Founders in Arms
Episodes
AGI, Alignment, and the Future of AI Power With Emmett Shear
19 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Emmett Shear is the founder and CEO of Softmax, an alignment research company, and previously co-founded and led Twitch as CEO. He was also a Y Combin...
The Year AI Got Practical: 2025 Tech Trends with Immad and Raj
12 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Immad Akhund and Raj Suri reunite for a one-on-one conversation covering the biggest tech shifts of 2025, from Mercury's public launch of Personal Ban...
Embrace the Suck: How Olo Survived 10 Years to Product-Market Fit With Noah Glass
05 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Noah Glass is the founder and CEO of Olo, an enterprise platform for mobile and online ordering that powers digital commerce for 800+ restaurant brand...
Building Infrastructure for the Agentic Web with Parag Agrawal
21 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Parag Agrawal is the co-founder and CEO of Parallel, building infrastructure for the agentic web. Previously CEO of Twitter, Parag now leads a company...
Sphere's $21M Series A: Nicholas Rudder on Building Cross-Border Compliance
18 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Nicholas Rudder is the co-founder and CEO of Sphere, an AI-powered cross-border tax compliance platform that helps businesses navigate international s...
Building a LinkedIn for Hourly Workers with Instawork's Sumir Meghani
07 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Sumir Meghani is the founder and CEO of Instawork, a staffing marketplace connecting 9 million hourly workers with businesses that need flexible labor...
David vs. Goliath in the Wearables Industry With Eric Migicovsky
31 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We're reposting this episode following major news: Pebble officially relaunched its companion app on iOS and Android, bringing exciting and new apps a...
From Venmo to Jelly: The Founder Who Changed How the World Pays (and Connects)
24 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Iqram Magdon-Ismail is the co-founder of Venmo and current founder of Jelly, a video-first social app. After building Venmo from a text-message protot...
The Founder’s Pulse: AI, Markets, and Lessons from the Front Lines
17 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this one-on-one episode, Immad and Raj catch up on what's happening in tech, and what founders should actually be paying attention to right now.Fre...
Engineering vs Lawyerly Societies: The US-China Competition with Dan Wang
10 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Dan Wang is a research fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institute and author of "Breakneck: China's Quest to Engineer the Future." After spending six years...
Three Exits in 10 Years: Lessons from Serial Entrepreneur Iñaki Berenguer
07 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Iñaki Berenguer is a serial entrepreneur with three successful exits: Pixable (sold to Singtel), Clink (sold to Thinking Phones), and CoverWallet (so...
The AI Superconnector Transforming The Future Of Networking With Andrew D’Souza (Founder & CEO, Boardy)
26 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Andrew D'Souza is the founder and CEO of Boardy AI, an AI "super connector" that helps founders, investors, and operators make high-value introduction...
Building an AI Business Beyond the Hype with Jesse Zhang from Decagon
19 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How do you build a sustainable AI business when investors are throwing money at anything with "AI" in the pitch deck? We're bringing back one of our b...
Inside David Gu’s $38M Raise: The Pivot That Put Recall.ai on the Map
12 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
David Gu is the co-founder and CEO of Recall.ai, building conversation recording infrastructure that powers over 1,000 AI companies. Fresh off announc...
Building and Selling in "Impossible" Markets with WePay's Bill Clerico
05 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Bill Clerico is the founder and former CEO of WePay, which he sold to JPMorgan Chase for $400 million, and is now founding managing partner of Convect...
Frugality, Grit, and Scale: Inside Joris Poort’s Founder Playbook
29 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Joris Poort is the CEO of Rescale, a digital engineering platform that provides supercomputing capabilities for engineers and scientists designing roc...
Building in Defense Tech and Sovereign AI with Mattermost's Ian Tien
25 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ian Tien is the co-founder and CEO of Mattermost, an open-source collaboration platform that has evolved from a Slack alternative to essential infrast...
Building Enterprise AI That Actually Works with Glean's Arvind Jain
18 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Arvind Jain is the founder and CEO of Glean, building enterprise AI that connects to all internal company data, and co-founder of Rubrik, which recent...
