Just Raised
294 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 2 years ago - ★★★★★ - 28 ratingsVenture-backed startups are springing up across the globe, but how do you keep up with what’s coming next? On Just Raised, you’ll be first to hear from the founders of those newly minted companies about the companies they’re building. Hosted by Joe Sweeny, the show dives deep into a venture-led startup, discussing the product, business model and new technology. Expect experts from the world of space commercialization (Atomos Space), rivals to the Airbnb model (Casai), and companies making relationship management an art form (Clay) plus many more. You’ll get the inside scoop on cutting-edge enterprises, and hear the inspiring personal stories behind them. Every episode, you’ll hear a thoughtful prediction from each of Joe’s guests on where the future of their industry is heading. Don’t miss new episodes dropping every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Make sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. And if you’re a fan of Acquired, Invest Like The Best, Business Breakdowns or 20VC, you’ll love Just Raised.
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Episodes
Jeeves [Fintech]
September 11, 2021 00:14 - 37 minutes - 34.3 MBSherwin Gandhi is the founder of Jeeves, a global banking as a service startup. This company has seen absolutely wild growth. At just one year old they just crossed a $500M valuation after raising a $57M Series B from CRV, SVB Capital, Tencent and a number of incredible angels. Enjoy!
Acrylic - Web3 101
September 08, 2021 22:15 - 38 minutes - 35.8 MBAsh Egan is the founder of Acrylic, a new $55M crypto fund providing inception capital to crypto founders. We talk crypto culture, the NFT art boom, crypto social companies, and Ash's favorite new crypto projects. Essential listening for crypto founders and investors. Sponsored by Vouch Insurance Check our Acrylic!
Acrylic [Crypto]
September 08, 2021 22:15 - 38 minutes - 35.8 MBAsh Egan is the founder of Acrylic, a new $55M crypto fund providing inception capital to crypto founders. We talk crypto culture, the NFT art boom, crypto social companies, and Ash's favorite new crypto projects. Essential listening for crypto founders and investors. Sponsored by Vouch Insurance Check our Acrylic!
Unit21 [Fintech]
August 17, 2021 10:00 - 33 minutes - 31.2 MBToday on the show we talk to the founders of Unit21, a no code toolset for compliance. Unit21 is building an engine that allows compliance teams at FinTech companies to build unique, customized defense systems, without needing to know how to code. It both empowers compliance teams and frees up engineering teams who would rather be building product than compliance protocols. Unit21 is Hiring! We have both founders on the show today. Tricia Kothari is the CEO and was formerly an early engin...
The Future of Space with Rob Meyerson
July 22, 2021 22:36 - 31 minutes - 29 MBRob Meyerson is the former president of Blue Origin. Rob was recruited by Jeff Bezos to run the company way back in 2003 and served as president until 2018. He was critical in developing New Shepherd, the rocket which just yesterday brought Jeff Bezos and three other civilian astronauts to space. Since then he's become a full-time investor at C5 capital. In this episode, we talk about companies building transportation networks to the moon, lunar mining and 3d printing, and one of Rob's fi...
Atomos Space with Vanessa Clark [Space]
July 19, 2021 20:31 - 40 minutes - 37.6 MBVanessa Clark is the CEO and Founder of Atomos Space. Atomos is building vehicles for a radical new use case in space, last-mile satellite transportation. Orbital transfer vehicles, nicknamed space tugs in the industry, attach to satellites and ferry them to new orbits. Think tow trucks or tug boats, but in space. Atomos is building the first of these vehicles to ever be deployed. Check out Atomos Space
Pietra with Ronak Trivedi
July 13, 2021 14:51 - 47 minutes - 43.9 MBRonak Trivedi is the founder and CEO of Pietra, a platform to help creators start direct to consumer businesses. Pietra is bringing factories and suppliers online so that anyone can build unique products and start a brand. This is a conversation on direct to consumer companies but also on manufacturing, logistics, and the challenges of making the physical world - factories overseas - accessible via software. Pietra just raised $15M from Kieth Rabois at Founders Fund and Andrew Chen at Andr...
