INspired INsider Podcast

Sampo Parkkinen is the Founder and CEO of Revieve, a beauty technology company focused on helping global beauty, skin, health, and wellness brands deliver personalized digital experiences through AI, AR, and computer vision. A serial technology entrepreneur and operator, he has led Revieve since its founding in 2016 and grown it into a platform supporting brands and retailers across their digital consumer journeys. Sampo previously co-founded RapidBlue Solutions, where he served as COO before its acquisition by ShopperTrak. He is also a Venture Partner at Gorilla Capital, where he supports early-stage technology companies across the Nordics.
In this episode…
Beauty and wellness products are deeply personal, yet most e-commerce experiences still push consumers toward transactions instead of guidance. As AI changes how people discover products, how can brands create digital experiences that feel more helpful, personal, and trustworthy?
For Sampo Parkkinen, a serial entrepreneur and investor focused on AI-powered customer experience, the answer is to shift from selling products to helping consumers buy with confidence. He highlights how personalized digital tools can replicate the value of an in-store advisor by listening to customer concerns, analyzing needs, and recommending relevant products across skincare, makeup, hair care, and fragrance. This creates a more intimate brand experience while improving acquisition, conversion, and loyalty. He also explains why reducing friction, avoiding generic quizzes, and positioning AI experiences as personal analysis can dramatically improve engagement.
In this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast, Dr. Jeremy Weisz sits down with Sampo Parkkinen, Founder and CEO at Revieve, to discuss AI, personalization, and the future of the beauty industry. Sampo explores AI-powered product guidance, personalized beauty retail, and how brands can reduce e-commerce friction. He also shares insights on SaaS pricing, onboarding, and his work with Gorilla Capital.

Mike Collins is the Founder and CEO of Alumni Ventures, a leading venture capital firm that enables individual accredited investors to access diversified venture portfolios and co-invest alongside top-tier VCs. He is a serial entrepreneur and experienced venture capitalist who has founded multiple companies, including Kid Galaxy, Big Idea Group, and RDM. He also launched Green D Ventures, Alumni Ventures' first alumni fund, where he oversaw the portfolio as Managing Partner. Mike has spent his career helping investors and entrepreneurs build innovative, high-growth businesses, and holds degrees from Dartmouth College and Harvard Business School.
In this episode…
What does it really take to succeed in venture capital, where uncertainty is constant, and failure is often part of the process? What separates investors who consistently build strong portfolios from those who don't?
For Mike Collins, a seasoned venture capitalist and serial entrepreneur, success in venture capital comes from focusing on people over pure ideas and building disciplined, diversified portfolios to manage inevitable risk. He highlights that early-stage investing is less about certainty and more about judgment, trust, and pattern recognition developed over time. A key takeaway is that long-term success stems from striking a balance between conviction and humility and accepting that many investments will fail while a few yield outsized returns. He also emphasizes the value of co-investing and leveraging a global investor community to expand access and insight.
In this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast, host Dr. Jeremy Weisz sits down with Mike Collins, Founder and CEO of Alumni Ventures, to discuss venture capital, portfolio building, and entrepreneurial lessons. They talk about betting on people over ideas, managing risk through diversification, and lessons from sports and investing. Mike also shares insights on co-investing strategies and democratizing access to venture capital.

Warren Zenna is the Founder of The CRO Collective, a B2B consultancy focused on helping CEOs and CROs design stronger revenue strategies, operating models, and CRO readiness. A seasoned revenue leader and advisor, he brings more than 25 years of experience across B2B sales, marketing, digital media, and emerging technology. Warren is also Founder and CEO of Zenna Consulting Group, where he advises companies on organic growth, marketing, and go-to-market strategy. He is the author of What Chief Revenue Officers Actually Do and hosts The CRO Spotlight Podcast, where he explores the evolving responsibilities, challenges, and strategic importance of the modern CRO.
In this episode…
Hiring a chief revenue officer can transform a growing company — but only if the business is ready. Many organizations expect a CRO to fix revenue problems, yet success depends just as much on structure, authority, and timing. So, how can companies set CROs up to succeed rather than fail?
For Warren Zenna, a longtime revenue leader and advisor to B2B executives, the answer starts with CRO readiness: companies must understand when they need a CRO, what authority the role requires, and how the revenue engine must be structured before making the hire. He highlights that many CROs fail not because they lack talent, but because they inherit broken systems without the autonomy, resources, or runway to fix them. The result is a costly mismatch between expectations and execution. Warren explains that companies often hire CROs too early for vanity or too late after complexity has already hardened into dysfunction. A successful CRO needs the ability to align sales, marketing, customer success, revenue operations, and leadership expectations around one cohesive growth strategy.
In this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast, Dr. Jeremy Weisz sits down with Warren Zenna, Founder of The CRO Collective, to discuss CRO readiness and the future of revenue leadership. Warren explains why CROs fail, when companies should hire one, and how AI is reshaping revenue organizations. Warren also shares advice for candidates evaluating CRO opportunities.

