grow into this leadership role, but it’s been extremely rewarding.
The Managed Service provider team helps manage ongoing client relationships and also assists with new business consultations & onboarding. They also help clients with cybersecurity, onboarding & offboarding, conference room A/V, & compliance. The team is lucky to have industry-leading retention rates and has only lost a couple of customers over the past few years when they grow to an enterprise-level size or are acquired. It’s all about relationships.
Adam enjoys working with customers who see IT as a valuable asset. Many of their customers are fast-growing startups with big goals, and he loves helping them get there by sharing the team’s long-standing expertise. He coordinates problem-solving, training, and leverages over a decade of wisdom to help them grow. Adam also interfaces with Tech Superpowers’ smart home division, TSP Smart Spaces, where they help individual high-end customers automate their homes.
Active Listening - AAA & A.p.p.l.e. Framework
Growing up in a big family, Adam knows people just want to be heard. Technical people especially. When he began working at Apple teaching technical support, he learned to be an active listener & let people finish before he jumped in.
When someone is reaching out for IT help, they’re probably not in a good mood. Something is likely broken, and they’re stressed because something has gone wrong. Using that opportunity to let them be heard in order to create trust & rapport is critical.
If someone has an abrasive, emotional response, the best way to disarm them is by listening to them to get to the heart of the problem. It takes skill honed over time to understand what challenges customers are facing.
Apple teaches their associates the “Three A’s” - Acknowledge, Align, and Assure (explained here). At an Apple retail store, they have the Apple framework. First, they Approach customers with a personalized, warm welcome. Next, they Probe politely to understand the customer’s needs. Then, they Present a solution for the customer to take home. After presenting, Listen for and resolve any issues or concerns. Last, End with a fond farewell and an invitation to return.
This translates pretty well to any customer facing role, but Adam has leaned on it heavily at TSP with his team. He explains, “if someone wants to VPN into their office when working remotely, that’s easy. But understanding what they’re first trying to accomplish (and protect), really understanding that, is more valuable to provide true partnership”.
IT is a service industry, and to build great relationships, you need to listen by treating people like people. You need to service the hands that touch the computers. And Apple knows a thing or two about providing great customer service.
Career Insights / Learnings
Be Flexible - “It’s ok to say the dream you once had isn’t what you need to do or want to do now. Just because I wanted to be in radio, would I still want that looking back now? No. It’s ok to realize what you want to do changes. And it’s ok not to know what to do next. It’s also ok not to have an answer but to say, ‘hey, I’m going to go find the answer’”.
Slow Down to Go Fast - “Sometimes working at a breakneck speed is fine. But you cannot, as a person, continue at a nonstop speed. Yes, there will be weekends and days where you need to put in more. But there also needs to be weekends where you watch 3 movies in a row so your brain & body can recharge. Don’t let your work life and personal life compete with each other. Have hobbies that are not tied to your work.”
Adam is really enjoying the work and the team he has helped build at Tech Superpowers. He’s gotten to work with some fascinating organizations that have just hit or are hitting hypergrowth. Whether it’s building out IT networks at brand new office spaces or partnering with Tech Superpowers’ Smart Spaces team, there is always a lot of variety to tackle.
He’s excited to continue educating and, when the opportunities arise, hosting events & roundtables with various partners in the community. He aspires to continue treating people like people, helping them attain their goals. And when things go awry, you just have to work through it!
If you want to learn more about Adam, you can find him staving off an IT disaster with one of TSP’s clients, keeping in touch with his four siblings and family, or on LinkedIn. Thanks for sharing. We look forward to seeing the growth of the team and all the amazing Boston startups you help grow in the years ahead!