The Best Hack to Product Market Fit With Hiten Shah (Crazy Egg, KISSmetrics, Nira, sold to Dropbox)
08 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We’re bringing you a rerun of one of our most well-received episodes, featuring the incredible insights from serial entrepreneur Hiten Shah.What hap...
The Anti-Social Media Strategy: Steve Huffman on Building Reddit Differently
01 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week, we're re-airing our conversation with Reddit CEO Steve Huffman about building one of the internet's most essential platforms over 20 years....
Building the Future We Actually Want with Gmail Creator Paul Buchheit
25 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Bringing back one of the most loved episodes of Founders in Arms! In this episode, Immad and Raj welcome Silicon Valley legend Paul Buchheit. As the c...
Can Copyright Survive the Machine Era? With Trip Adler (Co-Founder & CEO, Created by Humans)
18 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Trip Adler is the founder and CEO of Created by Humans, a new marketplace helping rights holders license their works for AI training, reference, and t...
Building Space's Future With Ryan Westerdahl (Turion Space)
11 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan Westerdahl is the founder and CEO of Turion Space, designing and building satellites for resilient space infrastructure with a focus on space dom...
Designing for Generosity: Adam Nash on Building Products with Heart
07 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Adam Nash is the founder and CEO of Daffy, a donor-advised fund platform that's democratizing charitable giving for everyday Americans. Previously, he...
How Washington Really Works: Innovation Policy with Alec Stapp
27 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Alec Stapp is the Co-CEO of the Institute for Progress, a non-partisan innovation policy think tank in Washington D.C. works to accelerate and shape t...
Pre-Selling Your Way to Space with Topher Haddad (Albedo)
20 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Topher Haddad is the co-founder and CEO of Albedo, building satellites that fly in very low Earth orbit (VLEO) at 275km—twice as close as traditiona...
David vs Goliath in the Wearables Industry with Eric Migicovsky (Core Devices, Pebble, Beeper)
13 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Eric Migicovsky is the Founder of Core Devices, and the original founder of Pebble, the pioneering smartwatch that raised $10 million on Kickstarter b...
Startup to State: Sahil Lavingia on Gumroad, Profitability, and His Time at DOGE
06 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Sahil Lavingia is the founder and CEO of Gumroad, a platform that helps creators sell digital products and has facilitated over $1 billion in creator ...
Two Decades of Reddit: Steve Huffman on Building the Front Page of the Internet
02 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Steve Huffman is the co-founder and CEO of Reddit, one of the internet's most essential platforms with 100 million daily active users and a $20 billio...
Building the Future of Public Safety Tech with Rahul Sidhu
23 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Rahul Sidhu is the co-founder and CEO of Aerodome, which was acquired by Flock Safety for a reported $300M in October 2024—just 17 months after foun...
From Software to Nuclear: Matt Loszak's Mission to Mass-Manufacture Clean Energy
16 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Matt Loszak is the co-founder and CEO of Aalo Atomics, building factory-manufactured small modular nuclear reactors designed to power AI data centers....
Duolingo’s CTO on Building the World’s Most Addictive Learning App
09 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Severin Hacker, co-founder and CTO of Duolingo, joins Immad Akhund and Raj Suri to unpack how Duolingo became the world’s most engaging education pl...
Meta's Hardball Acquisitions, Apple's App Store Defeat, and Why Tariffs Will Trigger a Recession
02 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this founders-only episode of Founders in Arms, Immad Akhund and Raj Suri analyze Meta's aggressive acquisition playbook alongside other major tech...
From Rice Krispies to $36M Series B: Dan Hobbs on Building Safety AI, Enterprise Sales, and Leading Across Borders
25 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Founders in Arms, Immad Akhund and Raj Suri speak with Dan Hobbs, co-founder and CEO of Protex AI, a company using computer vision ...
Building Meaningful Tech for the Next Generation With Jay Shah
18 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Jay Shah joins Immad and Raj to talk about his new startup, Poppy—a screenless, AI-native phone designed for kids. He shares what l...
Trade Wars & Supply Chain Disruptions: Ryan Petersen on Navigating the 145% China Tariffs
10 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Founders in Arms, Immad Akhund and Raj Suri speak with Ryan Petersen, co-founder and CEO of Flexport, about the recent implementati...
