The Room Podcast

Claudia Laurie and Madison McIlwain

Welcome to the Room. A series interviewing your favorite tech founders and funders. Our guests were in the room where it happened and they’re sharing their stories.

  1. 1 JUL · BONUS

    New York Tech Week Special: Live Recording with Partiful Co-Founder and CEO, Shreya Murthy

    Welcome to a special bonus episode of The Room Podcast, recorded live at New York Tech Week! This week, we're thrilled to chat with Shreya Murthy, Co-Founder and CEO of Partiful, the modern social events platform that is revolutionizing how we make plans and build real-world relationships. Since launching in 2021, Partiful has scaled to millions of users and earned major accolades, including Google's Best App of 2024, Apple's Editor Choice, and recognition as one of Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies for 2025. With its SMS-based approach and frictionless event creation, Partiful has become the go-to platform for gathering people together—so much so that "to partiful" has become a verb! In this episode, Shreya takes us through her unconventional journey from studying political theory at Princeton to building enterprise software, before ultimately founding Partiful to combat social isolation. We dive deep into fascinating topics like launching a party platform during a global pandemic, the strategic decision to start with SMS instead of an app, and how Partiful has maintained remarkable growth with an intentionally lean team. Shreya also shares invaluable insights on co-founder dynamics, navigating venture fundraising as a consumer company, and her vision for building community at every stage of life. Tune in for lessons on product development, authentic relationship building, and what it takes to create a platform that brings people together in an increasingly digital world. (00:00) Introduction (07:02) Where did Shreya grow up and how has that shaped her view of the world?  (08:13) Did Shreya always think she was gonna become a founder? (08:47) How did going from Princeton to the real world spark curiosity about entrepreneurship? (11:30) How has Shreya seen the New York tech ecosystem evolve over the past decade? (13:14) What was the initial idea behind Partiful and what was the aha moment?  (17:33) How did Shreya meet her co-founder Joy and cultivate trust?  (20:10) What advice would Shreya give to folks looking for a co-founder?  (21:33) What was COVID like for the Partiful team and how did the product evolve?  (23:31) What was the strategy behind Partiful's SMS-based approach instead of launching with an app?  (25:53) What metrics did Shreya orient around to know when to launch and build an app? (27:58) Who was the first person to say yes to investing in Partiful?  (29:27) What made Partiful and Shreya so compelling as an angel investment?  (32:56) What is Partiful's go-to-market strategy and business model?  (35:40) How has Shreya managed conversations with VCs about when to start monetization? (36:57) How has Shreya thought about scaling the team at Partiful?  (38:35) What's Shreya's favorite Partiful Invite that she's ever seen?  (40:13) How has Partiful thought about building into the social graph network? (43:56) What is Shreya's take on consumer as a sector for growth and opportunity?  (45:45) What have you seen resonate with consumer investors for folks fundraising?  (49:16) What's next for Shreya personally?  (51:45) Who is a woman that has inspired Shreya and impacted her career? For The Room Podcast in your inbox every week, subscribe to our newsletter. Follow us on Instagram  Follow us on TikTok  Check out our guide to podcasting here!  Don't forget to subscribe to our channel on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Music! Brought to you by Perkins Coie and Mercury.* *Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by Choice Financial Group and Evolve Bank & Trust; Members FDIC. WX Productions

    55 min

  2. 27 MAY

    S12E8: Direct-to-Consumer Pioneer to AI Psychology with Neil Parikh, Co-Founder of Casper and Slingshot

