Fund/Build/Scale

Inside a VC’s Playbook for Capital-Intensive Startups

Sophie Bakalar, partner at Collaborative Fund, joins Fund/Build/Scale for a candid conversation about early-stage investing in climate tech, consumer AI, and deep tech hardware. She shares how she evaluates “green” founders with limited experience, what kind of traction she looks for in pre-revenue companies, and why a passion for solving a real-world problem outweighs having a stacked resume.
We also cover:
Tactical funding strategies for capital-intensive startups
The value of adaptable teams and fractional CFOs
How to avoid overspending before product-market fit
The mindset shifts needed before approaching VCs
This episode is packed with advice for founders navigating long development timelines, technical risk, and early go-to-market strategy — especially if you’re looking to raise money while keeping burn low and momentum high.
RUNTIME 48:59
EPISODE BREAKDOWN
(2:24) “Like a lot of people in venture, I have sort of a windy path.”  
(6:47) Inside Collaborative Fund: “We all roll up our sleeves on everything here.”  
(7:55) Which industries and founder profiles Sophie is watching in 2025.  
(10:37) Where consumer AI hardware may be headed.  
(12:03) What her typical work week looks like.  
(15:05) In a people-driven industry, inexperienced founders need to de-risk themselves before doing investor outreach.  
(17:37) “We don't necessarily create a hard line or a clear box around what makes a climate tech investment.”  
(22:43) “There are a few things that investors in climate and energy tech are looking for.”  
(26:23) When it comes to solo founders, “expectations from funders [are] a little bit higher.”  
(28:28) What excites Sophie about working with first-time founders.  
(30:17) The most common reason why a team with a strong idea fails to execute.  
(33:31) Why a founder’s “adaptability quotient” is so critical to their success.  
(36:53) Personalities (and business models) that should avoid venture capital.  
(40:16) “I hope I've managed to retain a good amount of empathy.”  
(42:11) One piece of advice for VCs she returns to frequently.  
(44:37) “The only real seismic changes are going to happen when you start to see more female entrepreneurs build really successful companies.”  
(46:52) The blogger you need to read “before you kick off your fundraise.”  
(47:39) The one question Sophie would have to ask a CEO before accepting an offer from an early-stage startup.
LINKS
Sophie Bakalar
Craig Shapiro
Collaborative Fund
Fred Wilson, AVC archive
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📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fundbuildscale/
 
Thanks for listening!
– Walter.

Building a Market from Scratch: Generative Music for Enterprise Customers

Recorded in July 2024, Aimi founder Edward Balassanian joins Fund/Build/Scale to share how his AI-powered platform creates generative, copyright-safe music for enterprise clients. He explains how customer discovery with DJs shaped Aimi’s tech, why compliance is core to their strategy, and why the company downsized after hitting product-market fit — all while inventing a market where AI music solves problems humans can’t.
RUNTIME 30:47
EPISODE BREAKDOWN
(4:17) “ I consider myself a platform person. I build operating systems.”
(7:39) “ It's incumbent on a founder in a space like this to be well-versed in not only the art of the music, but the science of the music as well.”
(9:14) “ We see a song as a medium between fans and artists. We're not in the song business.”
(11:03) How Aimi is building a library of licensed content: “We’ve been pretty methodical.”
(14:59) “ We see ourselves as kind of uniquely in the business of music AI for creation, not for imitation.”
(16:46) “ We de-risk the use of music. That's one of the biggest selling points for enterprise customers.”
(18:44) “ Like most tech people, I would say we're always going to be in beta.”
(21:58) Why Aimi raised its $20M Series B in 2021.
(24:01) Downsizing after reaching PMF “ was the best decision that we that we could have made.”
(28:05) “ I think what's really interesting is building platforms, and any platform today is going to have to incorporate AI into it.”
LINKS
Edward Balassanian (Crunchbase)
Aimi
AI-Powered Music Platform Aimi has raised $20 million in a Series B round of funding
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📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fundbuildscale/
 
Thanks for listening!
– Walter.

