Shows
Fund/Build/ScaleWhat Investors Actually Look For in the First 18 MonthsIn this episode, I’m joined by Jon Callaghan, co-founder and managing partner at True Ventures, and Julie Bornstein — CEO and co-founder of Daydream, founder of The Yes, and former COO of Stitch Fix — to break down what investors really evaluate in the first 18 months of a company’s life.
Drawing from their shared history as investor and founder, we talk candidly about runway, hiring before certainty exists, conviction versus ego, and how trust between founders and investors gets tested when plans change.
Julie explains how she approached budgeting and milestones for The Yes as a non-tec...
2026-01-2950 min
Fund/Build/ScaleIs the Defensible Moat a Myth in AI?For years, founders have been told to build a defensible moat. But in AI, where platforms, models, and capabilities can shift overnight, that advice is starting to feel outdated.
In this episode of Fund/Build/Scale, Simular CEO and co-founder Ang Li talks about what it actually means to build a company when the underlying technology won’t sit still.
Rather than evangelizing agents or predicting the future of work, Ang gets unusually candid about fragility, speed, judgment, and how founders should think when technical advantages may be temporary by default.
The conversation di...
2026-01-2356 min
Fund/Build/ScaleBuilding Against Giants: Turning Insider Expertise into a Startup AdvantageWhen most founders look at markets dominated by Google or Apple, they see a dead end. Ariel Seidman saw an opening.
Before founding Hivemapper, Ariel helped scale Yahoo Maps during a period when search and mapping were rapidly evolving. That experience gave him a front-row seat to how large-scale mapping systems are built — and how technical, capital, and organizational constraints shape the pace of innovation at scale.
In this episode, he breaks down what it really takes to build a startup against giants: why data moats matter more than UI, how to layer products instead of...
2026-01-2246 min
Fund/Build/ScaleFrom Scarcity to Scale: Building Startups in Latin America’s Earliest StagesOdille Sánchez leads the Tech and Scientific-Based Entrepreneurship Center of Excellence at Tecnológico de Monterrey, where she works with hundreds of early-stage founders across Latin America.
In this episode, she explains how mindset, methodology, and community are reshaping what it means to launch a startup in a region where early capital is scarce and institutional support is fragmented.
We also talk about:
Why resource orchestration — not acceleration — is what most founders need
How cultural attitudes toward risk impact founder behavior
What Latin American investors and institutions can learn from each other
Why commer...
2026-01-2137 min
Fund/Build/ScaleBuilding an Enterprise AI Startup from Day ZeroLexi Reese has scaled companies at every stage — from building Google’s programmatic advertising business, to helping Gusto grow revenue from $10M to $300M.
Now she’s co-founder and CEO of Lanai, an enterprise AI startup tackling a problem most companies don’t even realize they have: they can’t actually see how AI is being used inside their organizations, or whether it’s driving real outcomes.
In this episode, we unpack what it really looks like to build a company from scratch in the AI era.
Lexi walks through how she ran more than 20...
2026-01-0751 min
Fund/Build/ScaleThe "Marionette Threat" of Generative AI with All Tech is Human’s David PolgarToday’s episode is something a little different.
I’m doing a feed swap with Humans of AI, a podcast from the team at Writer.
What you’re about to hear is their conversation with David Ryan Polgar, the Founder and President of All Tech Is Human, a leading organization in the Responsible Tech movement.
He’s a pioneer in tech ethics and responsible innovation, and someone who’s been thinking about the societal impact of AI long before it was mainstream.
If you’re building in AI, investing in it, or just trying...
2025-11-1819 min
Fund/Build/ScaleCyan Banister & Cristian Cibils Bernardes: Early Signals, Founder-Investor Fit, and Trustworthy Consumer AIRecorded live in San Francisco during TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 week, this Fund/Build/Scale session brings together Cyan Banister (Long Journey Ventures) and Cristian Cibils Bernardes (Autograph) for a practical look at building consumer AI and the investor-founder dynamics that make it work. We dig into pre-traction signals that actually predict momentum, how to validate a weird idea, raise smart money, and ship products people return to. Cristian shares Autograph’s first moment of value, retention indicators, and a trust-by-design stance; Cyan unpacks the decision rules and behaviors that earn a second meeting. Together, they outline small-budget experiments and the fr...
2025-11-0747 min
Fund/Build/ScaleFrom Engineer to CEO: Ryan Wang on Building Assembled and Finding Product-Market FitI interviewed Ryan Wang, co-founder and CEO of Assembled, in his San Francisco office to unpack how he turned lessons from Stripe into a fast-growing startup that powers customer support teams at Robinhood, Canva, and Notion.
We talk about:
Finding the right co-founders and surviving a CEO hand-off
Discovering product-market fit by asking one powerful question
Turning a “sleepy” support category into a $200 billion opportunity
Launching a second product with a startup-within-a-startup mindset
What it takes to lead through AI disruption and build for adaptability
Whether you’re building your first team o...
2025-10-2753 min
Fund/Build/ScaleFrom Code to Customer: The Strategic Power of a Field CTOI’ve explored different aspects of product-market fit on the podcast, but when you’re scaling an open-source business with enterprise customers and a global developer community, you also need customer–engineering fit — the ability to translate between what’s being built and what the market actually needs.
At Astronomer, Viraj Parekh is that bridge. He is part engineer, part strategist, and part customer advocate, working across product, sales, and engineering.
In this episode of Fund/Build/Scale, Viraj explains what a Field CTO really does, how the role evolved at Astronomer, and when founders should con...
2025-10-0831 min
Fund/Build/ScaleDead Weight on the Cap Table: Inside the Ugly World of Founder BreakupsMore startups die from co-founder breakups than from running out of money.
Attorney David Siegel, a partner at Grellas Shah LLP, has spent years inside these conflicts, helping founders navigate everything from equity disputes to emotional meltdowns.
In this conversation, he explains:
Why greed and mismatched expectations trigger so many founder breakups
How minority founders can protect themselves before they’re pushed out
What departing founders can realistically expect to walk away with
Why VCs hate “dead weight” on the cap table
The emotional toll of disputes — and why lawyers often play part therapist
If you...
2025-09-2047 min
Fund/Build/ScaleAn Operator’s Playbook for Monetizing Product-Led GrowthWhat do you do when everyone loves your product but no one’s paying for it? That was the challenge facing Beautiful.ai. Founder Mitch Grasso nailed the product, but to build a sustainable business, he brought in operator Jason Lapp as CEO.
In this conversation, Jason shares how Beautiful.ai killed its freemium tier, introduced a credit-card-gated trial without losing momentum, and learned to serve both self-serve and enterprise customers at the same time. He also explains how to listen to customer feedback without becoming a feature factory, and why non-technical founders shouldn’t try to know...
2025-09-1946 min
Fund/Build/ScaleBuilding a Bridge Across the Valley of DeathFrontier tech startups don’t fail because the science is bad — they fail because no one needs what they’re building.
In this episode, Roadrunner Venture Studios CEO/co-founder Adam Hammer explains how to avoid that fate.
We talk about why the U.S. struggles to turn research into startups, why being right isn’t enough, and what it really takes to cross the Valley of Death between lab science and real-world demand.
Along the way, Adam shares practical insights for first-time founders, including:
How to test whether your problem is painful enough to...
2025-09-0741 min
Fund/Build/ScaleAre You *Really* Ready to Raise a Round? Here’s How to TellYou don’t need a Stanford degree or a flashy deck to raise a pre-seed, seed or Series A, but you do need to show investors that you’ve put in the work.
645 Ventures co-founder Nnamdi Okike shares practical advice for founders who are prepping to raise capital, including what he looks for in pitch meetings, how to uncover “earned secrets,” and why chasing hot categories can backfire.
