Venture Guides

Last week we had the pleasure of hosting the Boston vLLM meetup with Red Hat to bring together vLLM users and contributors to explore the latest with vLLM and advancements in inference optimization. The event was filled with insightful technical talks, a live demo and great networking connecting members from across our diverse community of AI/ML developers. This is just the beginning and we’re excited to keep building momentum with more events that showcase the best in open-source innovation. Saša Zelenović Addie Stevens Murphy Vandervelde Nico Herden Anton Simunovic

We are thrilled to welcome Ray Security to the Venture Guides portfolio! Looking forward to building with you Ariel Zamir, Dekel Levkovich and Eric Wolf 🚀

Our newest episode of Built Not Born is LIVE! 🎧 Podcast host, Sage Nye, sits down with Najaf Husain, four-time founder and CEO of Elastio, to unpack how startups can stay relentlessly customer-focused while pushing the boundaries of innovation. With over 25 years of experience in building software companies, Naj shares hard-earned lessons on building defensible IP, validating ideal customer profiles, and navigating investor dynamics. Whether you're scaling in cybersecurity or any tech field, this episode offers strategic insights on scaling with purpose, transparency, and a deep customer connection. Listen to the full episode now: Apple Podcasts: https://lnkd.in/eCciAdDt Spotify: https://lnkd.in/eyhSRBaz 

Equipping sales teams with a well-crafted account list is critical to any high-performing enterprise sales motion. Rather than casting a wide net, effective revenue teams are embracing a more deliberate approach: targeting high-fit accounts with precision and intention. In the latest post from the Venture Guides GTM ACCELERATION series, Nishkam Prabodh and team break down which account ownership models and guardrails are most effective for early-stage startups.   Read the blog here: https://lnkd.in/eUrM-wGZ

For early-stage startups, learning value-driven messaging that resonates with your ICP is a critical accelerator. In the latest post from the Venture Guides GTM ACCELERATION series, Brian Bakstran and team break down how to craft effective messaging that is emotionally charged, outcome-focused and deeply aligned to the ICP. Read the full blog here 👉 https://lnkd.in/eekEng6S

Our newest episode of Built Not Born is LIVE! 🎧 Podcast host, Sage Nye, sits down with the Chairman and CEO of Rapid7, Corey Thomas, who shares his hard-earned leadership lessons: from navigating international expansion and acquisitions, to building elite teams and mastering product-market fit.    Corey’s experience scaling Rapid7 from startup to IPO offers a masterclass in how success goes far beyond building a great product or raising capital. It requires discipline, strategic hiring, deep customer engagement, compelling storytelling, and a bulletproof go-to-market strategy.    If you’re a technical founder, product leader, or executive, this episode is packed with valuable insights you don’t want to miss. Listen to the full episode now: YouTube: https://lnkd.in/engXytnQ  Apple Podcasts: https://lnkd.in/eNgRMZqn  Spotify: https://lnkd.in/e_EnsZ5B

Incredible energy last week at our Venture Guides QBR. It’s always inspiring to step back, celebrate the momentum of our portfolio companies, and reflect on the wins that can get overlooked when we’re deep in the work. We're grateful to support this talented group of entrepreneurs who are pushing the limits of what's possible for early-stage growth. Let's keep building!

Practitioners Build Better Products 🔧 Stas Bojoukha didn’t just start a compliance platform, he built the one he always wished existed during his time as a CISO. That practitioner-first mindset helped Compyl gain traction fast in a complex, high-stakes market. This is one of the many reasons why we're thrilled to have led Compyl's $12M Series A funding round, announced earlier this week.  In this episode of Venture Guides Built Not Born podcast, Stas also shares:  ✅ How to go from founder-led sales to a repeatable GTM model  ✅ Tips for hiring and managing high-accountability distributed teams  ✅ Why picking the right investors is more important than the highest valuation 🎧 Tune in now: YouTube: https://lnkd.in/e6i2SDzW Apple Podcasts: https://bit.ly/4mNt7VR Spotify: https://bit.ly/4mNMoXj

We're excited to announce that Venture Guides has led the $12M Series A investment in Compyl, the unified GRC platform reshaping how security and compliance teams operate! From the moment we met Compyl’s founders, we were struck by their clarity of vision and deep domain expertise. In just a few years, the team has built a modular, AI-powered platform that eliminates the noise and complexity typically associated with governance, risk, and compliance. They’ve more than doubled their customer base in each of the past two years and are growing ARR at triple-digit rates. Even more impressive: customers love the product. We're also thrilled that our own Anton Simunovic has joined the board to help guide this next chapter