How a Broke College Student Co-founded a VC-Backed Edtech Startup

In this episode of Fund/Build/Scale, Nectir co-founder and CEO Kavitta Ghai shares how she turned her frustration as a college student into a fast-growing, VC-backed edtech startup. Kavitta discusses the leap from student to founder, how she built an AI-powered tool for classrooms without a technical background, and the tactics that helped her and her co-founder land paying customers early. She also opens up about navigating the venture world as a first-generation founder and reframing risk as a competitive advantage.
RUNTIME 59:59
EPISODE BREAKDOWN
(1:57) “ One day we said, ‘what if we stopped complaining and we actually did something about it?’”
(5:57) “ The idea for Nectir initially just sort of fell into my lap.”
(10:29) “ I was a communication major. He was an environmental studies major. We had no technical background at all.”
(12:50) “ To go from a broke college student to being a broke founder really doesn't feel like that big of a difference.”
(14:12) How they landed Nectir’s first customer — UC Santa Barbara.
(20:50) “ We have this philosophy that I call our ‘zones of genius.’”
(23:46) Why customer discovery should “ every single person on the team for as long as you possibly can.”
(27:03) “ When I go back and think about what we did best in that beginning period of time, it was starting with a very basic MVP.”
(30:47) “ It was a huge surprise and it was terrifying when I realized, ‘oh shit, I'm the salesperson.’”
(34:47) Kavitta shares her top recommendation for free founder advice — and one she had to pay for.
(38:43) “ I actually came into building Nectir with zero understanding of what VC funding even was.”
(43:38) “ You have to be willing to ask for what you want and it's the only way to get it.”
(47:24) “ Right this second is the best possible time to start your company.”
(51:50) “ It's not the thought of me sitting on a yacht one day that motivates me.”
(53:09) Nectir’s pilot program with the California Community College system.
(56:49) The one question Kavitta would have to ask a CEO before she’d take a job at their startup.
LINKS
Nectir
Kavitta Ghai
kavitta.com
How to Crash the Silicon Valley Party
California Community Colleges Launches Groundbreaking Pilot with Nectir AI
Paul Graham essays
What is FERPA?, U.S. Dept. of Education
Entrada Ventures
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📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fundbuildscale/
 
Thanks for listening!
 
– Walter.

Is AI Compute Broken? Tim Davis on Modular’s $130M Bet

Would you leave a stable, high-paying job at Google to build something that competes with NVIDIA, Intel, and AMD? That’s exactly what Tim Davis, co-founder and president of Modular, did. Since then, his company has raised $130M to reimagine AI compute infrastructure — but are AI startups really desperate for a new compute layer? And what’s it like to build a startup when your biggest competitors are trillion-dollar giants? In this episode of Fund/Build/Scale, Tim shares his vision for the future of AI compute, why talent is the real key to success, and some of the tough lessons he’s learned from three startups.
RUNTIME 46:27
EPISODE BREAKDOWN
(1:26) “We are building a new accelerated execution platform for compute.”
(6:41) “ It will exist all over the place and it already does, but AI will be everywhere that compute is.”
(11:18) “ You only you only have so much time in a week. What is the thing that you're best at?”
(15:13) “ We have decided to start from the hardest part of the software stack.”
(22:44) “For the most talented people in the world, the risk is actually not as great as what you think.”
(30:24) “ Growing up in Australia, my view of the of the United States was very much driven from the media and from Hollywood.”
(33:26) “ I sat in a room for six weeks and just met everyone that I could. And that really was the beginning of a journey to the United States.”
(37:48) “ I still think there's a special place in the Bay Area, and in the United States, there is a different risk appetite.”
(40:41) The one question Tim would have to ask the CEO before he’d take a job at someone else’s early-stage startup.
LINKS
Tim Davis, co-founder, president
timdavis.com
Chris Lattner, co-founder, CEO
Modular
AI startup Modular raises $100 mln in General Catalyst-led funding, 8/24/2023, Reuters 
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🎧 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fund-build-scale/id1719488387
🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0EbC8PTUSfpZ4USPC9ErnN
📥 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7249143254363856897/
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Thanks for listening!
– Walter.

