Ready to build your own Founder-Led Growth engine? Book a Strategy Call
Frontlines.io | Where B2B Founders Talk GTM.
Strategic Communications Advisory For Visionary Founders
Actionable
Takeaways
Building a Differentiated Product
Focus on your unique differentiators and what truly delights customers rather than getting distracted by competitors. Build a product that creates an "aha" moment.
Hiring and Team Building
Hire leaders who can take your blueprints and execute 5x faster than you in areas outside your core skillset. Build your team both top-down and bottom-up simultaneously.
Leveraging Investor Relationships
Fundraising gets easier with each startup as existing investors have seen your journey. Aim for a board with strong chemistry, trust and excitement for your problem space.
Defining a New Category
Don't shy away from disrupting old, unsexy industries with highly manual processes. Collaborate humans with AI to create a new category and customer experience from the ground up.
Executing with Velocity
In startups, ideas alone aren't the winning formula - it's about executing rapidly to outpace the competition. Remove founder hats quickly and empower leaders to scale.
Conversation
Highlights
Twin Founders, Triple Exits: How Identical Vision and Divergent Skills Drive Startup Success
Twin brothers building multiple successful startups might sound like a Silicon Valley pitch meeting, but for Zeni co-founder Swapnil Shinde, it’s been the secret to accelerating company growth across three ventures. In a recent episode of Category Visionaries, Swapnil shared how having an identical twin as a co-founder has shaped their approach to building and scaling technology companies.
The Power of Complementary Leadership
While many co-founders struggle to define their roles and responsibilities, Swapnil and his brother discovered that their identical backgrounds could become a strategic advantage when paired with deliberate role separation. “Today at Zeni he’s focused on all product and technology, while I’m focused on marketing, sales, operations and all other aspects of the business,” Swapnil explains. This division allows them to “play your battles on two different fields in parallel and hopefully win both of them.”
Reimagining Traditional Service Models
The genesis of Zeni came from a firsthand pain point experienced across their previous ventures. Traditional finance firms operate on an hourly billing model that, according to Swapnil, creates misaligned incentives: “When someone works on an hourly basis, they actually create more work for themselves. They will add more manual stuff so that they can charge you for more hours.”
This insight led to a fundamental reimagining of the service model. Instead of the traditional approach where “Excel sheets are flying back and forth over email” and “books are not even closed till two weeks into the next month,” Zeni built a platform that guarantees daily bookkeeping with real-time insights.
Building Teams for Rapid Execution
Perhaps the most tactical insight Swapnil shared comes from his experience scaling multiple companies. Rather than the common founder approach of wearing multiple hats and gradually building from the bottom up, he advocates for a simultaneous top-down and bottom-up strategy.
“What I have learned after building three companies is that in parallel, if you start building the team top down, you can actually execute five x faster,” Swapnil explains. The key is identifying your limitations early and bringing in experienced leaders who can scale those areas rapidly: “Let’s say you are a Founder, you have a specific skill set, you are great at product, you are great at technology, but you are not great at sales. So what you should do is try to get in the sales leader once you understand the basic fundamentals of selling your product yourself.”
The AI Augmentation Strategy
While many startups position themselves as purely AI-driven, Swapnil takes a more nuanced approach. “AI cannot power 100% of it,” he acknowledges. Instead, Zeni has focused on creating a hybrid model where “AI to build a finance operation platform that automates your bookkeeping, accounting, your yearly taxes, R D tax credit, CFO services.”
This approach has proven successful, with the platform now managing over $1 billion in finances monthly across approximately 400 startups. The key has been finding the right balance: “We are taking the humans, making them collaborate with machines, and then creating that whole experience from the ground up.”
Market Category Creation Through Disruption
Rather than trying to fit into existing market categories, Swapnil’s approach has been to create a new category by disrupting an established industry: “We are actually disrupting an extremely old business, which was extremely human intensive. It’s not sexy at all.” This disruption isn’t just about technology – it’s about fundamentally changing how services are delivered and valued.
Looking ahead, Swapnil envisions evolving the platform further: “Today we have people assisting the platform to do your accounting and bookkeeping, but the future is going to be where the platform will start assisting the other human experts that we have to do accounting and bookkeeping.”
For founders building in any category, these insights highlight the importance of questioning traditional service models, building teams strategically for rapid execution, and finding the right balance between automation and human expertise. The goal isn’t just to disrupt an existing market but to create sustainable advantages through superior operational execution and customer experience.
