Post Money

In-depth conversations with top founders and VCs on building, scaling, and raising capital across industries.
  • 5.0 (3)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated Weekly

Post Money Podcast features conversations with the world’s leading founders and venture capitalists across industries. Hosted by Nilanjana Bhowmik, Founder & General Partner at Converge, Post Money dives into the art of raising capital, building high-growth companies, founder psychology, early-stage strategy, and the human decisions behind iconic outcomes. New episodes weekly with the builders and backers shaping the next decade of innovation. postmoneypodcast.substack.com

  1. 2d ago

    A Houston Startup Created 100 Millionaires, And Nobody Noticed | Blair Garrou

    Houston built an e-commerce company to half a billion in revenue in under five years, minting about 100 millionaires along the way. It's also home to a rocket engine 15% more efficient than anything else on the market. None of it required moving to San Francisco. Blair Garrou, co-founder and Managing Partner of Mercury Fund, has been investing between the Rockies and Atlanta since Texas’s biggest funds were declaring venture dead. He joins Nilanjana Bhowmik to explain why the value in AI is moving to the application layer, why the Fortune 500 keeps ripping out horizontal AI tools, and why the founders who win that layer tend to come out of the industry rather than out of a lab, which puts them in Houston, Chicago, Denver and Dallas, not in Silicon Valley. Middle America isn't a consolation prize. It's where the domain experts are, and in this wave of AI, domain expertise is the moat. Inside The Episode: * Why Mercury began investing outside traditional coastal technology hubs long before it became fashionable * How the economics of investing in Middle America historically differed from Silicon Valley venture capital * How access to coastal growth capital opened the door to much larger outcomes outside Silicon Valley * Why Blair believes the application layer of AI could create another major opportunity for Middle America * What large enterprises are discovering after experimenting with ChatGPT, Claude and other horizontal AI platforms * How Collide is building AI around workflows inside the energy industry * How OmniScience is applying AI to clinical trial data and winning business from major pharmaceutical companies * Why founders should think carefully before automatically choosing a famous Silicon Valley investor * How Cart.com grew to roughly half a billion dollars in revenue in less than five years * How generative AI contributed to the development process behind Venus Aerospace * Why manufacturing, aerospace and industrial technology could become major AI opportunities for Middle America Watch Full Episode On Youtube About Blair Garrou Blair Garrou has spent the majority of his career advising and investing in technology entrepreneurs. He is co-founder and Managing Partner of Mercury Fund, an early-stage venture capital firm investing in disruptive technology startups outside Silicon Valley. With nearly $1 billion in AUM and $15 billion in startup value creation since inception, Mercury uses an operationally focused investment strategy to help companies achieve rapid, sustainable growth. Blair has also played an active role in building Houston’s innovation ecosystem, launching startup accelerators and investment organizations designed to expand educational and funding opportunities for entrepreneurs. He is an Adjunct Professor at the Rice Jones School of Business, where he teaches venture capital, and received his B.S. in Management from Washington and Lee University. He also serves in board and advisory roles across a number of business, university, healthcare and cultural organizations. Connect with Blair Garrou: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bgarrou/ About the Host Nilanjana Bhowmik is a General Partner at Converge and host of the Post Money Podcast, where she speaks with founders, investors, and industry leaders shaping the future of technology, innovation, and venture capital. Through in-depth conversations, Post Money Podcast explores the ideas, decisions, and trends driving the next generation of transformative companies. Connect with Nilanjana Bhowmik: linkedin.com/in/nilanjanabhowmik Converge VC website: converge.vc This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit postmoneypodcast.substack.com

  2. Aug 10

    Is 60% of Venture Capital Really Going To Just Two AI Companies? | Sunil Dhaliwal