Scaling European Startups: What Works, What Doesn’t, and What’s Changing

Building a startup in Europe presents a unique set of challenges, like fragmented markets, cultural differences in risk-taking, and a VC ecosystem that’s still maturing compared to Silicon Valley. But things are changing fast.
For this episode of Fund/Build/Scale, I sat down with Lucile Cornet, partner at Eight Roads, a global VC firm that invests across Europe. We dive into:
🚀 How European founders are breaking away from Silicon Valley’s playbook📈 The real signals VCs look for when deciding to fund a startup🌍 Why Europe’s fragmented markets create both challenges and opportunities💡 The alternative paths to scaling beyond the seed → Series A → Series B treadmill🤖 How AI is reshaping vertical SaaS, fintech, and legacy industries in Europe
Lucile also shares the biggest mistakes founders make when fundraising and scaling, plus the one question she’d ask a CEO before joining an early-stage startup.
If you’re building — or thinking about building — a startup in Europe, this episode is for you.
RUNTIME 53:08
EPISODE BREAKDOWN
(3:22) Building long-term relationships with founders – “We really track to get to know people, entrepreneurs early and track their success.”(4:53) The reality of venture capital – “People glamorize the VC job, but sometimes I just think we're enterprise AEs.”(6:54) What happens after the first meeting with a founder team – How Eight Roads evaluates potential investments.(11:04) “There are definitely huge differences between investing in Europe, and in the US, and especially Silicon Valley.”(16:31) Cultural perceptions of job security in Europe – “If you get fired in France, you've, you've done something wrong, right?”(18:26) How the European mindset around risk-taking is shifting – More founders are embracing entrepreneurship.(22:14) How Eight Roads fosters founder communities across Europe – The playbook for strengthening a fragmented ecosystem.(27:34) The gap between startup reality and media narratives – “Journalism and social media paint a very romanticized, idealized version of a temporary shape.”(31:34) Beyond the VC treadmill: Alternative growth paths for European startups – What’s working outside the standard fundraising model.(34:45) Is grind culture universal? – “Frankly, if you want to be a successful entrepreneur, the grind is everywhere.”(39:03) The reverse talent flow: Europeans returning from Silicon Valley are reshaping the ecosystem.(43:21) The tech trends Lucile is watching for 2025 – Where the next opportunities are emerging.(46:34) Why consumer tech could make a comeback – “The comeback of consumer, I think at some point is going to be one to watch.”(48:05) A key lesson she wishes more entrepreneurs understood earlier – Insights from 13 years in VC.(52:07) The question she’d ask before joining a European startup – The ultimate founder test.
LINKS
Lucile Cornet
Eight Roads
Raft
Juro
poolside
SUBSCRIBE
🎧 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fund-build-scale/id1719488387
🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0EbC8PTUSfpZ4USPC9ErnN
📥 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7249143254363856897/
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fundbuildscale/
Thanks for listening!
 
– Walter.

What Journey’s Pivot from B2C to B2B Reveals About Enterprise Sales

Journey founder and CEO Stephen Sokoler appeared on Fund/Build/Scale in June 2024 to talk about how his startup pivoted from B2C meditation services to a B2B mental health platform, along with what that shift revealed about selling to enterprise clients. He breaks down the challenges of high customer acquisition costs, the trade-offs of venture capital, and the key lessons founders should know before making a major business model shift.
RUNTIME 38:28
 
