Listen Here

| |

Conversation
Highlights

 

Welcome to another episode of Category Visionaries — the show that explores GTM stories from tech’s most innovative B2B founders. In today’s episode, we’re speaking with Jonathan Legge, CEO and co-founder of &Open, a corporate gifting platform that has raised over $35 million in funding.

  • Jonathan’s unconventional background in furniture design, his experience building a hybrid e-commerce and physical retail business, and how a serendipitous opportunity to improve Airbnb’s gifting process led to the creation of &Open.
  • The problem of corporate gifting becoming wasteful, thoughtless, and careless, and &Open’s mission to bring gifting back to being thoughtful by scaling personalization and curation.
  • &Open’s approach to sourcing unique, sustainable, and locally-produced gifts from a carefully curated network of vendors across North America, Europe, and APAC.
  • The logistical challenges of cross-border gifting and how &Open’s early experiences navigating these complexities from its base in Ireland have become a competitive advantage as the company has scaled.
  • Jonathan’s patience in building strong foundations, refining logistics, and assembling the right team before pursuing aggressive growth, and the importance of staying self-funded for the first three years.
  • &Open’s vision to build a global gifting ecosystem that transcends B2B and consumer divisions, becoming the default choice for anyone looking to send a thoughtful, joyful gift.

Actionable
Takeaways

Look for Opportunities to Improve Flawed Experiences:

Jonathan and his team identified the potential to transform corporate gifting by experiencing firsthand how a well-intentioned company like Airbnb was falling short in its execution. By digging deeper into the root causes of these shortcomings, they were able to design a solution that addressed the underlying issues. Founders should actively seek out flawed experiences in their target markets and use those insights to drive innovation.

Curate Offerings to Balance Novelty and Reliability:

&Open's gift marketplace features a mix of trendy direct-to-consumer brands, timeless classics, and unique local finds, ensuring that there's something to suit every taste and occasion. By carefully balancing novelty and reliability in their curation, the company can keep its offerings fresh and exciting while still meeting the needs of a broad range of customers. Founders should consider how they can strike a similar balance in their own product or service portfolios.

Embrace Constraints as a Catalyst for Creativity:

Being based in Ireland forced &Open to confront the challenges of cross-border logistics and regulatory compliance from day one. Rather than seeing these constraints as a hindrance, the team leveraged them to build robust processes and partnerships that have become a key differentiator as the company has expanded globally. Founders should reframe the constraints they face as opportunities to develop creative solutions that can serve as long-term advantages.

Prioritize Foundations Before Pursuing Growth:

Despite the temptation to capitalize on early traction and scale rapidly, Jonathan chose to keep &Open self-funded for three years to ensure that the company had a solid operational foundation and a clear understanding of its business model before taking on external capital. By prioritizing fundamentals over growth in the early stages, founders can set themselves up for more sustainable success in the long run.

Design for Emotional Impact, Not Just Functional Utility:

At its core, &Open's platform is designed to create joyful, emotionally resonant experiences for gift recipients. By focusing on how each interaction makes the end-user feel, rather than just optimizing for efficiency or transaction volume, the company is able to build deeper, more meaningful connections between its clients and their stakeholders. Founders should consider how they can infuse their own offerings with a sense of emotional impact and human connection.

Recommended Founder
Interviews

Hikari Senju

CEO and Founder of Omneky

Hikari Senju, CEO and Founder of Omneky: $10 Million Raised to Empower Brands With AI-Powered Ads To Maximize Performance

Tom Lee

Co-Founder of LOVO AI

Tom Lee, Co-Founder of LOVO AI: $7 Million Raised to Build the Future of AI Voiceovers

CEO and Co-Founder of Sendoso

Creating the Sending Management Category with Sendoso’s Kris Rudeegraap

Daniel Erickson

Founder and CEO of Viable

Daniel Erickson, CEO of Viable: $9 Million Raised to Build the Future of Customer Feedback Analysis

John Jahnke

CEO and Co-Founder of Tackle.io

John Jahnke, CEO and Co-Founder of Tackle.io: $148 Million Raised to Build the Future of Cloud Go-to-Market

Omed Habib

VP of Sapient AI

Omed Habib, VP of Marketing at Sapient AI: A Technical Founder’s Guide to B2B SaaS Marketing

Parry Bedi

Co-Founder and CEO of Tingono

Parry Bedi, CEO of Tingono: $7 Million Raised to Help Companies Boost Net Revenue Retention

Marc Bernstein

CEO and Founder of Balto

Marc Bernstein, CEO and Founder of Balto: $52 Million Raised to Power the Future of Contact Centers

Pierce Ujjainwalla

CEO of Knak

Pierce Ujjainwalla, CEO of Knak: $25 Million Raised to Empower Enterprise Marketers with Codeless Email and Landing Page Creation

Tyler Strand

Co-Founder and CTO of Air

Tyler Strand, Co-Founder and CTO at Air: $38 Million raised to Build the Creative Operations Category

Adrien Menard

CEO and Co-Founder of Botify

Adrien Menard, CEO and Co-Founder of Botify: $82 Million Raised to Build the Future of SEO

Andy Mowat

CEO and Co-Founder of Gated

Andy Mowat, CEO and Co-Founder of Gated: Over $3 Million Raised to Build Noise Cancelling Headphones for Email

Ori Entis

CEO and Co-Founder of Staircase AI

Ori Entis, CEO and Co-Founder of Staircase AI: $5 Million Raised to Power the Future of Customer Revenue Growth

