upside

Today we are introducing our December series called “Rewind.”

In this series, we will introduce one of the companies we’ve had on the show, give a quick update, and replay that episode in its entirety.

We think this will be a really fascinating look back on these companies to see how far they’ve come over the last 6-18 months.

And we’re kicking this series of with Balto.

We talked to Balto CEO Marc Bernstein in June of 2018. At the time, Balto described itself this way:

"Balto helps sales, service, and accounts receivable reps win as much revenue as possible from every phone call. Teams use Balto’s artificial intelligence software to analyze phone calls in real-time – live while the call is still happening – and instantly provide reps recommendations on how to communicate as effectively as possible before it’s too late. For more information visit Baltosoftware.com”

Since our conversation with Marc in June 2018, Balto raised $1.3M in October 2018. Then, they raised another $3M in September 2019. Both of those rounds featured Stage Venture Partners, another former guest on this show.

And then, just over a month ago in October 2020, Balto raised a $10M Series A led by Sierra Ventures bringing their total funding to date up to around $14.3M since we spoke with them.

Today, Balto describes themselves this way:

"Balto is the leader in real-time guidance for contact centers. Powered by AI, Balto's software solution evaluates both sides of a phone call and instantly delivers critical information that enables agents to perform at the highest level humanly possible. With Balto, contact centers deliver world-class customer experiences, increase conversions, and decrease agent ramp time. Current customers include contact centers in sectors such as insurance, telecommunications, retail, financial services, and healthcare. For more information, visit balto.ai."

Super similar, but a little different.

We are big fans of Marc here on the show, so we love seeing his team continue to grow and succeed.

Now, we’ll share with you the original interview with Marc from June 2018. Knowing where the team has gone now, it’s an awesome listen to hear where they started.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on this episode as you listen, you can tweet at us @upsidefm or email us hello@upside.fm. And check out our new branding! We’ve refreshed our show artwork here, as well as our entire website. Check it out and let us know what you think.

Follow Balto: https://balto.ai/
Follow upside on Twitter: https://twitter.com/upsidefm
Advertise with an upside classified: https://upside.fm/classifieds

Show Notes

Today we are introducing our December series called “Rewind.” 

In this series, we will introduce one of the companies we’ve had on the show, give a quick update, and replay that episode in its entirety.

We think this will be a really fascinating look back on these companies to see how far they’ve come over the last 6-18 months.

And we’re kicking this series of with Balto.

We talked to Balto CEO Marc Bernstein in June of 2018. At the time, Balto described itself this way:

"Balto helps sales, service, and accounts receivable reps win as much revenue as possible from every phone call. Teams use Balto’s artificial intelligence software to analyze phone calls in real-time – live while the call is still happening – and instantly provide reps recommendations on how to communicate as effectively as possible before it’s too late. For more information visit Baltosoftware.com”

Since our conversation with Marc in June 2018, Balto raised $1.3M in October 2018. Then, they raised another $3M in September 2019. Both of those rounds featured Stage Venture Partners, another former guest on this show.

And then, just over a month ago in October 2020, Balto raised a $10M Series A led by Sierra Ventures bringing their total funding to date up to around $14.3M since we spoke with them.

Today, Balto describes themselves this way:

"Balto is the leader in real-time guidance for contact centers. Powered by AI, Balto's software solution evaluates both sides of a phone call and instantly delivers critical information that enables agents to perform at the highest level humanly possible. With Balto, contact centers deliver world-class customer experiences, increase conversions, and decrease agent ramp time. Current customers include contact centers in sectors such as insurance, telecommunications, retail, financial services, and healthcare. For more information, visit balto.ai."

Super similar, but a little different.

We are big fans of Marc here on the show, so we love seeing his team continue to grow and succeed.

Now, we’ll share with you the original interview with Marc from June 2018. Knowing where the team has gone now, it’s an awesome listen to hear where they started.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on this episode as you listen, you can tweet at us @upsidefm or email us hello@upside.fm. And check out our new branding! We’ve refreshed our show artwork here, as well as our entire website. Check it out and let us know what you think.

Follow Balto: https://balto.ai/ 
Follow upside on Twitter: https://twitter.com/upsidefm 
Advertise with an upside classified: https://upside.fm/classifieds 


What is upside?

Named a top 27 business podcast by Fortune, upside examines startup investing outside of Silicon Valley.

Every Wednesday, we speak with an early stage founder. We interview them as if we are angel investors considering the company as an investment opportunity.

Each show has three segments:

1.) Intro: independent research of the company
2.) Interview: interview with the founder
3.) Debrief: breaking down the opportunity

Sometimes, we share Coffee Chats interviewing venture capitalists, community builders, and later-stage founders.

Subscribe and see why Business Insider called our podcast "Almost as Good as Getting an MBA."