EPISODE BREAKDOWN
(2:20) Why Stephen decided to found Journey — identifying the need for accessible mental health solutions.
(5:07) “We probably had five or six different products that worked and didn't work until we got to where we are today.” Lessons from early iterations and failures.
(7:32) Pivoting to B2B “was definitely a safer bet than to continue doing consumer, which just seemed like a dead end.”
(9:26) Landing early customers like Warby Parker — how this helped de-risk Journey for enterprise clients.
(11:37) Why he sought out venture capital in the company’s early days — and what he learned from the process.
(13:56) Knowing what he knows now, would he still have pursued VC?
(17:11) Reaching product-market fit “changes the fundamentals of the business significantly.”
(19:00) “One of our core pillars is that it's a global offering rooted in diversity and inclusion.”
(23:17) We think it's really important to make mental health part of the fabric of working at a company, versus a random benefit.”
(25:17) The three key data points Journey tracks to measure impact and effectiveness.
(28:25) “You can decide: Do you want it to be a lifestyle business? Do you want it to be a unicorn?”
(31:49) Work-life balance vs. work-life integration — “I don't like the term ‘work-life balance,’ because then it feels like something's always kind of out of whack.”
(34:29) How Stephen has learned to manage the mental toll of entrepreneurship.
(37:25) “Not every business should be a venture-backed business.” Key insights on whether VC is the right path.
LINKS
Stephen Sokoler
Journey
 
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🎧 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fund-build-scale/id1719488387
🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0EbC8PTUSfpZ4USPC9ErnN
📥 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7249143254363856897/
📓Substack: https://fundbuildscale.substack.com
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fundbuildscale/
 
Thanks for listening!
– Walter.

What Your CEO Won't Tell You About Your Stock Options

When you accepted the offer, maybe you imagined being in the group photo when your boss rang the bell at NASDAQ.
But five years later, your company just raised its Series C, and an IPO isn’t on the horizon. Meanwhile, you need liquidity — whether it’s for a down payment on a house, starting a family, or another major life event.
The stock options you’ve earned are fully vested, but they’re just sitting there. So how do you turn them into cash?
If your company allows it, you can sell your shares to an accredited investor, assuming you can find a buyer who’ll meet your price.
That’s where the secondary market comes in. I spoke with Phil Haslett, founder and Chief Strategy Officer at EquityZen, a platform that helps startup employees sell a portion of their equity to investors looking to get in on high-growth companies before they go public.
We took a deep dive into how the secondary market works, its risks and rewards, and how aspiring founders can even use it to bootstrap their own startups.
Disclaimer: This interview is for informational purposes only. Nothing Phil says should be interpreted as financial advice.
RUNTIME 41:54
EPISODE BREAKDOWN
(0:00) I used Descript to create an elaborate cold open for this episode, please listen.
(3:19) The specific pain point that led Phil and Atish to start EquityZen.
(5:11) “ I've kind of gone through maybe two or three evolutions of the IPO markets since EquityZen started.”
(7:57) All things being equal, early-stage tech workers take on more risk than founders or investors.
(9:12) Few workers are well-informed about the secondary market, “but it’s not their fault.”
(11:38) “ At some point, employees start to decide that maybe where they want to work — or maybe where they want to keep working — might be informed a bit by what they can or can't do with their equity.”
(13:06) Should we keep the traditional four-year vesting schedule, or scrap it for something new?
(14:14) Typical reasons why sellers turn to the secondary market.
(16:25) EquityZen’s typical selling size and average investment size, as of November 2024.
(18:52) ” You're probably not gonna get a billion-dollar valuation for your shares purely based on structure alone.”
(20:45) Keep close track of your equity, especially if you think you’re going to be laid off.
(22:20) Consult a financial services professional before you start the process.
(24:16) “ The first steps are kind of just also learning if you can sell your shares.”
(27:04) “ The company that you held shares in, if it went to zero: would you regret that you didn't sell?”
(30:10) A framework for figuring out whether the secondary market is worth the time and trouble.
(33:25) Offer your employees liquidity without jeopardizing morale or financial stability.
(36:27) Phil’s founder pitch: “ We're gonna support you all along the way. We can help you with liquidity in the future.”
(39:16) Tips for approaching your CEO to ask about liquidity options.
LINKS
Phil Haslett, co-founder/Chief Strategy Officer
Atish Davda, co-founder/CEO
EquityZen
Descript stock library:
Music: She Was In Hawaii (Lap Steel)
SFX: Bar Background Ambience 01
SFX: Ocean Waves Crashing Ambience
SUBSCRIBE🎧 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fund-build-scale/id1719488387
🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0EbC8PTUSfpZ4USPC9ErnN
📥 LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7249143254363856897/
📓Substack: https://fundbuildscale.substack.com
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fundbuildscale/
Thanks for listening!
 
