エピソード

  • Decagon’s Jesse Zhang: Closing Customer Service Doom Loops With AI Concierges

    Decagon’s Jesse Zhang: Closing Customer Service Doom Loops With AI Concierges
    2026/04/10
    When it comes to calling customer support, startup CEO Jesse Zhang knows your pain.  ”It's just a very frustrating experience, because you're stuck in a loop,” he says. In 2023, he and co-founder Ashwin Sreenivas launched Decagon to solve the problem with powerful new technology: AI agents. Today, customers like Avis Budget Group, Duolingo and Fanatics all work with Decagon, helping it reach a $4.5 billion valuation. But as AI unlocks new possibilities in support, Zhang faces serious competition from more established and better-funded rivals. On the Upstarts Podcast, Zhang shares how Decagon wins by using speed as a weapon, but not a moat; why 10x better products can fend off the big AI labs; and how his AI concierge can help future customers beyond just solving problems. Plus, he shares his Upstart Moment: winning uphill sales battles with a bottoms-up hustle that turned “red dots” into green buyers. Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 02:38 Why support was still a problem 05:34 Jesse Zhang’s founder story 15:23 Three pillars of startup strength 16:20 A 10x name and first customers 19:24 Winning with speed and scale 24:20 Jesse’s Upstart Moment in sales 31:35 Why you need to be 10x better 33:43 Revenge of the AI ‘wrapper’ 37:17 Long-running agent ‘duets’ 40:44 Your future concierge For more, visit https://www.upstartsmedia.com/ Season 1 of the Upstarts Podcast is presented by Mercury: https://mercury.com/ Produced & edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod: https://lightningpod.fm/
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    45 分
  • Axiom’s Carina Hong: Solving Math’s Hardest Problems With AI, And AI's Problems With Math

    Axiom’s Carina Hong: Solving Math’s Hardest Problems With AI, And AI's Problems With Math
    2026/04/02
    Just nine months ago, Morgan Prize-winning prodigy Carina Hong was still on an academic track, pursuing a joint law degree and math PhD at Stanford. Now, as the founder of startup Axiom Math, she runs one of the most promising challengers in a new, fast-paced category: AI for math. Recently valued at $1.6 billion, Axiom has already solved some of math’s most challenging problems, and Hong hopes it can help researchers advance the field. Her bigger ambition? To power real-time math-based verification of AI-generated code, to do away with vibe-coded slop. On this episode of The Upstarts Podcast, Hong shares her founder journey from immigrant at MIT to Oxford, and ultimately dropping out of Stanford; how she’s learning as a first-time founder to help Axiom compete in a red-hot new category; and her Upstart Moment when Axiom took the world’s hardest college-level math test. Chapters 00:48 Intro to Carina Hong 2:02 What Axiom Math does 5:51 ‘Math is AGI’ 8:48 Not replacing mathematicians 13:28 Winning the Morgan Prize 17:17 Origins of Axiom 22:22 The new math AI race 25:51 Carina’s Upstart Moment 31:47 Axiom’s business prospects 36:39 Why the future is verified coding For more, visit https://www.upstartsmedia.com/ Season 1 of the Upstarts Podcast is presented by Mercury Produced & edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod
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    39 分
  • Harvey's Winston Weinberg: From Law Associate To $11 Billion Legal AI Startup CEO

