How I Launched This: A SaaS Story

Carter (@carterthecomic) and Stephanie (@stephr_wong) are back this week on "How I Launched This: A SaaS Story", speaking with Olea Edge Analytics CEO Dave Mackie. Olea is a company using cutting-edge technology to help utility companies optimize water usage, prevent water waste, and more efficiently generate revenue.

We start the show as Dave Mackie, CEO, tells the creation story of Olea. Dave and his team observed high percentages of commercial water meters that were not working correctly and set out to fix the problem. Using a sensor array and edge computing platform, the Olea system monitors water meters, identifying both functioning and malfunctioning meters. The system can then pinpoint problems in malfunctioning meters, enabling fast, efficient repairs and maximum revenue for utility companies. Dave explains how this benefits utility customers as well, citing examples from early Olea trials in Atlanta.

Dave talks technology later in the episode, elaborating on Olea's creation of sensors and their perfecting of a true edge computing process to send analysed data to customers. Olea is now working towards pressure sensors and leak detection to expand utility company revenue retention and further minimize water waste. 

Frank Kaplan, VP of Sales, details the conservation implications of Olea devices and how utility companies can use them to address water management issues like scarcity and waste.

We wrap up the episode talking about the future of Olea and how they hope to continue to improve the water utility industry. Dave also offers up some great advice for other SaaS companies.

Episode Links:
Olea Edge Analytics
Edge TPU
Coral
Google Maps Platform
Google Maps Platform: Routes

Carter (@carterthecomic) and Stephanie (@stephr_wong) are back this week on "How I Launched This: A SaaS Story", speaking with Olea Edge Analytics CEO Dave Mackie. Olea is a company using cutting-edge technology to help utility companies optimize water usage, prevent water waste, and more efficiently generate revenue.

We start the show as Dave Mackie, CEO, tells the creation story of Olea. Dave and his team observed high percentages of commercial water meters that were not working correctly and set out to fix the problem. Using a sensor array and edge computing platform, the Olea system monitors water meters, identifying both functioning and malfunctioning meters. The system can then pinpoint problems in malfunctioning meters, enabling fast, efficient repairs and maximum revenue for utility companies. Dave explains how this benefits utility customers as well, citing examples from early Olea trials in Atlanta.

Dave talks technology later in the episode, elaborating on Olea's creation of sensors and their perfecting of a true edge computing process to send analysed data to customers. Olea is now working towards pressure sensors and leak detection to expand utility company revenue retention and further minimize water waste. 

Frank Kaplan, VP of Sales, details the conservation implications of Olea devices and how utility companies can use them to address water management issues like scarcity and waste.

We wrap up the episode talking about the future of Olea and how they hope to continue to improve the water utility industry. Dave also offers up some great advice for other SaaS companies.

Episode Links:
Olea Edge Analytics
Edge TPU
Coral
Google Maps Platform
Google Maps Platform: Routes

On this episode of the SaaS podcast, your host Stephanie Wong (@stephr_wong) chats with Dirk Hoerig CEO of commercetools about what it takes to create a seamless shopping experience across multiple platforms. 

Commercetools came about in 2006 when Dirk and his co-founder saw the issues with online retail scaling and management on premise. By creating their own cloud infrastructure before the cloud was popular, commercetools was able to help companies accomplish these scaling and management tasks faster and easier. Dirk tells us that as technology has advanced, commercetools has adapted and evolved, reinventing themselves in 2010 and then becoming the world's first API led commerce platform in 2013.

In the newest iteration of commercetools, Dirk explains what was most important to them, including ease of use for customers, functionality across devices, and ability to change with technology. With the new system, customers are able to easily configure their commerce system by picking and choosing applicable commercetools components. Dirk details how commercetools was built to accomplish these goals, why making parts of it open source was important, and other issues and successes along the way. 

To wrap up the show, Dirk tells us about commercetools' newest additions using machine learning, gives current use-cases of companies taking full advantage of commercetools, and talks about the future of technology and software as a service.

Episode Links:
commercetools
commercetools Blog
MongoDB
Scala
Kubernetes

On this episode of the SaaS podcast, your host Stephanie Wong (@stephr_wong) chats with Dirk Hoerig CEO of commercetools about what it takes to create a seamless shopping experience across multiple platforms. 

Commercetools came about in 2006 when Dirk and his co-founder saw the issues with online retail scaling and management on premise. By creating their own cloud infrastructure before the cloud was popular, commercetools was able to help companies accomplish these scaling and management tasks faster and easier. Dirk tells us that as technology has advanced, commercetools has adapted and evolved, reinventing themselves in 2010 and then becoming the world's first API led commerce platform in 2013.