– Walter.

Why PR Comes Before PMF

Do you want to know the difference between marketing and PR?
Marketing is when you say something nice about yourself;
PR is when other people say nice things about you.
Jenna Guarneri is the founder of JMG Public Relations and author of the bestseller "You Need PR." In this episode, she shares DIY PR tactics that help founders establish themselves as experts, attract customers, and raise their profile with investors — without spending a fortune on an agency.
If you’ve ever wondered why reporters never get back to you, we cover that, too.
Key takeaways from this episode:
✅ Why PR comes before PMF in the startup playbook✅ The biggest PR misconceptions founders have (and how to avoid them)✅ How to craft a media pitch that actually gets responses✅ DIY PR strategies for building credibility before you hire a firm✅ The right way to engage with journalists without being ignored✅ How PR can help secure funding and drive startup growth
If you’re trying to take control of your PR strategy and attract positive attention, listen in.
RUNTIME 31:28
EPISODE BREAKDOWN
(1:52) How Jenna sets client expectations on what PR can and cannot accomplish.(5:14) Key signals that indicate an early-stage startup is ready to hire outside PR.(6:41) “The founders usually are amenable to PR and doing media interviews. It kind of comes with the territory of being a founder.”(7:59) How to get started with DIY PR by sharing thought leadership that creates value.(11:35) “PR should be done at the very beginning, right from the very start.”(12:20) The right way for stealth startups to approach PR.(13:02) The top reasons why reporters ignore pitches — and how to avoid them.(15:21) Crafting a news hook that genuinely engages journalists.(17:33) How your world changes when PR starts working.(18:50) “Effective public relations will drive the business in a number of ways.”(20:50) How to interview and vet a PR firm before making a commitment.(22:46) PR is a long game: “We can't work miracles in three months.”(25:22) Why using ChatGPT to pitch reporters is a terrible idea.(27:42) “Content creation does take a lot of time, a lot of energy, but it goes a long way really quickly for brand awareness.”(30:14) The one question Jenna would have to ask before hiring a PR firm.
LINKS
Jenna Guarneri
JMG Public Relations
You Need PR
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📥 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7249143254363856897/
📓Substack: https://fundbuildscale.substack.com
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fundbuildscale/
Thanks for listening!
– Walter.