We also dig into how 645 uses outbound sourcing and proprietary software to spot overlooked talent — and what it really takes to stand out if you don't fit the typica...
2025-09-0658 min
Fund/Build/ScaleFrom Side Project to Series B: How Learning Led to Product-Market FitDan Lee co-founded what would become Nooks while on leave from Stanford. He wasn’t solving sales. He was exploring remote collaboration during the pandemic.
But when they noticed that some of his most active users were in sales development — and that investors were starting to reach out — he followed the signal.
Today, Nooks is a sales AI platform used by teams at Seismic, Fivetran, and Modern Health, with $70 million in funding from Kleiner Perkins, Lachy Groom, and others.
In this episode, we talk about how Nooks evolved from a virtual office for remote...
2025-09-0436 min
Fund/Build/ScaleBuilding Hard Tech: Lessons on Funding, Teams, and TimelinesUPDATE: On 9/8/2025, ZEI announced "the conclusion of its operations."
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/zeroei_zero-emission-industries-zei-announces-activity-7371012829409177601-yQph?
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Transforming breakthrough research into a sustainable company is never simple — especially in hard tech.
In this episode recorded in December 2024, Zero Emission Industries CEO/founder Dr. Joseph Pratt and Chief Strategy Officer John Motlow share what it takes to move hydrogen power systems from the lab to the marketplace. We talk about raising money in tough conditions, why government grants can be both a blessing and a constraint, and how to build teams that th...
2025-09-0251 min
Fund/Build/ScaleForget the Spin: Startup Myths That Hold Founders BackRob Biederman has sat on both sides of the table — first as co-founder and CEO of Catalant Technologies, and now as managing partner at Asymmetric Capital Partners. In this candid conversation, he explains why so much of the conventional wisdom around startups is actually counterproductive.
He breaks down why design partners don’t equal traction, why headcount growth is a vanity metric, and why Silicon Valley should stop romanticizing failure. He also shares how Asymmetric evaluates founders, what investors really care about, and the simple test every startup should use to prove they’re solving a real proble...
2025-08-2643 min
Fund/Build/ScaleAvoiding Founder Burnout and other Early-Stage Startup PitfallsPro tip: If you can’t see yourself getting up every morning for the next ten years and being excited about going to work, don’t launch a startup.
Ajay Prakash co-founded Rinse in 2013 to take the friction out of laundry and dry cleaning — for consumers, and for the small, family-owned businesses behind the counter.
Since then, Rinse has scaled into a national brand, and Ajay has become a lecturer at Stanford Graduate Business School’s Startup Garage, where he teaches frameworks for validating ideas, testing business models, and knowing when it’s time to take the le...
2025-08-2442 min
Fund/Build/ScaleDe-Risking Deep Tech: How to Land Seed Capital for Complex IdeasKarthee Madasamy is the founder of VC firm MFV Partners and the founding managing partner of Harper Court Ventures, both of which focus on early-stage deep tech startups.
In this episode of Fund/Build/Scale, he explains what early-stage founders get wrong about TAM, why technical validation isn’t enough, and how to de-risk your company when the market barely exists.
We also talk about:
What MFV looks for when evaluating scientific founders
The importance of “market inevitability” and strategic timing
Common missteps deep tech founders make on the road to Series A
If you...
2025-08-2241 min
Fund/Build/ScaleExecution > Ideas: What Engineers Need to Know Before Becoming FoundersJyoti Bansal sold his first company, AppDynamics, to Cisco for $3.7 billion.
Harness, his next company, reached a similar valuation a few years later.
As an entrepreneur — and as a VC at Unusual Ventures — Jyoti has built and backed multiple billion-dollar startups. But despite his track record, he says technical founders often overlook the same hard truth: good ideas don’t build great companies. It’s all about execution.
In this conversation, Jyoti explains how he helps engineers become CEOs, the leadership frameworks he uses to scale fast without breaking culture, and why each business...
2025-08-1844 min
Fund/Build/ScaleHow to Think Like a VC When You’re Building (or Joining) a StartupBrian Rothenberg, partner at Defy and former VP of Growth at Eventbrite, joins Fund/Build/Scale to share what really matters when evaluating early-stage startups. From spotting false signals of traction to building defensible business models, Brian offers practical advice for both founders and operators.
He also explains why job seekers should “think like a VC” before joining a startup, how he prefers to be pitched, and what signals he looks for in AI and emerging tech companies. Whether you’re raising capital, building a company, or considering your next role, this conversation will help you see the st...
2025-08-1734 min
Fund/Build/ScaleCap Table Strategy: A Playbook for Early-Stage FoundersWhen you’re raising your first rounds, every cap table decision can echo for years. Give away too much equity early, lock yourself into restrictive pro rata rights, or over-optimize for valuation — and you may find yourself boxed in just when your company starts to grow.
Pulley co-founder and CEO Yin Wu has seen these mistakes firsthand. In this episode of Fund/Build/Scale, she offers practical, founder-first strategies for structuring and managing your cap table so you can attract top talent, keep your options open, and stay in control of your startup’s destiny.
We als...
2025-08-1238 min
Fund/Build/ScaleFrom D2C to B2B: How to Pivot Without Losing Your MissionA turbulent flight sparked Wayne Slavin’s idea for Sure: let consumers buy insurance in real time. But after launching as a D2C app, he realized the bigger opportunity was powering insurance sales for others. Sure’s pivot to B2B turned it into a vertical SaaS platform that lets enterprise companies embed insurance at the point of transaction.
In this episode, Wayne explains how to pivot without losing your mission, why founders should lead early enterprise sales, and why he refuses to run proof-of-concept deals. He also shares why — if he could do it over — he’d avo...
2025-08-0851 min
Fund/Build/ScaleHow to Sell Your World-Changing Idea to a Mission-Driven InvestorJames Joaquin is co-founder and managing partner at Obvious Ventures, a VC firm that backs startups tackling intractable problems like climate change, chronic disease, and income inequality.
Their portfolio includes businesses that once sounded like science fiction but are reshaping billion-dollar industries. He says he's looking for technology that will “move humanity forward."
But this episode isn’t just about mission-driven investing.
James gets extremely tactical: he breaks down how Obvious evaluates founding teams, how he prefers to be pitched, and how your answer to “why are you building this?” can make or break your...
2025-08-0146 min
The Direct Podcast: Universes You LovePaul Walter Hauser is Mole Man, The Odyssey Trailer, & Superman Box Office PredictionsOn this episode of The Direct Podcast, David and Matt break down the biggest headlines in movies and TV, including the epic first trailer for The Odyssey and the confirmation of Paul Walter Hauser as Mole Man in The Fantastic Four. We also share our latest predictions for Superman's box office debut and where it could land among James Gunn’s biggest comic book openings. Plus, we react to trailers for Eyes of Wakanda, Cat in the Hat, and Running Man, and celebrate the record-breaking success of Jurassic World: Rebirth.TIMECODES:0:00 - Int...
2025-07-0749 min
Fund/Build/ScaleWhy Conviction Matters More Than TAM: The Seed-Stage Litmus TestUncork Capital Partner Amy Saper shares practical advice for early-stage founders building AI-enabled tools for engineering, product, and design teams, or as she describes them, "products that make you not want to quit your job."
Drawing on her experience in product marketing at Twitter, Uber, and Stripe, she explains why storytelling is an underrated founder skill, how to refine your ideal customer profile, and why it’s good to reverse-engineer a roadmap from your Series A goals.
She also shares tips for assessing founder/investor fit, when (and when not) to launch, and why she ca...
2025-06-2340 min
Fund/Build/ScaleHow (and How Not) to Pitch a Cybersecurity VCTen Eleven Ventures CTO and Operating Partner Scott Lundgren shares practical advice for early-stage cybersecurity founders.
