Founder story with tem – Seed to Series B
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Founder Stories is a know-how video series uncovering lessons learnt on scaling UK’s early stage companies into global category leaders.
In our latest founder spotlight, AlbionVC Partner, Adam Chirkowski sat down with Co-founders of tem Jason Stocks (CCO) and Bartłomiej Szostek (CTO), to reflects on Tem’s journey from seed to Series B (following their $75m funding round recently announced), highlighting the founding team’s history at Limejump, their ambition to “take down big energy,” and their decision to build Rosso as a deeply integrated, cloud‑first infrastructure layer for global energy transactions.
Founding Story and Early Market Positioning
Tem’s inception was humble, beginning as a kitchen conversation among four co-founders: Jason, Bartek, Joe, and Ross. Their shared vision led to the launch of a cloud-first email security model in 2010, a time when the concept of “cloud” was not yet mainstream. This early adoption of a hosted service model set Tem apart, as most businesses were still reliant on on-premise solutions with server rooms and flashing lights. The foresight to embrace cloud-first connectivity gave Tem a significant infrastructure timing advantage.
Cultural Leadership and Talent Strategy
At the heart of Tem’s success is its CEO, who remains deeply involved in the company’s operations even as it has grown to 320 employees. By conducting all final interviews personally, the CEO acts as a “culture carrier,” ensuring that every team member understands and is motivated by the company’s mission. A key lesson learned along the way was the importance of the CEO’s involvement in talent acquisition. Delegating hiring too early, as experienced with the hiring of an experienced CPO, proved to be a mistake. The CEO’s hands-on approach ensures that the company’s culture and values are preserved as it scales.
Market Breakthrough and Customer Adoption
Tem’s journey has been marked by critical early adoption patterns, where key customers in specific verticals played a pivotal role in the company’s growth. These early adopters, willing to back Tem’s product despite its nascent stage, embarked on a journey with the company. This pattern of collaboration and mutual growth continues to this day, as Tem breaks into new verticals.
Reflection on Market Evolution
Since 2010, the market has undergone a dramatic transformation. What was once a novel approach—cloud-first delivery—is now the industry standard, while on-premise software delivery is considered outdated. Despite Tem’s rapid growth, the company continues to face challenges related to scalability and market connectivity. However, the lessons learned and the strategic decisions made along the way have positioned Tem as a leader in its field.
As Tem continues to navigate the ever-changing tech landscape, its journey from seed to Series B serves as an inspiring example of innovation, leadership, and the importance of staying true to one’s mission.