    Sixty percent of US venture capital dollars in the first half of 2026 went to just two companies, but Sunil Dhaliwal argues that much of this money should not be considered traditional venture capital at all. In this episode of the Post Money Podcast, Sunil Dhaliwal, founder and general partner at Amplify Partners, breaks down how AI is changing startup formation, fundraising, hiring, growth expectations and the venture capital industry itself. With approximately $2.5 billion in assets under management, Amplify Partners invests at the earliest stages of company formation, backing deeply technical founders across infrastructure, developer tools, data, AI and the intersection of technology and biology. Sunil explains why massive late-stage technology rounds are distorting venture funding statistics, creating unnecessary anxiety for founders who are still raising traditional seed and Series A rounds. He also discusses the growing divide between highly capitalized founders who can raise tens of millions before launching and everyone else who must prove product demand before scaling. Inside The Episode: * The difference between venture capital and private technology capital * Why most founders should ignore the noise around $100 million seed rounds * How AI has raised investor expectations for early revenue growth * Why large amounts of capital cannot compensate for weak product understanding * How attention now influences hiring, fundraising and customer acquisition * Whether AI will allow startups to operate with much smaller teams * Why successful companies may continue hiring despite AI productivity gains * The three options available to overfunded, slow-growth software companies * Why AI regulation will be far more aggressive than many founders expect * How AI startups should engage with policymakers * Whether AI agents will replace venture capitalists * Why long-term AI value will extend beyond frontier models * Amplify’s investment in Swamp and the limits of AI-first infrastructure Watch Full Episode On Youtube About Sunil Dhaliwal Sunil Dhaliwal is a General Partner at Amplify Partners, a venture capital firm with $2.5 billion under management focused exclusively on backing technical founders at the earliest stage. With founding investments in companies like Datadog, Fastly, Temporal, Chainguard, Modal, Runway, Hightouch, Luma, and Hex - Amplify has been at the forefront of infrastructure and AI investing for over a decade. Sunil founded the firm after spending over a decade at Battery Ventures. He has been named to the Forbes Midas list multiple times in his career and recently launched Amplify's first dedicated fund focused on the intersection of AI and Life Sciences. He is a native of Western New York, a Red Sox season ticket holder living in California, and faithful alumnus of Georgetown University. Connect with Sunil Dhaliwal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunildhaliwal About the Host Nilanjana Bhowmik is a General Partner at Converge and host of the Post Money Podcast, where she speaks with founders, investors, and industry leaders shaping the future of technology, innovation, and venture capital. Through in-depth conversations, Post Money Podcast explores the ideas, decisions, and trends driving the next generation of transformative companies. Connect with Nilanjana Bhowmik: linkedin.com/in/nilanjanabhowmik Converge VC website: converge.vc This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit postmoneypodcast.substack.com

  3. Jul 30

    What It Really Takes to Scale Beyond $100M ARR | Peter McKay, Snyk

    Growing a startup from $2M to $350M ARR requires much more than a great product. Every stage of growth demands new leadership, new systems, new sales strategies, and difficult decisions that most founders never anticipate.In this episode of the Post Money Podcast, Peter McKay, former CEO of Snyk, explains how the company evolved from a small developer security startup into a business approaching $350 million in ARR. Rather than telling a success story in hindsight, he breaks down the sequence of strategic shifts that made continued growth possible: moving from product-led growth into enterprise sales, expanding from a single product to a platform, recognizing organizational inflection points before they became crises, and making difficult leadership decisions long before performance visibly deteriorated. Inside The Episode: * How Snyk evolved from a single security product into a platform business. * Why great employees can become the wrong leaders as a company scales. * The hardest conversation every CEO eventually has to learn to initiate. * How to identify organizational bottlenecks months before they become visible. * Why Peter doubled down on hiring and product investment while others were cutting costs. * A practical framework for fundraising, dilution, and deciding when to raise capital. * How acquisitions became a tool for accelerating product development instead of simply buying revenue. * The leadership mindset required to keep a company growing beyond its early success. Watch Full Episode On YouTube: About Peter McKay Peter McKay is a five-time CEO and one of the most experienced operators in enterprise software, with a track record of scaling and exiting multiple companies across cybersecurity and infrastructure. He most recently served as CEO of Snyk, where he helped scale the developer security platform into a global business approaching $350 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) while expanding its product portfolio, enterprise presence, and AI capabilities. In 2026, after seven years as CEO, he transitioned to the role of Advisor at Snyk. Before Snyk, Peter held CEO roles at companies including Veeam and Desktone, and has been involved in several successful exits to companies like VMware and IBM. Known for his operator mindset, Peter focuses on execution, speed, and making decisive bets ahead of market shifts, including pushing early into AI while most companies were still experimenting. Connect with Peter McKay: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pemckay/ About the Host Nilanjana Bhowmik is a General Partner at Converge and host of the Post Money Podcast, where she speaks with founders, investors, and industry leaders shaping the future of technology, innovation, and venture capital. Through in-depth conversations, Post Money Podcast explores the ideas, decisions, and trends driving the next generation of transformative companies. Connect with Nilanjana Bhowmik: linkedin.com/in/nilanjanabhowmik Converge VC website: converge.vc This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit postmoneypodcast.substack.com

