Jul 2, 2017 · 26m · top-founders
708: $35M Raised to Tell IT Departments What Alerts Are Important
gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
In this episode of The Top podcast, host Nathan Latka interviews BigPanda founder and CEO Asaf Resnik to discuss how his algorithmic platform eliminates IT alert overload for Fortune 500 enterprises. Resnik details his transition from Sequoia Capital investor to tech founder, breaking down BigPanda's seven-figure contract economics, machine learning architecture, and fundraising approach.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Nathan holds 35.5% of the talking time here. How this is scored →
speaking balance: gold is Nathan, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Resnik pushes back on Latka's reductive definition of BigPanda as an if-then rule engine, explaining why static logic completely fails in real-world IT stacks.
Hardest push from Nathan ▶ 17:09 Latka challenges funding extension as a bridge roundLatka refuses to simply accept the defensive narrative and pushes to uncover whether the $5M add-on was actually a failed attempt at raising a Series C.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 13:39 Dynamic clustering vs static decision treesResnik clearly educates Latka on why 30,000 static rules fail because enterprise IT environments shift completely from Tuesday to Wednesday.
Nathan holds their own ▶ 19:23 Latka contrasts enterprise sales motions with utility modelsLatka demonstrates deep familiarity with enterprise SaaS mechanics by contrasting utility-driven node expansion against deliberate quota-carrying inside sales playbooks.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Nathan as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Nathan pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Welcoming BigPanda Founder and CEO Asaf Resnik | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 | Latka presses Resnik on whether he ever lost VC deals due to lack of founder experience and queries VC firm hierarchies. Resnik clarifies that Sequoia operates relatively flatly and emphasizes personal career motivations. | |
| Highlighting Sequoia Investment Success in Snaptu | 4 | 5 | 2 | 4 | Latka redirects Resnik's high-level IT history explanation to demand a specific enterprise customer use case. Resnik details how a Fortune 50 networking client manages massive alert volumes across fragmented monitoring tools. | |
| Machine Learning and Dynamic IT Alert Correlation | 3 | 7 | 4 | 3 | Latka attempts to summarize BigPanda's technology as essentially glorified if-then statements. Resnik politely dismantles the comparison, explaining that modern cloud environments change dynamically from day to day and require dynamic clustering machine learning. | |
| Pricing Mechanics, Enterprise ACVs, and Strategic Funding | 5 | 5 | 3 | 6 | Latka challenges Resnik on why BigPanda added a $5M extension to their Series B, suggesting it might have been an unannounced bridge round due to poor valuation. Resnik refutes the timeline and explains the defensive macroeconomic buffer strategy. | |
| Team Geography, Enterprise Playbook, and Fortune 500 Traction | 6 | 3 | 3 | 5 | Latka contrasts product-led utility expansion models with top-down enterprise inside sales and pushes for customer counts. Resnik refuses exact figures but agrees with the broad contract scale and Fortune 500 penetration. | |
| Sponsor Message: Acuity Scheduling Efficiency Benefits | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | After an Acuity Scheduling sponsor read, Latka guides Resnik through the standard Famous Five rapid-fire questions, lightly nudging him when Resnik hesitates on career advice. |