InProd

Laura Hamilton and Wil Hagen
  • 4.9 (30)
  • INVESTING
  • UPDATED BIMONTHLY

InProd (fka Partner Path) is a podcast exploring the venture and startup ecosystem through the lens of trailblazing founders and operators building the next wave of AI companies. We feature candid conversations with early-stage leaders, offering practical insights on product execution, GTM, and the messy middle of scaling teams and navigating growth. 

  1. E64: Reinventing How Teams Find Talent with Ishan Gupta (Juicebox)

    DEC 3

    E64: Reinventing How Teams Find Talent with Ishan Gupta (Juicebox)

    This week, we’re joined by Ishan Gupta, co-founder of Juicebox — a company redefining how recruiting works in an AI-native world. Ishan shares how they pivoted from earlier ideas to focus on the highest value part of hiring: identifying the right people and getting them into process. With Juicebox, you describe what you want in natural language and the platform searches more than 800 million professional profiles, surfaces the best matches, and engages candidates through recruiting agents. Their breakout feature, Autopilot, uses LLMs to semantically evaluate and stack rank candidates based on nuanced criteria, which quickly drove organic growth and strong PMF. We talk about why their data makes the product so sticky, how they see recruiting evolving over the next five years, what led them to raise their Series A, and the culture they are building around moving fast and being intellectually honest. Ishan also shares what they are building next with their memory layer, which will make it clear what the AI is learning over time and how it improves future searches. Episode chapters: 1:44 - Competitive programming4:35 - Choosing the company name5:55 - YC and the pivot8:00 - How Juicebox differs from traditional recruiting9:51 - The killer feature14:30 - What makes the product sticky17:15 - Is recruiting a zero sum game19:10 - The macro view of hiring22:05 - Raising a later Series A24:10 - Product expansion26:45 - Quick fire round  This episode is brought to you by Grata, the leading deal sourcing platform for private equity. Grata’s AI powered search, investment grade data, and intuitive workflows help you find and win the right deals faster. Visit grata.com to book a demo. This episode is also sponsored by Overlap, the AI powered app that uses LLMs to surface the best moments from any podcast. Overlap reads full transcripts, finds the most relevant clips, and stitches them into a personalized stream of insights. Tap into podcasts as a real information source with Overlap 2.0, now available on the App Store.

    29 min
  2. E63: Building the Agent Marketplace Layer with Henry and Ani (Smithery)

    NOV 4

    E63: Building the Agent Marketplace Layer with Henry and Ani (Smithery)

    This week’s guests are Henry and Ani, co-founders of Smithery. Smithery is building the marketplace and runtime for MCP, making it easier for developers to distribute, discover, and monetize tools in the emerging agent ecosystem.   Smithery provides a platform to connect your repo, integrate with CI/CD, and handle hosting for servers seamlessly. MCP shines when agents become more general, but it only scales if demand grows for more connections between tools and systems. Drawing from their experiences at Browserbase, Whatnot, and prior AI startups, Ani and Henry saw the need for standardization across the agent stack and set out to build the distribution and trust layer for MCP.  We cover what early traction they’re seeing from developers, how they’re approaching payments and identity to reduce configuration friction, and what the broader shift toward open, composable AI infrastructure means for the future of agents.  Episode chapters:  1:51 — Getting into AI 5:30 — The Origin of Smithery 7:40 — Building the Supply Side 9:10 — Why Smithery Is the Easiest Way to Discover MCPs 13:30 — Agent Authentication and Identity 17:08 — The Most Popular MCPs 19:50 — MCP and the Principle of Separation of Concerns 22:50 — How AI Is Being Used Today 25:57 — Defining Success as Founders 31:45 — Quire Fire Round This episode is brought to you by Grata, the world's leading deal sourcing platform. Our AI-powered search, investment-grade data, and intuitive workflows give you the edge needed to find and win deals in your industry. Visit grata.com to schedule a demo today. Fresh out of Y Combinator’s Summer batch, Overlap is an AI-driven app that uses LLMs to curate the best moments from podcast episodes. Imagine having a smart assistant who reads through every podcast transcript, finds the best parts or parts most relevant to your search, and strings them together to form a new curated stream of content - that is what Overlap does. Podcasts are an exponentially growing source of unique information. Make use of it! Check out Overlap 2.0 on the App Store today.

    34 min
  3. E62: Reinventing Consumer AI Through Generative Video with Dean Leitersdorf (Decart)

    OCT 16

    E62: Reinventing Consumer AI Through Generative Video with Dean Leitersdorf (Decart)

    This week’s guest is Dean Leitersdorf, CEO of Decart. Decart is a vertically integrated AI research lab building some of the world’s most advanced audio and video models, including Mirage, a real-time generative video system where users can transform themselves or their environments instantly. We dive into Dean’s path from finishing his PhD in computer science at 21 to founding Decart with the ambition of creating a true “before-and-after” company in AI. We cover how Decart evolved from GPU optimization to leading-edge video models, why Mirage has attracted massive adoption in advertising and ecommerce, and what it means to build entirely new consumer experiences on the internet. We also discuss the broader enterprise interest in real-time video, how Decart balances continuous consumer iteration with lab-first research, and why Dean believes this is one of the few moments in history where founders can truly build trillion-dollar businesses. Episode Chapters:  2:10 — From Israel to Palo Alto4:22 — What Dean is running toward6:15 — Building for the future of AI9:40 — How people use Decart14:05 — Building a model from scratch19:08 — Who adopts these models first24:05 — Decart’s focus areas27:06 — Attracting world-class talent30:00 — Choosing to integrate or partner34:04 — Thinking about consumer impact39:38 — Quick fire round This episode is brought to you by Grata, the world's leading deal sourcing platform. Our AI-powered search, investment-grade data, and intuitive workflows give you the edge needed to find and win deals in your industry. Visit grata.com to schedule a demo today. Fresh out of Y Combinator’s Summer batch, Overlap is an AI-driven app that uses LLMs to curate the best moments from podcast episodes. Imagine having a smart assistant who reads through every podcast transcript, finds the best parts or parts most relevant to your search, and strings them together to form a new curated stream of content - that is what Overlap does. Podcasts are an exponentially growing source of unique information. Make use of it! Check out Overlap 2.0 on the App Store today.

    42 min
  4. E61: AI for Financial Services with Samir and Kunal (Farsight)

    SEP 23

    E61: AI for Financial Services with Samir and Kunal (Farsight)

    This week’s guests are Samir and Kunal from Farsight. Farsight is transforming how financial firms operate by automating the most time-consuming parts of dealmaking, from drafting pitch decks to generating investment insights, in seconds instead of weeks. We dive into Samir’s journey from Wall Street to building Farsight, and why AI is reshaping the workflows at the heart of finance. We cover how power users are creating entire pitchbooks in minutes, how firms leveraging Farsight are winning more deals and sharpening pricing strategies, and why owning the full workflow is the key to lasting advantage. We also discuss their approach to high-sensitivity use cases, where models are deployed directly into customer environments and tuned for bespoke needs. Episode Chapters: 2:02 - CS at MIT5:30 - The catalyzing factor10:36 - Agents to automate financial services13:20 - Your new PE analyst16:30 - Owning the workflow19:25 - Selling to banks 21:45 - Build vs buy25:20 - Foundation models & frameworks31:27 - Becoming a manager34:10 - Fundraising advice36:40 - Augmenting junior analysts41:00 - How AI teaches us to work 42:25 - Quick fire round As always, feel free to contact us at partnerpathpodcast@gmail.com. We would love to hear ideas for content, guests, and overall feedback. This episode is brought to you by Grata, the world's leading deal sourcing platform. Our AI-powered search, investment-grade data, and intuitive workflows give you the edge needed to find and win deals in your industry. Visit grata.com to schedule a demo today. Fresh out of Y Combinator’s Summer batch, Overlap is an AI-driven app that uses LLMs to curate the best moments from podcast episodes. Imagine having a smart assistant who reads through every podcast transcript, finds the best parts or parts most relevant to your search, and strings them together to form a new curated stream of content - that is what Overlap does. Podcasts are an exponentially growing source of unique information. Make use of it! Check out Overlap 2.0 on the App Store today.

