Episodes
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This week we’re taking you backstage at TechCrunch Disrupt. Becca Szkutak had the chance to talk with Dan Lorenc, the CEO and co-founder of cybersecurity startup Chainguard following their conversation on stage with prominent investors, The Chainsmokers. They discuss how the EDM duo's venture fund MANTIS went from being viewed skeptically by traditional VCs to becoming a highly sought-after investment partner in the B2B space, how Lorenc scaled the company in a difficult time for cybersecurity, and what value celebrity investors can add to a startup.
Check out the full onstage conversation here.
00:00 - Introduction
02:27 - Chainguard: Company Overview and Open Source Security
05:27 - Google Background and Solar Winds Impact
08:02 - Building Chain Guard: Product Evolution
11:44 - Early Fundraising and Timing
12:53 - The Legendary Alex Pall Cold Emails
15:01 - MANTIS Investment Impact
16:11 - Company Growth and Future Plans
16:51 - Learning from Early Mistakes
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Recorded live from TechCrunch Disrupt 2024, Found co-hosts Becca Szkutak and Dominic Davis sit down with Kai Kloepfer, CEO of Biofire, a smart gun company that aims to prevent firearm misuse. Kloepfer gets into the hurdles of building a hardware startup in the firearm industry from fundraising to building a reliable product. Please note this conversation deals with topics around gun violence and suicide.
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Missing episodes?
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This week on Found, Dom and Becca talk with Howie Liu, the CEO and co-founder of Airtable to talk about how the Airtable team used smart UX to make app development accessible to even the least technical users. They also discuss how human-computer interaction is at the core of Airtable’s mission and behind each new product they put out. And they get into early missteps, the investor advice that Liu didn’t follow, and the unlikely inspiration behind Airtable’s design.
Found posts every Tuesday. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts to be alerted when new episodes drop. Check out the other TechCrunch podcast: Equity . Subscribe to Found to hear more stories from founders each
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This week on Found Dom and Becca talk with Josh Reeves, co-founder and CEO of Gusto. He shares how the company is transforming small business operations. We explore the complexities of payroll, benefits, and compliance, and how Gusto is helping entrepreneurs navigate these challenges. They also discuss hoe Gusto has managed to stand out in a competitive industry and the important of being excited by the problem you're solving as an entrepreneur.
Found posts every Tuesday. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts to be alerted when new episodes drop. Check out the other TechCrunch podcast: Equity . Subscribe to Found to hear more stories from founders each
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In this week's episode of Found, KiwiCo’s Sandra Lin talks about building a STEM-focused toy business. She explains the importance of inspiring creativity in kids, the company’s massive growth to 50 million crates delivered, and how she sought out feedback from parents and kids alike. They also discuss how the company recently expanded from and online-only DTC to selling in brick and mortar stores.
00:00 - Introduction
01:24 - The Story Behind KiwiCo: From Idea to Business
04:53 - Turning an Idea into a Marketable Product
06:32 - Testing and Feedback Beyond the Bay Area
10:00 - Early Marketing Strategies and Organic Growth
15:50 - Expanding into Retail and New Channels
16:06 - The Product Development Process at KiwiCo
21:27 - Fundraising and Navigating the Venture Capital Path
25:51 - Balancing Entrepreneurship with Family Life
31:01 - Early Challenges and Lessons Learned
35:08 - What’s Next for KiwiCoFound posts every Tuesday. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts to be alerted when new episodes drop. Check out the other TechCrunch podcast: Equity . Subscribe to Found to hear more stories from founders each
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Most used car dealers in the U.K. get their stock from auctions, and one startup is moving the process online to make it easier for both car owners and car dealers. This week, Becca and special co-host Kirsten are talking with Harry Jones, the co-founder of Motorway, a U.K. startup helping professional car dealers to bid in an auction for privately owned cars for sale. Motorway has seen rapid success, with a car sold every three minutes and a GMV of £2.2 billion last year. In this episode, Becca, Kirsten and Harry chat about the importance of focusing on a core market and how he and his co-founders built a strong and lasting partnership.
