Humans Who Build

98% of manufacturing firms in the US are small and high-mix businesses.Yet most conversations around industrial automation today are centered on robots and humanoids. What about automation for the businesses that actually make up the majority?Alex Huckstepp is building AI software to accelerate operations of exactly these businesses at his new company, Uptool. Its first product is an AI quoting software that ensures that machine and fabrication shops meet the demands of global hardware innovation. Uptool has raised $6M in seed funding from leading industrial tech and vertical AI investors including Khosla Ventures, Eclipse, Bessemer Venture Partners and Kleiner Perkins. Before Uptool, Alex spent over a decade leading sales & BD and GTM functions for some of the most important advanced manufacturing companies in the country including Stratasys, Carbon, ARRIS, and Machina Labs. Therefore, he understands what constitutes an effective sales strategy, whether you are starting from scratch or have scaled up to multiple millions of dollars in revenue.Our conversations with hard-tech and industrial automation founders consistently highlight that sales is one of the most difficult functions to get right. In our first episode of Humans Who Build with Alex, we break down how he has approached sales and GTM across his career.Details of the topics covered in this episode:The small and high-mix opportunity: Nature of these businesses and stakeholders, state of operations and the role of business automation, performance measurement.Key pillars of industrial sales and GTM strategy, including stakeholder dynamics and building early customer partnerships.Challenges in scaling from pilot to production: Customer or industry selection, problem definition, deployment complexity, and preparation for successful deployments.Hiring for industrial sales and maintaining a sales team's optimism and tenacity amidst long-sales cycles.Fundraising models for industrial companies: Venture vs bootstrapped, partnerships with CVCs.At Protean, we are building a community of executives across manufacturing operations, vendor management, and factory systems. This includes OEMs, system integrators, and a small group of founders, with the goal of making the process more informed and genuinely collaborative.What sales or GTM challenges are you facing in your company? Are you interested in connecting with OEM teams to better understand their requirements? Please DM us at [email protected].

In an increasingly complex investment world impacted by advanced technology, global pandemics, and wars, it has become important to ground our processes in fundamentals, developed through an understanding of how the world works and rigorous stress-testing. Erin Miles, Partner and Member of the Operating Committee at Bridgewater Associates, is guiding her team to do exactly that! As Head of Alpha Engine, Erin shares responsibility for the strategy and oversight of the investment team behind Bridgewater’s flagship fund Pure Alpha.Erin joined Bridgewater right after her undergraduate studies in Neurobiology and Neurosciences at Harvard, having quickly realized that she did not want to run a science lab! :)In this episode of Women Who Build, we will learn the following:What is Bridgewater's Alpha Engine? 📈 Erin's Systematic approach to investing, management decisions, and life!Implementation of technology (of course, including AI) in investing.🌎 Macro: Long-term interest rates movement, China outlook, other emerging markets with growth potential, e.g., India.🧑‍💼👩‍💼 What makes a great investor in today's AI-first world?Listen and learn!If you liked this episode and want to hear more from us, subscribe to our channel and hit the notification bell to stay updated!#hedgefunds #technology #investing #obsession

Very rarely you come across people who define their jobs as building a "movement." We have been lucky to call Loretta McCarthy, Co-CEO and Managing Partner, Golden Seeds, a guest at Women Who Build, as she is exactly that person.Golden Seeds is one of the largest and most active angel investment organizations in the US with ~300 angel investors and invests in early-stage women-led businesses. Loretta was previously Executive Vice President/Chief Marketing Officer at OppenheimerFunds and a marketing executive at American Express. Early in her career, she was an executive at the Dayton-Hudson Corporation (later Target Corp.). Ms. McCarthy has served as a board member of many organizations, both for-profit companies and not-for-profit organizations.In this episode, we discuss 3 main topics: Angel Investing: Building an investor consortium serving a common goal and evolution of angel investing in the past 2 decades. Key considerations for founders raising angel funds. The Great Wealth Transfer and its impact. Listen and learn!#investing #angelinvesting #technology #fundraising

How we dress defines our personality in the eyes of others, but most importantly, in our own eyes!Our Women Who Build guest today, Elizabeth von der Goltz, has been at the forefront of building global fashion companies that dress us. Known for her sharp ability to spot the brands we wear and identify lasting trends, Elizabeth has also leveraged her Sixth sense and her business acumen to drive strategy and manage the P&L of major fashion enterprises.Most recently serving as the Chief Fashion and Merchandising Officer at FARFETCH, Elizabeth has spent decades shaping the high-end retail landscape. She began her career as an Assistant Buyer at Barneys New York and quickly rose through the ranks at Bergdorf Goodman, where she played a pivotal role in modernizing the store’s offerings and boosting sales for top brands. Later, as the Global Buying Director at YOOX NET-A-PORTER and Chief Commercial Officer at MATCHESFASHION.In this episode, Elizabeth shares exclusive insights on:- What to build in fashion today: Brand vs a tech enabled solution. ⁠- What does it take to build a fashion company: Supply chain, distribution, designer, short-term vs long-term trends. ⁠- How is the fashion sector evolving: Why are sales of LVMH and Gucci going down but Ralph Lauren is stable? - ⁠Opportunities in the Indian luxury market. - ⁠Our favorite: Differences in fashion in New York City and London.If you liked this episode and want to hear more from us, subscribe to our channel and hit the notification bell to stay updated!⁠#Businessgrowth⁠ ⁠⁠#FARFETCH⁠ ⁠#Fashion⁠ ⁠#womenwhobuild⁠ ⁠#luxury

TikTok’s U.S. usage has surged dramatically, with over 21% of Americans now tuning in weekly. But what does it actually take to grow a brand into a TikTok sensation?We sit down with Neha Jogani Narang, former CMO of Roblox. Under her guidance, Roblox became one of TikTok’s largest brand presences in just two years! Before Roblox, Neha made her mark at Facebook (now Meta), where she transformed its F8 (now Connect) conference into a globally renowned tech event.In this episode, Neha dives deep into:- Disruptive Marketing: What does it mean? How did Neha use this technique to propel growth at TikTok and Facebook (Meta)?- What is Developer Marketing? Why are developers important to a tech company? Developers as influencers.- Company Events in Technology: Can only large companies host events/conferences? How to measure ROI? Founders/CEOs involvement at Company Events- Why is Risk-taking key to having an impactful career?- Requisite Infrastructure for a Modern Mom! :)Watch and learn!If you liked this episode and would like more content from us, please subscribe to the channel to get updates on what's new!