    44 min
  5. E60: Why Voice is the Next Platform Shift with Jordan Dearsley (Vapi)

    SEP 3

    E60: Why Voice is the Next Platform Shift with Jordan Dearsley (Vapi)

    This week’s guest is Jordan Dearsley, CEO of Vapi. Vapi enables enterprises to deploy humanlike voice agents in minutes. Whether you are building a new voice product or managing millions of calls, Vapi’s infrastructure and flexible APIs make it simple and reliable. We explore why Waterloo continues to produce world-class engineers and founders, Jordan’s journey from building calendar apps and AI therapy tools to leading Vapi, and why enterprises are turning to voice AI to save engineering time and resources. We also cover the toughest technical challenges including latency, tool calls, determinism, and multi state environments, and why generative voice systems require constant tuning and forward deployed models rather than one size fits all solutions. Episode Chapters: 2:10 - The MIT of Canada4:03 - Pivoting 10+ times6:00 - Why voice AI11:07 - A faster path to production12:05 - Voice challenges from enterprises15:05 - Why stay horizontal17:20 - Actively moving away from being an AI BPO19:45 - Forward deployed engineers21:40 - From scoping to production22:40 - Recruiting as an early stage startup26:05 - ElevenLabs leading the model pack29:00 - Distribution & enterprise integrations32:35 - Quick fire round  As always, feel free to contact us at partnerpathpodcast@gmail.com. We would love to hear ideas for content, guests, and overall feedback. This episode is brought to you by Grata, the world's leading deal sourcing platform. Our AI-powered search, investment-grade data, and intuitive workflows give you the edge needed to find and win deals in your industry. Visit grata.com to schedule a demo today. Fresh out of Y Combinator’s Summer batch, Overlap is an AI-driven app that uses LLMs to curate the best moments from podcast episodes. Imagine having a smart assistant who reads through every podcast transcript, finds the best parts or parts most relevant to your search, and strings them together to form a new curated stream of content - that is what Overlap does. Podcasts are an exponentially growing source of unique information. Make use of it! Check out Overlap 2.0 on the App Store today.

    35 min
  6. E59: Simulation as Strategy with Brooke Hopkins (Coval)

    AUG 13

    E59: Simulation as Strategy with Brooke Hopkins (Coval)

    This week’s guest is Brooke Hopkins, Founder of Coval, a company building automated testing infrastructure for AI agents starting with voice and chat assistants.  We unpack her journey from studying in Abu Dhabi to leading simulation infrastructure at Waymo, where she helped ensure autonomous vehicles could operate safely at scale. Brooke shares how that experience shaped Coval’s approach to agent evaluation, why voice is the hardest modality to test, and what it means to simulate human-to-agent interactions in a way that actually reflects user intent. Episode Chapters: 1:54 - Abu Dhabi for college4:06 - Searching for engineering challenges5:08 - Joining Waymo9:00 - Scaling simulations10:17 - Balancing cost, latency, and signal14:40 - Starting with voice18:16 - Building evals23:44 - Persona surprises26:50 - MCP 27:15 - AI operating system for conversational workflows32:28 - Voice to voice 35:55 - Quick fire round As always, feel free to contact us at partnerpathpodcast@gmail.com. We would love to hear ideas for content, guests, and overall feedback. This episode is brought to you by Grata, the world's leading deal sourcing platform. Our AI-powered search, investment-grade data, and intuitive workflows give you the edge needed to find and win deals in your industry. Visit grata.com to schedule a demo today. Fresh out of Y Combinator’s Summer batch, Overlap is an AI-driven app that uses LLMs to curate the best moments from podcast episodes. Imagine having a smart assistant who reads through every podcast transcript, finds the best parts or parts most relevant to your search, and strings them together to form a new curated stream of content - that is what Overlap does. Podcasts are an exponentially growing source of unique information. Make use of it! Check out Overlap 2.0 on the App Store today.

