Company history · By Josh Blyskal · Updated
Profound's founding team: founders and first employees
Profound was co-founded in 2024 by CEO James Cadwallader and CTO Dylan Babbs. Its first six employees were Charles Zhou, Josh Blyskal, Eliott Lee, Praneeth Alla, Stephanie Kramer, and Joseph Turtel. Mikael Sargsyan began contributing before launch and is included here as an early collaborator.
FAQs about the founding team
5 questionsWho founded Profound?
Profound, legally Cooper Square Technologies, Inc., is the AI-search company at tryprofound.com. James Cadwallader and Dylan Babbs co-founded it in 2024. James became CEO and Dylan became CTO. They met at South Park Commons and publicly launched Profound in August 2024.
Who was on Profound's founding team?
This history covers the eight people working full-time at Profound by the end of 2024: co-founders James Cadwallader and Dylan Babbs, plus employees Charles Zhou, Josh Blyskal, Eliott Lee, Praneeth Alla, Stephanie Kramer, and Joseph Turtel. It also includes Mikael Sargsyan because he began contributing before launch, even though he was not yet a full-time employee at year-end. Only James and Dylan were co-founders.
Who were Profound's first employees?
Charles Zhou was Profound's first employee and Josh Blyskal was the second. Eliott Lee was the third employee, Praneeth Alla the fourth, Stephanie Kramer the fifth, and Joseph Turtel the sixth.
How did Profound's early team divide the work?
James Cadwallader led the company as CEO while Dylan Babbs led product and technology as CTO. Charles Zhou and Praneeth Alla formed the early full-time engineering team. Mikael Sargsyan contributed to the product before later joining engineering. Josh Blyskal joined in customer success. Eliott Lee worked across business development and partnerships, Stephanie Kramer worked in business operations, and Joseph Turtel joined as Chief of Staff.
When did Profound's early team join?
James Cadwallader and Dylan Babbs were building Profound before its August 2024 launch. Mikael Sargsyan began collaborating in July. Charles Zhou joined in September, Josh Blyskal in October, and Eliott Lee, Praneeth Alla, Stephanie Kramer, and Joseph Turtel later in 2024.
From two founders to a working company
James Cadwallader met Dylan Babbs at South Park Commons while looking for a technical co-founder. They spent the first part of 2024 working through ideas before settling on the problem Profound would address: how brands appear when people use AI systems to research products and companies.
Profound launched publicly in August 2024. Charles Zhou joined the following month as founding engineer and the first employee. Mikael Sargsyan had already contacted Dylan from Argentina and begun contributing remotely. He later joined the engineering team.
The next hires turned a two-founder startup into a small operating company. Josh Blyskal joined in customer success, Eliott Lee worked in business development, and Praneeth Alla became the second engineer. Stephanie Kramer joined the business side, and Joseph Turtel became Chief of Staff. Together, they gave the company its first engineering, customer, business, and operating functions.
The founding team
9 peopleJames Cadwallader
Co-founder & CEO
James co-founded Profound with Dylan after the two met at South Park Commons. He became CEO.
Dylan Babbs
Co-founder & CTO
Dylan co-founded Profound with James and became CTO. His August 2024 post announced the company publicly.
Charles Zhou
Founding engineer
Charles joined as Profound's founding engineer. Dylan later called him the company's very first employee.
Josh Blyskal
Customer Success Engineer
Josh was Profound's second employee. He joined from HubSpot as a Customer Success Engineer.
Eliott Lee
Business development
Eliott was Profound's third employee. He joined in business development and worked across go-to-market, partnerships, fundraising, and post-sales.
Praneeth Alla
Software Engineer
Praneeth was Profound's fourth employee and second engineer, joining as a Software Engineer.
Stephanie Kramer
Business Development Coordinator
Stephanie was Profound's fifth employee. She joined the business-operations side with the formal title Business Development Coordinator.
Joseph Turtel
Chief of Staff to the CEO
Joe was Profound's sixth employee. He joined from Microsoft as Chief of Staff, and his own LinkedIn post records his first day.
