Ansa is excited to announce its investment in Bland’s Series A. Bland’s platform offers a scalable, flexible approach to building AI voice agents for any enterprise with inbound or outbound phone calling needs. Their low-code / no-code platform empowers enterprises with the infrastructure and tooling to power and scale high-performing voice agents. This includes the infrastructure to solve for the nuances around voice interactions including interruption detection, filler word detection, noise reduction, sentiment detection, intonation detection, and more. As an enterprise-grade platform, Bland’s proprietary models are built with all the guardrails needed to ensure agents operate within legal, ethical, and functional parameters.

Laurence is a B2B software executive with a track record of leading cross-functional operations in high-growth tech companies. Most recently he was Chief Business Operations Officer at Contentful, helping scale the business from approximately $50 million ARR to $200M ARR. Prior to Contentful, he was Vice President of Emerging Businesses at Twilio and served as the Vice President of Revenue at SendGrid, where he helped scale the company from startup through IPO. Laurence joined Ansa’s Advisory Network earlier this year and has been active in engaging with our portfolio companies. Join Ansa’s Co-Founder & Managing Partner Marco DeMeireles in conversation with Laurence.

Chief Business Operations Officer is a nebulous title. What did that role entail at Contentful and what types of organizations should consider this?

At Contentful, my mandate was to build the internal operating system for the company: How do we align around a strategy, and then how do we operationalize that strategy to execute it? This involved creating and running the system for the What, Who, and How of the business.

The "What" represents our strategy: What business are we in? Which customers are we targeting? My role was to help articulate this in a way that everyone, from leadership to the whole company, could understand. Then there’s the "Who"— how do we hire, develop, and engage our people to execute this strategy. Lastly, the "How" covers our operating rhythms, decision-making processes, and culture. I believe that nailing these three aspects—the what, who, and how—is critical for any scaling company.  Depending on the skill sets of the executive team, a Chief Business Officer or COO could serve to integrate these elements effectively.

For a high-performing, high-growth business, what frameworks can help a founder evaluate when to bring one on?

This really depends on the specific circumstances of the company and the dynamics among the founders or executive team. I think about it in three main areas. First, where does the CEO need to focus their time? For instance, in a fast-moving space like generative AI, the CEO might need to prioritize product vision and external relationships, leaving less time for internal operations. Second, what are the CEO’s strengths and where could they use augmentation? If they excel at product strategy but find operational execution less engaging, that’s a good reason to think about bringing in a CBO. Lastly, take a look at what the executive team needs. Assess the overall skill set of your leadership team—are there gaps in data-driven decision-making or alignment? What kind of support or expertise does the team need? Perhaps it’s someone who can help align the leaders and the company around a specific direction and bring an operational mindset to the team. Or maybe you need someone who can play a facilitator role and help the other executives communicate better with each other. Some companies see this need around $20-30 million in ARR, while others might wait until closer to $100 million. Constantly evaluating the team’s needs and driving internal self-awareness is key.

For CBOs to be successful, effective communication across stakeholders is paramount. When recruiting for senior talent at the CBO/COO level, how do you test for effective communicators during an interview process?

Communication is critical, especially in today’s post-COVID environment with hybrid work. It demands conscious effort. I recently heard the former CEO of Home Depot discuss how the idea of cascading communication is flawed; it suggests people wait for leadership messages, but it’s really an uphill push to make those messages resonate, requiring skill, emotional intelligence, and persistence. To assess communication skills in interviews, I focus on two key approaches. First, observe how candidates present themselves. Can they distill their thoughts clearly and create a compelling narrative? This gives insight into their communication style. Second, I use behavioral questions on communication topics. For example, tell me about a time when you led teams through a significant change, or managed difficult stakeholders, or drove alignment between teams where it previously didn’t exist. These reveal their awareness of the criticality of communication and how they prioritize and invest in it. These insights are invaluable for evaluating senior candidates.

1. Defense Unicorns Unveils Airgap App Store
   Defense Unicorns expands on its groundbreaking UDS platform delivering software solutions that can be deployed anywhere a mission requires. The Airgap App Store focuses on capabilities that are supported in airgap environments, which means fully disconnected, semi-disconnected, or secure environments with strong firewalls, such as DoD cloud environments. Read more.

2. Bland AI Enhances Ski Resort Operations Amid Staffing Challenges
   Artificial intelligence is enhancing ski resort operations, from marketing to guest services. Resorts in Vermont are deploying AI tools like ChatGPT for content creation, Bland AI for phone support, and Claude AI for data analysis. As the industry struggles with staffing shortages, AI helps fill the gaps, improving customer service without replacing human employees. Read more.
   

3. Ansa selected to participate in the 2024 RAISE Global Summit
   Co-Founder & Managing Partner Allan Jean-Baptiste selected to attend this years summit by a 40 member LP Selection Committee and represent Ansa, which was chosen as a top emerging fund. Read more.
   

4. AI Squared names Darren Kimura as President and COO
   Kimura formerly served as President and COO of ZEDEDA, the leading-edge computing software provider based in San Jose, CA, and prior to joining ZEDEDA, he served as the President and CEO of LiveAction, a network performance management company acquired by Insight Partners. Read more.
   

5. Ansa’s Marco DeMeireles Named to Kauffman Fund Returners Index
   Co-Founder & Managing Partner Marco DeMeireles named to annual ranking of Fellows who have achieved excellence in consistently investing and supporting category-defining startups. Read more.

We look forward to seeing many of you at our Annual Meeting this week!

Allan Jean-Baptiste & Marco DeMeireles