Found

Recycling is one facet to solving the climate crisis, but most of us are doing it wrong. Today on Found, Becca and Dom are talking with Rebeca Hu, the CEO and cofounder of Glacier, an AI robotics company that is building robots to accurately sort recycling. They talk about how many of us are wish-cylers who hopefully throw non-recyclables into the bin and how Glacier’s robots are sorting the recycling and making sure all of our recycling mistakes are corrected.

They also talked about:

• What it takes to train an AI-powered sorting robot
• What the reception has been like in recycling facilities
• How the robots are tracking the kind of waste we’re creating as they sort
• How Rebecca told this story to fundraisers who have very likely never stepped foot in a recycling center. 

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Applying for government benefits is a slow, tedious process that often leaves applicants in limbo for several months.  Advocate looks to help. Today on Found Becca and Dom are talking with Advocate’s founder Emilie Poteat, the company that helps Americans engage with federal benefits programs through its technology-enabled services platform. In this episode they discuss how the Advocate team is using AI to automate advocacy and get the wait time for people seeking aid to nearly nothing.They also talked about:
 

• Where Poteat ultimately found fundraising success
• How the government has reacted to a small startup seeking to automate such an embedded bureaucratic process
• Why AI is the best tool in the technological shed to work with the mass amounts of rules and data required to navigate the social security system
• How the team is implementing the security measures needed when dealing with such sensitive information

(0:00) Introduction

(4:16) the status quo of applying for government aid

(8:56) Automating government services

(13:13) using AI to automate advocacy

(18:29) Finding the right investor fit

(24:13) Hiring for a social impact company

(30:00) Collaborating with government agencies

(32:00) Host discussion

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Do you know what brand your bedsheets are? Probably not. Today’s guest Ariel Kaye has been working to change that with Parachute, a DTC bedding and home goods company. Kaye started Parachute in 2013—the hayday of DTC brands. She joins Dom to talk about what it was like building as a solo founder while she’s established a well-known brand and expanded beyond bedding. 

They also talked about:

• Why parachute hasn’t raised as much capital as you might think
• How Kaye’s branding expertise has driven the company’s identity
• Kay’s best advice to avoid burnout and be the best leader possible as a solo founder

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This episodes dives into the massive web of the wedding industry with Shan-Lyn Ma, the co-founder and CEO of Zola. Ma talked about why she decided to launch the business after trying to buy a gift for a friend and realizing that wedding registries were still living in the past. Ma spoke about how the company navigated changes in the digital and competitive landscapes over the last decade and how the company powered through the pandemic's impacts on the industry.

(0:00) Introduction

(3:33) Creating a better wedding planning experience

(8:45) Building in the wedding industry

(13:45) Inclusivity in the wedding space

(18:35) Personalizing wedding planning

(23:11) Adapting to the pandemic

(33:08) AI-generated thank you notes

(43:00) What's next

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Is it time for the resume’s reign to come to an end? Tigran Sloyan is the co-founder and CEO of CodeSignal, a skills assessment platform used by many tech companies to hire engineers based on their engineering chops rather than their keyword-packed resumes. In this episode, Becca, Dom, and Tigran talk about how traditional resume-based hiring perpetuates biases and limits opportunities for individuals without extensive networks or prestigious credentials and how skills assessment lead to more equitable hiring. They also get into the CodeSignal team’s plans to go beyond assessment to skills development, how AI will play a role in building out these courses, and the way Tigran thinks about equitable hiring on his own team. 

(1:32) Solving the "talent problem" in hiring and skill development

(4:55) Math competitions to MIT

(10:42) Resumes, skills assessment, and AI in the job market

(14:50) AI's impact on jobs and learning

(20:05) Personalized learning with AI tutoring

(24:47) AI tutoring platform for education and career development

(28:57) Personal growth as an entrepreneur

(32:42) Strategic hiring 

(37:08) Company culture, transparency, and AI development

(40:35) AI tutoring platform and its potential impact on job requirements

(42:34) Tech industry skills training and apprenticeships

(44:16) AI-powered tutoring and personalized learning

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Not many businesses start with a seemingly incurable case of Bacterial Vaginosis but today’s guest, Beatrice Dixon, found a company and a cure all in one. The Honey Pot is a plant-based vaginal wellness brand that was co-founded by Beatrice after she launched by selling her products at hair shows. On today’s episode, she tells Becca and Dom how those hair shows lead to the Honey Pot hitting shelves in Target.