Meet Cute with Naomi Shah
July 06, 2021 20:26 - 38 minutes - 35.8 MBNaomi Shah is the CEO and Founder of Meet Cute, a media company specializing in scripted podcasts, specifically romcoms. Naomi started Meet Cute out of Union Sq ventures where she was an investor looking for venture back-able businesses in consumer media. She just raised a $6M Series A from USV and Lerer Hippeau. Meet Cute has a fascinating business model where they use 15 minute podcasts and the tight narrative structure of a standard romantic comedy to iterate on hundreds of different sto...
Vouch - Insurtech 101 with Travis Hedge
June 28, 2021 13:31 - 41 minutes - 38.2 MBTravis Hedge is the cofounder of Vouch Insurance Company www.vouch.us
Vouch - Insurtech 101 with Travis Hedge [Fintech]
June 28, 2021 13:31 - 41 minutes - 38.2 MBTravis Hedge is the cofounder of Vouch Insurance Company www.vouch.us
Eco with Andy Bromberg [Fintech]
June 21, 2021 23:01 - 34 minutes - 32.2 MBAndy Bromberg is the CEO of Eco, a consumer FinTech built on US Dollar Coin. Eco bridges the gap between decentralized finance and the mass consumer market. Andy and his team just raised $26 million from A16Z Crypto. Check out Eco Follow the show on Twitter at @justraisedfm, Andy at @andy_bromberg, and Joe at @joeysweeny
Rocket Lab with Peter Beck
June 11, 2021 14:37 - 46 minutes - 43.1 MBPeter Beck is the founder and CEO of Rocket Lab, a rocket company. We talk about Rocket Lab's upcoming missions to Venus and the Moon, launch as a platform for new space businesses, and of course building rockets. Rocket Lab just announced a SPAC that values the company at $4.1B. Follow the show on Twitter at @justraisedfm, Rocket Lab at @RocketLab, and Joe at @joeysweeny
Rocket Lab with Peter Beck [Space]
June 11, 2021 14:37 - 46 minutes - 43.1 MBPeter Beck is the founder and CEO of Rocket Lab, a rocket company. We talk about Rocket Lab's upcoming missions to Venus and the Moon, launch as a platform for new space businesses, and of course building rockets. Rocket Lab just announced a SPAC that values the company at $4.1B. Follow the show on Twitter at @justraisedfm, Rocket Lab at @RocketLab, and Joe at @joeysweeny
Titan with Clayton Gardner [Fintech]
June 07, 2021 18:47 - 29 minutes - 27 MBClayton Gardner is the founder and CEO of Titan, a direct-to-consumer hedge fund. Titan went through Y Combinator in 2018 and just raised $12.5 million in a Series A from General Catalyst. Check out Titan Follow the show on Twitter at @justraisedfm, Clayton @virtualclay, and Joe at @joeysweeny
Elefund & Robinhood with Nate Rodland [Fintech]
May 31, 2021 23:00 - 43 minutes - 40.3 MBNate Rodland is a General Partner at Elefund and was formerly a founder and Chief Operating Officer at Robinhood. Elefund was one of the very first investors in Robinhood and turned a $9 million fund in 2015 into seed investments in juggernauts, like Robinhood, Carta, Calm, and Pi Insurance. Along with announcing Nate as General Partner, they just announced a $30 million fund 2. Elefund Fund 2 Announcement Follow the show on Twitter at @justraisedfm, Elefund at @elefundVC, and Joe at @joey...