He explains why founder-market fit matters more than product polish, how teams should think about TAM in fragmented markets, and the signals he looks for in technical pitches.
He also breaks down how Ten Eleven’s network helps with diligence and customer development — and why “cool tech” often misses the mark. Plus: his take on the AI hype cycle, and why building credibility starts with listening, not pitching.
RUNTIME 38:06
EPISODE BREAKDOWN
(3:37) How founding an ISP as a teenager...
2025-06-2338 min
Fund/Build/ScaleLeveraging Founder-Market Fit to Win Over Risk-Averse BuyersWhat happens when a team of legal veterans decides to rebuild the dispute resolution process from the ground up?
To find out, I interviewed Rich Lee, co-founder and CEO of New Era ADR, a platform designed to resolve legal disputes faster, at lower cost, and with less friction for both companies and individuals.
We talked about building a team that had enough credibility to sell into one of the most risk-averse industries, how they approached trust-building with both customers and investors, and how they're scaling a capital-efficient business in a category that’s been largely unch...
2025-06-1439 min
We Need to Talk About OscarFlying High: The Journey of 'Kites' and its director Walter Thompson-HernándezWalter Thompson-Hernández joins us to discuss his film ‘Kites’, which premiered at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival. In our conversation, Walter reflects on the five and a half year journey that brought ‘Kites’ to life, describing how the project evolved organically rather than following a traditional scripted approach. Working without a strict script, Walter embraced a fluid storytelling method that allowed characters to shape their own narratives—a technique that mirrored the dynamic nature of the Rio favelas where the film is set.We dig into Walter’s collaborative process with cinematographer (and previous guest in the show) Mi...
2025-06-1119 min
Fund/Build/ScaleFrom Side Project to API Powerhouse: How Postman Went GlobalBefore Postman became a category-defining platform used by millions of developers, it was a personal side project.
In this episode, co-founder and CEO Abhinav Asthana shares how he went from hacking on API tools in Bangalore to leading a global company with nearly 900 employees across three continents.
We talk about:
Building a developer-first product that spread through word of mouth
Choosing a CEO when everyone on the founding team is an engineer
How to reach U.S. customers before you have a U.S. presence
Why authenticity beats thought leadership when you're building in...
2025-06-0949 min
Fund/Build/ScaleWhen a Power User Becomes CEO: How Medium Found Its Way BackWhen Tony Stubblebine took over as CEO of Medium in 2022, the platform was burning $2.5 million a month, bleeding subscribers, and was overrun with content that left founder Evan Williams cringing.
Tony pitched Ev a turnaround built on small teams with access to data, customers, and the freedom to rebuild Medium like a startup from the inside out.
He wasn’t just another executive parachuting in — Tony had worked with him as head of engineering, later as a power user and publishing partner, and eventually, the person who convinced Ev that he could get things on track...
2025-05-3050 min
Fund/Build/ScaleMuse Capital’s Approach to Finding Value in Overlooked MarketsRachel Springate is the founding general partner of Muse Capital, an early-stage venture fund focused on overlooked sectors like women’s health, wellness, parenting, gaming, and sustainability.
In this episode, she shares her strategy for finding value where other investors aren’t looking, explains how Muse assesses early traction in non-traditional markets, and breaks down the persistent funding gap facing women founders.
We also discuss:
How AI could transform women’s health
Why traditional VCs struggle to spot these opportunities
What needs to change to solve the “2% problem” in venture capital
Whether you're fundraisin...
2025-05-2849 min
Fund/Build/ScaleCreative Ops at Startup Speed: Lessons from SupersideFredrik Thomassen, co-founder and CEO of Superside, joins the show to unpack how startups can scale creative work without slowing down or burning out their teams.
Superside is a subscription-based design company that helps fast-growing teams get high-quality creative at scale. In this conversation, Fredrik shares how he built a globally distributed team, why async collaboration beats real-time meetings, and what most startups get wrong when managing creative work.
We also get into:
Hiring in overlooked markets
Building customer trust and employee cohesion across time zones
Structuring creative operations like a product team
Why...
2025-05-2344 min
Fund/Build/ScaleHow to Pitch VCs Like a “Dangerous” FounderWhat makes a founder dangerous?
Not credentials. Not their pedigree. And it's not who they know.
For investor and former operator Promise Phelon, a dangerous founder is someone with lived experience, relentless conviction, and the ability to build something the world doesn't expect.
Promise is the founder and managing partner of Growth Warrior Capital, an early-stage venture firm that invests in founders building seed and Series A enterprise AI companies.
In this episode, she shares hard-won lessons from the founder’s seat and the investor’s table: how to turn capital scar...
2025-05-1059 min
Fund/Build/ScaleThe 5-Year Ramp: How Alcatraz Scaled in Enterprise SecurityWhat kind of founder spends five years building a product before going to market?
One who's trying to solve a very hard problem.
Vince Gaydarzhiev is the founder of Alcatraz, a deep tech startup that uses facial authentication. The platform isn’t used to lock people out of single offices or consumer gadgets; its customers are buying global enterprise security, where compliance is strict, trust is earned, and failure isn't an option.
In this episode, Vince shares the emotional, strategic, and technical realities of building a company at the intersection of AI, hardware, an...
2025-05-0732 min
Fund/Build/ScaleFrom Play to Pay: How Soundtrack Uses PQLs to Drive GrowthWhat turns a free trial user into a paying customer?
For Ola Sars, founder and CEO of Soundtrack, the answer is all about behavior. In this episode, we break down how his team uses product-led growth (PLG) and product-qualified leads (PQLs) to drive conversions.
You'll hear how playing 100 tracks became a key signal for purchase intent, the tactics Soundtrack deploys to help self-serve customers experience value fast, and what it takes to scale a SaaS business in a market ruled by consumer giants.
If you're building a PLG motion or trying to convert l...
2025-05-0645 min
Fund/Build/ScaleFrom ML Engineer to CEO: Brightwave's Mike Conover on Turning Technical Vision into Company StrategyMike Conover started his career as a machine learning engineer. Today, he’s the co-founder and CEO of Brightwave, an AI startup helping financial professionals make faster decisions with massive, unstructured data.
In this episode of Fund/Build/Scale, Mike shares how he made the leap from technical contributor to strategic leader—and the hard lessons he learned along the way.
From translating technical vision into a focused go-to-market strategy, to learning how to coach, hire, and scale intentionally, Mike unpacks the mindset shift required to move from building code to building a company.
We...
2025-04-1955 min
Fund/Build/ScaleWhat Investors Really Want From AI FoundersIgor Taber has sat on both sides of the table: first as a VC at Intel Capital, then as an operator at high-growth AI startup DataRobot. Now, as co-founder of Cortical Ventures, he’s backing the next generation of AI-first startups.
In this episode, Igor shares how his operating experience reshaped his investment lens, what most VCs still miss about early-stage execution, and how founders can break through the AI noise to build something that actually lasts.
We also get into:
What it really takes to build conviction at the seed stage
How Cortical Ve...
2025-04-1239 min
Fund/Build/ScaleThe Art of the Waitlist: Siqi Chen on Driving Scarcity, Hype, and Feedback LoopsRunway CEO and co-founder Siqi Chen shares how his team used a waitlist not just to build hype, but to engineer smarter growth.
In this episode of Fund/Build/Scale, Siqi breaks down how Runway strategically kept customers in a holding pattern to gather feedback, qualify demand, and refine product-market fit.
We also talk about:
How to build trust with early users through transparency
Using scarcity and access control as GTM levers
Why financial planning should be accessible to everyone on the team
What most founders get wrong about burn rate and cash flow
2025-04-1139 min
Fund/Build/ScalePR Advice for Founders in the AI EraAyelet Noff has spent more than two decades helping startups land meaningful press — but she’s also seen how the game has changed.