    37 min
  7. E58: Architecting Developer Experiences with Christopher Chedeau (aka Vjeux)

    JUL 29

    E58: Architecting Developer Experiences with Christopher Chedeau (aka Vjeux)

    This week’s guest is Christopher Chedeau, better known as Vjeux, Front-End Engineer at Meta and the mind behind React Native, Prettier, Excalidraw, and more. We unpack his journey from modding Warcraft at 13 to shaping some of the most widely used developer tools in the world. Christopher shares his thoughts on why React took off, how side projects become developer staples, and what AI means for the future of software creation. Episode Chapters: 1:55 - Christopher aka Vjeux2:55 - Learning to code6:30 - Programming in France8:53 - Open sourcing React13:01 - Moving to Facebook15:25 - The framework wars18:25 - The React community22:40 - AI > React26:30 - What's next for Vjeux?29:46 - Active procrastination leading to virality32:42 - Future of whiteboarding 37:26 - Quick fire round As always, feel free to contact us at partnerpathpodcast@gmail.com. We would love to hear ideas for content, guests, and overall feedback. This episode is brought to you by Grata, the world's leading deal sourcing platform. Our AI-powered search, investment-grade data, and intuitive workflows give you the edge needed to find and win deals in your industry. Visit grata.com to schedule a demo today. Fresh out of Y Combinator’s Summer batch, Overlap is an AI-driven app that uses LLMs to curate the best moments from podcast episodes. Imagine having a smart assistant who reads through every podcast transcript, finds the best parts or parts most relevant to your search, and strings them together to form a new curated stream of content - that is what Overlap does. Podcasts are an exponentially growing source of unique information. Make use of it! Check out Overlap 2.0 on the App Store today.

    38 min
  8. E57: Integrating your AI with Karan Vaidya (Composio)

    JUL 14

    E57: Integrating your AI with Karan Vaidya (Composio)

    This week’s guest is Karan Vaidya, Co-Founder and CTO of Composio, a platform enabling AI agents to connect with hundreds of tools and take autonomous actions to streamline workflows.  We dive into his journey building “Devin” for integrations, why the rise of AI is creating demand for thousands of application connectors, how 90% of Composio’s use cases today are agent-driven, and the role early product virality played in their traction.  Episode Chapters:  2:00 – Founding with a friend (of 13 years) 3:35 – Evolution of integrations 6:50 – Lightbulb moment 9:20 – Pivoting Composio 12:40 – Agentic workflows 14:30 – Why Composio? 16:47 – Winning developers 25:20 – Build vs. buy 26:20 – AI toolset 28:25 – Agentic internet 30:52 – Quick fire round As always, feel free to contact us at partnerpathpodcast@gmail.com. We would love to hear ideas for content, guests, and overall feedback. This episode is brought to you by Grata, the world's leading deal sourcing platform. Our AI-powered search, investment-grade data, and intuitive workflows give you the edge needed to find and win deals in your industry. Visit grata.com to schedule a demo today. Fresh out of Y Combinator’s Summer batch, Overlap is an AI-driven app that uses LLMs to curate the best moments from podcast episodes. Imagine having a smart assistant who reads through every podcast transcript, finds the best parts or parts most relevant to your search, and strings them together to form a new curated stream of content - that is what Overlap does. Podcasts are an exponentially growing source of unique information. Make use of it! Check out Overlap 2.0 on the App Store today.

    32 min
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4.9
out of 5
30 Ratings

About

InProd (fka Partner Path) is a podcast exploring the venture and startup ecosystem through the lens of trailblazing founders and operators building the next wave of AI companies. We feature candid conversations with early-stage leaders, offering practical insights on product execution, GTM, and the messy middle of scaling teams and navigating growth. 

Information

  • Creator
    Laura Hamilton and Wil Hagen
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2025
  • Episodes
    64
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2025 InProd
  • Show Website
    InProd