The Thread Podcast

Conor McCarter , Co founder of Prequel , joins the show to talk about: The founding story behind Prequel, the YC experience, and pivoting during the program. Market overview on the state of data management and positioning of Prequel. The fundraising process for Prequel and importance of not beating yourself up as a founder and staying creative amidst the grind.

Dr. Maheen Mausoof Adamson, CEO and Co founder of Soof Solutions, joins the show to talk about The intersection of neuroscience at Stanford and entrepreneurship, and path to founding Soof. Building Soof to help her father speak again after experiencing a stroke in 2007. The importance of timing and how Apple's advancements in hardware openned up the market for Soof. How Dr. Adamson worked wit...

Megs Shah , CEO and Co founder of Parasol Cooperative , joins the show to talk about: Surviving abuse and founding Parasol Cooperative to battle a growing, global, shadow pandemic Keeping our kids safe online, and the insights that led Megs to building her two products, SafeConnect and Ruth solutions overview Diddy's downfall, the shift toward disconnecting and digital minimalism, and the res...

Dr. Jennifer Hintzsche , CEO and Founder of PherDal, joins the show to talk about: - Dr. Hintzsche's personal story of being defined as "in-fertile", a $10,000 invoice for a solution to a problem that doctor's couldn't define, and how she used her PhD to prove those physician's wrong. - The process of crowdfunding for PherDal and lessons learned by launching on their...

Daniel Saks , Co founder and CEO of Landbase , joins the show to talk about - Growing up in an entrepreneurial family in the business of furniture and the insight that led to founding Daniel's first business, AppDirect. - The importance of establishing "go-to-market credibility" before engaging in sales outreach.  - Daniel's experience fundraising for AppDirect, and most recent...

Alex Douzet , CEO and co founder of Pumpkin , joins the show to talk about - Building his first company Ollie, in the pet food and delivery space, and how doubling down on his experience in pet care and the "humanization of pets"  led to founding Pumpkin - Picking the brand name "Pumpkin" and the importance of building flexibility into what you ultimately call your business.  -...

In this episode Justin sits down with Nico Simko, the dynamic CEO and co-founder of Clair, a trailblazing company set on revolutionizing on-demand payroll. Nico shares an inspiring narrative from his beginnings as an economics tutor to spearheading a fintech powerhouse. We uncover how Clair smartly embeds on-demand pay within HR platforms, bypassing the conventional approach of targeting employers...

Tim Fung , Co founder and CEO of Airtasker , joins the show to talk about How an apartment move led to the founding of Airtasker. How tasking and labor markets differ globally, and what this market looks like in Australia. How Airtasker is focusing on localization and community to differentiate from platforms like Fiverr and Upwork. Finding product, channel fit, and how Airtasker used regional med...

Dr. Lewis Bernstein , Co founder of 3G and former executive producer for Sesame Street , joins the show to talk about: Dr. Bernstein's early work at Sesame Street, working alongside Jim Henson, and how the mission and message of Sesame Street has evolved over time. The founding story of 3G and using multiple generations to help combat loneliness in our youth. Current state of children's...

Tad Milbourn , Founder and CEO of RankedVote , joins the show to talk about The momentum that's building around ranked choice voting. What it is, how it works, and why it's a better method of getting consensus. Lessons learned from Tad's first company, Payable, the YC experience, and navigating a successful exit and selling to Stripe. "Upgrading state and federal elections&quot...

Jon Staenberg , Founder and CEO of Agate Hound Fund joins the show to talk about  Growing up in Nebraska to Silicon Valley to Microsoft to Venture How Venture Capital has changed and the rise of the Search Fund. What is a "Search Fund" and the reason behind why it's such a successful asset class. The Silver Tsunami and baby boomers without an exit plan. The criteria that Jon has est...

Travis Schoen , Founder of NW Golf Guys joins the show to talk about: How Travis moved from scoring free golf to starting a golf league and growing its member base to more than 7,000 members. How the game of golf has evolved over the past 20 years, and how NW Golf Guys thinks about their target demographic and approach to member acquisition What goes into putting on a great golf tournament, the gr...