Recommended Founder
Interviews
Daniel Grunstein
CEO and Co-Founder of Crowded
Daniel Grunstein, CEO and Co-Founder of Crowded: $6.4 Million Raised to Transform Nonprofit Financial Management
Ankit Ratan
Co-Founder and CEO of Signzy
Ankit Ratan, Co-Founder and CEO of Signzy: Over $38 Million Raised to Build the Future of Digital Onboarding Infrastructure
Jack McDonald
CEO of PolySign
Jack McDonald, CEO of PolySign: $50 Million Raised to Power the Future of Digital Assets
Matt Bivons
CEO & Founder of Canopy
Matt Bivons, CEO & Founder of Canopy: $30M Raised to Build a Modern Servicing Platform for Scaling FinTechs
Klas Bäck
CEO & Co-Founder of Pagos
Klas Bäck, CEO & Co-Founder of Pagos: $44 Million Raised to Power the Future of Payments Operations
Omri Mor
CEO & Co-Founder of Routable
Omri Mor, CEO & Co-Founder of Routable: $100 Million Raised to Transform AP Automation for Fast-Growing Companies
Sohaib Zahid
CEO and Co-Founder of Railz
Sohaib Zahid, CEO and Co-Founder of Railz: $15 Million Raised to Build to Accounting Data as a Service Category
Brian King
CEO of LODAS Markets
Brian King, CEO of LODAS Markets: $8.5 Million Raised to Power the Future of Alternative Investments
Jessica Zhang
CEO & Co-Founder of Pier
Jessica Zhang, CEO & Co-Founder of Pier: $2.5M Raised to Build the Future of Credit Infrastructure
Ron Benegbi
CEO & Founder of Uplinq
Ron Benegbi, CEO & Founder at Uplinq: Over $5 Million Raised to Transform SMB Lender’s Existing Credit Evaluation Process
Thibaut Sahagian
CEO of Multis
Thibaut Sahagian, CEO of Multis: $9 Million Raised to Build a New Category of Software Designed to Meet the Needs of Web3 Organizations
Caleb Avery
Founder & CEO of Tilled
Caleb Avery, Founder & CEO of Tilled: $40 Million Raised to Build (and Dominate) the PayFac as a Service Category
Laura Kornhauser
Co-Founder and CEO of Stratyfy
Laura Kornhauser, Co-Founder and CEO at Stratyfy: $10 Million Raised to Power the Future of Financial Inclusion
Eric Velasquez Frenkiel
Founder and CEO of Pomelo
Eric Velasquez Frenkiel, CEO of Pomelo: $70 Million Raised to Build the Future of Remittance
Nik Talreja
CEO & Co-Founder of Sydecar
Nik Talreja, CEO & Co-Founder of Sydecar: Over $16 Million Raised to Make Venture Deal Execution a Frictionless Process
Tal Shahar
CEO & Co-Founder of Atlas Invest
Tal Shahar, CEO & Co-Founder of Atlas Invest: $13 Million Raised to Transform Real Estate Financing
Fady Hawatmeh
Founder and CEO of Clockwork
Fady Hawatmeh, Founder and CEO of Clockwork: Nearly $3 Million Raised to Make Financial Modeling and Cash Flow Forecasting Easy
Arik Shtilman
CEO of Rapyd
Arik Shtilman, Rapyd: $15 Billion Valuation (Unicorn Builders)
Jonas Overgaard
CEO of Anyday.io
Jonas Overgaard, CEO of Anyday.io: $4M Raised to Transform the Buy Now Pay Later Market
Stephany Kirkpatrick
CEO and Founder of Orum
Stephany Kirkpatrick, CEO and Founder of Orum: Over $85 Million Raised to Build an API integration for Instant Payouts
Ben Goldin
CEO and Founder of Plumery
Ben Goldin, CEO and Founder of Plumery: $4.5 Million Raised to Power the Future of Digital Engagement for Banks
Helen Chong
Head of Growth of Puzzle
Helen Chong, Head of Growth at Puzzle: Collaborating with Founders – Insights for Effective Marketing Alignment
Halle Kaplan-Allen
Head of Marketing of Sydecar
Why LinkedIn Thought Leader Ads Beat Traditional B2B Creative
Steve Pomfret
Steve Pomfret, CEO & Founder of Cygnetise: $8 Million Raised to Build the Future of Signatory Management
Fiona Sherwood
CMO of Dasseti
The Death of Gated Content: Why This CMO Gives Everything Away
Shamir Karkal
Co-founder and CSO of Sila
Shamir Karkal, CEO of Sila: $20+ Million Raised to Build the Money API For Fintech
Dan Beck
Dan Beck, CEO & Co-Founder of 401GO: $14 Million Raised to Build the Future of Retirement Benefits for Small Businesses
Ben Borodach
Co-Founder and CEO of April
Ben Borodach, Co-Founder and CEO of April: $40 Million Raised to Embed Intelligent Tax Experiences
Carmen Li
CEO of Silicon Data
Carmen Li, CEO of Silicon Data: $5M+ Building the World’s First GPU Compute Risk Management Platform