In the newest iteration of commercetools, Dirk explains what was most important to them, including ease of use for customers, functionality across devices, and ability to change with technology. With the new system, customers are able to easily configure their commerce system by picking and choosing applicable commercetools components. Dirk details how commercetools was built to accomplish these goals, why making parts of it open source was important, and other issues and successes along the way. 

To wrap up the show, Dirk tells us about commercetools' newest additions using machine learning, gives current use-cases of companies taking full advantage of commercetools, and talks about the future of technology and software as a service.

Episode Links:
commercetools
commercetools Blog
MongoDB
Scala
Kubernetes

This week on How I Launched This: A SaaS Story, your host Stephanie Wong (@stephr_wong) talks online customer service strategy with Qubit CEO Graham Cooke. A self-described lifelong geek, Graham's fascination with the latest technologies and his interest in online consumer shopping behaviors converged into his most recent project, Qubit. Qubit is a data-driven model that collects information as users shop in an effort to understand how to turn browsers into buyers. Qubit creates profiles that help retailers understand the specific needs of that client, allowing businesses to create a more direct strategy for sales. In the end, the retailer makes the sale and the customer gets exactly what they wanted when they wanted it with less hassle and frustration.

As an ex Googler, Graham tells us the lessons he learned there and how they positively impacted his recent ventures. He details online buying trends he's seeing and how companies should pivot to meet customer needs. From better personalization to nudging the consumer at the right time in the right place, Graham believes retail websites could be doing so much more. Creating a customer-first strategy is the future of retail, and Qubit is helping clients achieve this with the power of machine learning. 

Later, Graham tells us about Start, the newest addition to Qubit, and how it uses machine learning to get retailers started with automation and customer personalization. He explains how it compares with the more thorough Qubit Pro, how both systems were built, and the logistics of their personalization platform. 

To wrap up the show, Stephanie and Graham talk about Qubit's stack and what Google products they use to get the job done. Graham leads us through onboarding of a client and how each of the Qubit products benefits retailers at different stages of customer-centric platforms. He tells us about lessons they learned along the way and how those lessons changed Qubit for the better.

Episode Links:
Qubit
Capgemini
River Island
Qubit Start
Qubit Pro
BigQuery
LiveTab
Pub/Sub
Dataflow
Figma
Graph QL
Stripe
Twilio

This week on How I Launched This: A SaaS Story, your host Stephanie Wong (@stephr_wong) talks online customer service strategy with Qubit CEO Graham Cooke. A self-described lifelong geek, Graham's fascination with the latest technologies and his interest in online consumer shopping behaviors converged into his most recent project, Qubit. Qubit is a data-driven model that collects information as users shop in an effort to understand how to turn browsers into buyers. Qubit creates profiles that help retailers understand the specific needs of that client, allowing businesses to create a more direct strategy for sales. In the end, the retailer makes the sale and the customer gets exactly what they wanted when they wanted it with less hassle and frustration.

As an ex Googler, Graham tells us the lessons he learned there and how they positively impacted his recent ventures. He details online buying trends he's seeing and how companies should pivot to meet customer needs. From better personalization to nudging the consumer at the right time in the right place, Graham believes retail websites could be doing so much more. Creating a customer-first strategy is the future of retail, and Qubit is helping clients achieve this with the power of machine learning. 

Later, Graham tells us about Start, the newest addition to Qubit, and how it uses machine learning to get retailers started with automation and customer personalization. He explains how it compares with the more thorough Qubit Pro, how both systems were built, and the logistics of their personalization platform. 

To wrap up the show, Stephanie and Graham talk about Qubit's stack and what Google products they use to get the job done. Graham leads us through onboarding of a client and how each of the Qubit products benefits retailers at different stages of customer-centric platforms. He tells us about lessons they learned along the way and how those lessons changed Qubit for the better.

Episode Links:
Qubit
Capgemini
River Island
Qubit Start
Qubit Pro
BigQuery
LiveTab
Pub/Sub
Dataflow
Figma
Graph QL
Stripe
Twilio

Welcome to "How I Launched This: A SaaS Story" from Google Cloud! In our first installment of the podcast, your hosts Stephanie Wong (@stephr_wong) and Carter Morgan (@carterthecomic) talk with the folks at San Francisco-based Aclima about environmental intelligence. Aclima's air quality mapping platform aggregates and analyzes air pollution factors to aid in the diagnosis and remedy of these problems for a safer breathing environment, both locally and globally. The air quality data is collected by sensors on vehicles and input into the SaaS platform for customers. The analyzed data can quickly be interpreted so appropriate measures can be taken to mitigate air pollution.

