"B2B in 2026, it's much more like crypto in 2021 than B2B in 2021."
I asked @TrustVanta CEO Christina Cacioppo (@christinacaci) what it's like to lead a $4.2B valued software startup when some AI startups raise at higher valuations pre-product today.
"There's a hype, 'fake it 'til you make it' game that I think can work," she says.
Hype --> new investors --> more customers --> more employees
"Hopefully, then you're using that to build real things, and rinse and repeat," she says. "We probably both know of strong companies that have played that well. We also probably know of some less strong companies that are playing that into a wall."
Why does the best product not always win in reality?
"You have to have a good product, but you have to have distribution, too," Vanta's CEO tells The Upstarts Podcast.
"If somebody is out-distributing you with a reasonably good product, that is tough."
"This is not a product category." "They're not actually going to work on this." "They're going to acquihire themselves to somebody."
When Christina Cacioppo (@christinacaci) first pitched her startup in 2018, investors couldn't believe anyone would want to build compliance software.
Eight years later, @TrustVanta works with 16K+ customers from Lovable to Icelandair, earning a $4.2B valuation.
Now, she faces the opposite question: With AI, can't anyone build this? How does Vanta stay ahead of a new wave of hype-y startups?
"I subscribe to the 'never let them see you blink' school of thought, she tells me.
On The Upstarts Podcast, Cacioppo shares how she created value in a sleepy category; how she prioritizes “infinity things” as a startup unicorn CEO; and why when it comes to good security hygiene, we could all spend more time brushing our teeth.
Plus, she shares her Upstart Moment: working to re-think, and future-proof, Vanta's software business in the face of powerful AI models.
This season is presented by @Rippling 🫡
CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction 1:39 What Vanta does 5:26 Selling to other startups 9:28 How AI agents change ‘pretty much everything’ 14:06 Christina’s *real* founder origin story 16:23 Underdog fundraising and gaming VCs 18:59 The problem with startup valuations 24:08 Turning LinkedIn ‘cringe’ into customer traction 26:41 Reinventing Vanta with AI 33:43 Whether AI could clone Vanta 35:23 ‘Never let them see you blink’ 37:24 Avoiding burnout with ‘infinity things’