Castuner

Build Mode

TechCrunch

On Build Mode, TechCrunch's Startup Battlefield Editor Isabelle Johannessen cuts through the startup mythology to uncover how founders survive the brutal early days, navigate impossible funding landscapes, and somehow keep their companies — and sanity— intact. Each season, Isabelle is joined by founders, investors, and operators to dig into specific aspects of the startup journey, from creative go to market strategies to founder mental health. The interviews are full of candid startup wisdom—think cap table drama, co-founder breakups, and pivot panic. So, if you’re starting a company or or even just thinking about it, this is your survival guide.

Сайт подкаста

Слушайте в своём приложении

Эпизоды

243 эпизода

  1. VC’s Gender Gap is Closing (But Not Fast Enough) with Paige Hendrix Buckner 33:28
  2. Build Mode Bonus: Inside the VC Decision-Making Process with True Ventures' Puneet Agarwal 56:43
  3. The Case for Crowdfunding Before Raising Venture Capital with Everette Taylor, Kickstarter 35:35
  4. How a first-time founder bootstrapped her way to a $47.5 Million Exit with Ashley Tyrner-Dolce, FarboxRx 43:52
  5. Archer Went Public Just 3 Years After Launching and It Paid Off with Adam Goldstein 39:38
  6. How Mbodi Is Solving Robotics’ Scaling Problem with Xavier Chi 33:33
  7. Mistakes That Make Investors Nervous, According to a PhD in Pitching 56:44
  8. How a Crisis Turned Julia Hartz Into the CEO Eventbrite Needed 59:03
  9. Learn What VCs Actually Want, From a Founder Who's Raised $1B with Sasha Orloff, Puzzle 44:46
  10. The VC Backing the American Dream with Manan Mehta, Unshackled Ventures 42:34
  11. The legal mistakes that can sink your startup before series A with Kristina Subbotina, Lexsy 41:07
  12. Why SeatGeek walked away from going public with Jack Groetzinger 26:54
  13. Nvidia's Sydney Sykes on Winning Corporate Venture Capital Deals 43:10
  14. How Elorian AI pulled off a $300M pre-seed valuation with Andrew Dai 35:59
  15. The New Rules of Early-Stage Fundraising with Charles Hudson 41:33
  16. Build Mode: Inside the Fundraise 0:55
  17. Best of Build Mode: Think like a VC 16:52
  18. Best of Build Mode: Scaling Company Culture 18:02
  19. Best of Build Mode: The Founder Mistakes That Cost Time, Money, and Growth 27:09
  20. Best of Build Mode: Cofounders, Conflict and Compatibility 20:53
  21. The 7-Failure Rule: How Forethought AI Found Product-Market Fit with Co-Founder Deon Nicholas 45:30
  22. Maintaining Momentum and Morale During the Long Road to FDA Approval with Robhy Bustami, BioticsAI 31:51
  23. Don't stop hiring humans. Stop hiring the wrong humans with Jaspar Carmichael-Jack, Artisan 36:44
  24. How geCKo Materials Turned a Lab Breakthrough into a Scalable Deep Tech Startup 31:52
  25. How to handle layoffs with compassion with Ayal Yogev, Anjuna 45:43
  26. Diverse teams start with diverse VCs with Leah Solivan, Taskrabbit 46:51
  27. Why hiring the weirdos works with Isaiah Granet, Bland 50:01
  28. How to fight with your co-founder with Ian Schmidt, Trimergence 48:35
  29. When startups become a family business 41:25
  30. Building a lean team before raising big with David Park, Narada 38:13
  31. Behavioral AI and the compatibility advantage with Sarah Lucena, Mappa 44:25
  32. Compensation, culture, and cap tables with Yuri Sagalov, General Catalyst 44:07
  33. Build Mode is back: Building world-class founding teams 1:05
  34. It’s time to throw away the old go-to-market playbook with Paul Irving from GTMfund 37:20
  35. 2026 predictions from LP-lead investments to IPO mania: Equity crossover 35:27
  36. Making life (and death) better despite regulatory barriers 50:02
  37. Capital is a commodity (but your investor relationships aren’t) 45:05
  38. Your network is your first go-to-market strategy 36:01
  39. From military logistics to Startup Battlefield 2025 champion with Glīd founder, Kevin Damoa 32:57
  40. Beyond growth hacks: real stories of reaching untapped markets 28:34
  41. The 7-Failure Rule: How Forethought AI Found Product-Market Fit with Co-Founder Deon Nicholas 46:54
  42. Product, Meet Market 0:51
  43. Introducing Build Mode 0:36
  44. Saying goodbye to Found where we started 51:04
  45. How to build a company that can save the world while generating profit 21:19
  46. Getting realistic about AI’s potential with Nick Frosst from Cohere 39:37
  47. Rethinking the social network with Andy Dunn from Pie 47:54
  48. The playbook for empathy-driven investing with Erin and Sara Foster from Oversubscribed Ventures 20:22
  49. Closing a major gap in women's health with Alloy Women's Health 44:54
  50. Building a data powerhouse for the AI era with Felix Van de Maele from Collibra 39:05