They also talked about:

• How Beatrice knew it was time to stop bootstrapping
• The importance of finding investors who understand your mission and the intentional culture of your company
• The downside to having a fiercely loyal customer base
• Trusting the process and making decisions with the your consumers in mind

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It’s hard to remember a time when newsletters weren’t flooding every inbox but today’s guests were on the forefront of bringing easily digestible news directly to their audience. Today on Found, Becca is joined by Carly Zakin and Danielle Weisberg, co-founders and co-CEOs of theSkimm which is a digital media company, dedicated to succinctly giving women the information they need to make confident decisions. They talked about how they’ve navigated the digital media industry for over a decade, how they pitched this to investors when they were new to the game, and the importance of building a team that aligns with your vision.

They also talked about:

• The importance of having a direct line to your audience and the benefit of building on your own platform, not on social media
• Their grassroots marketing in the early days
• How one thing they nailed from the beginning is having a unique voice. 

(0:00) Introduction

(1:35) being on the forefront of millennial media companies

(6:08) the power of email marketing

(8:35) the early days and bootstrapping

(14:07) Not fitting the silicon valley mold

(17:34) the co-founder relationship

(23:11) Leadership styles and growing a company

(29:31) Prioritizing growth

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Gut health might be having a moment on TikTok but Ben Goodwin the co-founder and CEO of Olipop knows first hand the monumental impact a healthy microbiome can have on your mental and physical health. Today on Found. Becca and Dom are joined by Ben to talk about how he led the gut-healthy soda brand to amass $200 million in gross sales just five years after their launch.

They also talked about:

• How the team prioritizes access to the product in low-income areas and food deserts
• Fundraising and pitching to CPG investors
• The importance of health and wellness companies to do research to back up their products claims
• The key to changing consumer behavior

(0:00) Introduction and two truths and a lie

(2:12) Olipop introduction

(5:42) Researching the microbiome

(11:34) The industrial diet in America

(15:03) Transitioning from research to product development

(17:49) Product nostalgia and marketing

(20:29) Market share in the beverage industry

(23:26) Olipop’s 200 million dollar year

(25:44) Targeting food deserts

(27:36) Time management as CEO

(31:06) Fundraising and pitching investors

(33:32) What’s next

(36:03) Host commentary

Found posts every Tuesday. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts to be alerted when new episodes drop. Check out the other TechCrunch podcasts: Equity and Chain Reaction. Subscribe to Found to hear more stories from founders each

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Grab your spoon and a carton of milk because today on Found we’re talking to Magic Spoon co-founder and CEO Gabi Lewis. Magic Spoon creates cereal flavors that play on our nostalgia for Fruit Loops and Cocoa Puffs with a grown-up high-protein twist. Dom and Becca talk with Gabi about how he and his co-founder prioritized product-market fit and found investors who didn’t think cereal was dead. They also talked about:

• What Gabi learned from his previous startup Exo which made cricket-protein bars and how he’s changing his leadership style at Magic Spoon
• Transitioning from being a solely DTC brand to in-store retailer and how he’s learned to manage buyer relationships and store-to-store drama.
• How meticulously they develop new cereals and how they’ve incorporated customer feedback.

(0:00) Welcome Gabi Lewis

(1:45)  Magic Spoon TLDR

(3:38) Innovating in the food industry

(11:40) Managing DTC and IRL retail

(24:00) Acquisitions and competition

(28:15) Entrepreneurship, product development, and leadership evolution

(35:32) Outro with Becca and Dom

Found posts every Tuesday. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts to be alerted when new episodes drop. Check out the other TechCrunch podcasts: Equity and Chain Reaction. Subscribe to Found to hear more stories from founders each

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On today’s episode of Found, Dom and Becca talk to Markus Witte, co-founder of Babbel, a language learning app that had been operating since 2007. Babbel has become one of the most prominent language-learning apps but their first product was essentially just a vocab game and they quickly discovered that a multi-modal way of learning will always be more effective. Markus also talked about why he decided to step down as CEO and take on the role of chairman and how all four co-founders have worked together to stick to the original mission of Babbel even after nearly 20 years. 

