The Upstarts Podcast

TBC’s Alex Ksendzovsky: The Neurosurgeon Using Brain Cells To Build Better AI

Ever since neurosurgeon Alex Ksendzovsky was in college, he’s been captivated by an idea worthy of a mad scientist: turning brain cell ‘wetware’ into ‘software’ that can make predictions and help train AI. It sounds like science fiction, but at Ksenzovsky’s startup The Biological Computing Co., or TBC, the founder swears it’s already reality. A model improved with algorithms derived from a process that involves connecting a dish of neurons to tiny electrodes demonstrated a 27-fold efficiency gain. “I have about 500 million years of evidence behind me,” Ksendzovsky says. “So our moat is evolution.” Investors have poured more than $25 million into the project. But at least one told Ksendzovsky to leave the neurons out of their pitch, for now. He won’t listen. “We’re bringing something completely crazy to the world, and we’re showing that it works,” Ksendzovsky says. On The Upstarts Podcast, we discuss why algorithms derived by actual brain cells beat traditional ones only inspired by the brain; the ethics of using living neurons for training AI models; and a possible living data center future. Plus, Ksendzovksy shares his Upstart Moment: giving up, alongside his neurosurgeon co-founder, promising careers in academia to pursue a startup. CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction 01:12 Building software from wetware 05:09 A college idea to predict the stock market 08:40 The first test from an Airbnb 12:46 Rat neurons and electrodes 17:30 Pitching VCs with no data 24:52 Promising early AI results 31:09 The ethics of using neurons 34:40 ‘Our moat is evolution’ 35:38 A real-time biological computing future For more, visit ⁠⁠⁠https://www.upstartsmedia.com/⁠⁠⁠ [https://www.upstartsmedia.com/%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0%E2%81%A0] Season 2 of the Upstarts Podcast is presented by ⁠⁠⁠Rippling⁠⁠ [https://rippling.ai/upstarts] Produced & edited by Eric Johnson from ⁠⁠⁠LightningPod [https://lightningpod.fm/]

Vanta’s Christina Cacioppo: The Underdog Turning ‘Nonsense’ Compliance Into A $4.2B Security Standout

When Vanta co-founder Christina Cacioppo first pitched investors on compliance software, she faced a frosty reception. It wasn’t a viable product category, she was told. They’d sell for peanuts within a couple of months. No one actually wanted to work on compliance. But Cacioppo had felt the pain first-hand. She was convinced: software could prove the perfect painkiller for fellow startups to handle security audits and grow faster. Today, Vanta works with more than 16,000 customers like Lovable, Snowflake and Icelandair. It’s valued at $4.2 billion – and it’s successful enough that Cacioppo is now fending off a new wave of startup copycats. She welcomes the challenge. “I subscribe to the ‘never let them see you blink’ school of thought,” she says. On The Upstarts Podcast, Cacioppo shares how she created hype in a sleepy category; how she prioritizes “infinity things” as a startup unicorn CEO; and why when it comes to good security hygiene, we could all spend more time brushing our teeth. Plus, she shares her Upstart Moment: working to re-think, and attempt to future-proof, Vanta’s software business for the era of powerful AI models. CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction 1:39 What Vanta does 5:26 Selling to other startups 9:28 How AI agents change ‘pretty much everything’ 14:06 Christina’s *real* founder origin story 16:23 Underdog fundraising and gaming VCs 18:59 The problem with startup valuations 24:08 Turning LinkedIn ‘cringe’ into customer traction 26:41 Reinventing Vanta with AI 33:43 Whether AI could clone Vanta 35:23 ‘Never let them see you blink’ 37:24 Avoiding burnout with ‘infinity things’ to do For more, visit ⁠⁠https://www.upstartsmedia.com/⁠⁠ [https://www.upstartsmedia.com/] Season 2 of the Upstarts Podcast is presented by ⁠⁠Rippling⁠ [https://rippling.ai/upstarts] Produced & edited by Eric Johnson from ⁠⁠LightningPod [https://lightningpod.fm/]

Orchid’s Noor Siddiqui: Rigging The Genetic Lottery To Create Healthier ‘Superbabies’

