Nataraj

Startup Project: Build the future

Conversations with founders, operators and investors who are building the future. Listen to find the stories, ideas, tactics & investments behind the products that will define the future of technology.https://startupproject.substack.com/

Author

Nataraj

Category

Technology

Podcast website

thestartupproject.io

Latest episode

Jun 19, 2026

Where to listen?

Podcasts in the app Replaio Radio Coming soon

Podcasts are coming to the app soon. Install now and be the first to see a whole new take on podcasts

Get it on Google Play Install for free Android 5M+ downloads · 4.8 rating iOS soon

Episodes

#75 Satya Singh - Co-Founder of Scispot on redefining modern biotech's data infrastructure 15.05.2024

Satya , co-founder of Scispot, joins Startup Project's Nataraj to share his journey from leading a platform team at Expedia to starting a biotech company that solves data challenges for life science labs. In this episode, we discuss: Satya's unique career path, from fashion startup owner to data expert. The founding story of Scispot, tackling the problem of unanalyzed data in biotech. The...

#74 Sajid Rahman - Angel Investor Secrets - Lessons from 1000+ Startup Investments 27.04.2024

Startup Project Podcast: Episode Notes - Navigating the Shifting Investment Landscape with Sajid Rahman Guest:  Sajid Rahman - Top Angel Investor Host:  Nataraj - Senior Product Manager, Investor at Incisive.vc & Startup Advisor Episode Overview: Join us as we delve into the evolving world of startups and venture capital with Sajid Rahman, a prolific angel investor with over 1000 investments....

#73 Brian Bell - From Product Manager to Full Time Investor 15.04.2024

Brian Bell is the Managing Partner at Team Ignite. Bell has experience in product development in AI at Microsoft, AWS, and startups. Full conversation includes: 🔸Transition from Product Management to full time investing 🔸Investing in YC 🔸Operating an investing Syndicate 🔸Growth hacks to grow your syndicate 🔸Is AngelList loosing its advantage? 🔸Red flags in pitch decks 🔸If money was not an o...

#72 Todd Bishop GeekWire Co-founder, Business and tech journalist on big tech, AI and more! 01.04.2024

New episode with Todd Bishop, GeekWire's co-founder. Todd is a longtime business and technology journalist who reports on subjects including AI, the cloud, startups, and health technology, plus Amazon and Microsoft, in addition to hosting GeekWire's weekly podcast. This is Todd's second appearance on the Startup Project podcast. In our conversation, we discuss: 🔸 How is a tech busines...

#71 Peter Mueller Founding Partner Breakwater VC about Pre Seed Investing in Seattle Tech Startups 11.03.2024

In this episode Nataraj talked to Peter Mueller who is the founding partner of Breakwater ventures investing in early stage tech startups in Pacific Northwest and Wester Canadian Startups. The conversation includes: - how to think about angel investing & pre-seed investing? - Seattle pre-seed ecosystem - learnings from Seachange fund - thesis for breakwater - Whats making Western Canada an int...

#70 Brendan Rogers From Founding WAG (NASDAQ: PET) to Investing in India 25.02.2024

In this episode Nataraj spoke to Brendan Rogers Ex Cofounder of Wag, a NASDAQ listed public company. Full conversation includes: - Origin story of WAG - His journey into investing in India - Why he is bullish on Indian startups? - Opinion on different sectors & more To stay in loop for future conversations check out thestartupproject.io For above average opinions on big technology sign up to h...

#69 Direct-to-Consumer Companies & Long Tail Opportunity in AI (Above Average Newsletter) 13.02.2024

Welcome to 50th edition of the Above Average Newsletter. Your bi-weekly source of Above Average takes on the business of big technology written by Nataraj Sindam. Topic 1: What’s with Direct-to-Consumer Companies? What’s common among all these companies? All birdsBrilliant earth groupPelotonRent the runway They are all public direct to consumer companies whose stock is down ranging from 80 to 95%...

