The Founders Edition, Episode 6 - Laurent Gil - Founder Led Sales

Hunters and Unicorns

**Finding Product-Market Fit and Building a Successful Company**

Laurent Gil, co-founder and Chief Product Officer of cast.ai, shares his insights on finding product-market fit and how it drives organizational success. Discover how elite sales, combined with product-market fit, create a successful company.

**Journey as an Entrepreneur**

Laurent recounts his entrepreneurial journey, from his 2005 startup using facial recognition technology acquired by Google to founding a cybersecurity company leveraging GPUs for machine learning. Learn how he overcame skepticism and demonstrated the potential of facial recognition, paving the way for digital sharing and social media.

**From Idea to Success**

Laurent emphasizes that commercial viability comes from solving real problems, not just building cool products. He underscores the importance of understanding issues and developing effective solutions.

**Cast AI: Optimizing Cloud Costs**

Laurent's company, Cast AI, tackles the problem of cloud over-provisioning, where 87% of machine utilization is wasted. Cast AI's engine dynamically adjusts resources in real-time to optimize costs, especially for applications with variable user traffic.

**Key Insights**

- Over-provisioning wastes 87% of machine utilization.

- Cast AI dynamically adjusts cloud resources to optimize costs.

- Beneficial for applications with variable user traffic.

**Case Study: Bank Client**

Learn how a bank client used Cast AI to scale compute resources based on user activity, minimizing waste and reducing costs during off-peak hours.

**Challenges in Selecting Machine Types**

Laurent discusses the difficulty of choosing the right machine type from numerous options. Cast AI automates this process, selecting the most efficient machine based on real-time usage and cloud provider availability.

**Traction and Scalability**

Discover how Cast AI developed its technology with a California client, optimized their compute resources, and gained traction with other clients, becoming a scalable solution for cloud optimization.

**Actionable Insights**

- Understand and solve real problems.

- Optimize cloud costs to reduce waste.

- Utilize technology like Cast AI for real-time resource adjustment.

Laurent's experiences offer valuable lessons for entrepreneurs and tech professionals on finding product-market fit and building successful companies.