    Harvey's Winston Weinberg: From Law Associate To $11 Billion Legal AI Startup CEO
    2026/03/26
    Harvey CEO Winston Weinberg operates between two worlds. On one side are highly-trained lawyers who are skeptical about AI’s ability to improve their work. On the other are Silicon Valley technologists who see law as one of the fields that the biggest AI labs, Anthropic and OpenAI, can easily absorb. Co-founded in 2022, Harvey now works with more than 100,000 lawyers across 1,000 businesses, generating $200 million in revenue and recently reaching an $11 billion valuation. On The Upstarts Podcast, Weinberg talks about how a cold email to Sam Altman helped launch Harvey’s journey; why he believes lawyers are a surprise power user of AI tools; and why Anthropic is his biggest threat. Plus, he talks about his Upstart Moment: a never-before-disclosed attempt to “one-shot” company growth that saw Harvey almost merge with another company of equal size in 2024 – only to luckily pull back. Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 00:48 Winston's path to law 2:05 Testing GPT-3 and Sam Altman 7:45 A 'risky' demo 10:42 Investor skepticism 14:23 Near-miss 'one-shot' merger 18:50 Winston's approach to hiring 22:31 Responding to skeptics 29:23 Why you should build in public 31:02 Winning over lawyers 32:46 Anthropic and the competition 35:36 Happy customers beat Twitter love For more, visit https://www.upstartsmedia.com/ Season 1 of the Upstarts Podcast is presented by Mercury Produced & edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod
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    37 分
  • Star Catcher’s Andrew Rush: Harnessing The Sun To Build The First Energy Grid In Space

    Star Catcher’s Andrew Rush: Harnessing The Sun To Build The First Energy Grid In Space
    2026/03/19
    Star Catcher CEO Andrew Rush grew up loving science fiction. Now he’s helping to bring a whole new generation of tech into reality in space by tackling its biggest bottleneck: access to power. “Everybody basically goes on camping trips. You bring your solar rays with you,” says Star Catcher CEO Andrew Rush. “Our daily lives are based on and enriched by space, regardless of who we are. So providing more power ultimately enriches humanity.” Rush isn’t new to the problem. He was previously CEO of Made In Space, which built the first 3D printer used in space more than a decade ago. In 2024, he co-founded Star Catcher, raising $12 million to harness the Sun’s power by beaming more concentrated energy to solar panels and satellite arrays. On The Upstarts Podcast, Rush talks about his orbital career journey from patent lawyer to space CEO. He explains why energy and power are such an important unlock for space innovation, and why space startups are slowly getting better at raising venture dollars. And he shares his Upstart Moment, as Star Catcher passed key checkpoints by completing optical tests at Jacksonville's EverBank Stadium and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center last year. Chapters: 1:38 Intro to Star Catcher 3:16 Space’s power problem 9:16 Football field-sized satellites 15:13 Star Catcher’s solution 21:48 Moonshot financing 26:15 Patience with a big vision 27:26 Andrew’s Upstart Moment 30:45 Lawyer to space CEO 33:54 Science fiction to real life 35:36 A founder’s daily whiplash For more, visit https://www.upstartsmedia.com/ Season 1 of the Upstarts Podcast is presented by Mercury: https://mercury.com/ Produced & edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod: https://lightningpod.fm/
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    38 分
  • Synthesia's Victor Riparbelli: Using AI To Replace Boring PowerPoints With Interactive Video

    Synthesia's Victor Riparbelli: Using AI To Replace Boring PowerPoints With Interactive Video
    2026/03/12
    Startup founder Victor Riparbelli has always been drawn to counterculture ideas. "Life's more interesting at the fringes," he says. When Victor co-founded Synthesia in 2017 to produce AI video, most investors didn't buy it — nearly 100 said no. A pivotal refocus away from Hollywood toward unglamorous business use cases like training videos and internal communications changed everything, helping Synthesia reach $150 million in annual recurring revenue, a $4 billion valuation, and customers across more than 90% of the Fortune 100, from Amazon to IKEA and Merck. On The Upstarts Podcast, Victor traces his journey from selling World of Warcraft characters as a teenager in Denmark to building one of AI's most surprising startup success stories in London. He shares his Upstart Moment winning over billionaire Mark Cuban and going all in on enterprise; how Synthesia has navigated deep fake fears and AI skepticism; and why he believes honesty is a rare — and underrated — competitive advantage in the AI startup world. Plus: why Synthesia's next act in interactive video could be its boldest bet yet. Chapters 00:00 Introduction 01:31 Victor’s origins in gaming and music 05:24 Finding startup energy in London 09:24 Synthesia’s founding thesis 12:35 Early struggles and fringe ideas 16:42 Victor’s Upstart Moment 22:13 Video at the chocolate factory 27:31 AI fears and deep fakes 31:10 What’s next for Synthesia 35:22 The rising value of human contact 38:59 Integrity in a lying startup culture 42:21 An interactive future For more, visit https://www.upstartsmedia.com/ Season 1 of the Upstarts Podcast is presented by Mercury: https://mercury.com/ Produced & edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod: https://lightningpod.fm/
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    45 分
  • Flexport’s Ryan Petersen: tech’s trade expert on solving tariff chaos with AI agents & winning again