Tess Hatch - Boardrooms and Rocketships [Space]
May 27, 2021 15:58 - 34 minutes - 31.7 MBTess Hatch is a Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners where she focuses on frontier tech and specifically space. She's on the board of Spire and is a board observer at Rocket Labs, both of which recently announced they're going public via SPACs. Prior to joining Bessemer Tess was an aerospace engineer at Boeing and SpaceX. Follow the show on Twitter at @justraisedfm and Joe at @joeysweeny
Modern Treasury - Payment Ops with Dimitri Dadiomov [Fintech]
May 24, 2021 22:10 - 32 minutes - 29.9 MBDimitri Dadiomov is the founder and CEO of Modern Treasury, a payments operations company. Modern Treasury just raised a $38 million series B from Altimeter following up on a $10 million raise from Benchmark. Co-hosting this episode is SVB's Head of Fintech Denny Boyle. The MT Journal You can follow Dimitri on Twitter at @dadiomov and Joe at @joeysweeny
Spire - Satellites with Peter Platzer [Space]
May 20, 2021 18:10 - 42 minutes - 39.3 MBPeter Platzer is the founder and CEO of Spire, a nanosatellite company with over 100 satellites in orbit. Peter just announced a $1.6 billion SPAC. Spire manufacturers all its own satellites, but their main product is data in the form of a SAS platform for companies and governments here on earth. In this episode, we talk about who has rights in space, Moore’s Law for satellites, and what you can do with a satellite network that scans every spot of the earth every 15 minutes. You can follow...
Propel - Stronger Saftey Nets with Jimmy Chen [Fintech]
May 17, 2021 21:35 - 47 minutes - 43.6 MBJimmy Chen is the founder and CEO of Propel, a fintech focused on low-income Americans. Propel has raised $18.5M to date from investors like Nyca Partners, Inspired Capital, and Andreessen Horowitz. In this episode, we talk about the opportunity in building products for underserved Americans, how Jimmy bootstrapped the company for the first 3 years of its existence, and how government safety net programs work. You can follow Jimmy on Twitter at @jimmychen and Joe's at @joeysweeny
Propel - Stronger Safety Nets with Jimmy Chen [Fintech]
May 17, 2021 21:35 - 47 minutes - 43.6 MBJimmy Chen is the founder and CEO of Propel, a fintech focused on low-income Americans. Propel has raised $18.5M to date from investors like Nyca Partners, Inspired Capital, and Andreessen Horowitz. In this episode, we talk about the opportunity in building products for underserved Americans, how Jimmy bootstrapped the company for the first 3 years of its existence, and how government safety net programs work. You can follow Jimmy on Twitter at @jimmychen and Joe's at @joeysweeny
Hadrian - The Manufacturing Cloud with Chris Power and Delian Asparouhov [Space]
May 13, 2021 21:53 - 43 minutes - 40.5 MBWe have two guests on this episode, Chris Power, Founder of Hadrian and Delian Asparouhov who returns to the show to talk about leading Hadrian's VC round. Hadrian is building software-powered factories for the space and defense industries. Chris just raised $9.5M from Delian at Founders Fund and Josh Wolfe at Lux capital. In this conversation, we cover manufacturing, defense, how the deal came together. And what it would take to build a base on the moon. You can check out the AI-generated...
Hadrian - Manufacturing 101 with Chris Power and Delian Asparouhov [Space]
May 13, 2021 21:53 - 43 minutes - 40.5 MBWe have two guests on this episode, Chris Power, Founder of Hadrian and Delian Asparouhov who returns to the show to talk about leading Hadrian's VC round. Hadrian is building software-powered factories for the space and defense industries. Chris just raised $9.5M from Delian at Founders Fund and Josh Wolfe at Lux capital. In this conversation, we cover manufacturing, defense, how the deal came together. And what it would take to build a base on the moon. You can check out the AI-generated...
MainStreet - A New UX for Government with Doug Ludlow [Fintech]
May 12, 2021 04:19 - 36 minutes - 33.5 MBDoug Ludlow is the founder and CEO of MainStreet, which helps small businesses get access to government tax credits. MainStreet is only 18 months old but Doug and his team just raised a $60M Series A from Signal Fire. On this show, we talk about Doug's vision to build a new front-end for the government, the huge pivot from coworking to tax credits, the API-ification of everything, and the web of fintech companies that make fintech possible. You can follow Doug's very talented tweets on Tw...