In this episode of Fund/Build/Scale, the founder of SlicedBrand and new PR tech startup Dazzle shares what still works, what doesn’t, and how founders can earn meaningful attention in today’s fractured media landscape.
We get into:
– What makes a pitch actually land with reporters
– How to build credibility before you have traction
– The biggest mistakes founders make when trying to “get press”
– How AI tools are shaping...
2025-04-0349 min
Fund/Build/ScaleThe Hard Tech Hustle: Building and Selling Industrial AISahitya Senapathy, founder and CEO of Endeavor AI, joins Fund/Build/Scale to talk about launching a solo-founded startup at the intersection of AI and heavy industry.
From building FEMA apps at age 11 to raising $7M before finishing college, Sahitya shares the hard lessons behind the headline.
We dig into:
– Selling AI solutions to manufacturers with no network and no co-founder
– What enterprise customers actually care about in early-stage tech
– Navigating credibility as a first-time founder in hard tech
– Building while still learning — on the floor, in the pitch, as a leader
2025-04-0246 min
Fund/Build/ScaleInside a VC’s Playbook for Capital-Intensive StartupsSophie Bakalar, partner at Collaborative Fund, joins Fund/Build/Scale for a candid conversation about early-stage investing in climate tech, consumer AI, and deep tech hardware. She shares how she evaluates “green” founders with limited experience, what kind of traction she looks for in pre-revenue companies, and why a passion for solving a real-world problem outweighs having a stacked resume.
We also cover:
Tactical funding strategies for capital-intensive startups
The value of adaptable teams and fractional CFOs
How to avoid overspending before product-market fit
The mindset shifts needed before approaching VCs
This episode is packed with...
2025-03-2848 min
Select FiveJournalist Walter Thompson's Many Brushes wIt’s not often that you get to meet your favorite musicians—unless you’re Walter Thompson. Walter is a San Francisco-based tech journalist, writer, and the host/creator of the Fund/Build/Scale podcast. He’s also had the good fortune to have met many music stars throughout his life. In this episode Walter talks us through five songs that bring to mind his most interesting encounters, and along the way we learn about his childhood love of great pop composers, his brief residence at Burt Bacharach’s Long Island motor lodge, the importance of having a “Cool Aunt” in the...
2025-03-271h 02
Fund/Build/ScaleBuilding a Market from Scratch: Generative Music for Enterprise CustomersRecorded in July 2024, Aimi founder Edward Balassanian joins Fund/Build/Scale to share how his AI-powered platform creates generative, copyright-safe music for enterprise clients. He explains how customer discovery with DJs shaped Aimi’s tech, why compliance is core to their strategy, and why the company downsized after hitting product-market fit — all while inventing a market where AI music solves problems humans can’t.
RUNTIME 30:47
EPISODE BREAKDOWN
(4:17) “ I consider myself a platform person. I build operating systems.”
(7:39) “ It's incumbent on a founder in a space like this to be well-versed in not only the art of the music, bu...
2025-03-2730 min
Fund/Build/ScaleHow a Broke College Student Co-founded a VC-Backed Edtech StartupIn this episode of Fund/Build/Scale, Nectir co-founder and CEO Kavitta Ghai shares how she turned her frustration as a college student into a fast-growing, VC-backed edtech startup. Kavitta discusses the leap from student to founder, how she built an AI-powered tool for classrooms without a technical background, and the tactics that helped her and her co-founder land paying customers early. She also opens up about navigating the venture world as a first-generation founder and reframing risk as a competitive advantage.
RUNTIME 59:59
EPISODE BREAKDOWN
(1:57) “ One day we said, ‘what if we stopped complaining and we actually did so...
2025-03-1959 min
Fund/Build/ScaleIs AI Compute Broken? Tim Davis on Modular’s $130M BetWould you leave a stable, high-paying job at Google to build something that competes with NVIDIA, Intel, and AMD?
That’s exactly what Tim Davis, co-founder and president of Modular, did.
Since then, his company has raised $130M to reimagine AI compute infrastructure — but are AI startups really desperate for a new compute layer? And what’s it like to build a startup when your biggest competitors are trillion-dollar giants?
In this episode of Fund/Build/Scale, Tim shares his vision for the future of AI compute, why talent is the real key to suc...
2025-03-1846 min
Fund/Build/ScaleWhat Journey’s Pivot from B2C to B2B Reveals About Enterprise SalesJourney founder and CEO Stephen Sokoler appeared on Fund/Build/Scale in June 2024 to talk about how his startup pivoted from B2C meditation services to a B2B mental health platform, along with what that shift revealed about selling to enterprise clients. He breaks down the challenges of high customer acquisition costs, the trade-offs of venture capital, and the key lessons founders should know before making a major business model shift.
RUNTIME 38:28
EPISODE BREAKDOWN
(2:20) Why Stephen decided to found Journey — identifying the need for accessible mental health solutions.
(5:07) “We probably had five or six d...
2025-03-1238 min
Fund/Build/ScaleWhy PR Comes Before PMFDo you want to know the difference between marketing and PR?
Marketing is when you say something nice about yourself;
PR is when other people say nice things about you.
Jenna Guarneri is the founder of JMG Public Relations and author of the bestseller "You Need PR." In this episode, she shares DIY PR tactics that help founders establish themselves as experts, attract customers, and raise their profile with investors — without spending a fortune on an agency.
If you’ve ever wondered why reporters never get back to you, we cove...
2025-02-2631 min
Fund/Build/ScaleInvestor Insights for African Startups with Capria Ventures’ Mobola da-SilvaBuilding a startup in Africa isn’t the same as doing it in Silicon Valley.
Some challenges overlap, but many don’t, like currency volatility, limited early-stage funding, and investors who expect you to scale faster than the market allows.
So how do you grow beyond your home market? How do you raise funds when VC is scarce? And what do African founders need to do to make their startups more venture-backable?
To find out, I spoke with Mobola da-Silva, a partner at Capria Ventures who’s based in Nairobi, Kenya. She’s been inv...
2025-02-1546 min
Fund/Build/ScaleKarmaCheck CEO Eric Ly on Customer Discovery + Early Product DevelopmentEric Ly is the CEO of KarmaCheck, where he’s tackling a problem he first noticed years ago as a co-founder of LinkedIn:
People don’t always tell the truth about themselves.
To address this, KarmaCheck — launched in 2019 — automates key aspects of the background check process. By reducing complexity, employers can speed up hiring, while job applicants experience less friction along the way.
“This is one of the first touch points with the employer: experiencing pain and frustration having to go through this process,” said Eric.
“For us to show up with something...
2025-02-1240 min
Fund/Build/ScaleVouch CEO Sam Hodges on Mitigating Startup Risk and Maximizing GrowthStartups face unexpected risks every day — cyberattacks, lawsuits, market shifts —but many entrepreneurs don’t think about risk management until it’s too late.
In this episode of Fund/Build/Scale, Vouch co-founder/CEO Sam Hodges explains why risk management should be top of mind for early-stage founders. We discuss:
Why risk management matters for early-stage startups
How Vouch validated, built, and launched Corix as a new business unit
The biggest mistakes founders make when managing risk
Why work-life balance is a myth for startup leaders
Key insurtech trends that early-stage founders should watch in 2025
Sam also shares insigh...
2025-02-0144 min
Fund/Build/ScaleNavigating Blue Oceans: Key Insights for Emerging Founders from Vectara CEO/co-founder Amr AwadallahAmr Awadallah is the CEO and co-founder of Vectara. Previously, he co-founded Cloudera, which went public in 2017 and was acquired for $5.3 billion, and also served as VP of Developer Relations at Google Cloud. His first startup, Aptivia, was acquired by Yahoo, where he later became VP of Product Intelligence Engineering.
