Superconnector with Matt Joseph

Matt Joseph
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Matt Joseph explores the world of startups and venture capital by interviewing founders, reviewing startup pitches, and analyzing venture capital deals. Matt holds a JD/MBA from UCLA and an AB from Princeton. Visit superconnector.com for more information and to join our mailing list. superconnector.substack.com

  1. 07/15/2024

    E16: Aakash Shah (YC W21) on Founding Wyndly to Treat Allergies, Raising $2M

    In episode 16 of the Superconnector podcast, I interviewed Aakash Shah, the Cofounder and CEO of Wyndly. Shah is a former Product Manager and Engineer at SparkGift (YC W15) and Parsley. We cover his journey from working at a venture-backed startup to launching one of his own with his cousin, a licensed surgeon. Shah's startup helps people treat allergies by retraining their immune systems. Chapters 00:00 Welcome 00:58 The Birth of Wyndly 02:05 Navigating the Pandemic 02:43 Family Ties and Business 05:40 Y Combinator Experience 9:53 Scaling Nationwide 13:13 Fundraising Insights 18:25 Building Wyndly's Business 20:34 Challenges and Growth 28:15 Advice for Aspiring Founders This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit superconnector.substack.com

    31 min

  2. 05/23/2024

    E15: Google Alum Spencer Cassidy (YC W19) on Founding LifeLegacy, an Estate Planning Startup

    In episode 15 of the Superconnector podcast, Matt Joseph interviews Spencer Cassidy, the Cofounder and CEO of LifeLegacy. Cassidy is a Google alum who sold his first startup Balto (YC W19) to a publicly traded company. We cover his journey from working at Google for 5 years, to the successful acquisition of his previous startup, Balto, to founding LifeLegacy, an estate planning platform inspired by personal tragedy and the COVID-19 pandemic. Chapters 00:00 Welcome 00:38 The Genesis of LifeLegacy 04:11 How LifeLegacy gets customers 05:58 Developing strategic partnerships 08:10 Why boostrapping made sense 11:07 Bootstrapping vs Venture Capital 14:48 The personal tragedy behind LifeLegacy 18:20 Raising a family as a founder 20:13 Advice for aspiring founders 22:32 Working at Google vs being a founder 23:20 Lessons from angel investing 27:51 Most rewarding part of being a founder 32:07 Sports, Startups, and the Skills That Translate This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit superconnector.substack.com

    33 min

  3. 05/18/2024

    EP 14: 10 Fascinating Startups in 20 Minutes - The Bot Company ($150m), Hysata ($111m) + 8 more

    In episode 14 of the Superconnector podcast, Matt Joseph covers 10 of the most interesting startups that raised funding from VCs in the last week, focusing on startups in robotics, gaming, cleantech, alternative foods, and education. Chapters 00:30 The Bot Company: $150m for household robots 02:47 Lucid Bots: $9m for cleaning drones 04:43 mimic: $2.5m for humanoid hands 06:26 Yellow: $5m for 3d modeling for game devs 07:28 Hysata: $111m for green hydrogen electrolyzers 9:31 Li Industries: $36m for EV battery recycling 10:32 Rainmaker: $6.3m for artificial rain clouds 12:38 Electricity Maps: $5.4m for carbon-tracking maps 15:38 Voyage Foods: $52m for allergy-safe alternative foods 17:46 Futura: $15.2m for AI private tutors This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit superconnector.substack.com

    20 min

  4. 05/11/2024

    EP 13: Inside VC Deals - Steve Wozniak's Privateer ($56.5m), Meati Foods ($100m) + 6 more

    In episode 13 of the Superconnector podcast, I cover 8 interesting venture capital deals announced in the last week, focusing on startups in aerospace, food-tech, healthcare, neuroscience, ecommerce, ecommerce, and biotech. AEROSPACE: Privateer, a space data startup co-founded by Steve Wozniak, and Xona, an alternative GPS system FOODTECH: Meati Foods, an meat alternative startup using mushrooms HEALTHCARE: Karius, a blood testing startup focused on immunocompromised patients NEUROSCIENCE: Neurable, a brain-computer interface that doesn’t require surgery ECOMMERCE: Nivoda, a B2B marketplace for diamonds ENERGY: Zanskar, a geothermal energy startup BIOTECH: Insempra, a startup developing eco-friendly lipids Chapters 00:00 Welcome 00:20 Privateer: $56.5m for space data 03:24 Meati Foods: $100m for alternative meat using mushrooms 06:17 Karius: $100m for blood testing cancer patients 9:20 Neurable: $13m for a brain-computer interface 12:21 Nivoda: $30m for a B2B diamond marketplace 14:54 Zanskar: $30m for geothermal energy 17:04 Insempra: $20m for eco-friendly lipids 19:39 Xona: $19m for a new GPS system This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit superconnector.substack.com

