Technori Podcast

In this episode of The Scott Show, Scott sits down with Henry Yoshida, founder of Rocket Dollar and now head of Retired.com, to talk about the massive wave of innovation coming to the $18 trillion retirement market. From launching Rocket Dollar to help everyday investors use their IRAs to invest in real estate, startups, and crypto — to now running Retired.com with a vision for a fully self-direct...

In this episode of The Scott Show, Scott sits down with Acquire.com founder and CEO Andrew Gazdecki to explore the fast-growing world of micro acquisitions. From his early Twitter rise to landing the premium domain Acquire.com, Andrew shares how he built a breakout marketplace where anyone—from side hustlers to solopreneurs—can buy or sell profitable businesses with ease. Scott and Andrew dive int...

This week, something seismic happened in private markets. Jeff Bezos, Michael Dell, and Coatue’s Philippe Laffont announced a $1B tech fund that’s now accessible to individual investors — with minimums starting at just $50K. Let that sink in. The floodgates are opening. What used to require millions and insider access is now coming to retail. First Hamilton Lane launched the first truly retail pri...

Scott sits down with venture capitalist, essayist, and Slow Ventures GP Sam Lessin for a candid, high-signal conversation about the state of venture capital—and why the old playbook is officially dead. Sam unpacks the ideas behind his viral VC25 manifesto, including why the startup conveyor belt model is broken, how today’s founders are flying blind, and what it really takes to build something wor...

Scott sits down with longtime friend, journalist, and cultural critic John McDermott for a no-holds-barred conversation on the rise of the grift economy. John and Scott re-trace the evolution of modern hustle culture to unpack the cult of tech founders, the blurred lines between personal branding and deception, and why irrational self-confidence is both a feature and a bug of startup life. Along t...

In this episode, Scott sits down with legendary host and comedic trailblazer Craig Kilborn for a wide-ranging conversation on life after late night, creative independence, and what it really means to stay above the fray. From his iconic runs at ESPN, The Daily Show, and The Late Late Show, Craig reflects on the highs of fame, why he walked away, and how he found peace (and punchlines) off-camera....

In this episode, Scott sits down with journalist-turned-operator Eric Newcomer for a wide-ranging conversation about building in public, the evolution of venture capital, and what it’s really like to run a media business. Eric shares the backstory of launching Newcomer, from a solo Substack to a $2M+ revenue business with marquee events like Cerebral Valley. The two reflect on the blurred lines be...

In this episode, Scott sits down with Darren Marble — the creator of Going Public and founder of Issuance — for a wide-ranging conversation on the rise of retail investors, the evolution of equity crowdfunding, and why he believes the best days of this industry are still ahead. Darren shares the inside story of launching Going Public, a groundbreaking series now partnered with X (formerly Twitter)...

In the inaugural episode of The Scott Show, host Scott Kitun welcomes his good friend and Founder of Republic, Kendrick Nguyen, to break some BIG news and to discuss the game-changing shift towards retail happening across private markets. Key Takeaways: → Republic’s Major Announcement – A new partnership with Hamilton Lane, bringing institutional-grade private equity to retail investors via blockc...

In this episode of the Technori podcast, host Scott Kitun interviews Jeff Annison, the co-founder and president of Legion M. They discuss Annison's journey from mechanical engineering to entrepreneurship, highlighting his experiences in various startups, including a streaming mobile television venture and a music-related startup. Annison shares insights into his career transitions, the challenges...

Scott Kitun sits down with acclaimed journalist and author Taylor Lorenz to set the record straight regarding internet history, the premise of her book, "Extremely Online," ( available now ). She discusses the evolving landscape of the tech world, the importance of strong social safety nets, the impact of AI on content creation, and Lorenz's thoughts on various social platforms.  Key Highlights: T...

Scott Kitun talks to StartEngine co-founder Howard Marks. The conversation starts with Kitun's curiosity about Marks' early involvement in crowdfunding, despite having been an entrepreneur (founder of Activision) for a long time. Marks recounts his journey from investing in entrepreneurs in Los Angeles to eventually building StartEngine. He reflects on entrepreneurs' difficulties when raising capi...