Sharath Keshava Narayana is the CEO and Co-founder of Sanas, a company pioneering real-time speech AI that helps create clearer and more natural conversations. A serial entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in AI and enterprise software, he previously co-founded Observe.AI and is also a founder and GP at Carya Venture Partners. Sharath, an engineering graduate and Y Combinator alum, has a strong track record of scaling AI-driven products in global markets while fostering inclusive, high-impact technology.
In this episode…
Communication barriers can happen anywhere — from language differences to background noise and unclear speech. As AI voice technology evolves, businesses have more ways to improve conversations at scale. But which innovations truly make communication clearer and more effective worldwide?
For Sharath Keshava Narayana, a serial entrepreneur and AI innovator, the biggest breakthroughs in speech technology come from focusing on clarity and real-world usability. He highlights how AI-powered speech enhancement and accent harmonization can help sales, support, and healthcare teams communicate more effectively across different environments and languages. By listening closely to enterprise customers and iterating based on feedback, his team refined their technology into scalable solutions that improve communication in real time. He also shares how Sanas' consumer language app quickly gained traction across dozens of countries and why partnerships with telecom providers could dramatically expand access to speech AI worldwide.
In this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast, host Dr. Jeremy Weisz sits down with Sharath Keshava Narayana to discuss AI-powered speech clarity and global communication. They talk about real-time accent harmonization, building products through customer feedback, and scaling voice technology for enterprise and consumer use. Sharath also shares lessons on mentorship, hiring mission-driven teams, and creating technology that breaks communication barriers.

David Walton is the Founder and CEO of Vayu Sleep, a sleep technology company developing custom-fit CPAP masks for people with sleep apnea. A sleep medicine entrepreneur, he previously co-founded and led Respire Medical, an FDA-cleared oral appliance company, for 14 years before its acquisition. At Vayu Sleep, David brings deep experience in medical devices, patient comfort, and practical innovation to a personalized mask platform that uses smartphone facial scanning and AI-enabled design. His work focuses on making sleep apnea therapy comfortable, accessible, and easier for patients to use consistently.
In this episode…
Sleep apnea treatment is only effective when patients can actually stick with it. Traditional CPAP masks are often uncomfortable, leaky, or too tight, which can lead many people to abandon therapy altogether. What would change if CPAP masks were custom-fit to each patient's face?
David Walton, a sleep medicine entrepreneur with years of experience building medical device companies, explains that personalized CPAP masks can make therapy more comfortable, reduce leakage, and help patients stay consistent with treatment. He highlights how Vayu Sleep utilizes smartphone facial scanning, AI-enabled mapping, and 3D printing to create masks tailored to each person's unique facial profile. The goal is to reduce pressure, improve fit, and remove one of the biggest barriers to effective sleep apnea care. He also discusses why diagnosis is the first critical step, especially with newer at-home sleep testing options that make it easier for patients to understand their sleep health. Together, these innovations point toward a more accessible and patient-friendly future for sleep apnea treatment.
In this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast, Dr. Jeremy Weisz sits down with David Walton, Founder and CEO of Vayu Sleep, to talk about personalized sleep apnea treatment. David discusses at-home sleep testing, how custom-fit CPAP masks are made using facial scanning, and why comfort matters for therapy adherence. He also shares how FDA experience shapes Vayu Sleep's path to market.