#68 Why the new AI button on your keyboard is inevitable? (Above Average Newsletter) 03.02.2024

This episode is the audio version of Nataraj's newsletter Above Average. Welcome to 49th edition of the Above Average Newsletter. Your bi-weekly source of Above Average takes on the businss of big technology written by Nataraj Sindam. 1. Why the new AI Button on Your Keyboard is inevitable? Microsoft is adding a new AI button to your PC keyboard. This is the first time Microsoft changed the PC...

#67 What late stage investors got wrong about investing in Startups? (Insight) 08.01.2024

For more unique insights on technology follow Nataraj on Twitter -  ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/natarajsindam⁠⁠  & Instagram -  ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/1nataraj/⁠ What late stage investors got wrong about investing in Startups? Confusion in the venture scene, especially with late-stage investments. Some firms raising funds for secondaries in startups, but a twist for LP investors: a cautious app...

#66 Why Rivian Will Become 2nd Largest EV Company in the US? (Insight) 01.01.2024

For more unique insights on technology follow Nataraj on Twitter -  ⁠https://twitter.com/natarajsindam⁠  & Instagram -  ⁠https://www.instagram.com/1nataraj/⁠ Why Rivian will become 2nd Largest EV Player in the U.S? Exploring the EV market in the US and the competition between Rivian and Tesla. Rivian stands out with a superior product, a more profitable segment, and a less controversial brand...

#65 Why YouTube is Unbeatable? (Insight) 18.12.2023

Over long term YouTube will win over TikTok, Instagram & other video apps. Check out the video to see why. Follow Nataraj on Twitter - https://twitter.com/natarajsindam & Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/1nataraj/

#64 Matt McIlwain – MD Madrona Venture Group on all Things Venture Capital 17.11.2023

Nataraj interviewed veteran VC Matt McIlwain of Madrona Venture Group on Startup Project podcast. Matt shared his insights into the state of venture capital and the impacts of AI, drawn from his 20+ years of experience. Some key takeaways: 1. Venture is a "tale of two cities" now - later stage startups are struggling, earlier stage companies embracing AI are thriving 2. Seattle has unmat...

#63 Jon Staenberg: Investing in Startups, Venture Funds & Search Funds 28.10.2023

In this episode, Nataraj spoke with John Staenberg, a veteran of the tech and venture capital world. John took Nataraj through his early days growing up in Omaha and attending Stanford University, where he was inspired by the culture of creativity and trying new things. After graduating, John worked in real estate and then got his MBA, also at Stanford. He became fascinated by the nascent world of...

#62 Ashmeet Sidana - Founder of Engineering Capital on Investing in Technical Insights 27.08.2023

In this episode of the podcast, we feature Ashmeet Sidana, the founder and Chief Engineer of Engineering Capital. Ashmeet has an extensive background in engineering and venture capital, with experience as the Director of Product Management at VMWare and as a venture capitalist. During the conversation, Ashmeet discusses various topics, including his experience developing the ESx Server at VMWare a...

#61 Joe Heitzeberg - From Tech Whiz to Sustainable Meat Entrepreneur 06.08.2023

To stay up to date checkout  ⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠thestartupproject.io ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  & follow Nataraj on twitter:  ⁠⁠⁠⁠ @natarajsindam ⁠ and on LinkedIn at ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/natarajsindam⁠ Join us in this captivating episode as we sit down with Joe Heitzeberg, a multifaceted entrepreneur who has navigated the world of technology and business with remarkable success. From his early days in the tech indu...

#60 Tim Chen - From Open Source Contributor to Investor in Infrastructure Startups 02.07.2023

Tim Chen is the Managing Partner at Essence VC, an early-stage fund focused on data infrastructure and developer tool companies. He has over a decade of experience leading engineering in enterprise infrastructure and open source communities and companies. Prior to Essence, Tim was the SVP of Engineering at Cosmos, a popular open source blockchain SDK. Prior to Cosmos, Tim co-founded Hyperpilot wit...

#59 - Aseem Datar - Partner at Madrona Ventures - From Intern to General Manager at Azure 03.06.2023

Aseem joined Madrona in 2021 after spending almost twenty years as an operating executive. He works alongside founders building the future of next-generation infrastructure (core, security, DevOps), intelligent applications, robotics, and automation. Full conversation includes: From Intern at Windows to GM at Microsoft Azure GM at Azure to Investing at Madrona Investing at Madrona Startups vs Big...

#58 - TA McCann - Professional Sailor, Serial Entrepreneur (5x Founder with 3 Exits), Managing Director at Pioneer Square Labs 21.05.2023

To stay up to date checkout ⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠thestartupproject.io ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & follow Nataraj on twitter: ⁠⁠⁠ @natarajsindam ⁠⁠ T.A. McCann is a serial entrepreneur with an impressive track record. He has founded and served as CEO of several successful companies. Some notable ventures include Senosis (acquired by Google), Gist (acquired by Blackberry), and Rival IQ, a leading company in marketing analytics. M...

#57: How to Run Innovation Sessions with Bill Gates to Solve World Problems? 14.05.2023

To stay up to date checkout ⁠⁠ ⁠⁠thestartupproject.io ⁠⁠⁠⁠ & follow Nataraj on twitter: ⁠⁠ @natarajsindam ⁠⁠ In this episode Nataraj spoke to Taylor Black who co-founded Fizzy Inc. Post Fizzy Taylor worked at Innovation Science Fund & currently works as a Principal Product Manager at the Office of the CTO Incubator at Microsoft. Transcript: [00:00:00] Nataraj: I looked at the portfolio the...

#56: Why Wordpress dominates internet? 07.05.2023

#56: Why Wordpress dominates internet?

#55: What is the insurance against Innovation Dilemma? 30.04.2023

To stay up to date checkout ⁠ ⁠⁠thestartupproject.io ⁠⁠⁠ & follow Nataraj on twitter: ⁠ @natarajsindam ⁠ In this episode Nataraj spoke to Taylor Black who co-founded Fizzy Inc. Post Fizzy Taylor worked at Innovation Science Fund & currently works as a Principal Product Manager at the Office of the CTO Incubator at Microsoft. Transcript: [00:00:00] Nataraj: To me it always made sense for la...

#54: How Techstars Seattle Works & How Should Founders Think About It? 23.04.2023

To stay up to date checkout ⁠thestartupproject.io⁠ & follow Nataraj on twitter: @natarajsindam In this episode Nataraj spoke to Marius Ciocirlan who co-founded ShareGrid, a marketplace for filmmakers and photographers to rent and sell their equipment. It was  ⁠acquired⁠  by Backstage and is now Managing Director of Techstars Seattle. Techstars expanded to Seattle in 2010, and since then more t...

#53 Taylor Black - Innovation Science Fund & Microsoft Incubator 16.04.2023

To stay up to date checkout ⁠⁠thestartupproject.io ⁠⁠ & follow Nataraj on twitter: @natarajsindam In this episode Nataraj spoke to Taylor Black who co-founded Fizzy Inc. Post Fizzy Taylor worked at Innovation Science Fund & currently works as a Principal Product Manager at the Office of the CTO Incubator at Microsoft. Full Conversation includes: Starting a company during law school Running...

#52: What is Sharegrid & how it got started? 09.04.2023

To stay up to date checkout ⁠thestartupproject.io⁠ & follow Nataraj on twitter: @natarajsindam In this episode Nataraj spoke to Marius Ciocirlan who co-founded ShareGrid, a marketplace for filmmakers and photographers to rent and sell their equipment. It was  ⁠acquired⁠  by Backstage and is now Managing Director of Techstars Seattle. Techstars expanded to Seattle in 2010, and since then more t...

#51: Working in Tech vs Movie Business 02.04.2023

To stay up to date checkout ⁠thestartupproject.io⁠ & follow Nataraj on twitter: @natarajsindam In this episode Nataraj spoke to Marius Ciocirlan who co-founded ShareGrid, a marketplace for filmmakers and photographers to rent and sell their equipment. It was  ⁠acquired⁠  by Backstage and is now Managing Director of Techstars Seattle. Techstars expanded to Seattle in 2010, and since then more t...

Listen to the Startup Project: Build the future podcast in Replaio

Radio and podcasts in one app - free, with no sign-up. Install today and do not miss the launch

Get it on Google Play

Replaio is not a podcast publisher; show names, artwork and audio belong to their authors and are distributed through public RSS feeds.