Quarterzip is a software company that builds an AI-driven onboarding and post-sales product for other SaaS and software companies. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Quarterzip CEO Alex Valente to gain a deeper understanding of the company.
Alex Valente’s Background
Could you tell me more about your background? Valente said:
“I’m Alex Valente, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Quarterzip. My co-founder Andrew Pankevicius and I are serial entrepreneurs who previously founded Redactive AI, which we successfully sold to RecordPoint earlier this year. At Redactive, we solved high-stakes data security challenges for enterprises but more importantly, we experienced firsthand the onboarding crisis that’s costing the software industry billions. That’s what led us to build Quarterzip. We saw a massive problem that nobody was adequately solving, and we knew we had to tackle it.”
Formation Of The Company
How did the idea for the company come together? Valente shared:
“The idea came from pain – ours and the greater software industry’s. Companies invest millions acquiring customers, but broken onboarding experiences cause them to disengage and cancel contracts. Our analysis suggests this costs companies an average of $537 million annually in unused software licenses. That’s roughly 50% of licenses going unused. It’s a massive, invisible drag on growth.”
“We experienced this crisis firsthand at Redactive AI. Rolling out our enterprise software meant our small team became full-time change managers, constantly training users. We tried everything, more playbooks, product tours, custom training programs, but nothing scaled effectively or easily. That’s when we started experimenting with AI agents to help customers reach value faster, and the results were promising.”
“After selling Redactive to RecordPoint, we confirmed this wasn’t just our problem, it’s industry-wide and demands a completely new approach. That’s when we decided to build Quarterzip to tackle this issue head on.”
Favorite Memory
What has been your favorite memory working for the company so far? Valente reflected:
“We launched less than two weeks ago, and the response has been absolutely overwhelming. We’ve already booked hundreds of demos in just the first few days. That tells us we’re not just solving a problem, we’re addressing an urgent need that every software company feels but hasn’t been able to fix or exactly pinpoint.”
“What’s incredible is getting to build this with Andrew, who’s an excellent co-founder. Every conversation we’re having validates that we’re onto something transformative, not just for our customers, but for how software and AI adoption works across the entire industry. That momentum is electric!”
Core Products
What are the company’s core products and features? Valente explained:
“Imagine every user having a dedicated account manager who understands their specific goals and guides them to outcomes quickly and efficiently. That level of scalable success management has never been possible, until now.”
“Quarterzip is the world’s first Continuous Onboarding AI Agent, essentially an AI Post-Sales Team that uses real-time voice and screen sharing to personalize onboarding, accelerate activation, and scale customer success without extra headcount.”
“Our AI provides context-aware voice and screen guidance that instantly responds to user needs in the moment, making support feel personal and immediate. We deliver personalized, step-by-step guidance to onboard every user seamlessly, no manual sessions required. This means every customer gets a high-touch experience without requiring your team’s time.”
“We don’t just guide users through a company’s core product. We provide frictionless onboarding across integrations and third-party tools like Slack, Salesforce, Zendesk, and Intercom, reducing friction and boosting adoption across your entire tech stack.”
“Chris Cagiou from FirstAML told us that Quarterzip transforms onboarding from a static checklist into an intelligent, continuous experience that adapts to every user. His team can create guided, personalized onboarding journeys instantly, with zero engineering work, helping them maintain quality and consistency as they scale.”
“Unlike traditional one-time onboarding flows with static tooltips or rigid in-app tours, Quarterzip turns onboarding from a one-time event into an always-on experience that scales with customers. We provide real-time feedback showing exactly where users struggle, helping companies refine onboarding flows and steadily improve activation rates over time. This is what enables software companies to finally overcome the adoption crisis.”
Challenges Faced
Have you faced any challenges in your sector of work recently? Valente acknowledged:
“The biggest challenge isn’t ours alone, it’s the entire software industry’s. We call it ‘Activation Debt,’ and it’s really a symptom of a bigger problem: the inability to scale personalized onboarding as software becomes more complex and AI-driven.”