Building a Consumer Network First and Monetizing Later with ClassDojo's Sam Chaudhary
04 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"Schools try really hard to do all these jobs equally well for all kids, and it's a completely impossible task."ClassDojo CEO Sam Chaudhary shares how...
Special Episode—Unpacking Mercury's $300M Series C with Guest Host, Hiten Shah
28 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"The bar was really low in banking—we're not talking rocket science here. We built a product that reached a reasonable standard." Mercury CEO Immad ...
Exploring Abundance From 10x Intelligence With Paul Buchheit
21 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Are we mentally prepared for what happens when intelligence becomes an abundant resource rather than a scarce one?Hosts Immad Akhund (Mercury CEO) and...
Startup Wisdom That Goes Against The Grain With SafeGraph's Auren Hoffman
14 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"The worst thing you can do is hire executives," declares Auren Hoffman in this eye-opening conversation about startup talent strategy. As a succ...
Winning the Founder Mental Game with Pilot’s Waseem Daher
07 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Being small isn't a disadvantage—it's your superpower. Just one provocative sentiment from this episode that challenges conventional startup wi...
Building an AI Business Beyond the Hype with Jesse Zhang from Decagon
28 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How do you build a sustainable AI business when investors are throwing money at anything with "AI" in the pitch deck? This episode brings togethe...
How AI and China Are Reshaping Biotech with Hannu Rajaniemi of Helix Nanotechnologies
21 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Why do even the most sophisticated tech investors often shy away from biotech? It often seems like an impenetrable maze of regulations, clinical trial...
Raw Wisdom for Modern Founders With Serial Founder Hiten Shah
14 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What happens when the ultimate startup veteran joins a 3,000-person company? In this gripping episode, Mercury CEO Immad Akhund and serial founde...
Making Startups Financially Savvy With Recruiter.com’s Jesse Tinsley
07 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As founders of VC-backed startups face tough choices between down rounds and running out of cash, Jesse Tinsley is turning unprofitable startups profi...
DeepSeek and the Future of AI with Academia's Richard Price
31 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Join Immad Akhund and Raj Suri as they dive deep into the implications of DeepSeek and the rapidly evolving AI landscape with Richard Price, founder a...
Building the Future of Computer Vision AI with OpenSpace's Jeevan Kalanithi
24 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Join Raj Suri as he sits down with Jeevan Kalanithi, co-founder and CEO of OpenSpace AI, to explore the revolutionary impact of computer vision techno...
The ‘Tech-Industrial Complex’ and Startup Lessons
17 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Join Mercury CEO Immad Akhund and Lima & Tribe co-founder Raj Suri as they explore tech's evolving relationship with politics. From Biden's "tech ...
Special New Year Episode & Building in Regulated Industries with Edward Woodford
10 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In a special episode to kickoff the New Year, Mercury CEO Immad Akhund and Lima co-founder Rajat Suri share personal reflections and industry predicti...
Building in Longevity, Biohacking and Space Exploration with Dilan Dane
20 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What drives entrepreneurs to push boundaries is often a deep desire to leave a lasting mark on the world. In this episode, System 2 founder Dilan Dane...
Creating Category-Defining Companies with John Bicket, Co-Founder of Samsara & Meraki
13 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Join Immad Akhund and Raj Suri as they dive deep with John Bicket, co-founder and CTO of Samsara and previously Meraki, into the rare feat of building...
Navigating M&A and Executive Security with Daniel Kivatinos, Founder of JustPaid and DrChrono
06 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Founders in Arms, Immad and Raj sit down with Daniel Kivatinos, founder of JustPaid and DrChrono. The group starts by sharing their...
Quiet Quitting, Government Regulation, and the Commercial Value of AI Today with Box CEO Aaron Levie
22 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this wide-ranging conversation with Box CEO Aaron Levie, Immad and Raj dive deep into the intersection of technology, politics, and regulation. Lev...
Making Creative Deals with Large Enterprises with Clover Co-Founder Leonard Speiser
15 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Founders in Arms, Raj sits down solo with Leonard Speiser, co-founder of Clover, to explore the intricacies of building and scaling...
