From Start-Up to Grown-Up
Episodes
119 episodes
118: Josh Reeves, Co-Founder and CEO of Gusto, The 3-Part Alignment Framework Every Founder Needs Before Their Next Hire [ENCORE]
What if you have been hiring wrong this entire time?In this episode, Josh Reeves, Co-Founder and CEO of Gusto, a $10B people platform serving over 300,000 businesses, joins Alisa Cohn for one of the most practical and deeply human conver...
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117: Jyoti Bansal, Two-Time Founder, How to Win the AI Race Before Your Competitors Catch Up
What happens after you “make it”… and realize money was never the point?In this episode, Jyoti Bansal, Founder & CEO of Harness and founder of AppDynamics (sold for $3.7B), sits down with Alisa Cohn for a conversation that cuts deepe...
116: Gina Bianchini, Founder of Mighty Networks, Stop Building an Audience. Build Community Instead [ENCORE]
What if the thing you’ve been told to build… isn’t the thing that actually creates results?In this encore episode, Gina Bianchini joins Alisa Cohn to break down why community, not content, not audience size, not algorithms, is the real d...
#115 – Tanay Kothari, Co-Founder & CEO of Wispr Flow: How a 27-Year-Old Founder Is Redefining Leadership, Product, and the AI Revolution
What does it actually take to lead when the stakes are real, the decisions are heavy, and people are counting on you?In this episode of From Start-Up to Grown-Up, Alisa Cohn sits down with Tanay Kothari, Co-Founder and CEO of Wi...
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#114 - Kim Scott, Radical Respect and Radical Candor: How to Build Teams That Challenge Directly and Care Personally [ENCORE]
What does it actually mean to care about someone at work?In this encore episode, Alisa Cohn sits down with Kim Scott, former Apple and Google executive and bestselling author of Radical Candor and Radical Respect, to ex...
#113 – Matt Oppenheimer, from Founder to Public Company CEO of Remitly: Why Falling in Love with the Problem Builds Enduring Companies
What does it really take to evolve from first-time founder to public company CEO without losing conviction, culture, or clarity?In this episode of From Start-Up to Grown-Up, Alisa Cohn sits down with Matt Oppenheimer, Co-Founder...
#112 - Sal Di Stefano, Co-Founder of Mind Pump Media, How Authenticity, Cofounder Alignment, and Physical Strength Shape Great Leadership [ENCORE]
What actually drives long-term growth, in business, leadership, and life?In this replay episode, Alisa Cohn sits down with Sal Di Stefano, co-founder of Mind Pump Media, to explore what it really takes to build something that lasts. From...
#111 – Dr. Becky Kennedy on Why Great Leaders Stop Managing Feelings and Start Building Trust
What does it actually mean to lead with authority and empathy, without burning out, people-pleasing, or losing yourself in the process?In this episode, Alisa Cohn sits down with clinical psychologist, parenting expert, and bests...
#110 Jim McKelvey, Cofounder of Square - Innovation When it's Your Only Choice, Overcoming Regulation, and Managing His Intern, Jack Dorsey [ENCORE]
What does it actually take to build something that has never existed before?In this episode, Jim McKelvey, co-founder of Square (now Block), breaks down the real story behind building Square from scratch, not with a perfect plan, but thr...
#109 Robbie Bent cofounder of Othership— From Rock Bottom to Community Buildering Community
In this episode, Robbie Bent,CEO and Co-founder of Othership shares his remarkable journey from addiction recovery to leading one of today’s most innovative wellness brands. Othership combines sauna, ice bath, and guided breathwork to help peop...
#108 Semyon Dukach— MIT Blackjack Team Former Leader, Current VC, Invests Only in Immigrants
Semyon Dukach, the Founding Partner at One Way Ventures, serial entrepreneur, and former leader of the famed MIT Blackjack team, joins me to share his extraordinary journey from arriving in the U.S. as a Soviet refugee to becoming one of New En...
#107 Jonathan Wolf— Co-Founder and CEO of ZOE: The Growth of a Founder, the Most Important Leadership Skills, and How to Raise 7 Million Euros in 3 Weeks (Encore)
Jonathan Wolf is the co-founder and CEO of ZOE, the science-based nutrition company using data to transform how people eat. In this candid conversation, he joins me to explore what it takes to build a mission-driven company, how to lead with mo...
#106 Kass and Mike Lazerow— Serial Married Founders Sold their Company to Salesforce for $750M on Loving the Journey (Encore)
Kass and Mike Lazerow who are serial entrepreneurs, seasoned investors, and co-authors of Shoveling Sh!t: A Love Story About the Entrepreneur’s Messy Path to Success joined me for one of the most honest conversations I’ve had about what it real...
#105 Randy Komisar— Legendary Kleiner Perkins Investor Shares the 3 “Whys” Every Founder Must Answer (Encore)
Randy Komisar is an entrepreneur and investor at Kleiner Perkins.Previously, he was a co-founder of Claris Corp., served as CEO for LucasArts Entertainment and Crystal Dynamics, and acted as “virtual CEO” for such companies as WebTV and ...
#104 Issac Evans— How a Series D CEO Found Product-Market Fit, Stays Self-Aware, and Survived His Bank Melting Dow
In this episode, Alisa Cohn interviews Isaac Evans, co-founder and CEO of Semgrep, a startup giving security tools directly to developers. Isaac shares his journey from conducting research at the U.S. Defense Department and MIT Lincoln Laborato...
#103 Patrick Lee— Rotten Tomatoes Founder: The Secrets to Building an Enduring Business
Patrick Lee is best known as the co-founder and founding CEO of Rotten Tomatoes, the groundbreaking review platform that reshaped how audiences connect with movies and television. What started as a side project born out of his love for film bec...
#102 Robert Glazer — Serial Entrepreneur on the Most Important Tool for Success
Robert Glazer is the founder of Acceleration Partners, a serial entrepreneur, bestselling author, and a leading voice on how values shape leadership. In this episode, Bob shares why stepping down from the company he built triggered a surprising...
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#101 Nick Huber — Building Wealth in “Boring” Businesses
Nick Huber is an entrepreneur and real estate investor who resides in Athens, Georgia, with his wife and three children. He owns Somewhere.com, Bolt Storage, RE Cost Seg, and several other businesses. His real estate portfolio currently include...
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#100 Arvind Jain, Founder of Glean — From Technical Leader to First-Time CEO, the Business Case for Culture and Selling as a Founder’s Superpower
Arvind Jain is the founder and CEO of Glean, the Work AI platform that connects to all your company’s data so you can find, create, and automate anything. In this episode, Arvind shares his journey as a second-time founder and first-time CEO, r...
#99 Naveen Verma — From Princeton Professor to Venture-Backed CEO, Fundraising Without a Network, and Leading Firmly and Empathetically
Naveen Verma is a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Princeton and the co-founder and CEO of EnCharge AI, a startup building radically energy-efficient computers for artificial intelligence. In this episode, Naveen shares how h...
#98 3-time founder Craig Walker — From Selling Door-to-Door to 3-time founder; Building Google Voice; and the Real Trade-offs of Entrepreneurship
Craig Walker is the founder and CEO of Dialpad, a business communications platform powered by AI. A former M&A lawyer turned serial entrepreneur, Craig previously co-founded GrandCentral (acquired by Google and relaunched as Google Voice) a...
#97 Brad Feld, Founder of Techstars - Lessons from Techstars, why you should have “random” meetings, and the value of the “Give First” mentality.
Brad Feld has spent over 40 years building companies, mentoring founders, and investing in the startup ecosystem. He’s the co-founder of Techstars, a prolific venture capitalist, and the author of nine books. In this episode, Brad o...
#96: David Heinemeier Hansson, Co-Owner of 37signals— Creating with first principles, acting with courage, and working in a world with no managers (Repost)
David is the creator of Ruby on Rails, Co-Owner of 37signals, best-selling author, Le Mans class-winning racing driver, antitrust advocate, investor in Danish startups, frequent podcast guest, and family man.He writes regularly on
#95: From Startup to Grown-Up: Bob Young, co-founder of Red Hat - The origin of Open Source; the key to life and startup success, and how failure can fuel you.
Bob Young co-founded Red Hat, the first company to build a successful business around open source software, and helped shape the modern internet in the process. In this episode, Bob shares the story of how Red Hat went from a CD in a Ziploc bag...
#94: From Startup to Grown-Up: Jonathan Wolf, co-founder and CEO of ZOE - The growth of a founder, the most important leadership skills, and how to raise 7 million euros in 3 weeks.
Jonathan Wolf is the co-founder and CEO of ZOE, the science-based nutrition company using data to transform how people eat. In this candid conversation, he joins Alisa to explore what it takes to build a mission-driven company, how to lead with...