“Our analysis suggests this invisible crisis costs companies an average of $537 million annually in unused software licenses, with roughly 50% of licenses going unused. When users don’t get properly onboarded, adoption slows, acquisition spend gets wasted, and customer success teams scramble to compensate. It shows up hidden in churn reports and unused licenses, but most companies don’t realize how much it’s costing them.”
“We overcame this challenge by recognizing that traditional solutions simply don’t scale. You can’t hire enough Customer Success Managers, and static tools like tooltips aren’t sophisticated enough for today’s complex products. We had to build something entirely new.”
“That’s why we built Quarterzip. By leveraging our deep technical expertise combined with innovative AI, we created a system that delivers the personalized, high-touch experience every customer needs without requiring additional headcount.”
“The response validates the urgency of this problem. We’ve booked hundreds of demos in our first two weeks since launching!”
Evolution Of The Company’s Technology
How has the company’s technology evolved since launching? Valente noted:
“We launched less than two weeks ago, and the response has been overwhelming. We’ve already booked hundreds of demos in just the first few days, which validates that we’re addressing a real crisis that’s been overlooked for too long.”
“What’s particularly valuable at this stage is the quality of conversations we’re having with prospects and early customers. These discussions are giving us invaluable insights into how different companies experience Activation Debt and what specific workflows they need our AI agents to support. We’re hearing consistent themes: teams are drowning in onboarding support requests, static tools aren’t cutting it, and the cost of failed onboarding is massive but invisible.”
“Every demo and conversation is helping us refine our approach and accelerate our development roadmap. While it’s too early to talk about major technological evolution, I can say that the feedback loop we’ve established with our first 20+ customers is already informing how we prioritize features and improvements. We’re learning rapidly about what it takes to turn onboarding from a bottleneck into a growth engine and that’s exactly where you want to be in the early stages of building a company.”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of the company’s most significant milestones? Valente cited:
“Even though we’re such a young company, the momentum has been remarkable:
- We’ve had hundreds of demos booked in our first two weeks
- Signed more than 20 high-growth software and AI companies across the United States and Australia as customers
- Demonstrated measurable results including faster time-to-value, higher activation rates, and significantly lower cost-to-serve for our customers
Each of these milestones reinforces that we’re solving a fundamental industry problem at exactly the right moment.”
Customer Success Stories
Can you share any specific customer success stories? Valente highlighted:
“Absolutely. We’re working with several high-growth companies that are seeing real impact:
FirstAML – Chris Cagiou, their Chief Customer Officer, shared that as they scale, delivering consistent and engaging onboarding is essential. Quarterzip transformed their onboarding from a static checklist into an intelligent, continuous experience that adapts to every user. Their team can now create guided, personalized onboarding journeys instantly with zero engineering work, helping them maintain quality and consistency as they grow.
EstateXchange – Ben Darlow, their Product Executive, highlighted that their platform simplifies multi-step processes, and having Quarterzip’s AI voice agent support users contextually in real time is incredibly powerful. He described it as “a glimpse into how the next generation of onboarding, training, and customer support will feel.”
These companies represent what’s possible when you eliminate Activation Debt. They’re not just improving onboarding, they’re transforming it into a competitive advantage.”
Funding/Revenue
Are you able to discuss funding and/or revenue? Valente revealed:
“We have backing from notable investors and the funding from the sale of Redactive. More importantly, the market validation is speaking volumes. We’ve booked hundreds of demos in our first two weeks since launch. That kind of response tells us we’re addressing an urgent, industry-wide crisis. Companies are ready for this solution, and they need it now and funding and revenue will follow.”
Total Addressable Market (TAM)
What total addressable market (TAM) size is the company pursuing? Valente assessed:
“The numbers are staggering. Our industry analysis indicates that effectively addressing Activation Debt across the software sector could unlock $8 billion in new annual recurring revenue and $80 billion in enterprise value. We help companies save up to $535 million annually by eliminating the waste from unused software licenses and failed onboarding experiences.”
“But beyond the financial impact, imagine a world where software and AI adoption is seamless, where onboarding becomes a competitive advantage rather than a bottleneck. Companies could move faster, scale more efficiently, and deliver exceptional customer experiences without the friction that holds them back today. With roughly 50% of software licenses going unused due to poor onboarding, the opportunity to capture value and transform how the industry operates is enormous.”