Innovation, Y Combinator, and Tech Under Trump with Wayne Crosby
08 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Founders in Arms, Immad and Raj sit down with Wayne Crosby, a serial entrepreneur and former Google executive. They dive into Wayne...
Picking the Right Co-Founder and Crypto Regulation with Dave Balter
01 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Founders in Arms, Immad and Raj sit down with veteran entrepreneur Dave Balter to discuss the ups and downs of startup. Balter shar...
Longevity and Biotech Fundraising with Celine Halioua
25 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Immad and Raj sit down with Celine Halioua, founder and CEO of Loyal, a pioneering biotech company developing drugs to increase lifespan longevity in ...
Finding Product-Market Fit for Consumer Startups and Gaming with Roger Dickey
18 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Founders in Arms, Immad and Raj sit down with Roger Dickey (Mafia Wars, Gigster, and Untitled Capital) for a deep dive into startup...
Today’s FinTech Market and India’s Tech Takeover with Sheel Mohnot
11 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Founders in Arms, Immad Akhund and Raj Suri are joined by special guest Sheel Mohnot, founder of BTV Ventures and 500 FinTech. The ...
High-Skilled Immigration and Higher Education with Martin Basiri
04 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Immad and Raj sit down with Martin Basiri, co-founder and former CEO of ApplyBoard and current CEO of Passage, for a conversation that delves deep int...
Next Generation of Consumer Startups with Paul English
27 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Immad and Raj sit down with Paul English, the co-founder and former CTO of Kayak, for a deep dive into consumer tech startups. Paul shared some fascin...
OpenAI’s New Model and Amazon’s In-Person Mandate
20 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Founders in Arms, Immad and Raj dive into the latest developments in AI, discussing OpenAI's new O1 model and its impressive reason...
Future of LLMs and Founder Narratives with Paul Buchheit
13 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Founders in Arms, Immad and Raj welcome Silicon Valley legend Paul Buchheit. As the creator of Gmail, an early Google pioneer, and ...
Unlocking Founder Mode and VC Funding with Greg Isenberg
06 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Immad and Raj are joined by special guest Greg Isenberg (Late Checkout) to discuss the recent buzz around "founder mode" and debate the merits of VC-b...
Pavel Durov’s Arrest, Nvidia, and the Future of AI
30 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Today on Founders in Arms, Immad and Raj explore two of the largest stories in startup this week: The arrest of Telegram founder Pavel Durov, and what...
What Should Tech Founders Do About Regulatory Capture?
23 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In the debut episode of "Founders in Arms," Immad Akhund (Mercury) and Raj Suri (Lima, Presto, and Lyft) explore the growing impact of regulatory capt...
The Evolution of the Film Industry with Writer and Producer Bill Guttentag
19 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of the Curiosity Podcast, Immad and Raj interview Bill Guttentag for a discussion on the evolution of the film industry. Bill is an aw...
Future of Politics and How Leaders are Chosen with Gautam Mukunda, Author of “Picking Presidents”
05 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Leadership expert and author Gautam Mukunda joins Immad and Raj for an in-depth discussion on the systems that determine leaders in business and polit...
Distinguishing AI Deepfakes From Reality with Ben Colman, Co-Founder and CEO of Reality Defender
22 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In a world where distinguishing between reality and generative AI is becoming increasingly more difficult, how can we protect ourselves from being inf...
Future of National Security and American Politics with Miles Taylor
01 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Miles Taylor, former chief of staff of the Department of Homeland Security, joins Immad and Raj for a discussion on emerging technologies and national...
How Viral Gene Therapy will Revolutionize Cancer Treatment with Nicole Paulk, Founder, Siren Biotech
17 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Will new advancements in biotech soon help us treat rare diseases? Immad and Raj explore this question with Nicole Paulk, Founder and CEO of Siren Bio...
Future of Women’s Healthcare and Biowearables with Loewen Cavill, Co-Founder and CEO of Amira
03 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Imamd and Raj interview Loewen Cavill, Cofounder and CEO of Amira. Loewen is an expert in women’s healthcare, particularly as it re...
