Richard White: Founder of Fathom.Video (YC W21) & Uservoice
with Richard White — Founder
Richard White, founder of Fathom.Video (YC W21) and UserVoice, shares his journey as a repeat founder. Learn his unique fundraising strategy of raising many small checks to build a powerful network.
5 Things You'll Learn from This Episode
- Evaluate market opportunities against large incumbents by identifying shifts in technology and go-to-market motions (e.g., PLG vs. top-down sales).
- Structure your fundraising to optimize for a diversity of smaller investors and new funds, who are often more aligned and helpful than a single large VC.
- Leverage modern tools like Safe notes and Carta to easily manage a larger number of investors on your cap table, turning them into a network of advocates.
- Prioritize deep, high-quality integrations as a core product tenant, recognizing that users expect new tools to work seamlessly within their existing workflows.
- Identify powerful startup ideas by deeply analyzing your own acute pain points, as Richard did after conducting 300 Zoom calls for customer research.
About the Episode
Richard White discusses his 12-year journey building UserVoice and the key insights from his own workflow that led him to start Fathom.Video. He shares his modern fundraising philosophy, detailing why he prefers raising many small checks from a diverse group of angels and new funds over a single large VC, and explains how to find opportunities in crowded markets by leveraging platform shifts and product-led growth.
Timestamps
- 0:00 — Introduction: From UserVoice to Fathom
- 1:15 — The 12-Year Journey Building UserVoice
- 4:30 — The 'Aha' Moment: Pain from 300 Zoom Calls
- 8:10 — Sizing the Market Against Incumbents like Gong
- 12:05 — Leveraging Zoom's Rise and New Tech
- 16:45 — Product Strategy: The Power of Integrations
- 22:30 — Growth in the Remote Work Era
- 25:15 — Fundraising: Then vs. Now
- 28:00 — Strategy: Raising Many Small Checks
- 32:10 — Why More Investors Can Be Better
- 36:00 — Modernizing Advisor and User Equity
- 39:15 — Thoughts on Today's High Valuations
About Richard White
Richard White is the Founder of Fathom.Video, a YC W21 company that helps teams get the most out of their Zoom calls. Prior to Fathom, Richard was the Founder and CEO of UserVoice.com, a leading product feedback platform for B2B SaaS companies, which he led for over 12 years.
Founder at Fathom.Video
About the Host
Nataraj Sindam is the creator of The Startup Project, a podcast featuring founders, investors, and operators building the future.
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