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Nothing like Hyperbound has existed before January last year. As one of the early innovators in this category, we’re building the standard for how it should be used.
Buzzwords fade. Trends shift. The teams that win are the ones who build real value and create the next category before anyone else does.
Sriharsha Guduguntla, Josh Norris, and Mia Kosoglow are behind Hyperbound, a YC company building an AI-powered sales coaching and roleplay platform to help revenue teams win at scale. They’re setting a new standard—and standing out with a product that works.
Pioneering the category: The sales tech market is overflowing with AI tools promising the world. Most are point solutions—narrow, disconnected, and easy to ignore once the novelty wears off.
"Nothing like Hyperbound has existed before January last year," explains Guduguntla. "As one of the early innovators in this category, we’re building the standard for how it should be used."
While most competitors stop at cold call simulations, Hyperbound has expanded across the full sales cycle: discovery, demo, negotiation, CFO conversations, and renewals.
"As you move down the sales category, conversations get more complex, and technology gets harder to harness and customize for every customer," says Guduguntla.
Vertical value: Instead of offering roleplay training across every department, focusing deeper on sales creates real differentiation.
"There are a lot of other companies going horizontal," says Guduguntla, Co-Founder and CEO. "We're more focused on the revenue org and really solidifying that vertical."
Rather than chasing a broader market at the expense of depth, the real advantage comes from focusing where the need is sharpest and where skill development drives measurable impact.
We don't want to be following. We want to be leading. And that can be risky, but it's also how you create a category 100%.
Show, don’t sell: Real product value demonstration beats polished websites and inflated promises.
"We don’t succumb to the temptation of hype marketing," says Norris, Fractional Leader in GTM Architecture, Hiring, and Ops. "We don't want to be fluff, just a bunch of buzzwords kind of marketing."
Instead of controlled walkthroughs or heavily produced tours, letting the product speak for itself helps cut through the skepticism that surrounds new AI tools.
"Anyone can try it. It’s the actual product on our website, not a product tour demo," explains Norris.
Matching buyer mindset: Budgets are tight, teams are lean, and buyers aren’t taking big swings. "Buyers' risk aversion is through the roof right now," says Norris.
Consumption pricing models, where the seller incurs the risk, are one way to counteract that.
"I have to make sure I deliver," explains Norris. "I have to make sure you’re happy and you keep using the product."
Hater to lover: Sales roleplay is often awkward, uninspiring, and painfully disconnected from real conversations.
"I have always been, since I started in sales, a roleplay hater," says Kosoglow, Marketing Lead.
Going through the motions doesn’t build skill. When roleplay is rebuilt with real stakes and relevance, it becomes an asset, not a box to check.
"I thought they were stupid. Now I’m thinking, 'Oh, wait, maybe I can be transformed into a roleplay lover here,'" Kosoglow says.
Turning something dreaded into something valuable requires more than small fixes. It takes new thinking and a willingness to move first.
"We don't want to be following," says Norris. "We want to be leading. And that can be risky, but it's also how you create a category 100%."
