Liftoff with Keith Newman

What does it really take to build a SaaS powerhouse like BetterCloud from scratch?

In this episode of Liftoff with Keith, serial entrepreneur David Politis shares his extraordinary journey, from learning business at his father’s side as a kid, to leading multiple successful companies, to building BetterCloud into a $100M ARR SaaS juggernaut.

💡 In This Deep-Dive Interview, You'll Learn:

- The scrappy growth hacking strategy that took BetterCloud from zero to $1M in ARR

- Why doing things that don’t scale is essential for startup success

- How AI is reshaping go-to-market strategies (and why you need a “Go-to-Market Engineer”)

- Fundraising tips every founder should know, pitching, storytelling, and landing that seed round

- David’s media journey: growing a podcast audience from zero to thousands

Whether you’re an entrepreneur, SaaS leader, or just love a good business story, this episode is packed with hard-earned insights you won’t hear anywhere else.

📌 Don’t miss David’s top advice for scaling startups in the AI era!

👋 Connect with David:

- Not Another CEO Podcast (https://podcast.notanotherceo.com/)

- LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidpolitis)

Follow more of the Liftoff with Keith:

- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3cFpLXfYvcUsxvsT9MwyAD

- Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/liftoff-with-keith-newman/id1560219589

- Substack: https://keithnewman.substack.com/

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/liftoffwithkeith/

- Newman Media Studios: https://newmanmediastudios.com/

For sponsorship inquiries, please contact: sponsorships@wherewithstudio.com

👍 Like, comment, and subscribe for more founder stories and startup insights!

#SaaS #Entrepreneurship #AI #StartupTips #DavidPolitis #BetterCloud #FounderJourney #GrowthHacking #LiftoffPodcast

From the streets to the boardroom, Ken Miller’s story is nothing short of extraordinary.

In this powerful interview, Ken shares how he transformed from a homeless, three-time felon battling addiction to a multi-business owner, author, and mentor making a difference in countless lives.

In this episode:

- Ken’s inspiring journey of overcoming addiction and incarceration

- Life lessons from the penitentiary to the C-suite

- The turning point that changed everything

- Why AI is the ultimate equalizer, and how Ken built an AI company

- His powerful mentoring model that’s transforming young men’s lives

- The book Becoming Ken, and why it’s a must-read

If you’ve ever faced setbacks, questioned your worth, or wondered how to turn pain into purpose, this episode is for you.

Follow more of Ken:

- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kenmiller84

- Website: KenMillerSpeaks.com

Follow more of the Liftoff with Keith:

- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3cFpLXfYvcUsxvsT9MwyAD

- Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/liftoff-with-keith-newman/id1560219589

- Substack: https://keithnewman.substack.com/

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/liftoffwithkeith/

- Newman Media Studios: https://newmanmediastudios.com/

For sponsorship inquiries, please contact: sponsorships@wherewithstudio.com

👍 Like, comment, and subscribe for more inspiring conversations!

#Resilience #AI #Entrepreneurship #AddictionRecovery #LifeLessons #Mentorship #KenMiller #LiftoffPodcast

How does a top AI company scale massive clusters and build AI for the enterprise? In this episode of The Liftoff with Keith, we talk to Ted Shelton, COO of Inflection AI, from the AI Infra Summit 2025. Ted shares how their team pivoted from consumers to enterprise after their Microsoft deal, why seamless infrastructure is key, and what it takes to build AI models that run on NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel.Learn why “getting to the no” is the smartest move for founders, how enterprises can embrace sovereign AI, and how Inflection’s approach to model customization unlocks massive business value.👉 Don’t miss this deep dive into the future of AI with Keith Newman.Subscribe for more game-changing insights!Follow more of the Liftoff with Keith:- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3cFpLXfYvcUsxvsT9MwyAD- Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/liftoff-with-keith-newman/id1560219589- Substack: https://keithnewman.substack.com/- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/liftoffwithkeith/- Newman Media Studios: https://newmanmediastudios.com/For sponsorship inquiries, please contact: sponsorships@wherewithstudio.com

Rishad is the author of Restoring the Soul of Business: Staying Human in the Age of Data and “Rethinking Work” both published by HarperCollins.

He was the Global Strategist and Chief Growth Officer of the 100,000+ person marketing and business transformation Publicis Groupe and has been named by BusinessWeek as one of the top business leaders for his pioneering innovation and TIME magazine dubbed him one of five “Marketing Innovators.” Rishad is one of only 300 people selected to the Advertising Hall of Fame in 75 years.

Rishad joins the Liftoff podcast and shares with us his thoughts on super founders, smarter leadership, and the future of work.