Orum - Payments Infrastructure with Stephany Kirkpatrick [Fintech]
May 10, 2021 19:30 - 45 minutes - 42.2 MBStephany Kirkpatrick is the founder and CEO of Orum, a payments infrastructure company building a platform for real-time money movement. Stephany just raised 21 million from Bain Capital and repeat backers, Homebrew, Primary VC and Inspired Capital. You can follow Stephany on Twitter @StephKirkpat and Joe at @joeysweeny
Orum - Payments Infrastructure with Stephany Kirkpatrick
May 10, 2021 19:30 - 45 minutes - 42.2 MBStephany Kirkpatrick is the founder and CEO of Orum, a payments infrastructure company building a platform for real-time money movement. Stephany just raised 21 million from Bain Capital and repeat backers, Homebrew, Primary VC and Inspired Capital. You can follow Stephany on Twitter @StephKirkpat and Joe at @joeysweeny
Varda - The New Space Industry with Delian Asparouhov
May 06, 2021 17:17 - 50 minutes - 46.6 MBDelian Asparouhov is the founder of Varda Space Industries, the first in-space manufacturing company. Delian is also a Principal at Founders Fund and has led investments into Ramp, Sword Health, Hadrian, and former guests on this show, Cover Technologies. Varda is being incubated out of Founders Fund and just raised $9M led by Josh Wolfe at Lux Capital. This is the first in an 8-part series on the space industry and is a fantastic intro to all things space. We talk about the challenges of m...
Varda - The New Space Industry with Delian Asparouhov [Space]
May 06, 2021 17:17 - 50 minutes - 46.6 MBDelian Asparouhov is the founder of Varda Space Industries, the first in-space manufacturing company. Delian is also a Principal at Founders Fund and has led investments into Ramp, Sword Health, Hadrian, and former guests on this show, Cover Technologies. Varda is being incubated out of Founders Fund and just raised $9M led by Josh Wolfe at Lux Capital. This is the first in an 8-part series on the space industry and is a fantastic intro to all things space. We talk about the challenges of m...
MainStreet - A New UX for Government with Doug Ludlow
May 03, 2021 18:34 - 36 minutes - 33.5 MBDoug Ludlow is the founder and CEO of MainStreet, which helps small businesses get access to government tax credits. MainStreet is only 18 months old but Doug and his team just raised a $60M Series A from Signal Fire. On this show, we talk about Doug's vision to build a new front-end for the government, the huge pivot from coworking to tax credits, the API-ification of everything, and the web of fintech companies that make fintech possible. You can follow Doug's very talented tweets on Tw...
Guardian - Zero to One on EVTOLs with Adam Bercu
April 26, 2021 15:34 - 40 minutes - 37 MBAdam Bercu is the founder and CEO of Guardian Agriculture, an autonomous EVTOL crop dusting company. Adam and his team just raised $10M from Bayer. On this show, we talk about the year Adam spent manufacturing in Shenzhen, China, building truck-sized drones, corporate venture capital, and the huge scope of ag-tech. You can follow Guardian on Twitter @guardianagri and Joe @joeysweeny
Pioneer Square Labs - The Startup Studio with Ben Gilbert
April 19, 2021 17:36 - 41 minutes - 38.1 MBBen Gilbert is a founder and General Partner at Pioneer Square Labs, a startup studio and VC firm focused on the Pacific Northwest. He’s also the host of the incredible Acquired podcast. On this episode, we talk about PSL’s new $100 million venture fund, the startup studio, and what Ben looks for in funding early-stage founders. Check out PSL! You can follow Ben on Twitter @gilbert and Joe @joeysweeny
Bloomscape - The Plant Logistics Company with Justin Mast
April 12, 2021 13:59 - 37 minutes - 34.9 MBJustin Mast is the founder and CEO of Bloomscape, a direct to consumer houseplant company. Justin is here fresh off a $15 million series B from General Catalyst and is hiring across the board for roles like VP of Product, Indoor Plant Buyer, Copywriter, and Growth Marketer. We break down key metrics in the D2C space, talk about how Bloomscape built a new plant-specific logistics network from scratch, and how Justin adapted his family's 5 generations of plant cultivation to the internet age....
