Founders Couch

For this episode on the couch, we've got Federico Bescotti, a senior at MIT working on DigitalDUCT, a machine readable duct tape that can store information via a cloud-based software solution. The product's versatility and ease-of-use lends itself to applications in rugged environments like in the military field or on construction sites. In addition to double majoring in Mechanical Engineering and in Business Management, Federico has been working in collaboration with two other students from Harvard Business School and from Clemson University to develop the counterpart app. Tune in to hear about how he got started and what it's like balancing a busy academic life with entrepreneurial projects. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/founderscouch/support

A friend of mine and fellow Stanford senior King Alandy Dy joins me on the third episode of Season 2 today! King is a serial entrepreneur, having previously founded a consumer company when he was 18 years old that was essentially the Common App of the Philippines. Today, we talk about his current enterprise company tul. ai that is doing robotic process automation for freight document processing. The company’s raised a pre-seed from Bain Capital Ventures, scaled to a team of 8, and is currently looking for talent. Join me as we discuss King's entrepreneurial journey. How did he develop an MVP to validate his idea? How does he approach giving equity when scaling his team? What's his approach to pricing his product? And, what are the pros and cons of running a consumer vs. enterprise tech company?... --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/founderscouch/support

Join us on the couch today as we talk to Myles Stapelberg, a junior at MIT working on NanoCAP, a metallurgical company that is seeking to bring a novel, composite metal with enhanced properties to the nuclear, aerospace, and jewelry industries. The company originated as an undergraduate research opportunity in The Short Lab at MIT, a lab in the Mesoscale Nuclear Materials Group focused on designing materials, methods, and modifications to realize large-scale energy generation unchained from problems of material performance. Tune in to hear about his story, and how he's tackling the challenges associated with bringing a product to market. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/founderscouch/support

Stanford senior Demetri Maxim joins us on the couch today as our first guest of Season 2! He's the founder and CEO of Nephrogen, a biotech company that focuses on at-home entirely non invasive kidney monitoring. The company originated as a science fair research project in high school and became an official corporation Demetri's freshman year. He's been running the company ever since. Tune in to hear about his journey. What are the lessons learned in healthcare? How did he make use of accelerator programs? How does he approach hiring and recruiting?... --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/founderscouch/support

We’ve got Stanford senior Kaitlyn Albertoli on the couch today! Not only is she my CEE246 Venture Creation TA, but she is also cofounder and CEO of Buzz Solutions, a software analytics company which analyzes data collected by drones in order to provide predictive analytics to utilities. She started the company out of CEE246 her sophomore year. Hear all about her journey thus far… How did her founding team split equity? How profitable are they? Who sits on their Board of Directors? And what might an exit look like? --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/founderscouch/support

We’ve got YouTube star Rachel Fong on the couch! She’s a Stanford sophomore studying product design who has a YouTube channel called KawaiiSweetWorld that has over 1.2 million subscribers and has garnered over 142 million views. Tune in to hear her story! ... What drew her to kawaii? How did she grow the channel? How does she make money? What goes into creating a video? And what about biggest challenges... --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/founderscouch/support

We’ve got a very special episode ahead of us! We’ll be talking to one of my close friends, Maddie McConkey - Stanford Public Policy junior and founder of LMM Political, a political campaign consulting company based in Minnesota. We cover everything from what’s involved in a political campaign to how she hires interns to some of the biggest challenges she’s encountered along the way... --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/founderscouch/support

Joining us on the couch today are Stanford juniors Christopher Lu and Jack Gartland! They are the founders of FriendChip, a social app that makes it easy for you to meet up with your friends. We talk about everything from what makes their team work and the challenges and benefits that come with creating an app that is based on social networks... --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/founderscouch/support

We’ve got Stanford seniors Amanda Calabrese, Elijah Zenger, and Greta Meyer on the couch! Tune in to hear all about their journey of starting Tampro, a startup focused on improving the tampon: the challenges they’ve faced, what they’ve learned, and where they’re headed.. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/founderscouch/support

We’ve got Stanford senior Michelle Lu and masters student in computer science Apoorva Dornadula on the couch! They are 2/4 of the team that founded tech startup Viralspace, a marketplace that helps brands crowdsource user-generated content from their fans and helps creators monetize their content. The two share what’s prepared them the most for the unpredictability and ambiguity of startup life. They emphasize the importance of team diversity and having close mentors. And, they talk about how instrumental the Startup Garage class and Village Global accelerator program have been in their early success. Plus, we’ll hear them touch on how they set business and technical milestones to keep up with their high growth! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/founderscouch/support

This week, we’ve got Stanford senior Stephanie Niu on the couch! Tune in to hear all about how she created her food-based handmade soap business Skindulgences. How did she get on Etsy, and how does she promote her soap on Instagram? Plus, Stephanie shares why she values building a network of female entrepreneurs and forming partnerships with other brands to support meaningful causes. And, she gives an important piece of advice to future founders on not letting perfectionism get in the way! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/founderscouch/support

We’ve got Stanford junior Evan-Michelle Miller on the couch today! Tune in to hear all about how Evan noticed a big problem in the music industry and decided to start her own publishing company Nave Entertainment to not fall prey and retain control and ownership of her own music. Evan gives us a rundown of the ins and outs of the music industry and her perspective on industry trends, like the move to streaming, virality of social media, etc. We hear her talk about how passion and grit has taken her places, and why talking to more experienced folks in the music industry whom she trusted was essential when she was starting Nave and creating her own EP! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/founderscouch/support

Nathan Kong joins us on the couch today! Tune in if you’d like to hear about how he founded his VC-backed AR startup Beyond One (parent company of DIVR Edu and CurioPets), why he decided to drop out of Stanford for a full year, and the biggest lessons he took away from those days: grit, user research and iterative testing, marketing timing, work-life balance... We’ll also get the chance to hear Nathan’s thoughts on the current AR space, and the inspiration behind his two new projects today! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/founderscouch/support

We've got Stanford senior Arjun Tambe on the couch today! Tune in if you'd like to hear about how he started small and snowballed big and ultimately scaled his debate school The Debate Intensive to two different states. We explore the fascinating world of debate together. And, we touch on all the coordination that goes into managing a summer debate camp, and how a strong personal network helped Arjun recruit teachers and market his school successfully! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/founderscouch/support

In this first episode, we welcome Albert Chon to the couch! Tune in to to hear all about how he assembled the right team for his bitcoin startup Injective Labs and how he tapped into one Stanford professor as a main mentor and resource. Plus, we touch on how he approaches funding and finds the right balance between schoolwork and startup life. And, we’ll even get the chance to hear Albert’s thoughts on where the blockchain industry is headed... --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/founderscouch/support