Built 2 Scale

Built 2 Scale

From bootstrapped chaos to VC-backed scale, Built 2 Scale is your backstage pass to building high-growth startups at the edge of business, tech, AI, and robotics. Hosted by founders Matt Perrott and Scott Wilcox, this podcast dives into the raw, unfiltered reality of turning big ideas into scalable companies. Each week, we unpack the messy middle—fundraising, hiring, product-market fit, and the growing role of automation and AI in modern business. No hype. No jargon. Just real stories, hard lessons, and sharp insights from founders who are actually in the trenches. Whether you’re building SaaS, hardware, or something the world’s never seen before—if you’re scaling, you’re in the right place.

  1. Receipts or Regrets | End of Year Special

    12/22/2025

    Receipts or Regrets | End of Year Special

    BUILT 2 SCALE | RECEIPTS OR REGRETS | End of Year Special Welcome to our brand new segment: Receipts or Regrets. A receipt is something you keep because you're proud of the call. A regret? Well, that's obvious. Matty and Scotty look back at 32 episodes of bold predictions, hot takes, and occasionally terrible life choices. With help from ChatGPT o1 (the only model that could handle all 32 transcripts), here are the calls that aged like fine wine and the ones that aged like milk. Let's dive in. Robots in the Home by 2025: Slop Receipt Scotty called it early: robots in homes by 2025. The Chinese came through with $20K humanoids you can actually buy. Tesla and Figure didn't deliver, but the ball went in. Wrong pocket, but still counts. Slop receipt kept. Make Every Australian a Millionaire: Escalate Australia has $20 trillion in raw materials needed for AI infrastructure. Scotty proposed inviting global companies to build data centers here in exchange for giving Aussies a million dollars each plus free compute for life. The government? Still no AI strategy. No AI czar. Nothing. This isn't a receipt or regret. It's escalate and shout from the rooftops. AI in the Avocado: Big Receipt Guzman y Gomez IPO'd at $45 per share with a $5 million valuation per store. Scotty said there must be "AI in the avocado" for that multiple to work. Today? Stock down 55% to $20. Lacks AI in the avocado confirmed. Receipt kept. Talking to Anna from Sesame AI in Bed: Regret Matty got caught talking to an AI voice assistant under the sheets. His wife walked in. "Who are you talking to?" "It's a bot!" didn't help. New rule: no bots in the bedroom. Steve Irwin Tech Talk in Dallas: Big Regret Scotty invoked Steve Irwin while doing a tech talk in Dallas to lean into his Australian accent. Tough crowd. Too soon. Too much of a stretch. As a now embedded Austin local, even more cringey. Won't be doing that again. Qantas: Split Decision Scotty called out Qantas for no Wi-Fi on international flights in 2025 when Starlink exists. Regret. Matty? Qantas fanboy. Status points, flexi tickets, business class upgrades for $3K. He's keeping the receipt. Built 2 Scale will be taking separate flights. Brett Adcock 200x Apple: Regret Brett said Figure AI would be worth $800 trillion (200x Apple). Three years in, no product, lots of parties. Figure AI revenue? Near zero. Apple's revenue? $416 billion. Scotty's calling regret until Brett hires those two HR managers. Limitless Pendant Meets Zuck: Regret Matty bought the Limitless AI pendant. One year late, terrible battery, no Find My feature. Then got an email changing privacy terms. One hour later? Meta acquired them. Now Zuck has all his data, including the time he argued with his dog Hank and the AI thought Hank was a difficult coworker. Regret. Dual Carriageway: Apple and Google Ecosystems: Regret Matty self proclaimed he'd run dual ecosystems. Two laptops, two phones, two lives. Result? Paid $300/month for Google Ultra with no features and watched the Android Gemini phone camera take 10 seconds to open. Converted to Mac. Everyone not on Mac is wrong. Receipt on Mac, regret on Google. Peak Waymo vs. Tesla: Receipt Both called Tesla's long game over Waymo's robo taxi approach. Elon can produce a robo taxi for a tenth of the price. Economics win. Waymo might retrofit other OEMs with their tech, which is smart B2B play for the lefties and Euros who won't touch Tesla. But best product wins. Receipt. First Year ARR is Nonsense: Big Receipt The bubble frothiness of first year ARR announcements was too much. Monthly subscriptions reported as annual recurring revenue

