The Thread Podcast

In this episode of The Bridge , Justin sits down with Jessica Collier , CEO of Spot , and founding partner of All Turtles, to explore her journey from academia to building one of the most thoughtful AI-driven tools in the HR tech space. Jessica was the first UX writer at Evernote , where she helped shape user experiences through words before it was a recognized craft. She later went on to co-found...

Brett Beveridge , Founder & CEO of T-ROC , joins the show to share his journey from bouncer and bartender to building one of the largest retail operators in the U.S. We dive into: How he started selling cell phones out of a van and took Let's Talk Cellular public before selling to Nextel What’s fueled his 20+ year run building T-ROC His take on when to expand product lines — and when to s...

Tessa Brown, Co-Founder and CEO of Germ Network, joins the show to talk about,  - Tessa's journey from Stanford writing professor to startup founder, the dangers of social platforms designed to maximize exposure, and why privacy should be the default, not the exception. - How Germ lets users create multiple, compartmentalized identities - The flaws of phone number–based messaging and the case...

Jared Robin , Co founder of RevGenius and Audience Haus, joins the show to talk about Jared's first sales job, cold calling office managers at FedEx to building a fashion blog with 10K monthly subscribers. The art of audience building, and how a LinkedIn group chat turned into an engaged 50,000 community  What does it take for a B2B company to successfully build an audience Reflecting back on...

Chris Andrew , Co founder and CEO of Scrunch AI , joins the show to talk about The evolution of search and consumer shift toward finding answers with AI. Building a marketing platform for an AI first customer journey. The opportunity for AI and Scrunch to audit search and help brands manage their identities in the era of AI. Reflecting on Chris leaving Intuit to work for Clara Shih at Hearsay, and...

Tatiana Fofanova, CEO and Co Founder of Koda Health, joins the show to talk about From pediatrics to entrepreneurship, and Tatiana's experience as a founder in residence at Texas Medical Center (TMC) The intersection of the law and health, and building an advanced care planning tool that is patient centric. Becoming "patient zero" for Koda Health after being hit by a car and getting...

Conor McCarter , Co founder of Prequel , joins the show to talk about: The founding story behind Prequel, the YC experience, and pivoting during the program. Market overview on the state of data management and positioning of Prequel. The fundraising process for Prequel and importance of not beating yourself up as a founder and staying creative amidst the grind.

Dr. Maheen Mausoof Adamson, CEO and Co founder of Soof Solutions, joins the show to talk about The intersection of neuroscience at Stanford and entrepreneurship, and path to founding Soof. Building Soof to help her father speak again after experiencing a stroke in 2007. The importance of timing and how Apple's advancements in hardware openned up the market for Soof. How Dr. Adamson worked wit...

Megs Shah , CEO and Co founder of Parasol Cooperative , joins the show to talk about: Surviving abuse and founding Parasol Cooperative to battle a growing, global, shadow pandemic Keeping our kids safe online, and the insights that led Megs to building her two products, SafeConnect and Ruth solutions overview Diddy's downfall, the shift toward disconnecting and digital minimalism, and the res...

Dr. Jennifer Hintzsche , CEO and Founder of PherDal, joins the show to talk about: - Dr. Hintzsche's personal story of being defined as "in-fertile", a $10,000 invoice for a solution to a problem that doctor's couldn't define, and how she used her PhD to prove those physician's wrong. - The process of crowdfunding for PherDal and lessons learned by launching on their...

Daniel Saks , Co founder and CEO of Landbase , joins the show to talk about - Growing up in an entrepreneurial family in the business of furniture and the insight that led to founding Daniel's first business, AppDirect. - The importance of establishing "go-to-market credibility" before engaging in sales outreach.  - Daniel's experience fundraising for AppDirect, and most recent...

Alex Douzet , CEO and co founder of Pumpkin , joins the show to talk about - Building his first company Ollie, in the pet food and delivery space, and how doubling down on his experience in pet care and the "humanization of pets"  led to founding Pumpkin - Picking the brand name "Pumpkin" and the importance of building flexibility into what you ultimately call your business.  -...

