In this episode of The Pitch Perfect Podcast, we sit down with Kelsey Falter, founder of MOTHER GAMES, and Eric Hippeau, managing partner of Lerer Hippeau, to explore their relationship as founder and funder—and how that dynamic shapes Kelsey's game-changing company (literally).We dive into Kelsey’s vision for Le Zoo, a next-gen open-world game designed for today’s players, built with AI but not defined by it. Unlike most video games that default to violence, Le Zoo takes a different path, creating a world driven by creativity, exploration, and community.From the Pixar-like approach to AI to why Roblox and Fortnite might finally have a real challenger, this conversation is a must-watch for anyone interested in the future of gaming, startups, and the power of storytelling in interactive worlds.
The race to fund the best AI startups continues for VC firms across the world. We sat down with a founder and a funder who found each other years ago and crossed the funding finish line before most investors even realized the race had begun. Lukas Biewald, CEO and cofounder of Weights and Biases, and George Mathew, managing director at Insight Partners, join The Pitch Perfect Podcast for a discussion about the practical uses of AI applications and how far generative AI has come since GPT-3.
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Weaviate is the AI-native database for a new generation of software. Its open source vector database empowers every developer to build AI-native applications with less hallucination, data leakage, and vendor lock-in. Cofounder Bob Van Luijt joins the Pitch Perfect Podcast to share how building the Weaviate team based on kindness has been the startup’s superpower. Learn more at https://weaviate.io/.
Danel Dayan, principal at Battery Ventures, focuses on early-stage and growth-equity investments in areas such as cloud infrastructure, big data, security and next-generation, enterprise applications. Learn more at https://www.battery.com/.
This episode is brought to you by Overlap, the leader in curating personalized podcast experiences. If you love listening to podcasts, but you don't have the time to watch a three-hour long conversation, you need to download the Overlap app. The app’s AI assistant curates playlists of personalized podcast clips that are tailored to your interests and favorite creators, like us! Just prompt it with any topic, and instantly get a playlist of the best short-form moments. It’s free and we highly recommend it: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/overlap-explore-conversations/id6449747632
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With advances in LLMs it’s finally possible to automate data analysis in ways that actually work. This will radically transform how security teams operate--Prophet Security was started to make that happen. Co-founded by Kamal Shah, Prophet Security investigates alerts and responds to threats with unparalleled speed and precision while empowering your analysts and safeguarding your data. Learn more at https://www.prophetsecurity.ai/.
Rak Garg, partner at Bain Capital Ventures, focuses on infrastructure software, cybersecurity and AI incubations, supporting technical founders creating the future of intelligent computing.
This episode is brought to you by Overlap, the leader in curating personalized podcast experiences. If you love listening to podcasts, but you don't have the time to watch a three-hour long conversation, you need to download the Overlap app. The app’s AI assistant curates playlists of personalized podcast clips that are tailored to your interests and favorite creators, like us! Just prompt it with any topic, and instantly get a playlist of the best short-form moments. It’s free and we highly recommend it: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/overlap-explore-conversations/id6449747632
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Founded in 2014, Fountain started with a vision to transform the hiring of hourly workers. The majority of the global workforce is composed of hourly workers, but most applicant tracking systems aren’t built for this type of worker. Hiring salaried, knowledge workers is fundamentally different from hiring hourly workers, which is why Fountain is designed to enable recruiters to efficiently hire hourly workers, from application to start date. Since 2014, Fountain's platform has had 91 million+ applicants and 14 million+ hires with users in over 75 countries. Fountain's CEO and serial entrepreneur Sean Behr joins The Pitch Perfect Podcast. Learn more at https://www.fountain.com/.
Andy McLoughlin, managing partner at Uncork Capital, advises and invests in seed-stage startups that help every business operate like the best companies in the world. The idea: productize the business software and developer tools that tech-forward behemoths typically build internally for their own use; create lasting value by delivering productivity gains and cost savings across functions ranging from sales & marketing to finance & operations. He loves investing in “unsexy” ideas and stellar teams who perhaps look a little different than the Silicon Valley standard. Learn more at https://uncorkcapital.com/.
