Profile: Joel Abramson and Produce8

What is Produce8?

Produce8 is a digital work analytics platform that automates the collection of data and provides a clear insight into where the work is being done and what our habits, patterns, and workflows look like as digital-first teams.

What was the insight/inspiration that led you to launch it?

At the beginning of the pandemic, we were in a Zoom call with 12 CEOs from different industries and they all went around the room and said, 'I just don't know what my people are doing’. When employee monitoring software was brought up, everyone said “No!” They all had these very visceral reactions and not a single one of them was willing to spy on their workers. That’s where the inspiration came from. We needed an anti-monitoring, pro-awareness option.

Leaders and managers need a solution that shows what their people are doing so they can make better decisions on where their business is headed and what things they need to invest in.

How has it been received by the market? Why do you think it has been so well received?

The market has been validating. Distributed teams want efficiency. They want to streamline their work and not waste their time or their customer's time. They want to uncover the underlying problems of app bloat and burnout to which distributed workers are specifically vulnerable. We see the rise in discussion around productivity paranoia, collaboration overload, and quiet quitting. Business leaders recognize that their opinions may be biased, and that’s why they need data to even start understanding the problem.

How did you know you were ready to found a company?

I’ve been in IT and software for 20 years. I recently led the process of the Fully Managed sale to Telus, making it one of the largest transactions ever in the MSP space.

How did you meet your founders/know they were the right people to start a company with?

Mark Scott and I joined forces a few years ago when we merged the MSP I led and the MSP he founded to create Fully Managed. He is a superstar in the MSP space, founding N-Able which is now a billion-dollar company. Chris Day is also a legend. He founded and exited several companies which have gone on to become mini-unicorns, and he continues to build disruptive SaaS products through his accelerator Top Down Ventures. We brought in a founding technical team and they took the problem statement and crafted a completely unique approach to solving it. Our engineering and GTM team now numbers 16 people. We have also added three key advisors that believe passionately in our vision and are in the process of making it happen. We know how to build businesses. We’ve done it before. Now we’re working on a bigger problem... targeting a much bigger market.

What has been the hardest thing on your journey so far?

As we are building a product during a rapidly changing work environment, it has been so critical to stay live on every societal and cultural change happening in real-time during the pandemic, post-pandemic, and constant changes of remote work. It’s been exciting but building a product takes time, and as we look to set the course for the future of work, grounding it in an ever-shifting landscape is very hard work.

What has been the most pleasant surprise?

The reception from the market has been incredible as we have started to tell our story.

The demand to join our team has been overwhelming, as there is a great shared vision for our mission. The willingness of our beta customers to provide feedback, to help shape our product and ensure we prioritize the right features have also been very inspiring, and it reinforces our belief that the problem we are solving is as big as we believe it to be.

What is your super strength?

Our team wrote the rules on how to build and scale a SaaS company in the MSP market. N-Able was early to the RMM model and was rewarded with success when Solarwinds acquired the business. IT Glue had rocketship growth through to a 2018 exit to Kaseya after creating the IT Documentation category. ScalePad showed how a high-value product can lead to high customer engagement which can then be scaled, and all of these companies demonstrated the ability to create revenue for MSPs through their channel programs.

Who is the unsung hero on the team? Why?

All of our team members are amazing and they know it—so I think the unsung hero on our team is actually our internal use of the product. Produce8 helps all our team members understand their work life and ensure they are going through the stressful and strenuous weeks of launching a startup with balance and a deep understanding of our work patterns. We have gotten used to using the product daily, and it’s shaped our culture and allowed us to be the best team we can be.

What are you trying to achieve over next 12 months?

2023 is our launch year, so we will release both our free and paid versions of the product in the first few months of the year. As we grow throughout the year, we aspire to have 20,000+ people using our product to manage their digital well-being and understand their days.

What advice do you wish you had been given prior to launching?

I expect the advice to prevail through our general release launch and beyond.

What is your proudest accomplishment outside of your startup?

I’m lucky enough to have 3 young children and seeing how they are growing to be their own individuals with strong values, inspirational thoughts, and a unique outlook on the world inspires me every day—and they are all under 7 years old!

Who are the 5 Canadian startups you like in your market?

• Dooly

• Klue

• Bench

• Procurify

• ScalePad

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*NEW SECTION*

Founder FAQs: Why should I write a monthly investor update email?

Welcome to our newest newsletter section, Founder FAQs.

Check out our last FAQ piece here

Each month, we are sharing a few frequently asked questions we often receive from Founders across the country.

Todays Founder FAQ

We get several different versions of this question:

TechTO's Answer:

We so strongly believe in the benefit of a monthly investor update email and we recommend writing one regardless if you have raised from outside investors or not.

What are the benefits of writing a monthly investor update? Let's discuss.

