Forward Thinking Founders

Basic information: Tomas Hoyos is the Cofounder and CEO of Voro . Voro is a community where you can search and find doctor recommendations from people you trust. They just raised a $2.5M seed round led by Floodgate.  Listen to this episode if you: - If you or your loved ones have health complications, - If you are building a company in NYC - If you want to learn about fundraising and how to raise...

Basic information: Katia Damer is the Cofounder and CEO of Prolific . Prolific builds the most powerful and flexible tools for online research, starting with scientists and researchers. Listen to this episode if you: - Want to learn more about tools for doing user research - Are interested in a founder's thought on how/when to expand to a different market - Want to learn about the nuances of havin...

Basic information: Mark Lutter is the Founder and Executive Director at Charter Cities Institute . CCI is a nonprofit dedicated to creating the ecosystem for charter cities. ‍ They believe charter cities are the future of development in emerging economies. Listen to this episode if you: - Are interested in understanding what Charter cities are - Are curious to know if a Charter City would work in...

Basic information: Travis Hedge is the Cofounder of Vouch . Vouch provides business insurance for startups. Listen to this episode if you: - Are wondering if you should get insurance for your startup - Are curious how to capitalize on an old industry into a quickly growing startup. - Are interested in how the process of selling within the YC network works. - Are interested in learning how to raise...

Basic information: Greg Head is the CEO of Scaling Point and founder of Gregslist . Greglist is a network of lists that map all software companies in different geographies (Phoenix, Dallas, Utah , etc.). It's important to note that Greg was also the CMO that scaled Infusionsoft from the low millions to over $100M+. Listen to this episode if you: - Want to learn about how tech hubs outside of the c...

I read outloud one of the short posts I wrote this year. This won't be the last time I do this, as I want to explore the options with an RSS feed. Stay tuned. To get more of my writing, head over to my Substack : I write free posts, but have most posts gated behind a paywall. Would love to see you over there.  ★ Support this podcast ★

Basic information: François Baldassari is the Cofounder and CEO of Memfault . Memfault can automatically catch, triage, and fix issues on any hardware platform. Memfault has raised 2.7M from Uncork Capital, Y Combinator, and others . Listen to this episode if you: - Are working on a hardware product and dislike the debugging process - Are a consumer of hardware products and want to help the compan...

Basic information: Sara Mauskopf is the Cofounder and CEO of Winnie . Winnie helps parents find childcare and preschools in their area. Listen to this episode if you: - Are interested in the ideation process (Learn how it took a while for Sara to hone on on this big idea) - Are interested in building a big audience before you monetize - Want to learn about the nuances of having product-market fit...

Basic information: John Xie, Cofounder of Taskade . Taskade combines tasks, notes, and communication all in one place. Taskade has raised $5,000,000 and is a Y Combinator alumni. Listen to this episode if you: - Want to hear productivity hacks for your life and work - Are wondering what platforms you should start off with - Want to learn how to operate and manage a lean team - Are interested in re...

In this episode, we're talking to Austin Petersmith, founder of Capiche . In this episode, we talk about: What is Capiche? How does a user interact with Capiche? Is getting pricing transparency the main goal with Capiche? Where did this idea come from? What's the big vision for Capiche? What would happen if prices for software companies were compared like Amazon compares prices? What tech trends i...

In this episode, I interview Kevin Sun, who is the founder of Dex . Dex is a personal CRM. In this episode, we dive into: What is Dex? What's the inspiration behind Dex? How does someone use Dex? Why didn't our parent's address books transfer to the digital age for us? How do you know what features to build with Dex? What features do you plan on building in the next decade to make Dex better? What...

In this episode, I talked to Peer Richelsen of Mage , which is a Magic The Gathering card marketplace. In this wide-ranging episode, we dive into: What is Mage ? What is Magic The Gathering ? If I wanted to play, where would I get my starting Magic cards? Does Mage allow its users to get more valuable cards? Have you ultimately built a stock market for Magic The Gathering cards? What made you fall...

