Ascend is a go-to-market podcast featuring founders and CEOs who are building and scaling companies. Hosted by Angelique, it covers real-world go-to-market strategy, growth tactics, customer acquisition, revenue strategy, and the hard lessons behind scaling. Episodes focus on practical insights and tactical frameworks from leaders driving measurable growth.
Episodes
From Excel to AI: Transforming Compliance Management in Energy and Heavy Industry
Any feedback would mean a lot for us. We hope you continue to enjoy the episodes!What happens when a corporate lawyer sees firsthand how much time companies waste on manual compliance reporting?In this episode, Angelique Strauss sits down with Timothy Daniel, the Founder and CEO of Rimba, an enterprise software company helping heavy industries modernize compliance data management. Drawing from yea
How The Mobile First Company Scaled Alo by 50% MoM—Without Paid Ads
Any feedback would mean a lot for us. We hope you continue to enjoy the episodes!On this episode, Nicolas Moncarz, Founding Engineer at The Mobile-First Company, joins strategic growth advisors Angelique and Tracey to break down what it takes to build and scale software for underserved small businesses.From architecting the technical foundations that powered the flagship app Alo to 50% month-over-
Building Hyper-Localized AI Models for Fraud Prevention
Any feedback would mean a lot for us. We hope you continue to enjoy the episodes!In this episode, Angelique Strauss sits down with Saif Farooqui, CEO and Founder of Corgi Labs (YC W23) and former Data Scientist at Stripe, Google, and Meta. Saif breaks down why traditional “one-size-fits-all” fraud prevention models are failing and how hyper-localized machine learning is reshaping payments security
Inside WingDriver: The AI System Preventing Road Accidents in Real Time
Any feedback would mean a lot for us. We hope you continue to enjoy the episodes!Road accidents caused by distraction and fatigue remain one of the most persistent global safety challenges. On this episode, Angelique and Tracey sit down with André Azevedo, the CEO of WingDriver about how the company is using AI to detect risky driving behavior in real time, before it leads to an accident.Instead o
How VR Training Reduces Risk, Improves Retention, and Scales Learning
Any feedback would mean a lot for us. We hope you continue to enjoy the episodes!On this episode, Angelique and Tracey sit down with Sean Hurwitz, Founder & CEO of PIXO VR, to discuss the journey behind building the company — from its early beginnings as a gaming startup to becoming a platform helping enterprises transform workforce training through immersive virtual reality experiences.Sean H
AI Governance for Banking and Fintechs: Building Trust, Audibility and Automation
Any feedback would mean a lot for us. We hope you continue to enjoy the episodes!AI is transforming every industry, but few sectors face greater challenges than financial services. In this episode, Angelique Strauss sits down with Wael Elsahhar, the Co-Founder and CEO of MidLyr, to explore how they’re building bank-grade AI infrastructure capable of automating some of the most complex and highly r
The New Moat: Scalable GTM in Regulated Crypto Markets
Any feedback would mean a lot for us. We hope you continue to enjoy the episodes!AI is shifting from experimental tech to core infrastructure for the next generation of finance. As blockchain and digital assets mature, the real frontier is building systems where intelligent agents can actively participate in the economy.On this episode of Ascend: Stories of Scale, host Angelique Strauss sat down w
Building the Operating System for Global Work: Ontop CEO on Payroll, Compliance & Scale
Any feedback would mean a lot for us. We hope you continue to enjoy the episodes!On this episode of Ascend: Stories of Scale, Angelique sits down with Julian Torres Gomez, CEO of Ontop, to explore what it takes to build the backbone of global work in a world without borders.From early investor advice that reshaped his approach to compliance, to the realities of operating across 150+ countries, Jul
How AI Is Transforming Sales Coaching and Sales Performance | Yogi, Founder of People Lens
Any feedback would mean a lot for us. We hope you continue to enjoy the episodes!In this episode, Angelique and Tracey sit down with Yogi, founder of PeopleLens, to explore how artificial intelligence is reshaping sales management and coaching.The assumption that more tools lead to better outcomes is one of the biggest misconceptions in modern sales. Sales teams have more technology than ever befo
Balancing Automation and Human Insight in the Age of AI
Any feedback would mean a lot for us. We hope you continue to enjoy the episodes!How do you build AI products that solve real problems instead of just adding more features? Yan Grinshtein, founder of Cepien AI, shares his perspective on startup resilience, customer understanding, and building AI tools that deliver meaningful value.On this episode of Ascend: Stories of Scale, Angelique and DJ sit d
The Secret to Scaling Custom AI Solutions Without Venture Capital
Any feedback would mean a lot for us. We hope you continue to enjoy the episodes!How does a bootstrapped AI company scale to 9-figure revenue while serving enterprise and government clients? In this episode, D.R. Sara, CEO of Vidamonti, shares his approach to building mission-critical AI, delivering custom solutions, and fostering trusted partnerships. He explains why one-size-fits-all SaaS models
Beyond Automation: The Rise of On-device Superintelligence
Any feedback would mean a lot for us. We hope you continue to enjoy the episodes!AI is no longer just about smarter chatbots. Div Garg of AGI Inc. shares how autonomous AI agents are redefining digital work by acting on behalf of users across apps and workflows. From building real-world benchmarks to scaling adoption, we discuss why go-to-market strategy and ecosystem reach will determine who wins
How AI Will Change Sales Teams Everywhere
Any feedback would mean a lot for us. We hope you continue to enjoy the episodes!Is AI coming for your sales team or coming to its rescue? In this episode, we sit down with Matt Darrow, CEO of Vivun, to cut through the hype and get practical about AI sales enablement. From how sales teams can thoughtfully adopt AI without losing what makes them effective, to the common pitfalls that trip up even t
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