00:00 - Introduction and overview of Motorway
03:03 - Early days and initial ideas for Motorway
05:50 - Pivot to its current model
08:08 - Working with dealerships
10:18 - U.S. vs U.K. and market focus
15:05 - Initial traction, challenges and demand from dealers
25:39 - The co-founding team and their long-term collaboration
30:31 - Lessons learned from previous companies
36:04 - Motoway's future
Found posts every Tuesday. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts to be alerted when new episodes drop. Check out the other TechCrunch podcast: Equity . Subscribe to Found to hear more stories from founders each week.
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On TwitterOn InstagramVia email: [email protected]Found posts every Tuesday. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts to be alerted when new episodes drop. Check out the other TechCrunch podcast: Equity . Subscribe to Found to hear more stories from founders each
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This week on Found, Dom and Becca talk with Haitham Eletrabi, the creator of Tennibot. They discuss his journey from civil engineering to inventing a device that he calls the "roomba for tennis". Tennibot not only picks up tennis balls autonomously but also saves players and coaches time, allowing them to focus on improving their game. Join us as we explore how this innovative product is transforming the tennis world, from its humble beginnings to becoming a game-changer in sports tech.
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Finding order in chaotic datasets is key for companies to be able to implement AI solutions that actually work. This week’s guest is Prukalpa Sanka, the co-CEO and co-founder of Atlan, a platform designed to help data teams build trust, streamline workflows, and collaborate more effectively. Atlan emerged from the challenges of managing complex data projects and is now empowering organizations to scale their data operations while maintaining transparency and trust. In this episode they discuss how Atlan has maintained a fun company culture despite the stress and how her and her co-founder have maintained a great working relationship for the past 12 years.
00:00 - Introduction
02:31 - Founding story and early challenges
06:19 - Overcoming high-stakes data issues
08:45 - The evolution of data and AI
13:31 - Building a product to solve key problems
16:13 - Adapting to technological change
19:21 - The growing role of AI in business
21:05 - Preparing data for AI integration
24:27 - Addressing bias and ethics in AI
26:52 - Fundraising and fun marketing
31:34 - Maintaining a strong co-founder relationship
33:47 - Final thoughts and reflections
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Research is completely lacking when it comes to information about women’s hormonal health. Today’s guest is working to compile data and help women find the care they need. This week on Found, we’re talking to Sylvia Kang, the CEO and co-founder of Mira, a women’s health company that is providing home hormonal testing. They discuss the challenges on fundraising for women’s health startups, the importance of research to drive change and access in healthcare, and how Mira forged a new path by becoming FDA approved.
00:00 - Introduction and Overview of Women’s Hormonal Health
01:45 - The Lack of Hormonal Health Data and Fertility Challenges
05:11 - The Inspiration Behind Starting Mira
07:30 - Early Feedback from Doctors and Investors
10:58 - The Evolution of the Women’s Health Market
13:25 - Overcoming the Lack of Scientific Research and Data Collection
16:51 - Impact of COVID-19 on Mira’s Growth
18:42 - Mira as a Cost-Effective Solution to Fertility Issues
21:29 - Mira’s Expansion Beyond Fertility and into IVF
25:02 - Utilizing AI to Personalize Hormonal Health Tracking
28:35 - Sylvia’s Journey from Corporate to Entrepreneurship
32:15 - Building a Female-Driven Company Culture at Mira
34:49 - The Future of Women’s Health and Expanding Mira’s ImpactFound posts every Tuesday. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts to be alerted when new episodes drop. Check out the other TechCrunch podcast: Equity . Subscribe to Found to hear more stories from founders each
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Microplastics are everywhere: In our water, cleaning supplies, and in so many of our everyday household essentials. This week’s guest, Sarah Paiji Yoo, started Blueland to help us cut out microplastics and reduce the amount of single-use plastics we use, once and for all. Blueland creates eco-friendly and plastic free cleaning supplies. This week, Dom is joined by Tim De Chant to talk with Sarah about all the challenges of developing sustainable and safe cleaning supplies from formulation to creating a retail strategy and the role of corporate advocacy in driving environmental change.
