

Build Mode
TechCrunch
On Build Mode, TechCrunch's Startup Battlefield Editor Isabelle Johannessen cuts through the startup mythology to uncover how founders survive the brutal early days, navigate impossible funding landscapes, and somehow keep their companies — and sanity— intact. Each season, Isabelle is joined by founders, investors, and operators to dig into specific aspects of the startup journey, from creative go to market strategies to founder mental health. The interviews are full of candid startup wisdom—think cap table drama, co-founder breakups, and pivot panic. So, if you’re starting a company or or even just thinking about it, this is your survival guide.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Oct 18, 2021 • 49min
Jacqueline Schafer, Clearbrief
After a legal career that included litigation experience at a big NYC law firm, as well as stops in both the Washington and Alaska Attorney General offices, Jackie Schafer realized that one of the major challenges in litigation is accurate and thorough review and citation of the mass of documents and prior judgements involved in a case. That's why she founded Clearbrief, which could help level the playing field for small legal firms and unlock major efficiencies in the public justice system. Also, she's an amazing singer!Links for this episode:
Clearbrief
Harnessing AI innovation for struggling families
Swing 49's album The Devil's Club Blues
Connect with us:
On Twitter
On Instagram
Via email: found@techcrunch.com
Call us and leave a voicemail at (510) 936-1618
Found posts every Tuesday. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts to be alerted when new episodes drop. Check out the other TechCrunch podcast: Equity . Subscribe to Found to hear more stories from founders each Connect with us:
On Twitter
On Instagram
Via email: found@techcrunch.com

Oct 12, 2021 • 58min
Job van der Voort, Remote
Job van der Voort knows a thing or two about running a remote company, as a long-time GitLab employee, the host of the Remote Work Podcast and the CEO and founder of a company literally named 'Remote.' We talk to him about shifts in how companies and employees are approaching remote work, and how that proved a great basis for the creation of a company that renders a lot of the fundamentals of the model easy and repeatable.Links for this episode:
Remote
Remote raises $150M on a $1B+ valuation to manage payroll and more for organizations’ global workforces
Remote Work Podcast
Connect with us:
On Twitter
On Instagram
Via email: found@techcrunch.com
Call us and leave a voicemail at (510) 936-1618
Found posts every Tuesday. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts to be alerted when new episodes drop. Check out the other TechCrunch podcast: Equity . Subscribe to Found to hear more stories from founders each Connect with us:
On Twitter
On Instagram
Via email: found@techcrunch.com

Oct 4, 2021 • 50min
Tanya Van Court, Goalsetter
Tanya Van Court's professional career includes a lot of high-profile positions at Nickelodeon, ESPN, Discovery, and more. Despite her success working for others, she felt the need to create her own company in 2016 focused on something she saw as important to her own family, and to the world in general: Financial literacy. Goalsetter was born, and five years later it's going strong as a leading way for families to learn about and manage money together.Links for this episode:
Goalsetter
Goalsetter raises $3.9 million to teach financial literacy to kids
Connect with us:
On Twitter
On Instagram
Via email: found@techcrunch.com
Call us and leave a voicemail at (510) 936-1618
Found posts every Tuesday. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts to be alerted when new episodes drop. Check out the other TechCrunch podcast: Equity . Subscribe to Found to hear more stories from founders each Connect with us:
On Twitter
On Instagram
Via email: found@techcrunch.com

Sep 24, 2021 • 54min
Jelani Memory, A Kids Company About
Jelani Memory's 'A Kids Book About...' series began with just one title he created because he wanted to answer a question one of this own kids had. Through that process, Jelani realized that not only was there a need for a lot more similar books that deal frankly with difficult, important issue, but also an opportunity to change the publishing industry from the ground up.Links for this episode:
A Kids Company About
The journey of a kids book startup that tackles topics like racism, cancer and divorce
Connect with us:
On Twitter
On Instagram
Via email: found@techcrunch.com
Call us and leave a voicemail at (510) 936-1618
Found posts every Tuesday. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts to be alerted when new episodes drop. Check out the other TechCrunch podcast: Equity . Subscribe to Found to hear more stories from founders each Connect with us:
On Twitter
On Instagram
Via email: found@techcrunch.com

Sep 20, 2021 • 51min
Hilary Coles, hims & hers
Hilary Coles co-founded telehealth startup hims & hers back in 2017, and the now-public company has expanded its focus considerably since then, including adding a full vertical dedicated to women's health. We talked to Hilary about building a healthcare brand focused on individual customer experience, with a brand designed to appeal to a new generation of healthcare recipients that haven't felt catered to by existing models.Links for this episode:
Hims
Hers
Hims, the telehealth startup, saw its shares slip in their trading debut — and that’s fine with its CEO
Connect with us:
On Twitter
On Instagram
Via email: found@techcrunch.com
Call us and leave a voicemail at (510) 936-1618
Found posts every Tuesday. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts to be alerted when new episodes drop. Check out the other TechCrunch podcast: Equity . Subscribe to Found to hear more stories from founders each Connect with us:
On Twitter
On Instagram
Via email: found@techcrunch.com

