Can we get introduced to the Founder of GLIDR?

Absolutely! In 2012, our co-founders, some of the original lean startup practitioners, Jim Hornthal (founder of Preview Travel, which became Travelocity) and Steve Blank (best known as a pioneer of the lean startup movement) were teaching what they learned at Stanford and the University of California, Berkeley business schools. They were asked to run some experiments with the National Science Foundation, which was in the early stages of building its own system for innovation, which ultimately became the I-CORPS Program. As the vision for the larger system came in to view, Jim and Steve realized that it would require an operating system to really run and organize this kind of program at that scale. Since then, we've built GLIDR into a leading product discovery and innovation management tool.

Jim is currently our CEO. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and a MBA from Harvard Business School.

What is the Vision behind the idea? What led to its origination? 

Our vision as a company is to accelerate the future by empowering innovators of all types with the tools they need to achieve uncommon things. In pursuing that vision, we have found that innovators across the globe struggle to identify problems worth solving and bringing solutions to address unmet needs.

In its early days, our software was focused on helping to solve this problem through customer discovery, literally going out and talking to people to understand their problems and unmet needs. GLIDR has since evolved into a system of intelligence for product managers, startups, and innovators, the people creating those solutions, from roadmap through discovery, launch, and iteration. It is a new approach to product management software that puts feedback, discovery and validation at the center.

How did the name come into place?

GLIDR comes from “glider”, as you would imagine. We were drawn to the concept because a glider helps the pilot find naturally occurring updrafts to power the flight. From flight altitude, the pilot has a clear view of the landscape below. In a similar sense, GLIDR helps product teams, startups, and innovators of all types keep a clear view of the business landscape and tap into the most powerful currents for success.

It’s why we named our blog “Gaining Perspective”.

What have been the key challenges and bottlenecks faced in the Journey this far?

Like most startups, we’ve pivoted several times. We faced a challenge with an initial target audience that was too small, with sales cycles that were too long. We addressed that challenge with a pivot towards a larger audience with shorter sales cycles.


Mr. Jim Hornthal- CEO of GLIDR

Could you share what the entire concept of GLIDR is and what are some of its key Features?

Certainly. GLIDR is a new take on product management software. We help product teams put user feedback, discovery and validation at the center –– and product success within reach. Some of the key features are:

• Build a data-driven product roadmap
• Connect user feedback and research to prioritize product development
• Import user feedback into GLIDR through our Intercom integration
• Validate your ideas by running targeted research and experiments
• Link evidence to ideas so that everyone can see the “why?” behind important decisions
• Easily collaborate with teammates around the world through our seamless Slack integration

Why do you think it is important for the Organizations to adopt a Product Management Software like GLIDR? What difference would it make?

The single most important reason is that GLIDR helps product teams launch more successful products and features. It helps create a unified system of intelligence for product teams, so they can use the evidence and data to figure out what to build.



Product managers and startup teams often have to use many tools to track and analyze data. This includes collaboration tools like Slack, onboarding tools like Intercom, product analytics tools like Pendo, and agile delivery tools like Jira. GLIDR is unique in how we simplify this by creating one place where PMs can centralize the most relevant data from each of those tools.

By creating the first real unified system of product intelligence, we are helping our customers take a very evidence-based approach to building the right solution for the right problem.

On the other hand, traditional approaches to PM software are built around features and timelines. These are important, but when you start there, you end up managing a feature factory rather than shipping products that captivate customers and achieve business objectives.

Have you managed to raise any Funding? How are you funded?

Yes, we raised a Series A round of venture capital.

Would you like to share some statistical and other achievements of GLIDR?

More than 20,000 teams from around the world have processed over 350,000 discovery interviews and tested more than 400,000 hypotheses with us. That valuable data has helped inform more than 35,000 pivots.

Could you highlight the difference is GLIDR making for the Organizations through some Testimonials?

“This is excellent software. I really like how each component of the business model blueprint is broken into experiments that we can track. Really enjoying using it, and can't wait to get to the next level of our experiments, it's like they've been gamified.” - Jamie Moran, CMO, NeuroTrainer

Where do you envision the brand of GLIDR to reach in the next 2-3 years?

We want GLIDR to help our customers build stronger businesses with better products. In 2-3 years, we want to be an integral part of the daily work of thousands of the world’s best software product teams.

Which are the current operational locations of GLIDR? Are there any expansion plans on the cards?

We are headquartered in San Francisco, California, but serve customers around the world. As we grow, we will likely open up other offices to serve distinct regions.



Forget about writing a business plan. Dive right into research, experimenting, and iterating. First, find a real problem that needs a solution. It should be a problem that you’re authentically interested in. Then, test, learn and iterate to find the best possible solution to that problem.


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