Forward Thinking Founders

I had the pleasure of speaking to Sankaet Pathak, who is the CEO of Synapse. Synapse provides building blocks to build financial software products. They enable anyone to compete with Chase Bank or Bank of America on top of Synpase’s infrastructure. With funding from a16z and Trinity Ventures, this is a rocketship in the making. Some of the questions I asked are:What is Synapse?What can a startup build on top of Synapse?What is wrong with the current system of banking?What are some of the companies are Synapse poweringWhat have you learned while building Synapse?What is the big vision for Synapse?What advice do you have for new founders wanting to start a company?Learn more about Synapse here and learn more about Sankaet here. Thanks for tuning into another episode of Forward Thinking Founders. See you next week :) Get on the email list at forwardthinking.substack.com ★ Support this podcast ★

It was a pleasure to speak to Jude Gomila about his company, Golden. Golden is building a smart knowledge base that is easily searchable of topics in the realms of technology and science. Jude has raised money from the likes of a16z, FoundersFund, SV Angel, and tons more where that came from. In this wide-ranging interview, some of the questions I ask Jude are:What is Golden?How did you get into tech?Where did he get the idea for Golden?What is the user experience like on Golden? How do you think about getting all the world’s knowledge onto Golden?How does Golden use AI to help with the efficacy of information?What makes Golden have perfect timing in the markets? How does Golden know what to listen to in the world to document?What does Golden look like in a decade?What problems interest him in the world?What about Golden makes him so excited to work on it every day?What advice does Jude have for aspiring founders?You can learn more about Golden at Golden.com. You can find Jude on Twitter @judegomila. This was one of the coolest interviews i’ve done and I hope you really enjoy it too. Get on the email list at forwardthinking.substack.com ★ Support this podcast ★

It was so fun to chat with Pavle about what he is working on with Mine VR. Mine VR is a VR Adventure Game for the Blind. Pavle was also one of the first Pioneer winners. which is the game that Daniel Gross started over a year ago. Fun stuff! On this episode, we talk about:What is Mine VR?What problem does it address in the world?What was it like playing and winning Pioneer?What has he learned while working on Mine VR?Why didn’t he use haptic gloves when developing Mine VR?How does he think about VR headset distribution?Thoughts on how to start a company if you have an idea?And tons more! Relevant links:Mine VR’s website KaleidoscopePavle’s TwitterPrune Games’ Twitter I hope you enjoyed this episode as much as I did! See you for the next episode :) Get on the email list at forwardthinking.substack.com ★ Support this podcast ★

It was a treat to interview the CTO and co-founder of Lunchclub, Scott Wu. Lunchclub is a brilliant platform that helps connect like-minded people together for lunch meetings or coffee conversations in select cities. They also just announced a $4M raise from a16z as well, so congrats to them. It’s invite-only right now, but click the link above and you’ll get access. In this dynamic conversation with Scott, we cover topics like:What is Lunchclub?Why are they focusing exclusively on meeting in person?What was the path leading up to Lunchclub?What category does Lunchclub put themselves in, or are they making a new category? How does Lunchclub democratize opportunity and how does that tie into their vision?What other industries interest Scott?How did Scott become the world-leading competitive programmer?What is the vision for Lunchclub?And what are Scott’s top tips to start your own company?I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. Get access to Lunchclub here and learn more about Scott here. Get on the email list at forwardthinking.substack.com ★ Support this podcast ★

There are few people more knowledgable about the future of work and education than Ruben Harris, CEO of Career Karma. Ruben is a wealth of knowledge on all things future of work and I was thrilled to get the chance to sit down and talk with him about some of topics like:What is Career Karma?How did the coding bootcamp era get started Where is the coding bootcamp era headed?What does Ruben see as the future of work?How does the democratization of opportunity matter in the future of work?What are Ruben’s 100-year predictions on where work will end upWhat tips does he have to get started building the futureAnd tons more!!!!Learn more about Ruben on Twitter here and check out his podcast, breaking into startups, here. Get on the email list at forwardthinking.substack.com ★ Support this podcast ★