    Flexport’s Ryan Petersen: tech’s trade expert on solving tariff chaos with AI agents & winning again
    2026/03/05
    $50 billion. That’s how much in tariff refunds Ryan Petersen hopes to retrieve for U.S. citizens using AI agents recently built by his startup, Flexport. But logistics unicorn Flexport was struggling when co-founder Petersen returned as CEO in 2023. Customers were fleeing; morale had plunged. Ryan talks about his Upstart Moment in engineering a comeback – and why AI agents are increasingly the answer for solving the messiest challenges in global trade. Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 01:16 Tech’s ‘hurricane reporter’ 03:29 Scooter selling origins 06:49 ‘Schlep blindness’ 09:50 Flexport’s YC pitch 12:46 ‘Nobody cares’ about your startup 17:26 Flexport’s scale today 21:38 Ryan’s Upstart Moment 28:12 AI changes everything 32:58 Getting back to winning 36:01 The future of global trade For more, visit https://www.upstartsmedia.com/ Season 1 of the Upstarts Podcast is presented by Mercury: https://mercury.com/ Produced & edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod: https://lightningpod.fm/
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    39 分
  • Valar Atomics’ Isaiah Taylor: Solving AI’s Energy Crisis With Nuclear ‘Gigasites’

    Valar Atomics’ Isaiah Taylor: Solving AI’s Energy Crisis With Nuclear ‘Gigasites’
    2026/02/26
    Experts have called Valar Atomics CEO Isaiah Taylor “totally nuts.” He says that when you’re trying to build a trillion-dollar company that’s literally splitting the atom, it comes with the territory. Isaiah discusses his origins founding nuclear energy startup Valar, why competitors have failed, and his Upstart Moment in raising $150 million to build new-look energy campuses called “gigasites.” His life’s work: to solve AI’s energy crisis—and keep America on pace with China and Russia globally. Chapters: 00:58 Isaiah’s founder journey 4:18 Why nuclear startups fail 5:55 The case for small reactors 8:36 AI’s energy demands 12:04 Isaiah’s Upstart Moment 14:11 China and the global energy race 19:18 Speed as safety 22:47 Splitting the atom 27:50 Building energy campuses 29:16 Isaiah’s advice for his earlier self For more, visit https://www.upstartsmedia.com/ Season 1 of the Upstarts Podcast is presented by Mercury: https://mercury.com/ Produced & edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod: https://lightningpod.fm/
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    31 分
  • Loyal’s Celine Halioua: From Defying Doubters To Pioneering Dog Longevity

    Loyal’s Celine Halioua: From Defying Doubters To Pioneering Dog Longevity
    2026/02/19
    When Loyal founder Celine Halioua told people she was building a dog longevity startup, they laughed in her face. Now she's running what could be the largest-ever clinical trial to extend canine lifespans — pursuing FDA approval for multiple drugs to help senior and large dogs live two years longer or more. Celine shares her unusual journey to raising $250 million for a startup that defies easy labels, her Upstart Moment taking her biggest fear head-on, and the example she hopes to set for another generation of women deep tech founders. Chapters: 0:00 Intro to Celine and Loyal 1:42 Celine’s origins in human longevity 12:44 Breaking Silicon Valley patterns 14:51 The largest clinical trial for pets 18:13 Handling founder highs and lows 20:53 Celine’s Upstart Moment 24:53 Overcoming her biggest fear 30:56 Finding the right people 34:49 Loyal’s healthier future 38:24: Setting a new example For more, visit https://www.upstartsmedia.com/ Season 1 of the Upstarts Podcast is presented by Mercury: https://mercury.com/ Produced & edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod: https://lightningpod.fm/
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    38 分