So, on a break from filming — he’s currently playing folk legend Pete Seeger — he sat down with her. good fortune To discuss enterprise software.
“I’ve seen funny dynamics in organizations,” Norton said in an exclusive interview. “24 hours before the meeting, they send you a 90-page PDF, and you grind it out. Then, you show up at the meeting only to have the whole thing read to you orally. It’s just bananas, it’s so inefficient.”
That’s a problem that Zeck, a board presentation software startup Cofounded by Norton, trying to solve. Norton and his Zeck co-founders, Robert and Jeffrey Wolf, previously co-founded crowdfunding platform CrowdRise, selling the company to GoFundMe in 2017.
Inevitably living up to your movie star expectations, Norton is in the weeds as the company’s chief strategy officer. And, for the past two years, Norton and Wolff have been developing Zeck’s product, which distills hundreds of pages of corporate jargon into interactive websites for boards. Zeck has customers, and even an AI product, but has so far stopped short of raising capital.
Zeck has raised a $7.5 million Series A round, led by Salesforce Ventures and including Khosla Ventures, and Breyer Capital. Connecting with Salesforce was ultimately organic, Norton said, and was the result of about a year of conversations.
Salesforce Ventures partner Rob Keith says the time was right to invest in Zeck.
“The pandemic-driven shift toward remote work has exacerbated board management challenges, making Zeck a ripe new standard for transformational solutions,” he told Term Sheet via email. The market is created.” “Zach is willing to explain how the boards work.”
And Salesforce, known for its warm and sometimes quirky approach to enterprise software, fits Zeck’s ethos.
“It’s ridiculous that any company in 2024 is communicating with their board via a fixed-slide PDF versus a cloud software platform with robust functionality designed for that specific mission,” Norton said. ” “It’s like using a Stone Age ax instead of steel. And in that sense, the Salesforce DNA and our DNA obviously match very well.”
A natural question is: Why isn’t this a problem that has been solved before? The answers are quite existential. But for Norton, the very existence of the problem is part of the appeal of solving it — and makes it feel familiar.
“While speaking at a forum about what makes board dynamics so negative, I described preparing for board meetings as a ‘self-serving experience,’ and got a big laugh. ” Norton told me, referring to one of his famous scenes in the movie ‘Fight Club.’ “I think the basic existential crisis of the film, that ‘this is your life, and it’s going away one minute at a time’ really applies to the pain point we’re trying to solve. No one dreams that one day they will become a great board deck builder. This is not the aspirational narrative of their lives!
In the end, Norton is making an argument that many software founders wholeheartedly agree with—that good software can make people better, and bad software can make people worse, which is true in real life. Affects relationships and interactions. And while it’s easy to get lost in the shuffle, the reality is that we can do better by improving how we spend our time, in boardrooms and elsewhere.
Because this is your life, and it’s ending one minute at a time.
See you tomorrow,
Joe Abrams prepared the deals section of today’s newsletter.
Venture deals
– Go to 401A Sandy, Utah-based provider of retirement plans for employers, raised $12 million in Series A funding. Next Frontier Ventures Led the round and joined. Riley Ventures and existing investors Impression Ventures And Stout Street Capital.
– Transcribed bioA Palo Alto, Calif.-based drug discovery platform that uses AI to discover and predict the effects of new drugs has raised $10 million from existing investors. JAZZ Venture Partners, Blue Yard Capitaland others.
– Adiaa New York City-based AI platform designed to help students succeed in math, raised $9.4 million in funding. happy Led the round and joined. 8VC, Inspired Capital, Sousa Venturesand angel investors.
– Clinioa Paris, France-based digital health startup designed to increase immediate access to clinical trials, has raised €2 million ($2.1 million) in funding from BPI and business angels.
Private equity
– Apollo (NYSE: APO ) Agreed to receive US Silica Holdings (NYSE: SLCA )Katy, Texas-based industrial minerals company and provider of last-mile logistics to the oil and gas industry for approximately $1.9 billion.
– Godspeed Capital Management received IDCUS, a Houston, Texas-based professional services consulting firm for public works, transportation, and building facilities. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Other
– Paystand received On the team, a New York City-based expense management platform. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Funds + Funds of Funds
– Apiary CapitalThe London, UK-based private equity firm raised £240 million ($299.8 million) for its second fund, which focuses on companies in the business services, financial and technology services, healthcare and education sectors.
the people
– Asante Capital GroupPromoted private equity placement and advisory group based in London, UK. Laura Leland To a partner
– Thriving Venturesa San Francisco-based venture capital firm, was hired. Ravi Kaushik As Executive Director, Head of Asia Investments. Previously, he served as CFO. Agro.Club.
Credit : fortune.com