They also talked about:

• Being a very early adopter of a subscription business model
• The struggles of fundraising in Berlin in 2008 and how to operate intentionally lean
• How the company has implemented AI tools back when AI was still machine learning.
• Building a team that is deeply rooted to the original mission and how Markus developed the skills of an empathetic leader

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This week Found is going down under. New Zealand-based TechCrunch reporter Rebecca Bellan talked with Alex Zaccaria the co-founder and CEO of Linktree about how they've scaled the freemium model to grow the social media reference landing page startup. Alex also talked about the challenges and benefits of fundraising internationally, the upside to raising in a more difficult climate, and how they see Linktree changing the way creators curate content for their audiences.

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Welcome to a very special host-only episode of Found. Dom and Becca are breaking down 2023 in startups by looking back on some of our favorite conversations and looking forward to predict some startup trends in 2024. They talked about innovative climate tech companies, AI ethics and fundraising, building good founder relationships, and what next year could look like for startups. Thanks to all our listeners for an amazing year, we’ll see you in 2024!

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This week’s episode is focused on Charlie Hernandez and his journey of building My Pocket Lawyer, an online platform that is meant to democratize access to legal advice and guidance for those that might not be able to afford a lawyer. Hernandez talked about why he decided to put his law degree to use to tackle this problem. He also talked about:

• How My Pocket Lawyer uses AI to curate publicly available legal documents for its users
• Why a startup is a better approach to tackle this problem compared to a nonprofit or pro bono legal work
• The feedback he’s gotten from potential customers and the legal industry

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This episode centers on James Wagoner, the co-founder and CEO of Joule Case, a startup that is creating a cleaner alternative to diesel generators. Wagoner talked about his journey to launching the company after the first company he, and his co-founder, started didn't survive the 2008 financial crisis. He also talked about: 

• Why they chose to raise money through equity crowdfunding and how that's worked out for them
• What it has been like building in this new environment for cleantech
• How he, and his co-founder, have successfully worked together since meeting freshman year of college

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Today on Found, we’re talking to David Rogier, the CEO and founder of Masterclass, a streaming platform where you can learn from the world’s experts on a variety of topics, from baking to screen writing to developing empathy. Before David launched MasterClass, he worked as a VC. Through his connections there received a $500,000 seed round before he even had an idea for a company. That was nearly a decade ago, and today Dom, Becca and David talk about how he’s built the company since.

They also talked about:

• How MasterClass was able to land its notable names from the beginning
• How the company has scaled after a disappointing launch
• How MasterClass has adapted to its users needs during the pandemic and beyond
  
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Found posts every Tuesday. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts to be alerted when new episodes drop. Check out the other TechCrunch podcasts: Equity and Chain Reaction. Subscribe to Found to hear more stories from founders each

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Medicaid is in its regulatory moment. Today we’re joined by Neil Batlivala from Pair Team, which is building the infrastructure that will help the most vulnerable populations get the clinical and social care they need through the Medicaid expansion. Dom and Becca talked to Neil about how his previous health tech experience lead him to start a company solely focused on connecting care facilities like food pantries and shelters to clinical training and care through Medicaid funding. They also talked about:
 

• Why there is a gap in health tech to serve our most vulnerable communities
• The regulatory issues that dictate the businesses growth and expansion to new states
• How he thinks about doing well financially and doing good in the world

Found posts every Tuesday. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts to be alerted when new episodes drop. Check out the other TechCrunch podcasts: Equity and Chain Reaction.

