Chaos To Clarity

In this episode of Chaos to Clarity, Eric Weiss sits down with Misti Cain, the Managing Director of Techstars San Diego powered by SDSU, to unpack what makes this accelerator one of the most selective and impactful pre-seed programs in the world. With more than 1,300 applicants and only six companies selected, Techstars San Diego represents the highest caliber of early-stage founders building across industries, technologies, and geographies. Misti shares why this year’s cohort is different. These founders aren’t just experimenting. They’re arriving with deep domain expertise, early traction, paying customers, and bold visions that span everything from biotech document automation to haptic wearables for the blind to AI compliance for regulated industries. The diversity of ideas is matched only by the diversity of founders — spanning San Diego, Mexico, Canada, Paris, New York, Florida, and more. A major advantage of the program comes from the partnership between Techstars and San Diego State University. Startups gain access to engineering support, prototyping labs, specialized testing, interns, and warm introductions to key university resources. Misti explains why this ecosystem collaboration creates an environment where founders can achieve more in 90 days than most can do in a year. The conversation also explores Misti’s personal journey: from digital marketing strategist, to startup consultant, to award-winning Techstars mentor, to investor, and now Managing Director. Her story highlights the importance of curiosity, lifelong learning, and the power of giving first — a philosophy that sits at the heart of the Techstars culture. Eric and Misti close by zooming out to discuss the San Diego startup ecosystem, why it offers a uniquely collaborative environment, and why founders from all over the world are beginning to choose San Diego as their home base. This episode is a deep dive into community, innovation, leadership, and what it truly takes to build a successful company. Don't forget to subscribe to the Chaos to Clarity Podcast for more invaluable episodes to help you grow your business and stay ahead of the curve!To reach out to Eric, visit https://chaostoclarity.io/

In this episode of Chaos to Clarity, Eric Weiss sits down with Daniel Marashlian, Co-Founder and CTO of Drata, one of San Diego’s fastest-growing SaaS startups.Daniel shares his 20-year founder journey, from building early web systems after the dot-com crash to co-founding Drata, a company now powering compliance automation for more than 8,000 customers.He opens up about what it takes to scale from a small, scrappy team to 700+ employees — and the hard lessons learned along the way.You’ll hear how a painful compliance process in a previous startup inspired Drata’s creation, and how Daniel transformed that frustration into a platform that changed how businesses build trust.In this episode:The early lessons that shaped Daniel’s mindset as a founderHow Drata turned compliance from a blocker into a growth engineWhy “build a painkiller, not a vitamin” became his guiding principleThe breaking points that come with hypergrowth — and how to fix themWhen to layer, delegate, and hire before you’re underwaterHow to turn security into a company culture, not a checkboxWhether you’re a founder, CTO, or tech leader scaling fast, Daniel’s story shows what it means to build systems, teams, and culture that can withstand rapid growth. Don't forget to subscribe to the Chaos to Clarity Podcast for more invaluable episodes to help you grow your business and stay ahead of the curve!To reach out to Eric, visit https://chaostoclarity.io/

 In this episode of Chaos to Clarity, Eric Weiss sits down with Gaurav Agarwal, COO of ClickUp, to unpack how one of San Diego’s biggest SaaS success stories built a $300M ARR business by putting product, speed, and customer obsession at the center of its strategy.Gaurav shares how ClickUp redefined product-led growth, balanced self-serve and sales-assisted revenue models, and built a culture obsessed with iteration and feedback. From eliminating “work about work” to running 100+ experiments per week, this conversation is a masterclass in operational excellence and founder discipline.In This Episode:How ClickUp grew to $300M ARR from San Diego The real meaning of product-led growth (and why it’s misunderstood) Finding the line between free and paid features How to build a customer-obsessed culture Running 100+ experiments per week without chaos The secret to scaling operations without killing innovation Gaurav’s leadership framework: business first, team second, self third Key Quote:“Our speed is our secret weapon. You can’t think your way to success — you have to ship, learn, and iterate relentlessly.”🎧 Full episode and more founder resources at chaostoclarity.io Don't forget to subscribe to the Chaos to Clarity Podcast for more invaluable episodes to help you grow your business and stay ahead of the curve!To reach out to Eric, visit https://chaostoclarity.io/

In this episode of Chaos to Clarity, host Eric Weiss sits down with Ryan Rusnak, Co-Founder and CTO of Airspace, one of San Diego’s fastest-growing logistics tech companies.Ryan shares how Airspace built a $100M business around time-critical shipping, moving everything from organs for transplant to parts for grounded airplanes. He reveals how the team uses AI and machine learning to optimize routing in real time—saving lives, money, and minutes.This episode dives into:The story behind Airspace and its life-saving logistics technologyHow to build a tech-enabled logistics startup from zero to scaleWhy trust and delegation are essential for growing your engineering teamLessons in leadership, hiring, and managing growth from startup to global scaleThe role of AI and neural networks in transforming traditional industriesWhether you’re a startup founder, CTO, or just fascinated by the intersection of AI and logistics, this conversation will inspire you to think bigger about what technology can achieve when the stakes are real. Don't forget to subscribe to the Chaos to Clarity Podcast for more invaluable episodes to help you grow your business and stay ahead of the curve!To reach out to Eric, visit https://chaostoclarity.io/