Follow Rishad:

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rishadtobaccowala- https://rishadtobaccowala.com/

Follow the Liftoff with Keith:

- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3cFpLXfYvcUsxvsT9MwyAD

- Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/liftoff-with-keith-newman/id1560219589

- Substack: https://keithnewman.substack.com/- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/liftoffwithkeith/

- Newman Media Studios: https://newmanmediastudios.com/

For Founders and Funders and those supporting the startup ecosystem, this episode was a kool convo around all things fundraising, founder journey, cap tables, dilution and more.

For the chat with Peter of Carta, I am joined by Startup Guru Bobby Napiltonia, the Managing Partner @TheGTMFirm and former head of the AppExchange at @Salesforce and @Twilio’s first CRO.  See https://www.thegtmfirm.com/

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The Look Back with Host Keith Newman welcomed Bloomberg Tech Writer Kurt Wagner to the program, as we convinced him to take a break from all that’s happening around his white hot tech beats (Breaking News on 3 Co’s;  Meta, TikTok and X) to discuss his book on Twitter-Elon-X titled “Battle for the Bird” - along with a few sidebar chats on AI and + the current (and future) state of journalism.

The Dean of the Personal Technology product review was Walt Mossberg and now he joins The Look Back and reviews his early days in journalism to the transition into the most followed column @WallStreetJournal that instantly became a MUST READ for everyone in the PC industry. 

Walt shares his approach to proper product reviews and also reflects on his work on All Things Digital and ReCode, home of the famous Code Conference he ran with Kara Swisher. Currently Walt is serving on the Board of News Literacy Project  https://newslit.org/  - working with educators and journalists to give students the skills they need to discern fact from fiction and to know what to trust! (please review the site as they need donations). Help Journalism Stay Free! (now more than ever)

On the 50th Anniversary of the e-game Pong, from Atari, The Look Back on the Tech Startup Network welcomed legendary entrepreneur Nolan Bushnell to the podcast. Here from an amazing entrepreneur share his journey and how he views the opportunities in gaming and AI today and the skills required to become a truly successful entrepreneur. Give a listen and share with a fellow entrepreneur and founder. 

The Look Back welcomes Jim Hamilton to the program. Jim came out of the Tandy workshop back in the day, probably most known for its Radio Shack stores, which Charles Tandy and Team bought in 1962 for $300K and grew to 8000 stores. He  was also an exec with Tandy offshoots Computer City and Incredible Universe - and efforts like Motorola Mobility, Get It Now.gr, and PowerMat. He's been a Professor of Entrepreneurship for the past 8 years at the University of Dallas and shares some wonderful stories from the PC era and lessons for today's entrepreneurs.

Laura McCann is the Founder, CEO and Chief Mood Builder of Adoratherapy, a vertical brand disrupting the aromatherapy category. The former actress and artist turned master brand builder and multi-channel marketer, shares her personal journey that has led her to many exciting (and successful pivots) that provide useful instruction to entrepreneurs across many industries. Please listen and share! 

Max founded PeopleConnect in 2000 to help early-stage co's find top talent across technology, biotech, cleantech, apps, services, medical devices, and consumer products. PeopleConnect provides traditional contingency searches. Other ongoing projects I’m involved in that also support the startup community: ● Angel Investor and member of Keiretsu Forum since 2001 ● Co-founder of Runway Innovation Hub ● Creator & Producer of PitchForce PitchForce is a weekly pitch event for early stage companies with a panel of establish angel investors and CEO's.

The Founder of Ancestry joins The Look Back for a review of one of the coolest Co’s that came out of Internet 1.0 - and lived to tell about - but it was quite a story! Come learn the genealogy while also learning about Paul’s NewCo Soar AI, a venture studio where he’s incubating some 15 AI companies to uplift humanity at work and in life. As a bonus he shares many invaluable Founder/Startup insights. Give a listen and track your success from this point on!

Back in the day #GameStop CEO Gary Kusin opened one of the first software only stores in a brick and mortar world. He brought his deep understanding of marketing and retailing with a slim background in software and took the plunge. Hundreds of millions in sales, hundreds of stores and hundreds of stories followed. We chat up everything from the good and bad at the helm of what would become the icon for a meme stock era along with his stories running an innovative cosmetics co and a turnaround of the iconic Kinko's brand only to sell to Fedex. Gary has also written a fantastic new book: "Always Learning" - some great stories along with lessons from a savvy business leader. #Babbages #GameStop #Kinkos #LauraMercier 

Welcome back to the podcast @Tiffani Bova - My first encore guest! Tiffani, a former exec at @Gartner and @Salesforce, who has met with seemingly every top CMO/CEO in the Fortune 500, has just dropped a new book “The Experience Mindset” (changing the way you think about growth) and I found it so kool and insightful I had to bring her on the program to discuss the ideas of working to break down silos, making it easier for employees to have success and taking a bigger view of Go To Market. 