“This isn’t just about market size. It’s about fundamentally changing how software success is achieved at scale.”
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates the company from its competition? Valente affirmed:
“We’re not iterating on existing solutions; we’re creating an entirely new category. Here’s why that matters:
Continuous vs. One-Time Experience: Traditional onboarding tools provide static, one-time experiences. We turn onboarding from a single event into an always-on experience that scales with your customers. We provide ongoing guidance that keeps customers engaged and drives long-term growth, eliminating the Activation Debt that costs companies hundreds of millions annually.
AI-Driven Voice and Screen Sharing at the Right Moment: Two things make this possible now. First, software is increasingly complex while teams are leaner than ever. The traditional approach of hiring more CSMs simply doesn’t scale. Second, AI has finally matured to the point where it can understand context, intent, and voice, not just text. We simulate complete onboarding experiences through AI-driven voice and screen sharing using the latest multimodal LLM technology. Our context-aware guidance instantly responds to user needs in the moment, essentially giving every customer a dedicated AI account manager. Companies that embrace AI-driven onboarding today can turn it into a competitive advantage.
Zero Friction Implementation: Our platform is incredibly simple to implement. Just connect Quarterzip to your product, our AI ingests your playbooks and customer data instantly, and you go live with continuous AI-driven guidance from day one. We guide users across your entire tech stack, including third-party tools like Slack, Salesforce, Zendesk, and Intercom. Teams can create personalized onboarding journeys with zero engineering work and no lengthy setups.
Intelligence That Improves Over Time: Beyond just guiding users, we provide real-time feedback showing exactly where users struggle, helping you refine onboarding flows and steadily improve activation rates. We automate repetitive onboarding tasks and deliver proactive support at scale without increasing headcount or overhead.
Proven Team with Deep Expertise: We’re serial entrepreneurs who successfully built and sold Redactive AI, bringing deep technical expertise and a proven formula for solving critical enterprise problems.
The response validates our differentiation, with hundreds of demos booked in our first two weeks. Traditional solutions like hiring more CSMs or deploying tooltips and product tours simply don’t address the root problem. We’re solving Activation Debt with an entirely new category of solution that delivers high-touch experiences at scale.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of the company’s future goals? Valente emphasized:
“Right now, we’re focused on the fundamentals: continuously improving our product and getting it into the hands of the customers who need it most. We’re still in our first few weeks since launch, and our priority is listening closely to our early customers, refining the platform based on their feedback, and ensuring we’re delivering real, measurable value.”
“The hundreds of demos we’ve booked prove the market is ready for this transformation. The conversations we’re having are helping us understand the breadth of the Activation Debt problem across different industries and use cases. As we learn from these engagements, we’ll let that guide our roadmap organically.”
“Beyond that, we’re excited about the category we’re creating. Continuous onboarding is fundamentally new territory, and we believe there’s enormous potential to expand what’s possible as the technology matures. This isn’t just about eliminating Activation Debt, it’s about redefining how software and AI adoption works at scale. We’re turning onboarding from a bottleneck into a growth engine, and that’s just the beginning.”
Additional Thoughts
Any other topics you would like to discuss? Valente concluded:
“I want to emphasize that we’re not just building a product, we’re addressing a fundamental industry problem that’s been invisible but incredibly costly. The concept of “Activation Debt” is something every software company experiences but few have named or systematically addressed.”
“Here’s what’s at stake: Companies are losing $537 million annually on average due to failed onboarding. That’s 50% of software licenses going unused. The industry could unlock $8 billion in new annual recurring revenue and $80 billion in enterprise value by solving this problem. But it’s bigger than just the numbers.”
“Our vision is a world where every user has the support they need to succeed with software, delivered at scale through AI. Where software and AI adoption is seamless, where onboarding becomes a competitive advantage rather than a bottleneck. The technology is finally mature enough to make this possible, and the market response, hundreds of demos in our first two weeks, proves the industry is ready for this transformation.”
“We’re incredibly excited about working with forward-thinking companies who want to turn this crisis into an opportunity, companies that recognize onboarding isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s a growth engine. If you’re struggling with Activation Debt, the solution is here now.”
