The Social Radars
Episodes
Paul Graham, Founder, Y Combinator
19 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Paul Graham is back in the latest episode of The Social Radars. This time we focus on what was going on behind the scenes at Y Combinator back in the ...
Peter Reinhardt, CEO & co-founder, Charm Industrial; CEO & co-founder, Segment
03 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In the latest episode of The Social Radars, we talk to Peter Reinhardt, who has the distinction of having started two iconic companies that are comple...
Tom Blomfield, Partner, Y Combinator; Co-Founder, Monzo
17 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In today's episode of The Social Radars, we talk to Tom Blomfield, founder and original CEO of the transformative British fintech startup Monzo, and n...
Spenser Skates, Founder & CEO, Amplitude
03 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we talk with Spenser Skates of Amplitude. Amplitude is a spectacular example of a something people talk a lot about in Silicon Valley:...
Christina Cacioppo, Founder & CEO, Vanta
20 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of The Social Radars we talk to Christina Cacioppo of Vanta. Christina is a case study in agency. She actually did all the things foun...
David Kirtley, Founder & CEO of Helion Energy
07 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In today's episode we talk to the founder of a startup that will have momentous consequences for the whole world if it works: David Kirtley, Founder &...
Jared Friedman, Partner, Y Combinator; Co-founder, Scribd
30 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the latest episode we talk to one of the great YC insiders, Jared Friedman, who was in the third batch back in summer 2006, as cofounder of Scribd,...
Jessica & Carolynn Announce Season 5!
23 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Jessica & Carolynn Announce Season 5 of The Social Radars
Blake Scholl, Founder & CEO of Boom Supersonic
08 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In today’s episode, we talk to Blake Scholl, Founder & CEO of Boom Supersonic. Building a supersonic airliner sounds hard, and it is: startups o...
Founder Mode: Sajith Wickramasekara, Founder & CEO, Benchling
17 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In today's Social Radars, we talk to Sajith Wickramasekara of Benchling. For Sajith, founder mode means a pervasive feeling of responsibility for ever...
Founder Mode: Jen Herbach, Founder & CEO, Adventris Pharmaceuticals
07 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the latest Social Radars, we talk to Jen Herbach of Adventris, which is working on a cancer vaccine. She was in the audience of Brian Chesky's famo...
Founder Mode: Andy Lapsa, Founder & CEO, Stoke Space
29 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we talk to Andy Lapsa of Stoke Space. This startup is literally doing rocket science, because they're building fully reusable rockets....
Founder Mode: Emmett Shear, Founder, Softmax & Twitch
23 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this Social Radars episode we talk to Emmett Shear, who told us about an interesting founder mode technique he developed when he was running Twitch...
Founder Mode: Christina Cacioppo, Founder & CEO, Vanta
16 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In today’s episode, Christina Cacioppo gives us her take on founder mode, which is becoming more important now that Vanta has 1000 employees around ...
Founder Mode: Kashish Gupta, Founder and co-CEO of Hightouch
12 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we talked to Kashish Gupta of Hightouch, who made an important point about founder mode: one of the most important things founders can...
Founder Mode: Paul Gross, Founder & CEO of Remora Carbon
08 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we talk to Paul Gross of Remora Carbon, a startup that does carbon capture right out of the exhausts of trucks and trains. Paul has a ...
Founder Mode: Chris Best, Founder & CEO, Substack
04 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, taped in front of a live audience, Chris Best tells us the story of Substack. He reminisces about his adventures with Elon Musk, and ...
Founder Mode: Jake Heller, Founder & CEO, Casetext
29 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Jake Heller talks about how he and his cofounder discovered the perfect product in a weekend of intense experimentation after GPT4 wa...
Founder Mode: Paul Graham, Founder, Y Combinator
22 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Paul Graham talks about how the concept of founder mode arose from Brian Chesky's famous talk in 2024, what it means, and the latest things he's ...
Founder Mode: Garry Tan, President & CEO, Y Combinator
22 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We spoke with YC president & CEO Garry Tan about the Founder Mode event he organized for YC alumni. He talks about why founder mode matters a...