Rafael Loureiro
CEO of Wealth
Rafael Loureiro, CEO of Wealth: $16 Million Raised to Build the Future of Estate Planning
Kevin Hart
Founder and CEO of Green Check Verified
Kevin Hart, Founder and CEO of Green Check Verified: $16 Million Raised to Power the Future of the Cannabis Business
Florian Wimmer
Co-Founder & CEO of Blockpit
Florian Wimmer, Co-Founder & CEO of Blockpit: $15 Million Raised to Power the Future of Crypto Tax Management
Nathan Beckord
CEO of Foundersuite
Nathan Beckord, CEO of Foundersuite: $13 Million Raised to Build the Go-To Platform for Startup Fundraising
Iris Pfeifer
VP of Growth of Wisetack
Iris Pfeifer, VP of Growth at Wisetack: Mastering B2B Marketing Through Sales Alignment and Product Strategy
John Lunn
CEO and Founder of Gr4vy
John Lunn, CEO and Founder of Gr4vy: $27 Million Raised to Build the Future of Payments Infrastructure
Patricia Montesi
CEO & Co-Founder of Qolo
Patricia Montesi, CEO & Co-Founder of Qolo: $30 Million Raised to Build the Future of Omnichannel Payments Infrastructure
Olga Chin
CEO and Founder of InterPrice Technologies
Olga Chin, CEO and Founder of InterPrice Technologies: Over $10 Million Raised to Build the Future of Capital Markets Treasury Management
Patrick Mollard
CEO & Co-Founder of Fipto
Patrick Mollard, CEO & Co-Founder of Fipto: $16 Million Raised to Build the Future of Blockchain Payments
Steven Greene
CEO of Standard Practice
Steven Greene, CEO & Co-Founder of Standard Practice (Previously Nibble Health): $8 Million Raised to Bring the Fintech Revolution to the World Healthcare Payments
Yasmin Graeml
Marketing & Communication Leader of Flourish Fi
Yasmin, Marketing & Communication Leader at Flourish Fi: Driving Financial Engagement with Innovative Tech
Ahmad Ibrahim
CEO of NeoTax
Ibrahim, CEO of NeoTax: $13 Million Raised to Build the Future of Tax Automation
Bryan McCarty
Director of Product and Product Marketing of Orum
Donuts & Product Launches: Orum’s Unconventional Event Strategy
Jeremy Almond
CEO & Founder of Paystand
Jeremy Almond, CEO & Founder of Paystand: $100M Raised to Power the Future of B2B Payments
Wade Arnold
CEO and Founder of Moov
Wade Arnold, CEO and Founder of Moov: $77.5 Million Raised to Build the Future of Embedded Payments
Steffen Vollert
Co-Founder of Volt
Steffen Vollert, Co-founder of Volt: $87 Million Raised to Build the World’s Leading Global Real-Time Payment Network
Magali Chapuis
Marketing Manager of Embat
Magali Chapuis, Marketing Manager of Embat: Strategic Insights for Scaling Fintech Marketing Across Borders
Don Muir
CEO of Arc
Don Muir, CEO of Arc: Over $180 Million Raised to Empower Startups with a Better Cash Management Experience
Scott Dorey
Co-Founder of OpenPath
Scott Dorey, Co-Founder of OpenPath: $25 Million Raised to Build the Future of Payments
Reed Switzer
CEO of Hopscotch
Reed Switzer, CEO of Hopscotch: $10M to Build the Future of B2B Payments For SMBs
Daumantas Dvilinskas
CEO & Co-Founder of TransferGo
Daumantas Dvilinskas, CEO & Co-Founder of TransferGo: $125 Million Raised to Build the Future of Cross-Border Payments
Brendan Playford
CEO of Pngme
Brendan Playford, CEO of Pngme: $18 Million Raised to Support Financial Inclusivity and Unlock Economic Potential Across the Developing World
Rodney Reisdorf
Co-Founder & CEO of Co-Founder & CEO
Rodney Reisdorf, CEO of Verivend: $3 Million Raised Transform Private Capital Transactions
Felix Rodriguez
CEO & Founder of Finally
Felix Rodriguez, CEO & Founder of Finally: $110 Million Raised to Power the Future of Finance Automation
Colin Luce
CEO & Co-Founder of Basis Theory
Colin Luce, CEO & Co-Founder of Basis Theory: $20 Million Raised to Build the Future of Payments Tokenization
Kalpesh Kapadia
CEO and Founder of Deserve
Kalpesh Kapadia, CEO and Founder of Deserve: $50 Million Raised to Build the Future of Credit Cards
Julio Martínez
Co-Founder and CEO of Abacum
Julio Martínez, Co-Founder and CEO at Abacum: $40 Million Raised to Build the Future of FP&A
Bob Suh
CEO of OnCorps
Bob Suh, CEO of OnCorps: $18M Raised to Help Large Financial Institutions Solve Operational Problems with AI