Liftoff with Keith Newman: For Founders looking for a new growth playbook and further inspiration.

In this special Liftoff Unicorn Conversation, Keith sits down with Henry Schuck, Founder & CEO of ZoomInfo, to explore the journey of building one of the most influential B2B data platforms in the world.
Henry shares the story behind founding ZoomInfo in 2007, scaling through multiple growth stages, navigating the company’s IPO during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how ZoomInfo is now adapting to the AI era.
This conversation dives into lessons for founders, entrepreneurs, and startup leaders on scaling a company, building a category-defining product, and staying ahead as technology continues to evolve.
If you want insight into how a company grows from startup to public SaaS leader, this episode delivers the playbook.
Connect with Henry Schuck:
Website: https://www.zoominfo.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hschuck
Sponsor Info: We are strategic business advisors with decades of leadership experience and a proven track record of driving businesses’ growth. We specialize in creating custom-tailored strategies to introduce your company, drive growth, build leadership teams, and ensure companies implement appropriate compensation programs.
Our mission is to utilize our expansive network to benefit your company https://www.compass-strategic-advisors.com/
Subscribe for more founder insights and hit the bell for notifications!
Follow us on our channels for exclusive startup content and behind-the-scenes insights from interviews like this one.
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3cFpLXfYvcUsxvsT9MwyAD?si=f5a14e779777487d
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/liftoff-with-keith-newman/id1560219589
Substack: https://keithnewman.substack.com/
Newman Media Studios: https://newmanmediastudios.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/liftoffwithkeith
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@keithnewman74
For sponsorship inquiries, please contact: [email protected]
#HenrySchuck #ZoomInfo #StartupJourney #SaaSLeadership #Entrepreneurship #FounderStories #AIinBusiness #StartupGrowth #TechLeadership #BusinessStrategy

AI is rewriting the rules of SaaS — but not everyone is building it the right way.
In this episode of Liftoff, Sreedhar Peddineni, CEO & Co-Founder of GTM Buddy, shares lessons from:
Scaling through the dot-com crash
Co-founding Gainsight and pioneering customer success-
Now building an AI-native revenue activation platform
We explore:
Why sales teams don’t have a content problem — they have a context problem
How AI is collapsing product development costs toward zero- The rise (and risk) of AI wrapper products
Why adoption is still the ultimate truth metric
How to avoid getting distracted by big enterprise “carrot” deals
Why founders must build with AI — not just read about it-
What real “agentic AI” might actually look like by 2026
Sreedhar breaks down what practical AI really means
:Not chatbots. Not hype.
But delivering the right insight — inside the workflow — at the moment of need.
A masterclass in disciplined product thinking in the middle of the AI noise cycle.
Connect with Sreedhar Peddineni:
Website: https://gtmbuddy.ai/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sreedharpeddineni
Sponsor Info: We are strategic business advisors with decades of leadership experience and a proven track record of driving businesses’ growth. We specialize in creating custom-tailored strategies to introduce your company, drive growth, build leadership teams, and ensure companies implement appropriate compensation programs. Our mission is to utilize our expansive network to benefit your company https://www.compass-strategic-advisors.com/
Subscribe for more founder insights and hit the bell for notifications!
Follow us on our channels for exclusive startup content and behind-the-scenes insights from interviews like this one. -
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3cFpLXfYvcUsxvsT9MwyAD?si=f5a14e779777487d
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/liftoff-with-keith-newman/id1560219589
Substack: https://keithnewman.substack.com/
Newman Media Studios: https://newmanmediastudios.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/liftoffwithkeith -
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@keithnewman74
For sponsorship inquiries, please contact: [email protected]
#GTM #RevenueActivation #AIApplications #SalesTech #SaaSFounders #ProductLeadership #AgenticAI #StartupLessons #EnterpriseAI #FounderJourney

What if the biggest innovation opportunity today isn’t in tech — but in education?
In this episode of Liftoff with Keith, Keith sat down with Houlie Duque, Founder & CEO of HomeschoolToGo, to explore how personalized, project-based learning is reshaping the future of education.With over a decade of experience in Montessori and Cambridge systems, Houlie shares why traditional schooling — designed during the industrial revolution — may no longer prepare children for an AI-driven world.
We dive into:
Why curiosity, creativity, and adaptability matter more than grades
The myth of “socialization” in traditional schools
How homeschooling can require less time — but deliver better outcomes
Why project-based learning builds real-world problem solvers
How AI will eliminate repeatable jobs — and what skills children truly need
How families can homeschool without sacrificing career or income
If you're a founder, entrepreneur, or parent wondering how to prepare the next generation for a rapidly changing world — this episode will challenge your assumptions.
FREE Masterclass: How to Offer High Quality Education in Under 10 Hours per Weekhttps://courses.homeschooltogo.org/freemasterclass-registrationConnect with Houlie Duque:
Website: https://www.homeschooltogo.org/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/houlie-duque-3a4bb1169/
Sponsor Info: We are strategic business advisors with decades of leadership experience and a proven track record of driving businesses’ growth. We specialize in creating custom-tailored strategies to introduce your company, drive growth, build leadership teams, and ensure companies implement appropriate compensation programs.
Our mission is to utilize our expansive network to benefit your company https://www.compass-strategic-advisors.com/
Subscribe for more founder insights and hit the bell for notifications! Follow us on our channels for exclusive startup content and behind-the-scenes insights from interviews like this one.
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3cFpLXfYvcUsxvsT9MwyAD?si=f5a14e779777487d
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/liftoff-with-keith-newman/id1560219589
Substack: https://keithnewman.substack.com/
Newman Media Studios: https://newmanmediastudios.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/liftoffwithkeith
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@keithnewman74
For sponsorship inquiries, please contact: [email protected]
#Homeschooling #FutureOfEducation #PersonalizedLearning #ProjectBasedLearning #Parenting #EntrepreneurParents #AIandEducation #CriticalThinking #NextGeneration #EducationReform