Levels - Decoding the Bloodstream with Sam Corcos
April 05, 2021 21:47 - 49 minutes - 46.2 MBSam Corcos is the founder and CEO of Levels, a consumer wearable to track blood glucose in real-time. Levels just raised $12 million from Andreessen Horowitz and is hiring engineers, a general counsel, and a head of clinical research. We dive into the science that makes this possible, the hardware subscription model, and the go-to-market that has athletes, celebrities, and seemingly every investor who can get their hands on one raving about the company. Plus, Sam talks about the emotional ...
Casai - Vacation Arbitrage with Nico Barawid
March 15, 2021 18:07 - 43 minutes - 39.8 MBNico Barawid is the founder and CEO of Casai, a boutique travel company based in Mexico City. Nico just raised $23 million from Andreessen Horowitz in Mexico's largest Series A to date. In this episode, we dive into prop tech, tech-enabled hospitality, emerging markets, and the future of international business travel. Book your next trip with Casai: www.casai.com Shoutouts A16Z Casai Investment Memo Casais in Tulum Updates on Twitter
Lambda School - The Future of Education with Austen Allred
December 14, 2020 19:02 - 33 minutes - 30.7 MBAusten Allred, CEO and Founder of Lambda School, joins the show to launch Season 2! Lambda School is an online code academy that popularized the income share agreement as an alternative to upfront tuition. Austen and his team raised $74 million from Gigafund in August 2020. We dive into the fintech side of ISAs, the headwinds facing four-year universities, and Austen's long term vision for Lambda and vocational school in the US. Open Roles! Business Operations Manager Infrastructure Engin...
Odeko - AI Empowered Baristas with Dane Atkinson
November 02, 2020 16:40 - 48 minutes - 45.3 MBOdeko is a mobile payments and supply chain platform for cafés and indie coffee shops. CEO and Founder Dane Atkinson joins the show to talk about AI that can predict when and where you will buy a croissant, taking on juggernauts like Starbucks, acquiring startup Cloosiv over zoom, and building a fleet of delivery trucks to streamline the coffee shop supply chain. This breadth of challenges Odeko is taking on is astounding. From consumer-facing payments and mobile ordering to predictive AI a...
Capchase - Fintech and SaaS Financing with Miguel Larrea
October 26, 2020 22:46 - 38 minutes - 35.2 MBMiguel Larrea is the founder and CEO of Capchase, a fintech company focused on non-dilutive funding for SaaS companies. Miguel and his team just raised $4.6 million from Caffeinated Capital, Blink Capital, and SciFi VC. This episode will be particularly relevant to founders interested in financing alternatives to venture capital. We dive into why the API economy makes alternative financing possible, why a downturn is a fantastic time to start deploying capital, and the role debt and alterna...
Toucan - Why the Next Billion Dollar Company Will Be Built on Chrome with Taylor Nieman
October 19, 2020 14:33 - 42 minutes - 39.1 MBTaylor Nieman is the founder and CEO of Toucan, a language learning platform built on Google Chrome. Taylor talks about why Chrome extensions are the most overlooked tech distribution strategy of the past decade, "building in public", and her $3M raise from GSV. Check out Toucan: https://jointoucan.com/ Thanks for listening!