    46 min
  2. 2025 Finale: Yann LeCun Raises $3B, Domain Addiction Confessions & Built 2 Scale Year Wrap

    12/22/2025

    2025 Finale: Yann LeCun Raises $3B, Domain Addiction Confessions & Built 2 Scale Year Wrap

    In the final episode of 2025, Scotty and Matt celebrate 33 episodes of Built 2 Scale by diving into Yann LeCun's ultimate entrepreneurial pivot, raising $3 billion in euros after getting ousted from Meta by Alexander Wang to work on spatial intelligence. They dissect why this is terrible news for Elysium (autonomous homes now have a 10 year delay), celebrate Sergey coding again at Google while the Qantas vs United business class wars rage on, and introduce the year end segment Receipts or Regrets where they review their boldest predictions. From Brett Adcock's 200x Apple claim to robots in homes by 2025, from AI in the avocado to Limitless getting acquired by Zuck with zero notice, they hold nothing back in this year end wrap up featuring domain buying confessions, builder vs coder rants, and why coders should never be called builders. Built 2 Scale | Episode 33 TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 Final Episode of 2025: 33 Episodes Complete 2:01 Yann LeCun Raises $3B for Spatial Intelligence Startup 4:06 Why This is Terrible News for Elysium Autonomous Homes 7:00 Brett Adcock's Figure AI Christmas Party: Robot Rave with Deadmau5 9:02 Voice AI Bandwidth Solution: Scotty's 30 Year Long Bet 13:44 Human Like Voice vs Fast Intelligence: What Do You Actually Want? 16:51 Sergey Back Coding at Google: The Return of the Founder 21:57 Receipts or Regrets: Year End Prediction Review Begins 23:41 Matt's Receipt: Robots in Homes by 2025 (Chinese Did It) 25:47 Scotty's Escalate: Make Every Australian a Millionaire With Raw Materials 28:52 Receipt: AI in the Avocado, Guzman y Gomez Down 55% 31:01 Regret: Sesame AI Bot in Bedroom, Wife Not Impressed 33:17 Regret: Steve Irwin Tech Talk in Dallas 35:38 Qantas Fanboy vs United Points: The Business Class Debate 40:09 Receipt: Peak Waymo, Tesla Has Long Game Sewn Up 44:19 Regret: First Year ARR is Nonsense, Y Combinator Circular Economy 46:39 Receipt: OpenAI Wants to Be Apple of AI (Johnny Ive Hire Confirmed It) 52:27 Rant: Coders Shouldn't Be Called Builders, Leave Us That One Term 56:26 Receipt: Just in Time Software Revolution Happening Now 58:52 Matt's Dirty Drunk Habit: Domain Buying, Sold Usainboat.com for $20 1:00:34 Limitless Acquired by Meta: Zuck Now Has All of Scotty's Dog Arguments This Episode Covers: Yann LeCun raising $3 billion in euros for spatial intelligence after Meta exit, choosing Europe where innovation goes to dieWhy Yann working on spatial intelligence is terrible news for autonomous homes timelineBrett Adcock throwing robot rave with Deadmau5 while still having no product after 3 yearsVoice AI bandwidth debate: Human like conversation vs fast accurate intelligenceSergey back coding at Google, spending 90% of time teaching rather than sitting on $500M yachtYear end Receipts or Regrets segment reviewing boldest predictions of 2025Robots in homes by 2025: Chinese delivered with $20K Unitree, not Tesla or FigureAI in the avocado: Guzman y Gomez down 55% from peak, now $2B market capFirst year ARR is nonsense: Y Combinator circular economy needs to exclude internal revenueOpenAI wants to be Apple of AI: Johnny Ive hire proved the hardware thesisThe builder rant: Coders sitting in Starbucks with Frappuccinos aren't builders, leave us that one termJust in time software: LLMs writing code on the fly rather than predefined workflowsQantas vs United business class points arbitrage strategies KEY INSIGHTS: Yann's strategic retreat: Raising $3B in Europe for spatial intelligence after Meta exit shows classic researcher move to longer horizon tech when pressure mounts. Europe welcomes unproductive research with...

