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Zach Supalla

Founder & CEO, Particle · 1 appearance on the record.

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founderexecutive@zs ↗LinkedIn ↗particle.io ↗

Zach Supalla founded Particle in 2013 to provide integrated hardware, software, and cellular/Wi-Fi connectivity for deploying IoT devices at scale. Before scaling Particle, he worked as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company and completed a dual MBA/MEM program at Northwestern University.

12statements → 8claims → 4claims resolved → 75%fully supported → 3.92/5average certainty → 1.25/5average debate potential → ≈4.5/5argument clarity, estimated → 4said about them ↓

3 supported 1 partly supported 0 contradicted 4 not checkable as stated how the 8 claims stand · each chip opens the sources

2 predictions · 6 assertions · 1 insight · 3 disclosures · every statement was checked. The predictions and assertions are the 8 claims: statements the public record can support or contradict. 4 are resolved, and 4 name no date, number or outcome precise enough to check. Everything else (opinions, insights, what ifs, disclosures) can never be settled by the record, so it carries no assessment.

The record, in short

What the tape says about how Zach argues and how the claims held up. Everything they said, and everything said about them, is in the tabs below.

Their most notable supported claim

Assertion Supported
Particle raised approximately $10M in late 2016
“We raised about ten million dollars late last year.”
Zach Supalla Mar 6, 2017 ▶ 4:44 EP 590 :Particle.io Raises $14M, Passes $5M In Revenue, Helping Usher in IoT Connecting Keurigs to Internet with CEO Zach Supalla

Expressed certainty vs assessment result

none yet certainty 1
none yet certainty 2
none yet certainty 3
100% certainty 4
50% certainty 5

weighted support: a fully supported claim counts one, a partly supported claim counts half. Each filled bar is clickable and opens exactly those claims; "none yet" means nothing said at that certainty level has resolved yet

How they sound: not measured why? →

We measure speaking style by listening to the audio itself, and a fair number needs at least 2,000 words from one person on tape we have measured. There is too little of Zach Supalla on measured tape to publish a rate. This says nothing about how they speak.

Everything Zach Supalla said on Top Founders that made the record, most notable first. Filter by type, assessment or year in the ledger →