  4. Jul 23

    AI Is Changing E-Commerce Forever

    OpenAI won't reach nearly $300 billion in annual revenue by selling ChatGPT subscriptions alone. It will have to expand into some of the world's biggest markets, and commerce is one of them. So what happens when the biggest AI companies in the world decide they want a piece of your shopping cart? And where does that leave the startups trying to build in their shadow? According to Ben Lerer, co-founder and Managing Director at Lerer Hippeau, that shift will create enormous opportunities for a new generation of startups. Inside The Episode: * The arbitrage window brands have right now to master new AI shopping interfaces. * How Shopify already killed the old “technology advantage” in commerce, and why AI tooling is about to erase what’s left of it. * How Zipline evolved from an African medical delivery company into Walmart’s drone delivery partner. * Why today’s tech giants are far better positioned to capture this cycle than incumbents were during the shift to mobile or cloud. * How AI-powered shopping could create entirely new customer acquisition channels for startups. * Why autonomous logistics may become one of the biggest opportunities created by AI. * Whether companies like OpenAI should acquire AI-native businesses instead of building everything themselves. * How founders should think about defensibility as foundation models become increasingly powerful. * Why the future of AI extends beyond software into physical infrastructure, logistics, and commerce. Watch Full Episode on YouTube: About Ben Lerer: Ben Lerer is Managing Partner at Lerer Hippeau, one of the most active early-stage venture capital firms in the United States, known for backing category-defining consumer and technology startups. The firm has backed companies that went on to become major global brands including Warby Parker, Allbirds, Zipline, and Hungryroot. Before entering venture capital, Ben was an entrepreneur in the digital media industry. He co-founded Thrillist, which grew into one of the most prominent digital lifestyle media brands before merging with Group Nine Media, later acquired by Vox Media. Connect with Ben Lerer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benlerer/ About the Host Nilanjana Bhowmik is a General Partner at Converge and host of the Post Money Podcast, where she speaks with founders, investors, and industry leaders shaping the future of technology, innovation, and venture capital. Through in-depth conversations, Post Money explores the ideas, decisions, and trends driving the next generation of transformative companies. Connect with Nilanjana Bhowmik: linkedin.com/in/nilanjanabhowmik Converge VC website: converge.vc This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit postmoneypodcast.substack.com

