Go Slow to Grow Fast

As AI becomes a bigger part of everyday life, we take a look at how it can be applied in commerce, where software agents can search, decide, and complete transactions on a user’s behalf. Moderated by Blair Garrou, this session at Mercury Fund Day at The Ion breaks down the shift from real-time, user-driven checkouts to systems based on ongoing permissions and delegation. The panel features Matt Bo...

This episode brings together a panel of AI-native founders building at the front lines of enterprise innovation: Aneka Sokhal (Moshi), Hunter Honnessy (Unlimited AI), and John Kalfayan (Collide). Moderated by Alex Gras of Mercury Fund, the conversation explores the rise of the “forward deployed engineer” model—embedding technical, domain experts directly with customers to accelerate product develo...

Live from Software Day at The Ion, this episode brings together founders, engineers, and investors for a dynamic conversation on how modern engineering is evolving in the era of AI. Mercury Fund Co-Founder Dan Watkins moderates a panel featuring Matt Cohen of Zen Cohen and Colin Hendricks of Omniscience. Together, they explore how AI is reshaping engineering paradigms, team structures, and traditi...

Heath Butler goes live from Software Day at The Ion with newly appointed managing director John Reale to talk about Houston’s growing innovation ecosystem. They spotlight the push to make The Ion a founder-centric platform, one that gives startups real value through capital, talent, and resources. During the live Q&A, founders in the audience share what they need most, including stronger hiring pi...

Capitalizing on emerging market trends is an essential component of startup success. In today's session, Remington Tonar, co-founder of Cart.com, and Josh Teekell, founder and CEO of SmartAC.com, tackle their combined experiences in fast-growing startups to bring new insights to founders and aspiring business leaders. Together, they share how to recognize opportunities early, adapt to shifts in cu...

A good Go-to-Market (GTM) strategy can make or break your early-stage company, but how do you know which strategy will yield the greatest results? Aileen Allen, Venture Partner at Mercury, meets with 3 experts— Lisa Roberts, CMO of Otto, Mike Miles, VP of RevOps at Cognite, and Sean Rohde, VP of Sales and Marketing at Kahuna— to break down GTM best practices, from hiring to design to pricing. This...

GenAI has the power and promise to transform enterprise operations, but a critical question remains: should F500 companies buy GenAI-based solutions from venture-backed companies, or should they build these next-gen platforms in-house? Heath Butler, Partner at Mercury, is joined by a panel of enterprise experts and venture-backed AI innovators for a dynamic conversation on AI adoption in the enter...

What does it really take to scale product and operations in an AI first world? In this episode, three operators and investors at the forefront of this transformation share their insight and expertise: Adrian Fortino at Mercury Fund, Dan Watkins of Mercury Fund and Pelagos Forma, and Roberto Montezuma of Fractal River. Together, they’ll unpack the operational shifts needed to succeed in a world whe...

Large language models have taken over the world of search and transformed how products are discovered, driving more than 5 billion visits per month with 65% of users being open to purchasing based on AI recommendations. Pete Blackshaw, Co-Founder and CEO of BrandRank, refers to GenAI LLMs as “answer engines,” because consumers aren’t afraid to turn to these models for answers to their most complex...

The first 100 days of President Trump's second term have been among the most destabilizing in history. Rapid changes in innovation policy have taken place, while AI has become unregulated, digital currencies are becoming more regulated, and America has developed a sharper focus on defense and space innovation initiatives. While some have been surprised by the chaos, others believe that disrupting...

The Mercury CXO Summit in Austin is the largest gathering of software ecosystem participants in the Midcontinent and featured expert panels and next-level conversations. These conversations explored the full spectrum of growth stage capital, from sourcing venture capital and private equity to strategic exits. In this highlight reel episode, we kick things off with the Private Equity Panel, diving...

Do you want to dive deeper into the exciting world of blockchain, stable coins and the future of money management? Samantha Lewis, Partner at Mercury, sits down with Dave Sutter, CEO of OpenTrade, to explore how OpenTrade is leveraging blockchain to create stable coin infrastructure and yield for the next generation of financial services. If you've been wondering when blockchain will move from the...

