SaaSy Talk S02.12: Nick’s Startup Playbook

About The Guest(s): Ozan Unlu is the CEO and Founder of Edge Delta. As a researcher, engineer, technologist, and business leader, he spent many years of his life in Turkey and has additionally resided in Portland, Seattle, and San Francisco. After years working as a software developer automating monitoring technologies server side at Microsoft, Unlu was part of the early team that built cloud computing platform Azure and subsequently the security team that handled all zero-day vulnerabilities across all Microsoft services. Though successful in the early years of his career at Microsoft, Unlu took the opportunity to join Silicon Valley Tech startup Sumo Logic as the first solution architect at corporate HQ. Helping grow Sumo Logic's ARR from $3M to $150M and stepping into a sales management role, Unlu contributed to the company's future successful IPO.

While serving as a trusted advisor to hundreds of companies, including some of the largest in tech, travel, finance, retail, and gaming, Unlu's unique experience and perspective on monitoring and observability led him to identify critical gaps in the market. Accelerating data growth requires a next-gen observability solution able to scale to petabytes and Unlu founded Edge Delta to meet these needs. Today, Edge Delta is Series B, has raised $82M, and is a leader in observability with a focus on data pipelines and continuous AI.

Episode Summary: In this episode, Ozan, founder and CEO of Edge Delta, joins the show to discuss his journey in the tech industry and the birth of Edge Delta. Ozan shares his background in engineering and his experience working at major tech companies before starting his own startup. He explains how Edge Delta is revolutionizing data observability in a world where data volumes are growing exponentially. Ozan also discusses the challenges of transitioning from a technical role to a founder and the importance of building the right team.

Key Takeaways:

• Edge Delta is a startup focused on data observability, addressing the challenges of managing and analyzing massive volumes of data in a rapidly evolving technological landscape.
• The data volumes being generated by organizations have grown exponentially in recent years, and traditional observability solutions are struggling to keep up. Edge Delta offers a new architecture and approach to handle the increasing data volumes.
• Ozan emphasizes the importance of having a strong team and the need to fill skill gaps when building a startup. It's crucial to have a diverse set of skills and expertise to tackle the challenges that arise.
• Founders need to be prepared for the ups and downs of the startup journey. It requires resilience, determination, and the ability to adapt to changing circumstances.
• Ozan highlights the importance of celebrating milestones and reflecting on the progress made. It's easy to get caught up in the day-to-day challenges, but taking time to acknowledge achievements can boost morale and motivation.

Notable Quotes:

• "I think the biggest learning experience I had early, and maybe this is just founder conviction, founder, what do you, whatever you want to call it, overconfidence. The realization of how interconnected every single small part of the business is." - Ozan Unlu

Chapters 00:07 Journey into Tech: From Intel to Edge Delta

00:57 Exploring Edge Delta: Revolutionizing Data Observability

02:53 The Startup Leap: Challenges and Mindset Shifts

05:53 From Developer to Founder: Navigating the Startup World

08:58 Scaling a Tech Startup: Sales, Growth, and Innovation

19:10 Reflecting on Progress and Navigating Challenges

21:54 Navigating Startup Funding: Insights and Strategies

22:20 The Reality of Startup Success and the Importance of Commitment

23:12 Pitch Deck Essentials: Putting Your Team First

25:41 Choosing the Right VC Partner: A Two-Way Street

27:24 Building Your First Leadership Team: What to Look For

29:49 Defining Success and Future Ambitions for Edge Delta