Sep 13, 2021 • 54min
Jenn Graham, Inclusivv
Jenn Graham's startup Inclusivv looks very different from when it begins Civic Dinners in 2016. The idea back then was to take advantage of small group dynamics around in-person meetings — and dinners in particular — to foster important conversations around difficult topics, originally focusing on connecting government with the community. Inclusivv took that model, shifted it to digital in the wake of Covid, and expanded the mandate to help big brands and companies handle the topics their employees and users care most about, like sustainability, diversity and belonging.Links for this episode:InclusivvConnect with us:
On Twitter
On Instagram
Via email: found@techcrunch.com
Call us and leave a voicemail at (510) 936-1618
Found posts every Tuesday. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts to be alerted when new episodes drop. Check out the other TechCrunch podcast: Equity . Subscribe to Found to hear more stories from founders each Connect with us:
On Twitter
On Instagram
Via email: found@techcrunch.com

Sep 6, 2021 • 49min
Celine Halioua, Loyal
Celine Halioua has spent much of her career focusing on life extension technology — but her own company started with a specific target of extending the lives of dogs, rather than humans. We hear from her why she wanted to start with canine companions, though her larger goals with her company Loyal include extending and improving our own lives, too.Links for this episode:LoyalConnect with us:
On Twitter
On Instagram
Via email: found@techcrunch.com
Call us and leave a voicemail at (510) 936-1618
Found posts every Tuesday. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts to be alerted when new episodes drop. Check out the other TechCrunch podcast: Equity . Subscribe to Found to hear more stories from founders each Connect with us:
On Twitter
On Instagram
Via email: found@techcrunch.com

Aug 27, 2021 • 51min
Liya Shuster-Bier, Alula
Liya Shuster-Bier learned first-hand, twice over, that cancer care leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to everything beyond the basics, and it's incredibly hard to navigate not just for patients themselves, but also for their loved ones and care network. That inspired her creation of Alula, a platform designed to help consolidate the resources that cancer patients, survivors and their care networks need to face tough challenges together.Links for this episode:
Alula
Alula, a platform for cancer caregivers, patients and survivors, raises $2.2 million
Connect with us:
On Twitter
On Instagram
Via email: found@techcrunch.com
Call us and leave a voicemail at (510) 936-1618
Found posts every Tuesday. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts to be alerted when new episodes drop. Check out the other TechCrunch podcast: Equity . Subscribe to Found to hear more stories from founders each Connect with us:
On Twitter
On Instagram
Via email: found@techcrunch.com

Aug 21, 2021 • 40min
Clarisse Beurrier, Animal Alternative Technologies
Clarisse Beurrier went right from school to a lab-grown meat startup called Higher Steaks, and both her experience during her education and that first job in the field left her feeling like more needed to be done at a fundamental level, linking the work happening in research labs and universities to the commercial meat industry. That was the genesis for Animal Alternative Technologies, a company she co-founded with the mission of providing a scalable, end-to-end cultured meat production system for food sellers large and small alike.Links for this episode:Animal Alternative TechnologiesConnect with us:
On Twitter
On Instagram
Via email: found@techcrunch.com
Call us and leave a voicemail at (510) 936-1618
Found posts every Tuesday. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts to be alerted when new episodes drop. Check out the other TechCrunch podcast: Equity . Subscribe to Found to hear more stories from founders each Connect with us:
On Twitter
On Instagram
Via email: found@techcrunch.com

Aug 16, 2021 • 49min
Amanda DoAmaral, Fiveable
Amanda DoAmaral was an educator herself before she decided to found a tech company aimed at improving the education system. That's a surprisingly rare credential for a startup founder in this area to possess — despite the obvious benefits of real, first-hand experience. Her company, Fiveable, focuses on modernizing (including a remote-first approach) a key and often overlooked part of education for students: Building an active community of peers to share knowledge with. Hear how she took her dissatisfaction with an inadequate system and turned that into the motivation to build a venture-scale business outside of it.Links for this episode:
Fiveable
Fiveable makes first acquisition: A virtual study tool built by a 16-year-old
Edtech’s next mission: Go everywhere
Connect with us:
On Twitter
On Instagram
Via email: found@techcrunch.com
Call us and leave a voicemail at (510) 936-1618
Found posts every Tuesday. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts to be alerted when new episodes drop. Check out the other TechCrunch podcast: Equity . Subscribe to Found to hear more stories from founders each Connect with us:
On Twitter
On Instagram
Via email: found@techcrunch.com