I talked to him about his experience as an immigrant in Silicon Valley, the frameworks he’s built to articulate vision and credibility, and what he’s learned about pitching investors and recruiting top talent over the years.
Runtime: 52:43
EPISODE BREAKDOWN
(3:39) “ The more technical definition of what...
2025-01-2452 min
Fund/Build/Scale2025 Cybersecurity Trends, Insights and Storytelling Advice from YL Ventures' Andy EllisIn this episode of Fund/Build/Scale, I talked with YL Ventures Partner Andy Ellis (a former CISO) about his approach to storytelling, tactics for founder-led sales and marketing, and why he thinks the cybersecurity hiring challenge isn’t a talent shortage, but a market misunderstanding.
We also discussed refining product-market fit, customer discovery methods and pitfalls like believing in one's own narrative too strongly. The conversation also touched on hiring strategies, managing design partnerships, and maintaining humility as a founder. “The basic entry level skill of reading the room is knowing when somebody already agrees with you...
2025-01-0944 min
Fund/Build/ScaleLessons from Operant AI's Startup Journey: “ We're not wasting time on wheel spinning.”Two of the three co-founders of Operant AI — CTO Dr. Priyanka Tembey and CMO Ashley Roof — joined me to talk about building the first runtime application protection platform and navigating the challenges of cloud-native security. The company announced a $10M Series A in September 2024 — In October, we discussed taking the leap into entrepreneurship, the lessons they learned through customer discovery and education, making early hires count, and the importance of early-stage team dynamics.
RUNTIME: 48:14
EPISODE BREAKDOWN
(2:28) “ I think it was within six months that we were able to have our first customer conversation.”
(3:46) What can customers do...
2025-01-0348 min
Fund/Build/ScaleMercury Raise 2024 Survey: Founder Challenges, Fundraising Trends, and the AI Hype CycleStartups are built on grit, vision, and — surprisingly — a lot of peer advice. In this episode, I sat down with Mallory Contois, Head of Community at Mercury and leader of Mercury Raise, their founder success platform.
Drawing from their latest survey, Mallory shares eye-opening insights about how early-stage entrepreneurs navigate challenges like fundraising, hiring, and customer acquisition.
Why do founders rely more on peer networks and podcasts like this one than their VCs for operational advice? Mallory explains the unique psychology that makes it hard for founders to admit uncertainty to their investors and why ange...
2024-12-1944 min
Fund/Build/ScaleRusty Ralston and Jay Patil of Swell VC: A Hands-on Approach to Building StartupsIn October 2024, New York-based Swell VC announced its second fund with $11.5 million in commitments.
Co-founded by general partners Jay Patil and Rusty Ralston in 2011, the firm now manages two seed-stage funds and a special purpose vehicle with $19 million in assets.
Compared to larger firms, they’re small potatoes — but that’s intentional. Swell VC is all about being hands-on: helping founders with critical early hires and go-to-market strategies.
I invited them on Fund/Build/Scale to discuss their investment thesis, why diversity matters for building innovative teams, and how to know when it’s finally...
2024-12-1742 min
Fund/Build/ScaleSeed-stage Valuation Insights from Lightspeed's Nnamdi IregbulemIf a team hasn’t built a minimum viable product, secured paying customers, or demonstrated strong unit economics, what exactly are seed-stage investors betting on?
To get some answers, I sat down with Nnamdi Iregbulem, a partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners, to discuss what drives seed valuations, the traits of successful founders, and his perspective on AI startups.
“A lot of the pitches that I get are basically two people, a PowerPoint deck, and their dog,” Nnamdi told me during our conversation in October 2024.
Nnamdi shared his journey from coding as a kid to inv...
2024-12-1533 min
Fund/Build/ScaleDan DeGolier: How Fractional CFOs Become a CEO's 'Strategic Teammate'In the startups I worked at, we never had spare laptops.
When we hired someone, we’d order their laptop that day. That’s Startup Cashflow 101: don’t spend money until you have to.
The same principle applies to your leadership team. Hiring a CMO before product-market fit? Too soon.
And a CEO can handle COO duties for a while. Most seed-stage companies don’t need a full-time CFO either.
A good controller can handle day-to-day finances, while a fractional CFO can plan future fundraising and create investor-friendly forecasts — all without reducing your...
2024-12-0927 min
Fund/Build/ScaleMaC Venture Capital’s Marlon Nichols Offers Seed-stage Insights for Future CEOsWhen I learned that MaC Venture Capital just raised $150 million for its third fund since 2020, I immediately reached out for an interview with Marlon Nichols, the firm’s co-founder and managing general partner.
Marlon previously co-founded Cross Culture Ventures, which merged with M Ventures in 2019 to form MaC VC.
In this interview, we talked about his path from enterprise software into venture capital, the concept of cultural investing, and MaC VC’s focus on diverse founders. He also explained what types of startups the new fund is open to and discussed some of the criteria he u...
2024-12-0645 min
Fund/Build/ScaleFrom PhD to CEO: Sahil Agarwal of Enkrypt AI Shares Essential Lessons for Aspiring FoundersIn this episode of Fund/Build/Scale, host Walter Thompson interviews Sahil Agarwal, CEO and co-founder of Encrypt AI. Sahil shares his journey from academia to leading an international AI company, discussing the importance of storytelling, confidence, and addressing biases within AI models.
He also delves into challenges faced by immigrant entrepreneurs and the balance between leadership and employee well-being. Sahil provides insights into navigating enterprise AI security, fundraising strategies, and the intrinsic demands of running a startup. Tune in to uncover strategies for launching a company and overcoming industry hurdles.
Runtime: 33:04
(1:46) Sahil...
2024-12-0433 min
(don't) Waste Water! | Water Tech to Solve the WorldWater Book Club - Liquid Asset - Barton Thompson (Review, Critique & Interview)📚 On the bookshelf: Liquid Asset by Barton Thompson📘 Subtitle: How Business and Government Can Partner to Solve the Freshwater CrisisWhat's the thesis of the book? What are some key learnings you'll get from it? What are my own thoughts and criticisms about that book?And ultimately, should you read it? ➡️ Let's review!Included: My exclusive interview with the author at this year's Rethinking Water Conference in New York, hosted by Sciens WaterBy the way, a big thanks to...
2024-10-3026 min
Fund/Build/ScaleHow to run a board meeting in 60 minutesIf you want a healthy relationship, it’s essential to set clear expectations and boundaries from the start.
The same holds true for a founder and their board. Despite the power dynamics, CEOs can still create a transparent communication framework that respects everyone’s limited time.
In part two of my interview with TigerEye co-founder and CEO Tracy Young, we discuss her approach to work-life balance, the unique challenges women founders face while fundraising, how to run a board meeting in 60 minutes, and the importance of gaming out worst-case scenarios.
Runtime: 24:58
EPISODE BREAKDOWN
(2:20) Why t...
2024-10-2824 min
Fund/Build/ScaleStarting up in stealth: A conversation with TigerEye co-founder/CEO Tracy YoungIn 2011, Tracy Young co-founded PlanGrid, which made software for construction teams. After scaling the company to 450 people and raising $69 million, it was acquired by Autodesk in 2018 for $875 million.
That’s a win, but Tracy and her partners didn’t go for the exit because they’d reached the peak of the mountain.
They cut the deal because PlanGrid was behind in the market, and they didn’t know how to catch up.
Three years later, during the pandemic, Tracy and her husband, Ralph Gootee, co-founded TigerEye, a RevOps AI agent that lets analysts answer q...
2024-10-2723 min
Fund/Build/Scale“Cultural fit” is a polite way to say “personal bias”Today is my 55th birthday!
I was planning to take the day off, but I started thinking about a few people my age who work in tech and have been recently laid off.