  5. Jul 17

    What Happens When AI Enters the Physical World

    Bosch outsells nearly every software company in the automotive industry, but nobody in Silicon Valley thinks of Bosch as a software company. That blind spot is the entire thesis of this episode: the physical world runs on trillions of dollars of GDP that AI has barely touched, and the founders who win there won’t come from the industries they’re disrupting. In this episode, Bilal Zuberi explains why we’re entering the era of Physical AI, where intelligence moves beyond screens and becomes embedded inside machines, factories, vehicles, robots, and infrastructure. While thousands of startups compete to automate office work, some of the biggest opportunities are emerging inside industries that have historically been underserved by modern software. Automotive, aerospace, construction, defense, manufacturing, logistics, and healthcare are all undergoing fundamental transformation as AI becomes deeply integrated into physical systems. Inside the episode: * Why Physical AI may become the largest AI opportunity of the next decade * Why software is only the beginning of AI’s economic impact * How AI could accelerate breakthroughs in chemistry, healthcare, materials science, and scientific research * Why manufacturing, automotive, defense, construction, and industrial systems are becoming AI’s next frontier * Mike Maples’ framework for why some founders looked at GPS on the iPhone 4 and saw Uber and DoorDash while everyone else just saw a map * How a nation-state cyberweapon created an entire industrial cybersecurity category, and how a company built on discovering unpatched machines on operational networks became a billion-dollar acquisition by Mitsubishi Electric * The investment philosophy Bilal has followed through multiple technology cycles * The enormous market size hiding behind traditional physical industries * Real portfolio examples spanning industrial cybersecurity, autonomous mobility, and defense technology * Practical advice for founders building companies at the intersection of AI and the physical world Watch Full Episode on YouTube: About Bilal Zuberi Bilal Zuberi is the Founder and Managing Partner of Red Glass Ventures, an early-stage venture firm investing in AI, robotics, industrial technology, defense, healthcare, and other sectors transforming the physical world. Previously, he spent nearly 12 years as a General Partner at Lux Capital, where he backed companies including Applied Intuition, Nozomi Networks, Saildrone, Desktop Metal, Aurora Solar, and Nominal. A graduate of MIT with a background in physical chemistry and materials science, Bilal is known for his investment thesis that the next generation of category-defining companies will emerge at the intersection of AI and the physical economy. Connect with Bilal Zuberi: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bzuberi/ About the Host Nilanjana Bhowmik is a General Partner at Converge and host of the Post Money Podcast, where she speaks with founders, investors, and industry leaders shaping the future of technology, innovation, and venture capital. Through in-depth conversations, Post Money explores the ideas, decisions, and trends driving the next generation of transformative companies. Connect with Nilanjana Bhowmik: linkedin.com/in/nilanjanabhowmik Converge VC website: converge.vc This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit postmoneypodcast.substack.com

  6. Jul 10

    Why Talent Is The Single Biggest Competitive Advantage In Venture | Brad Svrluga

    Every month, new startups launch with access to the same models, the same tools, and increasingly similar technology. In today’s episode of Post Money Podcast Brad Svrluga explains why founder quality, hiring, and relentless execution have become the defining advantages in a market where innovation cycles now move at unprecedented speed. For founders, the challenge is no longer simply building a great product. It’s building a company that can adapt faster than the technology itself. Brad shares how that shift is changing the way he evaluates startups, allocates capital, and identifies the founders most likely to build enduring businesses. Inside the episode: * Why founder quality matters more than products, markets, or ideas. * The recruiting strategy that has become a competitive advantage for top venture firms. * How venture capital is evolving from financial backing to operational partnership. * How AI is lowering barriers to building companies while dramatically increasing competition. * Why startups are better positioned than incumbents to lead the AI revolution. * The rise of software agents and the massive new markets they are unlocking. * Whether AI is creating winner-take-all markets or simply raising the bar for execution. * How venture portfolio strategy is changing as failures become more common and billion-dollar outcomes become even larger. Watch Full Episode on YouTube: About Brad Svrluga: Brad Svrluga is a co-founder and General Partner at Primary Venture Partners. He began his career in venture capital at the very end of the internet bubble and invested through the difficult market cycles of the early 2000s. His investment focus spans vertical SaaS, healthcare, and financial services, and he has partnered with multiple companies in each of these sectors that have gone on to exceed $1B in valuation. Together with co-founder Ben Sun, Brad helped scale Primary into what is now the world’s largest standalone seed-stage venture firm. He currently serves as Managing Partner and co-leads the firm’s investment team. About the Host Nilanjana Bhowmik is a General Partner at Converge and host of the Post Money Podcast, where she speaks with founders, investors, and industry leaders shaping the future of technology, innovation, and venture capital. Through in-depth conversations, Post Money explores the ideas, decisions, and trends driving the next generation of transformative companies. Connect with Nilanjana Bhowmik: linkedin.com/in/nilanjanabhowmik Converge VC website: converge.vc This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit postmoneypodcast.substack.com