Investor Insights for African Startups with Capria Ventures’ Mobola da-Silva

Building a startup in Africa isn’t the same as doing it in Silicon Valley.
Some challenges overlap, but many don’t, like currency volatility, limited early-stage funding, and investors who expect you to scale faster than the market allows.
So how do you grow beyond your home market? How do you raise funds when VC is scarce? And what do African founders need to do to make their startups more venture-backable?
To find out, I spoke with Mobola da-Silva, a partner at Capria Ventures who’s based in Nairobi, Kenya. She’s been investing in Africa and other emerging markets for nearly two decades and knows exactly what separates startups that thrive from those that stall.
She shares practical insights on navigating currency risk, securing funding, and preparing for Series A — even if you don’t have a deep-pocketed network to lean on.
If you’re an African founder trying to build a company that investors take seriously, this episode is for you.
RUNTIME 46:19
EPISODE BREAKDOWN
(2:03) How Mobola got her start in VC and the path that led her to Capria Ventures.
(4:09) Capria Ventures' investment thesis.
(5:32) The regions and sectors where generative AI is creating real value.
(10:41) The best way to pitch Capria Ventures — and what investors want to see.
(12:26) “A venture-backable business has to be able to achieve significant scale.”
(15:13) “We're getting a bit more creative in Africa around funding for startups.”
(16:20) How currency volatility impacts valuations — and strategies for mitigating risk.
(22:18) “To pitch successfully, you have to be able to tell a story, right?”
(23:51) Why Capria Ventures avoids solo founders and what investors look for in teams.
(28:33) “Many investors don't think of product-market fit as a binary thing.”
(31:29) The key metrics that signal true product-market fit.
(33:49) “Make sure that you have a strong business before you try to start to move it to another market.”
(37:49) “Silicon Valley looms larger than life in Africa.” How founders should interpret this influence.
(42:46) Mobola’s top advice for early-stage founders in Africa looking to scale and raise capital.
LINKS
Mobola da-Silva
Capria Ventures
Investment inquiries
SUBSCRIBE
LinkedIn
Substack
Instagram
Thanks for listening!
– Walter.

KarmaCheck CEO Eric Ly on Customer Discovery + Early Product Development

Eric Ly is the CEO of KarmaCheck, where he’s tackling a problem he first noticed years ago as a co-founder of LinkedIn:
People don’t always tell the truth about themselves.
To address this, KarmaCheck — launched in 2019 — automates key aspects of the background check process. By reducing complexity, employers can speed up hiring, while job applicants experience less friction along the way.
“This is one of the first touch points with the employer: experiencing pain and frustration having to go through this process,” said Eric.
“For us to show up with something new and different and better was frankly a breath of fresh air for the employers, the customers that we work with.”
In this episode, we discuss:
Jumping into a highly regulated industry with no prior domain expertise
Why customer discovery should focus on patterns, not one-off insights
The benefits of selling new features before they exist
How to balance customer requests without losing focus
We also talk about stepping out of LinkedIn’s shadow, resisting the temptation to build for a single customer, and knowing when to say “no” to feature requests.
RUNTIME 40:20
EPISODE BREAKDOWN
(1:37) “Several years ago, I became really interested in this whole concept around trust and trust online.” — How Eric first recognized the problem that led to KarmaCheck.
(3:22) Entering a highly regulated industry without prior experience — where Eric found the confidence to take the leap.
(5:30) A look back at KarmaCheck’s first hires — who they brought in early and why.
(6:47) How KarmaCheck convinced early customers to take a chance on an unproven solution.
(10:36) “Where employers don't even meet the people that they interview in person, there's an opportunity for the wrong things to happen.” 
(12:21) “We identified a pain point in corporate America that people often experience frustration with.” 
(14:34) How Eric used early customer feedback to shape KarmaCheck’s product strategy.
(16:11) The role of proof-of-concept programs in building customer trust.
(21:16) “Make sure that whatever you commit to in your product is going to be applicable for more than one customer.” 
(24:47) When customer feedback leads you down the wrong path — how to recognize it and recover.
(27:46) Why it’s important to keep track of rejected product ideas. 
(29:49) The lessons from LinkedIn that Eric chose not to apply at KarmaCheck.
(32:54) Advice for founders who want to step out of a shadow and build something completely new.
(35:54) How to find a mentor when you don’t have a built-in network — Eric’s tips for making meaningful connections.
(38:24) The one question Eric would ask a CEO if he were interviewing for a job at an early-stage startup.
LINKS
KarmaCheck
Eric Ly
KarmaCheck Raises $45 Million Series B to Modernize Background Checks and Credentialing (Press release. 6/27/2024)
SUBSCRIBE
LinkedIn
Substack
Instagram
Thanks for listening!
– Walter.