Future of In-Home Appliances and Power Offsets with Sam D’Amico, Founder and CEO of Impulse Labs
20 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Imamd and Raj interview Sam D’Amico, Founder and CEO of Impulse Labs. Sam shares the technology behind Impulse Labs’ innovative, ...
Revolutionizing Computer Science Education with Austen Allred, Co-Founder and CEO of BloomTech
06 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of the Curiosity Podcast, Immad and Raj explore the next evolution of education with Austen Allred, Co-Founder and CEO of BloomTech. A...
Fixing San Francisco’s Broken Local Politics with GrowSF
21 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode of the Curiosity Podcast, Immad and Raj explore the challenges facing San Francisco’s local politics with Sachin Agarwal and Steven ...
Future of Sustainable Fuels with Rob McGinnis, Founder and CEO of Prometheus
07 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Immad and Raj discuss the emerging field of zero net carbon fuels with Prometheus Fuels Founder and CEO, Rob McGinnis. Rob shares the...
mRNA and the Future of Biotechnology with Hannu Rajaniemi, Founder and CEO of Helix Nanotechnologies
24 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Immad and Raj discuss biotechnology with Hannu Rajaniemi, Founder and CEO of Helix Nanotechnologies. Hannu shares the potential of mR...
Manufacturing in Low Earth Orbit with Delian Asparouhov, Co-Founder of Varda Space Industries
10 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Immad and Raj interview Delian Asparouhov, a Partner at Founders Fund and the Co-Founder of the space-manufacturing startup Varda. De...
The Emerging Field of Wildfire Technology with Maxwell Brodie, Co-Founder and CEO of Rain Industries
20 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Immad and Raj interview Maxwell Brodie, the Co-Founder and CEO of Rain Industries. Maxwell share how Rain and other tech pioneers are...
The Future of Generative AI Video with Cristóbal Valenzuela, CEO and Co-Founder of Runway
07 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Join Immad and Rajat for an in-depth discussion at the intersection of science and art as they chat Cristóbal Valenzuela, CEO and Co-Founder at Runwa...
Future of Carbon Removal Technology with Peter Reinhardt, CEO and Co-Founder of Charm Industrial
29 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Join Immad and Rajat for a deep dive into the technology being used to combat climate change with Peter Reinhardt, CEO and Co-Founder of Charm Industr...
Psychedelics and therapy with Dr. Jeeshan Chowdhury, Founder / CEO of Journey Colab
10 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Immad and Raj talk to Psychedelics therapy expert Dr. Jeeshan Chowdhury, Founder / CEO of Journey ColabKey topics:The history of psychedelics Role of ...
Inflation, China, immigration and rabbits with Macroeconomist Noah Smith
31 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Immad and Raj talk to popular macroeconomics writer Noah Smith, formerly of Bloomberg.Key topics:Inflation and the current state of the economy, plus ...
All things biotech with MIT Professor and Moderna co-founder Bob Langer
10 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Immad and Raj talk with the 'Edison of Medicine' Bob Langer - founder of over 40 biotech companies, including Moderna. Key topics:What does the futur...
Space and other tech to improve the human condition with George Whitesides, ex-CEO of Virgin Galactic
10 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Immad and Raj sit down with former Virgin Galactic CEO, Wildfire VC and current Congressional candidate George Whitesides for a wide-ranging conversat...
The Rapidly Changing Landscape in Media and Content with Chris Best, CEO of Substack
03 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Immad and Rajat go deep with Chris Best on how the written media landscape is rapidly evolving and how Substack's business model could transform the w...
The Future of Nuclear Tech with Yasir Arafat
18 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Immad and Raj have a wide-ranging conversation on how nuclear tech will revolutionize the future of energy with Yasir Arafat, MARVEL Chief Designer &a...
How AI will change creativity with Dave Rogenmoser, CEO of Jasper.AI
14 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Immad and Raj have a wide-ranging conversation on how AI will impact creative roles with the CEO of rapidly growing Jasper.AI, Dave Rogenmoser.Follow ...
How AI will change programming with Amjad Masad, CEO of Replit
27 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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