Get the Check

Anika, Maya, Priya

Tune in on Tuesday at 6 AM ET to hear the latest tech news and listen to guests from emerging tech companies.

  1. 4D AGO

    Inside BuildForever: Naveen Gavini, Former Pinterest CPO, on Launching Extra and Building for Joy

    Today the hosts sat down with one of the pioneers of the early 2010s social media era, Naveen Gavini, ex-CPO of Pinterest and one of the company’s first 10 employees. They talk about the rise of social media and what he’s up to now (hint: he’s going back into the consumer tech space). If you've ever wondered why people say Pinterest maintained taste vs. Facebook and Instagram, Naveen explains the product decisions that intentionally led to that: Ordering the algorithm by saves instead of likesNot importing your contacts from FacebookInspiration as a guiding principal over pure engagementNaveen was sitting at the dinners in the early 2010s when early Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter employees in Silicon Valley debated the ethics of the algorithm and foresaw the world we now live in, where social media and algorithms are shaping the next generation. The hosts ask Naveen what those employees saw coming, what they didn't, and why companies diverged in morals during this time. They also dive into what it was like to help take a company public. Fun fact, Pinterest’s IPO was exactly 7 years before today. Historically IPO access was limited to employees and investors, but now anyone can make money on a private company going public because of Kalshi’s IPO markets. This link gives you $10 when you trade $10: https://kalshi.com/sign-up?referral=getthecheck. They also dig into his new company, BuildForever, which is launching Extra, a consumer email product. Email is kind of dead. The hosts can't remember the last time they checked theirs (besides Maya, who's insane and goes through her promos inbox). Extra is rethinking email to be about your personal life and is focused on creating a delightful experience around it. They also get into the email application competitive landscape and why Extra is going to fill a gap not addressed by hyper productivity apps like Superhuman or Notion Mail. This is a true consumer product, one that long term can actually be proactive in your inbox, like "we saw you're going to NY, here's a hotel we knew you would like." Naveen is offering Get the Check listeners a free code to download the app today, even though it isn't publicly out yet. The first 50 people who download it from the App Store and use code GETTHECHECK become Extra’s first users. Here's the link! If you try it, let us know what you think :) 00:00 Meet the ex-CPO and 10th employee at Pinterest 00:27 Being the first person to think Pinterest should be an app 04:00 What Pinterest did differently than IG and FB 11:52 Why Pinterest prioritized values over engagement 14:14 Why you don't notice Pinterest ads 16:19 From engineer to CPO 23:55 Saves versus likes on social media 27:32 Taking a company through IPO 34:58 Deciding to start a company after every says not to… 36:27 Email needs a consumer angle 38:59 Introducing Extra 47:01 Monetizing in consumer social

    57 min
  2. APR 14

    Dimitri Knight on Taste in AI and What Designers Do Next

    Dmitri is a product designer who spent time at Cash App and Ramp, and is now on a deliberate career break — reading, thinking, and figuring out what design means in a world where AI can build the thing but can't decide if it's worth building. We discuss: - how he taught himself Photoshop at 11 through gaming forums and designed his first bank interface for a video game mod before working in FinTech - what taste actually is and why AI can't have it- how the designer role has quietly absorbed six other jobs over the last decade - the iconic design choices that shaped how we interact with technology — from Apple and the iPhone to the Nintendo Wii — and why most people never noticed them - why great customer service is a design problem that most companies treat as a cost center - why the most important design challenges left might have nothing to do with software at all 00:00 Meet Dmitri 00:28 Photoshop Origins 01:48 Design vs Coding 04:10 Roleplay Mods to UI 09:30 Dropping Out Reset 12:53 Apple and Product Design 16:17 Generalist Designer Era 17:40 AI Slop and Taste 21:02 Tasteful vs Distasteful Brands 23:04 Aesthetics Versus Substance 24:54 Taste Icons Compared 26:30 Customer Service Trust 27:52 AI Commoditizes Software 29:18 Designing For Meaning 31:13 Quality Of Life Debate 34:02 Information And Revolutions 35:56 Voting And Local Community 39:31 Design Beyond Software 40:49 Career Break And Future Plans 46:03 Gendered Founder Paths 48:22 Impact Beyond Valuation

    49 min
  3. APR 7

    Mercor's 4TB hack, NASA going to the moon, Coefficient Bio's $400M acquisition by Anthropic

