Episode 9 | Taking an AI startup from research to reality with Dipanwita Das of Sorcero

Fund/Build/Scale

For this episode of Fund/Build/Scale, I interviewed Dipanwita Das, CEO and co-founder of Sorcero, about the journey of taking an AI startup from research to reality. She shared her experience of interviewing more than 300 people to shape Sorcero's product and technical requirements, as well as strategies for aligning customer needs with product development. We also discussed the challenges of building a capable team, fundraising, and the process she and her co-founders used to transform their thesis into a marketable product.

• [1:55] How Sorcero’s co-founders connected and launched in 2018 (before the AI boom)
• [5:31] Why she interviewed 300+ people to gather insights before Sorcero started building
• [6:21] "R&D for us sort of is in two halves."
• [8:57] Building a team with the right balance of skills and entrepreneurial spirit
• [10:52] "Someone… suggested we use the frame, 'minimum lovable product.'"
• [12:20] "My TAM calculation was a bit amateur in the early years."
• [16:28] How Sorcero managed R&D while building trust with early customers
• [19:14] Series A milestones
• [21:44] "I zeroed in on a number of roles" in hundreds of customer discovery interviews
• [26:14] How they determined whether Sorcero would be a horizontal or vertical product
• [29:31] If you have a cohesive cognitive framework and market proof, you can fundraise
• [32:20] Why AI academics/researchers should cultivate "a customer-facing mindset"
• [37:46] When making early hires, "you need a builder persona with an incredible drive."
• [41:15] The one question she asks in every interview
• [42:25] Her advice for AI founders who are trying to raise funds right now

Links

• Sorcero
  • Dipanwita Das, CEO
  • Walter Bender, CSO
  • Richard Graves, CCO
• What is a minimum loveable product? [Product School]
• Funding alert: AI startup Sorcero raised a (mid-pandemic) $3.5M bridge round
• AI startup Sorcero secures $10M for language intelligence platform
• How Sorcero is improving the accessibility of scientific literature

Thanks for listening!

Fund/Build/Scale is sponsored by Mayfield and Securiti.