A chat that every co can find value. Please enjoy and let me know what you think. 

Introducing our new series, The Look Forward. Have a listen to hear what's next for the podcast.

-Keith

The Look Back welcomes Mitch Kapor -- Founder of Lotus Development and CEO of the groundbreaking spreadsheet 1-2-3. Kapor converted his early software success into building the Kapor Center and Kapor Capital. Now, he is an advisor and investor to 150+ under-represented founders and rocking his mission of creating an Inclusive & Equitable Technology Sector. And while a successful venture fund isn't as easy as 1-2-3... Mitch, his wife, and team have built an impressive organization HQd in Oakland, California.

The Look Back welcomes the head of Plug and Play, Saeed Amidi, who takes us thru the 20+ year evolution and the new model @ PnP as an innovation platform. The VC firm-incubator with major companies and sponsors has touched 50,000 startups, 500+ world-leading corporations, and hundreds of venture capital firms, universities, and government agencies across multiple industries. Learn from the man himself how to climb aboard this rocket ship and leverage its power platform. 

David Strom is my go-to guy for all things Networking and Security -- the two hottest topics for the last 20 years. He's also an alumni friend who ran Network Computing, eWeek and has contributed or led many other tech-oriented media products. Strom was coerced to join me for a chat on The Look Back and in return I feel obliged to mention his must-read bylines on @SiliconAngle -->  one of the sharpest perspectives on internet and security issues. 

Tune in, strap in, and get ready to remix! We were somehow able to get the man who I consider to be the creator of multimedia and one of the coolest software geeks out there, Marc Canter, to sit down and do The Look Back podcast session with me. We hit on those early days of Apple, Mac, multimedia and head into Metaverse, VR and of course AI - he has a unique perspective and some kool drops.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed talking to Marc. 

Great discussion on the future of Transportation with none other than @AnnabelChang, Director of Public Policy @Waymo, who is trying to to make driverless cars a reality. Already a hit in Arizona and SF, Chang is a change agent who came to Waymo from @AlaskaAirlines and @Lyft where she ushered in the world of #RideShare #GigWork and disrupting the transportation world - clearly not one to shrink from challenge Annabel shares lots of insight in future of transportation along with major shortcuts for entrepreneurs and innovators. 

Tony Uphoff has media instincts in his DNA -- as a child born into a media active family, Tony was destined to a world of publishing -- but at the helm of eWeek and InformationWeek and many other well known brands, and is not lending his experience and energy to Media/Research disruptor, @Acceleration Economy. Tony also led the turnaround and successful sale of Thomasnet.com to Xometry for $300M - just a blast to catch up with an alumni brother and someone I’ve always learned from and admired. 

The Look Back gets into product mode after chatting with Product Marketing Guru SC Moatti, a Partner @Mighty Capital and President of Products That Count and Managing Partner of Mighty Capital and Board Chair of Products That Count. SC touches on her views on opportunity in AI (Are we having a Netscape moment?), the fallacy of Product Market Fit and what true product-led growth is created. I hope you enjoy and learn from this discussion as much as I did. 

What it takes to be successful launching a software startup? How do you build a culture of innovation (and still have a personality)?

One of the top Game Studios is run by the amazing Christina. Give this interview a listen and see if you don't agree with my bias assessment.

A real Ted Talk with the one and only Ted Schlein. Ted's excellent adventure was a 25 year roller coaster ride at Tier 1 VC firm Kleiner Perkins, by way of Symantec where he talked the company into entering the cybersecurity business. Now he turns full circle and has started Ballistic Ventures where he serves as Chairman and GP. Ted serves on the Board of Trustees and Board of Overseers of the Engineering School at the University of Pennsylvania, and also serves on the CISA, DHS and NSA Advisory Boards, IQT Board of Trustees, and is founder of the DoD-sponsored DeVenCI program. A few of his successful investments include AlienVault, ArcSight, CarbonBlack, Chegg, LifeLock, Mandiant, Phantom Security, and Shape Security.

Fred Davis is my guest on this latest episode of The Look Back. And what can I say about the former editor of a bunch of Ziff Davis mags (MacUser, A+, PC Mag) and my colleague at ZD during the amazing rollercoaster days. If you know, you know. The guy is an amazing font of knowledge and wisdom - in this episode he gives us his thoughts on everything from the impact of AI and VR on society to how we need to rebuild our cities infrastructure and services. Oh and a bit on guitars and what it was like to be mentored by the inventor of B2B media, Bill Ziff. 

