Good afternoon, everyone. This is Andy Karuza with NachoNacho, the number one place to manage, discover, and save on SaaS. And today, I have Dharmesh Patel with AdZapier, and we'd love if we would start to introduce this product and give us a quick elevator pitch for what they do. Hey, Andy, thank you for having us. Adzapier, it is a consent management platform designed for the modern digital world. Our platform empowers businesses to effortlessly comply with global privacy regulations such as GDPR, CCPA, and more. As your streamline process of obtaining and managing documenting user consent, helping you avoid costly fines and safeguard your business reputation. Through a user-friendly interface and powerful analytics, we provide transparency to users and add valuable insight to your teams, enabling trust and nurturing strong customer relationships. With AdZapier, you do not only protect your business but also foster a culture of respect for your data privacy. Free pitch, love it. So, what got you into data privacy? I guess what got you started in your career, and how did you end up where you are now? What a good question. My career actually started as a deep fascination of understanding patterns and making sense of a vast amount of data. I realized early on that data isn't just about numbers and figures; it's the voice of customers and their behaviors, which can tell a compelling story about what they need and want. This led me to my first role as a data analyst, where I honed my skills in user behavior and translating that into actionable business insights. As I began to see the impact of my insights on business decisions, I was inspired to explore a more consumer-centric role, which led me to marketing. I have been able to combine my analytical background and creative marketing strategies to create targeted campaigns that not only reach the right audiences but also resonate at a deeper level. This blend of data and creativity has been the most challenging and rewarding aspect of my career. And with the introduction of strict privacy regulations, it brought a new dimension to my career. Understanding and navigating this law has become crucial, and it is what inspired the development of AdZapier, a platform that matches data utilization with user consent. Great! Yeah, it's rare to find people that are left brain and right brain at the same time, they could blend the marketing experience and understand the data side as well, right? Because it doesn't really matter if you have a bunch of data; you have to know what to do with it. And then, where I think you guys have really specialized with Ad Zapier is that UX, right? Making it easy for people to understand the importance of data privacy and then giving them a simple, easy-to-use tool where they can actually help their data privacy needs. So with that said, what are a lot of companies getting wrong about data privacy today? I know it's been a hot topic over the last few years. Ah, that's a good question. In my experience, one of the biggest mistakes that many companies make when it comes to data privacy is treating it as a checkbox solution. It's an "Xbox" activity rather than a core business principle. Companies often view privacy or regulation as an inconvenience, an obligation, something to comply with just to avoid fines, rather than an opportunity to build trust and loyalty with their customers. One company I know collected data without a clear purpose and adequate security, thinking more data equals more insights. However, a data breach led to significant reputation damage. This basically underscores the importance of balancing data collection with respect for customer privacy. It is not about collecting data but doing so responsibly, securely, and with consent. At Zapier, we believe privacy isn't just about compliance; it is more about demonstrating About compliance, right? So, compliance, like GDPR and CCPA. Is a good shot, uh, for example when you give an example about uh, Facebook, Cambridge Analytica, right? In 2018, they got sued for five billion dollars because they harvested the uh, they harvested customer data with that product and set another expert of the data is basically data protection. Business needs to be aware of their data protection, how data is collected, how it's basically stored securely. Companies need to have a robust data security measure to prevent glitches, right? Another example would be in that Target in 2013, uh, where their credit card information of like 40 million customers were stolen, uh, and, uh, that actually important software, uh, data protection and build build, uh, and have a lack of transparency. A lot of companies don't have like a transparency in terms of companies must have like a clear, uh, or to know where the data is collected, how it is collected, and where the basically data is going and having a sufficient, uh, consent management platform. It is crucial for businesses to obtain and manage user consent properly. And also, uh, data minimization, like you said, not having a lot of data doesn't mean a good thing. Yeah, collecting more data than necessary can lead to a lot of problems as well. So understanding this kind of issues can help businesses leaders create a strategic, uh, policy that is not only complied with the regulation but also respect user privacy choices. Great point. What are some of the main, uh, privacy laws, I guess that people have to worry about? GDPR is one. Yeah, it's see, creating your, if, if getting privacy policy is the one thing, uh, but if you want a company wants to implement like a data privacy policy in the core strategy, uh, there are multiple steps, and it involves commitment from all levels of the organization. Um, and here are some of the steps that companies can take. First, understand the regulation. First step is to make sure you understand the data privacy laws applicable to their businesses, such as CCPA, GDPR, etc., and depending on the region of the company's operation. This includes understanding what data you can collect, how you can use it, and what user rights, what strikes are involved. Also, creating a data audit, conduct like a comprehensive data audit of data that you currently hold, understand what data you have, where it comes from, and how it's used, and how it's stored and protected as well. And in terms of a privacy policy, based on your understanding of the regulation and the data you hold, develop a privacy policy that is transparent, easy to understand, and communicate how you collect and use, protect your use, and protect users' data. And security measures, you need to have robust data security measures to protect user data from these breaches. This might include like, uh, encrypting, securing data storage, access control, and regularly, uh, creating a sec-do, a security audit and establish a consent management platform, like, as if you're implementing a process to obtain, manage, and document user consent, uh, concept for the data that you collect and use, ensure that the user can easily withdraw from consent if needed. And the third way to make sure, train your employees, educate all employees about the importance, importance of data