Lisa Falzone On Selling A Company For $250 Million And Now Building An AI-Powered Weapons Detection And Visitor Management System

Lisa Falzone’s journey from elite athlete to repeat tech founder reflects her discipline, adaptability, and resilience. She is the co-founder of Revel Systems and Athena Security Inc., and has built and scaled companies, weathering the emotional highs and lows that come with entrepreneurial life.

Lisa and her co-founder, Christopher Ciabarra, invested their personal funding into Athena Security. It has also secured funding from investors like XFactor Ventures, Pathfinder Venture Capital Funds, and Capital Factory.

In this episode, you will learn:

• Lisa Falzone’s competitive swimming background instilled the discipline and pressure-handling skills that later fueled her entrepreneurial success.
• Her journey into entrepreneurship began with self-exploration, blogging, and experimenting with small business ideas, culminating in her co-founding of Revel Systems.
• Revel Systems found product-market fit by engaging directly with customers, ultimately creating a cloud-based iPad POS solution.
• Despite scaling Revel to a $500M valuation, Lisa experienced severe burnout, highlighting the emotional toll of first-time entrepreneurship.
• Athena Security was born from a mission to prevent gun violence, leveraging AI and hardware to detect concealed weapons in hospitals and schools.
• Lisa emphasizes selling before building and staying open to pivoting based on customer feedback as keys to achieving product-market fit.
• With her second venture, she opted for self-funding and individual investors to align mission and timelines, avoiding the misalignment common with institutional capital.

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About Lisa Falzone:

Lisa Falzone is a serial entrepreneur with a proven track record of disrupting out-of-touch industries. In less than a decade, she built and scaled the first iPad-based cash register, Revel Systems, to over 700 global employees and tens of thousands of installations spanning five continents.

Lisa brought on flagship customers like Royal Dutch Shell, Qantas Airlines, Cinnabon, and Estee Lauder, and led partnerships with Intuit, IBM, and Apple. She has raised over 200 million dollars from top-tier venture capitalists and private equity firms and has received numerous government grants based on her track record of high-growth leadership.

When Lisa started a family, she knew that she had to do something to address the growing problem of school shootings. She founded Athena so that her daughter could grow up in a safer world.

Awards

• 2017: Named by Business Insider as a founder of one of the “21 Hottest Women-Founded Startups to Watch in 2017”.
• 2016: Part of Tech Crunch’s list of “40 Female Founders Who Crushed it in 2016”.
• 2015: Falzone was recognized by Fortune Magazine as No. 19 on the 40 Under 40 list, as well as by Forbes on its list of Eight Rising Stars.
• 2015: Ernst & Young Entrepreneurial Winning Women, on the Business Journal Upstart 100 list, recognized by Fortune Magazine’s list of “40 Under 40,” Honored by Forbes magazine as one of the “Women to Watch – Eight Rising Stars.”
• 2012 & 2013: Named by Forbes magazine in their “30 Under 30” awards.

Connect with Lisa Falzone:

• LinkedIn
• Crunchbase
• TheOrg
• PitchBook

Read the Full Transcription of the Interview:

Alejandro Cremades: Alrighty, hello everyone, and welcome to the DealMaker Show. Today we have an amazing guest joining us. She’s a repeat founder and very successful. We’re going to be talking about all the good stuff we like to hear: building, scaling, financing, and exiting.

Alejandro Cremades: We’re also going to cover how being an athlete ended up coming in quite handy on the entrepreneurial journey, as well as the topic of founder burnout — something we don’t hear about too often, but I think it’s going to be very important to touch on. Other topics include raising money, scaling, and the different stages and life cycles of building a company.

Alejandro Cremades: A truly inspiring conversation ahead. Without further ado, let’s welcome our guest today — Lisa Falzone. Welcome to the show.

Lisa Falzone: Awesome. So excited to be here. Thank you so much for the kind introduction.

Alejandro Cremades: So Lisa, originally born and raised in Santa Barbara — give us a walk down memory lane. How was life growing up for you?