In this episode of Liftoff with Keith, Keith sat down with Devon Ferreira, CEO of CruTrade, to explore how technology is transforming the fine wine industry.
Devon explains why the secondary wine market is broken—plagued by access issues, counterfeit risks, and bottle spoilage—and how CruTrade solves this through blockchain-verified provenance, RFID tracking, and tokenized wine trading that allows bottles to change hands without ever leaving storage.
They dive into:
Why 1 in 3 collector bottles risk damage
How compounding spoilage destroys value
What “tokenized wine” really means
Why producers and collectors both lose in today’s system

How storytelling—not just technology—builds great companies
This is a masterclass in marketplace innovation, transparency, and storytelling—whether you’re a founder, investor, wine lover, or Web3 enthusiast.
Connect with Devon Ferreira:
Website: https://www.crutrade.io/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/devonferreira/
Sponsor Info: We are strategic business advisors with decades of leadership experience and a proven track record of driving businesses’ growth.
We specialize in creating custom-tailored strategies to introduce your company, drive growth, build leadership teams, and ensure companies implement appropriate compensation programs.
Our mission is to utilize our expansive network to benefit your company https://www.compass-strategic-advisors.com/
Subscribe for more founder insights and hit the bell for notifications!
Follow us on our channels for exclusive startup content and behind-the-scenes insights from interviews like this one.
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3cFpLXfYvcUsxvsT9MwyAD?si=f5a14e779777487d
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/liftoff-with-keith-newman/id1560219589
Substack: https://keithnewman.substack.com/
Newman Media Studios: https://newmanmediastudios.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/liftoffwithkeith
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@keithnewman74

For sponsorship inquiries, please contact: [email protected]#CruTrade #FineWine #WineCollectors #Blockchain #Web3 #Tokenization #LuxuryMarkets #Marketplace #StartupPodcast #Founders #Entrepreneurship #DigitalTransformation #Provenance #WineIndustry

Most AI companies are racing to build bigger models.
Pat Condo is building something different: AI you can actually trust.
In this episode of Liftoff, Keith sat down with Pat Condo, Founder & CEO of Seekr Technologies — a seven-time founder with three decades at the intersection of search, defence, enterprise software, and national security.
Pat shares why most enterprise AI projects fail — and why it’s rarely the model’s fault.
They explore:
→ Why explainability isn’t optional in mission-critical AI
→ The hallucination problem and why enterprises can’t tolerate it
→ How inference costs are quietly destroying AI ROI→ Why specialization beats hyperscaler ambition
→ What defence tech is teaching commercial AI buyers
→ Why policymakers shouldn’t only take advice from AI monopolies
→ The most underinvested AI opportunity today: manufacturing
Seekr is betting that trust, transparency, and domain-specific expertise will outlast hype cycles and model-size wars.
If you’re building, buying, or investing in AI — this conversation cuts through the noise.
Connect with Pat Condo:
Website: https://www.seekr.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pat-condo-96a905234/
Sponsor Info: We are strategic business advisors with decades of leadership experience and a proven track record of driving businesses’ growth. We specialize in creating custom-tailored strategies to introduce your company, drive growth, build leadership teams, and ensure companies implement appropriate compensation programs. Our mission is to utilize our expansive network to benefit your company https://www.compass-strategic-advisors.com/
Subscribe for more founder insights and hit the bell for notifications!
Follow us on our channels for exclusive startup content and behind-the-scenes insights from interviews like this one. -
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3cFpLXfYvcUsxvsT9MwyAD?si=f5a14e779777487d
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/liftoff-with-keith-newman/id1560219589
Substack: https://keithnewman.substack.com/ -
Newman Media Studios: https://newmanmediastudios.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/liftoffwithkeith -
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@keithnewman74
For sponsorship inquiries, please contact: [email protected]
#ArtificialIntelligence #EnterpriseAI #TrustworthyAI #ExplainableAI #DefenseTech #AILeadership #StartupFounders #TechInnovation #AIInfrastructure #FutureOfAI