The Social Radars
By Jessica Livingston
Categories: Business, Education, Society & Culture
Jessica Livingston and Carolynn Levy are The Social Radars. Carolynn and Jessica have been working together to help thousands of startups at Y Combinator for almost 20 years. Come be a fly on the wall as they talk to some of the most successful founders in Silicon Valley about how they did it.
66 episodes indexed on PodSearch.
Recent episodes
- Blake Scholl, Founder & CEO, Boom Supersonic: Part 2
In this Social Radars episode we talk with Blake Scholl about one of the cleverest business model transformations in the history of startups: Boom's move into building gas turbines. When Rolls Royce pulled out as Boom's engine supplier, it seemed to many like fatally bad news. But instead it not…
- John Coogan, Co-Founder & Host at TBPN
In the latest Social Radars episode, we turn the tables on John Coogan of TBPN. Now he's answering the questions instead of asking him. We especially liked talking to John because he shares a similar philosophy to us: instead of attacking your subjects, which is easy and boring, ask them the…
- Ron Conway, Founder, SV Angel: Silicon Valley Bank Crisis
In today's Social Radars episode we talk to Ron Conway about one of the most momentous events in recent Silicon Valley history, the failure of Silicon Valley Bank, and the frantic behind-the-scenes efforts that prevented it, with just hours to spare, from triggering a Depression-style financial…
- Justin Kan, Cofounder, Twitch
In this episode of The Social Radars, we talk to Justin Kan, who has spent his whole adult life in startups, much of it around YC in some way. We've funded him three times, the first time in the very first batch, and he's been a YC partner too. So Justin has seen it all, and because he's so…
- Paul Graham, Founder, Y Combinator
Paul Graham is back in the latest episode of The Social Radars. This time we focus on what was going on behind the scenes at Y Combinator back in the early years. If you really want to understand what YC is like and what made it that way, this is the episode for you.
- Peter Reinhardt, CEO & co-founder, Charm Industrial; CEO & co-founder, Segment
In the latest episode of The Social Radars, we talk to Peter Reinhardt, who has the distinction of having started two iconic companies that are completely different from one another: Segment, which does web analytics, and Charm Industrial, which catches CO2 before it can return to the atmosphere…
- Tom Blomfield, Partner, Y Combinator; Co-Founder, Monzo
In today's episode of The Social Radars, we talk to Tom Blomfield, founder and original CEO of the transformative British fintech startup Monzo, and now a YC partner. The striking thing about this interview is simply how much has happened to him. Tom has spent his entire working life in startups…
- Spenser Skates, Founder & CEO, Amplitude
In this episode we talk with Spenser Skates of Amplitude. Amplitude is a spectacular example of a something people talk a lot about in Silicon Valley: the pivot. Their initial idea failed because they depended on technology they didn't have enough control over, but the new one was so successful…
- Christina Cacioppo, Founder & CEO, Vanta
In this episode of The Social Radars we talk to Christina Cacioppo of Vanta. Christina is a case study in agency. She actually did all the things founders know they ought to do but don't have the discipline to. She taught herself to code. She solved an unsexy but real problem. She focused on…
- David Kirtley, Founder & CEO of Helion Energy
In today's episode we talk to the founder of a startup that will have momentous consequences for the whole world if it works: David Kirtley, Founder & CEO of Helion Energy, who is building an actual fusion power plant. Fusion has always been something that was 20 years in the future. Not anymore…
- Jared Friedman, Partner, Y Combinator; Co-founder, Scribd
In the latest episode we talk to one of the great YC insiders, Jared Friedman, who was in the third batch back in summer 2006, as cofounder of Scribd, and who has worked since 2015 as a YC partner. Jared really embodies the spirit of YC. He's incisive, but also a mensch, as you'll notice when you…
- Jessica & Carolynn Announce Season 5!
Jessica & Carolynn Announce Season 5 of The Social Radars
- Blake Scholl, Founder & CEO of Boom Supersonic
In today’s episode, we talk to Blake Scholl, Founder & CEO of Boom Supersonic. Building a supersonic airliner sounds hard, and it is: startups often have dramatic ups and downs, but Boom’s are among the most dramatic we’ve heard. His story was a gripping series of last-minute saves.
- Founder Mode: Sajith Wickramasekara, Founder & CEO, Benchling
In today's Social Radars, we talk to Sajith Wickramasekara of Benchling. For Sajith, founder mode means a pervasive feeling of responsibility for everything at the company. Nothing can be bad at Benchling.
- Founder Mode: Jen Herbach, Founder & CEO, Adventris Pharmaceuticals
In the latest Social Radars, we talk to Jen Herbach of Adventris, which is working on a cancer vaccine. She was in the audience of Brian Chesky's famous founder mode talk, and immediately went home and started changing things.
- Founder Mode: Andy Lapsa, Founder & CEO, Stoke Space
In this episode we talk to Andy Lapsa of Stoke Space. This startup is literally doing rocket science, because they're building fully reusable rockets. Anyone who meets Andy is struck by the depth of his expertise, and in this company that's what founder mode means: a deep understanding of all the…
- Founder Mode: Emmett Shear, Founder, Softmax & Twitch
In this Social Radars episode we talk to Emmett Shear, who told us about an interesting founder mode technique he developed when he was running Twitch. He wanted people there to be able to answer the question "What would Emmett do?" and he found the best way to ensure this was via the weekly…
- Founder Mode: Christina Cacioppo, Founder & CEO, Vanta
In today’s episode, Christina Cacioppo gives us her take on founder mode, which is becoming more important now that Vanta has 1000 employees around the world. She told us about a new variant of the idea: founder mode in fundraising. Christina delayed fundraising till after Vanta hit $100m ARR…
- Founder Mode: Kashish Gupta, Founder and co-CEO of Hightouch
In this episode we talked to Kashish Gupta of Hightouch, who made an important point about founder mode: one of the most important things founders can do that employees can't is to take big risks.
- Founder Mode: Paul Gross, Founder & CEO of Remora Carbon
In this episode we talk to Paul Gross of Remora Carbon, a startup that does carbon capture right out of the exhausts of trucks and trains. Paul has a unique take on founder mode: once a quarter he decides what the three top risks to the company are, and for that quarter, those three things…
- Founder Mode: Chris Best, Founder & CEO, Substack
In this episode, taped in front of a live audience, Chris Best tells us the story of Substack. He reminisces about his adventures with Elon Musk, and explains how he persisted in bringing to market a component of Substack that he knew was critical to their vision, even though any non-founder CEO…
- Founder Mode: Jake Heller, Founder & CEO, Casetext
In this episode, Jake Heller talks about how he and his cofounder discovered the perfect product in a weekend of intense experimentation after GPT4 was released, and then changed the whole direction of the company. This was a classic case of founder mode, because Casetext was already 9 years old…
- Founder Mode: Brian Chesky, Founder & CEO, Airbnb
At YC's first Founder Mode event, we talk with Brian Chesky, whose legendary talk last year was the origin of the concept. Unless you were one of the lucky founders in that audience, this interview is probably the closest you can get to experiencing it.
- Founder Mode: Garry Tan, President & CEO, Y Combinator
We spoke with YC president & CEO Garry Tan about the Founder Mode event he organized for YC alumni. He talks about why founder mode matters and how the concept is evolving the the age of AI.
- Founder Mode: Paul Graham, Founder, Y Combinator
Paul Graham talks about how the concept of founder mode arose from Brian Chesky's famous talk in 2024, what it means, and the latest things he's observed in the startup world.
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