Sahand Dilmaghani , Co founder and CEO of Terra Kaffe , joins the show to talk about Building the worlds most beautiful and intelligent espresso machine, and the process that went into prototyping a better coffee experience. Balancing development for the software user interface and the human machine interface, and the two journeys people take when brewing their coffee. How Terra Kaffe thinks about...

Jordane Giuly , CEO and Co founder of Defacto , joins the show to talk about - Jordan'e experience building a Unicorn at Spendesk and the decision to walk away from the successful startup he co-founded. - The three bets that Jordane and team are making to go big with Defacto. - Building his startup in Paris vs. Silicon Valley, and the benefits of building outside of the US. - Lessons learned...

Martin Pannier , Co founder and CEO of Primo joins the show to talk about Lessons learned building product at Gusto that led to solving for the "accidental IT Manager" The decision to launch a free product SKU, PLG, and considerations to make before launching a free product The pros and cons of building your startup pitch with your VCs. 

Parker Gilbert , Co founder and CEO of Numeric , joins the show to talk about - How going through a challenging financial audit led to the insight of founding Numeric. - The character traits that Parker looked for in his co founders for Numeric. - Parker's experience closing is $10M Series A and what it took to close a round from Founders Fund, Menlo Ventures and how he iterated to build a pi...

Carin Luna-Ostaseski , Founder of SIA Scotch Whisky, joins the show to talk about The process Carin went through to kickstart the SIA brand, and being the first hispanic woman to found a Scotch brand. The state of the spirits industry and how SIA positions itself and competes with other liquor brands in the beverage category.  The "bonsai tree" method of building your company, and the im...

Adam Katz , CEO of Sightly , joins the show to talk about Adam's journey from IC to becoming the CEO at Sightly and leading from the front The evolution of the marketing tech category and generating an authentic brand voice in the era of AI. How Kobe Bryant inspired Sightly's Brand Mentality vision and narrative. Caitlin Clark and the future of the WNBA brand and women's sports. Def...

Andrew Firestone , CEO of Mermaid Chart , joins the show to talk about: The venture studio model and building Mermaid Chart out of Open Core Venture Studio. Stepping into the CEO role at Mermaid and building an open-sourced approach to the diagramming and creator tools industry. Unlocking go-to-market and investing in channels that create accumulating advantages for Mermaid. Lessons learned from r...

Matt Wadiak , Co founder and former COO Of Blue Apron , and CEO and Co founder of CleanUp joins the show to talk about - Founding Blue Apron and being one of the first movers in meal planning and e-commerce ingredient market.  - The importance of capital planning and cash flow and the importance of picking markets. - Key ingredients to succeed as an entrepreneur in the food space. - How customer a...

Harry Tannenbaum , Co founder of Mill ,  joins the show to talk about. Harry's experience at Nest and building products that are really good for that planet. The Mill process of finding PM fit as a hardware startup. Harry's decision to go DTC, "core vs. context", and how he thinks about evaluating BD and partnership collaboration opportunities  Lessons learned from Harry as a f...

Joel Pollick , Co founder and CEO of Percent Pledge , joins the show to talk about The three main challenges that consumers wrestle with when it comes to giving back. Building a culture of giving, shifting from paycheck to purpose, and a generation that gives more The importance of reinforcing your mission...over, and over again.  

David Sauers , Co founder of Royal Restrooms , joins the show to talk about: A porta potty mishap that led to building one of the largest and most successful portable sanitation companies. The explosion of the sanitation market post-COVID, and the market opportunity in public restrooms. Maintaining a high level of professioal services while scaling Royal Restrooms. Royal Restrooms franchise model...

David Meltzer , author, coach, speaker and co founder of Sports 1 Marketing joins the show to talk about: Growing up in a family with "not-enough" to a $3.5B exit and building the most successful sports  agency in the world.  Losing everything (>$100M) and having to rebuild a sense of purpose in the founders' journey. Dave's model for prioritization and time management, as w...

Chris "Tito" Sestito , CEO and Co founder of HiddenLayer , joins the show to talk about - How prepared (or unprepared) companies and our government is for the evolution of AI - Raising a $50M round from Microsoft, Booz Allen Hamilton, IBM, and Capital One, and Chris' thoughts around building a business with strategic capital and partnerships. - How Tito and team think about prioriti...