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Conversation
Highlights
Welcome to another episode of Category Visionaries — the show that explores GTM stories from tech’s most innovative B2B founders. In today’s episode, we’re speaking with Albert Owusu-Asare, CEO & Co-Founder at Cadana, a global payroll infrastructure platform that has raised $7 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
- Global Talent Marketplaces: Cadana focuses on empowering talent marketplaces like Upwork and Fiverr, HR SaaS companies, and platforms looking to add global payroll capabilities. This strategic targeting aims to address diverse needs in the global payroll landscape.
- Buy vs. Build Dilemma: Albert shared insights on how Cadana addresses the buy vs. build dilemma, pitching the platform as a way for companies to go to market quickly and learn before investing in building their own solutions.
- Founding Story: The idea for Cadana originated from Albert’s experience at Goldman Sachs and his role as a CTO at a billion-dollar company, where he faced challenges with global payroll management.
- Risk Management: Albert discussed his approach to risk-taking, emphasizing minimizing regret as a framework for making bold career moves, including leaving stable positions to pursue entrepreneurial ventures.
- Early Product Pivot: Cadana initially launched as an earned wage access product. The team used feedback from early users to pivot and develop their current global payroll solution.
- Market Potential: Albert views Cadana’s market not just as existing payroll solutions but as a foundational infrastructure with the potential to unlock new opportunities for global payroll, similar to how Stripe transformed payments.
Actionable
Takeaways
Emphasize Value Over Cost:
When pitching your product, focus on how it helps clients learn and adapt quickly rather than the immediate costs. This approach can make your offering more attractive compared to building an in-house solution.
Utilize Early Feedback for Iteration:
Use early user feedback to guide product pivots and improvements. This iterative process can help refine your product and ensure it better meets market needs.
Adopt a Risk-Minimization Strategy:
When considering major career or business moves, use a framework of minimizing regret. This can help in making bold decisions with a calculated approach.
Position as Foundational Infrastructure:
Position your product as foundational infrastructure with broad applications. This perspective can help in capturing larger markets and attracting diverse customer segments.
Leverage Direct Sales and Personal Engagement:
For platform-centric products, direct sales and personal engagement with potential clients can be effective. Consider flying to meet clients face-to-face to build trust and showcase expertise.
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