Founder Mode: Brian Chesky, Founder & CEO, Airbnb
22 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
At YC's first Founder Mode event, we talk with Brian Chesky, whose legendary talk last year was the origin of the concept. Unless you were one of...
Ron Conway, Founder, SV Angel Part 4 (Bonus)
30 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In part 4 of our series with legendary investor Ron Conway, we get into the story of Napster. Napster was founded by Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker in ...
Ron Conway, Founder, SV Angel (Part 3)
09 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In Part 3 of our conversation with Ron Conway, he takes us behind the scenes at early Google. Ron was involved with Google almost from the start; he a...
Drew Houston, Founder & CEO, Dropbox
26 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In today's episode we talk with Drew Houston, founder and CEO of Dropbox. We've known Drew for a long time (YC funded Dropbox in 2007) and he's extrem...
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI
12 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today we catch up with Sam Altman, Founder and CEO of OpenAI. Sam was in Y Combinator's first batch in 2005 and later returned as YC's president from ...
Eric Migicovsky, Founder, Pebble & Beeper
26 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In today's episode Eric Migicovsky, the founder of Pebble and Beeper, shares the journey of building one of the first smartwatches. The Pebble watch m...
Alexandr Wang, Founder & CEO of Scale
12 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In today's episode we go down into the engine room of the AI Revolution with Scale AI founder Alexandr Wang. Since 2016 Scale has been supplying train...
Harj Taggar, Partner, Y Combinator
29 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today we catch up with Harj Taggar, who knows as much about startups as anyone of his generation. YC funded two of his startups, Auctomatic in 2007 an...
Gusto Co-Founders: Josh Reeves, Edward Kim & Tomer London
15 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In today’s episode, we chat with all three of the Gusto founders: Josh Reeves, Eddie Kim, and Tomer London. Gusto is a payroll and employee benefits...
Ron Conway, Founder, SV Angel (Part 2)
02 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In Part 2 of our conversation with legendary investor Ron Conway, we chat about how he made one of the most prescient decisions in the history of star...
Surbhi Sarna, Founder of nVision Medical
18 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we speak with Surbhi Sarna, founder of nVision Medical, a pioneering company in women's health diagnostics. Surbhi shares her journey...
Tyler Shultz, Theranos Whistleblower (Part 2)
04 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We’re back with Tyler Shultz for the second part of his story: the whistleblowing. He’d resigned after noticing potential fraud within Theranos. A...
Tyler Shultz, Theranos Whistleblower (Part 1)
27 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Tyler Shultz went to work at Theranos right out of Stanford and soon noticed that things weren't as they seemed. Lots of other employees knew there wa...
Replit Co-Founders, Amjad Masad & Haya Odeh
14 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Today we talk to Amjad Masad and Haya Odeh of Replit. They're not just cofounders but married too, and Replit is woven through their lives. Listen in ...
Ryan Petersen, Founder & CEO of Flexport
31 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In today’s episode we chat with Ryan Petersen, Founder and CEO of Flexport, a global logistics company that Y Combinator funded in 2014. Ryan takes ...
Dan Siroker, Co-Founder of Limitless & Optimizely
17 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Today we catch up with Dan Siroker, co-founder of Limitless, which trains a personal AI to remember things for you. Y Combinator funded his previous c...
Eddy Lu, Co-founder & CEO of GOAT
03 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In today's episode we catch up with Eddy Lu, co-founder and CEO of GOAT, the fashion marketplace. GOAT represents one of the most epic pivots in Y Com...
David Rusenko, Founder of Weebly
19 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
David Rusenko was a college student when he applied, at the last minute, to Y Combinator in 2006. His startup, Weebly, made a web site builder. At one...
Yin Wu, Co-Founder of Pulley
05 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In today's episode, we talk with Yin Wu, founder and CEO of Pulley, a cap table management system that YC funded in 2020. Yin has been founding startu...
Ron Conway, Founder, SV Angel
22 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Ron Conway has been close to the center of things for longer than anyone else in Silicon Valley, from the point when he started his career at National...
Kyle Vogt, Founder of Cruise Automation
08 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Today we catch up with Kyle Vogt, whose self-driving car company, Cruise, was funded by Y Combinator in 2014 and acquired by GM in 2016. Before that h...