Episode Summary:In this episode, Eric Weiss sits down with Andy Ballester, serial entrepreneur and co-founder of GoFundMe and EyePop.ai, to unpack the highs, lows, and lessons of building category-defining startups. Andy shares how an early college job at a software startup sparked his passion for technology, why he bootstrapped GoFundMe into a global fundraising platform, and what it took to scale from two founders to a household brand that processed over a billion dollars in giving.Andy also reveals the insights behind his newest venture, EyePop.ai, a computer vision platform making AI accessible to developers and businesses across industries. He explains how modern visual intelligence can turn everyday images and video into actionable data—from analyzing pickleball swings to inspecting drone footage of rooftops—and why speed, lean teams, and clear product design are essential in today’s fast-moving AI landscape.Listeners will learn:How GoFundMe evolved from a simple savings concept into the world’s leading personal fundraising site The technical and UX hurdles of early fintech and how Andy’s team overcame them Why bootstrapping worked for GoFundMe but venture funding is key for AI startups The critical role of co-founders, emotional resilience, and a “stoic CEO” mindset in surviving the startup grind Practical advice for founders on team building, product iteration, and staying ahead of AI’s rapid innovation curve Whether you’re a first-time founder, a product leader, or an investor tracking the next wave of AI infrastructure, Andy’s journey offers a masterclass in startup strategy, growth, and perseverance. Don't forget to subscribe to the Chaos to Clarity Podcast for more invaluable episodes to help you grow your business and stay ahead of the curve!To reach out to Eric, visit https://chaostoclarity.io/

Afif Khoury, CEO and founder of SOCi, shares insights on scaling a platform designed for multi-location brands. He discusses overcoming initial market rejection and the importance of customer success over mere sales growth. Afif reveals how hyper-growth exposed system flaws and required painful pivots, emphasizing the innovative use of applied AI to streamline marketing workflows. He also highlights the significance of maintaining a strong culture as the company scales, advocating for hiring talented individuals and empowering them to drive success.

They dive deep into:The evolution of the San Diego startup scene since 2013 The power of founder-led communities and grassroots events Why curated connections matter more than vanity metrics Lessons from Startup Week, EvoNexus, and Startup San Diego The rise of angel investing groups like Interlock and Rising Tide Partners Challenges San Diego faces compared to Silicon Valley and how to overcome them If you are a founder, investor, or community builder looking to understand the future of San Diego tech, this is a must-listen conversation.Key Topics & TakeawaysStartup Communities Framework: Why Brad Feld’s Startup Communities is Neal’s “startup bible” Investing in People, Not Just Companies: Neal’s philosophy of betting on founders first From Coffee Meetings to Community Hubs: Why San Diego needs physical spaces for collisions, not just coworking desks The State of San Diego Startups: Momentum, challenges, and opportunities post-COVID Founder-Led Movement: How entrepreneurs can create “gravity wells” to attract investors, talent, and resources Event Co-Founders: How to keep community events consistent and impactful without founder burnout Don't forget to subscribe to the Chaos to Clarity Podcast for more invaluable episodes to help you grow your business and stay ahead of the curve!To reach out to Eric, visit https://chaostoclarity.io/

This episode continues the conversation with Jason Corso - Professor of Robotics and EECS at University of Michigan and Co-Founder/Chief Science Officer at Voxel51 - a Series A AI software company that enables machine learning and computer vision scientists to rapidly curate and experiment with their datasets in order to build higher performing machine learning systems.AI platforms have been a game changer for productivity and mapping, but it’s not yet at the level of flexibility that would eliminate most of the grunt work. Eric and Jason speak on how they’d like to see AI platforms collaborate and get to a point where they not only map out your tasks, but also do a lot of the preliminary work - just like an assistant would. Generalized and personalized AI assistants are the next big step that would vastly increase the value that executives get from utilizing AI in their daily workflow. Eric speaks on how he’s currently using ChatGPT to some level of success, but also mentions something we’ve all felt - the need for a system that compartmentalizes workflows, remembers information and draws custom next steps from previously established context.Everyone’s excited for what’s next for generative AI. Even though closed models are currently performing better than open-source, this situation will most likely change with time as more tools become available. Jason breaks down annotation strategies and speaks on how the idea of just taking data and training your own models might not be the most efficient way to drive innovation as an AI startup. There’s a lot of work in understanding how to create good datasets, which is something that most companies are missing.Tune into the full episode to learn more about the potential of AI!HIGHLIGHTS:00:00 Utilizing Microsoft AutoGen04:04 What’s next for AI assistant platforms?  09:03 The problem with ChatGPT 12:47 What’s the next step in AI tool development?17:31 The problem with questionable datasetsConnect with Jason - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-corso/ Check out Voxel51 - https://voxel51.com/ Don't forget to subscribe to the Chaos to Clarity Podcast for more invaluable episodes to help you grow your business and stay ahead of the curve!To reach out to Eric, visit https://chaostoclarity.io/ Don't forget to subscribe to the Chaos to Clarity Podcast for more invaluable episodes to help you grow your business and stay ahead of the curve!To reach out to Eric, visit https://chaostoclarity.io/