    Mercor got hacked, NASA went back to the moon, and Anthropic just dropped $400 million on a nine-person biotech startup. There's a lot to talk about. Maya, Anika, and Priya kick things off with the supply chain attacks that have been all over the news. A North Korean state actor called Team PCP compromised Trivy, an open source security scanner, which then cascaded into LiteLLM and Checkmarx, ultimately leading to 4TB of Mercor's data getting leaked, including biometric data and confidential training projects tied to OpenAI and Meta. They break down how the attack chain actually worked and how Mercor got their data back. They also debrief the future of cyber and why pinning your dependencies matters more than ever. They also look at who's building defenses in this space: Chainguard ($3.5B valuation), Socket (who detected the Axios attack in 6 minutes), and Cogent Security. Then they get into Artemis II, NASA's first crewed mission beyond low Earth orbit in 53 years. The real question is why now, and the answer is mostly China, who landed on the far side of the moon in 2019 and says they'll reach the south pole by 2028. They break down the $100 billion the US has spent so far, the heat shield failure that NASA quietly buried for three years, and how SpaceX and Blue Origin ended up fighting over lunar contracts. They also get into the Artemis Accords, why $1.5 trillion in lunar resources has turned the moon into a geopolitical chess match. Finally, the Get the Check segment covers Coefficient Bio, a nine-person team out of Genentech that got acquired by Anthropic for $400 million after just eight months. They get into how transformers apply to protein structure prediction, what AlphaFold unlocked, how the founders' "lab in the loop" paper cut drug discovery timelines by 70%, and what this signals about Anthropic building out a life sciences group. They also look at Chai Discovery (whose model gets 86% of designs to preclinical candidate selection) and Lila Sciences ($235M Series A), plus the Nvidia and Eli Lilly billion-dollar partnership. Now…a word from our sponsors :) Kalshi (https://kalshi.com/sign-up?referral=getthecheck) was one of the first believers in the pod, and they let you trade on anything. The link gives you $10 on when you trade $10. DM us on IG to hear what March Madness trades we are in! Important disclaimer: This is not financial advice. The information shared is for informational and entertainment purposes only and should not be considered investment, financial, or trading advice. Always do your own research and consult with a qualified financial professional before making any financial decisions.Lotus Health (https://lotus.ai/) is an AI doctor you can chat with for free anytime. They just raised $41M, and you can download the app today. The pod tried it, and with just our basic info it pulled up every medication we’ve been on in the last 25 years, sent us relevant studies based on our demographic, and the app can even refer you to real clinicians.00:00 TBPN's rumored $125M acquisition by OpenAI 04:16 Supply chain attacks 101 10:42 How Mercor got hacked 20:33 Who's building cyber defense 23:03 Artemis II: back to the moon after 53 years 26:26 Why we are going to the moon (hint: China) 28:28 NASA's heat shield cover-up 31:34 $1.5T in lunar resources 33:40 Would we go to space 35:49 Coefficient Bio's $400M exit to Anthropic 36:50 How AI is changing drug discovery 41:46 Lab in the loop 44:34 Predicting a bio talent gold rush