Lisa Falzone: Life growing up was pretty awesome. Santa Barbara has sort of the perfect weather. It kind of spoiled me for the rest of my life — I really can’t live anywhere that’s not Mediterranean.

Lisa Falzone: I grew up on the beach, right on the Pacific Ocean. During that time, I also developed a passion for swimming and became a really competitive swimmer.

Alejandro Cremades: Why swimming, out of all things? How did you get into it?

Lisa Falzone: It was sort of just in my family. My dad was a swimmer, my mom was a synchronized swimmer, and in Santa Barbara, you’re kind of used to always being in the water.

Lisa Falzone: Yeah, it’s right next to the beach.

Alejandro Cremades: Walk us through how you got into Stanford — quite the program for competitive swimming.

Lisa Falzone: Yeah, I got recruited for being a competitive swimmer by Richard Quick, who was a four-time Olympic coach at the time. It was one of the best swim programs in the United States.

Lisa Falzone: So I got recruited to swim at Stanford, and that was really my passion and focus at the time.

Alejandro Cremades: One thing that’s really interesting here — I remember watching the discipline and commitment Michael Phelps had while training for the Olympics. That discipline seems to spread across the board, especially at a place like Stanford. What do you think swimming taught you about discipline, competition, ambition, and enduring pain?

Lisa Falzone: Totally. Those are exactly the things it taught me. I just really loved to race and thrived on the competitive pressure of a two-minute race. In swimming, you train three to five hours a day. You’re waking up early in the morning to work out, putting in a lot of time and miles — all for a two-minute race.

Lisa Falzone: I loved the adrenaline of it — you put in a season of really hard work, and then you’re up on the blocks, not knowing what’s going to happen. You just have to put it all out there. The pressure’s on, adrenaline’s running high, and you go for it. That ability to perform under pressure, handle competition, and stay competitive overall — it translates really well into business and entrepreneurship.

Alejandro Cremades: Let’s talk about your experience across PR, venture capital, and how those led you to decide that becoming an entrepreneur was what you really wanted to do.

Lisa Falzone: Yeah, I graduated from Stanford as a history major and spent a lot of time swimming. So when I graduated, I had no idea what I wanted to do. At the time, I really thought — maybe I just had a limited view — that to be an entrepreneur, you had to be a computer scientist.

Lisa Falzone: After graduating, I went to work in London and realized there were tons of entrepreneurs who weren’t computer scientists — like Richard Branson, or people who didn’t even go to college but still developed great companies. During that time, I worked in venture capital, insurance, PR, and marketing. I tried different internships and jobs, but I didn’t enjoy working for other people.

Lisa Falzone: I just knew deep down that starting my own business was something I had to do. It took me a long time to get the confidence to do it, but those experiences pushed me in that direction.

Alejandro Cremades: Part of that journey involved blogging, which helped you meet and connect with others in similar situations. How did that help?

Lisa Falzone: Once I decided to start my own company, I tried a lot of different things — a swimwear distribution company, a coffee shop, a toy company. These were little “baby businesses” I worked on mainly to learn. I was asking myself: Is this a good market? Is this something I want to do?

Lisa Falzone: I realized the cheapest kind of business to start — since I didn’t have much money — was a software company. I could pay a developer from a platform like Upwork and get going.

Lisa Falzone: During that time, I also wrote a blog. It was mostly for myself — inspirational quotes for entrepreneurs. I made it public and got two comments. One was from the person who became my future co-founder at Revel Systems. He commented, “Nice blog,” and I was so excited! It wasn’t a popular blog at all.

Lisa Falzone: But I realized he was in a similar situation. He was a technical architect, and we had really complementary skill sets. We worked well together and moved quickly.

Lisa Falzone: We started building an ordering app to integrate with point-of-sale systems. That work eventually led to Revel Systems, my first company.

Alejandro Cremades: Eventually you developed software and analytics built around the iPad and point-of-sale systems. How did the pieces come together for Revel?