    In this season’s finale of The Room Podcast, we're thrilled to chat with Neil Parikh, Co-Founder of Casper and current Co-Founder of Slingshot. Neil first disrupted the mattress industry by building Casper into a household name, pioneering the direct-to-consumer sleep revolution before taking the company public. Now, he's tackling an even bigger challenge with Slingshot, building a foundational AI model specifically designed for psychology and mental health therapy. In this episode, Neil takes us through his unconventional journey from medical school dropout to D2C pioneer, sharing the serendipitous moments that led to Casper's creation and the harsh realities of going public during a pandemic. We delve into the mental health crisis facing society, the limitations of current AI therapy approaches, and how Slingshot is training models on real-world human therapy data to create more effective interventions. Neil also opens up about his therapy journey, the power of taking nudges when they appear, and why he believes we're entering an era of unprecedented change that will reshape how we think about mental health access and self-actualization. (04:06) Where did Neil grow up and how has that shaped his view of the world? (04:54) Did Neil always think he was gonna become a founder? (06:06) Was entrepreneurship in the water at Brown like it is today at Stanford or Harvard? (07:38) What led to Neil's decision to drop out of medical school? (10:52) What did Neil do after dropping out of medical school? (14:20) What made Neil believe that VC was the right route for a mattress company in 2014? (16:44) What was the name before Casper? (18:46) What advice would Neil have for DTC founders during this current climate? (22:17) What did Neil learn from the later stages of fundraising and preparing for the IPO? (27:14) How did Slingshot become the idea for Neil's next exciting phase? (31:40) How did Neil get the confidence to take "the nudge"? (32:48) How is Neil thinking about data sources, model training, and ethical guardrails for psychology? (38:53) How is Neil's model specificity even better than using ChatGPT for therapy? (41:58) Who's the first person to say yes to backing Slingshot? (43:25) What does Neil think is next for Slingshot and what is he excited for? (44:55) What's next for Neil personally, and what is he excited for this year? (46:34) Who is a woman in Neil's life that has had a profound impact on himself and his career? For The Room Podcast in your inbox every week, subscribe to our newsletter. Follow us on Instagram  Follow us on TikTok  Check out our guide to podcasting here!  Don't forget to subscribe to our channel on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Music! Brought to you by Perkins Coie and Mercury.* *Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by Choice Financial Group and Evolve Bank & Trust; Members FDIC. WX Productions

    49 min

  3. 20 MAY

    S12E7: From Tech Reporter to Media Founder with Alex Konrad, Founder of Upstarts Media

    Welcome back to another episode of The Room Podcast! This week, Madison and Claudia sit down with Alex Konrad, former Senior Editor at Forbes and now Founder of Upstarts Media. After a decade covering technology and venture capital at Forbes, where he pioneered coverage from the Midas List to the Cloud 100, Alex has launched his own media company focused on telling the stories of early-stage founders and companies challenging the status quo. Throughout this conversation, Alex shares insights from his front-row seat to some of tech's most defining moments, including interviews with industry leaders like Sam Altman and Mark Benioff. He discusses the evolution of media in the age of AI, his decision to bootstrap rather than raise venture funding, and his vision for building a community-first media company. Alex also reveals how his upbringing in New York City shaped his no-nonsense approach to tech reporting and why he believes the future of media lies in creating direct, authentic connections with audiences. Tune in for a fascinating look at the changing media landscape and what it takes to build a modern media company from the ground up. (03:52) Where did Alex grow up and how did that shape his view of the world? (04:49) Did Alex always think he would become a founder? (05:35) What was the story as an intern that Alex got printed? (07:57) When Alex reflects on his Forbes interviews with tech leaders like Satya Nadella and Sam Altman, which ones stand out most? (10:04) What has Alex learned about power, vision, or vulnerability from being in the room with industry giants? (12:10) Why has Legacy Media been struggling to build an authentic connection with the startup community? (13:27) How is Alex thinking about building a foundation with Upstarts that's going to build into a legacy as lasting as Forbes? (16:03) How is Alex going to be thinking about events as a complement to media? (17:30) Is Alex seeking venture dollars to get Upstarts off the ground? (19:52) If Blue Links are dead, how does Alex think building an audience for the future is going to shift with AI? (23:57) How is Alex using AI in his workflow from editorial decisions to distribution? (29:05) What's next for Upstarts and for Alex personally? (40:06) Who is a woman in Alex's life that has had a profound impact on him and his career? For The Room Podcast in your inbox every week, subscribe to our newsletter. Follow us on Instagram  Follow us on TikTok  Check out our guide to podcasting here!  Don't forget to subscribe to our channel on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Music! Brought to you by Perkins Coie and Mercury.* *Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by Choice Financial Group and Evolve Bank & Trust; Members FDIC. WX Productions