Today’s episode welcomes Jason Corso - Professor of Robotics and EECS at University of Michigan and Co-Founder/Chief Science Officer at Voxel51 - a Series A AI software company that enables machine learning and computer vision scientists to rapidly curate and experiment with their datasets in order to build higher performing machine learning systems.Jason is a builder by nature. During his academic career he started to ask himself - “can I have a bigger impact on the world?”, which led him to meet his co-founder and start Voxel 51. Both of them had a passion for machine learning and an ability to write code - which is how his transition from academia to consulting began. In the early days they received a grant which worked out well and funded them through the process of building their first service. Building a service, however, was never part of the plan. Once they realized that the limitations of the grant won’t enable building a product, they sought out venture capital. This venture capital boost allowed them to build out their open-source platform which has more than 2 million downloads as of this episode. Jason speaks on the early success stories of Voxel51. One of their earliest clients took just 1% of their data and in a few hours they were able to look at the data visually, which enabled them to figure out where mistakes were made. Data quality is more important than the sophistication of the system, and Voxel51 enables their clients to find where inefficiencies live.Even with a great system - human input is still needed when it comes to quality control. Jason speaks on how humans filling in the gaps when the system is less certain is highly effective - even though it doesn’t scale. Eric speaks on how experienced data scientists develop an almost 6th sense when looking at data and understanding that something is wrong and a change is in order. Check out the full episode to learn more on how to approach utilizing data! HIGHLIGHTS:03:41 Building a service-based business05:21 When do you utilize Voxel51 in the development process?09:52 Quality or quantity - what’s more important for your data?15:05 The importance of human pattern recognition 18:03 New applications of AI toolsConnect with Jason - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-corso/ Check out Voxel51 - https://voxel51.com/ Don't forget to subscribe to the Chaos to Clarity Podcast for more invaluable episodes to help you grow your business and stay ahead of the curve!To reach out to Eric, visit https://chaostoclarity.io/ Don't forget to subscribe to the Chaos to Clarity Podcast for more invaluable episodes to help you grow your business and stay ahead of the curve!To reach out to Eric, visit https://chaostoclarity.io/

This episode continues the conversation with Raj Verma, CEO of SingleStore - a Series F startup that provides a cloud-native database built with speed and scale to power real-time applications.Eric and Raj discuss the implications of openly available AI. On one hand, a ton of good will be brought into the world. On the other hand, every new technology comes with its caveats and even the simplest things like booking a flight online can lead to malicious actors scamming people out of their hard earned money.Eric recalls his work with an executive at OpenAI, where he had a sneak peak into what we now know as ChatGPT, and their team was by no means blind to the possibility of their tech being used for the wrong reasons. The team at OpenAI had factored this in, and are cognizant of the fact that they are responsible for safety regulations for their software.Raj speaks on AI regulation, and believes that the biggest governments in the world will regulate AI usage appropriately, as none of them are interested in AI-supported crimes. This doesn’t mean that all regulation will be the same, as global superpowers have differentiating viewpoints in their social and governing philosophies, which could cause problems down the line.Change happens faster than we think. Raj uses the analogy of how fast cars replaced horses in the early 1900’s, when talking about how quickly the AI revolution can take place. Predictions are typically made drawing comparisons to the past, but as it’s been proven time and time again - the future comes quicker than we can possibly imagine, and Raj sees a similar pattern with how AI is disrupting us right now.Tune into the full episode to learn more wisdom about the upcoming AI revolution!HIGHLIGHTS:00:00 What’s the true value of AI?03:48 Does tech democratization lead to good or evil?07:02 AI Regulations on social media 09:53 The potential destructiveness of AI12:41 GameStop and Silicon Valley Bank 16:59 Change happens faster than we thinkConnect with Raj - https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajvermaceo/Don't forget to subscribe to the Chaos to Clarity Podcast for more invaluable episodes to help you grow your business and stay ahead of the curve! To reach out to Eric, visit ChaosToClarity.io Don't forget to subscribe to the Chaos to Clarity Podcast for more invaluable episodes to help you grow your business and stay ahead of the curve!To reach out to Eric, visit https://chaostoclarity.io/