Found TechCrunch

There are some companies that just have it, even if we can’t quite figure out what it is—and Masterclass is one of those companies, despite facing an onslaught of skepticism from the jump. Today on Found, we’re talking to David Rogier, the CEO and founder of MasterClass, a streaming platform where you can learn from the world’s experts on a variety of topics, from baking to screen writing to developing empathy. Before David launched MasterClass, he worked as a VC. Through his connections there received a $500,000 seed round before he even had an idea for a company. That was nearly a decade ago, and today Dom, Becca and David talk about how he’s built the company since.

Medicaid is in its regulatory moment. Today we’re joined by Neil Batlivala from Pair Team, which is building the infrastructure that will help the most vulnerable populations get the clinical and social care they need through the Medicaid expansion. Dom and Becca talked to Neil about how his previous health tech experience lead him to start a company solely focused on connecting care facilities like food pantries and shelters to clinical training and care through Medicaid funding

Studs co-founders and good friends Lisa Bubbers and Anna Harman want to own your ear piercings. They are helping Gen Z people and millennials create their dream earscape with piercing studios that are opening across the country. They talk with Becca and Dom about building and fundraising for a VC-backed brick and mortar business.

Today on Found, we have something a little different and extra special for you. We’re bringing you two bonus conversations all about sustainability in fashion from TechCrunch Disrupt 2023. First up you’ll hear our very own Harri Weber sit down with three guests, Jim Ajioka from Colorifix, Beth Esponnette from unspun and Julie Willoughby from Circ. They are all powerhouses in sustainable fashion and they all happened to join Harri on the Sustainability Stage. Watch their full conversation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljYklr3yGnE&list=PLHRxVckaE8dYQWBJ7WCsuPvX4X1K32zWX&index=16

In part two, we have a great conversation between TechCrunch’s Morgan Sung and Jemima Bunbury from BLEND, which is a curated fashion app that is changing the way we shop online. They focus on impulse purchases, how to help customers develop their own style and, of course, how we can make it possible to stay trendy and shop sustainably.

On today’s episode, host Becca Skzutak is joined by our old friend Darrell Etherington to talk with Nasrat Khalid of Aseel. Aseel started as an ecommerce company making it possible for local artisans in Afghanistan to sell to customers across the world and has evolved into working in humanitarian aid delivering emergency food supplies to people in need in Afghanistan and Turkey.

On today’s episode Becca and Dom are joined by Abhi Ramesh, the CEO and founder of Misfits Market, a grocery startup that sells surplus and unwanted produce directly to consumers who don’t mind funny-looking foods. They talk about how he started the company in his apartment handling every aspect from personally buying the unwanted produce from the farms, to storing the food, to packaging and shipping, all while running the website and trying to fundraise. He racked up six-figure credit card debt to fund the logistics-heavy startup before raising his first seed round — and that was just the first three months of the company.