    49 min
  4. MAR 31

    RL-as-a-Service, Iran War Oil Crisis, Reflection AI

    Maya, Anika, and Priya open this week's episode after spending two full hours trying to fix their new audio recorder, which made Priya miss her Solidcore class for the eighth time this month. Anything for the pod though! First they break down reinforcement learning as a service. Starting with what RL is and how DeepSeek popularized it’s efficacy. Companies like Applied Compute are trying to do for RL what AWS did for compute, except most enterprises can barely collect their own data properly, so the ROI of RL is an open question. The girls dig into why some companies like Sierra and Decagon have a clear use case for RL, while for others they may prefer relying on natural model improvements from the lab. Next, the Iran War and what the closure of the Strait of Hormuz is actually doing to the world. Crude oil has hit $113 a barrel. Fertilizer shortages are tanking corn yields in Zambia and Sri Lanka. There's a mid-April deadline that has analysts worried. In all the chaos none other than Putin has ended up on top. The hosts debate what may happen next along with everyone on Kalshi that’s been trading on related markets. You can trade too: https://kalshi.com/sign-up?referral=getthecheck. Finally, if Reflection AI would get the pod’s check. Reflection AI is the American open source lab rumored to be raising at a $25 billion valuation from JP Morgan and positioning itself as the western answer to DeepSeek. Maya and Anika debate how important it is for there to be an American open source model. Reflection has the model internally, but they haven't released it to the public yet. The pod is excited to see what they release and predict it’s coming soon. Now…a word from our sponsors :) Kalshi (https://kalshi.com/sign-up?referral=getthecheck) was one of the first believers in the pod, and they let you trade on anything. The link gives you $10 on when you trade $10. DM us on IG to hear what March Madness trades we are in! Important disclaimer: This is not financial advice. The information shared is for informational and entertainment purposes only and should not be considered investment, financial, or trading advice. Always do your own research and consult with a qualified financial professional before making any financial decisions.Lotus Health (https://lotus.ai/) is an AI doctor you can chat with for free anytime. They just raised $41M, and you can download the app today. The pod tried it, and with just our basic info it pulled up every medication we’ve been on in the last 25 years, sent us relevant studies based on our demographic, and the app can even refer you to real clinicians.00:00 Intro02:52 RL explained03:40 Why RL became popular (shoutout DeepSeek)05:01 RLaaS06:36 Why DoorDash bought an RL company07:23 The ROI on RL14:17 RL players17:48 Cursor using RL on Composer in real time20:18 Metis acquisition22:05 Iran War23:39 Historical context on Iran25:39 Closure of the Straight of Hormuz27:28 When oil reserves will start to run out29:43 Impacts beyond oil33:54 Reflection AI funding34:45 Open vs closed AI models41:00 Why Nvidia wants to be on an open source model

    45 min
  5. MAR 17

    Travis Kalanick announces Atoms, Anthropic vs. the Dept. of War, Wearable startups

    In this episode of Get the Check, Maya, Anika, and Priya are back with a packed rundown: Travis Kalanick’s new company Atoms, the escalating Anthropic vs DoW fight, and why wearables are suddenly everywhere. They start with Kalanick’s post Uber arc starting City Storage Systems (including CloudKitchens) in complete stealth. They unpack what the company is trying to do next after rebranding to Atoms. Atoms will use specialized robots to automate core industries like food preparation plus delivery, mining, and transport. They also revisit the Uber drama that led to Kalanick being pushed out, including a DOJ investigation, $245M lawsuit with Waymo, and accusations of a toxic culture that promoted sexual harassment. Then they shift to the escalating tension between Anthropic and the U.S. government, a story that is quickly turning into one of the defining AI policy battles. What begins as a major defense contract relationship unravels after Anthropic draws clear lines around how its models can be used, rejecting mass surveillance and autonomous weapons. That stance sparks backlash from the Pentagon and the Trump administration, including efforts to label the company a supply chain risk and cut off government use. You can trade on if the Pentagon will designate Anthropic a supply chain risk here, using our Kalshi referral code, which will give you $10 once you trade. The episode ends with a debrief on wearables: Pebble’s $75 AI ring, Sandbar’s $23M raise and note-taking stack, Taya’s pendant made by ex-Apple employees. The hosts break down why many of these products still feel like they don’t have clear demand, which is why they’re bullish on Fort. Instead of another generic note taking wearable, Fort is targeting a clear use case by building a wearable specifically for strength training and sleep tracking. Speaking of health and wellness, Lotus Health is an AI doctor you can chat with for free anytime. They just raised $41M, and you can download the app today. The pod tried it, and with just our basic info it pulled up every medication we’ve been on in the last 25 years, sent us relevant studies to our demo, and the app can even refer you to real clinicians when needed. 00:00 Maya might be a pro skier01:04 Intro04:50 Why Travis was fired from Uber13:42 The thesis behind Atoms17:11 Hardware as the next frontier19:58 The unexpected reason Maya thinks Atoms won’t work22:57 Anthropic vs Department of War timeline29:45 Anthropic's red lines34:02 Should Anthropic have red lines44:26 Why LLMs change what’s possible in surveillance45:16 Supply chain risk designation50:10 Kalshi odds of Anthropic as a supply chain risk54:27 An update on wearables

    1h 6m
  6. MAR 10

    Inside Juicebox: Co-Founder Ishan Gupta announces Series B raise for AI recruiter tool

