Startup Jazz

Episode 29 of Startup Jazz. This week, George and Michelle dive into funding rounds, AI innovation, founder insights, covering 5 compelling stories from the startup ecosystem. Stories featured in this episode: 1. From Credit Cards To An AI Concierge: How Amex Ventures Backs Startups Building Autonomous Commerce (Crunchbase News) 2. 5 Tax Strategies Smart Founders Use to Protect Their Profits (Entr...

Episode 28 of Startup Jazz. This week, George and Michelle dive into funding rounds, AI innovation, founder insights, covering 8 compelling stories from the startup ecosystem. Stories featured in this episode: 1. She Raised $2.5 Million From Friends and Family — And Saw Zero Sales. Then She Leaned Into a ‘Hunch.’ Now Her Company Sells $300 Million a Year. (Entreprenuer) 2. A Better Way To Fail: Ho...

Episode 27 of Startup Jazz. This week, George and Michelle dive into funding rounds, AI innovation, valuations, covering 8 compelling stories from the startup ecosystem. Stories featured in this episode: 1. Why the Quietest Person in the Room Might Build the Best Startup (Entreprenuer) 2. Is Your Body Language Sabotaging You? This Nonverbal Communication Expert’s Method Has Helped Her Clients Gene...

Episode 26 of Startup Jazz. The AI hype cycle roars on — Q1 2026 saw a record-smashing $252.6B flow into private markets (triple the prior quarter, with a single OpenAI round accounting for $110B). But George and Michelle spend most of today's set on the "unsexy" industries being quietly reharmonized: Candela's $32M for hydrofoil electric ferries in Stockholm, Voltify's $30M seed to decarbonize $1...

Episode 25 of Startup Jazz. This week, George and Michelle dive into funding rounds, AI innovation, valuations, covering 10 compelling stories from the startup ecosystem. Stories featured in this episode: 1. Guideline's Path to Product-Market Fit — The Early Decisions That Powered Its Acquisition by Gusto (1st Round) 2. This Workout Was Created for Male Prisoners During World War I. Now It’s Every...

Episode 24 of Startup Jazz. This week, George and Michelle dive into funding rounds, AI innovation, founder insights, covering 9 compelling stories from the startup ecosystem. Stories featured in this episode: 1. While OpenAI Shattered Records, Robotics and Semiconductor Startups Quietly Added The Most New Unicorns In February (Crunchbase News) 2. 5 Interesting Startup Deals You May Have Missed: B...

Episode 23 of Startup Jazz. This week, George and Michelle dive into funding rounds, AI innovation, valuations, covering 10 compelling stories from the startup ecosystem. Stories featured in this episode: 1. His $5,000-a-Day Side Hustle Started With Just 10 Hours of Work Per Week And an AI Tool Anyone Can Use. Now It’s on Track for $3 Million This Year. (Entreprenuer) 2. While OpenAI Shattered Rec...

Episode 22 of Startup Jazz. This week, George and Michelle dive into funding rounds, AI innovation, valuations, covering 9 compelling stories from the startup ecosystem. Stories featured in this episode: 1. An Insurance Salesman Went Down a Wellness Rabbit Hole, and Started a Side Hustle In His Kitchen. Now It’s On Track for $3M. (Entreprenuer) 2. Exoskeleton-as-Organ Company (36KR) 3. This is the...

Episode 21 of Startup Jazz. This week, George and Michelle dive into AI innovation, valuations, investment trends, covering 7 compelling stories from the startup ecosystem. Stories featured in this episode: 1. 5 Interesting Startup Deals You May Have Missed: Plant-Based Clothing Dyes, A Shoebox-Picking Robot, And Power Generated On The Moon (Crunchbase News) 2. AI Is Disrupting the College-to-Care...

Episode 20 of Startup Jazz. This week, George and Michelle dive into funding rounds, AI innovation, valuations, covering 6 compelling stories from the startup ecosystem. Stories featured in this episode: 1. Q1 Global Startup Funding Posts Strongest Quarter Since Q2 2022 With A Third Going To Massive OpenAI Deal (Crunchbase News) 2. Crunchbase Data: The AI Boom Has Drastically Changed Who’s Funding...

Episode 19 of Startup Jazz. This week, George and Michelle dive into funding rounds, AI innovation, valuations, covering 6 compelling stories from the startup ecosystem. Stories featured in this episode: 1. Xinghai Tu Completes 1 Billion Yuan Series B, Becomes Fourth Embodied Intelligence Startup Valued at 10 Billion Yuan | AI Emergence Exclusive (36KR) 2. In The Era Of Unicorn Valuation Escalatio...

Episode 18 of Startup Jazz. This week, George and Michelle dive into funding rounds, AI innovation, founder insights, covering 10 compelling stories from the startup ecosystem. Stories featured in this episode: 1. Q&A: Why Deep Tech Investors Are Turning To The Secondary Market For Liquidity (Crunchbase News) 2. As AI Disrupts the Workforce, These Small Businesses Are Still Safe to Start in 2026 (...

