Interview: Meet The Founders

Every sales leader needs to be confident their reps are productive. Alysio, a new Kickstart portfolio company, addresses that need.

On why Kickstart invested, Kat Kennedy says, "The Alysio team understands software sales. That is clear as soon as you see the platform. We believe that Alysio is well-positioned to disrupt the market and drive significant impact, and we are excited to support their growth journey."

Check out their recent round announcement here and read on to get to know co-founders Aaron McReynolds and Ryan Harris better.

Aaron McReynolds Q&A

Q: What inspired you to found Alysio?

A: Having spent eight years selling B2B software, I found that most sales teams struggle to answer the same simple question: What does a good day in sales look like? We knew we could provide a platform to answer this question.

Q: What has surprised you about “founder life”?

A: You learn something new almost every day. You think you know what this means, but it's surprising to see the rate at which you have to learn to stay ahead. You have to constantly be sharpening the pencil to succeed.

Q: What excites you about Alysio’s future?

A: Our customers! It's been so incredibly rewarding to see the adoption of Alysio across world class sales teams and to be able to get feedback on their experiences.

Ryan Harris Q&A

Q: What convinced you to jump from your “day job” to founding a startup?

A: Aaron called me with an apparent pain in the sales world. It resonated with me given my experience in building out a sales team at a startup. Aaron and I worked together at Goldman Sachs, and I knew that if I were to jump into a startup, I'd want to do it with him.

Q: Do you have any unpopular opinions (aka “hot takes”) on startup culture?

A: WFH should not be an option in the early stages. Maybe one day per week, but there are too many benefits that come from being in person.

Q: What advice would you give to other founders?

A: Surround yourself with others that enjoy the grind. In other words, build a team that is gritty. Being around people who thrive tackling challenges and rolling with punches makes a huge difference. Also, always keep your "why" in mind. For us, it's empowering individuals on sales teams.