EPISODE 36

Kevin and Jason sit down with Scout cofounder Tim Barnes to rethink how founders raise capital in an AI-first world. Tim breaks down why most startups overlook trillions in available non-dilutive funding, how AI can automate painful proposal and compliance workflows, and why grants should function as a continuous business development engine—not a last-minute scramble for runway. They explore how climate, deep-tech, and healthcare companies can reposition their work to match shifting federal priorities without losing their mission, how Scout is helping both startups and government agencies modernize the funding ecosystem, and why founders should pursue grants before equity to validate traction and retain ownership. Tim also shares how he thinks about defensibility as foundation models advance, when to integrate grants into a capital strategy, and what it takes to keep founders focused on building instead of pitching.

CHAPTERS

00:00 – Why non-dilutive funding matters

01:00 – Rethinking fundraising and bootstrapping in an AI hype cycle

05:30 – How Scout uses AI to unlock and manage grants

10:00 – Packaging your mission for shifting policy without losing focus

16:00 – When to use grants vs equity and how Scout’s fit check works

LINKS

Connect with Tim Barnes

Scout • LinkedIn • X/Twitter

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LinkedIn • X/Twitter

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EPISODE 35

Kevin and Jason sit down with Healthcare AI Guy founder Max Drescher to unpack how AI is actually changing healthcare, from front-desk voice automation and AI scribes to clinical decision tools and consumer apps that give people more ownership of their data. Max shares how a habit of writing internal M&A news briefs at UnitedHealth turned into a fast-growing newsletter and community, why distribution has become one of the most important forms of founder leverage, and what separates real impact from hype in today’s healthcare AI boom. They dig into the rise of tools that reduce burnout and administrative friction, explore longevity, Blueprint-style protocols, and digital twins, and look ahead to a near future where AI-powered biology and smarter clinical support reshape medicine long before fully autonomous AI doctors arrive.

CHAPTERS

00:00 – Why AI + health now

06:30 – Max’s path from M&A to Healthcare AI Guy and the power of distribution

12:10 – What’s real vs hype in healthcare AI for providers and patients

18:30 – Longevity, Blueprint, and founders getting serious about sleep

22:00 – The next five years of AI in health and where it’s all headed

LINKS

Connect with Max Drescher

Healthcare AI Guy • LinkedIn • X/Twitter

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LinkedIn • X/Twitter

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EPISODE 34

In this episode, Kevin and Jason break down how founders can turn conferences from low-ROI distractions into high-leverage growth engines. Fresh off a major healthcare event in Nashville, they unpack why most networking fails, how Pretty Good AI turned a platinum sponsorship into a full activation with mini-golf and meeting pods, and the systems that converted casual foot traffic into hundreds of real customer conversations. They dig into founder-mode presence, team ownership, pre-work, follow-up, and the small details that make an event actually move the business forward.

CHAPTERS

00:00 – The Value of Networking Events

01:25 – Challenges of Traditional Networking

02:47 – Reevaluating Event Participation

03:27 – Executing a Successful Conference Strategy

04:24 – Planning for a Major Conference

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EPISODE 33

Kevin Noertker, co-founder and CEO of Ampaire, is leading the charge toward sustainable aviation by electrifying the skies. In this episode, Kevin Henrikson and Jason Shafton visit Ampaire’s Long Beach hangar to talk about hybrid-electric aircraft, scaling innovation in a century-old industry, and why “hybrid isn’t the compromise—it’s the bridge.” Kevin shares how Ampaire is retrofitting existing planes to fly cleaner, safer, and farther using hybrid-electric propulsion, the challenges of certification and infrastructure, and the roadmap to fully electric flight. It’s a masterclass in pragmatic innovation—one that proves hardware can move fast when driven by purpose.

CHAPTERS

00:00 – Expanding Horizons of Hybrid Aviation

05:00 – From Aerospace Giant to Startup Founder

12:30 – Why Hybrid Beats Fully Electric (for Now)

20:00 – Capital Efficiency and Government Partnerships

27:45 – The Future of Flight: Hybrid as the Bridge

LINKS

Connect with Kevin Noertker

Ampaire.com • LinkedIn

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EPISODE 32

Founder Mode sits down with Natalie Kaminski of JetRockets to cut through AI hype in software development. Natalie shares findings from a five-month experiment using code assistants: top engineers see ~30% efficiency on tedious tasks, but AI can duplicate components, forget context, and mislead juniors who can’t evaluate output. She argues developers matter more than ever—AI augments, not replaces—while real value comes from problem definition, secure architecture, and disciplined human review. Tools help with migrations, boilerplate, and tests; judgment, clarity, and empathy still decide what ships.