    1h 26m
  3. Tool of the Week | Episode 32

    12/17/2025

    Tool of the Week | Episode 32

    BUILT 2 SCALE | TOOL OF THE WEEK | Episode 32 Every week, Matty and Scotty break down the strategies, frameworks, and tools that separate the world's best builders from everyone else. This week: Alloy, the prototyping tool that just created a 10x moment for non-technical people in software companies. Alloy: The "Aha" Moment for Product Managers Alloy is a prototyping tool that lets non-technical people adjust software on the fly. Take a screenshot of your app, drop it into Alloy, and use natural language to make changes. It looks real, feels interactive, but it's a prototype. The Problem It Solves Before Alloy: Take screenshots, drag them into Figma, add arrows and markups, copy-paste elements from other screens. Tedious. Time consuming. With Alloy: Prompt it. "Hide the side panel and make the drawing full screen. Add markup tools, text, red drawing, pins, and comments. Let users save versions as private or distribute to subcontractors." Three minutes later? Interactive prototype complete. Real World Impact Matty had a US prospect ready to buy, but they needed one feature: drawing markup tools. Instead of saying "I promise the engineers are working on it," he used Alloy to create an interactive demo in minutes. Sent the video to the client. Deal moving forward. Engineers building it in two weeks. That's the power: show, don't promise. Who Uses It? Product managers, sales teams, anyone who needs to visualize changes fast. You can grab a competitor's website, screenshot it, and say "do this, but add our features." It exports to Figma and code (though the code isn't production ready). The value is in design and iteration speed. The Bigger Picture: AI Native Private Equity This tool sparked a bigger discussion: businesses are no longer just building software for industries. They're participating in industries as AI native players. Instead of building a tool for lawyers, start an AI enabled law firm that's better than the rest. Instead of servicing construction, acquire construction companies and apply your automation logic. This is the new age of private equity: acquire existing businesses with demand, apply AI to solve the logic layer (input, logic, output), and turn 10% profit margins into 30%. For software companies facing shrinking margins, the pivot isn't just selling tools. It's acquiring businesses and applying your logic to them. The Takeaway: Alloy represents a 10x improvement in prototyping speed. But the real insight? AI enables new business models. Don't just service an industry. Participate in it. Acquire businesses, apply automation, and enjoy the upside. What's your "aha" AI moment been? Have you found a tool that genuinely changed your workflow? Keen to stay ahead? Subscribe to Built 2 Scale on YouTube (link in comments)

    12 min
  4. Robot Rundown | Episode 32

    12/15/2025

    Robot Rundown | Episode 32

    BUILT 2 SCALE | ROBOT RUNDOWN | Episode 32 Every week, Matty and Scotty break down the latest in robotics: from humanoids to specialized automation, and everything reshaping how we work, eat, and live. This week: Travis Kalanick (Uber founder) is quietly revolutionizing food production, and the debate between humanoids vs. point solution robots is heating up. Travis Kalanick's Cloud Kitchens: Rethinking Automation From First Principles Travis is back on X, and he's showcasing something big. Cloud Kitchens isn't just automating food delivery. It's building the infrastructure layer for food production itself. The latest demo? A fully automated system assembling and bagging 300 bowls per hour using specialized robots for specific tasks. No humanoids walking around. Instead, Travis redesigned the entire process from scratch. This is the Elon playbook applied to food: don't fit into existing architectures. Redesign the whole thing. Creative first principles thinking applied to manufacturing speed and efficiency. Humanoids vs. Point Solution Robots: The Great Debate Here's the question reshaping robotics strategy: Do you want one humanoid doing everything, or multiple specialized robots each doing one thing perfectly? In manufacturing, Travis is proving the latter. In homes, the question gets more complex. The Coming Wave of Niche Robotics Just like how niche coding apps must specialize to compete with giants like Gemini, robotics will follow the same pattern: The Big Players: Tesla (Optimus)FigureUnitree (China)Gens 5 to 7 "Mag Seven" type companies building general purpose humanoids. The Point Solution Explosion: Hundreds of niche companies building specialized robots powered by the tech infrastructure from Google, Nvidia, and AI advancements. Examples already emerging: Abby (Melbourne): Companion robots for elderly care, designed to be friendly and colorfulOngo: A desk lamp robot with personality that interacts with you (think Toy Story vibes) These might seem like gimmicks, but they represent the next thousand successful businesses taking robotics mainstream. The Domestic Space Gets Smart What's already in your home? Legos. Barbie. Eight Sleep. Furniture. Appliances. Now ask: when does the intelligence layer and robotics layer get plugged into what's already there? Just like AI integrated into commercial spaces, we're about to see it plug into domestic life. Expect acquisitions. Expect $150 products on shelves that bring real robotics tech into everyday homes. Rising Tide Lifts All Boats The narrative that big companies will dominate and kill all startups misses the point. The technological revolution in AI and robotics is spawning entirely new categories. Yes, we'll talk about data centers in space. But we'll also celebrate the little products that make robotics tangible and accessible. The Takeaway: Robotics isn't just about humanoids. It's about rethinking systems from first principles (Cloud Kitchens) and creating specialized solutions for specific needs (point solution robots). The next wave won't just be dominated by giants. It'll be defined by hundreds of niche players making robotics part of daily life. Humanoids or specialized robots? What's your bet for the future? Keen to stay ahead? Subscribe to Built 2 Scale on YouTube

