Cascade

Greg Foster is the co-founder and CTO of Graphite, a modern code review platform that’s raised $20 million in Series A funding led by Andreessen Horowitz to enhance developer productivity and streamline the software development process. He discovered that developers outside of large tech companies lacked access to efficient code review tools while working various engineering roles at Google and Airbnb, leading him to team up with his former Harvard computer science classmate and go all-in on solving the problem.With Peter Levine (the first investor in GitHub) on their board and a lean, growing team, their customer base already includes notable companies like Snowflake, Asana, Bolt, Brex, and Ramp to name a few. We discussed the entire process behind the technology, covering everything from;→ the stacked changes workflow→ to the GitHub integration → and AI-powered code reviewas well as→ how to recruit top engineering talent → and the intangible benefits that come with fundraising from credible investors.Learn more about Greg and his company below:linkedin.com/in/gregmfostergraphite.dev

Andrew Rea is the founder of Taxwire, a software company that specialises in automating sales tax compliance, allowing businesses to focus on their core operations without the burden of tax paperwork.They have raised $2.7 million in pre-seed funding, oversubscribing their round by over $1 million in just 5 weeks.From starting his entrepreneurial journey out of his suitcase building neighbourhood EVs, he’s gone on to work for companies like On Deck, helping them raise over $100 million from the likes of Founders Fund, Tiger Global, & many others.To then, Head of Growth at Capital, a fundraising and banking platform for startups.He’s also an active angel investor, having invested around $3 million into over 20 startups with his friend and business partner and alongside top venture firms like Sequoia and a16z.Learn more about Andrew and his company below:linkedin.com/in/andrewreataxwire.com

Kevin Jiang is one of the co-founders of Mangusta Capital, an early to growth stage venture capital firm investing in consumer technology and vertical AI.With notable portfolio companies including Elon Musks xAI and Vanessa Hudgens Caliwater.They have currently deployed around $50 million in proprietary capital and plan to deploy another $150 million over the coming years.Prior to Mangusta, Kevin started his career in investment banking at Goldman Sachs, then quickly transitioned to private equity at Apollo, did long/short equity at Soros Fund Management, and eventually became VP on the founding Investment Team of SoftBank’s Vision Fund, leading deals like Flexport, Shipbob, and Wiz.We spoke about → the sacrifices his parents made as first-gen American immigrants in the 1980s semiconductor industry→ his old thesis on tax inversion from Harvard’s archive→ Softbank’s approach to valuations→ the future of AI application layer investing→ and how he’s going about fundraising $150 million dollars.Learn more about Kevin and his fund below:linkedin.com/in/jiangkevinmangustacap.com

Ron Nachum is the co-founder and CEO of Sapien, an AI company developing “autonomous co-workers” for financial analysis. After seeing how much time investment advisors waste on repetitive financial tasks he dropped out of his computer science at stats degree at Harvard to create a solution alongside his close friends.In just 9 months, they’ve raised $8.7 million in funding led by General Catalyst, and attracted a range of paying customers across industries like healthcare and manufacturing.They’re able to reduce over a 100 hours of manual work to just five minutes and are now on a mission to land partnerships and contracts with Fortune 500 companies.We spoke about → him building liquid-fuelled rockets in high school→ what poker at Harvard taught him about entrepreneurship→ technical challenges and product data integration→ personalisation in finance→ and the application in the government with new departments like DOGE.Learn more about Ron and his company below:linkedin.com/in/ron-nachumgetsapien.com

Kian Sadeghi is the founder and CEO of Nucleus Genomics, a leading biotechnology company revolutionising DNA analysis and health insights through affordable whole-genome sequencing (WGS).Kian doesn’t have a PhD, is actually a Penn dropout and is only 24.He’s raised $18 million from the likes of Peter Theil’s Founders Fund and Alexis Ohanian’s Seven Seven Six to capitalise on  the plummeting costs of DNA sequencing from $1 billion in 2001 to well below $1,000 today.Nucleus offers whole-genome sequencing for just $399, plus a $39 annual membership fee, delivering detailed reports on over 800 health conditions, including various cancers, heart diseases, and mental health disorders.We spoke about→ his marketing stunt at the Tyson vs Paul fight→ the importance of intellectual alpha and innovators dilemma→ the cost of healthcare administration→ and the future of consumer health companiesLearn more about Kian and his company below:linkedin.com/in/kian-sadeghimynucleus.com

Neil Mitra is the founder and CEO of Mitra Biotechnologies, a startup that is creating novel patented rapid point-of-care diagnostics and predicting disease conditions.Backed by Cory Levy, Pareto Holdings,  Alchemist Accelerator, and Andrew Cote. They are currently developing nanomaterial platforms to make blood tests 1000X cheaper, 10X faster, and 50X more accurate at the point-of-care. Neil is also a Global Teen Leader, Presidential Scholar at UBC, Mason Foundation Member, and Z Fellow.We spoke about → his early science projects→ innovations in rapid diagnostics→ the dark side of biotech exits→ the future of preventative healthcare→ AI’s impact→ and the quest for digital biology.Learn more about Neil and his company below:linkedin.com/in/neilmitra

Shoaib Iqbal is a co-founder of Esper Satellite Imagery, an Australian space tech company that builds and launches hyperspectral Earth imaging satellites.  By capturing hundreds of different wavelengths, these satellites create detailed spectral signatures that enable industries such as mining, oil and gas, agriculture, and environmental monitoring to precisely analyse materials and monitor changes on Earth’s surface.With currently two satellites in orbit with plans to expand to 18 by 2028, they’ve secured around $150 million in pre-orders from less than a million in funding.Revenue has grown from around six figures to somewhere in the tens of millions range this year, and they’re coming in 30 to 40 times lower than what their competitors are offering.Learn more about Shoaib and his company below:linkedin.com/in/shoaib-esper/espersatellites.co

John Kim is a co-founder and CEO of Paraform, a marketplace connecting companies with open roles to specialised recruiters who can fill them.After raising a $3.6 million seed round, backed by investors like Kevin Hartz (the Co-founder of Eventbrite and the 1st investor in Airbnb), as well as the co-founders of Twitch, Doordash, and leaders from Palantir, Uber, Opendoor, and Scale AI, he is focused on building the future of talent acquisition.Learn more about John and his company below:linkedin.com/in/johnkimparaform.com

Avi Patel is the founder and CEO of Nitrility, the world’s first intellectual property marketplace, built on blockchain technology, his platform provides a secure, transparent space for buying and selling rights to music, images, patents, and more. With over 34,000 artists and 400,000 assets already onboard, the company is revolutionising the way intellectual property is managed and traded.Learn more about Avi and his company below:nitrility.cominstagram.com/avipat_linkedin.com/in/avi-patel

Sachin Shah is a co-founder of Kindling, a media technology company, that ensures anyone, anywhere can access world-class tech education. He is one of the co-hosts of the ‘Sachin and Adam Show’, a founding member of Ultraviolet Ventures, as well as previously being an investment manager at AirTree. He is also passionate about using technology to make the world a better place.Learn more about Sachin and his ventures below:kindlingtech.co/⁠⁠The Sachin & Adam Showlinkedin.com/in/sachin-shahx.com/Sachin_Shah_