  7. Jul 3

    Top VC's Advice on Shipping Fast | Nihal Mehta, Eniac Ventures

    AI is shrinking teams, accelerating product development, and changing what investors look for in founders. The biggest competitive advantage is no longer having the largest team, it’s learning faster than everyone else. Nihal Mehta from Eniac Ventures shares why the future belongs to founders who ship relentlessly, stay close to customers, and keep burn low until the market pulls them forward. Inside The Episode: * The startup mistakes that burn through cash too early * Why shipping imperfect products wins in the AI era * The new rules for finding product-market fit * Why customer conversations matter more than hiring sales teams * How AI is changing startup teams forever * The rise of one-person billion-dollar companies * Why healthcare is becoming one of AI’s biggest opportunities * What Nihal Mehta looks for in the first 10 minutes of every founder pitch Watch Full Episode on YouTube: About Nihal Mehta Nihal Mehta is a co-founder and managing partner at Eniac Ventures, a founder-led seed-stage firm he’s helped build over 16 years. Before venture capital, Nihal was a serial founder who experienced both exits and failure, including a Chapter 7 bankruptcy in his early 20s, followed by acquisitions of ipsh! by Omnicom and buzzd/LocalResponse by BlueCava. He began investing early, backing companies such as AdMob (acquired by Google), Alloy, Brightwheel, Tala, and Uber. Alongside his wife Reshma, he is an active angel investor and LP supporting underrepresented founders, and is deeply involved in philanthropy through initiatives like Project Ahimsa and Help Main Street. Connect with Nihal Mehta: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nihalmehta/ About the Host Nilanjana Bhowmik is a General Partner at Converge and host of the Post Money Podcast, where she speaks with founders, investors, and industry leaders shaping the future of technology, innovation, and venture capital. Through in-depth conversations, Post Money explores the ideas, decisions, and trends driving the next generation of transformative companies. Connect with Nilanjana Bhowmik: linkedin.com/in/nilanjanabhowmik Converge VC website: converge.vc This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit postmoneypodcast.substack.com

  8. Jun 26

    The Defense Tech Boom Is Just Getting Started, Every Founder Should Be Paying Attention

    Some of Silicon Valley's biggest success stories started with government funding, not venture capital. The U.S. government has helped build some of the world's most valuable technology companies, from Hewlett-Packard and Oracle to Pixar and Palantir, and the next generation may be no different. Alexander Harstrick has watched this shift happen from the inside: first in military intelligence and Pentagon technology acquisition, and now as the co-founder of J2 Venture Partners, where he invests in dual-use companies built for both commercial markets and government demand. Defense technology is no longer a niche category. It’s becoming one of the fastest-growing opportunities in venture capital, attracting billions of dollars and a new generation of founders building AI, robotics, enterprise software, healthcare, telecommunications, and advanced manufacturing companies. Every founder should be paying attention. Inside The Episode: • How the Pentagon shifted its innovation strategy after 2014 • The “Dual-Use Barbell” strategy every founder should understand • How startups can use government funding without sacrificing commercial success • The biggest mistakes founders make when selling to the DoD • The sectors Alexander believes offer the biggest opportunities over the next decade Watch Full Episode on YouTube: About Alexander Harstrick: Alexander Harstrick is a Managing Partner at J2 Ventures, investing in dual-use and deep-tech companies at the intersection of defense, government, and commercial markets. He brings an operator’s perspective shaped by experience in venture investing, military intelligence, and national security innovation. Before J2, Alexander worked in corporate venture investing at Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield, served as a U.S. Army Military Intelligence Officer with deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq, and led early-stage technology investments inside the Department of Defense through the Defense Innovation Unit and National Security Innovation Capital. He has also worked with KKR and supported strategic finance initiatives for the U.S. Air Force via AFWERX. About the Host Nilanjana Bhowmik is a General Partner at Converge and host of the Post Money Podcast, where she speaks with founders, investors, and industry leaders shaping the future of technology, innovation, and venture capital. Through in-depth conversations, Post Money explores the ideas, decisions, and trends driving the next generation of transformative companies. Connect with Alexander Harstrick: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexanderharstrick Connect with Nilanjana Bhowmik: linkedin.com/in/nilanjanabhowmik Converge VC website: converge.vc This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit postmoneypodcast.substack.com

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Post Money Podcast features conversations with the world’s leading founders and venture capitalists across industries. Hosted by Nilanjana Bhowmik, Founder & General Partner at Converge, Post Money dives into the art of raising capital, building high-growth companies, founder psychology, early-stage strategy, and the human decisions behind iconic outcomes. New episodes weekly with the builders and backers shaping the next decade of innovation. postmoneypodcast.substack.com

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  • Creator
    In-depth conversations with top founders and VCs on building, scaling, and raising capital across industries.
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    36
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Post Money Podcast
  • Show Website
    Post Money

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