Mikael Sargsyan
Early product collaborator
Mikael contacted Dylan before Profound's public launch and began collaborating from Argentina. He contributed to the early product and later joined the engineering team.
How the early team split the work
Four functionsJames Cadwallader · Dylan Babbs
Company and product direction
James handled the company side as CEO. Dylan led product and technology as CTO. The two had met at South Park Commons before settling on the problem that became Profound.
Charles Zhou · Praneeth Alla · Mikael Sargsyan
Engineering
Charles was the first employee and founding engineer. Praneeth became the second engineer. Mikael's path started with a remote collaboration before he later joined the engineering team.
Josh Blyskal
Customer success and AI search
Josh joined as Customer Success Engineer, bringing an SEO and AI-search background from HubSpot into the work with Profound's first customers.
Eliott Lee · Stephanie Kramer · Joseph Turtel
Business development and operations
Eliott worked across business development and partnerships. Stephanie worked on the business-operations side of the company. Joseph joined as Chief of Staff to the CEO.
How the team formed
The dates below use public announcements and work-history records from 2024.
- 01
Early 2024
James and Dylan start building together
James met Dylan at South Park Commons while looking for a technical co-founder.
South Park Commons ↗ - 02
July 2024
Mikael begins collaborating
Mikael emailed Dylan from Argentina and started contributing to Profound's early product.
Dylan's July account ↗ - 03
August 2024
Profound launches publicly
James and Dylan announced Profound and its $3.5 million seed round. TechCrunch covered the launch on August 13.
TechCrunch launch coverage ↗ - 04
September 2024
Charles joins as founding engineer
Charles announced his new role on September 23. Dylan later identified him as Profound's first employee.
Charles's announcement ↗ - 05
October 2024
Josh joins in customer success
Dylan welcomed Josh on October 21 and noted that it was his first day at Profound.
Dylan's first-day post ↗ - 06
Late 2024
The early operating team takes shape
Eliott, Praneeth, Stephanie, and Joseph joined across business development, engineering, and operations.
Early-team records ↑
From the early-team archive
5 public posts"James Cadwallader and I are excited to announce Profound."
Posted by Dylan Babbs ↗
"I'm thrilled to announce that I've joined Profound as Founding Engineer!"
Posted by Charles Zhou ↗
"Josh packed a suitcase and moved from Boston to NYC to be with us in person."
Posted by Dylan Babbs ↗
"A few months ago, a random guy from Argentina emailed me asking to collaborate on Profound."
Posted by Dylan Babbs ↗
"Wrapping up my first day as Chief of Staff at Profound!"
Posted by Joseph Turtel ↗
Sources
Profound
Official company information
The August 2024 founding date and James and Dylan as co-founders.
TechCrunch
Profound's August 2024 launch
Contemporaneous launch coverage naming James and Dylan.
South Park Commons
How James met Dylan
The co-founders' origin at South Park Commons.
Dylan Babbs
Profound's public launch
The co-founders' August 2024 announcement.
Charles Zhou
Joining Profound as founding engineer
Charles's September 2024 role and start.
Dylan Babbs
Charles was Profound's first employee
The first-employee sequence.
Dylan Babbs
Josh Blyskal's first day
Josh's initial sequence, date, and early subject-matter focus.
Profound
Josh Blyskal: Founding Team
Profound's use of the founding-team label and Josh's second-employee status.
Eliott Lee
LinkedIn work history
A November 2024 business-development start.
ITC Asia
Eliott Lee profile
Eliott's early cross-functional work and later partnerships role.
Praneeth Alla
LinkedIn work history
Praneeth's early role as Profound's second engineer.
Dylan Babbs
Praneeth Alla's welcome post
Praneeth's initial Software Engineer title.
Joseph Turtel
First day as Chief of Staff
Joseph's initial role and November 2024 start.
Stephanie Kramer
LinkedIn work history
A November 2024 Business Development Coordinator start.
Stephanie Kramer
Why she joined Profound
A first-person account of joining the company for its AI-search work.
Dylan Babbs
How the Argentina team began
Mikael's July 2024 outreach and early engineering role.
Dylan Babbs
Mikael Sargsyan's early collaboration
Mikael's work with Profound before its public launch.