TechCrunch

Build Mode

On Build Mode, TechCrunch's Startup Battlefield Editor Isabelle Johannessen cuts through the startup mythology to uncover how founders survive the brutal early days, navigate impossible funding landscapes, and somehow keep their companies — and sanity—  intact. Each season, Isabelle is joined by founders, investors, and operators to dig into specific aspect s of the startup journey, from creative go to market strategies to founder mental health. The interviews are full of candid startup wisdom—think cap table drama, co-founder breakups, and pivot panic. So , if you’re starting a company or or...

Author

TechCrunch

Category

Technology

Podcast website

www.techcrunch.com

Latest episode

Jul 9, 2026

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Episodes

Help Us Win a Webby! 20.04.2022

Found has been nominated for a Webby! Tomorrow is the last day to vote, so help us win by going to bit.ly/vote4found.  Found posts every Tuesday. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts to be alerted when new episodes drop. Check out the other TechCrunch podcast: Equity . Subscribe to Found to hear more stories from founders each   Connect with us: On Twitter On Instagram Vi...

Anthony DiMare, Bedrock 19.04.2022

Help us Win a Webby by voting for us here: bit.ly/vote4found Today on Found we talk to Anthony DiMare, the co-founder and CEO of Bedrock, a company which has developed autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) to survey and map the seafloor in a much more efficient and affordable way than the traditional “big ship with a big sonar” method. Darrell, Jordan, and Anthony get into why seafloor exploration...

Dylan Field, Figma 12.04.2022

Dylan Field, co-founder and CEO of Figma, started the company when he was 20 years old when he had no idea if anyone would see the value in making design a multiplayer game let alone that his company become the Google Docs of design. He chats with Darrell and Jordan about how his leadership style has evolved, how he handles the changing company culture as Figma grows, and how the nature of design...

Julia Cheek, Everly Health 04.04.2022

Everly Health founder and CEO Julia Cheek is taking steps to revolutionize healthcare by helping patients gain access to all kinds of medical testing and in doing so allowing providers to have the data they need to give the best care possible. Darrell and Jordan first met Julia at TechCrunch Disrupt in 2016 when she was a self-proclaimed “fish out of water”. On today’s episode, she talks about how...

Laura Crabtree, Epsilon3 28.03.2022

 Space enterprise founder, Laura Crabtree, talks with Darrell and Jordan about starting Epsilon 3 and how they are helping companies across the space industry (and beyond) plan, track, and record their large projects and mission. They discuss their growing market fit, building relationships with your investors, and the benefits of having three founders. Take our listener survey and let us know a b...

Shivani Siroya, Tala 21.03.2022

Found Live is back again with Shivani Siroya, CEO and founder of Tala, a fintech company that works with underestimated communities to build a financial system that works for everyone. While working at the UN, Siroya was working to  understand progress out of poverty and discovered you need to understand where the money is being used. In this episode, she talks with Jordan and Darrell about how sh...

Matthew Wadiak, Cooks Venture 14.03.2022

Most people don’t spend much time thinking about where their poultry comes from, much less what it was eating when it was alive but the feeding practices on large farms are harmful to the environment and have led to bland, unhealthy chickens. Today’s guest, Matthew Wadiak is a chef and founder and CEO of Cooks Venture which is on a mission to create a new breed of broiler chicken that is more acti...

Toyin Ajayi, Cityblock 07.03.2022

On Found Live Darrell and Jordan got to chat with Cityblock co-founder and president, Toyin Ajayi. CItyblock provides primary care,  behavioral health, and social care to folks who have been historically marginalized in the healthcare system, primarily people who are receiving their health insurance through Medicaid with the goal of providing high-quality holistic care at a lower cost. They do thi...

Michelle You, Supercritical 28.02.2022

Michelle You, co-founder and CEO of Supercritical, is on a mission to help companies get to net-zero but she refuses to sacrifice her personal life for the startup. Michelle talks with Darrell and Jordan about how motherhood has eased her imposter syndrome, the “scar tissue” she had from a tough exit of her first startup, why the planet needs more effective carbon removal methods now, and how she’...

Found Live ft Jordan Taylor and Edith Cooper, Medley 21.02.2022

Listen in to the first-ever episode of Found Live. We were joined by the mother-daughter duo Jordan Taylor and Edith Cooper who co-founded Medley—a group coaching platform focusing on personal and professional growth. They talked with Jordan and Darrell about what it’s like to start a business with a family member amidst a pandemic, what it takes to foster community in a virtual space, and the imp...

Sunil Paul, Spring Free EV 14.02.2022

RSVP for Found Live. Don’t miss your chance to listen to episodes found early and interact with Darrell, Jordan, and their guests. On February 17th at 10am PT/ 1pm ET, Thor Fridriksson will be talking about his experience launching two viral games and founding his new company Rocky Road.  When serial founder turned venture capitalist Sunil Paul decided to step back into startups, it was only after...

Kentaro Kawamori, Persefoni 07.02.2022

RSVP for Found Live. Don’t miss your chance to listen to episodes found early and interact with Darrell, Jordan, and their guests. On February 17th at 10am PT/ 1pm ET, Thor Fridriksson will be talking about his experience launching two viral games and founding his new company Rocky Road.  This week, Persefoni co-founder and CEO, Kentaro Kawamori is joining us this week not only to talk about his c...

