Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino

Hill Road Pictures’ Frank Peluso and Bob Vanech join Chris Lustrino to discuss So I’m the Crazy One , an upcoming R-rated comedy built around a creator-driven film finance model. Frank shares his Hollywood background, including work with Nick Cassavetes, while Bob explains how his experience in digital media, YouTube networks, and equity crowdfunding shaped the film’s financing strategy. The conve...

Lumida Wealth founder and CEO Ram Ahluwalia joins Chris Lustrino to discuss how the company is building an AI-powered wealth management platform for sophisticated investors. Ram frames Lumida as a next-generation investing platform designed to combine the best parts of brokerage accounts, financial advisors, market intelligence, and AI-powered portfolio tools into one experience. The conversation...

TerraCycle founder and CEO Tom Szaky joins Chris Lustrino to discuss how the company built a global waste management business around recycling the products most local systems reject. Tom explains why many materials are technically recyclable but economically unattractive for traditional recyclers, and how TerraCycle solves that gap through brand-funded programs, paid zero-waste boxes, and commerci...

Doroni Aerospace founder and CEO Doron Merdinger joins Chris Lustrino to discuss the realities of building a flying car company and why he believes electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicles will become a major new category of transportation. Doron shares how a lifelong fascination with aviation and emerging drone technology inspired him to launch Doroni nearly a decade ago and pursue...

Chris Lustrino sits down with Chris Graebe, founder of IPO Deal Hunter and one of the longest-tenured private market investors in the equity crowdfunding ecosystem. Together they discuss the state of startup exits, liquidity events, IPOs, and what investors should be looking for when evaluating private companies. Drawing from years of experience and several successful outcomes, Graebe shares how h...

This week on Inside Startup Investing , Chris Lustrino sits down with Rebecca Kacaba, co-founder and CEO of DealMaker , one of the leading platforms powering retail capital raises for private companies. Rebecca discusses the growing influence of retail investors across private markets and IPOs, why companies like SpaceX, Reddit, Gemini, and others are increasingly allocating shares to retail parti...

On this episode of Inside Startup Investing , Chris Lustrino speaks with Dr. Michael Wyand, CEO of Oxeia Biopharma , a clinical-stage biotech company developing a potential breakthrough treatment for concussions and persistent concussion symptoms. Oxeia is leveraging ghrelin, a naturally occurring hormone involved in brain energy regulation and neural repair, to help heal the inflammation and cell...

Pytheas Energy CEO Josh Zuker joins Inside Startup Investing to discuss how the company is using AI and data analytics to revive overlooked oil wells abandoned by major operators. Drawing on his unconventional journey from finance and real estate into oil and gas, Josh explains how Pytheas identifies underperforming “stripper wells,” optimizes production through monitoring technology, and builds l...

In this episode of Inside Startup Investing , Renji Bijoy joins Chris Lustrino to discuss why he believes spatial computing glasses will become the next major computing platform after smartphones. Immersed began as a VR productivity platform designed to make remote work feel more collaborative and immersive. Today, the company has over 1.5 million users who use its virtual workspace software to cr...

In this episode of Inside Startup Investing , Madeline Fraser joins Chris Lustrino to discuss how Gemist is bringing AI, automation, and modern ecommerce infrastructure to the jewelry industry. Inspired by her own frustrating experience buying an engagement ring, Madeline built Gemist to help jewelry brands, retailers, and manufacturers modernize the highly manual process of custom jewelry sales....

In this episode of Inside Startup Investing , Chris Lustrino speaks with George Moringer about building a platform that teaches kids emotional intelligence through engaging, gamified group sessions. [00:00] Tapouts focuses on helping children ages 4–16 understand and regulate their emotions by turning behavioral science into interactive, easy-to-use tools. [01:00] George shares how the idea origin...

In this episode of Inside Startup Investing , Chris Lustrino sits down with Carter Fowler, founder and CEO of Totem , a company building decentralized, offline communication technology. Totem’s flagship product—a wearable compass-like device—lets users locate friends and family without relying on cell service or Wi-Fi. Originally built for music festivals, the product has quickly expanded into fam...

In this episode of Inside Startup Investing , Chris Lustrino speaks with Olowo-n’djo Tchala about building Alaffia , a mission-driven consumer brand rooted in ethical sourcing. (00:00–01:30) Olowo-n’djo shares his upbringing in Togo and how it shaped his vision for a new economic model. (01:30–04:30) He explains how Alaffia organizes women-led cooperatives to produce shea butter and connect them t...