privacy, the company policies, and their role to ensure compliance. Currently, we don't actually offer that kind of service. We know that data privacy is a rapidly evolving field. There are a lot of technological advancements and continuous changes happening. As a company, you need to be aware of what laws are important to your business and stay informed. That's why we have an educational program and a lot of blog posts on our website to educate people about the importance of data privacy, data centralization, data minimization, and how to be transparent in terms of collecting data. We help companies use our products and services to be compliant and build their privacy policies and data strategies around them. Do you have any other examples of companies where a data privacy policy saved them, like in the case of a hack or something similar? I don't have a specific example because that data is not publicly available due to its sensitive nature. But there are use cases where robust privacy practices have protected companies from potential crises like legal issues and reputation damage. One example I can give is Apple. Apple has taken a stand on privacy as a fundamental human right and has embraced privacy in its business model and product design. Their commitment to data privacy has received widespread support from technology companies, privacy advocates, and many customers. So, if you want to build a strong privacy foundation, you can look at Apple as an example. Failure is a part of any profession. Could you share a story where you failed and what you learned from it? Failure often brings the best learning experiences. I believe that with failure comes an opportunity to pivot. One example I can share is when we implemented a new CRM system. We underestimated the time required for training the staff and the transition. When we launched the system, it became clear that the team was struggling to adapt, leading to decreased productivity and morale. This taught me the crucial importance of change management. Since then, we have made it a priority to consider the human element in any project, ensuring sufficient training and support are in place. We communicate clearly with stakeholders, provide comprehensive training and resources, and set realistic timelines. This failure taught me that the most promising tools and systems are only as good as your team's ability to effectively utilize them. In the early days, how did you achieve your initial growth for adZapier? We faced a lot of challenges from the beginning, including funding, finding the right team, and standing out in a competitive market. We focused on understanding our target customers deeply and tailored our products and marketing efforts to their specific needs. Being in the data privacy industry, our understanding of data regulations helped us navigate a complex landscape. We learned from each failure and hurdle, turning them into opportunities for growth and learning. What's one thing potential customers should know about adZapier and why should they choose your platform over others? At adZapier, we prioritize data privacy. It's not just about regulatory requirements; it's a core business principle that respects the value of our customers. What sets us apart is our dedication to making privacy understandable and accessible, not just for businesses but also for their end users. We believe that when users trust a company with their data, they are entrusting them with their digital identities. We are here to help businesses build trust because we believe that privacy is a right, not a privilege. Just like Apple, we become your partner in building a trustworthy digital world. Companies being able to, you know, looking for a service number one but two making it, making the UX and the education there so they can easily implement something that their customers want and, frankly, people demand these days which is, you know, privacy and control over their data. So, you know, I find you guys to be a kind of missing piece in that puzzle there. Yeah. Um, so I guess what's next for AdZapier over the next few years? Where do you see yourself in five years? Well, it's very hard to predict your future. Where we can see, but uh, just considering like a business trend and trajectories, I believe data privacy is gonna here to stay. Um, in terms of what we see, I would like to ask Jacob to grow on globally. We will expand our services in new markets across the globe, adapting to local regulations here in the U.S. or abroad and providing a true global consent management solution. And continuously develop new products and services based on evolving customer needs, right, and technological advancement. Um, we may continue to basically add new features, services on our platform, make it easier, uh, add more automation AI-driven insights, and build industry-specific solutions. And as the business grows, we would like to actually make it more integration with more third parties for our design solution. So we're gonna add more and more third-party integration to our platform and create and keep creating a more education privacy education part of our mission. It's a part of my mission to make privacy accessible. So we will focus on education, providing resources, training to help businesses and their users understand and manage data privacy. It sounds like you're the right guys to do it. Uh, we do have a question from the audience. How do you strike a balance between data privacy and government requests to ask for access to data? Government access to a request to ask the data? As Ad Zapier, our data is basically encrypted end-to-end. So we give the ability to companies to provide those kinds of requests. Our data is encrypted end-to-end. We don't actually have the data of the end users. So we will always pass this information to the companies who actually have all this data so they can fulfill the government request. And if you were the company, like putting yourselves in their shoes, how would you respond to a request? Uh, a couple of ways. One way to do it is, uh, is a user. If you're a user, if you want to have those cons, we do have a desire, as a solution, user asks for remover information after information or write to more information. The desire-based solution allows you to track and actually guide you through each of the regulations, CCPA, GDPR, type of requirement to fulfill those kinds of requests. From the platform side. Great! Well, Dharmesh, it's been great having you on today, and I'd love to hear more about Ad Zapier. And if anybody's serious about their data privacy policies, not only is it great for building trust with your users, it's actually a great marketing tool. But more importantly, it's insurance to make sure that your customers are protected, and it's only a growing trend. So, you know, if you don't have a strategy in place now, I'd highly recommend starting with their educational materials. These guys, you know, from what I've seen, seem to be one of the industry leaders. So I definitely recommend their product. You can pick it up today in our B2B SaaS Marketplace. Just look up Ad Zapier in the little search bar there, and you can find the number one