Benefit #1: Better leadership and learning

Building a startup can require all your attention and take years. It is very easy for months to fly by without realizing it. The ritual of writing a monthly investor update forces founders to reflect on the business, to set and adjust priorities, measure progress, and learn about what is working.

An added benefit is that a series of past updates will remind founders about what they have overcome and accomplished on the journey to date.

Benefit #2: Improved investor relations

Sending a monthly update to all your investors makes life easier in several ways:

1. It keeps investors aligned and informed of your progress and challenges - meaning less time spent on calls, emails, and communication with individual investors.

2. It helps you get value from investors - including both an ask and investor "performance" sections is one way to get investors to contribute to your success.

3. It keeps your start-up top of mind - and increases the chances of investors introducing you to potential hires or customers.

Benefit #3: Founder accountability

We know you don't need it but it has been proven that publicly sharing monthly goals and priorities with third parties makes individuals more accountable and more likely to achieve their goals.

Benefit #4: Build your pipeline of investors for the next round 

It is best practice to send a version of your investor update to investors who may be interested in investing in future rounds. By keeping them informed of your progress these investors may be more open to discussing and investing in your next round as they have gotten to see how you work and deliver against your goals. The one caveat is that if you are constantly overpromising and underdelivering they may be less likely to invest in your round.

Now that we explained why you should write a monthly investor update, you are most likely asking what should we include in it and who should we include on the distribution list.

We will answer these questions in our next Founder FAQs on Friday.

Expert Recommendations:

We didn't have time to collect expert recommendations, should we include them next time?

Let us know by filling out the poll.

Quick Takes returns next week with a brand-new episode

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Episodes dropping every other Thursday all year long!

Catch up on past episodes here, while you wait.

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TechTO and RBC invite you...

To celebrate International Women’s Day, we invite you to join Cracking the Career Code: Womxn in Tech, an inspiring event to empower you as the future of technology.

Hear from womxn leaders in the tech sector to answer your questions, learn from their experiences, and make connections through the workshop hosted by Mentor Canada. Cracking the Career Code celebrates you and the important role you play in building an inclusive space for the technology of today and tomorrow.

This event is brought to you in partnership with RBC Future Launch, Tech@RBC, and TechTO with a workshop hosted by Mentor Canada.

WHEN: Friday, March 24th, 2023 from 9:00 am - 1:00 pm

WHERE: RBC WaterPark Place, Auditorium, 88 Queens Quay W, Toronto

Learn more and register for the event here.

*Please note: This event is open to women ages 18-29 in the early stages of their career in technology, or interested in pursuing a career in technology. Please only apply if you are Eligible.

Headlines and Content

• #ICYMI - Catch up on past newsletters if you hadn't yet subscribed!

• Canadian Startup news of the week >> READ HERE

• GoCo acquires employee experience platform WFHomie >> READ HERE

• Montréal startup Prevu3D, announces the closing of a $13.3 million CAD >> READ MORE

• How impact investing applies to venture capital >> READ HERE

• AI in 2023 - what's happening here? >> READ HERE

• Advice from the Founders who have had MASSIVE exits >> READ MORE

• Top Canadian Startups to Watch in 2023 >> CHECK OUT THE LIST HERE

TechTO Talent

Account Executive, notch (Toronto, Remote)

Why is this cool? notch’s mission is to enable every restaurant and distributor to seamlessly manage and grow their business operations online. As the Account Executive, you are responsible for building and growing operations (across North America). This involves developing sales strategies and relationships with customers to ensure a consistent sales funnel >> APPLY HERE

Backend Developer, Local Logic (Remote)

Why is this cool? Local Logic is digitizing the built world to make it universally understandable and actionable for consumers, investors, developers, and governments with the ambition of helping build cities that are more sustainable and equitable for the people that live in them. To learn more about the role check out the posting >> HERE

Machine Learning Engineer, cohere (Remote)

Why is this cool? At Cohere, their mission is to build machines that understand the world and to make them safely accessible to all. The Cohere platform provides access to Large Language Models through its APIs that read billions of web pages and learns to understand the meaning, sentiment, and intent of the words we use in a richness never seen before. Learn more about the role here >> APPLY HERE

At our upcoming International Women's Day event, we are pleased to have Sylvie Shi, Machine Learning Engineer at Cohere, and Elizabeth Gao, Senior Partnerships Manager at Cohere join the panel to chat about all things career journey and working at Cohere.

Tickets are still available here:

Events and Links

Check out the interesting content, events, and happenings for the community here:

• TechTO Talent | Virtual | February 22, 2023 - Meet and mingle with top tech talent and employers hiring now! >> REGISTER FOR FREE

• TechTO #IWD2023 Event: March 6, 2023 - Come celebrate women in tech with us! >> REGISTER HERE

• TechTO Special: Web3: March 22, 2023 - Learn all about one of the hottest topics in tech from the top innovators in the business >> REGISTER HERE

• International Conference for Women in Business: March 27-29, 2023 >> REGISTER HERE

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