The Upstarts Podcast

Alex Konrad
  • 5.0 (8)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated Weekly

On The Upstarts Podcast, you’ll hear from some of the most exciting Upstarts today: emerging technology leaders punching above their weight to achieve real impact.  Veteran tech reporter Alex Konrad profiled leaders from Marc Benioff to Melanie Perkins in a decade-plus at Forbes. Now as the founder and editor of Upstarts Media, he’s sitting down with breakout entrepreneurs taking on the status quo to shake up their fields in AI, design, nuclear energy, space, and more.  You’ll leave each interview with a new understanding of a world-changing technology that’s transforming how we live and work – as well as strategies and tactics any builder can put to use. 

  1. 2d ago

    Vanta’s Christina Cacioppo: The Underdog Turning ‘Nonsense’ Compliance Into A $4.2B Security Standout

    When Vanta co-founder Christina Cacioppo first pitched investors on compliance software, she faced a frosty reception. It wasn’t a viable product category, she was told. They’d sell for peanuts within a couple of months. No one actually wanted to work on compliance. But Cacioppo had felt the pain first-hand. She was convinced: software could prove the perfect painkiller for fellow startups to handle security audits and grow faster. Today, Vanta works with more than 16,000 customers like Lovable, Snowflake and Icelandair. It’s valued at $4.2 billion – and it’s successful enough that Cacioppo is now fending off a new wave of startup copycats. She welcomes the challenge. “I subscribe to the ‘never let them see you blink’ school of thought,” she says. On The Upstarts Podcast, Cacioppo shares how she created hype in a sleepy category; how she prioritizes “infinity things” as a startup unicorn CEO; and why when it comes to good security hygiene, we could all spend more time brushing our teeth. Plus, she shares her Upstart Moment: working to re-think, and attempt to future-proof, Vanta’s software business for the era of powerful AI models. CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction 1:39 What Vanta does 5:26 Selling to other startups 9:28 How AI agents change ‘pretty much everything’ 14:06 Christina’s *real* founder origin story 16:23 Underdog fundraising and gaming VCs 18:59 The problem with startup valuations 24:08 Turning LinkedIn ‘cringe’ into customer traction 26:41 Reinventing Vanta with AI 33:43 Whether AI could clone Vanta 35:23 ‘Never let them see you blink’ 37:24 Avoiding burnout with ‘infinity things’ to do For more, visit ⁠⁠https://www.upstartsmedia.com/⁠⁠ Season 2 of the Upstarts Podcast is presented by ⁠⁠Rippling⁠ Produced & edited by Eric Johnson from ⁠⁠LightningPod

    41 min

  2. May 28

    Orchid’s Noor Siddiqui: Rigging The Genetic Lottery To Create Healthier ‘Superbabies’

    If you could fix the genetic lottery to ensure your baby was born healthy, would you? For entrepreneur Noor Siddiqui, there's no question. Ever since her mother started to lose her vision as the result of a genetic condition, she’s dreamed of solving the problem through better genetic testing. And at Orchid, the startup she founded in 2019, she now offers a novel approach to genetic testing that can spot thousands of potential conditions in embryos before they’re implanted as part of the IVF process. Orchid assisted its first birth in 2023, and now works with more than 100 clinics in the U.S. and abroad. But Siddiqui’s vision for designer “superbabies” has plenty of doubters, from Orchid’s ethical implications to its cost, at $2,500 per screened embryo. Siddiqui’s heard it all. "Right now, it might be edgy for me to say, 'Sex is for fun, and embryo screening is for babies,' but I just think it's a statement of fact.” On the The Upstarts Podcast, Siddiqui talks about her founder journey as a Thiel Fellow turned Stanford research dropout; why she compares previous testing to proofreading only the chapter titles of a book; and how she’s gotten used to the backlash. Plus, she talks about her Upstart Moment: sparking a new wave of reproductive tech startups that she sees carrying the field far beyond where Orchid can go alone. CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction 1:45 Creating ‘superbabies’ 3:17 Motivated by mom’s blindness 8:04 Stigma around reproductive tech 11:26 How Orchid improves IVF 16:19 From Thiel Fellow to Stanford 21:42 Dropping out (again) for Orchid 24:40 Facing the ‘holy war’ haters 28:44 Orchid’s cost and improving access 34:00 Noor’s Upstart Moment 36:58 What success looks like For more, visit ⁠https://www.upstartsmedia.com/⁠ Season 2 of the Upstarts Podcast is presented by ⁠Rippling Produced & edited by Eric Johnson from ⁠LightningPod

    39 min

  3. May 1

    Runway’s Cris Valenzuela: Building The Hollywood-Friendly Video AI That OpenAI Couldn’t