    23 min

  5. 05/08/2024

    E12: Inside VC Deals - Elon Musk's xAI ($6b), OpenAI Fund ($15m), Perplexity ($250m) + 4 more

    In this episode of the Superconnector podcast, Matt Joseph presents an in-depth analysis of 7 significant funding rounds in the AI startup sector in the last month, highlighting the industry's shift from experimental to practical applications. Chapters 00:00 Welcome 00:25 Sequoia Capital: Generative AI in 2 Acts 01:49 xAI: $6b for an OpenAI Competitor 04:26 Perplexity: $250m+ to Challenge Google Search 06:47 Cognition Labs: $175m for an AI Software Engineer 10:48 CoreWeave: $1.1b for AI Cloud Services 14:50 SiMa.ai: $70m for an Edge AI Chip 18:00 Parloa: $66m for German Conversational AI 20:24 OpenAI Startup Fund: $15m for AI Investments This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit superconnector.substack.com

    25 min

  6. 05/03/2024

    E11: Inside VC Deals - Rubrik $752m, Augment $252m, ThreatLocker $115m, QI Tech $50m, Beehiiv $33m, Inhabitr $27m, Backflip $15m

    In this episode of the Superconnector podcast, Matt Joseph covers 8 large venture capital deals announced in the last week, focusing on startups in AI, cybersecurity, electric vehicles, real estate, media, and fintech. AI: Augment, a coding assistant startup backed by Eric Schmidt and rival to GitHub Copilot CYBERSECURITY: Rubrik, a newly publicly-traded platform focused on disaster recovery and ThreatLocker, a zero trust security platform for MSPs ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Chemix, an AI-powered EV battery maker REAL ESTATE: Inhabitr, a commercial real estate furnishing platform, and Backflip, a service to help real estate investors flip houses MEDIA: Beehiiv, a newsletter publishing platform FINTECH: QI Tech, a banking as a service platform for midsized companies in Brazil Chapters 00:00 Welcome 00:22 Augment: $252m for AI Coding 04:17 Beehiiv: $33m for Newsletter Publishing 06:45 Inhabitr: $27m for CRE Furnishing 09:10 Backflip: $15m for House Flipping 11:05 Chemix: $20m for EV Batteries 14:21 ThreatLocker: $115m for MSP Cybersecurity 16:11 Rubrik: $752m for Data Recovery 18:27 QI Tech: $50m for Banking in Brazil This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit superconnector.substack.com

    21 min

  7. 04/30/2024

    E10: Inside VC Deals - Rippling ($870m), Xaira ($1b), Nominal ($27m), Framework ($18m), Tines ($50m)

    In this episode of the Superconnector podcast, Matt Joseph covers 5 large venture capital deals announced in the last week, including startups in HR, biotech, industrials, consumer electronics, and workflow automation. Chapters 00:00 Welcome 00:21 Rippling: $870m at a $13.4b valuation 05:05 Xaira: $1b for AI drug discovery 08:50 Nominal: $27m for Industrials software 11:43 Framework: $18m for a modular laptop 12:58 Tines: $50m for workflow automation This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit superconnector.substack.com

    15 min

  8. 04/25/2024

    E9: 2x YC founder Nick Damiano on his robotic surgery startup Andromeda Surgical | YC S23

    In this episode of the Superconnector podcast, Nick Damiano discusses his robotic surgery startup Andromeda Surgical, which he leads as CEO. Previously, Nick founded medical device startup Zenflow and medtech startup Avail (fka Nurep), which was valued at over $1b. He was the first medtech founder to go through YC and has now founded 2 YC startups. We cover Nick's long journey through the startup world and his process for building the next great medtech company with a combination of Robotics, AI, and Surgery. Chapters 00:31 Andromeda Origins 01:57 AI & Robotic Surgery 06:21 Surgeon Partnerships 08:41 Why MedTech Is Hard 9:54 Finding Investors 16:14 Founding Team 19:15 Product Development 21:52 Industry Growth 26:10 Doing YC Twice 29:57 Best Advice This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit superconnector.substack.com

    32 min
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About

Matt Joseph explores the world of startups and venture capital by interviewing founders, reviewing startup pitches, and analyzing venture capital deals. Matt holds a JD/MBA from UCLA and an AB from Princeton. Visit superconnector.com for more information and to join our mailing list. superconnector.substack.com

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