Some of the most consequential decisions in building a company don’t necessarily feel that way when you make them.
This month, I spoke with Alex and Ariel about decisions around people, product architecture, and technology that started small but ultimately shaped their companies in significant ways. We also touched on how AI is changing the way organizations think about data, engineering, and the experiences they build for users.
Ariel and I discussed why observability has long been an underused data resource, how better observability is expanding engineering skills across organizations, and Coralogix’s four-phase approach to building interfaces for AI agents. We also explored personalizing insights for each individual—not just by persona.
BONUS CONTENT
Five years after inception, the company had almost zero revenue and no customers, and we made a small decision to flip the architecture of the product. Internally, we used streaming to do all the calculations so we didn’t overload storage. It had been helpful for efficiency and stability, so we asked: why not introduce that to clients?
It sounded like a small architectural change that would improve efficiency and stability. It ended up becoming the heart of Coralogix and our core differentiator in the market—from the capabilities and cost structure it offers to how well it fits with AI, data sovereignty, and open formats. That small decision became a very big part of Coralogix.
Only AI-Native Companies Can Build AI-Native Software
I asked Alex if he thinks software apps must become autonomous to be successful. We discussed whether SaaS has a future, or strictly AI as a service. Alex explained why he feels the question, “Is SaaS dead?” is moot. He also shared how some SaaS pricing models can feel “icky".
BONUS CONTENT
I asked Alex to share a decision that turned out to be more important than he expected. He thought of two, both involving people.
The first was at Scout, when we were hiring our first engineer. I wanted someone nearby, but our head of engineering recommended Raimonds in Latvia. I met him and immediately understood why. He built our entire engineering team at Scout and is now my co-founder at Levelpath. What started as ‘we’ll hire Raimonds and see how it goes’ eventually led to a great team and office in Latvia.
The other was meeting my wife. Warren Buffett has said the biggest decision you’ll make in business is who you marry, and I think that’s true. Having a great partner along the journey is incredibly important.
Books Behind the Leaders: Recommendations from our Guests
I always ask our guests to recommend a book, or perhaps a blog or podcast, that has been helpful in their lives—professionally or personally. Check out what our recent guests have recommended.
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