If you could fix the genetic lottery to ensure your baby was born healthy, would you? For entrepreneur Noor Siddiqui, there's no question. Ever since her mother started to lose her vision as the result of a genetic condition, she’s dreamed of solving the problem through better genetic testing. And at Orchid, the startup she founded in 2019, she now offers a novel approach to genetic testing that can spot thousands of potential conditions in embryos before they’re implanted as part of the IVF process. Orchid assisted its first birth in 2023, and now works with more than 100 clinics in the U.S. and abroad. But Siddiqui’s vision for designer “superbabies” has plenty of doubters, from Orchid’s ethical implications to its cost, at $2,500 per screened embryo. Siddiqui’s heard it all. "Right now, it might be edgy for me to say, 'Sex is for fun, and embryo screening is for babies,' but I just think it's a statement of fact.” On the The Upstarts Podcast, Siddiqui talks about her founder journey as a Thiel Fellow turned Stanford research dropout; why she compares previous testing to proofreading only the chapter titles of a book; and how she’s gotten used to the backlash. Plus, she talks about her Upstart Moment: sparking a new wave of reproductive tech startups that she sees carrying the field far beyond where Orchid can go alone. CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction 1:45 Creating ‘superbabies’ 3:17 Motivated by mom’s blindness 8:04 Stigma around reproductive tech 11:26 How Orchid improves IVF 16:19 From Thiel Fellow to Stanford 21:42 Dropping out (again) for Orchid 24:40 Facing the ‘holy war’ haters 28:44 Orchid’s cost and improving access 34:00 Noor’s Upstart Moment 36:58 What success looks like For more, visit ⁠https://www.upstartsmedia.com/⁠ [https://www.upstartsmedia.com/] Season 2 of the Upstarts Podcast is presented by ⁠Rippling [https://rippling.ai/upstarts] Produced & edited by Eric Johnson from ⁠LightningPod [https://lightningpod.fm/]

Runway’s Cris Valenzuela: Building The Hollywood-Friendly Video AI That OpenAI Couldn’t

The ChatGPT craze was still years away when Chilean-born Cris Valenzuela co-founded Runway to tinker on visual AI models with two classmates at an NYU lab in 2018. Back then, investors weren't sold — not just on video AI, but on generative AI altogether. "There's always doubt when you get 50 rejections," Valenzuela says. "I've realized that building something special, you have to be able and willing to be non-consensus driven." Fast forward, and Runway works not just with many film studios and Hollywood, but creative teams and engineers at corporations like Allstate, Siemens and Robinhood. It's had no recent trouble fundraising, reaching a $5.3 billion valuation. And it's outlasted gen AI's heavyweight, OpenAI, which recently shuttered its Sora app. On The Upstarts Podcast, Valenzuela talks about his journey building an AI lab for artists in New York, and what the big labs missed; why Runway helps expert and amateur filmmakers alike; and why he believes creators should look past controversy around AI to embrace technology. Plus, he shares his Upstart Moment: collecting those rejection emails from top VCs and sharing them with the whole company to motivate his team. Chapters 00:00 Introduction 02:32 Why world models matter 03:57 What OpenAI got wrong 06:32 Runway’s NYU origins 13:10 Like going to the gym 16:06 A fan at ‘The Late Show’ 20:36 Cris’s Upstart Moment: VC doubts 25:30 Building at the speed of AI 30:28 Darren Aronofsky and amateur users 33:12 A new normal in filmmaking 39:05 Up next: Characters, robots and games For more, visit https://www.upstartsmedia.com/ [https://www.upstartsmedia.com/] Season 1 of the Upstarts Podcast is presented by Mercury [https://mercury.com/] Produced & edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod [https://lightningpod.fm/]

Chapter's Cobi Blumenfeld-Gantz: From Palantir To $3B Medicare Disruptor

When Cobi Blumenfeld-Gantz's parents struggled to navigate Medicare—faxes, phone calls, even a trip to the Social Security office—he figured someone had built a better way. Nobody had. So, in 2020, he co-founded Chapter: a startup focused on connecting Americans to better Medicare plans, saving seniors thousands of dollars per year. Among legacy healthcare players, that hasn’t made him many fans. “I am one of the most hated people in the industry,” he says. “I’m bad for business.” On The Upstarts Podcast, Blumenfeld-Gantz shares his journey from foreign policy studies to forward deployed engineer at Palantir; how Chapter’s nationwide database of Medicare plans helped it reach $100 million in revenue and a $3 billion valuation; and why he proposes a twist on a typical startup metric: product-market-channel fit. Plus, he shares his Upstart Moment: when last year’s government shutdown cut off Chapter's data right at the opening of Medicare's busiest enrollment window, and his team had one week to reverse-engineer their way out. Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 01:04 Solving his parents’ problem 08:08 From foreign policy to Palantir 12:01 Why Palantir breeds so many startup founders 14:28 Getting started and managing VC no’s 20:24 Why product market channel fit matters 26:51 Cobi’s Upstart Moment: the shutdown 32:33 “One of the most hated people in the industry’ 35:41Tuning out noise and talent density 42:37 Up next: a wider financial platform for senior spend For more, visit https://www.upstartsmedia.com/ [https://www.upstartsmedia.com/] Season 1 of the Upstarts Podcast is presented by Mercury [https://mercury.com/] Produced & edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod [https://lightningpod.fm/]