This episode puts the spotlight on @Dina Moskowitz, the Founder and CEO of Partner Optimizer, formerly SaasMax. It was great fun exploring with Dina the catalyst for ‘the big pivot’ from a B2B marketplace for SaaS vendors and IT channel partners to Partner Optimizer, and getting behind the Partner led Growth momentum in the IT market. Partner Optimizer has become recognized by leading analysts as the premium tool for identifying, recruiting and managing partners - we also talked about developing great teams and building great products. 

Investing to maximize ROI is one thing, adding a social impact layer to your criteria is another and that's the Zecca Plan! Zeeca Lehn is the General Partner of Responsibly Ventures, based in California, backing U.S. PreSeed startups in both Social and Sustainable Tech—using multiple UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a guidepost per investment.

Over the past 15+ years, he has worked as an Environmental Economist, Data Scientist, Non-Profit Board Member, and Co-Founder. He grew up in an off-the-grid Japanese-style home, on a remote island in the Pacific Northwest. Through his world travels and living in Scandinavia during his early 20’s, he discovered a deep love for people, planet, and diverse cultures.

Thinking about starting a Co? Alex says this is the best time. Find out why by tapping into our discussion around the DNA of an entrepreneur, and get questions answered like: how do you build entrepreneurial muscle? Also, discover the differences between angel investors, venture capital investors, and accredited investors and learn what sets them apart. Don't miss out on this valuable knowledge! Listen to this insightful episode with Alex Chompff, CEO of Evolution Accelerator -- hit play now!

I'm so mesmerized by what’s going on in robotics and industrial automation. Given that, I reached out to Mike O'Donnell to join us on The Look Back. From shrink-wrap software daze to Internet 1.0 to mega deals in the Enterprise Tech space into HealthTech specs, I catch up with the somewhat new CEO of blazing cool startup Relay Robotics. Give a listen (*and dont forget to like and SHARE).

A special Super Bowl episode of The Look Back with Thomas Turner, CEO & Founder of Relentless Beats!

Turner is the producer of many major Super Bowl events with huge stars like @Ludacris @SnoopDogg @TimMcgraw and @Shaq. He manages the venue, the music, the video, the tech - everything and he talks about what makes a great event, how its managed and where the LIVE EVENT industry is headed....

Let's get this party started!!!

Ann Winblad has seen it all, except lately she can't find this little t-shirt her father the then high school basketball coach gave her, that brings her back to her pre-teen days when she would cheer and support the hoops team along with her 4 sisters and her brother. Oh well, no time to dwell. It turns out Ann actually was a high school basketball cheerleader (and as Ann points out the class valedictorian) to the Federal Reserve to founding and running a software company, Open Systems,  which she sold for a tidy profit, and then into Software focused VC firm #1.

As Founding Partner at Hummer Winblad, the first VC firm focused exclusively on software, formed in the late '80s she was turned down by hundreds of would-be LP investors at the time. Ann wound up funding many great co's including MuleSoft, Five9, Hyperion acquired by Oracle, Wind River and dozens others - now she's overseeing and coaching startups and investments in various markets including space and technology, while still cheerleading in her philanthropic adventures.

Today’s Look Back Podcast Guest is Joshua March, the Co-founder and CEO of SCiFi Foods, a Bay Area food tech company focused on making transformational meat alternatives first by combining plant-based and cultivated meat to make burgers that are drastically closer in taste to the real versions. Bring your entrepreneurial appetite and curiosity to our latest episode!

If you’re a budding entrepreneur,  venture capitalist or angel investor, you have to listen to this episode on The Look Back with the one and only Ben Narasin of TenacityVC (not to be confused with Tenacious D) who brings his secret recipes for investing and building successful startups. Ben’s a renowned entrepreneur with many amazing startups who went on to  connect with the venerable NEA before launching his own firm.

From his work with Steve Jobs in the early days of Apple and then NeXT,  then a stint at Microsoft, Dan’l has been training for his eventual role has as head of Silicon Valley’s @Computer History Museum. And this is not just your regular, run of the mill Museum - as one would expect -  this is a Museum on a mission!  Now we have The Look Back on the early days to today and how the Museum seeks to create the best experience for students of the game.

Mike Cassidy, aka Rocket (Thruster) Man -  has been CEO and Co-Founder of 5 high tech companies and is currently the head of Apollo Fusion, a high performance maker of satellite thrusters. This is his project following his role as Project Leader for Google's Project Loon. He’s also sold another co (Xfire) to MTV and Direct Hit to Ask Jeeves. If that’s not wild enough he attended the Berklee School of Music, Harvard and MIT. Quite a roll! I hope you enjoy this Look Back as much as I did. All systems go! Now strap it on and hit play!