What makes Texas’ VCs tick? In today's session, Blair Garrou, Managing Partner at Mercury, leads a panel discussion with 3 Austin-based VC firms on the current investment landscape in Texas. Joining Blair are esteemed venture capitalists Craig Cummings of Moonshots Capital, Conrad Shang of Ensemble VC, and Han Shen of iFly.vc. Together, they’ll share key insights on emerging investment trends, dis...

Is blockchain a game changer, or just another buzzword? This week, Go Slow to Grow Fast dives into the world of blockchain, beyond the hype and speculation, into real applications shaping industries. Samantha Lewis, Partner at Mercury, is joined by Manolo Sanchez, former CEO of BBVA, and Ian Epstein, co-CEO of Profitr and Global Head of Capital Markets & Distribution at Republic. Talking points in...

Artificial intelligence is shaping up to be one of the most transformative technological advancements of the 21st century. Go Slow to Grow Fast Host Heath Butler is joined by executives from 3 vertical AI SaaS companies— Matt Robillard of SmartAC, Collin Mclelland of Digital Wildcatters, and Jeremy Gottlieb of Veritec AI— to break down what’s real, what’s hype, and what’s next for the future of AI...

Heath Butler sits down with Ayoola John, AKA AJ, formerly Product Manager at Facebook and Coinbase who is now working on his own startup—an AI assistant for community managers called Astronaut. AJ shares how he jumped from Chevron to Facebook to now working for himself. Having immigrated from Nigeria, AJ has witnessed many different communities and now seeks to help community leaders nurture their...

In this episode, Heath talks with Steven Carter, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer at Otto, formerly TeleVet. In college, Steven saw a demand for a horse-selling version of CARFAX. So, he filled the gap. Similarly, after seeing a demand for a tele-vet service, Steven helped start what is now the number one tele-vet service in the world, Otto. Heath and Steven discuss the pivotal moments and pre...

Today, Heath talks with Mercury CMO Melissa Turowsky on the evolution of marketing and how big changes are forcing venture backed startups to reevaluate how they think about marketing function, customer acquisition, and the talent required to achieve their business goals. In the episode, Melissa retells her journey through startups and marketing from New York to Houston and how she arrived at Merc...

Samantha Lewis, Partner at Mercury and Kauffman Fellow, joins the show to talk about her experience as a millennial VC and the impact she hopes to have in venture as a woman in a male-dominated field. Focusing on impact investing in the web3 and FinTech space, Samantha has an eye for innovation and a heart for diverse founders, entrepreneurs, and investors. Talking points for this episode include...

Today, Heath welcomes Adrian Fortino on the pod to discuss the tumultuous journey: the good, the bad, and the ugly in starting a startup. Adrian is the Managing Director at Mercury at the Midwest office in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He tells his story of being a founder and emphasizes the importance of learning to understand the ‘no’s. Adrian and Heath talk about navigating the zero to one journey, pitf...

In this part-two episode, Heath sits down with Aziz Gilani from Mercury Fund to discuss the current investing environment while also touching on topics such as pricing and fundability. They talk about how entrepreneurs can best build relationships with VCs and how founders should be thinking about their businesses to thrive in the current environment.  

Aziz Gilani, Managing Director at Mercury, joins host Heath Butler to talk about the current economic environment and the impact it’s having on founders looking for funding. As a member of the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Aziz brings his economic expertise to the pod and gives some insight into when we might see funding return to “normal” conditions. Talking points...

This week, Heath sits down with Sid Upadhyay, Co-Founder and CEO at WizeHire to explore why grade-A talent matters in a startup. Sid talks through the pre-product market fit stage and the hiring process, touching on the most critical decisions that a founder should make early on in the bootstrapping journey. Finding what good versus great looks like for each role is crucial, Sid says—and that it a...

Blair Garrou, Co-Founder of Mercury, joins the inaugural episode of Go Slow Grow Fast to talk about how hiring grade A talent impacts fundraising valuations. In today’s down market, startups need to be extremely focused on the intersection of product market fit, company performance, and a solid team of employees. Blair walks through the founding of Mercury, Mercury’s own methods of evaluating prod...

Explore Mercury's innovative podcast crafted specifically to guide startups through growth hurdles. Gain practical wisdom from experienced investors, advisors, and accomplished founders, customized to your unique path. From surmounting funding hurdles and mastering the product-market fit to broadening your customer reach and fostering a growth-focused mindset, "Go Slow to Grow Fast" addresses the...