Builder's Growth Lab

www.buildersgrowthlab.ai

The podcast where builders, founders, and investors talk AI marketing and customer acquisition for AI builders. Join us (Conor Douglas, Mallory Loar, Charlie Hernandez) as we talk about the latest AI coding tools, interview the creators building them, and share real builder stories with AI founders. From Claude Code to cutting-edge startups, how to acquire customers for your AI app, we talk about AI code and keep you informed and entertained. Perfect for builders who want to stay ahead of the AI curve without the hype.  New episodes weekly.

  1. 1D AGO

    What VCs Actually Look For When Investing | Episode #37

    Inside VC with Robert Harari 🎙️ We just dropped Episode 37 with Robert Harari, a VC since age 17 and co-founder of Raisy, an AI platform that connects founders with investors using behavioral data. What you'll learn: → How to craft cold emails that actually get VCs to respond (traction, team, product in that order) → The real difference between venture capital, angel investors, and family offices, and which one your company actually needs → Why most AI companies shouldn't chase VC funding (and what to do instead) → How Raisy uses AI to track investor sentiment and match founders with the right backers → Robert's framework for evaluating whether you're building a new technology or just a new business (and why that distinction matters for fundraising) Why this matters for AI builders: Robert breaks down venture capital without the mystery. No fluff, just tactical advice on how to approach investors, what they're really looking for, and how to know if VC is even the right path for your AI product. If you're building in AI and thinking about raising, this episode will save you months of wasted outreach. www.buildersgrowthlab.ai

    1h 44m

  2. JAN 29

    Building Out Loud & More | Episode #36

    We hit record and talked about what's actually on our minds this week: our canceled Breckenridge trip that makes our heart hurt, building CampaignPilots in public and what we're learning from sharing the journey, NFL bets we missed (and why we're still thinking about them), Sunday scaries as founders, how we actually approach networking without being cringe, and the mental health side of building that nobody wants to talk about on LinkedIn. No structure, no script.   Just three founders being honest about what it's really like right now. https://buildersgrowthlab.ai/

    1h 52m

  3. JAN 22

    Jon Cheney on What Founders Get Wrong About Implementation | Episode #35

    Jon Cheney, Chief AI Officer and CEO of GenAIPI, joins the show to break down how he scaled from solo consultant to an 8-person AI services firm and what AI founders can steal from his playbook. We dig into his framework for customer acquisition in the critical first 60 days, how he landed free media coverage by pitching local news stations, and why building relationships with journalists beats paid ads. Jon also shares his take on AI agents going autonomous by 2026, why he thinks concerns about an AI bubble are overblown, and the one thing most founders get wrong: jumping into AI tools before they have a plan. If you're shipping an AI product and struggling to get traction, this episode is packed with tactical, immediately useful advice. https://genaipi.org/ Jon's Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joncheney/

    2h 7m

  4. JAN 15

    Why the Big AI Breakthrough Still Hasn't Happened (And Where the Real Opportunity Is) - Interview with Silvia Oviedo Lopez | Episode #34

    Guest: Silvia Oviedo Lopez, Former Pinterest & Canva Leader, Now Building Stealth AI Startup Silvia spent two decades scaling Pinterest to 450 million users and leading AI-powered content discovery at Canva. Now she's building a stealth AI startup and just published her 2026 trend report. We dive into why the big consumer AI breakthrough still hasn't landed, where the real whitespace is for founders, and how B2C/B2B boundaries are collapsing. Silvia breaks down what AI-native operations actually look like, the difference between AI that helps us think versus AI that just automates tasks, and why craft is the new scarcity. She shares the real growth levers that worked at Pinterest, how community can become a moat, whether founders should still care about Google SEO or focus on AI answer engines, and what "unicorn hires" look like in 2026. We also explore leadership through what Silvia calls "The Emotional Recession." Why are founders burnt out from holding ambiguity, not doing too much? How do you balance speed with thoughtfulness? What should you look for in investors when operators are becoming the new power players? Packed with tactical insights from someone who's scaled global platforms and is doing it again in stealth mode. https://buildersgrowthlab.ai/