Thomas Millay

CEO of DemandJump

Thomas Millay, CEO at DemandJump: Over $25 Million Raised to Power the Future of Content Strategy

Sam Fonoimoana

Founder & CEO of Datajoin

Sam Fonoimoana, Founder & CEO of Datajoin: $3.5 Million Raised to Help Brands Leverage Customer Behavioral Insights

Rob Sadow

CEO & Co-Founder of Scoop

Rob Sadow, CEO & Co-Founder of Scoop: $8 Million Raised to Build the Future of Hybrid Team Coordination

Creating the Go to Market Category with ZoomInfo’s Bryan Law

CMO of ZoomInfo

Creating the Go to Market Category with ZoomInfo’s Bryan Law

Stephen Karaolis

Marketing Director of Cleary

Stephen Karaolis, Marketing Director at Cleary: Mastering Speed to Market – The Key to Dynamic Content Strategy

Sam Mallikarjunan

Co-Founder & CEO of OneScreen

Sam Mallikarjunan, Co-Founder & CEO of OneScreen: $10 Million Raised to Power the Future of Offline Advertising

Jonas Rinde

CEO of Nomono

Jonas Rinde, CEO of Nomono: $15 million Raised to Power the Future of Podcasting

Zack Rosenberg

CEO and Founder of Qortex

Zack Rosenberg, CEO & Founder of Qortex: $11 Million Raised to Build the Future of Video Analytics

Luke Hansen

CEO and Founder of CompanyCam

Luke Hansen, CEO and Founder of CompanyCam: $38 Million Raised to Build the Future of Visual Communication for Contractors

Robert Thelen

CEO & Founder of Rownd

Robert Thelen, CEO & Founder of Rownd: $3.3 Million Raised to Build the Future of App Onboarding

Lars Grønnegaard Hansen

CEO and Co-Founder of Dreamdata

Lars Grønnegaard Hansen, CEO & Co-Founder of Dreamdata: $12 Million Raised to Build the Future of B2B Revenue Attribution

Jared Siegal

CEO and Founder of Aditude

Jared Siegal, CEO and Founder of Aditude: $15 Million Raised to Build the Future of Publisher Monetization

Patrick Woods

CEO and Co-Founder of Orbit

Patrick Woods, CEO and Co-Founder of Orbit: Over $22 Million Raised to Power the Future of Communities

Cory Schmidt

Head of Marketing of Heyflow

Mastering Organic Growth: Insights from Heyflow’s Head of Marketing

Taylor Lint

CEO and Founder of Swantide

Taylor Lint, CEO and Founder of Swantide: $7 Million Raised to Revolutionize How Companies Design and Build Their GTM Infrastructure

Alex Reynolds

Alex Reynolds, CEO & Co-Founder of Vendelux: $20 Million Raised to Build the Future of Event Intelligence

Ariana Faustini

Head of Golioth

Ariana Faustini, Head of Global Marketing at Golioth: Embracing Authenticity in Developer Marketing

Katy Carrigan

CEO of Goody

Katy Carrigan, CEO of Goody: $32 Million Raised to Build the Future of Corporate Gifting

Rajat Mishra

Founder & CEO of Prezent

Rajat Mishra, Founder & CEO at Prezent: Over $24 Million Raised to Build the Presentation Productivity Platform Category

Leena Joshi

CEO of CloseFactor

Leena Joshi, CEO of CloseFactor: $15+ Million Raised to Automate Repetitive Sales Processes

Chris Golec

CEO and Co-Founder of Channel99

Chris Golec, CEO and Co-Founder of Channel99: $5 Million Raised to Power the Future of B2B Marketing

Michael Bamberger

CEO and Founder of Tetra Insights

Michael Bamberger, CEO and Founder of Tetra Insights: $7 Million Raised to Power the Future of Qualitative Research

Ashish Nagar

Founder & CEO of Level AI

Ashish Nagar, CEO of Level AI: $35 Million Raised to Power Contact Centers of the Future

Spencer Dusebout

CEO & Founder of Aidium

Spencer Dusebout, CEO & Founder of Aidium: $19 Million Raised to Build the Future of Mortgage CRM

Chris Strahl

CEO of Knapsack

Chris Strahl, CEO of Knapsack: $7 Million Raised to Build the Future of Design Systems

Ishveen Jolly

CEO and Co-Founder of OpenSponsorship

Ishveen Jolly, CEO and Co-Founder of OpenSponsorship: Over $5 Million Raised to Build the Future of Sports Influencer Marketing

Dan Malgran

VP of Marketing of Steno

Dan Malgran, VP of Marketing at Steno: Elevating Legal Tech with Revenue-Driven Marketing Strategies

Pulkit Agrawal

CEO & Co-Founder of Chameleon

Pulkit Agrawal, CEO & Co-Founder of Chameleon: $15 Million Raised to Build the Product Adoption Category

Tine Karlsen

Co-Founder & CEO of Vev

Tine Karlsen, CEO and Co-Founder of Vev: $7 Million Raised to Power the Future of No-Code Visual Design

Sangram Vajre

Co Founder and CEO of GTM Partners

Behind the Category: Creating the Account-Based Marketing (ABM) Category with Sangram Vajre

Creating the Marketing Automation Category with Mark Organ

CEO of Eloqua

Creating the Marketing Automation Category with Mark Organ

Andrew Forman

Founder of Givz

Andrew Forman, CEO of Givz: $3 Million Raised to Make Donating, Not Discounts, eCommerce Brands Ultimate Growth Lever