David Park is no stranger to the entrepreneurial world. As a seasoned founder and TechCrunch Startup Battlefield alumnus, he has extensive experience in the enterprise sector. On this episode of Build Mode, Park joins Isabelle Johannessen to talk about how he and his team strategically iterate, fundraise, and scale Narada. This enterprise AI solution uses large action models to automate complex workflows across enterprise systems.
At first glance, Narada seems perfectly positioned to attract investors: a founding team of seasoned researchers and operators from Stanford and Berkeley, notable enterprise clients, and a functional product. However, in 2024, when Narada applied for Startup Battlefield, it was surprising how little fundraising they’d undertaken. This was a strategic decision.
“We wanted to not waste too much money,” Park explained about their fundraising strategy. “When you have too much money and aren’t near product-market fit, you’re tempted to spend on things that don’t help you evolve correctly. It removes the friction to do a lot of wrong things.”
Previously, Park founded and exited Coverity. From that experience, he learned an important lesson he’s applying at Narada: prioritize customer conversations. In Narada’s early days, Park and his co-founders weren’t focused on reaching out to VCs—instead, they made over 1,000 customer calls to thoroughly understand their issues. With a clear understanding of the problem, the solution became evident. These teams needed an AI product they could communicate with and trust to handle multiple tasks simultaneously.
Park advises, “If you want to build a real business, ask the hard questions, spend time with customers, and not just in selling, because when you have that contract and purchase order, that’s just the beginning.” This approach turned some early bootstrap customers into multimillion-dollar deals, and it’s easier to sell to a company that already trusts you.
As a seasoned entrepreneur, Park believes that customer focus is fundamental in building a company the right way. No matter how trendy or well-received your product is, if people aren’t willing to pay for it, it won’t succeed.
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Isabelle Johannessen hosts Build Mode, produced and edited by Maggie Nye. Audience Development is led by Morgan Little. Special thanks to the Foundry and Cheddar video teams.