The Room Podcast

Welcome back to another episode of The Room Podcast! This week, Madison and Claudia sit down with Alex Konrad , former Senior Editor at Forbes and now Founder of Upstarts Media . After a decade covering technology and venture capital at Forbes, where he pioneered coverage from the Midas List to the Cloud 100, Alex has launched his own media company focused on telling the stories of early-stage fou...

Welcome back to another episode of The Room Podcast! This week, we're excited to chat with Anna Kazlauskas , Co-Founder of Vana , a pioneering company creating an alternative to centralized AI monopolies. Vana uses crypto principles like ownership, incentives, and decentralization to build AI models that users collectively own and benefit from, empowering individuals to control their data while ea...

In this episode, we are joined by Elia Wallen , Founder and CEO of Engine (formerly Hotel Engine), the B2B travel booking platform that's streamlining how businesses manage their travel needs. From its origins as an internal tool for Elia's previous company, Travelers Haven, to becoming a $2.1 billion company, Engine has carved out a significant niche by focusing on serving SMBs with a frictionles...

Welcome back to The Room Podcast! In this episode, we sit down with Matan Grinberg and Eno Reyes , co-founders of Factory , a company building the command center for software development. With backgrounds in physics and computer science, this dynamic duo is unifying all engineering contexts from GitHub to Notion, empowering product and engineering teams to collaborate with autonomous AI systems. T...

This week, we're excited to speak with Tiancheng Lou , Co-Founder and CTO of Pony AI , a leading autonomous vehicle technology company that went public in November 2024. As a two-time Google Code Jam champion and former engineer at both Google X and Baidu's Autonomous Driving Division, Tiancheng brings exceptional technical expertise to his pioneering work in developing driverless technology with...

In this episode, we're joined by Alexa Grabell , Co-Founder and CEO of Pocus , a company revolutionizing how sales teams work by creating AI agents that supercharge sales representatives. Pocus has developed a suite of tools that combine internal and external data to help sales teams identify opportunities, prepare for calls, and close deals more effectively, generating over half a billion dollars...

Welcome back to another season of The Room Podcast! To kick off season 12, we are joined by Ryan Petersen , Founder and CEO of Flexport , the revolutionary digital freight forwarder transforming how goods move around the world. Launched in 2013, Flexport combines technology and logistics expertise to bring transparency and efficiency to the complex world of global trade, having grown to become the...

In this special holiday episode of The Room Podcast, we sit down with Agatha Kluk and Sonia Farber, the co-founders of Kluk Farber Law (now part of Perkins Coie), a specialized law firm dedicated to supporting innovative founders and startups. Their firm provides strategic legal guidance to entrepreneurs navigating the complex landscape of building and scaling companies.  This candid conversation...

Welcome back to another episode of The Room Podcast! This week, we’re thrilled to chat with Wade Foster, CEO and Co-Founder of Zapier, the tool that’s revolutionized workflows by making automation accessible to anyone. Zapier helps businesses and individuals connect the apps they rely on, creating seamless integrations that save time and boost productivity. In this episode, Wade takes us through Z...

In this LIVE version of The Room Podcast, we’re thrilled to chat with Immad Akhund , Co-Founder and CEO of Mercury , a fintech company built specifically for startups and tech companies. Immad walks us through his journey from founder to industry leader, and how Mercury is reimagining banking with streamlined financial tools for growing businesses. Mercury’s core product offers an intuitive digita...

Welcome back to The Room Podcast! Today, we’re thrilled to explore the fast-evolving world of B2B tech innovation with Shensi Ding , co-founder of Merge . Merge has become a leader in unified APIs, creating a category that addresses the challenges many companies face with complex integrations. Shensi’s journey is a unique one—from her coding days in Boston to Columbia, then a career at Silver Lake...

In this episode of The Room Podcast, we sit down with Jason Lee , the founder of Salt Labs and DailyPay , to explore his journey from finance to fintech entrepreneurship. Salt Labs, Jason’s latest venture, focuses on empowering workers to maximize their earnings potential, while DailyPay revolutionized the way employees access their wages.  We cover a range of topics such as the need for improveme...