It was great talking with Jijo Sunny,  Founder of Buy Me A Coffee , as we talk about the creator economy.  His platform helps creators get paid for their work. Check out my own Buy Me A Coffee page here .  In this episode, we dive into: What is Buy Me A Coffee? What did you feel the need to build Buy Me A Coffee? Can you break down different features on your platform? Is a "coffee" a unit in the w...

In this episode, we talk to Daryna Kulya, Cofounder of Openphone. Openphone is building the world's best business phone number. We dive into these questions: What is Openphone ? What did people do before Openphone? What was the market like? Where did the inspiration for Openphone come from? Can you walk through the logistics of Openphone? How does it work? What's your vision for Openphone? Are you...

In this conversation with Chandan Lodha, the cofounder of Cointracker , we dive deep into the world of cryptocurrency. Cointracker is a product that helps you track your crypto portfolio and makes sure you stay compliant within the IRS. In this conversation, Chandan answers some of these questions: What is Cointracker? How does your portfolio tracker product work? Is cryptocurrency taxed by the go...

In this episode with Andy Sparks, CEO of Holloway , we dive into: What is Holloway? How does the publishing process go from ideation to publication to promotion? Will you allow others to write book on Holloway? What is it like to read a book on Holloway? What do you think about the advertising model, and why didn't you go with it for Holloway? Are you building for the Passion Economy?  Who is your...

In this episode with Mark Thomas, CEO of Zensports , we talk about: What is Zensports? How do people bet on sports today? How could I use Zensports to bet with someone else? How do you use cryptocurrency within Zensports? Why did you decide to use cryptocurrency vs. the US Dollar? Is your currency a utility that can be used outside of just speculation? How do you plan to get your token to reach cr...

In this episode with the Cofounder and CEO of Goodly , Greg Poulin, we dive deep into these questions: What is Goodly? How does Goodly exactly work? How do employees and employers react to Goodly when they hear about it? What is the cost of not offering great benefits to their employees? How do you think about distribution channels for Goodly? What are some of the similarities or differences betwe...

In this episode, I interview Spencer Burleigh from Rent The Backyard , the company that lets you set up a house in your backyard and make money off of it for no cost. In this episode we talk about questions like: What is Rent The Backyard? What got you interested in this market? How does it work for homeowners who want to rent their backyard? Why did you start in SF? Can someone have more than one...

In this episode with CEO of Demodesk , Veronika Riederle, we dive into these questions: What is Demodesk? How does it work for an SDR or AE? What type of analytics do you track in the meeting? What was the inspiration behind DemoDesk? What's the product vision for the next decade? Can you give us insight into the fundraising process? How do you think about picking the right VC partner? What do you...

If you are enjoying the podcast, please help support it by buying me a coffee . It helps the show run and keeps me focused on finding and interviewing great guests. In this episode with the Bhav Ashok, the founder of Nuron Labs , we dive into these questions. What is Nuron Labs? What is a neural network? Is a neural network a type of AI? Is it something else? How do you break it down? Is OpenAI us...

Amos is the Cofounder and CEO of Carve , which allows you to rent out unused cars in a dealership lot. In this wide-ranging conversation, Amos covers some of the following questions: What is Carve? How does the platform work for a dealer? Do you market it to used car dealerships or all dealerships?  Can you dive into the sales process for Carve? How did you come up with the name? How long have you...

In this episode, we dive into many different topics, as Domm answers the following questions: What is Fast ? How does it work for consumers? Businesses? Why didn't you just build a chrome plugin like everyone else? How do you think about growing Fast? How should a growth team be made up of? What is the future for Fast? What did you do in your first month after moving to SF? How did you break throu...

In this episode, we cover many questions, including but not limited to these ones: How did you get this idea and the inspiration for this company? What are some of the skillsets needed to build this product? Is the product software or hardware? How does the AI work/think to identify Respiratory Illnesses? What was the Thiel Fellowship like? Did you ever get to meet Peter Thiel? What's he like? How...

Is this episode Francis covers some of these questions: What is Ascen ? Why do you believe that remote work is the future? How would I use Ascen for my own recruiting needs? How did the remote work adoption come to fruition and become as popular as it is? How do you find talent around the world to come on your platform? What other areas of life do you think the internet will improve? Where are peo...