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It’s not every week that Becca and Dom get to talk to a founder who has been building companies for the past 22 years. This week on Found, we’re joined by Eric Ly, co-founder of LinkedIn and the current co-founder and CEO of KarmaCheck startup that is making the background check process quicker and more transparent. Ly discusses his vision for streamlining background checks, the challenges of building multiple companies, and how his entrepreneurial mindset has evolved since the early days of the internet. You’ll learn about the future of online trust and the potential impact of blockchain technology on identity verification.
00:00 - Introduction and Two Truths and a Lie
02:00 - Introducing Karma Check: Background Checks Reimagined
05:00 - The Evolution of Background Checks
08:00 - Automating and Streamlining the Process
12:00 - Demand for Faster Background Checks in the Job Market
15:00 - Eric Ly's Entrepreneurial Journey
18:00 - The Changing Landscape of Venture Capital
21:00 - Leadership Evolution and Building Company Culture
23:00 - Entrepreneurial Mishaps and Lessons Learned
27:00 - Growing Up in Silicon Valley 29:00 - Navigating Market Cycles and Hype
31:00 - Future Possibilities: Blockchain and Digital Identity
33:00 - Conclusion and Wrap-up
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In this episode of Found, Becca and Dom sit down with Gavin Uberti, co-founder and CEO of Etched, an AI chip startup focusing on developing specialized chips. Gavin shares the bold bet his startup is making on transformer models for AI chips, aiming to take on industry giant Nvidia. They discuss how Etched is developing specialized chips that they claim will be an order of magnitude faster than competitors, and Uberti shares his insights on the future of AI hardware as models continue to rapidly scale up in size and capability.
[00:00] Introduction to Etched and AI chips
[03:46] The bet on transformer models
[05:08] Competition with Nvidia
07:45] Environmental impact of chip manufacturing
[10:13] Etched's chip development progress
[12:35] Customer demand and strategic investors
[14:06] Fundraising journey
[15:23] Dropping out of Harvard
[21:25] Building the company and hiring
[24:01] Leadership philosophy
[31:05] Future outlook for Etched and AI
[32:31] Wrap-up and reveal of the "two truths and a lie"
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HR software is big, big business. And no one understands that better than this week’s guest, Parker Conrad the CEO and co-founder of Rippling, a global HR company that offers global payroll, onboarding, time tracking, benefits management and more. In this episode he talks about what goes into building a leading HR tech company—from what it’s like building out features companies love, to dealing with fierce competition in this ever growing landscape. Conrad also gets into the power imbalance that can arise between VCs and founders and the drama at his previous company that inspired him to build Rippling.
(0:00) Introduction
(2:48) Parker’s previous startups
(6:09) Leaving Zenefits and starting Rippling
(9:08) Horizontal integration in HR software
(11:57) AI skepticism for software
(20:58) Managing the competition
(26:34) Growth marketing strategy
(29:36) What a founder should focus on
(35:02) VC-founder power imbalance
(40:23) Host discussion
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Enterprise AI is booming so it’s no wonder that, as companies figure out how to implement it, the industry of AI infrastructure is emerging. This week Becca and Dom talk to Nick Frosst from Cohere, the AI company building natural language models for enterprise customers. They discuss why Frosst thinks the AI boom isn’t built on a bubble, whether or not AI companies are building toward a “digital god”, and how AI regulation could be a good thing.
(0:00) Introduction
(6:15) Enterprise applications for AI language models
(12:12) Building multilingual models
(14:58) Fundraising and the AI bubble
(19:46) AI and sustainability
(25:14) Building the Cohere team
(29:44) Host discussion
Found posts every Tuesday. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts to be alerted when new episodes drop. Check out the other TechCrunch podcast: Equity . Subscribe to Found to hear more stories from founders each
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There is a whole marketplace for used tech, it isn’t just a good deal for the customer, but it also helps curb waste that can lead to soil contamination, non-pot able water, and dangerous living conditions. On this week’s episode of Found, we’re talking to Thibaud Hug de Larauze from BackMarket, a global marketplace for refurbished devices.