Lisa Falzone: Like with the other baby businesses, we found product-market fit by just going out and doing it. We were selling this ordering app and talking to restaurant owners. We weren’t in love with the ordering app idea, but working on it gave us the opportunity to talk to them.

Lisa Falzone: People kept saying, “That’s cool, but what I really need is a point-of-sale system.” Everyone was complaining about their current POS. That was right when Steve Jobs had just announced the iPad.

Lisa Falzone: So we put two and two together and decided to create a cloud-based iPad point-of-sale system. And we never looked back.

Alejandro Cremades: What ended up being the business model for Revel?

Lisa Falzone: We focused on enterprise point-of-sale — systems for chains and high-volume businesses. We made money through an upfront hardware fee since we sold both hardware and software, and then a cloud-based subscription fee. At the time, we charged about $3,000 upfront and $100 per month per system.

Alejandro Cremades: What was that moment like when you realized, “I think we’re onto something here”?

Lisa Falzone: It was so exciting. I just knew internally that this was really going to work. After years of wandering and trying to find something I truly loved, it was like magic. I couldn’t sleep — I was so excited. I just knew it was going to be big.

Alejandro Cremades: And when did that insight really get validated?

Lisa Falzone: We kept raising rounds of funding. In 2014, we raised about $100 million from a private equity firm and a couple of other investors. That was the big validation — our mark of success.

Alejandro Cremades: No kidding. You grew the company to about $500 million before the transaction — really remarkable. What was that fundraising journey like for you, especially as a first-time founder?

Lisa Falzone: We started the company in 2010, just as the economy was beginning to recover from the 2008 crisis. I knew I had to create and sell a product before raising a seed round. So that’s what we did.

Lisa Falzone: I had saved up about $30,000 and put it all into building the product. Chris, our CTO and chief architect, hired some affordable programmers, and we got a prototype together. We tested it in a fish and chips shop in Sausalito, California.

Alejandro Cremades: That’s amazing. Now walk us through the burnout you hit in 2014. What happened?

Lisa Falzone: As a first-time entrepreneur, I lacked confidence, so I just kept working nonstop, trying to make it work. We were under pressure from competitors who were raising money and giving their product away for free, so we had to compete on value.

Lisa Falzone: The stress of running so hard for four years — I didn’t even realize it until we reached success. Then I collapsed. I was just exhausted.

Alejandro Cremades: How did you turn things around? How did you find the strength?

Lisa Falzone: I had to take a break. I reached a point where I didn’t want to run the company anymore. My team told me to go travel, take care of myself, and they would run the company while I was gone.

Lisa Falzone: I focused on having fun, dealing with my mental health, and doing self-care. I had never seen a therapist before, but I started therapy and began managing my mental well-being.

Lisa Falzone: Running a company is like driving a car — if you feel every bump in the road, it’s exhausting. You have to build a great executive team to handle those bumps so you can focus on the bigger picture. That was really critical for me.

Alejandro Cremades: And finally, how was the experience of going through the acquisition?

Lisa Falzone: We had a couple of different exits. The main one was in 2017 when we sold the majority share to a private equity firm.

Lisa Falzone: Um, and then it later got sold to Shift4. But yeah, it was kind of an interesting experience to go through an exit. Everyone thinks it’s going to be just sunshine and rainbows after you go through something like that, but your brain gets so used to running quite quickly, dealing with a lot of problems, and having such a big mission. Once you sort of “retire,” for lack of a better word, and you don’t have that mission or purpose in life…

Lisa Falzone: Yeah, after a while—maybe after six months for me—it became quite depressing not having something like that, especially after being on such a ride for seven years.

Alejandro Cremades: So then what did you do?

Lisa Falzone: So I started another company.

Alejandro Cremades: What did you do about it?

Alejandro Cremades: Well, let’s talk about that. I know that was fueled too by what was happening with school shootings, so…

Lisa Falzone: Yeah, so I started…

Alejandro Cremades: So walk us through the… yeah.