This episode is brought to you by Overlap, the leader in curating personalized podcast experiences. If you love listening to podcasts, but you don't have the time to watch a three-hour long conversation, you need to download the Overlap app. The app’s AI assistant curates playlists of personalized podcast clips that are tailored to your interests and favorite creators, like us! Just prompt it with any topic, and instantly get a playlist of the best short-form moments. It’s free and we highly recommend it: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/overlap-explore-conversations/id6449747632
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A candid conversation with Sean Whiteley and Scott Beechuk about the founder/funder relationship and what to do when the roles are reversed and a venture capitalist is the one pitching YOU.
Qualified.com is a platform that facilitates instant sales conversations - one click to chat, voice, and video - to unlock an entirely new pipeline generation channel. Founder and president Sean Whiteley runs the Solutions Engineering team at Qualified. Previous to Qualified, Sean was the CEO of GetFeedback, an online-survey solution and the #1-rated survey application for Salesforce. Before that, Sean was senior vice president and general manager at Salesforce.
Scott Beechuk, partner at Norwest, brings more than 20 years of product, engineering, and SaaS expertise to his role on Norwest’s enterprise team. Scott most recently served as Senior Vice President of Product Management for Salesforce Service Cloud. While at Salesforce, he also served as Head of Engineering, Product, UX, and Documentation for Desk.com. Scott has been an active angel investor in both early-stage startups and venture funds.
This episode is brought to you by Overlap, the leader in curating personalized podcast experiences. If you love listening to podcasts, but you don't have the time to watch a three-hour long conversation, you need to download the Overlap app. The app’s AI assistant curates playlists of personalized podcast clips that are tailored to your interests and favorite creators, like us! Just prompt it with any topic, and instantly get a playlist of the best short-form moments. It’s free and we highly recommend it: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/overlap-explore-conversations/id6449747632
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Mytra automates the most common task in industry: moving and storing material. Founded by Chris Walti, the robotics startup created an AI-powered bot that enables you to move inventory in any direction from any cell in the system, up and down, automatically. Learn more at https://mytra.ai/.
Seth Winterroth, partner at Eclipse, is a firm believer that the opportunity for entrepreneurs to build differentiated companies that will drive bold and sweeping changes is now. He began his career at General Electric, where he helped develop and implement a variety of robotics, 3D printing, and IoT solutions. Armed with the belief that the companies set to define this new age were yet to be created, Seth left GE to join Eclipse to build a venture capital firm focused on partnering with founders forging towards the Industrial Evolution.
This episode is brought to you by Overlap, the leader in curating personalized podcast experiences. If you love listening to podcasts, but you don't have the time to watch a three-hour long conversation, you need to download the Overlap app. The app’s AI assistant curates playlists of personalized podcast clips that are tailored to your interests and favorite creators, like us! Just prompt it with any topic, and instantly get a playlist of the best short-form moments. It’s free and we highly recommend it: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/overlap-explore-conversations/id6449747632
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Rainmaker exists to solve the water scarcity problem. Founded by Augustus Doricko, the cloud seeding startup uses drones to provide water for farms, watersheds, and ecosystems, fortifying growth and stewarding the natural world. Learn more at https://www.makerain.com/.
Greg Bernstein, general partner at Acequia Capital, is an investor in Rainmaker. He is a former investor of EQT Ventures and commanding officer of the U.S. Coast Guard. Ace Cap is a venture capital firm that focuses on early-stage investments in the future of the reindustrialization of America.
This episode is brought to you by Overlap, the leader in curating personalized podcast experiences. If you love listening to podcasts, but you don't have the time to watch a three-hour long conversation, you need to download the Overlap app. The app’s AI assistant curates playlists of personalized podcast clips that are tailored to your interests and favorite creators, like us! Just prompt it with any topic, and instantly get a playlist of the best short-form moments. It’s free and we highly recommend it: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/overlap-explore-conversations/id6449747632
Thank you to Overlap for supporting The Pitch Perfect Podcast.