Unlike workers in their 20s and 30s, they’re facing a very different set of pressures: family, college payments, aging parents, retirement, etc. Most of the ones I know are having a hard time landing interviews, let alone full-time jobs.
This is the shortest episode I’ve ever released, so technically, I guess that makes this a hot take. I gene...
2024-10-1705 min
Fund/Build/ScaleCrafting influence: Early-stage PR strategies from Chikodi Chima of MoonshotI interviewed Chikodi Chima, founder of Moonshot, a PR firm focused on early-stage startups. The discussion revolves around the art of storytelling, thought leadership, and how PR can exponentially boost brand presence and connect with media, along with prospective customers, employees and investors.
Chikodi shares insights from his journey as a former tech journalist to a PR professional, emphasizing the importance of creating compelling narratives and strategic influence for startup founders.
Key topics include understanding when to engage with PR, the role of media exposure, managing expectations about ROI, and avoiding common pitfalls in PR...
2024-10-0737 min
Fund/Build/ScaleHow Dovetail CEO Benjamin Humphrey scaled an Australian startup to global successIn this episode, Fund/Build/Scale host Walter Thompson interviews Benjamin Humphrey, CEO and co-founder of Dovetail, a customer insights hub based in Sydney, Australia.
They discuss the challenges of hiring for a bootstrapped company, early customer acquisition strategies, and the impact of local networking when starting up far from major tech hubs like Silicon Valley.
Benjamin shares his journey from being a lead designer at Atlassian to founding Dovetail, emphasizing the importance of building strong customer relationships and adapting products to solve real-world problems.
The episode also explores managing distributed teams, transitioning...
2024-09-161h 03
Fund/Build/ScaleStartup PR 101: Essential tips from SISU founder Jenna BirchJenna Birch is the founder of SISU, a PR firm that serves early-stage startups and VCs. She’s also a partner at Kaya Ventures.
We talked about how to recognize when it’s time to engage PR services, the importance of a founder’s personal branding and the path that led her from journalism into venture-backed tech.
She also shared her methodologies for assessing clients, setting realistic expectations, and creating impactful media strategies.
There are a lot of misconceptions around PR and comms, so I was glad to get her perspective on earned media...
2024-09-1443 min
Fund/Build/ScaleNavigating the coming Series A crunch with Point72 Ventures' Sri ChandrasekarBefore Sri Chandrasekar became managing partner at Point72 Ventures, he was a Senior Vice President at In-Q-Tel, the non-profit VC firm that invests in startups on behalf of the CIA and other national intelligence agencies.
That work cultivated his interest in AI and ML a decade ago, which led hedge fund Point72 to recruit him to join its then-new venture arm in 2017. Fast-forward to 2024, Sri takes around 300 first-call meetings with founders each year.
While we had an extended discussion about his investment thesis and the types of opportunities he's targeting, he also offered key insights...
2024-09-1242 min
Access Must-Have Full Audiobooks in Biography & Memoir, Arts & EntertainmentIn the Blink of an Eye: A Perspective on Film Editing, 2nd Edition by Walter MurchPlease visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/813622 to listen full audiobooks. Title: In the Blink of an Eye: A Perspective on Film Editing, 2nd Edition Author: Walter Murch Narrator: Chris Brinkley Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 3 hours 48 minutes Release date: September 10, 2024 Genres: Arts & Entertainment Publisher's Summary: In the Blink of an Eye is celebrated film editor Walter Murch's vivid, multifaceted, thought -- provoking essay on film editing. Starting with what might be the most basic editing question -- Why do cuts work? -- Murch treats the reader to a wonderful ride through the aesthetics and practical concerns of cutting film. Along...
2024-09-1003 min
Fund/Build/ScaleAllie Garfinkle of Fortune's “Term Sheet” talks reporting, startups and AII met Fortune Senior Finance Reporter Allie Garfinkle in February 2024 at an event for comms professionals.
She had just taken over the Term Sheet daily deals newsletter covering startups, venture capital, M&A, trends and pretty much anything tech-related.
When news broke right after our panel that Reddit was filing to go public, she didn’t have a desk or a chair, so she grabbed her laptop, sat on the floor with her back to the wall and began drafting her next column.
She wasn’t stressed out — she seemed excited and laser-focused.
T...
2024-08-2831 min
Fund/Build/ScaleLessons for early-stage AI founders from Pryon CEO Igor JablokovBefore Igor Jablokov was CEO and founder of Pryon, he worked with Apple on a prototype of Siri. He also founded a speech recognition company that Amazon acquired to develop its Alexa AI and Echo devices.
He joined me on the podcast to talk about the evolution and challenges of building AI technologies and companies, different phases of startup growth, and how AI is transforming enterprise software procurement.
Igor also offered his insights on the current AI hype cycle, explained the concept of “knowledge friction,” and shared some personal anecdotes and observations about achieving enduring entre...
2024-08-2642 min
Fund/Build/ScaleEntrepreneurial insights for tech workers + immigrants with Stoovo CEO Hantz FévryIn this episode of Fund/Build/Scale, host Walter Thompson engages in a comprehensive discussion with Hantz Févry, co-founder and CEO of Stoovo, an AI-based geospatial data company.
Hantz shares invaluable insights into separating one's identity from their job, the importance of rapid execution in startups, and the journey from working at Google to launching his own company.
This episode targets tech workers aspiring to start their own businesses and immigrants in the U.S. on worker visas, highlighting the unique challenges and strategies for achieving entrepreneurial success. Hantz speaks on redefining success, Stoovo's p...
2024-08-2236 min
Politely Pushy with Eric ChemiThe Foundations of Successful Startup Founders with Walter ThompsonSo, you want to be a tech startup founder. Now what? Walter Thompson knows a thing or two about the journeys of successful–and not-so-successful– founders. As many know, securing investment is only part of the role.In this episode, Walter chats with Eric about his experience curating and creating content for digital publications and leading interviews with founders and investors. Walter’s latest project, hosting the Fund/Build/Scale podcast, pulls back the curtain of starting an AI company from the founder’s perspective to share the authentic stories and wisdom of those in the driver’s seat.
2024-08-1440 min
Fund/Build/ScaleUnderstanding product-led growth with Laura Schaffer, VP of Growth at AmplitudeEnterprise companies like Salesforce, Oracle and Cisco use sales-led growth to drive revenue and build relationships with potential customers.
Early-stage startups can't afford to rely on traditional sales and marketing, which is where product-led growth (PLG) comes in. Instead of creating slick sales collateral and hiring aggressive go-getters, PLG presents the product itself as the primary driver for customer acquisition, expansion and conversion.
"It's an end-user-based revenue motion," said Laura Schaffer, VP of Growth at analytics platform Amplitude. "So you're trying to ultimately drive revenue growth by focusing on the end user."
I...
2024-08-0444 min
Fund/Build/ScaleAddressing pain points + exploring early-stage trends with Kevin Weber of Amex VenturesIn this episode of Fund/Build/Scale, I interviewed Amex Ventures Managing Director Kevin Weber about some of the nuances between traditional VC and corporate venture capital.
It’s quite a mix: he’s looking for founders who can create value for individual American Express cardholders and the firm itself, so we talked about what types of opportunities he’s looking for, some of the problems he’s trying to solve, and the role risk plays in pushing organizational boundaries.
“In many cases, I actually want to take more risk in some of the investments that I'm go...
2024-08-0442 min
Fund/Build/ScaleSnapLogic CTO Jeremiah Stone on overcoming AI adoption barriersEveryone's looking for ways to implement AI solutions, but integrating them into existing systems means entering uncharted territory.
Despite the hype cycle, a majority of enterprise customers “are spending 70-80% of their capacity maintaining legacy application infrastructure,” said Jeremiah Stone, CTO of SnapLogic.
As a result, these companies often lack the necessary talent to effectively assess or integrate AI, making compliance and security the two biggest challenges for AI-first founders.
