This Entrepreneur Raised $70 Million To Build An AI-Driven Sales Assistance Platform To Automate Sales Tasks

In the fast-paced world of tech entrepreneurship, Daniel Lee stands out with a remarkable story of resilience, innovation, and vision.

As the co-founder of Nooks, an AI-powered platform transforming the productivity of sales teams, Daniel recently announced a $43M funding round, bringing the total raised to $70M, which marked a significant milestone for his company. This collaboration brought more than just capital to Nooks.

This blog post dives into Daniel’s journey, from growing up in New Jersey, meeting his co-founders, and dropping out of Stanford to building a revolutionary product and navigating the complex world of startup fundraising.

Listen to the full podcast episode and review the transcript here.

The Early Years: A Love for Science and Innovation

Daniel Lee’s journey began in Manhattan, where he was born, before moving to New Jersey. Growing up, his passions revolved around ice hockey and science. He spent countless hours skating, rollerblading, and experimenting with projects that reflected his love for science and math.

Daniel was always into science and extracurriculars. One memorable high school project involved launching sugar rockets—a feat that got him into a bit of trouble but hinted at the inventive spirit that would later define his career.

Daniel’s academic journey took him to Stanford, where he initially pursued material science, influenced by his high school physics research at Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. Here, he got interested in computers, AI, and machine learning.

Despite an initial disinterest in computer science—his AP Computer Science class in high school was far from enjoyable—the subject’s allure grew when he saw his smartest friends excelling in it. He also met Nikhil Cheerla and Rohan Suri, who would co-found Nooks with him.

Determined not to be left behind, he dove headfirst into the discipline, discovering a passion for building things that would later drive his entrepreneurial pursuits.

The Birth of Nooks: From Weekend Project to Full-Time Venture

The idea for Nooks originated during the pandemic, as remote work became the norm. While working at Scale AI and facing the prospect of remote classes at Stanford, Daniel began hacking on the concept of a virtual office.

The objective? To make working/studying remotely a better experience. This was more than just a weekend project; it was a full-time pursuit that eventually drew in his close friends, Rohan and Nikhil.

The trio initially focused on creating a platform to enhance remote collaboration, akin to a virtual office for co-working rather than meetings. Early traction came from Stanford classes using Nooks for office hours, which evolved into a broader application for startup teams.

As they refined the product, they discovered its immense potential in empowering sales teams by automating busy work and providing intelligent coaching—a pivot that marked a new chapter for Nooks.

The co-founders ended up going all into the venture. Daniel also gave up his summer internship to work on Nooks despite his parents’ misgivings. Some VCs also approached the trio, offering to help them raise capital.

Building the Company: From Basements to Boardrooms

The early days of Nooks were humbling yet inspiring. Daniel and his team worked from his home in New Jersey before relocating to co-founder Rohan’s basement in Virginia.

Fueled by passion and supported by Rohan’s mom’s home-cooked meals, the team focused on refining their product and building momentum. Their vision was clear: automating repetitive tasks to make sales teams more productive.

Today, Nooks offers three core AI assistants:

• Dialing Assistant: Automates calling tasks, including finding phone numbers, skipping answering machines, and taking notes.
• Coaching Assistant: Provides actionable feedback on calls and includes an AI role-play feature for practice. It simulates customers so sales reps can practice trying to sell.
• Prospecting Assistant: Automates account research, prioritizes prospect lists, and drafts emails.

These features not only save time but also enable sales reps to focus on building meaningful customer relationships, ultimately boosting their productivity and job satisfaction. Daniel explains that Nooks charges for the assistants on a per-user basis. Customers can sign up for SaaS subscriptions.

Daniel reveals that Nooks initially focused on helping remote teams work together efficiently, just as they would in person in a virtual office. It was similar to Zoom, but for co-working instead of for meetings.

The second objective was to automate the manual parts of selling and support feedback loops that improved rep performance.

