Episode 433: Roy Hotrabhvanon - CEO & Co-Founder, PlayerData

Episode 433: Roy Hotrabhvanon - CEO & Co-Founder, PlayerData

Episode 433 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Roy Hotrabhvanon, CEO & Co-Founder of PlayerData. Some companies seem like they were just meant to happen, which is certainly the case for PlayerData. Back in 2016, Roy was on track to compete in the Rio Olympics for archery when a severe car accident completely derailed his plans. But instead of letting that tragic incident define him, Roy picked himself up and built a tech company around the specialized performance tracking tools he had originally hacked together to train his own body. He was using sensors and data to optimize his performance, which certainly was not common practice back then. His firsthand experience seeing what hardware, software, and data could do for athletes sparked the foundation for PlayerData, and his timing turned out to be absolutely perfect. Fast forward, PlayerData helps athletes at every stage of their game build confidence, stay healthy, and work smarter with the company’s world-class performance tracking technology. The company recently announced a $12M from Kevin Durant’s 35V, Tennis Australia, Darco Capital, and Pentland Ventures, and what is also really exciting, they announced the move of their U.S. headquarters from Philadelphia to Boston. As you’ll hear from this interview, PlayerData is relentlessly innovating. In addition to their core wearable tracking platform, they recently partnered with Mitre to launch the world's first GPS-enabled "Connected Ball" which is FIFA certified. Now, coaches, trainers, and athletes have even more data to optimize training and performance. In this episode of our podcast, we cover lots of great topics, including: Chapters: 00:00 Introducing Roy Hotrabhvanon, CEO & Co-Founder, PlayerData 04:33 Fundraising for a Hardware / Software company in the sports industry 07:37 Roy's background - Growing up in Thailand 11:02 Meeting his PlayerData Co-Founder, Hayden Ball 11:39 What he was tracking that led to starting PlayerData 13:40 The early days of PlayerData 18:30 "Hardware is Hard" - Experience building hardware in the sports space 24:12 PlayerData today - Details on the Company and how it works 27:22 Collecting data in practice and real game situations 28:48 The platform's ease of use and portable nature 31:29 Details on the cloud-first tech behind the data 34:24 Leveraging AI for Enhanced Coaching 35:39 Strategic Expansion into the US Market 36:54 Why Roy chose Boston for their US Headquarters 37:48 Scaling Operations and Team Growth 38:57 Go-to-Market Strategies for Broad Accessibility 41:00 What's next for PlayerData 41:48 Advice for Founders in the Sports Tech Industry 43:03 Integrating AI into Daily Operations 44:17 3 Apps Roy Can't Live Without 45:29 Book / Podcast Recommendations 46:00 What He Does for Fun Outside of Work

Episode 432: Johannes Galatsanos - CEO& Co-Founder, Diffraqtion

Episode 432 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Johannes Galatsanos, CEO & Co-Founder of Diffraqtion. I’m incredibly lucky to host this show because the guests I interview are truly out to rewrite the rules of what's possible. Johannes is a perfect example. He brings over 15 years of deep expertise across AI, quantum tech, and operations across a career that includes lots of deep research in academia to executing massive, corporate AI initiatives at global giants like Novartis. So, what does someone with that background do to push the absolute limits of technology? How about building a space company that is creating the world’s first quantum camera to help satellites and machines see further and think faster? By blending quantum photonics with cutting-edge AI edge-computing, Diffraqtion’s technology enables satellites and telescopes to bypass traditional lens constraints entirely—delivering 20 times higher resolution and 1,000 times faster processing speed, all at a fraction of the cost. As you’ll hear from this interview, there are a countless number of use cases and industries that are perfect for Diffraqtion’s technology, which puts them in an ideal spot to build a massive anchor tech company in the Boston startup scene. Chapters: 0:00 Intro 02:37 What is Quantum Computing? 11:40 Johannes' Childhood in Greece and Early Interests 14:52 Transition from Academia to Industry 20:46 Introduction to Diffraction and the Quantum Camera 25:03 Quantum Camera Applications in Space Domain Awareness and Earth Imaging 27:26 Commercializing the technology 28:48 Manufacturing Challenges and Building the Quantum Camera 33:56 Building in Public and Strategic Networking 39:38 Their Innovative Rolling Funding Strategy and Capital Efficiency 45:50 Perfecting their Investor Pitch 49:08 Why Boston for Space Tech Innovation? 53:26 Excitement About Space Industry and Artemis Missions 55:43 Closing Remarks

