Meet The Disruptors: Jonathan Friedman Of Demostack On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
1. Look for oversized signals when starting a project.
2. Look for levels of excitement with new technology concepts.
3. Remember that the journey is a marathon not a sprint. It’s a musical piece meant to be enjoyed, not consumed as quickly to get to the end.
4. Nothing is worth losing yourself: hardship is part of being an entrepreneur.
5. Find others like you.
As a part of our series about business leaders who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Jonathan Friedman.
Jonathan Friedman is a co-founder and CEO at Demostack. Jonathan created Demostack in 2020, the first demo experience platform that lets users accelerate revenue with better product storytelling, and spin up a sales demo environment in minutes. The company recently raised $34M in a series B round. He attended The Wharton School.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
I have always been attracted to the magic of entrepreneurship. It started in the summer when I was 14 years old. I wanted to make some money, but because I was too young, nobody would give me a job. I grew up in Israel and there were not any “real jobs” for a 14-year-old.
One day, I walked into the supermarket and had a Eureka moment. At the time RC Cola had just been introduced in Israel, and the stores had just started selling it. People really liked the soda, and I was watching lots of consumers purchase it at the checkout. My family and I lived just above a busy intersection, and my brilliant idea was that I could buy several dozen cans of the soda and sell them to people in their cars at the intersection. My friend joined me, and the first day we started selling, we learned a lot.
It is very hot in Israel, and we didn’t initially think about cooling the cans of soda, and so no one wanted to buy a hot can of soda. It wasn’t a great first day of sales. But, we learned from that first day; and on the second day, we bought a cooler of ice, and put the sodas in the cooler and it flew off the shelf. We were so amazed how we were able to generate money “out of thin air” because we quickly were able to fill a need. That stuck with me. I also learned that I don’t need anyone’s permission to take my destiny and my future into my own hands. I learned that day to create something out of nothing. We sold cans of soda every day that summer vacation, and for a kid, made a great deal of money.
That moment led me into entrepreneurship — I was hooked.
Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?
In software sales, a big part of every discussion is showcasing the product by creating a sales demo. A demo can go horribly wrong at any time, even from some of the greatest technologists and entrepreneurs. Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and even Elon Musk have fallen victim to a demo that didn’t go the way they had planned. It certainly isn’t because they didn’t prepare, of course they did — but mistakes and glitches happen often.
Demostack is a company that was created in 2020 that allows non-technical sales teams to essentially build and customize a sales or product demo to showcase the company’s product in the best way. The no-code platform allows teams to spin up a demo in minutes, and sales teams can now trust the demo environment because it’s not dependent on the complex underlying product anymore. It is easy to create, easy to customize and easy to use.
We are giving sales teams back control over product stories, helping build their confidence and creating a new way of doing things in the demo environment. In the past, demos were created by the R&D teams or by technical sales engineers. Demos were not customized, and they took a long time to create. Many times, the demos created didn’t have a clear owner, were unstable or showcased generic or test data that had nothing to do with the customer’s problems or pain points because they were not created by the sales team who had gotten to know the customer.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
The funniest mistake had to be from the previous story about when I was selling soda as a kid in Israel. We bought soda to sell, but never bought ice to cool it down. No one wanted warm hot soda on a hot day. I learned that you have to find ways to assess the situation, then to adjust (Pivot) and then go back at it again and again. Success doesn’t often happen on the first day. Small changes can have a dramatic effect on customer demand.
We need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?
Tomer London, CPO and do-founder at Gusto has been a major mentor for me. He has helped me decide whether I should become an entrepreneur again. I was reluctant whether I wanted to start another company while I was contemplating it during my times at Tripactions Liquid, an expense management product. But Tomer encouraged me to take this crazy journey again. He has also helped me think and deal with the regular stress that comes with being a CEO.
In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?
The word “disrupting” has a bit of a negative feel to it. I think essentially, what I would want to say instead of disruption is that we are having an impact on the industry that is causing a major shift or change. For some, change is always hard, but for others, change is absolutely for the best, and embraced. (i.e. societal changes in social equity or diversity). But change also comes with growing pains, and sometimes, discomfort. For example, when cars came along, horse and buggy operators suffered and were displaced. This doesn’t mean that innovation should not happen. There is a balance to finding a way to make progress but also not forgetting about those who could be left behind by it.
Technology and innovation are going to move ahead, regardless, there’s no way anyone can stop it. But sentiment is constantly changing. We might have 50 years of thinking that things like nuclear energy, or plastic are positive, and then in a few years it can suddenly appear like they are not (They are actually great innovations). Reality is not discrete, so when something new comes along, it needs time to be fully settled in and examined from all angles. Rarely will it be “good” or “bad” but rather, a tool that can be deployed.
Can you share five of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey?
1. Look for oversized signals when starting a project.
2. Look for levels of excitement with new technology concepts.
3. Remember that the journey is a marathon not a sprint. It’s a musical piece meant to be enjoyed, not consumed as quickly to get to the end.
4. Nothing is worth losing yourself: hardship is part of being an entrepreneur.
5. Find others like you.
We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?
We are just getting started. We believe that demo assets will probably be the most important piece of any sales discussion. The demo is essentially the blueprint for a company’s product and if done right, it can reflect everything that is learned about the customer during the sales cycle to help capture the intention of the customer perfectly. We truly believe that eventually everyone will be using a no-code platform that handles every part of the demo environment.
Do you have a book or podcast or talk that has a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share? Can you share that with us and explain why it resonated?
I love the podcast “All in.” It is hosted by a bunch of VC thought leaders in the investment space. They have real conversations from around the “poker table” and speak their mind, which is refreshing. The Culture Code is also the book that comes to mind. It is a simple read and helps find the human side of business and shows how simple concepts empower people to do their job.
Can you give us your favorite life lesson? Quote?
“Life is not waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about dancing in the rain.” I love that quote by Vivian Greene and I use it every day.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?
I would probably want to help kids from disadvantaged places and provide them with better access to education. Talent can be distributed around the world and there are countries that seem to have less of it. It’s usually because people are not given the right opportunities, not because people are less smart people. The next Einstein can be born anywhere. And if this person happens to be born in a place that doesn’t have the right infrastructure for them to meet their destiny, then we lose this Einstein and we don’t get his/her brilliance.
How can our readers follow you online?
LinkedIn is the best place to find me: Jonathan Friedman.
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
Meet The Disruptors: Jonathan Friedman Of Demostack On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