In this conversation they cover:
How BackMarket has such a successful fundraise.Building customer trust as a refurbished marketplaceThe environmental impact of recycling electronicsThe Right to Repair and what will happen when everyone can fix their own phone if they choose.Found posts every Tuesday. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts to be alerted when new episodes drop. Check out the other TechCrunch podcast: Equity . Subscribe to Found to hear more stories from founders each
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Despite the fact that water covers 71% of the Earth, there is still so much we don’t know about the ocean floor and today’s founder is looking to change that. Joe Wolfel is the co-founder and CEO of Terradepth, the company that is working towards increasing ocean knowledge through autonomous, high resolution, scalable data collection in the deep ocean. On this week’s episode of Found, Becca is joined by guest co-host, Tim De Chant to discuss why mapping geological features at the bottom of the ocean isn’t just something worth doing for curiosity’s sake, it’s important to a variety of players from companies looking to install offshore wind farms to the Navy. They also get into who is buying this kind of data, how Wolfel’s experience as a Navy Seal prepared him for entrepreneurship, and the trend of deeptech founders needing to find revenue streams early on as they’re developing their technology.
(0:00) Introduction
(2:07) Robotics role in mapping the ocean
(8:49) Scaling maritime data collection
(15:47) Fundraising challenges for hardware companies
(21:57) Transitioning from Navy to entrepreneurship
(24:13) Data-driven decision making
(29:43) Finding the right customer base
(35:14) Host discussion
Found posts every Tuesday. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts to be alerted when new episodes drop. Check out the other TechCrunch podcast: Equity . Subscribe to Found to hear more stories from founders each
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The higher education system isn’t working. Students pay way too much, professors don’t get paid enough, and many community college students that aspire to go on to get a Bachelor's degree aren't able to. But one startup thinks they have the solution. Today Becca is talking with Tade Oyerinde, the CEO and founder of Campus, a fully accredited online community college. They discuss how Tade found a school that was willing to come on board and align with his mission, the challenges of getting investors on board, and what he thinks it will take to make the higher education system more equitable.
(0:00) Introduction
(2:15) The current issues facing community colleges
(8:28) Serving both Students and professors with Campus
(11:17) Developing the curriculum
(16:06) Finding VC partners
(19:09) Why Tade is drawn to High Education
(24:48) What inspired Tade
Found posts every Tuesday. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts to be alerted when new episodes drop. Check out the other TechCrunch podcast: Equity . Subscribe to Found to hear more stories from founders each
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What is the right way to regulate AI? There appears to be as many different answers to that as there are regulators. In this week's episode of Found, we're bringing you a live interview from TechCrunch's recent Strictly VC event. Becca Szkutak talked with Helen Toner, the director of strategy and foundational research grants from the Center of Security and Emerging Technology and a former board member of OpenAI. Although she's not a founder herself, this conversation centers around topics crucial to every founder building today as AI continues to impact nearly every industry.
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Today on Found, we’re talking to David Rogier, the CEO and founder of Masterclass, a streaming platform where you can learn from the world’s experts on a variety of topics, from baking to screen writing to developing empathy. Before David launched MasterClass, he worked as a VC. Through his connections there received a $500,000 seed round before he even had an idea for a company. That was nearly a decade ago, and today Dom, Becca and David talk about how he’s built the company since.
How MasterClass was able to land its notable names from the beginningHow the company has scaled after a disappointing launchHow MasterClass has adapted to its users needs during the pandemic and beyond
They also talked about:Found posts every Tuesday. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts to be alerted when new episodes drop. Check out the other TechCrunch podcast: Equity . Subscribe to Found to hear more stories from founders each
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It probably doesn’t come as too big of a surprise that cowboy boots aren’t typically sold online. So where is the modern cowboy supposed to shop? This week we’re talking to a founder who carved out a DTC market for western wear. Paul Hedrick, the founder of Tecovas, joins Dom and Becca to discuss the marketing strategy they came up with to change the perception of shopping for cowboy boots online and how the company has expanded to brick and mortar stores.
In this conversation they cover:
How social media played a big role in the early days of tecovasThe challenges of modernizing such an old-school industryFundraising when DTC was almost a dirty word.Found posts every Tuesday. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts to be alerted when new episodes drop. Check out the other TechCrunch podcast: Equity . Subscribe to Found to hear more stories from founders each
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