To overcome these and other adoption barriers, early-stage CEOs need to become educators and great listeners before they can ever act as salespeople.
2024-07-2929 min
Fund/Build/ScaleS2 E5: From the ground up: Building startups with Deb Kemper of Golden Seeds VenturesDeb Kemper is a managing partner of Golden Seeds Ventures, a firm that focuses on backing early-stage, women-led companies.
She joined me on the podcast to share tactics with founders who want to build networks with investors outside of Silicon Valley and discuss some of the challenges facing anyone seeking follow-on funding these days.
We also talked about the criteria investors use to gauge the strengths of teams and their ideas.
“I know some investor groups do full-on psychological assessments of founders and their teams,” she said, noting that she prefers to learn thro...
2024-07-2238 min
Get Latest Full Trial Audiobooks in Mystery, Thriller & Horror, Suspense[German] - Tote Asche by Patricia WalterPlease visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/809114 to listen full audiobooks. Title: [German] - Tote Asche Series: #3 of Pageturner-Thriller von Patricia Walter Author: Patricia Walter Narrator: Margit Sander Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 9 hours 20 minutes Release date: July 15, 2024 Genres: Suspense Publisher's Summary: Traue niemandem - schon gar nicht dir selbst! Kira Roth ist entsetzt, als sie in ihrer Wohnung die ausgegrabene Urne mit der Asche ihrer kürzlich verstorbenen Mutter findet. Daneben ein Zettel mit der Aufschrift: 'Sie war nicht deine Mutter. Und du verdienst es nicht zu leben!' Doch Kiras Albtraum fängt erst an. Auf dem Friedhof entdeckt sie...
2024-07-1505 min
Fund/Build/ScaleS2E3: Felicis' Viviana Faga on early-stage AI brand development and investment tacticsViviana Faga is general partner at Felicis, a venture firm that invests in seed to Series B startups in several sectors. Since its founding in 2006, the company has backed breakout companies like Adyen, Canva, Shopify and Runway.
Because she’s a former operator with experience in positioning, branding and go-to-market strategy, I asked her to come on Fund/Build/Scale to talk about how she evaluates seed-stage AI investments and share some of the tactics she’s using to help founders “really focus on this idea of a defensible brand.”
Episode breakdown:
A look at Felicis’ strategy of...
2024-07-1324 min
Fund/Build/ScaleFund/Build/Scale season 2: Why I'm doing this podcast (and why you should listen)I’m Walter Thompson. After working for years in early-stage startups and as a journalist, here are three hard truths I’ve learned:
Success in Silicon Valley hinges on connections, hard work and luck.
Startups often fail because founders lack fundamental business knowledge.
Real, actionable advice comes from those who've actually done it.
There’s no such thing as “founder DNA.” If you’re willing to take on risk and invest years of your life in something that has maybe a 10% chance of paying off, you can be a startup founder.
Here’s why I founded Fund/B...
2024-06-2701 min
Fund/Build/ScaleEpisode 9 | Taking an AI startup from research to reality with Dipanwita Das of SorceroFor this episode of Fund/Build/Scale, I interviewed Dipanwita Das, CEO and co-founder of Sorcero, about the journey of taking an AI startup from research to reality. She shared her experience of interviewing more than 300 people to shape Sorcero's product and technical requirements, as well as strategies for aligning customer needs with product development. We also discussed the challenges of building a capable team, fundraising, and the process she and her co-founders used to transform their thesis into a marketable product.
[1:55] How Sorcero’s co-founders connected and launched in 2018 (before the AI boom)
[5:31] Why she interviewed 300+ people to...
2024-06-0647 min
The PremiseWalter Green - Founder - Say it Now MovementWalter Green is a man on a mission. He’s the author of, This Is The Moment, a mentor, lecturer and is involved in many nonprofits. He’s all about gratitude. His philosophy is that if you have something to say, why wait? Say it NOW. Listen to Walter explain what that means and how he came about this idea and its subsequent movement. You’re in for an inspiring and illuminating story.https://www.justsayitnow.org/
2023-04-0650 min
Larry Wilmore: Black on the AirJay Ellis and Walter Thompson-Hernández on Giving A Voice to Young Incarcerated WritersLarry weighs in on Kyrie Irving refusing to get vaccinated (1:00) before he is joined by ‘Insecure’ star Jay Ellis and New York Times writer Walter Thompson-Hernández to talk about their new podcast with Lemonada Media, ‘Written Off,’ which features work from young writers who developed their voice while incarcerated (18:29). Plus, Ellis gives some hints on what’s to come on the final season of ‘Insecure’ (57:42).Host: Larry WilmoreGuests: Jay Ellis and Walter Thompson-HernándezProducer: Kaya McMullenProduction Assistant: Jonathan Kermah Learn more about your...
2021-10-171h 09
Truthfully Human PodcastEpisode 2. "Know who you are with or without the approval of any other human" with Walter ThompsonEpisode 2 of the Truthfully Human Podcast sees Victor Vardøy and Courtney-Leigh Oakes interview Walter Thompson. Walter has an interesting and complex past, and together they touch on Walter's experience as a black American man in 2020 and 2021, his time in the education system, and as a narcotics addict. Click play to hear more!
There’s no manual to life. We go about aimlessly finding our own ways of navigating the world; we take unusual paths with strange endings. This interesting journey that we all take, the good and bad choices we make along the way, map out the...
2021-03-2043 min
BlipBlopBlip9. This Episode Was a MistakeFirst off I'm(Sam) sorry. I don't know why we let it go this far. The only way I could describe the summary of this episode to Walter was "mostly garbage but the funny parts are top notch.", so take that as you will. I won't even describe this episode's content because we don't really talk about subjects instead speaking mostly in rambles. Again my apologies, and please try to enjoy. Also this was recorded in late January.
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This episode is sponsored by
· Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
S...
2021-03-081h 15BlipBlopBlip7. Is This the Christmas Episode?Welcome back, its been like 4 weeks but no we're not dead...yet. On this episode we talk about what we've been up to the past few weeks and we also get into some videogame appreciation conversation centered around Minecraft and a series of Wii games including Wii Sports, Wii Sports Resort, and the Mario and Sonic Olympic Games series. We then touch on the art of the scheme as it pertains to our time in school this year and years previous and Walter discusses the terror of his writing class. Clearly, it's always a whacky ride over...
2020-12-231h 08BlipBlopBlip6. Thanksgiving Special ft. whacky crazy special guest: "Anne"!It's the holiday season and we've broken some podcast barriers this week. Not only is it the first time Walter and Sam have recorded in person but, it is our first guest joins us this week and gives us her opinion on almost absolutely everything. We discuss Thanksgiving food, general trash food, and various other topics found on, unfortunately, BuzzFeed (I know we were surprised and disappointed as well). Nevertheless, we'll be back at some not predetermined point so tune in and try to support this garbage, thanks for listening.
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2020-11-301h 24BlipBlopBlip4. Walter Kills DogsBing Bong the dog is dead and its because Walter killed it. This week we hold the pre-trial of the century: the case of Walter vs the people. Sam rants about a hotel employee, Walter talks about pens, talks of torture in tv and film, this podcast has it all. Tweet at us @blipblopblippod because we need more content because we suck but also we'll keep making up questions that you guys ask...jk that definitely doesn't happen....
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This episode is sponsored by
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Support t...
2020-10-281h 02
The En Fuego PodcastThe En Fuego Podcast: Walter Thompson-Hernández and Jay MendozaWelcome to the human experience. While the answer to life may elude us, we can certainly answer the important questions, such as what makes us laugh and what does identity truly mean? We talk with Walter Thompson-Hernández and Jay Mendoza, two people who know a thing or two about those subjects. You can find more stories like this at En Fuego on Sports Illustrated as well as on Twitter at @EnFuegoNow and Instagram @EnFuegoNowMore on Walter Thompson-Hernández: https://www.si.com/enfuego/news/lifes-great-question-with-walter-thompson-hern%C3%A1ndez https://www.s...