In this episode of The Room Podcast, we sit down with Kevin McCarthy , the CEO of Unreal , a company dedicated to creating healthier alternatives to classic candy. Unreal is known for creating delicious, better-for-you snacks that ditch artificial ingredients, offering cleaner, more natural options in the world of sweets. We discuss the intersection of entrepreneurship and health-conscious innovat...

In this episode of The Room Podcast, we’re joined by Sami Inkinen , co-founder of Virta Health , a company transforming the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Virta Health’s mission is to not just manage, but reverse diabetes using personalized nutrition plans backed by clinical research. Sami also shares his journey from humble beginnings on a Finnish farm to co-founding the real estate platform Truli...

In this episode of The Room Podcast, we sit down with Ariel Kaye , the founder of Parachute , a brand known for elevating the home essentials industry with a focus on comfort and wellness. Ariel shares her journey from a creative upbringing to her path through advertising, where she discovered her passion for building brands, eventually leading to the founding of Parachute. Join us as we dive into...

Welcome back to a new season of The Room Podcast! To kick off Season 11, we're joined by Johnny Ho , co-founder of Perplexity , an AI-powered platform transforming the way everyday consumers interact with search. Johnny shares his path from competitive programming to entrepreneurship and offers insights into the development of Perplexity’s core product, which aims to deliver precise, reliable answ...

In this episode, we dive into the Future of DTC panel from this summer’s Inside Summit. This panel was moderated by our very own Claudia Laurie, who is also the founder of Prive, a leading eCommerce billing platform. In this discussion, the panelists explore the future of DTC, how to build authentic brand communities, building a celebrity brand, challenges and opportunities around customer acquisi...

In this episode, we dive into the Future of Platforms panel from this summer’s Inside Summit. This panel was moderated by Alexandra York, Associate Editor at Forbes and a key figure behind the 30 Under 30 lists. Alexandra brings her expertise in covering young entrepreneurs and emerging brands to guide a discussion on the evolving digital platform space.   In this discussion, the panelists explore...

In this episode of The Room Podcast, we recap the Inside Summit x Gen AI Collective panel, moderated by Sriram Ramakrishnan. The panel featured Vaikkunth Mugunthan (Dynamo AI), Hassaan Raza (Tavus), Ankur Patel (Multimodal), and Lulu Chang (Canapi Ventures), who shared their insights on the challenges and opportunities in the AI landscape. Key questions discussed: 1. Career Journeys: What led each...

Episode Structure Introduction KJ Sidberry's Background Career Pivots and Decision-Making Frameworks Advice for Founders Insights for Funders Industry Experience and Market Changes Conclusion Key Discussion Points 1. KJ Sidberry's Background East Coast upbringing between Connecticut and NYC Exposure to entrepreneurship and education through parents Early rejection led to a pivot in career directio...

In this episode:   Dive into the highlights of our intimate gathering of 120 talented friends from the DTC space Get a taste of the dynamic perspectives and human connections that made Inside Summit unique Preview the upcoming episodes featuring panel conversations with leaders in: • Generative AI • Consumer social platforms • DTC • And more!   We're thrilled to share how our pandemic side hustle...

Welcome to the finale of Season 10 of The Room Podcast! In this episode, we're thrilled to sit down with Ben Goodwin , Co-Founder of OLIPOP , a pioneering beverage company at the intersection of taste and gut health. Ben takes us on a journey through his upbringing and how it shaped his worldview, his pivotal realization about lifestyle changes, and the catalysts that drove him to become a founder...

Welcome back to The Room Podcast! This week, we're excited to sit with and interview Matt Martin , Co-founder of Clockwise , a revolutionary productivity platform. Matt shares his career journey, detailing his evolution from tech enthusiast to the founding team of Clockwise, why he founded Clockwise, and his passion for properly utilized software. Matt elaborates on Clockwise's success in providin...

We are back with another installment of The Room Podcast! This week, we are joined by Meghan Joyce , the visionary CEO behind Duckbill , a revolutionary, AI-powered life management service. Listen in as Meghan shares her journey from pivotal roles at Uber and Oscar Health to founding Duckbill, where she's pioneering accessible solutions for the modern adult. We delve into Meghan's mission of democ...