PODCAST · business
Founders Couch
by Founders Couch
A talk show about the most inspiring student founders and their intrepid journeys of starting their own thing.
Episodes
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I have some news
Follow us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts to get notified of updates. We are @founderscouch on Instagram. See ya'll in a bit!
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#35: Michael Broughton - On great pitching and being backed by Jay-Z
This episode, we welcome Michael Broughton! Michael is a USC student on a leave of absence and cofounder of Perch, a free app that allows users to build their credit through recurring expenses such as rent, Netflix and Hulu. Coming from a military family of nine, Michael started the company out…
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#34: Shreyas Parab - 3 key lessons from a 3x student entrepreneur
Today, we have Shreyas Parab! Shreyas is a junior at Stanford and co-founder of Angle Global, an online education platform with the goal of teaching the world English. So far, Angle Global has struck a partnership with one of China’s largest spelling bees to provide technology to their 5 million...
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#33: John Peurifoy - On the importance of velocity as a student founder (ft. Frederick Daso from Forbes)
Welcome to Season 4 of the Founders Couch! This episode, I'm joined by the wonderful Frederick Daso, senior Forbes contributor who writes on college entrepreneurship. We interview the stellar John Peurifoy. John is currently the co-founder of Floating Point Group (FPG), a 14 person cryptocurrency...
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Why I started Founders Couch, and where I hope it will go
Look out for Season 4 in the new year :)
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#31: Ayushi Sinha (Princeton) - On the importance of user interviews and the balance between staying true to your vision & taking feedback
Why are user interviews so important when building a product that's not for yourself? What are some clever tactics? And how do you balance staying true to your vision vs. taking feedback? Ayushi Sinha joins us on the couch today! Ayushi is a recent Princeton grad who studied Computer Science and...
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#30: Tejasvi Desai (Johns Hopkins) - On transitioning from a class project to a real startup and de-risking a medical device MVP
We welcome Tejasvi Desai! Tejasvi is a Johns Hopkins senior who studies Biomedical Engineering. Hailing from Pleasanton, California, Tejasvi is the cofounder of Relavo (https://relavomedical.com/), a medical device venture preventing infections in home dialysis. So far, they’ve developed a…
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#29: Tim Skapek (Duke) - On selling to customers who were initially less likely to adopt new tech
How did Protect3d come to be? And how does Tim approach selling to customers that might be less likely to adopt new tech? Tim is a recent Duke grad who studied Mechanical Engineering. Hailing from Dallas, TX, he is the cofounder and CTO of Protect3d (https://www.protect3dpads.com/), a startup…
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#28: Robbie Felton (Brown) - On finding the right time to fundraise with respect to product timeline
How did a high school football star turn into a startup entrepreneur? And how did he go about raising funding with respect to his product timeline? Today, we welcome Robbie Felton on the couch! Robbie is a recent Brown student, on a leave of absence, who studied Public Health. Hailing from Ann...
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#27: Faisal Younus (Harvard) - On getting into and experiencing YC
We welcome Faisal Younus to the couch! Faisal is a recent Harvard dropout who studied Applied Math and Computer Science. Hailing from Long Island, New York, he is the cofounder of Athlane (https://www.athlane.com/), a YC-backed company from the Summer ’19 cohort that is looking to be the…
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#26: Jenny Xu (MIT) - On getting to 9.2 million downloads
We welcome Jenny Xu! Jenny is a recent MIT graduate who studied computer science. She hails from the Bay Area. Once a self-described “shy kid,” she is now the cofounder and CEO of Talofa Games, which is building a social running mobile game. So far, they’ve built a playable prototype and are...
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#25: Chukwunonso Arinze (UChicago PhD) - On balancing pursuing a PhD & running a company
Today, we welcome Chukwunonso Arinze! Chukwunonso (aka Chooki) is a current PhD student at UChicago studying Physics. Hailing from Nigeria, he is the cofounder of Kaoshi (https://kaoshi.network/), a fintech company creating technologies that enable banks to provide financial services to their...
