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 Richard Potter, CEO and Co-Founder of Peak, an AI platform that has raised $118 Million in funding.
Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:
- The Birth of Peak in the AI Landscape: Richard discusses the early vision for Peak in 2016, focusing on leveraging AI and machine learning to enhance business performance before the widespread AI boom.
- Educating Early Adopters: The initial challenge was educating the market on AI's potential, with many early adopters excited but equally many skeptics unsure of AI's practicality due to the data maturity levels at the time.
- Transitioning from Early Adopters to Mainstream Market: Richard outlines the shift in selling to early adopters versus mainstream adopters, emphasizing the need for certainty of outcomes and robust comparisons in the mainstream market.
- Go-to-Market and Marketing Philosophy: Peak's approach to marketing has evolved from raising awareness and generating excitement to focusing on value creation and demonstrating tangible benefits of AI to businesses.
- Navigating the Tech Recession and Future Optimism: Despite the challenges posed by the recent tech downturn, Richard shares a positive outlook for Peak's future, driven by strong current demand and growth.
- Fundraising Strategy and Lessons Learned: Richard reflects on Peak's fundraising journey, the strategy of raising early and often without desperation, and the importance of being bold and visionary from the start.