    This week Maya and Priya sit down with Ishan Gupta, CTO and co-founder of Juicebox, who comes on the pod to announce that Juicebox just closed their Series B!! Juicebox is the AI recruiting platform letting you find your next hire by just describing them in plain English. PeopleGPT searches 800M+ profiles and surfaces the best fits. No boolean filters required. Ishan grew up in India watching his dad run a business and always knew he wanted to be an entrepreneur, but had no idea he would drop out of college just three months in to build Juicebox. Before Juicebox, there were two failed pivots. Tune in to hear why they built a music company and marketplace first, and most importantly why they ultimately decided to build Juicebox. Ishan breaks down why the hiring manager always knows exactly who they want but never has time to find them, and the recruiter has time but less context. LLMs change the game because they are the first technology that can actually read a resume the way a human would, picking up on someone’s trajectory, company stage, promotion pace, even GitHub contributions. Ishan talks about Finding message market fit and then product market fitWhy recruiting is a zero sum gameIf the recruiter / sourcer role disappearsIf a human or AI is more biasedJuicebox is hiring across engineering, product, design, sales, and more. The company is high ownership and still operates like a seed stage startup. juicebox.ai/careers. Now…a word from our sponsors :) Lotus Health is an AI doctor you can chat with for free anytime. They just raised $41M, and you can download the app today. The pod tried it, and with just our basic info it pulled up every medication we’ve been on in the last 25 years, sent us relevant studies to our demo, and the app can even refer you to real clinicians when needed.Here’s $10 on Kalshi when you trade $10. Kalshi was one of the first believers in the pod, and they let you trade on anything. No seriously anything, you can trade on sports, elections, and even what Taylor Swift will play first at her next concert. DM us on IG if you want to know what markets we are in. Important disclaimer: This is not financial advice. The information shared is for informational and entertainment purposes only and should not be considered investment, financial, or trading advice. Always do your own research and consult with a qualified financial professional before making any financial decisions.00:00 Series B Fundraising 03:36 Unexpected reason SF is the best city to live in 07:02 Co-founder meet cute 3 09:38 The two ideas that didn’t work 14:32 LinkedIn’s recruiter tool will die 17:43 LLMs change the talent search game 18:37 Juicebox product 26:47 Why recruiting is a zero sum game 28:23 Will recruiters disappear 31:52 Why AI is less biased than humans in recruiting 34:27 How AI impacts recruiting as a founder 38:30 Who Juicebox is hiring

    39 min
  7. FEB 25

    Bitcoin crashes 50%, Citrini AI doom essay, Fei-Fei Li's World Labs raises $1B

    This weekend was the pod’s Season 4 launch party. To celebrate you can give them 5 stars and increase the chance Maya agrees to a Season 5.  This week the pod starts with with Bitcoin, which is down about 50% from its peak (~120K to ~65K). They walk through why this crash doesn’t have just one culprit. Trump’s tariff uncertainty, Iranian geopolitical tension, and Bitcoin in key ETFs all contributed. On Feb 5, BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) sold a lot of Bitcoin, seemingly because it had to rebalance alongside a broader US software/tech selloff, which tied Bitcoin even more directly to tech stocks. They also talk about how Bitcoin is failing the “digital gold” test right now (gold is up while BTC is down), even if it’s working as a decentralized currency, it’s not working as a store of value. Next they unpack the viral “2028 Global Intelligence Crisis” essay by Citrini, which imagines a bearish AI scenario: white-collar automation triggers layoffs, SaaS gets copied and commoditized, and consumer spending weakens because workers don’t have money to spend post layoffs. The pod has hot takes on where Citrini’s assumptions are underbaked. They close with World Labs, a startup that just raised $1B to build “world models” for spatial intelligence aka AI that actually understands 3D environments. Co-founder Fei-Fei Li is considered the God Mother of AI, since she was one of the first to advocate for data as a way to improve ML models instead of algorithmic improvement. Early use cases include robotics training and game development. Tune in to hear if World Labs would “Get the Check”. 00:00 Season 4 launch party recap 03:54 Why Bitcoin crashes by almost 50% 14:57 Citrini essay hot takes 23:31 The permanent underclass 35:47 Godmother of AI Fei-Fei Li's World Labs raises $1B

    41 min

Ratings & Reviews

4.8
out of 5
23 Ratings

About

Tune in on Tuesday at 6 AM ET to hear the latest tech news and listen to guests from emerging tech companies.

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