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#24: Ibraheem Alinur (Northwestern) & Irewole Akande - On the challenges of being minority founders
As COVID-19 continues to rampage the world, what my guests today are building could not be more relevant, timely, and pressing. We welcome Ibraheem Alinur and Irewole Akande to the couch! Ibraheem is a recent 2020 grad from Northwestern and hails from Florida. Irewole is an incoming MBA student…
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#23: Moksh Jawa (Penn/Wharton) - On getting onto the front page of HackerNews
Before an introduction on my guest today, I want to give a quick shout-out to a really cool Black-hosted podcast called Side Hustle Pro. Hosted by Nicaila Matthews Okome, Side Hustle Pro spotlights bold Black women entrepreneurs. Some other great Black-hosted podcasts about business are…
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#22: Shuyao Kong (Harvard Business School) - On choosing to be a nonprofit over a social enterprise
Today on the couch, we chat with Shuyao Kong, a student at Harvard Business School who grew up in Beijing, China. She’s the cofounder and Chief Motivator of the nonprofit humanID, a one-click anonymous login replacing login with Facebook. So far, the company has released one test app and…
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#21: Amber Yang (Stanford) - On turning a high school science fair project into a startup
This episode, we've got Stanford CS & Physics junior Amber Yang on the couch! Hailing from Orlando, FL, she is the founder and CEO of SeerTracking. SeerTracking originated as Amber's high school research project for the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. She ended up winning the...
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#19: Katherine Huang - Science and Us
For this episode, we have Katherine Huang, a freshman at MIT who hails from Lowell, MA and is currently planning on majoring in Urban Planning and Computer Science. During her junior year of high school, she founded “Science and Us," a non-profit organization that runs events and creates online...
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#18: Ruthie Lewis - Stanford Undergraduates in Mechanical Engineering
Today on the couch, we have Ruthie Lewis, a Stanford senior studying Mechanical Engineering with a focus in Product Realization, who hails from Columbus, Ohio. Last year, she co-founded Stanford Undergraduates in Mechanical Engineering (SUIME) with fellow Stanford student Chloe Evans, who was...
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#17: Kliment Serafimov - The School of the Future
Join us on the couch today as we talk to Kliment Serafimov, a senior at MIT who founded a preparatory school called "The School of the Future" for high schoolers in his homeland, North Macedonia. The idea originated from his own personal experiences with the education system and desire to bring...
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#16: Phoebe Yao - Pareto
We've got Stanford junior Phoebe Yao on the couch! Phoebe is studying her own Individualized Major in Human Centered Design Engineering, and she hails from St. Louis, Missouri. Last year, she took a gap year, traveling to Oxford, China, and India, where she came up with the idea for Pareto, a...
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#15: Federico Bescotti - DigitalDUCT
For this episode on the couch, we've got Federico Bescotti, a senior at MIT working on DigitalDUCT, a machine readable duct tape that can store information via a cloud-based software solution. The product's versatility and ease-of-use lends itself to applications in rugged environments like in…
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#14: King Alandy Dy - tul.ai (Expedock)
A friend of mine and fellow Stanford senior King Alandy Dy joins me on the third episode of Season 2 today! King is a serial entrepreneur, having previously founded a consumer company when he was 18 years old that was essentially the Common App of the Philippines. Today, we talk about his current...
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#13: Myles Stapelberg - NanoCAP
Join us on the couch today as we talk to Myles Stapelberg, a junior at MIT working on NanoCAP, a metallurgical company that is seeking to bring a novel, composite metal with enhanced properties to the nuclear, aerospace, and jewelry industries. The company originated as an undergraduate research...
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#12: Demetri Maxim - Nephrogen
Stanford senior Demetri Maxim joins us on the couch today as our first guest of Season 2! He's the founder and CEO of Nephrogen, a biotech company that focuses on at-home entirely non invasive kidney monitoring. The company originated as a science fair research project in high school and became…
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#11: Kaitlyn Albertoli - Buzz Solutions
We’ve got Stanford senior Kaitlyn Albertoli on the couch today! Not only is she my CEE246 Venture Creation TA, but she is also cofounder and CEO of Buzz Solutions, a software analytics company which analyzes data collected by drones in order to provide predictive analytics to utilities. She…
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#10: Rachel Fong - KawaiiSweetWorld
We’ve got YouTube star Rachel Fong on the couch! She’s a Stanford sophomore studying product design who has a YouTube channel called KawaiiSweetWorld that has over 1.2 million subscribers and has garnered over 142 million views. Tune in to hear her story! ... What drew her to kawaii? How did she...
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#9: Maddie McConkey - LMM Political
We’ve got a very special episode ahead of us! We’ll be talking to one of my close friends, Maddie McConkey - Stanford Public Policy junior and founder of LMM Political, a political campaign consulting company based in Minnesota. We cover everything from what’s involved in a political campaign to...
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#8: Christopher Lu and Jack Gartland - FriendChip
Joining us on the couch today are Stanford juniors Christopher Lu and Jack Gartland! They are the founders of FriendChip, a social app that makes it easy for you to meet up with your friends. We talk about everything from what makes their team work and the challenges and benefits that come with...
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#7: Greta Meyer, Elijah Zenger, & Amanda Calabrese - Tampro (Tempo)
We’ve got Stanford seniors Amanda Calabrese, Elijah Zenger, and Greta Meyer on the couch! Tune in to hear all about their journey of starting Tampro, a startup focused on improving the tampon: the challenges they’ve faced, what they’ve learned, and where they’re headed..
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#6: Michelle Lu & Apoorva Dornadula - On the ambiguity of startup life & the value of team diversity
We’ve got Stanford senior Michelle Lu and masters student in computer science Apoorva Dornadula on the couch! They are 2/4 of the team that founded tech startup Viralspace, a marketplace that helps brands crowdsource user-generated content from their fans and helps creators monetize their…
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#5: Stephanie Niu - On forming brand partnerships and not letting perfectionism paralyze you
This week, we’ve got Stanford senior Stephanie Niu on the couch! Tune in to hear all about how she created her food-based handmade soap business Skindulgences. How did she get on Etsy, and how does she promote her soap on Instagram? Plus, Stephanie shares why she values building a network of…
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#4: Evan-Michelle Miller - On turning a big problem in the music industry into a publishing company
We’ve got Stanford junior Evan-Michelle Miller on the couch today! Tune in to hear all about how Evan noticed a big problem in the music industry and decided to start her own publishing company Nave Entertainment to not fall prey and retain control and ownership of her own music. Evan gives us a...
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#3: Nathan Kong - On dropping out for a year to pursue his startup and the biggest learning lessons
Nathan Kong joins us on the couch today! Tune in if you’d like to hear about how he founded his VC-backed AR startup Beyond One (parent company of DIVR Edu and CurioPets), why he decided to drop out of Stanford for a full year, and the biggest lessons he took away from those days: grit, user...
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#2: Arjun Tambe - On starting small and snowballing big and using his network to scale his school
We've got Stanford senior Arjun Tambe on the couch today! Tune in if you'd like to hear about how he started small and snowballed big and ultimately scaled his debate school The Debate Intensive to two different states. We explore the fascinating world of debate together. And, we touch on all the...
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#1: Albert Chon - On assembling a startup team and tapping into Stanford professors as mentors
In this first episode, we welcome Albert Chon to the couch! Tune in to to hear all about how he assembled the right team for his bitcoin startup Injective Labs and how he tapped into one Stanford professor as a main mentor and resource. Plus, we touch on how he approaches funding and finds the...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
A talk show about the most inspiring student founders and their intrepid journeys of starting their own thing.
HOSTED BY
Founders Couch
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Founders Couch have?
Founders Couch currently has 35 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Founders Couch about?
A talk show about the most inspiring student founders and their intrepid journeys of starting their own thing.
How often does Founders Couch release new episodes?
Founders Couch has 35 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Founders Couch?
You can listen to Founders Couch on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Founders Couch?
Founders Couch is created and hosted by Founders Couch.
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