Davida Herzl, CEO of Aclima, starts the show explaining why she felt the world needed Aclima and how advancements in technology made it possible to collect, store, and analyze data in a new and more useful way. With their hyperlocal data collection system, clients can see city-block by city-block numbers and learn how the air quality affects each individual person, making the system much more personal. The data can of course also be analyzed in larger numbers for city-wide, state-wide, or even global solutions.

Davida and Robert Murphy, VP Strategy and Business Development, later dive into the technical side of Aclima, describing their technology stack, development procedures, and suggestions of SaaS best practices. Davida also elaborates on the development of the hardware and how these sensors are deployed. She addresses the growth of Aclima and how company management and technologies have changed and grown with the business. She wraps up the show expressing her excitement at how technology can continue to improve our world.

Episode Links:
Aclima
Google Street View
Google Earth Outreach

Welcome to "How I Launched This: A SaaS Story" from Google Cloud! In our first installment of the podcast, your hosts Stephanie Wong (@stephr_wong) and Carter Morgan (@carterthecomic) talk with the folks at San Francisco-based Aclima about environmental intelligence. Aclima's air quality mapping platform aggregates and analyzes air pollution factors to aid in the diagnosis and remedy of these problems for a safer breathing environment, both locally and globally. The air quality data is collected by sensors on vehicles and input into the SaaS platform for customers. The analyzed data can quickly be interpreted so appropriate measures can be taken to mitigate air pollution.

Davida Herzl, CEO of Aclima, starts the show explaining why she felt the world needed Aclima and how advancements in technology made it possible to collect, store, and analyze data in a new and more useful way. With their hyperlocal data collection system, clients can see city-block by city-block numbers and learn how the air quality affects each individual person, making the system much more personal. The data can of course also be analyzed in larger numbers for city-wide, state-wide, or even global solutions.

Davida and Robert Murphy, VP Strategy and Business Development, later dive into the technical side of Aclima, describing their technology stack, development procedures, and suggestions of SaaS best practices. Davida also elaborates on the development of the hardware and how these sensors are deployed. She addresses the growth of Aclima and how company management and technologies have changed and grown with the business. She wraps up the show expressing her excitement at how technology can continue to improve our world.

Episode Links:
Aclima
Google Street View
Google Earth Outreach

Welcome to How I Launched This: A SaaS Story from Google Cloud. SaaS embraces the full potential of the Cloud and is arguably changing the way organizations work. Each episode, Stephanie Wong (@stephr_wong) and Carter Morgan (@carterthecomic) will go in-depth on a different SaaS story, sharing the initial challenges, approaches, and ultimate impact various global leaders have faced implementing their own SaaS solutions. Stay tuned to learn more about SaaS, the technologies being employed, other lessons learned and stories from industry leaders all over the world. Stories like sustainable futures, full-stack monitoring, AIOps and headless commerce.

If you want to keep up to date with the latest on SaaS, Google Cloud and this show, subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts, follow Google Cloud on Twitter and give us a share. Reach out to Carter and Stephanie with suggestions, comments and questions to keep the conversation going online. Check out each episodes show notes for more information, rate and review our show on Apple Podcast and stay tuned for our frequent releases. 

We'll see you next time.

Welcome to How I Launched This: A SaaS Story from Google Cloud. SaaS embraces the full potential of the Cloud and is arguably changing the way organizations work. Each episode, Stephanie Wong (@stephr_wong) and Carter Morgan (@carterthecomic) will go in-depth on a different SaaS story, sharing the initial challenges, approaches, and ultimate impact various global leaders have faced implementing their own SaaS solutions. Stay tuned to learn more about SaaS, the technologies being employed, other lessons learned and stories from industry leaders all over the world. Stories like sustainable futures, full-stack monitoring, AIOps and headless commerce.

If you want to keep up to date with the latest on SaaS, Google Cloud and this show, subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts, follow Google Cloud on Twitter and give us a share. Reach out to Carter and Stephanie with suggestions, comments and questions to keep the conversation going online. Check out each episodes show notes for more information, rate and review our show on Apple Podcast and stay tuned for our frequent releases. 

We'll see you next time.