Episode 17 of Startup Jazz. This week, George and Michelle dive into funding rounds, AI innovation, valuations, covering 7 compelling stories from the startup ecosystem. Stories featured in this episode: 1. The Passive Income Illusion That Derails Businesses — and the Reality Most Founders Ignore (Entreprenuer) 2. When AI Truly Starts Thinking, Everyone Can Have a 'Chief Investment Assistant' (WeC...

Episode 16 of Startup Jazz. This week, George and Michelle dive into funding rounds, AI innovation, valuations, covering 7 compelling stories from the startup ecosystem. Stories featured in this episode: 1. Domestic Semiconductor Advanced Materials Company Raises Over 100 Million, Achieves Mass Adoption by Leading Clients (WeChat Startup News) 2. Your Culture Is Your Capital. Here's How to Turn So...

Episode 15 of Startup Jazz. This week, George and Michelle dive into funding rounds, AI innovation, valuations, covering 14 compelling stories from the startup ecosystem. Stories featured in this episode: 1. Canva’s Path to Product-Market Fit: How a Two-Hour Founder Date Led To a $42B Design Platform (1st Round) 2. LatAm Startup Funding Rebounds In 2025 As Mexico Sees Surge In Investment And VCs R...

Episode 14 of Startup Jazz. This week, George and Michelle dive into funding rounds, AI innovation, valuations, covering 11 compelling stories from the startup ecosystem. Stories featured in this episode: 1. Crunchbase Predicts: Why The Race For Talent And Tech Could Accelerate Startup M&A In 2026 (Crunchbase News) 2. What We Learned This Year From 6 Active AI Investors Backing Startups Across The...

Episode 13 of Startup Jazz. This week, George and Michelle dive into funding rounds, AI innovation, investment trends, covering 7 compelling stories from the startup ecosystem. Stories featured in this episode: 1. What We Learned This Year From 6 Active AI Investors Backing Startups Across The Stack (Crunchbase News) 2. 5 Interesting Startup Deals You May Have Missed In December: A Hospital-Grade...

Episode 12 of Startup Jazz. This week, George and Michelle dive into funding rounds, AI innovation, valuations, covering 8 compelling stories from the startup ecosystem. Stories featured in this episode: 1. DJI Inspire Product Line Head Starts Company, Completes Nearly RMB 100 Million Angel Round (WeChat Startup News) 2. How Luxury Real Estate Is Using AI and Augmented Reality to Unlock $1 Billion...

In this episode, George and Michelle break down November's unicorn explosion—19 new billion-dollar startups, with 13 centered on AI. The headline act? Jeff Bezos's Project Prometheus, entering with a staggering $6.2 billion to revolutionize industrial AI for aerospace, autos, and computing. Plus: Luma AI's $900M raise for generative video, d-Matrix's specialized AI inference chips, and why everyon...

Episode 10 of Startup Jazz. This week, George and Michelle dive into funding rounds, AI innovation, investment trends, covering 9 compelling stories from the startup ecosystem. Stories featured in this episode: 1. Hollywood Legend Turned Startup Investor Jeffrey Katzenberg On Where He’s Placing His AI Bets (Crunchbase News) 2. How I Disrupted a Stale, Broken Industry — and How You Can Do the Same...

Episode 9 of Startup Jazz. This week, George and Michelle dive into funding rounds, AI innovation, valuations, covering 9 compelling stories from the startup ecosystem. Stories featured in this episode: 1. "Ling Xin Qiao Shou" Secures Hundreds of Millions in A+ Round Funding After Exceeding 1,000 Monthly Orders (WeChat Startup News) 2. The Toy Startups Getting Funded This Year: Talking Dinosaurs,...

Episode 8 of Startup Jazz. This week, George and Michelle dive into funding rounds, fintech valuations, and the trends shaping 2026, covering 6 compelling stories from the startup ecosystem. Stories featured in this episode: 1. AI, Less VC Funding Dependence and 5 Other Trends That Will Shape 2026 (Entrepreneur) 2. Exclusive: With Customers Like Okta And Coinbase, Coverbase Raises $16M To Grow AI-...

Episode 7 of Startup Jazz. This week, George and Michelle dive into funding rounds, AI innovation, covering 4 compelling stories from the startup ecosystem. Stories featured in this episode: 1. 5 Interesting Startup Deals You May Have Missed: Robotic Hands, An Artificial Retina Developed In Space, A GenAI Sticker Printer For Kids, And More (Crunchbase News) 2. Don't Sell Your Business Without Thes...

Episode 6 of Startup Jazz. This week, George and Michelle dive into AI innovation, founder insights, healthcare, covering 6 compelling stories from the startup ecosystem. Stories featured in this episode: 1. 6 Common Data Backup Mistakes That Established Businesses Make (Entreprenuer) 2. Don't Let AI Fool You — Here's Why Every Founder Still Needs to Learn to Code (Entreprenuer) 3. Crunchbase Sect...

Episode 5 of Startup Jazz. This week, George and Michelle dive into funding rounds, AI innovation, valuations, covering 8 compelling stories from the startup ecosystem. Stories featured in this episode: 1. The One Trait That Separates Successful Fintech Founders From the Rest (Entrepreneur) 2. The Grid Can't Keep Up With AI, But Startups Are Primed To Help (Crunchbase News) 3. Inside The Post-Chat...