This Startup Spots the Deals You’re Missing – Ren Systems Startup Review

Okay, so you’re in the deals business, right? Investment banking, maybe commercial real estate, or even executive search. Your day is packed. You’re talking to people, making connections, and trying to find that next big opportunity. Thing is, keeping up with everyone? It’s a lot.

Important news slips through the cracks. A client changes jobs. A prospect expands their business. These moments? They’re gold. But finding them feels like searching for a needle in a haystack full of, well, noise.

What if there was a way to cut through all that? To spot those key moments you’re missing? We talked to Canay Deniz, the CEO of a startup called Ren Systems, to find out how they’re changing the game.

What is Ren Systems?

Ren Systems is a tool for dealmakers looking to seize more business opportunities within their networks. It caters to investment banks, commercial real estate firms, and executive search entities—fields where missing crucial updates can mean missing potential deals.

The core issue it addresses is the challenge of staying informed about pivotal moments in clients’ and prospects’ lives. You know how a single missed piece of information can cost you an opportunity. Ren Systems turns the tide by providing alerts on the most relevant news about your network, drawn from the broadest English-language news and data sources available.

Ren’s distinctive attribute is its focus on ensuring significant moments don’t slip past unnoticed. While platforms like LinkedIn might overwhelm you with noise, Ren flips this narrative, delivering primarily the signal. It arms dealmakers with timely, pertinent information—transforming how they approach meetings and client interactions.

Imagine a feed that prompts you to reach out to key individuals at the perfect moment. That’s Ren for you. This approach makes it more than just a news aggregator; it’s a relationship intelligence tool that helps maintain relevance in your professional engagements.

Ren Systems Founders

Canay Deniz, the Co-Founder and CEO of Ren Systems, has a distinct background that shapes the company’s innovative approach. Formerly the Chief Marketing Officer at Teralytics, Canay holds a degree in electrical engineering. This blend of technical expertise and marketing savvy equips him to understand both complex data systems and the intricacies of client engagement.

At his side stands Lionel Hertig, the Co-Founder and CTO, who previously led engineering efforts at Teralytics. Together, they form a dynamic duo, blending technical acumen with strategic insight to craft solutions that resonate deeply with their target market.

The inspiration for diving into the world of dealmaking and information tracking came quite unexpectedly. Canay encountered a unique group of industry leaders, including Mike Hayes, former Navy SEAL commander and White House official, Frank D’Souza, founder and CEO of Cognizant, and Matt Zames, former COO of JP Morgan. These titans expressed their frustration over the persistent issue of missing critical updates in their networks. This revelation? It showed him a glaring gap in the market. The idea of creating a tool to systematise such serendipitous moments sparked Ren’s inception. Imagine having a lineup like that eager to beta-test a product. That’s when you know you’re onto something.

The early days of Ren Systems were shaped by the unprecedented challenges of the pandemic. On March 1, 2020, just before the world shut down, Canay and Lionel began crafting the company. With oceans physically separating them, they huddled in their respective kitchens, ensuring the groundwork was seamless. Building v1 remotely forced them to focus intensely on their mission. While others faced the chaos of unprecedented times, they tuned everything out, laid low, and built up. It might sound isolating, but it worked in their favour. Their resolve and dedication set Ren apart, nurturing a foundation capable not just of withstanding adversity but thriving in it.

How did Ren Systems come to be? It was a matter of turning chaos into opportunity. What started as encounters with leading industry figures turned into a mission: providing dealmakers with what they were missing. Understanding that their competitive edge lay in cutting through the noise, Ren transformed common pain points into a strategic advantage. Canay and Lionel weren’t just creating a tool; they were reimagining how professionals connect, engage and seize opportunities within their networks. They weren’t simply tracking news; they were engineering luck. Ren is not just an invention—it’s an intersection where technology meets necessity.

Interview with Canay Deniz, Co-Founder & CEO of Ren Systems

We had the chance to sit down with Canay Deniz, the Co-Founder and CEO of Ren Systems, to understand more about their approach. Here’s how our conversation went:

Q:  Can you introduce yourself and Ren Systems? What exactly does your startup do?
A:  I’m Canay Deniz, Co-Founder and CEO of Ren Systems. We help dealmakers find and win more business from their existing networks.