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Found posts every Tuesday. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts to be alerted when new episodes drop. Check out the other TechCrunch podcasts: Equity and Chain Reaction. Subscribe to Found to hear more stories from founders each

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Studs co-founders and good friends Lisa Bubbers and Anna Harman want to own your ear piercings. They are helping Gen Z people and millennials create their dream earscape with piercing studios that are opening across the country. They talk with Becca and Dom about building and fundraising for a VC-backed brick and mortar business.They also talked about:

• The importance branding has played in the success of Studs
• How they pivoted during the COVID lockdowns to include a robust e-commerce option
• The way that they think about planning their next city for expansion

Found posts every Tuesday. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts to be alerted when new episodes drop. Check out the other TechCrunch podcasts: Equity and Chain Reaction.

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Found posts every Tuesday. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts to be alerted when new episodes drop. Check out the other TechCrunch podcasts: Equity and Chain Reaction. Subscribe to Found to hear more stories from founders each

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Today on Found, we have something a little different and extra special for you. We’re bringing you two bonus conversations all about sustainability in fashion from TechCrunch Disrupt 2023. First up you’ll hear our very own Harri Weber sit down with three guests, Jim Ajioka from Colorifix, Beth Esponnette from unspun and Julie Willoughby from Circ. They are all powerhouses in sustainable fashion and they all happened to join Harri on the Sustainability Stage. Watch their full conversation here. 

In part two, we have a great conversation between TechCrunch’s Morgan Sung and Jemima Bunbury from BLEND, which is a curated fashion app that is changing the way we shop online. They focus on impulse purchases, how to help customers develop their own style and, of course, how we can make it possible to stay trendy and shop sustainably.

Some topics they covered include:

• Fixing the fashion supply chain so all the materials are created in a sustainable way
• Helping consumers find products that will last
• Enticing larger brands to shift to sustainable practices
• Why a holistic approach to sustainable fashion is crucial when trying to eliminate waste in the industry

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On today’s episode, host Becca Szkutak is joined by our old friend Darrell Etherington to talk with Nasrat Khalid of Aseel. Aseel started as an ecommerce company making it possible for local artisans in Afghanistan to sell to customers across the world and has evolved into working in humanitarian aid delivering emergency food supplies to people in need in Afghanistan and Turkey.

They talk about:

• How Aseel built a digital infrastructure that made it possible for artisans to sell to customers all over the world
• How the company shifted from ecommerce to humanitarian aid when Afghanistan went into crisis
• The struggle to get investment when the company is considered so high-risk
• The ethical concerns that arise when your business focuses on the world’s most vulnerable populations

Found posts every Friday. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts to be alerted when new episodes drop. Check out the other TechCrunch podcasts: Equity and Chain Reaction.Go to found.simplecast.com to find episode transcripts.
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Found posts every Tuesday. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts to be alerted when new episodes drop. Check out the other TechCrunch podcasts: Equity and Chain Reaction. Subscribe to Found to hear more stories from founders each

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Launching an e-commerce startup in the grocery space is no small task. On today’s episode Becca and Dom are joined by Abhi Ramesh, the CEO and founder of Misfits Market, a grocery startup that sells surplus and unwanted produce directly to consumers who don’t mind funny-looking foods. They talk about how he started the company in his apartment handling every aspect from personally buying the unwanted produce from the farms, to storing the food, to packaging and shipping, all while running the website and trying to fundraise. He racked up six-figure credit card debt to fund the logistics-heavy startup before raising his first seed round — and that was just the first three months of the company.They also talked about:

• The systemic issues that have created a massive amount of produce waste
• Changing consumer behavior when shopping for food and how COVID helped their business
• The lessons Ramesh learned after Misfits Markets acquired Imperfect Foods and what the next steps are for the company

Found posts every Friday. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts to be alerted when new episodes drop. Check out the other TechCrunch podcasts: Equity and Chain Reaction.Go to found.simplecast.com to find episode transcripts.

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Found posts every Tuesday. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts to be alerted when new episodes drop. Check out the other TechCrunch podcasts: Equity and Chain Reaction. Subscribe to Found to hear more stories from founders each

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