Prediction Not checkable as stated
Particle customers will deploy millions of connected devices in 2018
“And we have customers who will be deploying millions in 2018.”
Zach Supalla Mar 6, 2017 ▶ 6:58 EP 590 :Particle.io Raises $14M, Passes $5M In Revenue, Helping Usher in IoT Connecting Keurigs to Internet with CEO Zach Supalla
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Insecure IoT devices will persist as cybersecurity threats for decades
“These devices that are already out there that are insecure, they're not going anywhere. You know, people aren't necessarily unplugging these things. And so there's going to be, there's going to continue to be security concerns. I mean, for, it could be decades…”
Zach Supalla Mar 6, 2017 ▶ 9:23 EP 590 :Particle.io Raises $14M, Passes $5M In Revenue, Helping Usher in IoT Connecting Keurigs to Internet with CEO Zach Supalla
Insight
Crowdfunding campaigns should be treated as product-market fit experiments
“I look at a Kickstarter campaign or really any crowdfunding campaign as an experiment.”
Zach Supalla Mar 6, 2017 ▶ 12:24 EP 590 :Particle.io Raises $14M, Passes $5M In Revenue, Helping Usher in IoT Connecting Keurigs to Internet with CEO Zach Supalla
Assertion Supported
Particle raised approximately $10M in late 2016
“We raised about ten million dollars late last year.”
Zach Supalla Mar 6, 2017 ▶ 4:44 EP 590 :Particle.io Raises $14M, Passes $5M In Revenue, Helping Usher in IoT Connecting Keurigs to Internet with CEO Zach Supalla
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Particle's revenue is currently driven by upfront hardware sales
“These days, most of our money comes from selling hardware because of where we are and sort of how long we've been around. Most companies start by buying a bunch of hardware upfront and then the recurring stuff kicks in later. So right now, most of our revenue …”
Zach Supalla Mar 6, 2017 ▶ 5:23 EP 590 :Particle.io Raises $14M, Passes $5M In Revenue, Helping Usher in IoT Connecting Keurigs to Internet with CEO Zach Supalla
Assertion Partly supported
The Mirai botnet took down Liberia's entire internet infrastructure
“The Mirai botnet also took down the entire internet of Liberia, which was less widely broadcast in the US, but that's a huge deal.”
Zach Supalla Mar 6, 2017 ▶ 8:08 EP 590 :Particle.io Raises $14M, Passes $5M In Revenue, Helping Usher in IoT Connecting Keurigs to Internet with CEO Zach Supalla
Disclosure
Particle spent $35K in total to launch its first two Kickstarters
“I think we probably spent like 15 grand to get from idea to launch Kickstarter campaign, and then we probably spent another 20 grand to get from there to the second Kickstarter campaign.”
Zach Supalla Mar 6, 2017 ▶ 13:32 EP 590 :Particle.io Raises $14M, Passes $5M In Revenue, Helping Usher in IoT Connecting Keurigs to Internet with CEO Zach Supalla
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Particle doubled revenue annually, from $500K in 2013 to $4M in 2016
“Sorry, rewind, it's like half a million, 1,000,002 1,000,004 million is like.”
Zach Supalla Mar 6, 2017 ▶ 15:30 EP 590 :Particle.io Raises $14M, Passes $5M In Revenue, Helping Usher in IoT Connecting Keurigs to Internet with CEO Zach Supalla
Disclosure
Particle provides full-stack IoT hardware, connectivity, and cloud infrastructure
“What that means is we give them a cloud platform. Those devices can connect to, we give them the physical hardware that'll actually go into the device. So like a wifi module or a cellular modem. We get, if it's cellular, we give them SIM cards and data plans, …”
Zach Supalla Mar 6, 2017 ▶ 4:09 EP 590 :Particle.io Raises $14M, Passes $5M In Revenue, Helping Usher in IoT Connecting Keurigs to Internet with CEO Zach Supalla
Assertion Supported
Particle's first Kickstarter failed after raising $125K on a $250K goal
“We had a 250,000 dollar goal. We raised 125,000, but Kickstarter is all or nothing. So that means we raised zero and that product never came to be.”
Zach Supalla Mar 6, 2017 ▶ 10:10 EP 590 :Particle.io Raises $14M, Passes $5M In Revenue, Helping Usher in IoT Connecting Keurigs to Internet with CEO Zach Supalla
Assertion Supported
Particle's second Kickstarter raised nearly $600K on a $10K goal
“And that launched in May 2013 with a 10,000 dollar goal on Kickstarter, and we raised almost 600,000 dollars.”
Zach Supalla Mar 6, 2017 ▶ 10:52 EP 590 :Particle.io Raises $14M, Passes $5M In Revenue, Helping Usher in IoT Connecting Keurigs to Internet with CEO Zach Supalla
Disclosure
Particle models its developer community strategy on Twilio
“Jeff Lawson, the CEO of Twilio is the one I respect quite a bit. A lot of our business, we're sort of following his path and the things that he figured out about how to build a developer community and build a business off of. So I have a ton of respect for him…”
Zach Supalla Mar 6, 2017 ▶ 21:25 EP 590 :Particle.io Raises $14M, Passes $5M In Revenue, Helping Usher in IoT Connecting Keurigs to Internet with CEO Zach Supalla

The other half of the tape: Zach Supalla's own voice is left out of every number here. Other people bring the name up 4 times in 2 episodes on Top Founders. every mention, with the transcript →

Who brings them up most Nathan Latka 4

Every mention by year

tap a year for its mentions
0021422017episodesmentions
0122017episodes it came up in
0011222017episodesmentions per episode
2017 4 mentions in 2 episodes 2 per episode

Appearances (1)

EpisodeDateSpeaking time
EP 590 :Particle.io Raises $14M, Passes $5M In Revenue, Helping Usher in IoT Connecting Ke Mar 6, 2017 14m
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