Scott Lynn, founder and CEO of Masterworks, joins Scott Kitun on the show. As a long time art collector and enthusiast, Lynn saw a massive space in the market for fine art - which includes many pieces that are valued in the millions of dollars - to be invested in fractionally but art lovers and investors worldwide. In this episode, Scott Lynn shares his foray into entrepreneurship, developing the...

Bored Elon Musk, a pseudonymous influencer, joins Scott Kitun on the pod. Bored has built his following over most of the past decade on Twitter. What started out as a joke account gradually - alongside the growing notoriety of Elon Musk - into an influencer account with over a million followers. Bored shares how he built his following and monetized his account, including his Bored Box. Scott and B...

Harper Reed, founder and CEO of Galactic , joins the show with Scott Kitun. Reed, the former Head of Commerce at Braintree and President Obama's CTO during his re-election campaign, is a longtime tech entrepreneur (and Technori supporter) working to make technology work better for everyone. Like many founders experienced early on in the pandemic, Reed had to make a major pivot. He shares his lates...

Milan Kordestani, founder and CEO of Audo, joins the show with Scott Kitun. Audo is a career building platform that combines e-learning and job opportunities that fit the skills you learn. Scott and Milan dig into the changes coming to education, the value of college and avoiding debt. They also touch on just how gamification could and should play into the ways we learn, and building curriculum ar...

Lorel Scott, co-founder and COO of StartupStarter, joins the show with Scott Kitun. StartupStarter is launching the first ever in-person Equity Crowdfunding Week (ECW), a showcase and awards show for equity crowdfunding startups and investors to come together for a 3 day celebration of a growing crowdfunding community. Lorel shares  how he and his co-founder came up with  StartupStarter in the hei...

Brittany Davis and Christie Pitts, general partners at Backstage Capital, join the show with Scott Kitun. Brittany and Christie talk about the present day investing landscape and why the future of VC will trend towards inclusiveness (or lose). The group shares their thoughts and experiences with the top VC firms, why so many are resistant to change and where the next generation of founders and inv...

Mike Mercier, founder and CEO of VonMercier , joins the show with Scott Kitun. They talk about how changing what we can do with vehicles, starting with the idea of VonMercier's electric hovercraft Arosa. Mike dives into his 10-year founding journey with late nights and weekends dedicated to coming up with the concept, finding the right materials and creating something from just an idea to a full-f...

Justin Miller, founder and CEO of Showplace , joins the show with Scott Kitun. Showplace aims to be a one-stop shop for people looking to rent out their properties with the supplies, design, furnishings and everything else you need to set up a short-term rental. Justin shares the company's hefty aim to be the modern infrastructure for short-term rentals, and filling a space opened up by the past d...

Ashik Ahmed, co-founder and CEO of Deputy , joins the show with Scott Kitun. Deputy is a company focused around simplifying work life for the shift worker. As an employee management platform, Deputy specializes in timesheets, scheduling, tasks and workplace communication. Ashik shares the founding story starting with his own childhood growing up around shift workers in the family to working on the...

Rory Rubin, co-founder and CEO of S.I. Container Builds , joins Scott Kitun on the show. S.I. Container Builds offer customizable ADUs (accessory dwelling units) using shipping containers that are affordable, simple and environmentally conscious. Rory shares with Scott the origin story for starting S.I. Container Builds. According to Rory, there are more than 23 million shipping containers that ca...

John Wu, CEO of Gryphon , joins the pod with Scott Kitun. Gryphon is a wireless router built around online safety, privacy and protecting the central point of your digital life at home. John first starting thinking about the idea for the router after watching his young daughter access the internet and come across NSFW (or children) content. Scott and John catch up about the essential role of data...

Cody Barbo, founder and CEO of Trust & Will , comes back on the show with Scott Kitun.  Cody catches up with Scott after three years of growing the Trust & Will business  from a seed round CF raise on Republic to a $15 million Series B and recent venture round led by UBS. They talk about the journey Trust & Will has been on, how Cody first got the idea after trying to work through finances with hi...

Alex Giannikoulis, founder of Ivee , joins the show with Scott Kitun. Ivee is a "mobility as a service (MaaS)" platform that adds a suite of apps and experiences that elevate your time as a passenger in commute. The Ivee dashboard connects your phone to a 10" tablet in the backseat to access services like Netflix, Spotify, Calm as well as physical experiences like surround sound and in-chair massa...