In this episode Justin sits down with Nico Simko, the dynamic CEO and co-founder of Clair, a trailblazing company set on revolutionizing on-demand payroll. Nico shares an inspiring narrative from his beginnings as an economics tutor to spearheading a fintech powerhouse. We uncover how Clair smartly embeds on-demand pay within HR platforms, bypassing the conventional approach of targeting employers...

Tim Fung , Co founder and CEO of Airtasker , joins the show to talk about How an apartment move led to the founding of Airtasker. How tasking and labor markets differ globally, and what this market looks like in Australia. How Airtasker is focusing on localization and community to differentiate from platforms like Fiverr and Upwork. Finding product, channel fit, and how Airtasker used regional med...

Dr. Lewis Bernstein , Co founder of 3G and former executive producer for Sesame Street , joins the show to talk about: Dr. Bernstein's early work at Sesame Street, working alongside Jim Henson, and how the mission and message of Sesame Street has evolved over time. The founding story of 3G and using multiple generations to help combat loneliness in our youth. Current state of children's...

Tad Milbourn , Founder and CEO of RankedVote , joins the show to talk about The momentum that's building around ranked choice voting. What it is, how it works, and why it's a better method of getting consensus. Lessons learned from Tad's first company, Payable, the YC experience, and navigating a successful exit and selling to Stripe. "Upgrading state and federal elections&quot...

Jon Staenberg , Founder and CEO of Agate Hound Fund joins the show to talk about  Growing up in Nebraska to Silicon Valley to Microsoft to Venture How Venture Capital has changed and the rise of the Search Fund. What is a "Search Fund" and the reason behind why it's such a successful asset class. The Silver Tsunami and baby boomers without an exit plan. The criteria that Jon has est...

Travis Schoen , Founder of NW Golf Guys joins the show to talk about: How Travis moved from scoring free golf to starting a golf league and growing its member base to more than 7,000 members. How the game of golf has evolved over the past 20 years, and how NW Golf Guys thinks about their target demographic and approach to member acquisition What goes into putting on a great golf tournament, the gr...

Sahand Dilmaghani , Co founder and CEO of Terra Kaffe , joins the show to talk about Building the worlds most beautiful and intelligent espresso machine, and the process that went into prototyping a better coffee experience. Balancing development for the software user interface and the human machine interface, and the two journeys people take when brewing their coffee. How Terra Kaffe thinks about...

Jordane Giuly , CEO and Co founder of Defacto , joins the show to talk about - Jordan'e experience building a Unicorn at Spendesk and the decision to walk away from the successful startup he co-founded. - The three bets that Jordane and team are making to go big with Defacto. - Building his startup in Paris vs. Silicon Valley, and the benefits of building outside of the US. - Lessons learned...

Martin Pannier , Co founder and CEO of Primo joins the show to talk about Lessons learned building product at Gusto that led to solving for the "accidental IT Manager" The decision to launch a free product SKU, PLG, and considerations to make before launching a free product The pros and cons of building your startup pitch with your VCs. 

Parker Gilbert , Co founder and CEO of Numeric , joins the show to talk about - How going through a challenging financial audit led to the insight of founding Numeric. - The character traits that Parker looked for in his co founders for Numeric. - Parker's experience closing is $10M Series A and what it took to close a round from Founders Fund, Menlo Ventures and how he iterated to build a pi...

Carin Luna-Ostaseski , Founder of SIA Scotch Whisky, joins the show to talk about The process Carin went through to kickstart the SIA brand, and being the first hispanic woman to found a Scotch brand. The state of the spirits industry and how SIA positions itself and competes with other liquor brands in the beverage category.  The "bonsai tree" method of building your company, and the im...

Adam Katz , CEO of Sightly , joins the show to talk about Adam's journey from IC to becoming the CEO at Sightly and leading from the front The evolution of the marketing tech category and generating an authentic brand voice in the era of AI. How Kobe Bryant inspired Sightly's Brand Mentality vision and narrative. Caitlin Clark and the future of the WNBA brand and women's sports. Def...

Andrew Firestone , CEO of Mermaid Chart , joins the show to talk about: The venture studio model and building Mermaid Chart out of Open Core Venture Studio. Stepping into the CEO role at Mermaid and building an open-sourced approach to the diagramming and creator tools industry. Unlocking go-to-market and investing in channels that create accumulating advantages for Mermaid. Lessons learned from r...