John Provine

Big ups to John Provine. This guy’s the real deal in the startup scene, especially when it comes to using AI to shake up customer research. He’s the CEO and co-founder of Voicepanel, a YC W24 startup, and man, they’re on a mission to make agency-level research fast, cheap, and expandable – all with AI. Crazy, right?

But here’s the kicker – John’s been in the game for over 30 years. He’s got a solid background in user and market research, which is kinda his jam. Before jumping into Voicepanel this year, he spent over a decade at Google, working across Search, Ads, and Maps. He knows tech inside out, plus he’s led product and engineering teams, so he understands what it takes to build something that actually works at scale.

And get this – he’s not just some tech guy. He’s got a BA in Computer Science from Harvard and an MBA from Berkeley. So, he’s got that perfect combo of hardcore tech skills and business smarts. He’s also been an entrepreneur before, co-founding and running Aligned Carbon as CEO, plus he’s been an academic – he was an adjunct professor and senior research scientist at Stanford. Basically, he’s been around the block, wearing all the hats, and crushing it.

His story? It’s about seeing the gaps in how companies do research and then jumping in to fix them. He’s always been into understanding people, markets, and tech, and now he’s built Voicepanel to automate that process using AI. The goal? To give startups and agencies the same quality insights big players get, but way faster and at a fraction of the cost. That’s some advanced stuff.

What’s wild is he led Voicepanel through YC’s winter batch and just raised $2.4 million – no big deal – to push this vision forward. The guy’s driven by a desire to make research accessible to everyone, not just the big guys with deep pockets. That’s what makes him stand out.

Bottom line? John Provine is a seasoned vet who’s taken all his experience from Google, Stanford, and his startups to build something that could totally change how we understand customers. He’s a perfect example of a techie turned entrepreneur with a mission to democratize insights. No bullshit, this guy’s here to stay and changing the game.