Q:  Who is your target audience?
A:  We focus on investment banks, commercial real estate firms, and executive search companies. These are sectors where staying informed about the right moments is crucial.

Q:  What problem are you trying to solve for them?
A:  The main problem is that important moments in the lives of clients and prospects are often missed. These missed moments? They’re lost opportunities. It’s practically impossible to keep track of everything and everyone who matters without help.

Q:  And how does Ren Systems solve this problem?
A: Ren monitors the widest range of English-language news and data sources. It tracks your entire professional network and alerts you to the most relevant news. This helps you stay relevant in your communications and be better prepared for every meeting.

Q:  Tell us about the team behind Ren Systems.
A:  The founding team is Lionel Hertig and myself. Lionel is the Co-Founder and CTO; he was previously an Engineering Lead at Teralytics. I’m the Co-Founder and CEO, and I was previously CMO at Teralytics, which is a data analytics company. My background is in electrical engineering.

Q:  What was the inspiration behind starting Ren Systems?
A:  It’s a bit of a story. I spoke to a really unique group of people who first highlighted this problem. People like Mike Hayes, a former Navy SEAL commander and White House official, Frank D’Souza, founder and CEO of Cognizant, Matt Zames, former COO of JP Morgan, and others. It struck me that these very successful people were willing to beta test a brand new product because nothing else solved this specific issue for them. Ultimately, we’re trying to systematise serendipity. Ren is about engineering luck, putting you in the right context, with the right people, at the right time.

Q:  What were the early days of building Ren Systems like?
A:  We started building on March 1, 2020 – just before the COVID lockdowns. We built the first version remotely, from our kitchens, across different countries. Early testing also had to be entirely remote. But in a way, it helped us focus and just build.

Q:  How is Ren Systems different from other tools in the market, like LinkedIn for example?
A:  We see ourselves as a relationship intelligence tool, almost like a “feed of excuses” to reach out to important contacts – prospects and clients. The common comparison is LinkedIn. But our customers often describe LinkedIn as being 90% noise and only 10% signal. Ren aims to be the inverse of that, mostly signal.

Q:  Has Ren Systems received funding?
A:  Yes, we have.

Q:  Can you tell us about your funding round?
A:  We recently raised $3.5 million. Our partnership with ZoomInfo, which is key to bringing AI-powered relationship intelligence to a wider range of dealmakers.

Q:  What are your plans for the future of Ren Systems?
A:  We’re working on many new integrations and partnerships with other CRM systems to extend our reach and capabilities.

Q:  Could you share some insights into your startup’s revenue and customer base?
A:  While I can’t disclose specific revenue figures, I can say we serve over 40 enterprise customers monthly. We’re also seeing a year-on-year growth percentage of 7.

Q:  Any advice for aspiring entrepreneurs?
A:  Yes, without a doubt: who you choose to work with is more important than almost anything else when building a company. The team makes all the difference.

Q:  Are there any industry statistics that highlight the problem Ren Systems is addressing?
A:  Absolutely. It’s often cited that 80% of sales opportunities are lost because of a lack of context about prospects and clients. Think about it, sellers spend around 12 hours each week just sifting through LinkedIn, trying to find relevant information. And even with all that effort, generic outreach still results in very low response rates, often below 1%. This shows the scale of the problem we’re tackling.

Feedough’s Take on Ren Systems

What’s quite clever about Ren Systems is they’ve spotted a genuine frustration in the deals world. Everyone in this space knows the feeling of missing key updates; it’s like gold slipping through your fingers. Their focus on delivering a signal, not just making more noise, is a big plus point.

Looking ahead, the trick for them will be to keep their tech sharp, maybe even explore more personalised alerts, and expand without losing that focus. The deals market is tough, so staying ahead of the game is crucial. But if they nail it, expect Ren to become an essential kit for deal teams. They are in a good spot to shake things up and change how deals get done.