Tellus - Digital Health and Eldercare with Tania Coke
October 12, 2020 17:36 - 30 minutes - 27.8 MBTania A. Coke is the founder of Tellus, a radar-based digital health company focused on eldercare. Tania just raised $7M from the University of Tokyo, DOCOMO Ventures, and past podcast guest Phil Libin of Mmhmm. Tania talks about first launching her company in Japan, managing teams across continents, raising corporate venture capital vs institutional VCs, and the potential for digital health far into the future. https://tellusyoucare.com/ New! Open Roles: Senior Backend Engineer Hardwar...
Core - Marketplaces, Construction, and Cities with Di-Ann Eisnor
October 05, 2020 10:00 - 46 minutes - 43.3 MBToday’s guest is Di-Ann Eisnor, CEO and Founder of Core, a labor marketplace for construction. Prior to Core Di-Ann was the Head of Growth at Waze where she opened the first US office in 2009 and led the company’s meteoric rise until 2013 when Waze was acquired by Google for $1B. At Core, she’s raised $4M from GV (Google Ventures) and NFX to transform the construction industry. On the show Di-Ann talks about why she’s launching nationally instead of city by city, the potential for Core and ...
Cover Technologies - Tesla for Homes with Alexis Rivas
September 28, 2020 13:22 - 31 minutes - 28.7 MBFresh off a $10M Series A round from Founders Fund and Lennar Alexis Rivas joins the show to talk about his company Cover Technologies. Alexis and his team are building the future of modular homes, starting with ultra-modern backyard studios. Alexis talks about the challenges of moving home building into the factory, the massive potential for software to upend the home design process, and how he's navigated the politics of housing. Plus how you can put a studio in your backyard. https://bui...
Mmhmm - The Future of Video with Phil Libin
September 21, 2020 13:50 - 44 minutes - 41.4 MBFollowing up on a $4.5M Seed round from Sequoia, Phil Libin join's us to talk about his new interactive video venture Mmhmm. Phil is the former founder and CEO of Evernote, Founder of the All Turtles product design firm, and now the CEO and Founder of Mmhmm. We talk about product design, decision making using intuition vs data, and insights from 27 straight years of fundraising. Shoutouts: Mmhmm Demo Mmhmm Demo 2 - Phil's Philosophy on Naming Unscaled by Hemant Taneja Igor Naming Guide ...
Run The World - Virtual Events with Xiaoyin Qu
September 14, 2020 15:35 - 38 minutes - 36 MBFollowing an $11M Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz and Founders Fund, Run the World Founder Xiaoyin Qu joins the show to talk about her vision for virtual events. As CEO and Founder of Run the World she has scaled her team from 10 to 50 in the past three months and now has employees in Portugal, Brazil, Singapore, China, and the US. She talks about how the company has accelerated since COVID began, how she manages a team fully remote, and how Run The World uses product design strategies f...
DoNotPay - Chatbots and Consumer Legal with Josh Browder
September 03, 2020 19:54 - 28 minutes - 26.8 MBFresh off a $12M Series A led by Coatue we host Josh Browder, CEO and Founder of DoNotPay. Josh shares his vision on building the general counsel for the consumer and how DoNotPay helps people fight corporations, beat bureaucracy, and sue anyone at the press of a button". This show is a lesson in horizontal product strategy and the power of a strong company mission. If you've gotten as many parking tickets as I have, this show is for you. Shoutouts: The A16Z Podcast on GPT-3 https://donotp...
Clockwise Founder Matt Martin and the SaaS Iceberg
August 27, 2020 08:00 - 37 minutes - 34.4 MBWelcome to our very first episode! Matt Martin is the founder of Clockwise, a smart calendar assistant that helps teams focus on work that matters. Matt and his team just raised an $18M Series B round from Bain Capital following up on a Seed round from Accel. On the show, Matt dives into how he tracks viral adoption of the product, the B2C2B SaaS business model, what he's looking for in new hires, and more. Thanks for listening! Matt's Techcrunch article on raising capital fully remote duri...