Episode 412: Nick Leonard - CEO & Co-Founder, VoiceRun

Jan 26, 2026

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Episode 412 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Nick Leonard, CEO & Co-Founder of VoiceRun. Is voice finally having its moment? For years, it felt like the "promised land" that never quite arrived. But things are different in 2026, in many ways, and from what I’ve noticed is a shift in consumer behavior where voice is becoming the primary interface. Maybe it’s because the technology is so much better for basic commands like speech-to-text, but the next wave of voice AI startups are looking to completely revolutionize the game with agentic voice AI systems that don’t just talk, but listen, reason, and take action in real-time. Voice is hard, though. A lot goes into building a platform that truly does voice right and if you don’t get it right, whatever app or platform you are building will fail. That’s exactly the gap that Nick and his team are bridging. VoiceRun is a developer-first platform for enterprise voice agents. Unlike the low-code, visual tools that often break under the weight of complex business logic, VoiceRun offers a code-first "Foundry" that gives developers the control they need to build secure, reliable, and scalable voice infrastructure. The company recently announced a $5.5M seed round led by Flybridge, with participation from RRE Ventures and Link Ventures. In this episode of our podcast, we cover: * Nick’s perspective on the strategic decision for AI startups to build broad platforms versus niche industry solutions. * His journey from Muncie, Indiana, to being a track athlete at MIT and competing in the decathlon. * Getting his start working on F-135 Joint Strike Fighters at Pratt & Whitney, and the lessons learned from his previous startup and leadership roles at Jobcase and Posh Technologies. * The background story of how he and co-founder Derek Caneja landed on a developer-first platform for building enterprise voice agents. * Why they intentionally chose not to put "AI" in the company name or branding. * What truly makes a great Product Manager * And so much more!