CHAPTERS

00:00 – There’s no “I” in today’s AI

03:30 – Do developers still matter?

04:51 – AI as augmentation: the calculator analogy

06:41 – Workable AI: migrations, boilerplate, tests (~30% gain)

19:08 – Where AI breaks: duplication, lost context, human review

LINKS

Connect with Natalie Kaminski

jetrockets.com • LinkedIn • X/Twitter

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EPISODE 31

In this live Founder Mode episode recorded at Workshop in San Francisco, Jason and Kevin sit down with two of the most influential builders in modern tech — Max Mullen, Co-Founder of Instacart, and Andrew Ofstad, Co-Founder of Airtable. They share never-before-heard founding stories, from Instacart’s $20K Trader Joe’s hack to Airtable’s first prototype built entirely in local storage. The conversation spans early lessons in scrappy product development, balancing speed and craft, scaling company culture, leadership evolution, and founder burnout. They also dive into how AI is reshaping startup building, what makes SF’s comeback real, and their most contrarian lessons from a decade of creating category-defining companies.

CHAPTERS

0:00 – Welcome to Founder Mode Live

2:00 – Backing the Cybertruck into Workshop

4:25 – The $20K Trader Joe’s Story

9:45 – Building Instacart’s First Catalog

10:58 – Airtable’s Early Browser-Only MVP

15:32 – Speed vs. Craft: Product Tradeoffs

22:18 – Scaling Culture and Leadership

29:10 – Founders on AI, Product, and Speed

35:44 – Burnout, Balance, and Founder Longevity

42:36 – SF’s Comeback and Final Lessons

LINKS

Connect with Max Mullen

maxmullen.com • LinkedIn • X/Twitter

Connect with Andrew Ofstad

LinkedIn • X/Twitter

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LinkedIn • X/Twitter

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LinkedIn • X/Twitter

EPISODE 30

Microsoft product leader Sangya Singh joins Jason and Kevin to unpack how to decide what to ship first in AI and automation. She shares a “strategy to win” playbook (fall in love with the problem, define the hypothesis, then hire and build), why agility must be daily not monthly, and how Microsoft balances agentic and deterministic systems—highlighting a risky-but-breakthrough bet on self-healing RPA. The crew contrasts outputs vs. outcomes, explores eval-driven prioritization, and talks scale mechanics inside Microsoft. Sangya closes with what’s next: voice-based AI surfaces that discover what to automate and “mech-interrupt” style safety tooling so enterprises can see, govern, and correct model behavior.

CHAPTERS

00:00 – Cold open: “Say no to great”

00:28 – MVPs and sequencing in the AI era

03:45 – Sangya’s path & “strategy to win”

10:40 – Self-healing RPA and outcomes over outputs

25:35 – What’s next: AI surfaces & safety

LINKS

Connect with Sangya Singh

LinkedIn • X/Twitter

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EPISODE 29

Private equity meets AI in a grounded, operator-first conversation with Jason Friedrichs of AEA Elevate. We cover why “no-regrets” initiatives and clear ROI gates beat hype cycles, how to build an AI-first value creation plan, and why team design—not just capital—drives repeatable growth. Jason shares his thoughts on where PE playbooks are shifting beyond spreadsheets, the small wins that compound across functions (GTM, support, back office), how to navigate macro shocks, and what sectors he believes are primed for outsized AI-enabled revenue and margin expansion.

CHAPTERS

00:00 – The “no-regrets” move

00:37 – Framing PE × AI: beyond hype to operating leverage

06:19 – ROI discipline, pilots, and budgeting for AI

15:20 – Beyond capital: the PE playbook & first 180 days

20:21 – Healthcare opportunity, macro shocks, and exits

LINKS

Connect with Jason Friedrichs

aeainvestors.com/elevate • LinkedIn

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LinkedIn • X/Twitter

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LinkedIn • X/Twitter