Upstarts publishes twice-weekly about the startup ecosystem, from inception through IPO. Founded and edited by veteran tech reporter Alex Konrad. Pitches: tips@upstartsmedia.com Work with us: partnerships@upstartsmedia.com
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Behind every great company is a story worth telling. This week, Alex Konrad (Upstarts Media founder, longtime journalist) shared lessons on media, PR, building in public, and why vulnerability and the power of “Yes, and” make founder stories resonate.
ICYMI: Granola, the popular AI note-taker, just launched Recipes, a way to turn your meeting notes into product docs or fodder for an AI coach. Read the full interview on how Recipes can help leverage best practices from experts like Lenny Rachitsky and Matt Mochary in yesterday's extra issue of Upstarts.
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News: Granola, the popular AI note-taker, just launched Recipes, a way to turn your meeting notes into product docs or fodder for an AI coach 💡 When CEO Christopher Pedregal offered to talk to me about it, I had a request: he share his own coaching feedback. We posted it before he could change his mind 😂 Read the full interview on how Recipes can help leverage best practices from experts like Lenny Rachitsky and Matt Mochary in a special extra free edition of the Upstarts Media newsletter 🔗: https://lnkd.in/eVJFJSg4
The founders of Descope are a corny bunch. Now the cyber startup's veteran founders have raised $35 million more to pun Okta and other incumbents into submission in the race to secure AI agents. “We see a world where humans can authorize their identity, log into our platforms and others, and they’re doing a great job of that,” says one customer, CPO of You.com Saurabh Sharm. “But I think the next generation is going to see 10x, 200x more use cases for authentication.”
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Exclusive: the race to secure AI agents is on 🤖 Descope, led by a veteran team that previously sold cyber startup Demisto, thinks it has the right to win against bigger incumbents like Okta. With customers like Databricks, Navan and GoodRx, it's raised another $35 million to try. “Identity is critical, and we think it’s the enabler, the next frontier for agents,” CEO Slavik Markovich tells Upstarts Media. Fast facts on Descope ⚡ - Founded by 8 cyber vets from Palo Alto Networks who sold Demisto for $500M+ - VCs include Notable Capital, Lightspeed, Dell Technologies Capital, Unusual Ventures, Cerca Partners, Triventures - 1,000+ business users including You.com, GoodRx, Databricks, Navan - Contracts range up to $1M+ “They’re not doing this because they needed to start something new. They want to,” says investor Oren Yunger. “They have a chip on their shoulder, and they’re committed to doing something great here.” You can read the full story live on Upstarts and in your inboxes. A big thanks to partner Vanta for helping to deliver this week's edition to the wider startup ecosystem fully free 🚀 https://lnkd.in/e-HBejMf
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Was a pleasure to interview Gamma CEO Grant Lee last week at Fellows Forum! His balancing of ambition and product vision with ‘lean startup’ principles and sustainable growth are a breath of fresh air in the current moment 👇 Building off our profile in Upstarts Media from earlier this year that still rings true: https://lnkd.in/ekAGHW_j Thanks for having us and putting together a great event Alex Ren!
After a quick lunch break, Grant Lee (Co-founder & CEO, Gamma) sat down with Alex Konrad (Founder & Editor, Upstarts Media) to share how Gamma pivoted into AI-native storytelling and how it continues to scale with a lean, profitable team. Gamma began by testing two ideas: virtual collaboration spaces vs. reimagining presentations from the ground up. They chose the latter, betting on a category where ambition wouldn’t be capped. Since then, Gamma has leaned into experimentation as its core DNA: iterating on onboarding, models, and workflows to constantly improve how users go from blank page to polished story. Lee described Gamma’s culture as intense but sustainable: in-person work, continuity over burnout, and Friday “Gamma Rammas” where employees share ideas openly. The company has avoided blitz-scaling, instead proving that in many categories, long-term, disciplined growth can outperform land grabs. With Gamma 3.0, AI agents now handle design changes and formatting automatically, freeing users to focus on strategy rather than layout. Lee sees the future as multi-agent: platforms like Glean synthesize data, Gamma transforms it into stories, and agents coordinate the handoff. His analogy: we’re still in the “awkward superhero stage” of AI, but once we learn to use these new powers, they’ll become transformative. For Lee, the most fulfilling part is personal. Seeing his own kids use Gamma to present their ideas with pride. If you can build a work tool that also delights your children, it’s a real win. #FellowsForum2025 #AI #Startups #Storytelling #Agents
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Covering the rise of 'Silicon Slopes' 🏔️ and the growing Utah tech scene was a highlight of my decade-plus of reporting at Forbes, so it was important to me that Upstarts Media return within our first six months of operation to re-engage with this positive and energetic startup community 📈 Over two jam-packed, stimulating days, we were able to stop by Entrata's Summit and hear CEO Adam Edmunds interview Ryan Smith before dinner with some local unicorn CEOs; chat with a number of great local PR and comms leaders over breakfast at BambooHR; and join some local investors for a luncheon discussion of the opportunities and challenges facing entrepreneurs locally 🧮 We've already published a story with some reactions from the 20-plus startups we met with over the trip, and I'm sure more coverage will come out of it in months to come 📝 A big thanks to our local hosts David Parkinson / Method Communications, Adam Edmunds / Entrata, Kat Kennedy / Kickstart, and Nick Efstratis / EPIC Ventures for your hospitality and partnership 🙌 We look forward to returning in 2026 ⏩
Upstarts met with Snowflake CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy in Snowflake’s offices in Menlo Park this week, where the cloud data company is unveiling the Silicon Valley AI Hub, a new coworking and event space for AI founders and partners. In this week's issue for paid subscribers, we recap our conversation with Ramaswamy and share tips for shipping enterprise-grade products from the CEOs of Glean and Windsurf and OpenAI's startup lead.
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Exclusive interview ⚡: Snowflake CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy spoke with Upstarts Media at the launch of the company's new Silicon Valley AI hub yesterday. We talked his personal AI use, and how a public company at Snowflake's size can compete on resources and acquisitions with the likes of Amazon Web Services (AWS) and well-funded unicorns like Databricks 📈 We also chatted with Windsurf CEO Jeff Wang, Glean CEO Arvind Jain and OpenAI Head of Startups Marc Manara about what it takes to build an AI startup today. Full story available to subscribers here 👇 https://lnkd.in/ePhcBY8M
Upstarts was on the ground last week in 'Silicon Slopes' meeting with startup builders from Lehi to Salt Lake City. Just in time for legal tech Filevine to reach a $3 billion valuation with the backing of Utah billionaire Ryan Smith. The startup expects to end the year at $200 million ARR and wasn't looking to raise, but Smith's call was answered. “When you’re a Utah tech company, and Ryan Smith calls you, you pick up the phone and hear what he has to say,” founder Ryan Anderson says. Read today's issue here: https://lnkd.in/eEi7Cq4e