A Serendipitous Path to Democratizing Data Storytelling, with Alex Damianou of OpenAxis | Future of Work

The VITALIZE Podcast: Venture Capital | Startups | Angel Investing

Justin Gordon (@justingordon212) talks with Alex Damianou (@alex_damianou), Founder and CEO of OpenAxis, a company that’s simplifying and democratizing the data storytelling process.

Alex is a multilingual political economist & entrepreneur trying to figure out how the world works. After a brief stint at the United Nations and a failed attempt at a pro soccer career, he went abroad and spent about five years conducting on-the-ground economic research and policy consulting across several emerging markets in Africa & the Middle East. Before returning to the US, he then took on the research & strategy lead for a new $20bn smart city and the world's tallest tower.

Now, as a founder, he tries to tackle socio-economic challenges. After starting a macro/geopolitical advisory, he joined Andrew Yang's 2020 Presidential campaign as his national policy director and foreign policy advisor. Today he’s focused on democratizing data via OpenAxis, a Vitalize Angels portfolio company.

Website: Open Axis

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/adamianou/

Twitter: @alex_damianou

Instagram: instagram.com/openaxishq/

Show Notes:

• OpenAxis as a data storytelling platform
• How society’s poor data literacy drove Alex to start OpenAxis
• How Alex serendipitously got involved with Andrew Yang’s presidential campaign
• Alex’s time working on the Smart Cities project in Saudi Arabia
• The ideal co-founder combo of complementary skillsets and shared values
• OpenAxis’ go to market strategy
• Challenges within customer discovery and onboarding
• The community-building aspect of OpenAxis
• How OpenAxis’ big vision fits into the Future of Work
• The reality of being a first-time tech startup founder

More about the show:

The Vitalize Podcast, a show by Vitalize Venture Capital (a seed-stage venture capital firm and pre-seed 300+ member angel community open to everyone), dives deep into the world of startup investing and the future of work.

Hosted by Justin Gordon, the Director of Marketing at Vitalize Venture Capital, The Vitalize Podcast includes two main series.

The Angel Investing series features interviews with a variety of angel investors and VCs around the world. The goal? To help develop the next generation of amazing investors.

The Future of Work series takes a look at the founders and investors shaping the new world of work, including insights from our team here at Vitalize Venture Capital.

More about us:

Vitalize Venture Capital was formed in 2017 as a $16M seed-stage venture fund and now includes both a fund as well as an angel investing community investing in the future of work. Vitalize has offices in Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.

The Vitalize Team:

Gale - https://twitter.com/galeforceVC
Caroline - https://twitter.com/carolinecasson_
Justin - https://twitter.com/justingordon212

Vitalize Angels, our angel investing community open to everyone:
https://vitalize.vc/vitalizeangels/