The Nichole Wischoff Podcast

Alan left Revolut to tackle one of the biggest problems of the next 25 years: energy  In this episode, we break down how Fuse Energy scaled to $400M in revenue, raised $170M, and is rebuilding the power grid from scratch full-stack, global, and brutally efficient. We talk energy economics, AI’s power problem, why renewables alone don’t work (yet), and what it really takes to build a trillion-dolla...

Description In this episode, we sit down with Meltem, one of Deel’s earliest growth leaders, who joined when the company was sub-$250K in revenue and helped scale it into a $1B+ ARR generational company. 00:00 — Joining Deel early & Andreessen backing 03:10 — From agencies to growth in tech 06:40 — Why paid ads break at SMB scale 10:25 — Deel in 2020: sub-$250K revenue 13:45 — What “Head of Gr...

In this episode, we sit down with Casey Handmer, founder of Terraform Industries, to break down one of the biggest challenges of the next decade: power. From solar’s insane cost curve to AI data centers overpowering utilities, Casey explains why cheap, abundant energy will decide which countries — and companies — win next. 00:00 – Terraform’s mission: making fuel from sunlight & air 01:00 – Ca...

In this episode, Nicole breaks down how No Crumbs went from a side project to one of the most in-demand cookie drops in San Francisco  selling out weekly with 250+ people waiting, all powered by Instagram, community, and engineered scarcity. This isn’t a food story. It’s a distribution, demand, and systems story. 00:00 – How This Cookie Business Accidentally Started 00:50 – Both Working Tech Jobs…...

Construction is one of the least productive industries in the world — slower, more expensive, and more broken every year. In this episode, we sit down with Alex, founder of an AI-native construction company that just raised a $12M seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz, to talk about why traditional construction fails  and how AI can finally fix it. 00:00 – $12M seed round & why this company ca...

Meet Paces, the startup building the largest permitting and power-availability dataset in the United States — enabling developers, data-center builders, and renewable-energy players to move faster than ever. From automating 80%+ of the energy-development workflow to unlocking hidden power on the grid, Paces is quietly shaping trillions of dollars worth of energy infrastructure. 00:00 – Why America...

In today’s episode, we sit down with Jacob, co-founder & CEO of NewLimit, a company that has raised $247M to push the frontier of aging science  from epigenetic reprogramming to AI-driven drug discovery. We dive deep into how NewLimit plans to restore youthful function in human cells, what’s actually possible with aging reversal, how AI accelerates drug discovery, why GLP-1s changed the game,...

Today’s guest is Max , the founder & CEO of Superpower , one of the fastest-growing AI-driven healthcare companies in the U.S. His journey started with years of unresolved health issues insomnia, migraines, surgeries, and doctors who couldn’t find the cause. That experience exposed him to elite $100,000+ precision medicine and eventually sparked the idea behind Superpower: Using AI to bring wo...

This episode features an in-depth conversation with Zack Peng, founder and CEO of Seel, discussing the company's remarkable journey from a software engineering background to building an eight-figure revenue AI-enabled service platform. The discussion explores Seel's evolution in the e-commerce returns management space, tackling the significant problem where merchants spend 25% of GMV on returns, r...

Malory McLemore, Co-Founder and CEO of Stell Engineering, discusses her career path from aerospace engineer at Airbus and Raytheon to founding a venture-backed defense technology startup that is revolutionizing the way the aerospace and defense industry manages digital engineering requirements. In this episode, Mallory reveals: - The frustrations that led her from the factory floor to Harvard Busi...

This week I sat down for conversation with Postscript Founder/CEO Adam Turner as he shares his remarkable journey from selling solar panels door-to-door to building a venture-backed tech powerhouse. Adam candidly discusses the early struggles of startup life, including living in questionable apartments and surviving on Costco corn dogs, before revealing the strategic moves that led to Postscript's...

I sat down with Ryan Serhant as he shares his remarkable journey from struggling actor and hand model making just $9,000 a year to building one of New York City's most successful real estate empires. He reveals how his father's tough love rule against taking "survival jobs" pushed him to aim higher, and how riding a purple Vespa to client meetings marked his humble beginnings in the industry. The...

This week I sat down with Justin Lopas—Co-Founder/COO of Base Power—a former SpaceX and Anduril engineer who shares incredible stories from the early days of Starship development in Boca Chica. He speaks on how his team ingeniously leveraged water tower construction techniques to build rockets, transforming an empty field into what would become Starbase. The discussion also explores the critical r...

