LogicGate Founders Reflect: A Decade of Modernization

GRC & Me Podcast – June 25, 2025
Host: Megan Manifold (LogicGate)
Guests: Matt Kunkel, John Siegler, Dan Campbell (LogicGate Founders)

Episode Overview

To celebrate LogicGate's 10th anniversary, host Megan Manifold sits down with all three founders—Matt, John, and Dan—for a lively conversation blending company lore, candid reflections on building a business in the GRC (Governance, Risk, and Compliance) space, and honest takes on industry trends. The trio shares how their different personalities have shaped LogicGate, recounts both fun and formative milestones, and gives their predictions for the future of GRC—especially the rising influence of AI. Listeners get an inside look at the missteps, course corrections, and culture that have defined LogicGate’s first decade.

Founders' Superlatives (00:33 – 02:02)

• "Who's most likely to take a big bet?"
  • Unanimous: Matt.
    • “Maybe not go to the casinos with Matt—or maybe do, because you’re probably going to win big.” (Megan, 00:42)
• "Most likely to over-caffeinate?"
  • Dan: “I am a coffee junkie. I am a zero sugar soda junkie. Mix and match. Mix them together sometimes, depending on if the sun is up or down.” (Dan, 01:09)
• "Who's likely to walk into the office with a power drill?"
  • John (the handyman): "I have memories...our first office didn't have window treatments and we're getting blinded by the sun, so I remember hanging blinds to save our eyes. He actually did walk into the office with a power drill to fix that." (John, 01:43; Matt, 01:56)

The Origin of LogicGate (02:02 – 07:47)

The 'Hustler, Hipster, Hacker' Dynamic (02:34)

• Matt describes how the founders fit the archetypes:
  • Hacker: “Dan—you need someone amazing at writing code, being a full stack engineer.” (Matt, 02:40)
  • Hipster: “The jack-of-all-trades person...build a website, start QuickBooks, onboard customers, do marketing, resident HR expert.” (Matt, 02:53)
  • Hustler: “Someone who’s the front man, convinces customers, employees, and investors to join the mission.” (Matt, 03:18)

Naming the Company (04:11)

• Originated as Capria Solutions; changed to LogicGate during Techstars incorporation.
• Name inspiration: “Logic Gate is a part of a circuit that composes part of discrete logic... we’re routing pieces of work by logic, which is kind of the same concept.” (Dan, 05:14)
• The logo: Inspired by Capria’s “C,” kept for continuity.

The Goat Mascot (06:34)

• Dan explains: Originally an inside joke in test data ("Logic Goat"), it became an ASCII-art loading screen, and later a mascot.
• Matt: “We're the GOATs of GRC. We're the greatest of all time within this space.” (Matt, 07:54)
• Notable: “Since 2015, the goat as an icon has become a little bit more prolific in popular culture. I do think...it's because of us.” (Dan, 08:08, jokingly)

Lessons from the Early Days (08:22 – 11:57)

Habits to Unlearn (Consultant Mentality)

• John: “As a consultant, you probably give very detailed verbose explanations on things and everything gets solved with the slide deck as a deliverable... we had to shift from being project-based to recurring revenue.” (John, 09:07)

Biggest Surprises

• Matt: “So many surprises and twists and turns with the journey... the three of us have evolved and changed so much as leaders... a lot has changed along the journey and I think that's most companies as they grow up.” (Matt, 10:07)
• Example: Database shift from relational to graph (Neo4j) to meet platform needs.

Industry Evolution and Product Philosophy (11:57 – 18:34)

Trends and Adaptation

• No Code Pioneering:
  • “We were pretty far ahead with no code... before it was a buzzword.” (John, 12:21)
  • “Our platform really was no code... others started to do some of this, but we still do that aspect better than anyone.” (John, 12:41)
• Pace of AI Adoption:
  • “The speed of change, of adoption of AI, specifically in GRC, did catch all of us off guard.” (John, 13:55)
  • Megan: “LogicGate was ahead of the game with the AI governance solution—even before customers realized they’d need it.” (Megan, 14:26)

Controversial Product Decisions

• Ultra-Flexibility: “Complete flexibility across applications... link them up. That’s kind of the philosophy we went forward with, with everything... easier to architect a solution in that manner if you take a platform-first approach.” (Dan, 16:05; Matt, 17:27)

Company Culture & Growth (18:34 – 22:09)

Scaling Culture

• “Culture is a huge strategic differentiator and is driven by employee actions grounded in our values... culture is dynamic. It changes over time as the company evolves.” (Matt, 18:57)
• Evolving from three founders to 100+ employees, and from the “million ARR” stage through further growth.

What Still Excites Founders

• Dan: “I'm not doing the same job that I was... the people that I'm working with. There’s people that have been here since early in their careers... leaders now. That is something I'm proud of.” (Dan, 20:45)

The Future of GRC (22:09 – 24:17)

Most Disruptive Trends

• John: “AI... there’s a lot of manual processes that can be automated... but also really important to unlock things our customers weren’t even thinking about... That’s where it’s going to be most powerful.” (John, 22:26)
• “We’re starting to learn what we don’t know... That’s really the value of AI.” (Megan, 23:47)

Defining Decades: Words for the Past and Future (24:17 – 27:49)

• Matt:

  • First 10 Years: "Resilient"
    • “There was a lot of challenges... the three of us had to be ridiculously resilient through and overcome and hear a lot of no’s before we got a lot of yeses.” (Matt, 24:25)
  • Next 10 Years: "Hungry and Humble"
    • “Like what Jeff Bezos said: It's always day one... If we do that we’re going to build a really big company.” (Matt, 25:27)

• John:

  • First 10 Years: "Agility"
    • “As we're starting out, just being light on our toes, being able to adapt.”
  • Next 10 Years: "Enterprise scale"
    • “We continue to add bigger and bigger customers and take a bigger chunk of the market.” (John, 26:02)

• Dan:

  • First 10 Years: "Own it"
    • “We really tried to empower everyone to solve their own problems. That very entrepreneurial mindset was contagious.” (Dan, 26:41)
  • Next 10 Years: "Scale"

Lightning Round: Surprise Questions (27:49 – 34:22)

• Best LogicGate moment/party?

  • Dan: “2019—moving into our first real office... had a kickoff party with investors, customers, friends—live music, late night, felt like a real company.” (Dan, 28:19)
  • John: “Demo day coming out of Techstars... a lot of work, Matt did great on stage, and it was real validation from local investors.” (John, 29:42)

• If your startup journey were a cocktail, what would it be?

  • Matt: “Spicy margarita—we want to do the right thing for employees and customers (nice), but we’re fierce competitors (spice).” (Matt, 31:04)
  • Dan: “Vodka sugar-free Red Bull. That was the driving factor the first 10 years—Red Bull and Hot Pocket powered.” (Dan, 31:57)

• If you could whisper one sentence to yourself on day one?

  • John: “Play the long game... make decisions for the long-term.” (John, 33:45)
  • Matt: “It’s all going to work out.” (Matt, 34:13)

Memorable Quotes

• “Hipster, hacker, hustler. That's the best way to start a company. And we got all three of them here still over 10 years.” —Matt (03:41)
• “We are the GOATs of GRC. We're the greatest of all time within the GRC space.” —Matt (07:54)
• “As a consultant, you probably give very detailed verbose explanations, and everything gets solved with the slide deck. We had to unlearn that.” —John (09:07)
• “If we stay hungry and humble… we're going to build a really big company that changes the lives of a lot of folks in the regulatory risk and compliance community.” —Matt (25:30)
• “Play the long game.” —John (33:45)
• “It’s all going to work out.” —Matt (34:13)

Notable Timestamps

• 00:33: Founders' superlatives
• 02:34: Startup roles & personalities
• 04:11: LogicGate’s naming story
• 06:34: The goat mascot explained
• 08:47: Habits to unlearn scaling from consulting
• 10:07: Biggest surprises in LogicGate’s growth
• 12:21: No code & AI trends in GRC
• 15:19: Controversial product decisions and benefits
• 18:57: Maintaining and scaling company culture
• 20:45: What excites founders about coming to work
• 22:20: Most disruptive future GRC trends
• 24:17: Words to define LogicGate’s past & future
• 27:49: Lightning round: best moments, cocktails, founder wisdom

This episode is a must-listen for anyone curious about startup journeys, modern GRC, or how a culture-driven company adapts to omnipresent change and new technology. The founders’ candidness, good humor, and strategic clarity provide both inspiration and practical takeaways for founders, GRC professionals, and innovators across industries.