Key Milestones and Aha Moments

For Daniel, the journey of building Nooks has been punctuated by moments of validation and growth. Early traction with Stanford classes provided the initial boost, while feedback from sales reps solidified the product’s value proposition.

Users consistently reported that Nooks made their jobs more enjoyable, helped them hit quotas, and even contributed to career advancements. These testimonials underscored the transformative impact of Nooks, inspiring Daniel and his team to continue innovating and expanding their reach.

Fundraising Success: Securing $70 Million

The path to raising $70M was a testament to Daniel’s ability to learn, adapt, and leverage resources effectively. Nooks’ fundraising journey began with a seed round in late 2020, initiated by VCs who saw the potential in their project.

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As the company grew, subsequent rounds were marked by preemptive offers, with each stage bringing new challenges and heightened expectations.

• Seed Round: This round was unstructured, with no pitch deck or formal company structure. The focus was on the product’s potential and positive user feedback.
• Series A: By this stage, Nooks had revenue and clear metrics, making it easier to attract investors interested in market size and long-term vision.
• Series B: The latest round, led by Kleiner Perkins, emphasized metrics, growth, retention, TAM, and market capture. This round was preempted by an offer, reflecting the confidence investors had in Nooks’ vision and execution.

Throughout the fundraising process, Daniel leaned on advisors for guidance and leveraged investor connections to open doors to potential customers within their portfolios. One of their latest investors actually sent them a reverse pitch deck indicating their interest in Nooks.

This strategic approach not only facilitated funding but also helped Nooks establish a strong foothold in the market. Daniel draws similarities to contemporary science-driven agriculture techniques using fleets of machines like drones, tractors, and plows for manual work.

Scientists today measure soil composition and optimize yields so that there are fewer farmers in the sector, but they grow a lot more food. Similarly, using Nooks, sales reps focus on high-leverage sales activities and generate significantly more opportunities.

As a result, the sales rep job is undergoing a significant transformation, and one person can do the job of 10. They can deliver more value to customers, making value creation much more efficient.

Future Vision for Nooks

Reps enabled with Nooks’ AI assistants can focus on the more human parts of the job. Millions of reps and their prospects will have much better experiences in their day-to-day lives.

Daniel foresees a world where AI has reached levels previously thought would happen in the next several decades, not years. Foundation models are pushing the boundaries of intelligence with large language models (LLM).

However, practical applications to solve real business problems remain underdeveloped. As Daniel sees it, AI in the sales sphere has much more potential than other domains.

That includes customer support, coding, legal, or compliance. Humans can free up time and bandwidth to build customer relationships, deliver value, and empathize with their problems. Sellers should work on developing creative strategies to solve these problems.

Nooks’ founders, Dan, Nikhil, and Rohan, earned the Forbes ‘30 Under 30 AI’ award for their visionary work in creating an AI-driven sales assistant platform that automates the busywork in dialing, prospecting, and coaching so reps can focus on the human side of selling.

The Road Ahead

As Nooks continues to grow, Daniel remains focused on delivering meaningful value to users and scaling the company. With a strong foundation, a clear vision, and a passionate team, Nooks is poised to redefine productivity for sales teams worldwide.

For aspiring entrepreneurs, Daniel’s story serves as a potent reminder that resilience, adaptability, and a commitment to solving real problems can lead to extraordinary outcomes. He also advises them to pick a small number of goals and prioritize them over others.

Listen to the full podcast to know more, including:

• Nooks transitioned from a co-working spaces app to a dynamic virtual office platform, adapting to remote work trends.
• Daniel Lee emphasized deep user empathy, gathering insights to craft features that resonate with teams.
• Nooks automates dialing, coaching, and prospecting busywork to help sellers boost Their pipeline and focus on the human side of selling.
• By securing $70M in funding, Nooks aims to redefine how remote teams interact and work together.
• Lee’s entrepreneurial journey highlights the importance of perseverance and learning from setbacks.
• Nooks’ success underscores the growing demand for tools that enhance productivity and camaraderie in remote settings.

 

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