2020-10-191h 02
Fun With DumbWalter Thompson-Hernandez (Compton Cowboys, California Love) - Fun With Dumb - Ep. 95Walter Thompson-Hernandez joins us for the 95th episode of "Fun With Dumb" - A new weekly podcast showcasing musicians, comics, artists, actors, k pop stars, chefs, and people from all walks of life! Listen on iTunes... https://goo.gl/Ng5MeKHosted by: @dumbfoundeadhttps://www.instagram.com/dumbfoundeadhttps://twitter.com/dumbfoundeadBig shout to Walter Thompson-Hernandez! Go follow Walter Thompson-Hernandez everywhere:Instagram: @MychivasTwitter: @WTHDZWebsite: www.wthdz.com...
2020-08-0546 min
Don’t Miss: This Immersive Full Audiobook For Busy Professionals.The Compton Cowboys: Young Readers' Edition: And the Fight to Save Their Horse Ranch by Walter Thompson-HernandezPlease visithttps://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/391769to listen full audiobooks.
Title: The Compton Cowboys: Young Readers' Edition: And the Fight to Save Their Horse Ranch
Author: Walter Thompson-Hernandez
Narrator: Glenn Davis
Format: Unabridged Audiobook
Length: 5 hours 47 minutes
Release date: April 28, 2020
Genres: Non-fiction
Publisher's Summary:
Inspired by a powerful New York Times article that went viral, this young readers’ edition tells the uplifting true story of Black men and women from Compton, California, who found purpose through raising and riding horses. The Compton Cowboys are a group who grew up in the city where Kendrick Lamar and Serena Williams were raised; a ci...
2020-04-285h 47
Experience: This Immersive Full Audiobook For Busy Professionals.The Compton Cowboys: The New Generation of Cowboys in America's Urban Heartland by Walter Thompson-HernandezPlease visithttps://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/391768to listen full audiobooks.
Title: The Compton Cowboys: The New Generation of Cowboys in America's Urban Heartland
Author: Walter Thompson-Hernandez
Narrator: Glenn Davis, Ron Butler
Format: Unabridged Audiobook
Length: 7 hours 45 minutes
Release date: April 28, 2020
Ratings: Ratings of Book: 4.5 of Total 2
Genres: The Americas
Publisher's Summary:
“Thompson-Hernández's portrayal of Compton's black cowboys broadens our perception of Compton's young black residents, and connects the Compton Cowboys to the historical legacy of African Americans in the west. An eye-opening, moving book.”— Margot Lee Shetterly, New York Times bestselling author of Hidden Figures A rising New York Times repor...
2020-04-287h 45Listen To The Full Audiobook That Keeps Busy Professionals Hooked.The Compton Cowboys: Young Readers' Edition: And the Fight to Save Their Horse Ranch by Walter Thompson-HernandezPlease visithttps://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/391769to listen full audiobooks.
Title: The Compton Cowboys: Young Readers' Edition: And the Fight to Save Their Horse Ranch
Author: Walter Thompson-Hernandez
Narrator: Glenn Davis
Format: Unabridged Audiobook
Length: 5 hours 47 minutes
Release date: April 28, 2020
Genres: Animals & Nature
Publisher's Summary:
Inspired by a powerful New York Times article that went viral, this young readers’ edition tells the uplifting true story of Black men and women from Compton, California, who found purpose through raising and riding horses. The Compton Cowboys are a group who grew up in the city where Kendrick Lamar and Serena Williams were rais...
2020-04-285h 47Stream Popular Full Audiobooks in Kids, Non-fictionThe Compton Cowboys: Young Readers' Edition: And the Fight to Save Their Horse Ranch by Walter Thompson-HernandezPlease visithttps://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/391769to listen full audiobooks.
Title: The Compton Cowboys: Young Readers' Edition: And the Fight to Save Their Horse Ranch
Author: Walter Thompson-Hernandez
Narrator: Glenn Davis
Format: Unabridged Audiobook
Length: 5 hours 47 minutes
Release date: April 28, 2020
Genres: Non-fiction
Publisher's Summary:
Inspired by a powerful New York Times article that went viral, this young readers’ edition tells the uplifting true story of Black men and women from Compton, California, who found purpose through raising and riding horses. The Compton Cowboys are a group who grew up in the city where Kendrick Lamar and Serena Williams were raised; a ci...
2020-04-285h 47Access Essential Full Audiobooks in Kids, Animals & NatureThe Compton Cowboys: Young Readers' Edition: And the Fight to Save Their Horse Ranch by Walter Thompson-HernandezPlease visithttps://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/391769to listen full audiobooks.
Title: The Compton Cowboys: Young Readers' Edition: And the Fight to Save Their Horse Ranch
Author: Walter Thompson-Hernandez
Narrator: Glenn Davis
Format: Unabridged Audiobook
Length: 5 hours 47 minutes
Release date: April 28, 2020
Genres: Animals & Nature
Publisher's Summary:
Inspired by a powerful New York Times article that went viral, this young readers’ edition tells the uplifting true story of Black men and women from Compton, California, who found purpose through raising and riding horses. The Compton Cowboys are a group who grew up in the city where Kendrick Lamar and Serena Williams were rais...
2020-04-285h 47
The Golden CityThe Golden City - IntroductionJoin host Walter Thompson for The Golden City, a podcast that presents stories from San Francisco’s past, present and future. Each episode explores unique aspects of the city’s news, history and culture that often go overlooked. Whether you’re a native or a tourist, listen to the The Golden City, and you’ll learn something new about one of the most familiar cities on Earth.
2019-09-0302 min
Real Estate 101Using Trusts: An Investing Philosophy with Walter WoffordEpisode 77 is the 3rd installment with Walter Wofford. We discuss the benefits of using trusts in your real estate investing business. Walter and I both agree you should be holding title in trusts for your assets. We also discuss the underlying investing philosophy why this is such a good idea. To learn more about Walter, the Financial Friends Network, and his events check out these links: joinFFN.com trustfirewallsevent.com
2019-07-2443 min
The Frye Show#16: Juan Pablo Rocha – Presidente de Publicidad J. Walter ThompsonPresidente de Publicidad J. Walter Thompson La Publicidad de un Presidente y el Presidente de Publicidad “Creo firmemente que no hay nada más poderoso para cambiar la realidad que una idea.” – Juan Pablo Rocha Juan Pablo Rocha y todo el equipo de JWT Colombia fueron el #1 equipo de Colombia en Cannes Lions 2016. Ganaron algunos premios impresionantes por un trabajo increíble. Voy a utilizar las palabras gloriosas de Esquire Colombia por parte de la introducción a Juan Pablo Rocha – “Juan Pablo Rocha, bogotano de 50 años, empezó su carrera como redactor publicitario, luego...
2016-07-051h 46The Frye Show#16: Juan Pablo Rocha – Presidente de Publicidad J. Walter ThompsonPresidente de Publicidad J. Walter Thompson La Publicidad de un Presidente y el Presidente de Publicidad “Creo firmemente que no hay nada más poderoso para cambiar la realidad que una idea.” – Juan Pablo Rocha Juan Pablo Rocha y todo el equipo de JWT Colombia fueron el #1 equipo de Colombia en Cannes Lions 2016. Ganaron algunos premios impresionantes por un trabajo increíble. Voy a utilizar las palabras gloriosas de Esquire Colombia por parte de la introducción a Juan Pablo Rocha – “Juan Pablo Rocha, bogotano de 50 años, empezó su carrera como redactor publicitario, luego...
2016-07-051h 46