I am so excited to publish this episode. My guest today, Julia Enthoven, is the CEO of Kapwing. Kapwing makes it simple to create videos for the internet and social media platforms. Recently coming off a big series A, Kapwing is growing rapidly. I am thrilled to get the chance to ask Julia tons of questions about what she’s building, why, and how. We talked about topics like:What is Kapwing?What makes Kapwing different from iMovie?What did she learn from Google before starting Kapwing?Use cases for a tool like KapwingHow did they come up with the name, Kapwing?Where did your “first principles” thinking come from?What do workers expect in software in the next decade?What tips does Julia have as a first-time and younger founder?And way more! Listen to the podcast to hear the rest of the topics! Learn more about Kapwing here and chat with Julia on Twitter here. Thanks to our sponsor, Crash. Crash is the most effective and fun way to find a job. On the job hunt? Throw out your resume, fill out your Crash profile, and launch your job hunt on Crash. Startups, if you’re looking to hire high aptitude employees, Crash should be your first stop. Thanks to Crash for being a sponsor! Get on the email list at forwardthinking.substack.com ★ Support this podcast ★

If there’s one movement I’m most excited about right now, it’s the #nocode movement. One of the companies powering this is Adalo, a platform to build mobile and web applications without coding. Today, I talked to Jeremy Blalock about Adalo and several other topics, including:What does Adalo do?How did Jeremy get started on Adalo?How does one build a platform to allow someone else to build anything?What is Adalo’s place in the no-code movement?What does no code mean for entrepreneurship and access?What are the apps you wish were built on Adalo that haven’t been built yet?What advice would you have for someone trying to build the future?And tons more!Learn more about Adalo here and find Jeremy on Twitter here.Thanks to our sponsor, Crash. Crash is the most effective and fun way to find a job. On the job hunt? Throw out your resume, fill out your Crash profile, and launch your job hunt on Crash. Startups, if you’re looking to hire high aptitude employees, Crash should be your first stop. Thanks to Crash for being a sponsor! Get on the email list at forwardthinking.substack.com ★ Support this podcast ★

Yoshi Yokokawa, CEO and co-founder of Alpaca, builds developer-first APIs for commission-free U.S. stock trading. He explains how Alpaca lets anyone create Robinhood-like products, plans to add crypto and niche assets, and discusses the East-to-West shift in financial power and why fintech infrastructure is becoming core to consumer platforms.

Immad Akhund is my next guest, who is the founder and CEO of Mercury. Immad is a 4x founder, was a part-time YC partner, and is an investor in over 100 tech startups. Mercury is a bank for startups, simple as that. As a customer myself, I am so excited with what Mercury is building, as I have had horrid experiences with other banks in the past. In this episode, we talk about:What is Mercury?Why did he start Mercury?What is the typical banking experience for a startup likeIs working 12 hours a day the right decision?Is it easier starting a startup now than as a first time founder?What areas interest Immad as an investor?What is Immad’s big vision for Mercury?What tips would he have for anyone just getting started in business building.Learn more about Immad on Twitter here.Thanks to our sponsor, Crash. Crash is the most effective and fun way to find a job. On the job hunt? Throw out your resume, fill out your Crash profile, and launch your job hunt on Crash. Startups, if you’re looking to hire high aptitude employees, Crash should be your first stop. Thanks to Crash for being a sponsor! Get on the email list at forwardthinking.substack.com ★ Support this podcast ★

I had a really great conversation with Kate Swanson who is the CEO of Ensembl, which pioneering a new type of cookware system. On the podcast, we covered a range of topics, including:What is Ensembl?The history of pots and pans ngWhat is the actual use of a handle in the kitchen?What is the vision for Ensembl?Thoughts on co-livingThoughts on ChinaThoughts on FintechWhat advice she has for people wanting to start a company.If you haven’t yet, you gotta check out their website and look at the design of these pots and pans. Too cool! Learn more about Kate here and find Ensembl on Twitter here. Get on the email list at forwardthinking.substack.com ★ Support this podcast ★