In this episode of Inside Startup Investing , Chris Lustrino speaks with Adrian Solgaard about building a sustainable travel brand rooted in ocean plastic innovation. (00:00–01:30) Solgaard began as a Kickstarter campaign and quickly gained traction with consumers seeking functional, eco-friendly products. (01:30–03:15) Adrian explains how the company turns ocean-bound plastic into premium luggage...

In this episode of Inside Startup Investing , Chris Lustrino speaks with Nicholas White, CEO of Fragment Media , about building a subscription-first digital media company. (00:00–01:31) Fragment has generated over $40M in revenue and built a growing base of 20,000+ paying subscribers by focusing on high-quality, niche journalism. (01:31–02:13) Nicholas explains the company’s flagship publication,...

In this episode of Inside Startup Investing , Chris Lustrino speaks with Harmen van Kamp, CEO of GACW, about reinventing the wheel with an airless suspension system. (00:00–01:45) GACW’s technology integrates suspension directly into the wheel, eliminating traditional tires, shocks, and complex components. (02:10–04:20) Originally built for military and extreme terrain use cases, the product is no...

In this episode of Inside Startup Investing , Chris Lustrino speaks with Jim Iversen, CEO of Sen-Jam Pharmaceutical , about building a platform of therapeutics targeting inflammation across multiple diseases. (00:00–01:28) The company is advancing a pipeline of drugs addressing conditions like COVID, alcohol-related inflammation, and arthritis, with multiple Phase 2 trials completed. (01:28–02:27)...

In this episode of Inside Startup Investing , Chris Lustrino speaks with Jordan Taylor, managing member of Atari Hotels , about the development of a $124 million Atari-themed destination hotel planned for downtown Phoenix. (00:00–02:14) The project combines real estate development with immersive gaming culture, featuring a 91-room hotel, gaming-inspired experiences, and a venue for esports events,...

In this episode of Inside Startup Investing , Chris Lustrino sits down with Jason Fishman, founder of Digital Niche Agency (DNA), one of the earliest and most active “capital raising agencies” in equity crowdfunding. (00:00–02:45) |Jason breaks down what actually drives successful Reg CF and Reg A+ campaigns in 2026: setting traffic goals, understanding conversion math (average investment size vs....

Pirouette Pharma CEO Conor Cullinane returns to Inside Startup Investing to share the company’s progress since its last Wefunder raise—spanning FDA engagement, IND planning, and major steps toward scalable manufacturing. Pirouette is building a disc-shaped, push-button delivery system for injectable medications—aiming to turn the “violent, error-prone” experience of legacy auto-injectors into some...

Sunstone Health CEO Joshua Resnikoff joins Chris Lustrino to explain how Sunstone uses AI on healthcare claims data to proactively identify children with developmental delay—starting with epilepsy and autism —and help families reach the right specialists and diagnostics faster. They break down what claims data is, why the healthcare system is reactive by default, and how Sunstone’s approach can co...

Atombeam CEO Charles Yeomans joins Chris Lustrino to break down a deceptively simple idea with massive implications: make data smaller while it’s streaming so you can move and process more of it—without upgrading networks. Charles explains Atombeam’s commercial product NeurPack, how it can often quadruple effective bandwidth, and why this matters across IoT, smart meters, satellites, defense, oil...

Founder Clint Brauer explains how Greenfield Robotics builds compact, row-running robots that mow weeds and lay mulch while enabling nighttime foliar feeding—helping farms reduce herbicides and improve soil biology. He shares the personal catalyst (his father’s Parkinson’s), why tillage damages soil ecosystems, and how small, autonomous swarms can cover large acreages more cheaply than traditional...

Today, Chris sits down with Joe Schaeppi, co-founder & CEO of Solsten—a deep-tech company mapping human psychology and turning it into actionable AI for creative, targeting, and product personalization. After 8 years of R&D, Solsten's “human context layer” helps enterprises and SMBs understand why people act the way they do—then adapt ads, products, and AI agents to match. Clients like LEGO and Pe...

Cleveland Whiskey was my first-ever equity crowdfunding investment (May 16, 2016), and founder/CEO Tom Lix has sent detailed quarterly updates ever since. In this episode, we cover 00:00–03:03 why Tom built a technology company in spirits —not just another craft label; 03:03–06:09 how pressure-aging in stainless tanks unlocks flavors from non-oak woods (black cherry, hickory, apple) and produces g...