Fund/Build/Scale episode 9: From research to reality with Dipanwita Das of Sorcero

I interviewed Dipanwita Das , CEO and co-founder of Sorcero , about how she and her co-founders transformed their idea for a life sciences startup into a marketable business. 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 team that’s comfortable with uncertainy, fundraising, and the unique problems that come with working in “a market that wasn't fully formed.”

A recurring theme in our conversation: as Dipanwita and her team got deeper into the work, they tossed many of their early expectations overboard. 

“My TAM calculation was a bit amateur in the early years,” she acknowledged. “It's still very big, but it's much more realistic. There are just certain TAM numbers which might seem exciting to an entrepreneur, but as I have learned, means nothing to the investor, because it's just frankly too big and too amorphous to make any sense and to plan around.”

Another lesson learned? Hiring someone away from a big brand might impress your investors, but do your due diligence. When it comes to early employees, “you need a builder persona with an incredible drive,” she said.

“Unless you're recruiting someone from the first 50 of that brand or first 100 of that brand… you're not getting the builders. So even though they might know a lot about how good looks, they don't know how to get to good or how to get to great.”

Episode breakdown

• [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
• 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
• What is a minimum loveable product? [Product School]

Thanks for listening!

– Walter.

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

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