Ready to launch your own podcast? Book a strategy call.
Frontlines.io | Where B2B Founders Talk GTM.
Strategic Communications Advisory For Visionary Founders
Conversation
Highlights
Welcome to another episode of Category Visionaries — the show that explores GTM stories from the tech’s most innovative B2B founders. In today’s episode, we’re speaking with Bob van Luijt, CEO and Co-Founder of Weaviate, a cloud native real-time vector database that has raised over $67 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
- Early Beginnings: Bob’s foray into technology began with the internet’s arrival at his home, leading to his first business in web development before turning 20, showcasing his entrepreneurial spirit from a young age.
- Transition to AI: Bob’s career took a significant turn towards AI and machine learning around 2014-2015, culminating in the creation of Weaviate, driven by his fascination with vector embeddings and their potential for improving search and recommendation systems.
- Weaviate’s Origin: Initially an open-source project, Weaviate evolved into a business in 2019. The venture into AI and machine learning infrastructure was fueled by the realization of the immense potential in creating an AI-native database.
- Marketing Strategy: Bob emphasizes the importance of a bottom-up marketing approach for B2B companies targeting developers, focusing on assisting developers in achieving success with Weaviate’s technology rather than pushing the product itself.
- Future Vision: Looking ahead, Bob envisions Weaviate as an AI-native platform, emphasizing the shift towards AI-native infrastructure in software development and the goal of empowering developers to create AI-native applications seamlessly.
- Lessons in Fundraising: Bob’s journey in fundraising revealed the importance of organic relationship building with investors, underscoring that genuine connections and a shared vision can lead to successful funding rounds without excessive friction.
Actionable
Takeaways
Embrace Open Source Early:
Bob's journey with Weaviate began as an open-source project before transitioning into a scalable business. This approach can build a community and validate your technology, offering insights and traction that can be leveraged when scaling.
Focus on Developer Success:
Bob emphasizes the importance of helping developers succeed using your technology rather than just promoting the product. Create detailed documentation, tutorials, and community support to empower developers to build with your tool.
Cultivate a Kind Culture:
Weaviate's culture of kindness and support has been key to its growth. For your startup, consider embedding kindness and support into your core values to attract like-minded talent and foster a positive work environment.
Invest in Marketing That Educates:
Adopt a marketing strategy that educates your target audience about the potential and practical application of your technology. Use content that ranges from broad awareness to in-depth tutorials, ensuring you cover all stages of the customer journey.
Build Strategic Relationships Early:
Long before formal fundraising, Bob was cultivating relationships with potential investors and partners, focusing on organic growth and mutual understanding. This approach can lead to more meaningful partnerships and investments down the line.
Recommended Founder
Interviews
Richard Potter
Co-Founder and CEO of Peak
Richard Potter, Co-Founder and CEO at Peak: $118 Million Raised to Power the Future of AI-Enabled Businesses
Tom Trowbridge
Co-Founder of Fluence Labs
Tom Trowbridge, co-founder of Fluence Labs: $9 Million Raised to Build the Future of Decentralized P2P Computing
Johannes Peeters
Co-Founder & CEO of VoxelSensors
Johannes Peeters, Co-Founder & CEO of VoxelSensors: $7 Million Raised to Build the Future of Spatial Computing
Inna Sela
CEO & Founder of illumex
Inna Tokarev Sela, CEO & Founder of illumex: $13 Million Raised to Power the Future of Enterprise LLM Deployments
Krish Ramineni
CEO of Fireflies
Krish Ramineni, CEO of Fireflies: $19 Million Raised to Build the Future of AI Meeting Assistants
Ravin Thambapillai
CEO and Co-Founder of Credal
Ravin Thambapillai, CEO and Co-Founder of Credal: $5 Million Raised to Build the Future of AI Security
Jonathan Dambrot
CEO and Founder of Cranium
Jonathan Dambrot, CEO and Founder at Cranium: $32 Million Raised to Power the Future of AI Security
Davit Baghdasaryan
Co-Founder and CEO of Krisp
Davit Baghdasaryan, Co-Founder and CEO of Krisp: $19 Million Raised to Build the Voice Productivity Category
Harry Xu
CEO and Co-Founder of Breeze ML
Harry Xu, CEO and Co-Founder of Breeze ML: $4.6 Million Raised to Create the Future of AI Governance
Matt Theurer
CEO & Co-Founder of HyperSpectral
Matt Theurer, CEO & Co-Founder of HyperSpectral: $8.5 Million Raised to Power the Future of AI-Powered Spectral Intelligence
Joe Witt
CEO & Co-Founder of Datavolo
Joe Witt, CEO & Co-Founder of Datavolo: $21 Million Raised to Unlock the Potential of Unstructured Data for AI
Darko Vukovic
CEO & Founder of PolyAPI
Darko Vukovic, CEO & Founder of PolyAPI: $5 Million Raised to Transform Enterprise Middleware Through Native Code Developm
Jason Corso
Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer of Voxel 51
Jason Corso, Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer of Voxel 51: $15.5 Million Raised to Build the Future of Developer Tools for Machine Learning
Nikola Borisov
CEO & Co-Founder of Deep Infra
Nikola Borisov, CEO & Co-Founder of Deep Infra: $9 Million Raised to Build the Future of AI Model Hosting
Gabriel Bayomi Tinoco Kalejaiye
CEO and Co-Founder of Openlayer
Gabriel Bayomi, CEO and Co-Founder of Openlayer: $4.8 Million Raised to Power the Future of Machine Learning Testing
Roger Luo
Founder & Managing Partner of Embedding VC
Funding the Future: Roger Luo, Managing Partner at Embedding VC
Malte Pietsch
CTO & Co-Founder of Deepset
Malte Pietsch, CTO & Co-Founder of Deepset: $45 Million Raised to Build the Future of LLMs
Alex Sambvani
CEO & Co-Founder of Slang AI
Alex Sambvani, CEO & Co-Founder of Slang AI: $20 Million Raised to Power the Future of Voice AI for Restaurants
Douwe Kiela
CEO and Co-Founder of Contextual AI
Douwe Kiela, CEO and Co-Founder of Contextual AI: $20 Million Raised to Build the Future of Enterprise Language Models
Jeong-Suh Choi
CEO of Bobidi
Jeong-Suh Choi, CEO Bobidi: Nearly $6 Million raised to Deliver Better, More Inclusive AI Solutions for Developers
Phillip Liu
CEO of Trustero
Phillip Liu, CEO of Trustero: $8 Million Raised to Build the Future of Compliance AI
Patricia Thaine
Co-Founder & CEO of Private AI
Patricia Thaine, Co-Founder & CEO of Private AI: Over $11 Million Raised to Help Organizations Anonymize PII to Achieve Regulatory Compliance
Deon Nicholas
CEO & Co-Founder of Forethought
Deon Nicholas, CEO & Co-Founder of Forethought: $92 Million Raised to Power the Future of Customer Support with AI
Ryan Alshak
CEO & Founder of Laurel
Ryan Alshak, CEO & Founder of Laurel: $55.7 Million Raised to Build the Future of Gen AI for Timekeeping
Damien Garot
Stellar of Stellar
Damien Garot, CEO & Co-Founder of Stellar: $9.3M Raised to Build the Future of Reliable Internet Connectivity for Autonomous Vehicles
Ofer Ronen
CEO & Co-Founder of Tomato.ai
Ofer Ronen, CEO & Co-Founder of Tomato.ai: $12 Million Raised to Build the Accent Softening Category
Daniele Grassi
CEO of Axyon AI
Daniele Grassi, CEO of Axyon AI: $5.5 Million Raised to Power the Future of Financial Markets with AI
Ryan Sevey
CEO of Mantium
Ryan Sevey, CEO of Mantium: $12 Million Raised to Help Teams Deploy and Monitor their AI Process Automations
Jonathan Corbin
CEO & Co-Founder of Maven AGI
Jonathan Corbin, CEO and Co-Founder of Maven AGI: $28 Million Raised to Build the Future of Customer Experience
Anand Gopalan
CEO and Co-Founder of Vayu Robotics
Anand Gopalan, CEO & Co-Founder of Vayu Robotics: $12.7 Million Raised to Build the Next Wave of Robotics Solutions
Mike Conover
CEO & Co-Founder of Brightwave
Mike Conover, CEO & Co-Founder of Brightwave: $6M Raised to Build the Future of AI-Powered Investment Research
Alon Talmor
CEO & Founder of Ask-AI
Alon Talmor, CEO & Founder of Ask-AI: $20 Million Raised to Power the Future of Enterprise AI
Anand Kulkarni
CEO of Crowdbotics
Anand Kulkarni, CEO of Crowdbotics: $58 Million Raised to Power the Future of Rapid Application Development
Alan Cowen
CEO and Founder of Hume AI
Alan Cowen, CEO and Founder of Hume AI: Over $17 Million Raised to Measure and Improve How Technology Affects Human Emotion
David DeWolf
CEO & President of Knownwell
David DeWolf, CEO & President of Knownwell: $2 Million Raised to Build the Future of Commercial Intelligence
Jorge Penalva
CEO & Co-Founder of Lang AI
Jorge Penalva, CEO of Lang.ai: $40 Million+ Raised to Build the Customer Experience Operations Category
Jonathan Schneider
CEO and Co-Founder of Moderne
Jonathan Schneider, CEO & Co-Founder of Moderne: $20 Million Raised to Build the Future of Code Remediation
Igor Jablokov
CEO of Pryon
Igor Jablokov, CEO of Pryon: $50+ Million Raised to Build the Future of Enterprise Knowledge Management
Ashley Montanaro
CEO and Co-Founder of Phasecraft
Ashley Montanaro, CEO & Co-Founder of Phasecraft: $22 Million Raised to Build the Future of Quantum Software
Rich Taylor
Vice President of Seek AI
Rich Taylor, VP of Marketing at Seek AI: $10.5 Million Raised to Transform Data Analysis with Generative AI
Jorge Torres
CEO and Co-Founder of MindsDB
Jorge Torres, CEO and Co-Founder of MindsDB: $50 Million Raised to Enable Developers to Integrate Machine Learning into Applications
Meryem Arik
CEO & Co-Founder of Titan ML
Meryem Arik, CEO and Co-Founder of Titan ML: $2.8 Million Raised to Revolutionize LLM Deployment