Lisa Falzone: Yeah, so I started having kids, I got married, and I wanted to do something more altruistic with my time. But I didn’t want to do a nonprofit. I wanted to use the latest and greatest technology to help stop school shootings. So then we founded Athena Security.

Lisa Falzone: Athena is the goddess of wisdom and security, so that’s why we called it Athena. Our first product was visual light weapon detection. It detects when someone pulls out a weapon and sends an alert through CCTV cameras.

Lisa Falzone: Through doing that, people said, “That’s really cool, it improves response times, but it doesn’t actually help prevent the crime.” So in 2022, we pivoted to concealed weapon detection for entryways. It’s a next-generation metal detector with really high throughput.

Lisa Falzone: We do all the reporting and analytics. It’s a hardware and software solution, very similar to what we did at Revel. And I haven’t looked back.

Alejandro Cremades: That’s incredible. Now let’s talk about product-market fit too. And I guess before that, for those listening—what is Athena? How do you guys make money?

Lisa Falzone: Yeah, so we make money by selling these concealed entryway systems for about $25,000 per year as a hardware and software solution—per entryway. Our biggest vertical is hospitals and emergency rooms. Nurses are getting attacked on a daily basis, more than police officers, and are getting assaulted. So when we put these systems in, it’s usually long overdue. People are really excited.

Lisa Falzone: They say, “Thank God my hospital finally did something.” So it feels really good catching weapons before they come into buildings.

Lisa Falzone: Every month, we catch thousands of weapons from coming into buildings.

Alejandro Cremades: But that’s crazy. You just said something new to me—that nurses get attacked more than police officers?

Lisa Falzone: Yeah. I didn’t know that either going into this industry.

Lisa Falzone: Like I said, school shootings get more publicized, but violence is happening daily in ER rooms. Nurses and doctors don’t feel safe.

Alejandro Cremades: That’s unbelievable.

Lisa Falzone: Yeah, if you’re a nurse with an angry patient, you’re like, “Oh thank God I have Athena,” because at least you know they’re not going to have a weapon—or are less likely to. We can’t ever guarantee 100%.

Alejandro Cremades: So now you’re on company number two. I think you have a very good understanding of product-market fit—what it looks like and how to get there.

Alejandro Cremades: What have you learned, and what can you share with listeners about getting to product-market fit? Any tips or insights?

Lisa Falzone: Yeah, I see a lot of entrepreneurs just thinking in their room or office and trying to think their way into product-market fit. In my experience, that’s a good start, but once you have an idea, start doing it. See if you can sell it first—that’s number one. Always sell it before you create the product. A lot of startups fail because…

Lisa Falzone: One of my favorite books, Four Steps to Epiphany by Steve Blank—a Stanford professor—talks about this. His bottom line: sell it first before investing money into engineering.

Lisa Falzone: That’s number one. Number two—don’t be afraid to go out and sell an idea you’re not in love with. Maybe it’s just “okay,” but that gets you out there.

Lisa Falzone: It gets you out talking to people. I would have never randomly talked to restaurant owners or heads of security. But through the ordering app with Revel, I started talking to restaurant owners.

Lisa Falzone: And with Athena’s visual light weapon detection, it got me talking to heads of security—helping me find out what they really need. And don’t be afraid to pivot.

Lisa Falzone: Be humble enough to pivot. Sometimes entrepreneurs fail because they’re stuck on one idea. That’s good in some ways, but bad in others. You have to be humble enough to say, “Hey, I’m wrong. I’ve got to switch courses.”

Alejandro Cremades: 2022 was when you guys actually pivoted Athena, right?

Alejandro Cremades: How was that process?

Lisa Falzone: Yeah, it was four years of product-market fit—but it got delayed with COVID. We couldn’t really sell into security during COVID. It was kind of difficult. So we created another product during that time—a COVID solution.

Lisa Falzone: COVID got in the way of reaching product-market fit. Four years is a long time to find it. But my theory is: the longer you spend on finding the right fit, the better.

Lisa Falzone: It’s kind of like dating. Date a lot. That’s my advice. And then, when you commit, it’s going to be awesome.