    7 min
  5. AI NEWS | Episode 32

    12/15/2025

    AI NEWS | Episode 32

    BUILT 2 SCALE | AI NEWS | Episode 32 Welcome back to Built 2 Scale. Every week, Matty and Scotty cut through the noise to bring you the AI developments that actually matter: the moves reshaping markets, the strategies redefining competition, and the shifts you need to understand to stay ahead. This week: OpenAI's code red moment, Meta's aggressive pivot, data centers in space, and unexpected market effects from the AI boom. OpenAI's Hardware Play: 40 Apple Engineers and a Code Red OpenAI just hired 40 Apple hardware engineers. The battlefield has moved to hardware. The vision? AI models running on network nodes, generating what you need on the fly. No traditional operating system. Just intelligence in real time. If Apple builds AI into iOS and runs models locally, do you even need ChatGPT subscriptions? That's the existential question OpenAI is racing to solve. Meta's Limitless Acquisition: The Privacy Policy That Broke the News Meta acquired Limitless, the AI wearable. Customers got an aggressive email demanding privacy updates or lose access. Fifteen countries were cut off. One hour later? Meta announces the acquisition. With Yann LeCun's departure and this move, Zuckerberg is having his own code red. Meta now has Ray Bans, Oakley, and Limitless wearables. They're doubling down on hardware and pivoting away from open source AI. AI Data Centers in Space: Not Science Fiction Gavin Baker broke down why space based data centers make sense: Energy: Sun is 7x more powerful in spaceCooling: Space is freezingLand: Unlimited vs. NIMBY politicsRockets: SpaceX and Blue Origin make it viable The only bottleneck? Bandwidth. But we've solved it for satellites. Boom Supersonic: From Jets to Energy Boom built turbines for supersonic flight. Then realized the same tech can generate electricity for AI data centers. They raised $300 million from Altimeter and Y Combinator to pivot into energy infrastructure. Great tech, unexpected demand, funded vision. Kalshi: America's Youngest Female Billionaire The Kalshi founder (PolyMarket competitor) just became the youngest self made female billionaire. Prediction markets prove backing opinions with money gets real information. Market equilibrium in action. Construction Wages Surge 25 to 30% Data center construction is driving electrician and plumber wages up 25 to 30%. Private capital deploying for AI infrastructure creates labor shortages. Rising costs create more incentive to automate and invest in robotics. Market forces playing out. The Takeaway: The AI race moved beyond models. It's now hardware (OpenAI vs. Apple), infrastructure (space data centers), energy (Boom's turbines), and real world effects (labor shortages). Companies that can't pivot across dimensions will struggle. What surprises you most? OpenAI's hardware push, data centers in space, or the construction wage surge? Keen to stay ahead? Subscribe to Built 2 Scale on YouTube

    14 min
  6. Inside the emerging frontier of models, machines and manufacturing hell.

    12/11/2025

    Inside the emerging frontier of models, machines and manufacturing hell.

