Episode 15: Tovah Paglaro, Serial Research Tech Founder & CEO

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With Tovah Paglaro

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Episode Overview

Tovah Paglaro, founder of Avalanche Insights and Fathom AI (now QuestionPro), on building and exiting research tech companies at the intersection of human expertise and AI.

Episode Highlights

  • From storytelling to strategy: Tovah’s career began in TV production, where she learned lessons about trusting specialists, building cultures of “ambitious sprints and actual rest,” and the power of shared narrative that she carried into every company she built.
  • Pioneering qual at scale: Avalanche Insights was a tech-enabled consultancy doing qualitative research at scale before the current wave of AI, growing to $5 million in revenue and 60 people before its acquisition.
  • The services vs. tech dilemma: Building a company that blends human expertise with technology means managing two different incentive structures and cultures. VCs once rejected the model; now everybody wants it.
  • Spinning out Fathom AI: The decision to extract the core text analytics technology into a standalone SaaS platform, the lesson that internal tools don’t translate directly to external products, and the eventual acquisition by QuestionPro.
  • Lessons from bad hires: Why early-stage founders almost inevitably hire wrong, and why the real test of leadership is how you handle it, from accountability and speed to supporting people on the way out.
  • Strategic exits are relational: Most reasonable exits are strategic, built on trust and relationships rather than pitch decks. Tovah shares practical advice on what founders should be doing long before they’re ready to sell.

About the Guest

Tovah Paglaro is a serial founder with over 20 years of leadership experience across media, civic technology, and market research. She built and exited Avalanche Insights, which pioneered qual at scale as a tech-enabled consultancy, and Fathom AI, a text analytics platform recently acquired by QuestionPro. She now consults and advises early-stage companies and organisations navigating growth, AI transformation, and the intersection of human and technology-driven services.

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