    The ChatGPT craze was still years away when Chilean-born Cris Valenzuela co-founded Runway to tinker on visual AI models with two classmates at an NYU lab in 2018. Back then, investors weren't sold — not just on video AI, but on generative AI altogether. "There's always doubt when you get 50 rejections," Valenzuela says. "I've realized that building something special, you have to be able and willing to be non-consensus driven." Fast forward, and Runway works not just with many film studios and Hollywood, but creative teams and engineers at corporations like Allstate, Siemens and Robinhood. It's had no recent trouble fundraising, reaching a $5.3 billion valuation. And it's outlasted gen AI's heavyweight, OpenAI, which recently shuttered its Sora app. On The Upstarts Podcast, Valenzuela talks about his journey building an AI lab for artists in New York, and what the big labs missed; why Runway helps expert and amateur filmmakers alike; and why he believes creators should look past controversy around AI to embrace technology. Plus, he shares his Upstart Moment: collecting those rejection emails from top VCs and sharing them with the whole company to motivate his team. Chapters 00:00 Introduction 02:32 Why world models matter 03:57 What OpenAI got wrong 06:32 Runway’s NYU origins 13:10 Like going to the gym 16:06 A fan at ‘The Late Show’ 20:36 Cris’s Upstart Moment: VC doubts 25:30 Building at the speed of AI 30:28 Darren Aronofsky and amateur users 33:12 A new normal in filmmaking 39:05 Up next: Characters, robots and games For more, visit https://www.upstartsmedia.com/ Season 1 of the Upstarts Podcast is presented by Mercury Produced & edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod

    43 min

  4. Apr 24

    Chapter's Cobi Blumenfeld-Gantz: From Palantir To $3B Medicare Disruptor

    When Cobi Blumenfeld-Gantz's parents struggled to navigate Medicare—faxes, phone calls, even a trip to the Social Security office—he figured someone had built a better way. Nobody had. So, in 2020, he co-founded Chapter: a startup focused on connecting Americans to better Medicare plans, saving seniors thousands of dollars per year. Among legacy healthcare players, that hasn’t made him many fans. “I am one of the most hated people in the industry,” he says. “I’m bad for business.” On The Upstarts Podcast, Blumenfeld-Gantz shares his journey from foreign policy studies to forward deployed engineer at Palantir; how Chapter’s nationwide database of Medicare plans helped it reach $100 million in revenue and a $3 billion valuation; and why he proposes a twist on a typical startup metric: product-market-channel fit. Plus, he shares his Upstart Moment: when last year’s government shutdown cut off Chapter's data right at the opening of Medicare's busiest enrollment window, and his team had one week to reverse-engineer their way out. Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 01:04 Solving his parents’ problem 08:08 From foreign policy to Palantir 12:01 Why Palantir breeds so many startup founders 14:28 Getting started and managing VC no’s 20:24 Why product market channel fit matters 26:51 Cobi’s Upstart Moment: the shutdown 32:33 “One of the most hated people in the industry’ 35:41Tuning out noise and talent density 42:37 Up next: a wider financial platform for senior spend For more, visit https://www.upstartsmedia.com/ Season 1 of the Upstarts Podcast is presented by Mercury Produced & edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod

    44 min

  5. Apr 16

    Cohere's Aidan Gomez: The Canadian Founder Taking AI Models To The World, Not Just Big Tech

    A self-described "shy nerd" from rural Ontario, Aidan Gomez doesn't like to scream his startup’s name from the rooftops. But the co-author of the landmark ‘Attention Is All You Need’ paper is quietly building one of AI's most important infrastructure companies — one focused on bringing its benefits to the wider world outside Silicon Valley. Toronto-based Cohere works with major enterprises and G7 governments, providing secure models for them to build everything from email-summary apps to onboard ship telemetry on top. Revenue grew 6x last year, past a reported $240 million; with $1.7 billion in total funding, an IPO is in its sights. On the Upstarts Podcast, Gomez talks about his journey to co-developing the Transformer architecture that underpins modern AI; why he sees AI as the best shot at restoring global growth and democratic resilience; and why it’s so important that more nations than the world’s biggest benefit. Plus, he shares his Upstart Moment: building on ‘hard mode’ by not taking money from Amazon, Google or Microsoft early on. Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 01:11 Cohere’s ‘takeoff phase’ 05:09 Where vibe coding falls short 08:05 Smalltown Canada to AI epicenter 14:27 Co-authoring the Transformer paper 18:52 Starting up Cohere 25:22 Why AI sovereignty matters 30:25 Aidan’s Upstart Moment 32:56 Playing on ‘hard mode’ 36:55 Ethical questions of AI 39:44 Why Cohere should IPO For more, visit https://www.upstartsmedia.com/ Season 1 of the Upstarts Podcast is presented by Mercury Produced & edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod

    42 min

  6. Apr 10

    Decagon’s Jesse Zhang: Closing Customer Service Doom Loops With AI Concierges

    When it comes to calling customer support, startup CEO Jesse Zhang knows your pain.  ”It's just a very frustrating experience, because you're stuck in a loop,” he says. In 2023, he and co-founder Ashwin Sreenivas launched Decagon to solve the problem with powerful new technology: AI agents. Today, customers like Avis Budget Group, Duolingo and Fanatics all work with Decagon, helping it reach a $4.5 billion valuation. But as AI unlocks new possibilities in support, Zhang faces serious competition from more established and better-funded rivals. On the Upstarts Podcast, Zhang shares how Decagon wins by using speed as a weapon, but not a moat; why 10x better products can fend off the big AI labs; and how his AI concierge can help future customers beyond just solving problems. Plus, he shares his Upstart Moment: winning uphill sales battles with a bottoms-up hustle that turned “red dots” into green buyers. Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 02:38 Why support was still a problem 05:34 Jesse Zhang’s founder story 15:23 Three pillars of startup strength 16:20 A 10x name and first customers 19:24 Winning with speed and scale 24:20 Jesse’s Upstart Moment in sales 31:35 Why you need to be 10x better 33:43 Revenge of the AI ‘wrapper’ 37:17 Long-running agent ‘duets’ 40:44 Your future concierge For more, visit https://www.upstartsmedia.com/ Season 1 of the Upstarts Podcast is presented by Mercury: https://mercury.com/ Produced & edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod: https://lightningpod.fm/

    45 min

  7. Apr 2

    Axiom’s Carina Hong: Solving Math’s Hardest Problems With AI, And AI's Problems With Math

    Just nine months ago, Morgan Prize-winning prodigy Carina Hong was still on an academic track, pursuing a joint law degree and math PhD at Stanford. Now, as the founder of startup Axiom Math, she runs one of the most promising challengers in a new, fast-paced category: AI for math. Recently valued at $1.6 billion, Axiom has already solved some of math’s most challenging problems, and Hong hopes it can help researchers advance the field. Her bigger ambition? To power real-time math-based verification of AI-generated code, to do away with vibe-coded slop. On this episode of The Upstarts Podcast, Hong shares her founder journey from immigrant at MIT to Oxford, and ultimately dropping out of Stanford; how she’s learning as a first-time founder to help Axiom compete in a red-hot new category; and her Upstart Moment when Axiom took the world’s hardest college-level math test. Chapters 00:48 Intro to Carina Hong 2:02 What Axiom Math does 5:51 ‘Math is AGI’ 8:48 Not replacing mathematicians 13:28 Winning the Morgan Prize 17:17 Origins of Axiom 22:22 The new math AI race 25:51 Carina’s Upstart Moment 31:47 Axiom’s business prospects 36:39 Why the future is verified coding For more, visit https://www.upstartsmedia.com/ Season 1 of the Upstarts Podcast is presented by Mercury Produced & edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod

    39 min

  8. Mar 26

    Harvey's Winston Weinberg: From Law Associate To $11 Billion Legal AI Startup CEO

    Harvey CEO Winston Weinberg operates between two worlds. On one side are highly-trained lawyers who are skeptical about AI’s ability to improve their work. On the other are Silicon Valley technologists who see law as one of the fields that the biggest AI labs, Anthropic and OpenAI, can easily absorb. Co-founded in 2022, Harvey now works with more than 100,000 lawyers across 1,000 businesses, generating $200 million in revenue and recently reaching an $11 billion valuation. On The Upstarts Podcast, Weinberg talks about how a cold email to Sam Altman helped launch Harvey’s journey; why he believes lawyers are a surprise power user of AI tools; and why Anthropic is his biggest threat. Plus, he talks about his Upstart Moment: a never-before-disclosed attempt to “one-shot” company growth that saw Harvey almost merge with another company of equal size in 2024 – only to luckily pull back. Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 00:48 Winston's path to law 2:05 Testing GPT-3 and Sam Altman 7:45 A 'risky' demo 10:42 Investor skepticism 14:23 Near-miss 'one-shot' merger 18:50 Winston's approach to hiring 22:31 Responding to skeptics 29:23 Why you should build in public 31:02 Winning over lawyers 32:46 Anthropic and the competition 35:36 Happy customers beat Twitter love For more, visit https://www.upstartsmedia.com/ Season 1 of the Upstarts Podcast is presented by Mercury Produced & edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod

    37 min
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On The Upstarts Podcast, you’ll hear from some of the most exciting Upstarts today: emerging technology leaders punching above their weight to achieve real impact.  Veteran tech reporter Alex Konrad profiled leaders from Marc Benioff to Melanie Perkins in a decade-plus at Forbes. Now as the founder and editor of Upstarts Media, he’s sitting down with breakout entrepreneurs taking on the status quo to shake up their fields in AI, design, nuclear energy, space, and more.  You’ll leave each interview with a new understanding of a world-changing technology that’s transforming how we live and work – as well as strategies and tactics any builder can put to use. 

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