    In this episode, Scotty enters crazy season construction while Matt preps for a founder mode Christmas, then they dissect Sam Altman's Code Red response to Google's dominance by hiring 40 Apple hardware engineers. The guys explore whether this signals an Apple acquisition setup or a play for the operating system layer, why Meta's Limitless acquisition with zero notice shows Zuckerberg scrambling without a clear vision, and Boom Supersonic's brilliant $300M pivot from jet turbines to natural gas energy for AI data centers. Plus: Why construction wages jumping 30% accelerates the robotics timeline, Travis Kalanick automating 300 bowls per hour at Cloud Kitchens, and the emerging Private Equity AI playbook of buying traditional businesses and injecting AI to 10x margins. Built 2 Scale | Episode 32 TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 Crazy Season Construction & Founder Mode Christmas 2:57 Bill Ackman's "May I Meet You" Dating Advice Goes Viral 7:10 Scotty's Stock Picks: Google Hits $4 Trillion 8:28 Jensen on Joe Rogan: 4,000 Emails a Day, No Ice Baths 11:15 OpenAI Code Red: Hiring 40 Apple Hardware Engineers 15:38 Is Sam Setting Up an Apple Acquisition? 21:01 Meta Acquires Limitless Pendant With Aggressive Privacy Changes 23:41 Zuckerberg's Vision Problem vs Elon's Clarity 33:51 Data Centers in Space: Unlimited Solar & Free Cooling 38:52 Boom Supersonic's $300M Pivot: Jet Turbines to Energy 46:33 Construction Wages Up 30% Thanks to Data Centers 52:27 Travis Kalanick's Cloud Kitchens: 300 Bowls Per Hour 1:00:34 Tool of the Week: Alloy Prototyping Changes Sales in 3 Minutes 1:09:09 The Private Equity AI Playbook: Buy Businesses, Inject AI, 10x Margins This Episode Covers: OpenAI's hardware pivot hiring 40 Apple engineers as response to Google's model and compute advantageMeta acquiring Limitless with aggressive policy changes signaling Zuckerberg's lack of clear AI visionBoom Supersonic raising $300M by pivoting jet turbines into natural gas energy for AI compute bottleneckData centers moving to space for unlimited solar power, free cooling, and no environmental oppositionConstruction wages up 30% from data center demand accelerating automation and robotics investmentTravis Kalanick's Cloud Kitchens automating food at 300 bowls per hour with point solution robotsAlloy prototyping tool turning 3 hour design mockups into 3 minute AI powered iterationsThe Private Equity AI playbook: Acquire traditional businesses, inject AI logic, transform 10% margins into 30% KEY INSIGHTS: OpenAI's existential threat: Google has better models, cheaper TPU compute, and 100x more data. Hardware pivot either sets up Apple acquisition with Sam as CEO or prepares for OS layer competitionMeta's strategic confusion: Zuckerberg can't articulate clear five year vision like Elon does with multi planetary life and truth seeking AI. Scrambling with acquisitions instead of building coherent strategyBoom's antenna advantage: CEO Blake Scholl heard AI compute energy bottleneck and pivoted jet turbine tech to natural gas generation. Raised $300M solving bigger problem than supersonic flightSpace data centers unlock: Seven times more solar in orbit, free cooling, unlimited land, no NIMBY opposition. Elon's rocket monopoly plus Starlink bandwidth makes him infrastructure layer winnerWage surge validates robotics: 30% construction wage increases from data center labor demand creates bigger ROI case for automation than any efficiency argumentAlloy's 10x improvement: Non technical product managers mock interactive prototypes in 3 minutes vs 3 hours with Figma. Game changer for sales demos and client feedback...