    43 min

  4. 13 MAY

    S12E6: Data Ownership in the AI Era with Anna Kazlauskas, Founder of Vana

    Welcome back to another episode of The Room Podcast! This week, we're excited to chat with Anna Kazlauskas, Co-Founder of Vana, a pioneering company creating an alternative to centralized AI monopolies. Vana uses crypto principles like ownership, incentives, and decentralization to build AI models that users collectively own and benefit from, empowering individuals to control their data while earning from its use. In this enlightening conversation, Anna takes us through her journey from growing up in cold places around the world to her time at MIT's AI lab, and how that led to her vision for data ownership. We explore fascinating concepts like Data DAOs (which Anna compares to labor unions for your data), the emergent "DataFi" category, and how Vana enables users to pool their data to create more powerful AI models than any company could build. Anna shares invaluable insights on fundraising across both crypto and AI spaces, emphasizing the importance of aligning with investors on long-term vision. Tune in for a glimpse into how the future of data ownership could revolutionize our relationship with technology. (00:00) Introduction (03:57) Where did Anna grow up, and how has that shaped her view of the world? (05:25) Did Anna always think she was going to become a founder? (06:58) How did Anna go from just building in general to building in a tech-forward way at MIT? (08:44) What research did Anna ultimately do during her time at MIT's CSAIL? (11:02) How did Anna's insight around the power of data lead to iAmbic, her YC batch 2018 startup? (14:21) How did Anna's experience at Celo shape her understanding of decentralization and data ownership? (16:52) How did Anna decide to start something again and commit to a five-to-ten-year journey? (18:14) Why should users care about Vana creating an alternative to centralized AI monopolies? (21:56) What kind of compensation models is Anna exploring for users who contribute their data? (24:30) To what extent does Anna feel big tech companies will start to empower users with their data to compete with the unionization DAO approach? (27:20) Who was the first person to say yes to investing in Anna? (31:30) How has Anna navigated constantly evolving her story and telling that to both customers and investors? (34:41) What are some of the product and company-wide milestones that Anna is excited about looking into 2025 and beyond? (37:19) What degree of technical feasibility, from a crypto native perspective, is Anna seeing from these builders? (39:15) What is something Anna is most excited for that Vana will be launching later this year? (41:13) Who is a woman in Anna's life that has had a profound impact on her and her career? For The Room Podcast in your inbox every week, subscribe to our newsletter. Follow us on Instagram  Follow us on TikTok  Check out our guide to podcasting here!  Don't forget to subscribe to our channel on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Music! Brought to you by Perkins Coie and Mercury.* *Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by Choice Financial Group and Evolve Bank & Trust; Members FDIC. WX Productions

    43 min

  5. 6 MAY

    S12E5: Bootstrapping to Billions in Corporate Travel with Elia Wallen, Founder and CEO of Engine

    In this episode, we are joined by Elia Wallen, Founder and CEO of Engine (formerly Hotel Engine), the B2B travel booking platform that's streamlining how businesses manage their travel needs. From its origins as an internal tool for Elia's previous company, Travelers Haven, to becoming a $2.1 billion company, Engine has carved out a significant niche by focusing on serving SMBs with a frictionless approach to corporate travel management. In this conversation, Elia shares his unconventional path from dropping out of college to founding multiple businesses, including the fascinating story of how Engine began as a side project that he almost shut down several times. We explore his philosophy of maintaining "strong conviction loosely held," his approach to fundraising (including a nail-biting near-miss with payroll), and why staying focused on doing one thing extremely well before expanding was crucial to Engine's success. Elia also offers valuable insights on bootstrapping versus raising capital, building in a non-tech hub, and why eliminating friction for customers has been central to Engine's competitive advantage in the crowded travel tech space. (00:00) Introduction (04:20) Where did Elia grow up and how did that shape his view of the world? (04:42) Why did growing up in Naples push Elia to succeed? (05:32) Did Elia always think he was going to become a founder? (06:28) How did earlier founding experiences shape his view of leadership? (07:28) What is Engine's core product? (08:51) How does someone break into the corporate travel space? (10:05) How did Elia think about scaling the go-to-market motion? (11:59) How did Elia position Engine as it scaled? (13:55) How did Elia and his leadership team discern which was the right scaling direction to go? (15:57) How does a founder balance extreme focus while managing two businesses? (18:29) How was building a company in Denver, and what prompted the decision to move to the Bay Area? (20:42) How did fundraising begin for Engine? (22:40) What is a moment when things didn't go as planned during Elia's founder journey? (25:41) How did Engine think about building out both the integration suite and the business model? (28:25) How will AI affect Engine's business model and policies? (30:07) How is Engine thinking about diversifying customer benefits? (31:35) How is Elia feeling about corporate travel as a sector for growth and opportunity? (32:04) Where does Elia think Engine and he will be in five years? (33:20) Who is a woman in Elia's life that has had a profound impact on him and his career? For The Room Podcast in your inbox every week, subscribe to our newsletter. Follow us on Instagram  Follow us on TikTok  Check out our guide to podcasting here!  Don't forget to subscribe to our channel on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Music! Brought to you by Perkins Coie and Mercury.* *Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by Choice Financial Group and Evolve Bank & Trust; Members FDIC. WX Productions

    35 min

  6. 29 APR

    S12E4: The New Developer Experience with Factory Co-Founders, Matan Grinberg & Eno Reyes

