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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 tech’s most innovative B2B founders. In today’s episode, we’re speaking with Jennifer Dulski, CEO & Founder of Rising Team, a team performance platform that has raised $11 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
- Early Career at Yahoo and Facebook: Jennifer’s early roles at Yahoo and Facebook gave her first-hand experience in high-growth tech environments. She highlighted the importance of building strong professional networks and working with passionate, talented teams that don’t require external motivation to maintain a sense of urgency.
- Rising Team’s Platform for Team Performance: Rising Team is a platform designed to help leaders build more connected, high-performing teams. It provides a combination of DIY interactive workshops and AI-powered personalized coaching, allowing teams to run sessions without the need for expensive external facilitators.
- Founded During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Although Jennifer conceived the idea for Rising Team before COVID-19, the pandemic accelerated the demand for tools that foster team connection in remote work settings. The platform’s value became even more apparent as companies struggled to maintain engagement with dispersed teams.
- Evolution from 1:1 Manager Tools to Team Workshops: The original version of Rising Team was designed for one-on-one coaching between managers and employees, but the product evolved to focus on team-wide workshops. This shift helped managers save time and meet the growing demand for deeper team connections, especially in remote and hybrid environments.
- Defining a New Market Category: Rising Team is positioned in a new category called “team performance platform,” blending elements from learning management, team building, and engagement tools. This strategic positioning allows the company to stand out from competitors in more established categories.
- Importance of Data-Driven Pilots for Growth: Jennifer stressed the value of well-structured pilots that involve enough users and run for a long enough period to generate meaningful data. This approach helps demonstrate clear ROI to clients and supports long-term relationships with larger companies.
Actionable
Takeaways
Target meaningful pilots for clear ROI:
When piloting your solution, make sure it's run for long enough and with a large enough group to generate statistically significant data. This helps prove ROI and supports expansion.
Create a hybrid category to stand out:
If your solution overlaps multiple existing categories, clearly define your own niche. Jennifer calls Rising Team a "team performance platform," which merges learning, team-building, and engagement tools.
Leverage early adopters for growth:
Early champions, even from unexpected industries like banking, can help validate your product. Prove success with pilot data to secure long-term relationships and expand across the organization.
Adapt your offering to evolving market needs:
Rising Team initially focused on 1:1 manager tools but pivoted to team-focused solutions after discovering a larger demand for team-wide workshops and AI coaching.
Use psychological pain points to drive GTM:
Identify specific pain points (like low engagement or lack of budget for offsites) and tailor your marketing to offer immediate solutions, such as improving psychological safety or boosting team connections.
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