    1h 11m
  7. Tool of the Week Segment | Episode 31

    12/04/2025 · BONUS

    Tool of the Week Segment | Episode 31

    BUILT 2 SCALE | TOOL OF THE WEEK | Episode 31 - November 28, 2025 Every week, Scotty and Matty break down the strategies, frameworks, and mental models that separate the world's best builders from everyone else. This week's tools: 1. Embrace the Flywheel Effect Your success operates like a business flywheel. All of your history and context from previous operations feeds into making your new product even better. Each win compounds the next. 2. Learn by Doing Take a page from James Dyson's playbook: "Don't think too long about doing things, just go out and do them." When faced with a question, just go do it. 3. Curate Your Content Diet Replace mindless scrolling with high-value content. Be ruthless about your triggers. If needed, start a fresh social media account focused on your domain expertise or entrepreneurship. Make your scrolling work for you. 4. Know Thyself Before You Hire Ask yourself: What am I good at? Why me? What skills do I need around me? This clarity reveals whether you need a co-founder and helps identify your superpower. 5. Hire for Your Weaknesses Hire for what is absolutely not your superpower. Early SpaceX had great rockets but was about to die until Elon hired a VP of sales to secure government contracts. Let go of the vine on non-superpower areas. 6. Clarify Your Vision in Writing Put your vision in writing so new hires can take it away and explain it to their friends and family. As Mark Andreessen says, a CEO's greatest skill is the ability to tell a story. This attracts customers, talent, and capital. 7. Prioritize Foundational Roles In the first three years of scaling, nail these three categories: Product (CTO), Brand (CMO), and Distribution (Head of Sales or Growth). Everything else can wait. 8. Block Out Thinking Time Your role as a founder is to set the vision, not be completely operational. Block out sections of days with no tasks to do. Use this time to think about the vision or pivot into solving business problems. Which tool resonates most with where you are right now? Keen to stay ahead? Subscribe to Built 2 Scale on YouTube

    21 min
  8. AI NEWS | Episode 31

    12/03/2025 · BONUS

    AI NEWS | Episode 31

    BUILT 2 SCALE | AI NEWS | Episode 31 - November 28, 2025 Every week, Matty and Scotty cut through the noise to bring you the AI developments that actually matter: the moves reshaping markets, the strategies redefining competition, and the shifts you need to understand to stay ahead. Google's Gemini 3 Adds $2 Trillion to Market Cap—The Age of Scaling is Over The AI landscape just shifted from a compute arms race to a battle for ecosystem dominance, custom silicon, and real-world intelligence. The Vertical Integration Play Google spent a decade building proprietary TPU chips, and it just paid off. By cutting Nvidia dependency entirely, they can now out compete on cost per token. The new race? Token per watt efficiency. Google just took the lead. Ecosystem = Moat Gemini 3 isn't just competitive with OpenAI and Claude. It's natively integrated across Pixel, Google Docs, YouTube, and every product in the Google suite. When your model is "at par or better" AND built into tools people use daily, distribution becomes your unfair advantage. Real-World Intelligence Takes Center Stage Gemini 3 Pro understands 3D context, turning sketches into renders and photos into floor plans. It actively "watches" YouTube clips instead of just reading transcripts. The training data advantage? Unbelievable. Industry consensus is clear: top minds (including Ilya from OpenAI) say "the age of scaling is over." The next frontier demands: → Reduced energy consumption → Real-world spatial intelligence → Physical applications beyond screens The Three-Layer Strategy Musk's playbook tackles all constraints simultaneously: Real-world data → Tesla fleetEnergy → Tesla batteries & solarCompute → Custom chips with Samsung This is full-stack AI competition. OpenAI's Move To justify their valuation, OpenAI must expand into memory, personalized UI, and consumer apps (payments, shopping). The bet: LLMs "can get into everything in your life." The Niche-Down Imperative If you're building on foundational models: specialize or die. Google and OpenAI offer such broad capability that billion dollar companies must carve defensible niches with specialized workflows or get priced out. Geography Matters Less Silicon Valley's premium only applies to cutting edge AI research. For companies leveraging models intelligently or scaling GTM? Austin, NYC, Denver work fine. The Takeaway: AI competition evolved into a multi-dimensional battle: custom silicon, ecosystem lock in, real-world data, energy efficiency. Companies that can't compete across dimensions must niche down fast. What's your take? Are we past the age of scaling? Keen to stay ahead? Subscribe to Built 2 Scale on YouTube (link in comments).

    38 min

Ratings & Reviews

3
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

From bootstrapped chaos to VC-backed scale, Built 2 Scale is your backstage pass to building high-growth startups at the edge of business, tech, AI, and robotics. Hosted by founders Matt Perrott and Scott Wilcox, this podcast dives into the raw, unfiltered reality of turning big ideas into scalable companies. Each week, we unpack the messy middle—fundraising, hiring, product-market fit, and the growing role of automation and AI in modern business. No hype. No jargon. Just real stories, hard lessons, and sharp insights from founders who are actually in the trenches. Whether you’re building SaaS, hardware, or something the world’s never seen before—if you’re scaling, you’re in the right place.

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