Gridspace is a wonderful case study of a speech technology company on the bleeding edge of Machine Learning and Generative AI. You will learn how the founders managed to bootstrap to large paying customers and then raise strategic funding. You will also learn the nuances of how they used various Open Source components and existing ML models to get to a point where they can afford to develop more original technology. You will also learn the importance of solutions versus technology platforms. Sramana Mitra: Let's start at the very beginning of your journey. Where are you from, where were you born, and raised, and what kind of background? Anthony Scodary: I was born in Ohio in Cincinnati, although I grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. I went to Stanford for school. My undergrad was in Physics and grad school was in Aerospace Engineering. Sramana Mitra: What did you do? When did you graduate from Stanford? Anthony Scodary: 2008. Sramana Mitra: What did you do after that? That'
Sramana Mitra: Did you raise the seed round through your own network or through a startup network? Felix Rodriguez: We had a process to raise funding, and they
Sramana Mitra: Okay. What were the other startups that you were working on at this point? Felix Rodriguez: Immediately after that, we were thinking that for
Felix has done nine ventures and sold several of them. He is currently building a venture-funded,AI-enabled FinTech venture. Really intelligent, scrappy maneuvering in various alleys of online entrepreneurship. Sramana Mitra: All right, Felix, let's start at the very beginning of your journey. Where are you from? Where were you born, raised? What kind of background? Felix Rodriguez: Thank you for having me. I came to the United States when I was five years old from the Dominican Republic (DR). My grandma had arrived before us, and she had about thirteen kids in the DR. Sramana Mitra: Wow. Felix Rodriguez: After she got to the US, she'd get enough income to be able to justify getting a visa for each one of us kids. So, by the time it was my dad's turn to come over, I was five. I was very fortunate to have gotten here at a young age and grow up as an American. Sramana Mitra: What year was that? When did you come? Felix Rodriguez: I believe it was towards the
Sramana Mitra: Do the accounting firms identify themselves as being focused on manufacturing companies, retail companies, or physical oriented companies?