On the TechTO stage ×1
First seen on the TechTO stage in 2018. Every talk is searchable — ask the archive about Elias ↗
In their words
if you want to raise a hundred million dollars you have to be able to share a vision that is that large as these great founders have created
the founding team are the initial first one or two people you know try not to have three try not to have four or five or six people it's too complicated
find one partner focus on that they you trust and test them you know you gotta test them hard
Around the web ×1
Quick answers
What is Elias Torres doing now?
He is co-founder and CEO of Agency, which he started in 2024 with former Drift colleague Luke Van Seters. Its first product is an AI customer-success agent called Kai.
What was his role at Drift?
Co-founder and CTO from 2015. Drift created the conversational marketing category, took a majority investment from Vista Equity Partners in 2021 at a valuation above $1B, and was acquired by Salesloft in February 2024.
What did he tell the TechTO audience?
That reading is what let Drift raise over $100M — you cannot ask for that kind of money without a vision big enough to justify it, and the vision comes from studying how other founders built at that scale.