Elizabeth Ruzzo, adyn 31.01.2022

We’re in the business of talking to very impressive people who are working to solve incredibly tough problems— but Elizabeth Ruzzo, founder and CEO of adyn, may be one of the most impressive yet. Not only did she develop the only test for women to ensure they are prescribed the birth control that will be the least likely to have detrimental side effects, she also founded the company and fundraised...

Julian Green, Headroom 24.01.2022

We’re talking to serial founder Julian Green whose most recent startup, Headroom is using AI to hack human conversation—starting with meetings. Julian’s goal is to make meetings and virtual communication feel closer to talking in the real world. Come to hear a very smart founder talk about his experience, stay for Jordan pitching sound effects for every time Darrell mentions Canada.  Take our list...

Ariela Safira, Real 17.01.2022

This week Darrell and Jordan talk with Real CEO and Founder, Ariela Safira. Real is a therapy platform that aims to make mental healthcare more accessible by offering group sessions and curriculums a user can engage with any time. While in college, Ariela had her first encounter with the mental health care system and realized that people were only seeking help for their mental health when they wer...

Liz Young, Realm 10.01.2022

Liz Young remembers when her family became homeowners, even at six years old she understood it was a big deal. That sparked a fascination with real estate and the home-owning experience. While working at Bloomberg, she discovered the importance of data-driven decisions in the housing market. She wanted to give the power of data to the average homeowner so she founded Realm which helps homeowners p...

Ashley Sumner, Quilt (re-release) 03.01.2022

As COVID-19 cases spike many people enter 2022 in some kind of quarantine,  a conversation about community and connecting across a digital space feels like just what the doctor ordered. Ashley Sumner's original concept for Quilt was all about meeting up in person — almost an Airbnb for conversations. But shortly after launch, the universe threw a wrench in the works, as a global pandemic shut down...

Alexandra Bonetti, The Talent Hack 27.12.2021

While owning and operating studio gym spaces in New York, Alexandra Bonetti knew that it shouldn’t have to be this hard to establish processes for issues all gyms have like recruiting new members, hiring qualified talent, and getting substitutes for classes, to name a few. So she founded The Talent Hack which is a platform geared towards helping experts working in the fitness and wellness industry...

Yusuf Sherwani , Quit Genius 20.12.2021

Yusuf Sherwani saw the value in remote mental healthcare long before COVID sent everyone into video therapy sessions. He is the CEO and one of three doctor/co-founders of Quit Genius, an app that uses CBT therapy and other proven methods to help patients tackle their addiction. He talks with Darrell and Jordan about starting a telehealth company before COVID and the regulatory hurdles they had to...

Aditi Shekar, Zeta (Re-Release) 13.12.2021

This week we're re-releasing Jordan and Darrell's conversation with Aditi Shekar, the co-founder and CEO of Zeta, a new kind of financial services company that's designed from the ground up for "multiplayer" banking. As the year comes to a close and we look toward 2022, we thought everyone could use inspiration to get new year, new financial habits in order. Plus Aditi's unstoppable tenacity and d...

Ross Lipson, Dutchie 06.12.2021

Co-founder of Dutchie, Ross Lipson talks to Jordan and Darrell about stepping into the cannabis space, taking the hits as they come, and growing a business in a highly-regulated and brand new industry. His positive outlook on business and life may be contagious so pessimists, nihilists, and fatalists beware. Take our listener survey and let us know a bit about yourself and what you think of FOUND....

Carolyn Mooney, Nextmv 29.11.2021

Carolyn Mooney wants you to make your decision-making process code. She is the co-founder and CEO of Nextmv which helps companies make efficient decisions on a mass scale—think Amazon distributing packaging or Uber plotting a route for an uber pool. In this week’s episode, she talks with Darrell and Jordan about Nextmv’s software that doesn’t just optimize decision making and route planning but al...

Larry Gadea, Envoy 22.11.2021

The way COVID-19 has changed the way we work comes up a lot, founders have had to pivot and innovate to build companies during lockdown but the workplace restrictions seemed to spark inspiration for this week's guest, Larry Gadea, founder, and CEO of Envoy. Envoy started in 2013 as a guest sign-in platform to make offices safer and more efficient. Over the past 18 months, they've created new produ...

Nabiha Saklayen, Cellino 15.11.2021

Not only is this week's guest the TechCrunch Disrupt 2021 Battlefield winner, but Nabiha Saklayen is also democratizing access to life-saving cell therapies by using—you guessed it—lasers. Nabiha is the co-founder and CEO of Cellino which is a company developing the tech to automate stem cell production that will lower the cost of cell therapies and increase the yield of viable cells. In this epis...

Megan O'Connor, Nth Cycle 08.11.2021

This week we talk to the runner-up in Tech Crunch Disrupt's Startup Battlefield: Megan O'Connor from Nth Cycle. Megan first found out about the impending shortage of materials used in batteries, phones, electric vehicles, and many of the products needed for a more sustainable green economy while studying at Yale and immediately began working towards a solution. She co-founded Nth Cycle which has d...

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