**I completed some paid consulting work for TSP over the last few months which is how I got to know Adam. But he is an operator in the truest sense and I apologize for nothing!!**
Learnings from 2023 with York IE, Co-Hosted by JP Morgan Startup Banking
General Partners: Adam Coughlin, Joe Raczka, Kyle York
Head of Partnerships: Tommy Vailas
Founding: 2019
Mission: Build your company, your way
Team: 200+ & 30% Local
Workplace: Hybrid
LPs: Investment Partner Syndicate
Stage: Seed
Focus Area(s): B2B SaaS
Highlighted Portfolio Companies (Locally): BlueTrace, Givzey, Stockpress, Metadata, Naya Studio, Stavvy, Vendpark
Fund Size: $100M Rolling Fund
York IE an early stage B2B SaaS seed stage investment & advisory firm located in Manchester, NH with deep roots in Boston. They invest in leading vertical SaaS startups nationwide and are building toward an eight figure advisory business to help productize SaaS company building. Alongside JP Morgan’s startup banking team, we co-hosted an event this past Tuesday, March 26th on a misty night at Joe’s on the Waterfront to bring together early stage founders from the York & JP Morgan networks with the MGMT Boston Operators Club
Kyle York, York’s Founder & CEO, opened the conversation with the message that “it’s all relative”. Whether you’re in the early days of producing revenue, finding product market fit and scaling to single digit millions of ARR, or even leading 2,000 person orgs at multi-billion ARR run rates at Oracle’s cloud unit it’s. all. relative. There are challenges at every stage!
Yes, we’ve taken a big step down in fundraising activity from 2021. Building has gotten harder. But the trendline continues to rise in the venture ecosystem if you zoom out a bit back to 2019. York continues to see opportunity in this tough climate. That doesn’t make it easy, but hey who doesn't appreciate a bit of perspective?
On our panel we had Adam Martel, Founder & CEO of Givzey (our feature) & Jess Meher, Founder & CEO of Wonderment (our feature). I’ve been lucky to highlight both companies and, as CEOs & operators, these Vertical SaaS leaders have deep experience operating in climates both good & bad. They shared some awesome lessons from their entrepreneurial journeys:
Founder Market Fit: Adam outlined the early stumbles he had at Givzey building a GNPL giving platform. He wasn’t a FinTech founder, didn’t have the patience for navigating the regulatory landscape, and the problem he was trying to solve was bigger than a FinTech solution. He and his team quickly pivoted. Once they simplified things and just built really great software for their customers, everything went faster.
Build Something People Want (Not Ask for): Jess detailed how Wonderment has grown up as a “motherly” startup that leads with great service and builds things customers ask for in an effort to delight them. Motherly startups listen and then lead. On the other hand “mechanic” companies, like when you take your car into the shop, tell customers what they need to get back on the road before they have to ask. Wonderment is evolving to lead with the conviction to *know* what they need to build for their customers (incorporating feedback of course) as a mechanic startup on their road up the mountain.
Company Building Evolution: Adam outlined how in the early stages of any venture, there’s a tight feedback loop since the Founder is pitching the business. As you grow you’ll transition to a VP of Sales and inevitably there is more distance between you and the customer. Sales feedback might be slightly mistranslated. If you can make it through, you’ll evolve to the Customer Success stage where existing customers inform the product roadmap. That’s where Givzey finds itself, with existing customers helping to show them the way. The fourth evolution is a holistic approach between Finance / CS / Sales / R&D and the Founder(s) in an ongoing revenue and R&D meeting to consistently collaborate on building solutions. Givzey is racing to the 4th stage!
Frugality, Fairness & Stacking Wins: Jess detailed how her upbringing guided her intuition to make their 2021 seed fundraise last as long as possible (24+ months). Adam offered how when he went to investors he didn’t optimize for the highest valuation but instead something he thought would be fair so that he could complete the fundraise quickly, keep his exit options open later, and get back to building. Jess found a peer group to talk through company building challenges. Both talked about the importance of selling wins. Among their employee base, Givzey has 20 kids. If they achieve their quarterly goals, they get to take all the kids to the toy store. Now that’s a serious incentive & lesson in stakeholder management.
Thank you to Adam, Jess & Kyle for sharing their wisdom. And much appreciation to JP Morgan’s Startup Banking team for being excellent co-hosts - Vick Nabar, Eduardo Canet, Jesse Bardo & team and the members of their network that were able to make it too.
It was a really fun night. Thank you to all that came out!
Shout out to Greg Raiz, an emerging TikTok influencer, for this soundbite from the event. Thank you Greg! I need to evolve to incorporate video!!
Any feedback for me? One thing you liked? One thing you didn’t? Local startups or operators to highlight? Just reply to this e-mail!
See you next week!
-Matt