Episode 431: Cathy Lewenberg - CEO, Bevi

Episode 431 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Cathy Lewenberg, CEO of Bevi. When most people think of a beverage company, they immediately think of a traditional consumer brand fighting for shelf space at the grocery store. But the real magic behind Bevi is its highly defensible B2B business model and it’s brilliant. Bevi has made the old corporate water cooler cool again with its high quality platform which combines smart hardware, software, data, and customized flavors & enhancements to create a delightful experience. Oh, and its units are directly installed into your office, gym, hotel, or elsewhere. On top of their success, Bevi is also helping out our planet. The company recently hit a historic milestone, officially surpassing 1 billion single-use bottles and cans saved from ending up in landfills. Cathy stepped in as Bevi’s CEO almost two years ago to lead the company’s next phase of growth. As you’ll hear, she is uniquely qualified to scale this business. She spent years driving digital transformation and healthy convenience initiatives at CVS Health, before serving as Chief Operating Officer and then CEO at Drizly, where she helped lead this hypergrowth company to a $1.1B acquisition by Uber. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * Cathy’s advice on joining a founder-led company as CEO. * Her background growing up in upstate New York and her competitive experience rowing crew at Princeton. * Her impactful tenure at CVS Health, where she ran the food and beverage business, led the shift toward healthy convenience retail, and helped play a key role in the decision to exit the tobacco category. * Why she joined Drizly and the dramatic “COVID moment” that triggered rocketship growth for alcohol delivery, leading all the way up to the Uber acquisition. * All the details about Bevi, what’s next, and the company’s culture. * The burning question: Is a residential Bevi machine coming to our homes anytime soon? * Cathy’s advice to the next generation of women aspiring to step into the CEO seat. * And, so much more! Podcast Sponsor: This podcast is brought to you by one of the strongest longtime supporters of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank, a division of First Citizens Bank. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors and $44B in loans as of Q4 2025 – SVB delivers expert guidance, specialized products and a team that knows the innovation economy inside and out. Learn more at SVB.com.

Episode 430: Phil Beauregard - Managing Partner, Impellent Ventures

Episode 430 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Phil Beauregard, Managing Partner of Impellent Ventures. I first met Phil back when Boston was going through another massive resurgence of growth following the financial crisis of 2008. It was a special time when local founders and investors banded together to help build and scale the Boston tech ecosystem. It was a movement that is reminiscent of what we are seeing today with the Mass AI Coalition. There was a major buzz in the air back then, and it worked, resulting in the launch of multiple successful companies, including two of Phil's own startups which were both acquired. There is a phrase that Phil commonly uses, which is “why join the Navy when you can be a pirate” and I think it speaks volumes to his mentality and how they deploy capital at Impellent Ventures. They don’t just simply follow the herd, especially when it comes to finding elite entrepreneurs. They are entirely location-agnostic and welcome working with exceptional founders who are tackling massive, real-world problems in emerging ecosystems... not just out in Silicon Valley. Impellent Ventures is focused on making seed and pre-seed investments. The firm is led by Phil, David Brown (who previously appeared on Episode 190), and Tariq Trotter, aka Black Thought of The Roots, who serves as a General Partner at the firm. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * A conversation around building startups outside of San Francisco, and why we are living through the "consumerization of the enterprise" era. * The correlation between smaller fund sizes and investor returns. * Phil’s background growing up in New Bedford and studying business at The Wharton School at UPenn, plus how he first caught the entrepreneurial bug and met his co-founder, Matt Grace. * The inside story behind his two exits: Objective Logistics to Carbon Black and Rekindle to HubSpot. * His transition from operator to investor at Impellent Ventures, plus all the details on their unique investment criteria, portfolio company examples, and how Tariq Trotter joined the firm. * His role as an early advisor to multiple successful tech companies, including the critical advice that Toast luckily chose not to take. * How Phil is leveraging AI to build his own Relationship Intelligence System, helping him scale his ability to "pay it forward" to the ecosystem. * Plus, so much more!

Episode 429: Lior Div - CEO & Co-Founder, 7AI

Episode 429 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Lior Div, CEO & Co-Founder of 7AI. One of the most exciting parts of this platform shift to AI is watching elite, repeat founders get back into the arena. It’s often these experienced builders who have the appetite and the playbook to swing for the fences and create a truly category-defining company. Lior is exactly one of those entrepreneurs. Along with his co-founder, Yonatan Striem-Amit, this duo is uniquely qualified to build the leading agentic AI security platform. They have deep expertise in the cybersecurity industry and… by the way, they’ve done this before with their prior unicorn, Cybereason. 7AI empowers enterprises to shift security tasks to AI agents. The company recently made waves across the entire tech ecosystem by announcing a massive $130 million Series A round of funding led by Index Ventures, with participation from Blackstone Innovations Investments, Greylock, CRV, and Spark Capital. To put that into perspective: a $130 million Series A is the largest Series A round in the history of the cybersecurity industry. It is exactly that type of aggressive funding, along with blue-chip investors, that creates market leaders. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: A discussion around the rapidly changing landscape of AI and how that affects cybersecurity. Lior’s background story, including being part of Israel’s elite Unit 8200 intelligence group and how he got involved in the cybersecurity industry. Scaling Cybereason, plus why he chose to build his companies in Boston. The background story of 7AI and all the details on the company & platform. The distinct operational differences between building a traditional software business versus building a native AI company. 7AI’s aggressive growth plans ahead, a look inside their company culture, and what it takes to build a trusted brand in security. The most important skills someone needs to be a successful CEO. And more! This podcast is brought to you by one of the strongest longtime supporters of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank, a division of First Citizens Bank. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors and $44B in loans as of Q4 2025 – SVB delivers expert guidance, specialized products and a team that knows the innovation economy inside and out. Learn more at SVB.com.