    Welcome back to The Room Podcast! In this episode, we sit down with Matan Grinberg and Eno Reyes, co-founders of Factory, a company building the command center for software development. With backgrounds in physics and computer science, this dynamic duo is unifying all engineering contexts from GitHub to Notion, empowering product and engineering teams to collaborate with autonomous AI systems. Their impressive journey has already attracted $20 million in funding from Sequoia, Lux Capital, and Mantis Ventures, positioning them at the forefront of the AI-native movement. During our conversation, Matan and Eno share their unexpected journey from Princeton classmates who barely interacted to co-founders who launched their company just eight days after reconnecting at an AI hackathon. They dive deep into how AI is shifting the center of gravity in software development from coding to understanding and planning, the challenges of enterprise adoption, and why they believe we're currently at "the lowest number of developers that will ever be for the rest of human history." Their insightful perspectives on building an AI-native company and transforming developer workflows offer valuable lessons for founders navigating the rapidly evolving AI landscape. (00:00) Introduction (03:56) Where did Matan and Eno grow up, and how did it shape their worldview? (06:29) Did Eno always think he'd become a founder? (07:01) Was it inevitable that Matan and Eno would start something together? (07:36) How did Matan and Eno end up in this room today? (09:15) Was it inevitable for them to start a company together after meeting at Princeton? (11:26) Did Matan always see himself becoming a founder? (11:33) How did Factory come to life after they reconnected? (16:05) Did the Factory demo work for their Sequoia pitch? (16:32) What was in Factory's original deck and demo? (18:29) What was the biggest challenge in getting developers to use Factory? (20:22) How does the Factory team see AI shaping the role of developers in the next five years? (22:04) What was Factory's go-to-market strategy and first big customer win? (30:06) What fundraising advice do they have for AI founders looking to raise a Series A? (32:19) What does it mean to be AI-native from Factory's perspective? (37:59) What inefficiencies did they see in developer workflows before starting Factory? (40:00) Does Factory care about chip technology like Nvidia versus Traum? (42:09) Where do they see Factory in five years? (45:06) Is Factory hiring? (45:31) What are they most excited about on Factory's roadmap? (49:18) Who is a woman that had a profound impact on Matan and his career? (50:33) Who is a woman that had a profound impact on Eno and his career? For The Room Podcast in your inbox every week, subscribe to our newsletter. Follow us on Instagram  Follow us on TikTok  Check out our guide to podcasting here!  Don't forget to subscribe to our channel on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Music! Brought to you by Perkins Coie and Mercury.* *Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by Choice Financial Group and Evolve Bank & Trust; Members FDIC. WX Productions

    54 min

  7. 22 APR

    S12E3: The Road to Driverless Vehicles with Tiancheng Lou, Co-Founder of Pony AI

    This week, we're excited to speak with Tiancheng Lou, Co-Founder and CTO of Pony AI, a leading autonomous vehicle technology company that went public in November 2024. As a two-time Google Code Jam champion and former engineer at both Google X and Baidu's Autonomous Driving Division, Tiancheng brings exceptional technical expertise to his pioneering work in developing driverless technology with over 40 million kilometers of autonomous driving testing. In this episode, Tiancheng shares fascinating insights into the evolution of autonomous vehicle technology, explaining the difference between level two and level four autonomy and why highway driving is more challenging than city driving for AI. We explore Pony AI's virtual driver technology, their approach to commercialization, and how they're training AI through imitation learning and reinforcement learning in virtual environments. Tiancheng also offers valuable advice for founders on balancing technical ambition with market realities, the importance of finding the right co-founder with aligned visions, and why success can't be copied but failures can be avoided. Tune in for a deep dive into the future of transportation and the journey of building a billion-dollar autonomous technology company. (00:00) Introduction (04:09) Where did Tiancheng grow up, and how did that shape his view of the world? (04:43) Did Tiancheng always think he would become a founder? (05:11) How did Tiancheng's competitive programming background influence his approach to tech? (06:08) How did Tiancheng find out about these competitive programming competitions? (08:46) How did Tiancheng get into the autonomous vehicle space? (11:22) What advice would Tiancheng give listeners on how to break into the autonomous tech space? (13:16) What was the "aha moment' when Tiancheng realized he wanted to start Pony.ai? (14:54) What were the differences between the American and Chinese autonomous vehicle industries? (16:25) What is setting the new virtual driver technologies apart? (18:06) What sets the technologies for autonomous trucks and taxis apart from average consumer cars? (20:56) How do you prepare an autonomous car for unexpected events that may happen on the road? (23:24) When did Tiancheng first put an autonomous car on the road? (24:02) How have consumer reviews been of Pony.ai vehicles? (26:15) How does Pony.ai prioritize their developments? (29:23) Who was the first person to say yes to investing in Pony.ai? (31:02) What advice does Tiancheng have for first-time founders?\ (32:30) How does Pony adapt to different regulatory environments across markets? (34:40) How important is mass production and scaling of autonomous vehicles to Pony.ai and the overall industry? (36:01) Are we now in the commercialization era of Robo Taxis? (37:05) Is there an amount of autonomous driving data or a certain metric that Pony.ai aims to collect?\ (40:27) What are Tiancheng's thoughts on the future of AI? (42:03) What are Tiancheng's thoughts on Deep Seek? (43:41) What's the next market Pony.ai will be launching in, and what are their goals for global market expansion? (44:19) What's next for Tiancheng personally? (44:44) Who is a woman in Tiancheng's life that had a profound impact on him and his career? For The Room Podcast in your inbox every week, subscribe to our newsletter. Follow us on Instagram  Follow us on TikTok  Check out our guide to podcasting here!  Don't forget to subscribe to our channel on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Music! Brought to you by Perkins Coie and Mercury.* *Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by Choice Financial Group and Evolve Bank & Trust; Members FDIC. WX Productions

