Podcast Summary: The Digital Executive

Episode: Deleting Meeting Madness: Erik Braund’s Mission to Rebuild Human Connection at Work | Ep 1149
Release Date: November 20, 2025
Host: Brian (Coruzant Technologies)
Guest: Erik Braund, Founder and CEO of Katmai

Overview

This episode features Erik Braund, founder and CEO of Katmai, a virtual office platform aiming to reintroduce spontaneity, connection, and humanity to remote work. Erik shares Katmai’s origin story, the core philosophy behind the product, and how it is combating the "meeting madness" common in today’s remote and hybrid workplaces. The discussion flows from Erik's unique journey from music production to tech entrepreneurship to how Katmai is positioned to reshape workplace collaboration.

Key Discussion Points

Erik Braund’s Background and Transition to Tech (01:10–06:31)

• Creative Roots: Erik started as a tinkerer and musician, building computers and engaging in audio/video production.
• Lessons Learned: Creative production—dealing with tight timelines, multidisciplinary teams, and "problems on the fly"—prepared him for startup life.
• "At the end of the day, what we're delivering is a better human experience... a more enriched connection with people that are on the other side of the screen."
  (Erik, 05:58)
• COVID Pivot: The halt of in-person video production during the pandemic prompted Erik and a distributed team to explore new ways to facilitate togetherness, leading to Katmai.
• Technical Curiosity: Erik’s hardware and tinkering interests blended with his production background, influencing Katmai’s physical-feeling virtual spaces.

The Spark and Early Technical Hurdles of Katmai (06:31–11:04)

• Initial Prototypes: Early Katmai was resource-intensive—"If you fired up Katmai on a $5,000 computer, your fan would kick on after about 10 seconds..."
  (Erik, 07:16)
• Big Decisions:
  • Rendering happens on the user's machine—avoiding expensive cloud infrastructure.
  • Custom-built (not reliant on Unity, Unreal, Twilio, etc.), leading to over 50 patents.
• Dogfooding: Katmai was developed entirely using its own platform—no physical office.
• Outcome: Years of optimization now allow Katmai to run efficiently even on average corporate hardware.

Katmai’s Value Proposition in a Crowded Remote Work Landscape (11:04–19:38)

• Problem with Traditional Tools: The old paradigm of the physical office enabled spontaneous, organic interaction. Today, calendars are clogged with scheduled video meetings, robbing teams of spontaneity.
• What Makes Katmai Distinct:
  • Always-on virtual presence encourages spontaneous conversations.
  • 90% of Katmai meetings are spontaneous; 10% are scheduled.
    (Brian paraphrasing, 19:38)
  • Average Katmai meeting length: 14 minutes (vs. Zoom’s 54 and Teams’ 45 minutes).
  • Katmai users average 2.3 hours/week in meetings vs. 17 (Zoom) or 12 (Teams).
  • Smaller meetings: Katmai average is 2.5 people vs. 7 in other platforms.
• Cultural Impact:
  • Katmai creates a sense of place–customizable environments make virtual offices feel local and branded.
  • Customers report that "I don't remember my Zoom and Teams meetings, but I remember my Katmai conversations."
    (Erik, 16:24)
  • The use of round tables and visible, video-based avatars encourages authentic, relaxed discussion.

Notable Quote

"Katmai turns next week's 30-minute meeting into today's five-minute conversation."
(Erik, 18:21)

• Defining the Middle Ground: Katmai positions itself between physical offices and "flat" video conferencing, filling the huge gap for persistent, spontaneous, real human connection in remote work.

The Future of Collaboration Tools and Meeting Culture (20:27–25:31)

• AI Is Changing Work Habits: Meeting recordings were once a must-have; now, most users just want AI-driven transcripts and summaries.
• Rapid Shift: "In one year's time, the artifact went from being, 'I need a real time audio video record of the meeting'... to 'oh, we just need an AI-generated transcript and a summary and we're good.'"
  (Erik, 21:27)
• Skepticism Around VR for Work: Despite hype, Erik doubts widespread workplace adoption of VR headsets—citing discomfort, impracticality, and low user engagement.
  • "I always thought the headset for work was really a solution chasing a problem... I'll be damned if that was ever going to be the norm for remote work."
    (Erik, 23:20)
• Katmai’s Vision: Simplicity and accessibility—browser-based, works on existing devices, person-first.
• Anecdote: One customer in Finland said, "I've been across the hall from these guys five days a week now," even though they’re physically only together once or twice a year.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Tech’s Human Purpose:
  "What we're delivering is a better human experience. We are delivering a better interaction with people. Not with robots, not with AI, not with avatars." (05:49)
• On Spontaneity:
  "We have found that 90% of the meetings that happen in Katmai are spontaneous. 10% are scheduled." (14:04)
• On Meeting Length:
  "The average meeting length in Katmai is 14 minutes. You know, the average meeting length on Zoom is 54 minutes. The average meeting length on Teams is 45 minutes." (14:25)
• On AI’s Disruption:
  "Now the request has been, and we don’t need a recording… Can we get a transcript and a summary of the meeting notes? … In one year’s time, the artifact went from… 'I need a… video record'… to 'oh, we just need an AI-generated transcript.'" (21:27)
• On Virtual Reality for Collaboration:
  "I always thought the headset for work was really a solution, chasing a problem… I get motion sick. I can’t do it for more than 20 or 30 minutes, even as a game." (23:21)

Key Timestamps

• 01:45 – Erik’s background and journey from music/video to tech entrepreneurship
• 06:31 – How the pandemic inspired Katmai and early development pain points
• 07:16 – Technical decisions & building Katmai from scratch
• 11:32 – Differentiating Katmai from traditional video conferencing tools
• 14:04–15:55 – Spontaneity, shorter meeting durations, smaller meetings, and cultural impacts
• 18:21 – "Katmai turns next week’s 30-minute meeting into today’s 5-minute conversation"
• 20:27 – AI meeting summaries redefine meeting artifacts and habits
• 23:20 – Critique of VR for remote collaboration
• 24:52 – Katmai’s browser-based accessibility and customer stories of stronger virtual presence

Tone and Takeaways

The conversation is open, candid, and irreverently optimistic about using tech to enhance—not replace—human connection. Erik’s language is conversational, frequently self-deprecating, and strongly advocates for "people-forward" software. If you’re frustrated by endless video meetings or skeptical of VR "solutions," this episode offers hope for a more natural, humane approach to digital teamwork.

Katmai’s mission isn’t to eliminate meetings entirely, but to leave behind meeting madness and restore the speed, spontaneity, and genuine connection of working together. The episode makes a compelling case for workplace technology designed to serve people, not bureaucracy.