Coffee with a Founder

On this episode of Coffee with a Founder, Beck Bamberger sits down with James Everingham, serial entrepreneur and CEO of Guild AI, to talk about what it takes to build for a world of AI agents. Drawing on decades in tech, including time at Meta, James explains why a strong observation is a better starting point for a company than the desire to start one. He shares how Guild AI is helping enterpris...

In this episode of Coffee With a Founder , host Beck Bamberger sits down with Andrew Dai, co-founder and CEO of Elorian AI, to explore the next frontier of artificial intelligence: visual reasoning. Drawing on his experience developing language models at DeepMind, Andrew explains why today's AI systems still struggle to understand and reason through visuals the way people do. He shares how board g...

On today's episode of Coffee with a Founder, Beck sits down with Shwetank Kumar, chief scientist at EnCharge AI, a Princeton spinout developing computing technology that could make AI up to 20 times more energy-efficient. Fresh off the company's $100 million Series B, Shwetank explains what it takes to transform groundbreaking university research into real-world hardware and why energy-efficient c...

On this episode, host Beck Bamberger sits down with Stamati Liapis, CEO, CTO, and co-founder of Enlaye, a construction technology startup that recently raised $5 million in seed funding. Stamante shares how his PhD research in computational neuroscience inspired an AI-powered approach to one of construction's biggest challenges: identifying risk before it becomes a costly, and potentially dangerou...

On this episode of BAM By BIG, Beck Bamberger sits down with Todd Thomas, CEO and founder of Woodchuck, for a candid conversation over Coffee With a Founder. Todd shares how Woodchuck uses AI-powered tracking to divert wood waste from landfills and transform it into renewable energy and other sustainable materials. Todd reflects on lessons from his three founder journeys, the importance of buildin...

On this episode of Coffee With a Founder, host Beck Bamberger sits down with Jeevan Kalanithi , CEO and co-founder of OpenSpace , to talk about building, exiting, and finding your way back to entrepreneurship. Jeevan shares how a period of reflection after his first exit eventually led to OpenSpace, which uses spatial AI, 360 cameras, and visual data to help construction teams understand what's ha...

Today, Beck Bamberger sits down with Nina Horowitz , CEO of ImmuneBridge and a Stanford-trained scientist using AI and stem cell engineering to develop the next generation of cell therapies. ImmuneBridge is working to make potentially life-saving treatments safer, more scalable, and significantly more affordable. By applying machine learning to identify the most promising umbilical cord blood dono...

Today, Beck Bamberger sits down with Oliver Keown, CEO and founder of Oath Surgical, a healthcare company building advanced outpatient surgical centers designed to deliver high-quality care at a lower cost. Drawing on Oliver's experience as a physician, venture capitalist, founder, and patient, Oath Surgical combines technology, premium physical centers, and partnerships with independent surgeons...

Today, Beck Bamberger sits down with Ali Fawad and  Habab Idrees, the CEO and CTO of Farmevo, a Pakistan-founded startup using AI and autonomous drone technology to change how we understand the physical world. What started as a solution built for their own farms has grown into a platform using off-the-shelf drones and AI-powered sensing to capture and analyze farmland, forests, and other complex e...

Today, on Coffee With a Founder Beck Bamberger sits down with Patrick Girouard , founder and CEO of District Cover , a company reimagining commercial insurance for small businesses in underserved neighborhoods. Patrick explains why traditional insurers often overlook these businesses, how District Cover uses data and technology to assess risk more accurately, and why the company sees opportunity w...

Today, on Coffee With a Founder Beck Bamberger sits down with Alexander Krüger, co-founder and CEO of United Manufacturing Hub (UMH), an open-source industrial data platform helping manufacturers prepare their factories for AI and automation. Joining from Germany—with water in hand instead of coffee—Alexander shares how his path through engineering and factory digitalization led him to build techn...

In this episode of Coffee With a Founder, BAM CEO Beck Bamberger sits down with Dr. Harshal Chokhawala, co-founder and CEO of ZymoChem, a biotechnology company using advanced fermentation to create sustainable materials for everyday products. Harshal shares ZymoChem's journey from years of laboratory research to the commercialization of BAYSE, the world's first scalable, 100% bio-based and biodegr...

