Chad talks with NYC local Vikram Oberoi about how he used AI to breakdown local city meetings into accessible bitesize chunks. Learn how Vikram tamed New York’s public records with AI, the lengthy review process involved to make it all and why his model is so well suited to NYC council proceedings in particular. Vikram also discusses the project’s path to sustainability and the difficulties of expanding his passion project further afield. — If you’re a NY resident wanting to learn more about your local community, or just curious about the inner workings of one the largest cities in the US, you can find Vikram’s work on citymeetings.nyc here! To learn more about Vikram and his work, check out his website! Or, if you’re interested in helping expand citymeetings.nyc and support this project well into the future you can get in touch with Vikram via LinkedIn, or email him directly: vikram@citymeetings.nyc Your host for this episode has been Chad Pytel. You can find Chad all over social media as @cpytel, or over on LinkedIn. If you would like to support the show, head over to our GitHub page, or check out our website. Got a question or comment about the show? Why not write to our hosts: hosts@giantrobots.fm This has been a thoughtbot podcast. Stay up to date by following us on social media - LinkedIn - Mastodon - Instagram © 2025 thoughtbot, inc.Support Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots

Sami talks with Andrew Rashbass, Chairman and Co-Founder of ScultureAI, about the uses of LLMs and where AI is taking us as a society. Learn about Andrew’s 35 year long journey with AI (yes that long), the differing views and reliability Sami and Andrew have of LLMs and wade into the discussion with them over whether AI is creating a more fulfilling life for humans, or a disaster waiting to happen. — If you’d like help shaping your business’ internal culture or would like advice from Andrew and the team you can get in touch here. Alternatively, connect with Andrew directly on LinkedIn. For more insight into ScultureAI you can listen to our previous episode with their CEO & Co-Founder Elie Rashbass in Ep 542. Your host for this episode has been Sami Birnbaum. Sami can be found through his website or via LinkedIn. If you would like to support the show, head over to our GitHub page, or check out our website. Got a question or comment about the show? Why not write to our hosts: hosts@giantrobots.fm This has been a thoughtbot podcast. Stay up to date by following us on social media - LinkedIn - Mastodon - Instagram © 2025 thoughtbot, inc.Support Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots

Chad talks with Eben Pingree and Mike Gerbush, Co-Founders of Kinsome, about the struggles of family connection in the modern world and how they’re bringing generations together again. They discuss the importance of having a close family unit, the difficulties families often face with having relatives being spread out state to state, and how Kinsome works to facilitate daily connections between loved ones no matter how far apart they may be. Learn about they technology behind the idea, the lessons they learned from similar projects in the past and the challenges they face now with such a narrow target market. — Head to Kinsome’s website to find out how they can help you reconnect with your family today. If you’re curious about what Kinsome has to offer but not an iOS user, consider registering your interest to be one of the first to use the app for Android! Alternatively if you’d like to reach out and ask a question or put yourself forward to help with Kinsome’s development, you can connect with Eben and Mike over on LinkedIn, or email them directly - mike@kinsome.com Your host for this episode has been Chad Pytel. You can find Chad all over social media as @cpytel, or over on LinkedIn. If you would like to support the show, head over to our GitHub page, or check out our website. Got a question or comment about the show? Why not write to our hosts: hosts@giantrobots.fm This has been a thoughtbot podcast. Stay up to date by following us on social media - LinkedIn - Mastodon - Instagram © 2025 thoughtbot, inc.Support Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots

Chad is joined for a special interview by Keira Czarnota, founder of Emagineer, as they talk all about their recent collaboration on a new AI powered LEGO® app. Listen to Keira’s incredible journey, the challenges they faced with early AI models, why LEGO® was so keen to support their project and how thoughtbot was brought in to help. This episode is a unique crossover event between AI in Focus and Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots. It originally live-streamed over on thoughtbot’s YouTube channel and features some hands on demos with the new app not heard in the audio version. Find out more about Emagineer’s upcoming app over on their website, and if you feel you’re suited to helping Keira and the team with their work at Emagineer you can connect with him over on LinkedIn. — Want to try out Emagineer’s new LEGO® app for yourself? Sign up for the beta program here! Your host for this episode has been Chad Pytel. You can find Chad all over social media as @cpytel, or over on LinkedIn. If you would like to support the show, head over to our GitHub page, or check out our website. Got a question or comment about the show? Why not write to our hosts: hosts@giantrobots.fm This has been a thoughtbot podcast. Stay up to date by following us on social media - LinkedIn - Mastodon - InstagramSupport Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots

Luká Yancopoulos, Co-Founder and CEO of Grapevine, reveals to Chad how he and his team are working to revolutionise the hospital supply chain system. Luká discusses the difficulties of building such a service and the pushback they’ve received by entering such a large and established sector that’s so resistant to change. Learn how Luká’s concern for his mom’s health at work during the pandemic lead to the unexpected launch of Grapevine, the difficulties of trying to scale up such a service nationwide, and the extreme lengths companies will go to stop you from shopping around. Head over to Grapevine’s website to find out how you can make your healthcare more affordable. If you’re interested in working with Luká, you can connect with him via LinkedIn. -- Your host for this episode has been Chad Pytel. You can find Chad all over social media as @cpytel, or over on LinkedIn. If you would like to support the show, head over to our GitHub page, or check out our website. Got a question or comment about the show? Why not write to our hosts: hosts@giantrobots.fm This has been a thoughtbot podcast. Stay up to date by following us on social media - LinkedIn - Mastodon - Instagram © 2024 thoughtbot, inc.Support Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots

After 10 years and 550 episodes of Giant Robots, Chad and Sami are ready to discuss what’s next for the podcast. The pair dive into some podcast role-play as they test out some ideas for iterating the show’s formula. Peek behind the curtain as they discuss the inner workings of the show, the challenges of working on a mature codebase, how thoughtbot tackles impostor syndrome when onboarding new employees and the developing accessibility of AI. — Your hosts for this episode have been Chad Pytel and Sami Birnbaum. You can find Chad all over social media as @cpytel, or over on LinkedIn. Sami can be found through his website or via LinkedIn. — If you would like to support the show, head over to our GitHub page, or check out our website. Got a question or comment about the show? Why not write to our hosts: hosts@giantrobots.fm This has been a thoughtbot podcast. Stay up to date by following us on social media - LinkedIn - Mastodon - Instagram © 2024 thoughtbot, inc.Support Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots

Chad talks with Aakash Shah, Founder and CEO of Wyndly, about how he built a new online telehealth experience to expand convenient access to allergy immunotherapy. The pair discuss the mechanics of building an online healthcare operation from scratch, the challenges that arise as you begin to scale your business, and how Aakash utilised his past experience as a software engineer to support his new venture. Discover why this area of medicine has been overlooked for so long, how COVID has shifted our view on healthcare as a whole, as well as the odd rules and quirks of the FDA when trying to market a new medical service. To find out more about Aakash’s work with Wyndly you can connect with him on LinkedIn or send him an email: aakash@wyndly.com If you’re interested in receiving treatment for persistent allergies, you can book a consultation through Wyndly’s website. — Your host for this episode has been Chad Pytel. You can find Chad over on Mastodon, or connect with via LinkedIn. If you would like to support the show, head over to our GitHub page, or check out our website. Got a question or comment about the show? Why not write to our hosts: hosts@giantrobots.fm This has been a thoughtbot podcast. Stay up to date by following us on social media - LinkedIn - Mastodon - Instagram © 2024 thoughtbot, inc.Support Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots

If system design is a team sport, then you need to make sure that your team has the tools they need to work together. In this episode, entrepreneur, CTO, and co-founder Tom Johnson joins us to discuss Multiplayer, a collaborative tool streamlining system design and documentation for developers. Multiplayer is often likened to “Figma for developers,” as it allows teams to map, document, and debug distributed systems visually and collaboratively. Tom shares his experience building this tool, drawing on years of backend development challenges, from debugging to coordinating across teams. We also discuss the business side of startups before learning about the AI features that they have planned for Multiplayer and how it will benefit users, including eliminating time-consuming “grunt work”. Join us to learn how Multiplayer is revolutionizing system design and get a sneak peek into the exciting AI-powered features on the horizon! Key Points From This Episode: Introducing Tom Johnson, co-founder of Multiplayer. An overview of Multiplayer and how it helps developers work on distributed systems. The teams and developers that will get the most use out of Multiplayer. Details on Multiplayer’s debugging and auto-documentation tools. A breakdown of what distributed systems are in modern software development. Why Tom sees contemporary systems design as a team sport. Multiplier’s whiteboard-type space and how it allows teams to collaborate. Tom’s back-end developer experience and how it helped him create Multiplayer. How Tom co-founded Multiplayer with his wife, Steph Johnson, and her role as CEO. Why solving a problem you’ve personally experienced is a good starting point for startups. What you need to have before fundraising: a minimum viable product (MVP). How they used the open-source software, YJS, for virtual, real-time collaboration. Insights into Multiplayer’s upcoming AI-powered features. Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: 
Thomas Johnson on LinkedIn Thomas Johnson on X Thomas Johnson on Threads
 Steph Johnson on LinkedIn
 Multiplayer
 YJS
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What if booking a private chef was as easy as ordering an Uber? Iyabo Bello is a serial founder and entrepreneur, best known for iKooK, an app connecting private chefs to their target audience. Join us as she shares the unlikely story of how she came up with the idea to start iKooK after working in fashion design and food science. We get into the weeds with the premise of the app, how it differs from other home chef experiences, and how the cooks are vetted before being allowed to register on the app. Iyabo shares her experience of navigating a double-sided marketplace and discusses the process of building an app and driving traffic toward it instead of her website. We discuss bootstrapping and outsourcing to create a user-friendly, effective app, and handling health and safety as a food service. Join us as we discuss the challenges and benefits of building iKooK, and what you can learn from her journey. Thanks for tuning in. Key Points From This Episode: Welcoming Iyabo Bello, founder of iKooK, and the story of the inception of her business. Her background in fashion design and food science. The premise of iKooK and how it differs from other home chef experiences. How the process behind vetting chefs has evolved. Navigating a double-sided marketplace. The challenge of finding the right chef with an eye for detail. Taking down the website to encourage users to book on the app. Bootstrapping and outsourcing to build the app. Handling health and safety and building it into the program. The inclusive and flexible nature of Iyabo’s product. Challenges she has faced while building the app. How Jared and Sami would go about assessing the app and user experience. Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: 
Iyabo Bello on LinkedIn
 [iKooK Email](info@ikook.co.uk)
 iKooK Sami Birnbaum on LinkedIn
 Jared Turner on X 
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How do you build a tool that redefines the real estate game for agents and brokers? Today on the show, host Chad Pytel sits down with Chris Fellows, founder and CEO of Bold Street, to explore how his AI-powered platform is reshaping residential investment for real estate professionals. Originally focused on data analytics for big investors, Bold Street pivoted after the Great Recession to meet the needs of agents and brokers. Chris shares how the platform, developed over 18 months, helps agents master investor math and market analysis, boosting efficiency. The conversation dives into current market dynamics, like the rising costs of leads from platforms such as Zillow, which make Bold Street’s value proposition increasingly vital. Chris also expands on the company’s latest round of fundraising before sharing key lessons on scaling a startup in real estate. For these insights and more, don’t miss this fascinating conversation with Chris Fellows!

 Key Points From This Episode: A warm welcome to today’s guest, Chris Fellows, founder and CEO of Bold Street. Founding Bold Street: their initial AI strategy and how it has shifted. How their software helps agents and brokers be more efficient. Key takeaways from bringing their first product to market. Reflections on what could have helped the development process go more quickly. Chris and his team’s approach to sales and their general pricing model. A breakdown of their ideal customer and how they are reaching them. What they’ve done to address their ideal customers’ biggest objections. Unpacking current market dynamics, from expensive leads to class action lawsuits. How Bold Street brings value to the current real estate market. The benefits and challenges of running a business in such a disrupted market. Reflections on their current fundraising efforts versus their previous round. Lessons on scaling a startup both locally and through internet marketing. Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Chris Fellows on LinkedIn
 [Chris Fellows' email](chris@boldstreet.ai) Bold Street Chad Pytel on LinkedIn Chad Pytel on X thoughtbot thoughtbot on LinkedIn thoughtbot on X Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots Podcast [Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots Email](hosts@giantrobots.fm) Support Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant RobotsSupport Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots