Space Perspective just raised $40M to build the Disney World of space. To do it they’re using Space Balloons. NASA has been toying with space balloons since the 1970s but you may remember them from Red Bull’s halo jump — a skydive from the edge of the stratosphere. Space Perspective is betting that instead of strapping into a rocket for a 12 min trip you might prefer a 6 hour trip with WiFi, a cocktail bar, a culinary experience, and a full bar. And if you’re looking to grow your business, you need great developers.That’s where Lemon comes in. When you want to scale quickly, finding the right support is hard and it slows you down. But with Lemon, the process is made quick and easy with hundreds of developers who’ve been vetted and tested. You’ll get a match within 48-hours, ready to work straight away. Sign up today and get matched at Lemon.io And if you love listening to Just Raised, please leave me a 5-star review on Rate My Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/justraised Thank you so much! Follow Jane: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jane-poynter/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/SpacePerspectiv Check out the Just Raised newsletter: https://bit.ly/3Ghj2tY Stay up-to-date on all things Just Raised: https://workweek.com/brand/just-raised/ or follow Joe Sweeny on Twitter: twitter.com/JoeySweeny And if you’re a fan of Acquired, Invest Like The Best, Business Breakdowns or 20VC, you’ll love Just Raised

When was the last time you enjoyed your Gmail inbox? Shortwave is picking up where Gmail dropped the ball and redesigning your inbox. Find out how. Joe gets straight into conversation with Andrew about why email should be as much fun as WhatsApp, why Slack is email’s greatest threat, and the $9 million Series A they raised in 2020. You’ll also hear Andrew’s plans on building a professional grade email product for heavy users and what the future looks like for Shortwave. And if you’re looking to grow your business, you need great developers.That’s where Lemon comes in. When you want to scale quickly, finding the right support is hard and it slows you down. But with Lemon, the process is made quick and easy with hundreds of developers who’ve been vetted and tested. You’ll get a match within 48-hours, ready to work straight away. Sign up today and get matched at Lemon.io And if you love listening to Just Raised, please leave me a 5-star review on Rate My Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/justraised Thank you so much! Follow Andrew: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/startupandrew Twitter:twitter.com/startupandrew Check out the Just Raised newsletter: https://bit.ly/3Ghj2tY Stay up-to-date on all things Just Raised: https://workweek.com/brand/just-raised/ or follow Joe Sweeny on Twitter: twitter.com/JoeySweeny And if you’re a fan of Acquired, Invest Like The Best, Business Breakdowns or 20VC, you’ll love Just Raised

When your crop’s ready for harvesting, you need workers ready to go. But getting reliable, legal workers is tough and that’s where SESO is stepping up. Joe and SESO CEO Michael get into the multi-billion dollar problem facing the agricultural industry, the very messy visa entry system, and why farmers just want to farm without the hassle of backend operations. You’ll hear how SESO is streamlining the hiring and onboarding process, why payroll is the next big win, and why agtech is innovating at a dizzying pace. And if you love listening to Just Raised, please leave me a 5-star review on Rate My Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/justraised Thank you so much! Follow Michael: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/michaelguirguis Check out the Just Raised newsletter: https://bit.ly/3Ghj2tY Stay up-to-date on all things Just Raised: https://workweek.com/brand/just-raised/ or follow Joe Sweeny on Twitter: twitter.com/JoeySweeny And if you’re a fan of Acquired, Invest Like The Best, Business Breakdowns or 20VC, you’ll love Just Raised

Phil Libin has founded a few companies — Evernote the early mobile app giant, All Turtles a product design firm, and now Mmhmm, the culmination of a decade long mission to kill Powerpoint. We dive into how Phil names companies, what he learned about fundraising from raising $400M from Sequioa for Evernote, and how to build products people love. And if you love listening to Just Raised, please leave me a 5-star review on Rate My Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/justraised Thank you so much! Follow Phil: Twitter: https://twitter.com/plibin Check out the Just Raised newsletter: https://bit.ly/3Ghj2tY Stay up-to-date on all things Just Raised: https://workweek.com/brand/just-raised/ or follow Joe Sweeny on Twitter: twitter.com/JoeySweeny And if you’re a fan of Acquired, Invest Like The Best, Business Breakdowns or 20VC, you’ll love Just Raised

When you can tell Andrew Chen from A16z how to solve the cold start problem, you know you’re on to a good thing. Meet Swaypay, the company with all the answers. And those answers come from Kaeya Majmundar, Founder and CEO, with a $4.2 million Series A to her name. Joe and Kaeya, discuss how Swaypay is riding on TikTok’s coattails, how to capture the longtail of social media through everyday users, and why Swaypay customers pay based on the virality of the post. You’ll hear all about the rise of social fintech, effective online marketing, and how word of mouth marketing really works. And if you love listening to Just Raised, please leave me a 5-star review on Rate My Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/justraised Thank you so much! Follow Kaeya: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kaeya Check out the Just Raised newsletter: https://bit.ly/3Ghj2tY Stay up-to-date on all things Just Raised: https://workweek.com/brand/just-raised/ or follow Joe Sweeny on Twitter: twitter.com/JoeySweeny And if you’re a fan of Acquired, Invest Like The Best, Business Breakdowns or 20VC, you’ll love Just Raised

“If you’re not paying, you’re the product”. Josh McManus is shaking financial wellness up with a membership platform helping customers gain financial freedom. The problem with most financial institutions is they just want to sell you things. Fruitful is different. CEO Josh has a clear set of goals: To offer expert advice and powerful tools through a transparent, affordable subscription fee. Joe gets into conversation with Josh about why fintech is a tool for empowerment, how a subscription service makes great advice more accessible, and why it’s important to take a holistic view of your finances. You’ll also hear why Fruitful invests in design and technology equally, the difference between design and development, and Fruitful’s ambitious plans for the future. And if you’re looking to grow your business, you need great developers. That’s where Lemon comes in. When you want to scale quickly, finding the right support is hard and it slows you down. But with Lemon, the process is made quick and easy with hundreds of developers who’ve been vetted and tested. You’ll get a match within 48-hours, ready to work straight away. Sign up today and get matched at Lemon.io  And if you love listening to Just Raised, please leave me a 5-star review on Rate My Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/justraised Thank you so much! Follow Josh: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/magnusmcmanus Check out the Just Raised newsletter: https://bit.ly/3Ghj2tY Stay up-to-date on all things Just Raised: https://workweek.com/brand/just-raised/ or follow Joe Sweeny on Twitter: twitter.com/JoeySweeny And if you’re a fan of Acquired, Invest Like The Best, Business Breakdowns or 20VC, you’ll love Just Raised

When Everett Cook saw a gap in the market, he didn’t just fill it, he set the bar for the entire industry and took his VC backed company to a new level. In this fly through, Joe gets into it with Everett, talking about why digital financial services are transforming the entire fintech market, how they raised $75 million in VC funding, and how Rho actually makes money.  And if you love listening to Just Raised, please leave me a 5-star review on Rate My Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/justraised Thank you so much! Follow Everett: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/everettcook Check out the Just Raised newsletter: https://bit.ly/3Ghj2tY Stay up-to-date on all things Just Raised: https://workweek.com/brand/just-raised/ or follow Joe Sweeny on Twitter: twitter.com/JoeySweeny And if you’re a fan of Acquired, Invest Like The Best, Business Breakdowns or 20VC, you’ll love Just Raised

Delphia is using your data to beat the stock market. Today, the stock market is about having an information edge. Hedge funds use satellite imagery of Walmart parking lots and AI that crawls Twitter to bet on a company's returns. Delphia has it's own information edge: your data. Joe and Andrew Peek, Co-Founder and CEO of Delphia, get into why users would give Delphia access to their data - from Venmo transactions to Robinhood trading - Andrew's journey from software and boutique hotels to blockchain and fintech, and how causal forecasting could to much more than 'just' beat the market. You’ll also hear how Andrew attracts top talent by building great teams, how your long term goal is your North Star, and how what Andrew imagines Delphia's users could do with their data edge over the next 20 years. If you’re looking to build your own big data bet you'll need the best developers. You need Lemon. When you want to scale quickly, finding the right support is hard and it slows you down. But with Lemon, the process is made quick and easy with hundreds of developers who’ve been vetted and tested. You’ll get a match within 48-hours, ready to work straight away. Sign up today and get matched at Lemon.io/justraised If you love listening to Just Raised, please leave me a 5-star review on Rate My Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/justraised Thank you so much! Follow Andrew: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/drupeek Twitter: twitter.com/drupeek Check out the Just Raised newsletter: https://bit.ly/3Ghj2tY Stay up-to-date on all things Just Raised: https://workweek.com/brand/just-raised/ or follow Joe Sweeny on Twitter: twitter.com/JoeySweeny And if you’re a fan of Acquired, Invest Like The Best, Business Breakdowns or 20VC, you’ll love Just Raised

Supply chains are broken. Poor communication among suppliers has the potential to affect all our lives from car safety to well stocked grocery stores. Vendia is building solutions. Tim Wagner and Shruthi Rao, Co-Founders, are, at heart, builders, and when they saw a market that needed their technical eye they jumped right in with Venida, which has just raised $30M in series B funding. Joe jumps into it with Tim and Shruthi. You’ll hear Vendia’s origin story as a problem-solving Venn diagram, the tough job of solving supply chain communication and why APIs are just the icing on the cake. You’ll also hear predictions on cutting edge Web3 technology, how Vendia is helping scale without losing control, and Tim’s vision for intelligent flying cars. If you love listening to Just Raised, please leave me a 5-star review on Rate My Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/justraised Thank you so much! Follow Shruthi: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/shruthirao Follow Tim: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/timawagner Check out the Just Raised newsletter: https://bit.ly/3Ghj2tY Stay up-to-date on all things Just Raised: https://workweek.com/brand/just-raised/ or follow Joe Sweeny on Twitter: twitter.com/JoeySweeny And if you’re a fan of Acquired, Invest Like The Best, Business Breakdowns or 20VC, you’ll love Just Raised.

Ben Lamm is on a de-extinction mission and it’s no coincidence his company is backed by one of the original creators of the Jurassic Park franchise.  As a serial tech entrepreneur, Ben Lamm knew his next startup was always going to have a big impact on the world. With Colossal Biosciences, he’s doing just that.  Joe gets Jurassic with Ben as they discuss how Colossal is building tools and tech to help rescue species on the verge of extinction, how DNA technology can build an elephant, and how to raise $75 million dollars from investors including Paris Hilton and Thomas Tull, Executive Producer of Jurassic World. You’ll also hear how to create an artificial womb and the shift Colossal made from academic lab to tech startup. If you’re growing fast and need marketing talent on board, check out MarketerHire. Using advanced AI tech and a thorough vetting process MarketerHire will match your business with a top-tier marketer and they’ll do it quickly. Get signed up today and find your marketing professional at marketerhire.com And if you love listening to Just Raised, please leave me a 5-star review on Rate My Podcast: https://ratethispodcast.com/justraised Thank you so much! Follow  Twitter: https://twitter.com/jimmychen Check out the Just Raised newsletter: https://bit.ly/3Ghj2tY Stay up-to-date on all things Just Raised: https://workweek.com/brand/just-raised/ or follow Joe Sweeny on Twitter: twitter.com/JoeySweeny And if you’re a fan of Acquired, Invest Like The Best, Business Breakdowns or 20VC, you’ll love Just Raised

Pipedream is a delivery startup, but they’re not using bike messengers or Uber drivers, they’re using robots that will deliver you a burrito in minutes via pipes underground.Pipedream is GoPuff crossed with Elon Musk’s boring company. It’s building a hyper logistics network to delivery anything, anywhere in a city in minutes. And they’re doing it with bots running through maintenance pipes.Joe gets into it Founder and CEO Garrett McCurrach, talking about what makes a good city for Pipedream’s pipes, how to pitch this to VCs, and how Garrett aims to generate revenue while they’re first getting started.Stick around to the end to hear Garrett flip the interview on Joe and ask what kind of startups he would love to build one day.If you want to tell your story like Pipedream, you need to check out MarketerHire. Hiring is hard, which is why MarketerHire exists, to match your business with a top-tier marketer fast. Get signed up today and find your marketing professional at marketerhire.com Follow Garret Twitter: https://twitter.com/thegarrettscott Check out the Just Raised newsletter: https://bit.ly/3Ghj2tYStay up-to-date on all things Just Raised: https://workweek.com/brand/just-raised/ or follow Joe Sweeny on Twitter: twitter.com/JoeySweeny

Meet the founder building a fintech business to upgrade government. Propel is building the banking app for the 42M Americans on food stamps. The US government deploys $70 billion a year into food stamps and it doesn’t have a website where users can check their balance. Propel is changing that and building a killer business at the same time. Jimmy has onboarded nearly 5 million users on less than $20M in venture capital - wildly capital efficient for a neobank. Now he’s building out a recruiting platform to help users find jobs, an advertising platform, and an all-in-one banking app. Jimmy talks to Joe about how entrepreneurs can work with government and why people in the tech sector have failed to build products for Propel’s customer base - missing massive opportunities in the process. If you’re growing fast, like Propel, and need marketing talent on board, check out MarketerHire. Using advanced AI tech and a thorough vetting process MarketerHire will match your business with a top-tier marketer and they’ll do it quickly. Get signed up today and find your marketing professional at marketerhire.com Follow Jimmy Twitter: https://twitter.com/jimmychen Check out the Just Raised newsletter: https://bit.ly/3Ghj2tY Stay up-to-date on all things Just Raised: https://workweek.com/brand/just-raised/ or follow Joe Sweeny on Twitter: twitter.com/JoeySweeny And if you’re a fan of Acquired, Invest Like The Best, Business Breakdowns or 20VC, you’ll love Just Raised

How do you bring in the next generation of crypto users? You create your own currency. Most fintech companies are skimming from customers when it comes to saving and investing but the Eco platform is different. By making spending, saving and investing easy, without the skim, it’s turning traditional finance on its head. And it’s doing that through Eco Points, a rewards currency for the Eco community. Joe brings back Andy, getting into how he got started in Crypto way back in 2014, the launch of the Stanford Bitcoin Club, and his recent raises of $25m and $60m. You’ll also hear Andy talking about stable coins, what it’s really like creating a new currency, and why it’s on course to be a major disruptor. If you’re growing fast, like Eco, and need marketing talent on board, get MarketerHire. Using advanced AI tech and a thorough vetting process MarketerHire will match your business with a top-tier marketer and they’ll do it quickly. Get signed up today and find your marketing professional at marketerhire.com Follow Andy LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/andybromberg Check out the Just Raised newsletter: https://bit.ly/3Ghj2tY Stay up-to-date on all things Just Raised: https://workweek.com/brand/just-raised/ or follow Joe Sweeny on Twitter: twitter.com/JoeySweeny   And if you’re a fan of Acquired, Invest Like The Best, Business Breakdowns or 20VC, you’ll love Just Raised

Meet the startup backed by the GitHub CEO and investment team.  Graphite is growing like crazy. Taking inspiration from Discord and Twitter, this is a company offering a code review tool for engineers. Operating as an open source CLI and dashboard, the platform is for users who want to review code quickly and efficiently. Joe gets into it with Co-Founders Tomas and Greg, talking through their recent $20M Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz, why they’ve welcomed GitHub investor Peter Levine to the board, and what makes them unique as an engineers tool. You’ll also hear how Graphite plans on growing, creating a better desktop experience, and better integration with a host of other tools. And if, like Greg and Tomas, you’re ambitious to grow your business, you need MarketerHire. Using advanced AI tech and a thorough vetting process MarketerHire will match your business with a top-tier marketer and they’ll do it quickly. Get signed up today and find your marketing professional at marketerhire.com Follow Greg: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/gregorymfoster Follow Tomas: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tomasreimers Check out the Just Raised newsletter: https://bit.ly/3Ghj2tY Stay up-to-date on all things Just Raised: https://workweek.com/brand/just-raised/ or follow Joe Sweeny on Twitter: twitter.com/JoeySweeny   And if you’re a fan of Acquired, Invest Like The Best, Business Breakdowns or 20VC, you’ll love Just Raised

Meet the company on a mission to make teamwork the best part of work. Backed by a $14M Series A, Switchboard is one to watch. Tapping into the remote working space, Switchboard brings all the right people and tools together on the cloud to make coworking a breeze. And they’re doing it beautifully. Joe and Amir get deep in conversation, talking about what it takes to build virality and customer acquisition into a product, the process of raising, and why remote working is exhausting without the right tools. You’ll also hear Amir’s ambitious plans for continued growth and where Switchboard is heading. And if you’re ambitious to grow your business, like Amir, you need MarketerHire. Using advanced AI tech and a thorough vetting process MarketerHire will match your business with a top-tier marketer and they’ll do it quickly. Get signed up today and find your marketing professional at marketerhire.com Follow Amir: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/amirashkenazi Twitter: twitter.com/AmirTime Check out the Just Raised newsletter: https://bit.ly/3Ghj2tY Stay up-to-date on all things Just Raised: https://workweek.com/brand/just-raised/ or follow Joe Sweeny on Twitter: twitter.com/JoeySweeny   And if you’re a fan of Acquired, Invest Like The Best, Business Breakdowns or 20VC, you’ll love Just Raised

Templates! Great trading strategies can get lost in a sea of spreadsheets and complicated code. Composer makes it easy for traders, with a building block system that can be endlessly customized. Even the most experienced retail investors can get frustrated with the endless amounts of coding and paperwork that comes with creating trade strategies. As investing becomes more complex, having access to a library of tried and tested strategy templates is invaluable. Joe gets into conversation with Ben and Ananda, who believe, in Composer, they’ve created a product that’s both powerful and flexible. You’ll find out why Composer has layers, making it both approachable and highly customizable, and why you can be irreverent but still be smart with your product. You’ll also hear how Sub-Reddits are setting the tone, Ben’s lightbulb moment, and how they’re planning on taking over the industry. And if you’re ambitious to grow your business, you need MarketerHire. Using advanced AI tech and a thorough vetting process MarketerHire will match your business with a top-tier marketer and they’ll do it quickly. Get signed up today and find your marketing professional at marketerhire.com Follow Ben: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/benrollert Twitter :twitter.com/benrollert  Follow Ananda: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/anandaaisola Check out the Just Raised newsletter: https://bit.ly/3Ghj2tY Stay up-to-date on all things Just Raised: https://workweek.com/brand/just-raised/ or follow Joe Sweeny on Twitter: twitter.com/JoeySweeny   And if you’re a fan of Acquired, Invest Like The Best, Business Breakdowns or 20VC, you’ll love Just Raised

Kicking off Season 2 is an extraordinary guest, building way more than just a business in New York City. Mike Fraietta is creating community, art, and co-working space in this fascinating DAO. Web3 has a new home, a heart in SoHo where the Empire DAO community of entrepreneurs, startups, and developers will have ample space to create alongside artists. Joe talks to Mike, a talented founder with an ambitious vision. Mike explains his triple chicken and egg theory, how expansion is already on the cards, and the importance of building genuinely helpful products in Web3 You’ll also hear what it’s like being at the very tip of the adoption curve, and how you’d better have your NFT swipe card ready to book a desk. And if you’re ambitious to grow your business, you need MarketerHire. Using advanced AI tech and a thorough vetting process MarketerHire will match your business with a top-tier marketer and they’ll do it quickly. Get signed up today and find your marketing professional at marketerhire.com Follow Mike: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/fraietta Twitter: twitter.com/MikeFraietta Check out the Just Raised newsletter: https://bit.ly/3Ghj2tY Stay up-to-date on all things Just Raised: https://workweek.com/brand/just-raised/ or follow Joe Sweeny on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoeySweeny   And if you’re a fan of Acquired, Invest Like The Best, Business Breakdowns or 20VC, you’ll love Just Raised

Fredrik Haga couldn’t have started a crypto startup in a tougher environment, now Dune has a billion dollar valuation.  Three years ago Fredrik and co-founder Mats Olsen were getting used to hearing ‘no’. Rejected by 100s of investors, they decided to go back to basics, zeroing in on creating a product people genuinely wanted and recognizing the importance of traction. Through sheer grit and no small amount of stubbornness from its founders, Dune is now commanding $69 million in Series B. Joe interviews Fredrik, getting into the weeds of scaling a crypto company, building community,  and their recent raises. You’ll also hear Joe and Fredrik diving into the difference between live reporting and quarterly reports and why that matters for investors. Follow Fredrik: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/fredrikhaga Check out the Just Raised newsletter: https://bit.ly/3Ghj2tY Stay up-to-date on all things Just Raised: https://workweek.com/brand/just-raised/ or follow Joe Sweeny on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoeySweeny   And if you’re a fan of Acquired, Invest Like The Best, Business Breakdowns or 20VC, you’ll love Just Raised.

From a cycling chef to CEO of a fleet of EVs, meet the founder changing the face of NYC transport. When you plan on competing with the likes of Uber, you’d better bring your A-game. Revel is that extraordinary company, with a fleet of 100% electric vehicles, with their unique blue livery, and electric mopeds to hire by the hour, the company is also building the largest EV charging station in New York. Joe gets into conversation with Frank Reig, the Co-founder and CEO of Revel. Frank lays out his ambition to spread the EV mission across the US, how he went about raising $126 million from Blackrock and Toyota and why Revel drivers are riding Teslas. You’ll also hear how cars will become batteries on wheels, the Revel approach to rideshare employment, and how to build an infrastructure large enough to scale EV use across the country. Follow Frank: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/frank-reig-35052454 Check out the Just Raised newsletter: https://bit.ly/3Ghj2tY Stay up-to-date on all things Just Raised: https://workweek.com/brand/just-raised/ or follow Joe Sweeny on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoeySweeny   And if you’re a fan of Acquired, Invest Like The Best, Business Breakdowns or 20VC, you’ll love Just Raised.

Ag Tech! You may have seen crop spraying in movies done by biplanes or Vietnam veteran pilots. That is still how the market works today. Which is why our guest today is building a new kind of ag tech company based on crop spring drones.  We dive into Adam's year in Shenzhen China building protocols-types for an automated dog feeder startup and eventually Guardian, what It means to raise corporate venture capital and have a giant corporation on your cap table, and what the agriculture market in the US really looks like. Maybe most interestingly, we dive into the history of how some of the biggest breakthroughs in technology - from genetic engineering to autonomous driving today - all started with with equipment on American farms in the Midwest.   Follow Adam: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-bercu-10838b164/ Check out the Just Raised newsletter: https://bit.ly/3Ghj2tY Stay up-to-date on all things Just Raised: https://workweek.com/brand/just-raised/ or follow Joe Sweeny on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoeySweeny   And if you’re a fan of Acquired, Invest Like The Best, Business Breakdowns or 20VC, you’ll love Just Raised