    1h 49m

  5. JAN 8

    What It's Actually Like to Raise Capital For Your Startup | Episode #33

    In this episode, Mallory Loar pulls back the curtain on her fundraising journey: raising nearly $800K for her app. She breaks down how she leveraged her network to get in front of angel investors, why early-stage investors bet on founders over ideas, and the brutal truth about fundraising as a female founder in tech (spoiler: less than 3% of VC funding goes to women-led startups). What you'll learn: How to raise capital before building anything (and when you actually should)The difference between pitching angels vs. VCs, and why speed mattersHow to build an investor pipeline and tailor your pitch to each person's backgroundThe harsh feedback loop of fundraising and how to stay resilient through rejectionsWhy bootstrapping as long as possible often beats raising too earlyGender bias in VC funding and what it takes to overcome itPlus: The hosts dive into the rise of "vibe coding" tools in 2025, why talking to a human will become a premium experience, and predictions for OpenAI acquisitions in the year ahead. Perfect for AI founders wondering if (and when) they should raise money, and how to actually do it without traction. For more info subscribe to our newsletter: https://buildersgrowthlab.ai/

    2h 10m

  6. 12/31/2025

    2025 Podcast Recap & What's Next | Episode #32

    We chat where we started and where we're going/what's next for 2026.

    34 min

  7. 12/26/2025

    Why Some AI Founders Never Get Funded (Katie Dunn, Angel Investor Explains) | Episode #31

    Katie Dunn closed $10B in real estate deals before becoming a full-time angel investor. She's invested in 30 companies, helped founders raise $27M+, and focuses on underrepresented founders in CPG and tech. In this episode, she breaks down what separates fundable founders from everyone else and the biggest mistakes AI founders make when pitching. What We Cover: What actually gets founders funded vs what doesn't"Founder-market fit" for AI builders making agents and wrappersHow to tell if an investor is serious or wasting your timeStep-by-step: getting your first $100K in fundingShould AI founders raise right now?Pitch deck red flags that make investors passWhen to bootstrap vs raise capitalTune in for that and more! --- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katie--dunn/  TikTok and Instagram: @iamkatiedunn Business Website: https://www.themastheadstrategy.com  Personal Website (with Angel Investments and thesis): https://www.katiedunn.com  Digital Twins: https://www.themastheadstrategy.com/digital-twins  Angel Investing Guide: https://www.themastheadstrategy.com/guides/p/from-curious-to-cap-table-a-starter-guide-to-angel-investing-for-women Kondo (manages connection requests and LinkedIn DMs - link to get 1 free month): https://app.trykondo.com/referral/F88Y7X Goodword (leveraging your network app): https://goodword.com Fabrik (community building IRL space): https://www.joinfabrik.com/

    57 min

  8. 12/18/2025

    The Hidden Cost of Bad Onboarding & How to Fix It | Featuring Teemu Kinos | Episode #30

    Customer success is becoming the next major frontier for AI agents. In this episode, we sit down with Teemu Kinos, co-founder of Skene.ai, to unpack how AI agents are reshaping onboarding, retention, and expansion for modern SaaS companies. Teemu shares how Skene helps teams deploy customer success agents that proactively guide users, surface friction, and drive activation without overwhelming human teams. We talk about why most products lose users not because of poor features, but because onboarding and time-to-value break down early. Teemu explains how AI agents can monitor behavior, personalize guidance, and intervene at the exact moments that matter. We also dig into product-led growth in the AI era. What changes when your product can observe, learn, and adapt in real time? How should founders think about human versus agent-driven touchpoints? Teemu walks through practical use cases, early customer wins, and the metrics that actually matter when measuring success automation. Finally, we zoom out to the bigger picture. Customer success is no longer a support function. It is becoming a core growth lever. Teemu shares lessons for founders building AI products today, including where agents add real value, where humans still win, and how to avoid over-automating trust. If you are building a SaaS product, an AI agent, or a PLG motion that depends on retention and expansion, this episode will change how you think about growth after the signup.

    1h 40m
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About

The podcast where builders, founders, and investors talk AI marketing and customer acquisition for AI builders. Join us (Conor Douglas, Mallory Loar, Charlie Hernandez) as we talk about the latest AI coding tools, interview the creators building them, and share real builder stories with AI founders. From Claude Code to cutting-edge startups, how to acquire customers for your AI app, we talk about AI code and keep you informed and entertained. Perfect for builders who want to stay ahead of the AI curve without the hype.  New episodes weekly.

Information

  • Creator
    www.buildersgrowthlab.ai
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    38
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Code Ai Podcast
  • Show Website
    Builder's Growth Lab