Alejandro Cremades: I love that. Now, the way you thought about raising for Athena was also a little different. As exited founders, you had capital you could put to work too.

Alejandro Cremades: I believe it’s been about $16 million—a chunk of that from the founders themselves. How are you thinking about fundraising the second time around?

Lisa Falzone: Yeah, one fun fact—if your listeners aren’t familiar with QSBS (Qualified Small Business Stock), they should be.

Lisa Falzone: One of the provisions is kind of similar to real estate. If you put the money to work within 60 days of an exit, you can delay capital gains. It’s similar with QSBS—if you exit and reinvest within 60 days, you can delay capital gains. So it worked out for us to take some of our Revel money and put it into Athena.

Lisa Falzone: And when you invest in a C-corp, it’s 10x—usually with QSBS it’s $10 million capital gains free. But if you invest $5 million, it’s 10x that. So from a financial and exit perspective, it worked out.

Lisa Falzone: At Revel, we worked with all kinds of investors: VCs, wealthy individuals, private equity. By far, my favorite was the wealthy individual. They didn’t have LPs to report to.

Lisa Falzone: When you have LPs, they have their own timelines. If you’re a VC or PE firm, you’re reporting to LPs, and that might not align with the company. As a founder, you may want to work on a company for 20–30 years as a legacy.

Lisa Falzone: But VCs and PEs need to show an exit in 5–10 years. I feel lucky we could fund it ourselves and avoid those misaligned timelines or missions.

Alejandro Cremades: In terms of vision—when you raise, people are betting on your vision. Whether it’s your 60+ employees or your customers—they’re betting on it.

Alejandro Cremades: So if you went to sleep tonight and woke up in a world where the vision of Athena was fully realized—what would that world look like?

Lisa Falzone: It would actually be a world where we’re out of business. Ideally, there’s no more gun violence—especially not in places like hospitals and schools.

Lisa Falzone: That would be the ultimate vision for Athena.

Alejandro Cremades: That’s the future. But let’s look at the past with a lens of reflection. Let’s say I bring you back in time to when you had your blog, met Chris, and were thinking about starting something.

Alejandro Cremades: And let’s say you show up and can give that younger Lisa one piece of advice before launching a business. What would it be and why, given what you know now—two businesses in?

Lisa Falzone: Oh yeah, there’s a lot of advice. But I think part of the fun of growing a company is growing as an individual. The personal growth you go through…

Lisa Falzone: When I was 25 and started my first company, I was really unsure of myself. I took every little problem as an existential crisis. That leads to burnout.

Lisa Falzone: You have to pick and choose wisely, and not let the little stuff emotionally affect you too much. And pace yourself—this is a marathon, not a sprint.

Lisa Falzone: That’s what’s best for the long-term value of the business. Also, when I was 25, I really cared what people thought of me. Now, at 40, I just don’t care.

Lisa Falzone: I used to spiral for a week over a bad Glassdoor review. Now I might still not like it, but I don’t let it affect me the same way. I know who I am.

Alejandro Cremades: How did you get to that mindset? That’s quite powerful.

Lisa Falzone: I don’t know. I think it’s just a lot of things. Maybe it’s getting older. I know I’m doing what’s best for my company—and that might piss some people off. I might have to fire someone, and they’ll write a bad review. That’s fine.

Lisa Falzone: I know I made that decision because it was best for the company. The company’s mission comes first. Also, having a family and being married gives you an identity outside of work. When I was building Revel Systems, my company was my identity.

Alejandro Cremades: Amazing, Lisa. For those listening, what’s the best way to reach out and say hi?

Lisa Falzone: Um, I got kicked off Twitter, so I don’t have a Twitter account. But you can reach me on LinkedIn—Lisa Falzone—or send me an email at li**@*************ty.com.

Alejandro Cremades: Amazing. Well, easy enough. Lisa, thank you so much for being on the DealMaker Show today. It’s been an absolute honor to have you with us.

Lisa Falzone: Awesome. I loved it. Yeah, it was really fun to talk to you.

*****

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