40 episodes
Our Future Podcast Morning Brew
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- Business
The entrepreneurship podcast for young people. We highlight scrappy founders on the rise and the bold tactics underdogs need to win in business. Hosts Michael Sikand and Simran Sandhu don’t just talk about the hustle, they live it – they sold their media startup to Morning Brew shortly after graduating college. Listen on any podcasting platform or watch it on YouTube.
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She Raised Millions For The Netflix Of News
In #40, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) discuss the founders of Zette and Vizcom. Founded by 28-year-old Yehong Zhu, Zette is best described as "Netflix for News". By installing the Zette chrome extension and paying a monthly subscription, users can bypass the article paywall on over 100+ publisher sites including Forbes. So far, Yehong has raised $2.7M+ for the company, including a recent 7-figure crowdfunding round. Next up is Vizcom, which was started by 28-year-old co-founders Jordan Taylor and Kaelan Richards. Best described as Figma for industrial designers, Vizcom is an AI-powered software that helps industrial designers at companies like Ford and New Balance use a mixture of drawing and generative AI to make the process of creating innovative mock-ups and product designs more efficient. The company recently raised a $20M Series A which included investors like Index Ventures and Figma co-founder Dylan Field.
0:00 Intro
01:27 Story of Zette
19:07 Story of Vizcom
Follow the show on IG: @ourfuturepod
Message Michael on Twitter: @michaelsikand
Message Simmy on Twitter: @_simmy_
Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew.
#business #startups #podcasts
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He Raised $12M To Make Your Dream Home Cheap
In #39, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) discuss the founders of Atmos and Reframe. Backed by Sam Altman, YC, and Khosla Ventures with a recent $12.5M Series A, Atmos's young co-founders (led by 25-year-old CEO Nick Donahue) are helping Americans build a custom home from scratch without spending millions. The next company discussed was started by Vedant Pradeep, the 27-year-old co-founder behind Reframe, an app valued at over $300M. 91% of Reframe's 3M users reduced their alcohol intake within their first 3 months of subscribing.
0:00 Intro
02:18 Story of Atmos
19:28 Story of Reframe
Follow the show on IG: @ourfuturepod
Message Michael on Twitter: @michaelsikand
Message Simmy on Twitter: @_simmy_
Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew.
#business #startups #podcasts
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She Raised $7M From Porsche and Ford At Age 25
In #37, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) discuss the founders of Sweetspot and Bluedot. YC-backed Sweetspot is bringing AI to the complex and outdated world of government contract discovery and bidding. Last year, the U.S. allocated over $765B to government contracts and Sweetspot is helping businesses earn more work from Uncle Sam. Next up is Bluedot, an EV charging app and fintech company backed with $7M from investors like Ford and Porsche that offers EV owners a flat rate at charging stations if they pay through Bluedot's debit card. Other features include discounts and rewards to restaurants and shops located near the charging station.
Follow the show on IG: @ourfuturepod
Message Michael on Twitter: @michaelsikand
Message Simmy on Twitter: @_simmy_
Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew.
#business #startups #podcasts
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This $4M Software Founder Is Now Hauling Trash
In #37, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) discuss Spencer Scott (@AKASpencerScott). Getting his start working his way up sales at a telecom company, Spencer quit the corporate grind to become a 7-figure, non-technical bootstrapped SaaS founder, building sales software platform Loup and scaling screen-sharing tool Median after purchasing it on MicroAcquire. More recently, Spencer has made waves as the founder of Lone Star Trash, a waste management service he started after witnessing private equity ruin the service quality of his Dallas neighborhood’s trash collection operator. Applying the same scrappy tactics that helped him grow his software startups, Spencer bought a trash truck and bootstrapped a profitable waste management operation from day one.
Follow the show on IG: @ourfuturepod
Message Michael on Twitter: @michaelsikand
Message Simmy on Twitter: @_simmy_
Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew.
#business #startups #podcast
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Peter Thiel Backed Their $300M Software Marketplace
In #36, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) discuss Whop and EasyA. Started by 25-year-olds Jack Sharkey, Steven Schwartz, and Cameron Zoub - Whop is "Etsy for Digital Products" - and has raised $17M from investors like Peter Thiel and James Harden. The platform has facilitated $300M of transactions for software tools, community memberships, and courses developed by an army of young hustlers pushing internet products. Next up is EasyA, a mobile app built by brothers Phil and Dom Kwok who are in their mid-twenties, that is best described as "Duolingo for Web3". The app has over 750K users who use it to learn how to build applications on various blockchain platforms like Solana and Polkadot. The startup's unique B2B2C model and hackathon strategy generates millions a year in revenue.
0:00 Intro
1:00 Story Of Whop
19:47 Story of EasyA
Follow the show on IG: @ourfuturepod
Message Michael on Twitter: @michaelsikand
Message Simmy on Twitter: @_simmy_
Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew.
#business #startups #podcast
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
27-Year-Old Twins Raised $50,000,000 To Insure Rental Cars
In #35, Michael Sikand (@michaelsikand) and Simran Sandhu (@_simmy_) discuss Myko AI and Lula. Started by Trevor Lee and Zheng Li, Myko has raised $2.7M from investors like Khosla Ventures to create conversational AI for sales teams. Myko syncs across all the software in a revenue organization and can surface key metrics and insights via text prompts with the ability to then execute actions based off those data points. Next up is Lula, an insurtech startup founded by two 27-year-old twins, Matthew and Michael Vega-Sanz. They built a car sharing startup for college campuses before pivoting to build "stripe for insurance," with their first market being rental car companies and trucking fleets. The co-founders claim they're on the path to $100M in revenue in the next year and recently raised a $35.5M Series B.
0:00 Intro
1:00 Story of Myko AI
22:30 Story of Lula
28:50 Michael and Simmy Brainstorm An Insurance Business
Follow the show on IG: @ourfuturepod
Message Michael on Twitter: @michaelsikand
Message Simmy on Twitter: @_simmy_
Our Future Podcast is a production of Morning Brew.
#business #startups #podcast
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices