The Pittsburgh Startup Pod

Charles Mansfield
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  • Entrepreneurship
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The Pittsburgh Startup Pod tells the story of a city in motion. Each episode highlights the founders, funders, and community builders shaping the future—one startup at a time. From deep-tech labs to builder meetups, we explore what’s working, what’s emerging, and why there’s never been a better time to build in Pittsburgh.

Episodes

  1. Jun 2

    What If Waves Could Power the Future?

    The ocean is constantly moving, and most of that energy goes unused. In this episode of the Pittsburgh Startup Podcast, I sit down with Priscilla Prem, Co-Founder and CEO of Pittsburgh Coastal Energy, to talk about building technology that can harness underutilized wave energy and turn it into power for underwater systems. Pittsburgh Coastal Energy is developing a new way to capture energy from ocean motion, with the potential to extend the life of underwater robots, submersibles, and defense systems that currently rely on limited battery power. It’s a conversation about overlooked energy sources, hard tech commercialization, and what it takes to build a coastal energy company from Pittsburgh. We also get into Priscilla’s path from the Navy to P.H.D to founding a company, and why wave energy could become a major piece of the future ocean economy.

    37 min

  2. May 5

    Fixing the Loneliness Problem: How PGH Social Club is Rebuilding Connection

    Episode Description: In this episode of the Pittsburgh Startup Podcast, we sit down with the team behind PGH Social Club—a group tackling one of the most overlooked challenges facing cities today: connection. For a lot of young people, making friends, finding community, and feeling plugged into a city isn’t easy. Traditional paths—school, work, even social media—aren’t doing the job the way they used to. Pittsburgh Social Club is stepping into that gap, building consistent, welcoming spaces where people can actually meet, interact, and build real relationships. This isn’t a typical “startup” story. It’s a different kind of business—one that sits somewhere between community, media, and infrastructure. Through curated events, open formats (no pitch decks, just people), and a growing ecosystem of gatherings, they’re creating what every city needs but few intentionally design: a front door for connection. We talk about: Why loneliness and fragmentation are real problems for young professionalsThe concept of “third places” and why cities are missing themHow consistent events compound into real community over timeWhat it looks like to build something valuable that doesn’t fit neatly into a traditional business modelIf you’ve ever moved to a new city, struggled to meet people, or wondered why connection feels harder than it should—this episode is for you.

    42 min

  3. Apr 9

    Why Emergency Care Tech Hasn’t Changed—and How HeadStrait Labs Is Fixing It

    Emergency care still relies on tools that haven’t meaningfully evolved in decades. Mary Squire, co-founder of HeadStrait Labs, is working to change that. In this episode, we cover the origin of HeadStrait Labs—from a Carnegie Mellon University classroom to a venture-backed medtech startup—and what it takes to design hardware that actually works in the field. Mary shares insights on working with clinicians and first responders, raising early capital in Pittsburgh, and navigating the complexity of building in healthcare. A conversation about tackling overlooked problems—and why Pittsburgh is one of the best places to build companies that matter.

    35 min

  4. Mar 11

    AI x Manufacturing: Can we design better surfaces?

    Episode Description: Manufacturing innovation often happens where the physical world meets the digital one—and few places reveal that intersection better than the surfaces we design around us. In this episode of the Pittsburgh Startup Podcast, Charles Mansfield sits down with Tevis Jacobs, founder of Surface Design Solutions, to explore the surprisingly complex world of surface design and its role in modern manufacturing. From coatings and materials science to performance, durability, and aesthetics, Tevis breaks down why surfaces are far more than a finishing touch—they’re often the difference between a product that works and one that fails. The conversation dives into how startups are innovating in manufacturing, why surface engineering is deceptively difficult, and how Pittsburgh’s deep-tech and industrial roots make it an ideal place to build companies solving real-world problems. Whether you’re a founder, engineer, or just curious about the hidden complexity behind everyday materials, this episode offers a fascinating look at the science—and startups—behind the surfaces we rely on every day.

    49 min

  5. Jan 23

    Building Startup Communities Outside of The Valley w/ YJ Lin

    What actually makes a startup ecosystem work—and what does it take to sustain one over time? In this episode, I’m joined by YJ Lin, a longtime builder and connector in the startup world, to unpack the invisible infrastructure behind strong founder communities. We dig into what separates transactional ecosystems from truly durable ones, the role of trust and long-term stewardship, and how community builders can avoid burnout while still driving momentum. From there, we zoom in on Pittsburgh—where the ecosystem is today, what’s quietly working, and where the next chapter of growth could come from. We talk about talent retention, founder density, the balance between institutions and grassroots efforts, and what it will take for Pittsburgh to fully step into its potential as a top-tier startup city over the next decade. If you’re a founder, investor, community organizer, or just someone rooting for Pittsburgh’s future, this conversation offers both grounded insight and a hopeful, pragmatic vision for what comes next.

    51 min

  6. 12/01/2025

    The Future of Grid-Scale Batteries w/ Becca Segel(CEO, FlowCellutions)

    In this episode of The Pittsburgh Startup Pod, we sit down with Becca Segel, PhD, founder and CEO of FlowCellutions, a startup on a mission to transform grid-scale energy storage with next-generation diagnostics technology. Becca shares her unconventional path — from cutting-edge lab research at the University of Pittsburgh to launching a hard-tech venture based in Pittsburgh — and she opens up about why she believes flow batteries are the backbone of a resilient energy future. Becca’s background: a PhD in Chemical & Petroleum Engineering, a former NSF Graduate Research Fellow, and years of research experience on flow batteries. Why she chose grid-scale batteries: the problem of renewable energy intermittency, the promise of flow-battery architectures, and how FlowCellutions addresses a major pain point — diagnostics and reliability of large-scale energy storage. Her startup journey in Pittsburgh (and beyond): building in a “non-coastal” ecosystem, navigating research commercialization, and how the Pittsburgh community and entrepreneurship programs supported her. What’s next for FlowCellutions: pilot projects, scaling the hardware + software platform, partnering with grid operators, and advancing the mission of long-duration storage for a cleaner, more resilient electric grid. Becca's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/segel/

    33 min
  • 6 Episodes

About

The Pittsburgh Startup Pod tells the story of a city in motion. Each episode highlights the founders, funders, and community builders shaping the future—one startup at a time. From deep-tech labs to builder meetups, we explore what’s working, what’s emerging, and why there’s never been a better time to build in Pittsburgh.

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