Yuri Sagalov, Co-Founder of AeroFS
23 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Today we are talking to Yuri Sagalov. His company AeroFS, which did enterprise file syncing and sharing, was funded by Y Combinator in summer 2010. Yu...
Jessica & Carolynn Announce Season 3!
29 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Announcing Season 3 of The Social Radars!
Adora Cheung, Co-founder of Homejoy & Instalab
10 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Today we chat with Adora Cheung, Co-founder of Homejoy (YC summer 2010) and now InstaLab, an at-home blood testing service that helps you optimize you...
Trevor Blackwell, Co-founder Y Combinator; Founder, Anybots
21 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Today we have another insider episode: we're talking to Trevor Blackwell, who was my cofounder at Y Combinator. But that's not all he's done. He was a...
Parker Conrad, Founder of Zenefits & Rippling
06 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Today we're talking with Parker Conrad, who founded two startups that went on to become unicorns: Zenefits in 2013, and Rippling in 2016. Parker’s s...
Emmett Shear, Co-Founder of Twitch
22 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Today we talk with Emmett Shear, who was in the very first YC batch in 2005 with a startup called Kiko. But you know him better as the co-founder of T...
Patrick & John Collison, Co-Founders of Stripe
14 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we catch up with Patrick and John Collison, two brothers from Ireland who founded Stripe in 2009. Since then we've watched Stripe grow...
Bill Clerico, Co-Founder & CEO of WePay
26 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Today we're talking with Bill Clerico, co-founder of WePay which Y Combinator funded in 2009. WePay was one of the first of what are now called "FinTe...
Dimitri Dadiomov, Co-Founder & CEO of Modern Treasury
16 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Today we're talking with Dimitri Dadiomov of Modern Treasury, a startup Y Combinator funded in 2018. Dimitri works in a very important world whose exi...
Brian Armstrong, Co-Founder & CEO of Coinbase
27 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Today we're talking with Brian Armstrong of Coinbase, a startup YC funded in 2012 and is now a publicly traded company. Coinbase is truly in the middl...
Brian Chesky, Co-Founder & CEO of Airbnb
13 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In today's episode, we're talking once again with Brian Chesky, co-founder and CEO of Airbnb. YC funded Airbnb in 2009, when the company was at death'...
Jessica & Carolynn wrap-up Season 1
20 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Announcing Season 2 of The Social Radars!
Edith Elliott, Co-Founder & CEO of Noora Health
12 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we talk to Edith Elliot, cofounder of the non-profit startup Noora Health. Like the best for-profit startups, Noora is relentlessly ef...
Paul Graham, Co-Founder of Viaweb and Y Combinator
18 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Today, we're doing something I do every day: talking to Paul Graham, who as well as being one of the founders of Viaweb and Y Combinator is also my hu...
Brian Chesky, Co-Founder & CEO of Airbnb
02 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In today's episode, we're talking with Brian Chesky, cofounder and CEO of Airbnb. YC funded Airbnb in 2009, when the company was at death's door. Duri...
Steve Huffman, Co-Founder & CEO of Reddit
21 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we walk down memory lane with Steve Huffman, co-founder and CEO of Reddit, who was in Y Combinator's very first batch of startups in 2...
Tracy Young, Co-Founder & CEO of PlanGrid
11 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Today we're talking with the fabulous Tracy Young, one of the most successful female startup founders so far. Y Combinator funded her company, PlanGri...
Garry Tan, President & CEO of Y Combinator
03 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we’re talking to Garry Tan, the president & CEO of Y Combinator. We go full circle with Garry as we chat about his path from tur...
Tony Xu, Founder & CEO of Doordash
24 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we catch up with Tony Xu, founder and CEO of the food delivery service, DoorDash. Tony and his cofounders were students at Stanford wh...
David Lieb, Creator of Google Photos
13 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we’re talking to David Lieb, creator of Google Photos. Back in 2009, YC funded his startup, Bump Technologies, which had a cool tech...
Paul Buchheit, Creator of Gmail
11 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the premiere episode, Jessica & Carolynn sit down with Paul Buchheit. Paul created Gmail in 2004 while he was employee #23 at Google. They do a...