In this episode of Coffee With a Founder, BAM CEO Beck Bamberger sits down with Alex Toporek, co-founder and CEO of Rebuild, an AI-powered platform helping restoration contractors create faster, more accurate insurance estimates. Alex shares how a challenge inside his father's restoration business inspired Rebuild—and how the platform reduced estimate turnaround time from 14 days to 14 hours while...

In this episode of Coffee With a Founder, BAM CEO Beck Bamberger sits down with Tom Rogers, CEO of Variabl, a sales compensation platform designed to help revenue teams manage complexity and continuous change. Tom shares his philosophy of leading from the trenches, the importance of creating a culture where fresh perspectives can thrive, and how removing repetitive work can unlock the potential of...

In this episode, BAM CEO Beck Bamberger sits down with Rissa Cao, founder and CEO of Fish Audio, an AI company creating hyper-realistic, emotionally expressive voices. Rissa shares how Fish Audio evolved from a passion project into a growing voice AI company, the challenges of building in a rapidly changing industry, and what she has learned about enterprise sales, assembling the right team, and r...

In this episode of Coffee with a Founder, Beck Bamberger sits down with Ashok Kartham , CEO and co-founder of Circuitry.ai , a company using AI and decision intelligence to transform equipment maintenance. From heavy machinery to medical devices, Circuitry.ai helps service teams reduce downtime, improve first-time fix rates, and make faster, more accurate decisions. Ashok draws on more than 20 yea...

In this episode of Coffee with a Founder, Beck Bamberger sits down with Steph Johnson , CEO of Multiplayer , to discuss how engineering leaders can maintain visibility and reliability as AI transforms software development. They also explore Steph's unconventional journey from communications leader at DigitalOcean and MongoDB to venture-backed founder, along with lessons on winning enterprise custo...

In this episode of Coffee with a Founder, Beck Bamberger is joined by Varun Puri, CEO and co-founder of Yoodli, the AI-powered communication coach helping people become more confident and effective speakers. From sales calls and job interviews to media appearances and public speaking, Yoodli provides real-time feedback designed to help users improve how they communicate. Varun shares the personal...

In this episode of Coffee with a Founder, Beck Bamberger is joined by Robert Murphy, CEO of Othersphere, for a conversation about the future of energy infrastructure, entrepreneurship, and building technology with real-world impact. Broadcasting from Canada, Robert shares his journey from spinning Other Sphere out of Bill Gates' Breakthrough Energy to navigating the challenges of startup life, fun...

On this episode of Coffee with a Founder, host Beck Bamberger sits down with Keith Corso, co-founder and CEO of BusRight, for a candid conversation about building a company in one of the most overlooked—and essential—industries: student transportation. Keith shares how BusRight is modernizing school transportation by addressing some of the industry's biggest challenges, from nationwide driver shor...

In this episode of Coffee with a Founder, Beck Bamberger sits down with Elina Onitskansky, founder and CEO of Ilant Health, to explore how value-based care is reshaping the future of obesity and cardiometabolic health. Together, they discuss why metabolic health is about far more than preventing chronic conditions like diabetes and cardiovascular disease—it's about creating the foundation for long...

On this episode of Coffee with a Founder, host Beck Bamberger sits down with Victor Zhang, co-founder and CEO of Trestle, the company leveraging AI to supercharge vendor risk management in the construction industry.  From his roots as a civil engineer to building software that addresses the unique challenges of construction procurement, Victor shares candid stories about the high-stakes decisions...

In this episode of Coffee with a Founder , Beck Bamberger is joined by Michael Vega-Sanz , Co-Founder and President of Gail , an AI-powered platform helping insurance, banking, and lending companies modernize the way they operate. While Michael's entrepreneurial journey may appear diverse on paper, it has always been driven by one mission: solving complex financial services challenges through inno...

On today's episode, Beck Bamberger sits down with Jack Rusk , founder and CEO of C.Scale , a company helping the building industry navigate one of its biggest challenges: reducing carbon emissions without sacrificing cost, efficiency, or growth. Before launching C.Scale, Jack spent years working across policy, sustainability, and technology at organizations like Autodesk and Schneider Electric. No...

On this episode of Coffee with a Founder, Beck Bamberger sits down with Connor Hogan , co-founder and CFO of OnePlanet Solar Recycling , a company helping tackle one of the renewable energy industry's growing challenges: solar panel recycling. The conversation explores why solar recycling is becoming a critical part of America's clean energy future, the policy and infrastructure shifts shaping the...