    48 min

  8. 15 APR

    S12E2: Supercharging Sales Teams Using AI with Alexa Grabell, Co-Founder of Pocus

    In this episode, we're joined by Alexa Grabell, Co-Founder and CEO of Pocus, a company revolutionizing how sales teams work by creating AI agents that supercharge sales representatives. Pocus has developed a suite of tools that combine internal and external data to help sales teams identify opportunities, prepare for calls, and close deals more effectively, generating over half a billion dollars in pipeline for their customers in a single quarter. During our conversation, Alexa shares her journey from consulting at KPMG to Stanford Business School and eventually founding Pocus with her co-founder, Isaac, through the Lean Launchpad program. She offers valuable insights on building a sales team, navigating design partnerships, fundraising strategies for B2B startups, and the evolving landscape of AI-powered sales tools. Alexa also candidly discusses the challenges of being a female founder, the importance of finding community among peer founders, and how her mother's entrepreneurial spirit influenced her own path. Whether you're building a sales team, raising capital, or are interested in how AI is transforming business workflows, this episode delivers practical wisdom from someone who's successfully navigated these waters. (00:00) Introduction (03:52) Where did Alexa grow up and how did that shape her view of the world? (05:12) Did Alexa always think she was going to become a founder? (06:26) How were Alexa's experiences at Vanderbilt and KPMG? (08:07) Why did Alexa choose to go to business school after college? (09:07) How did Alexa's time at GSB encourage her to try becoming a founder? (12:41) What was the moment that made Alexa want to start Pocus? (14:06) How did Alexa navigate conversations with peers to find the right fit for a business partner? (15:56) What is the core product of Pocus? (17:27) How did Pocus successfully sell its product in the beginning? (18:45) What advice does Alexa have for founders in the design partnership phase? (21:16) How is Pocus helping move data from "Point A" to "Point B"? (22:34) Who was the first person to say "yes" to investing in Pocus? (23:18) What's a fundraising hot-take that Alexa has? (24:08) What advice does Alexa have for B2B founders raising their A? (25:41) How is Poucs thinking about and utilizing AI? (27:41) What can go wrong when building a marketing team? (28:59) What advice does Alexa have for PLG or B2B founders who might not feel comfortable in sales? (30:15) How should founders be thinking about the AI sales tool space and the modern tech stack? (31:56) How has the necessary startup capital changed over time? (33:06) What was a moment in founding Pocus when things didn't go as planned? (35:59) How has the experience of being a woman founder changed over time? (40:22) What's coming up for Pocus and for Alexa? (41:13) Who is a woman that has a profound impact on Alexa and her career? For The Room Podcast in your inbox every week, subscribe to our newsletter. Follow us on Instagram  Follow us on TikTok  Check out our guide to podcasting here!  Don't forget to subscribe to our channel on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Music! Brought to you by Perkins Coie and Mercury.* *Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by Choice Financial Group and Evolve Bank & Trust; Members FDIC. WX Productions

    44 min
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About

Welcome to the Room. A series interviewing your favorite tech founders and funders. Our guests were in the room where it happened and they’re sharing their stories.

Information

  • Creator
    Claudia Laurie and Madison McIlwain
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2025
  • Episodes
    120
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2020
  • Show Website
    The Room Podcast

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