In this episode, Adam Goldstein (Founder/CEO Archer Aviation) shares his extraordinary journey from witnessing 9/11 as a young investment banker, to founding Archer Aviation, a pioneering electric aircraft company. After experiencing the tragic events of September 11th firsthand, Goldstein navigated through six failed startups before building a successful company, learning invaluable lessons about...

In this episode, former Third Point executive Keri Findley takes us behind the scenes of Wall Street's intense culture in the 2000s, sharing raw stories about her life navigating the world of finance. From learning to chug beer in Morgan Stanley conference rooms to being handed control of $200 million at age 25, Findley's journey offers a rare glimpse into the high-stakes world of Wall Street capi...

Rahul Vohra, founder and CEO of Superhuman, shares the fascinating journey of raising the company's initial capital through an unconventional approach. Rather than pursuing traditional venture capital, he strategically approached angels who had earned 3-22x returns from his previous startup Rapportive. This strategic decision, combined with a methodical three-step fundraising process, allowed him...

In this episode, we examine key trends in venture capital through 2024 and into 2025. Specifically, the dramatic 80% drop in first-time funds since 2021, why established VCs are leaving major firms like Sequoia, and breaking down the valuation gap between AI and non-AI startups using recent Carta data.  We also cover shifts in round sizes since the 2021 peak and provides insights into multi-stage...

Brian Distelburger co-founded Yext in 2006 when NYC had virtually no tech scene, eventually taking the company public with remarkable capital efficiency. In a time when everyone was pursuing finance careers, Distelburger helped pioneer New York's startup ecosystem, turning his teenage dream into reality by building one of the city's earliest tech success stories. The company's dramatic reveal of $...

Ilir Sela is the Founder & CEO at Slice, a technology company helping independent pizzerias manage their day to day operations. Slice has raised over $100M from notable investors like KKR, Notable Capital, Primary Ventures and 01 Advisors.  -Not knowing a thing about venture capital and bootstrapping to $40M GMV -Acquiring first customers going door to door in NYC -Why he raised VC when the co...

Mark Ghermezian is the co-founder and prior CEO of Braze, a customer engagement platform used by businesses for multi-channel marketing. Braze raised $180M before its IPO from leading investors Meritech Capital, Battery Ventures and ICONIQ. Mark is now the founding GP at MXV.  In this episode we dig into:  Starting AppBoy/Braze and hustling to raise initial capital  Randomly meeting his co-founder...

Tarek is the co-founder and CEO of Kalshi, the first CFTC regulated exchange dedicated to trading on the outcome of future events. In this episode we discuss:  - Not being a hot company in YC - Suing the government as a startup and winning  - Raising money from Sequoia, Henry Kravis, Schwab and others  - Being unable to take on more deposits because of demand during the presidential election  - Th...

Gaurav Misra is the co-founder and CEO of Captions, the leading video AI company building the future of video creation. Captions has raised over $80M from leading investors Sequoia, Kleiner Perkins, Index and A16Z. We dig into:  Launching in the app store and the product taking off on its own Unintentionally making their first $500K in revenue Why raise venture capital vs. bootstrap given the earl...

Nichole Wischoff is the founder and Managing Partner at Wischoff Ventures, a pre-seed and seed stage venture capital firm with $80M in AUM. Nichole is the host of the First Money In Podcast. This episode is her first solo session focused on the latest in the tech world at the earliest stages:  - Whats hot at pre-seed and seed stage right now  - Massive secondary sales replacing IPOs and the implic...

Maria Davidson is the co-founder and CEO of Kojo, a startup building a construction materials management platform for contractors and suppliers. Merge has raised over $85M from leading investors 8VC, Tiger Global and Battery Ventures. We dig into:  - VCs passing on their $4M seed because construction tech was unproven - How to acquire sub-contractors when they can't be found online and during Covi...

Shensi Ding is the co-founder and CEO of Merge, a startup that helps B2B companies build customer-facing integrations. Merge has raised over $75M from leading investors like NEA, Addition and Accel. We dig into:  - VCs passing on the seed round because $4.5M was "too large"  - Why giving their seed investor a board seat was great for the company  - The trouble with pitching non-technical investors...