AI for Founders – 50 Episode Recap

Show Notes

Ryan Estes and Fernanda celebrate 50 episodes of AI for Founders with a candid check-in on how far the podcast has come. From its humble beginnings in February to more than 50 episodes, 22,000+ subscribers, and countless hours of interviews with global startup founders—this episode is part recap, part roadmap for what’s next.

Key Takeaways

• Pivot to AI Focus: The show started as “Lift” but shifted focus due to overwhelming AI demand.
• Global Founder Trends: Many early-stage AI founders are based in Europe and Asia, reflecting global democratization of tech.
• Pet Rock Tech: Simple, single-function AI tools are gaining mass traction.
• DIY Microproduct Strategy: Ryan is shipping weekly novelty AI products to test adoption and monetization.
• Newsletter Growth: Over 22,000 subscribers joined since February.
• Memorable Guests: Nikhil (Vapi), Mariana (Hackerverse), Aaron (Nametag), and more.
• Representation: Strong presence of women AI founders featured.
• Deep Conversations: Meditation, philosophy, and even UFOs come up regularly.
• Stoicism: Most founders reference it as a guiding life philosophy.
• YouTube Growth: Ryan is experimenting with thumbnails, hooks, and formats to grow audience.
• Next Goals: Feature unicorn founders, reach 50K subscribers, and publish more expert-driven short-form content.

Resources & Featured Guests

• AI for Founders Podcast
• Newsletter: AIforFounders.co
• RyanEstes.info
• Vapi.ai – Nikhil Gupta
• Hackerverse.ai – Mariana Padilla
• GetNametag.com – Aaron Painter
• Tonita.co – Siva
• Hatter.ai – Jenna Hannon
• CodeStory.co – Noah Labhart
• Kitcaster.com – Sponsor
• Moburst.com - Sponsor

Subscribe and Learn More

AIforFounders.co

RyanEstes.info

Summary:
This week’s theme: Autonomy without accountability.
From self-driving taxis to AI-written disaster films, Ryan breaks down the tech headlines where no one seems to be steering the wheel—or taking the blame.

🚗 Topics Covered:

• Uber’s 20,000 Robo-Taxis – Partnering with Lucid and Nuro for Level 4 autonomy (no steering wheel, no driver, no accountability).

• The Genius Act – First major US crypto legislation requiring stablecoins to be backed by dollars...but no consumer protections.

• Netflix’s GenAI Debut – El Ata features AI-generated collapsing buildings. Fast, cheap, and possibly replacing entire studios.

• Sam Altman Warning – Don’t trust ChatGPT with sensitive data...says the CEO of ChatGPT.

• Perplexity CEO’s Burn – "Big Tech copies everything good" (welcome to Tuesday).

• AI-Faked Travel Destinations – Tourists duped into booking trips to places that don’t exist.

• Mercedes-Benz x Microsoft Teams – Dial into meetings via your in-car camera. What could go wrong?

🔥 Listener Shoutout:
Thanks to Cooler89 for the 5-star review: “Finally, a show where founders talk AI without sounding like a pyramid scheme made of GPUs.”

📢 Sponsor Mention:
Check out Code Story – a podcast that tells the real stories of startup founders and CTOs turning raw ideas into real products. No AI fluff. Just builders, dreamers, and those still debugging reality.

🎧 Listen & Subscribe:
Subscribe to This Week Before the Robot Apocalypse on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts. And remember—if the bots come for your job, just ask them to do your taxes first.

AI Search, Startup Funding & SEO in 2025 with Jenna Hannon of Hatter

Guest: Jenna Hannon, Co-founder of Hatter

Host: Ryan Estes

Episode Summary:

Ryan Estes interviews Jenna Hannon, co-founder of Hatter, a company using AI to revolutionize SEO and LLM search. From her early career in Hollywood to Uber Eats and now founding Hatter, Jenna shares how AI is transforming organic traffic and what founders need to know to stay ahead. This episode also dives into current venture capital trends, government tech policy, and frameworks for mastering LLM-SEO.

Key Takeaways:

• AI Search is Here: Optimizing for LLMs like ChatGPT is now essential.
• SEO Foundations Still Matter: Content + technical SEO remain critical, but outputs are now AI-generated answers.
• Service as a Software: Hatter delivers a tech-enabled SEO solution with transparency, dashboards, and automation.
• VC Trends: Power laws dominate, with few big winners. Founders should focus on problems—not ideas.
• LinkedIn Content Strategy: Weekly insights shared consistently perform best.
• 
  

LLM-SEO Framework (from Jenna):

1. Identify a narrow area of expertise—=, be a domain authority.
2. Translate that expertise into content LLMs can parse and rank.
3. Measure results via Google Search Console and direct customer feedback.

Resources & Mentions:

• Google Search Console
• AngelList Power Law Blog
• Hatter - AI-Powered SEO
• Jenna Hannon on LinkedIn
• YouTube: LLM-SEO Step-by-Step (coming soon)

Inside Tonita – The AI Shopping Assistant You’ll Actually Use

Guest: Siva, Founder & CEO of Tonita

Host: Ryan Estes

Episode Summary:

Ryan interviews Siva, the founder of Tonita, an AI-powered shopping search platform redefining how people shop for clothing and accessories. With a background in AI research at Google, Siva built Tonita to simplify and personalize online shopping through a natural language interface that educates and recommends in real-time.

Key Takeaways:

• Tonita lets users search with everyday language and provides personalized product recommendations.
• AI guides users with educational responses—for example, how to choose sunglasses based on shape, UV protection, etc.
• Interface is intentionally minimal and user-first; no more endless tabs and filters.
• Ethical design: No fake/knockoff product links—only legal alternatives.
• Future monetization: Paid recommendations and affiliate partnerships (with transparency).
• $5M+ raised from VCs including South Park Commons.

Framework: AI Shopping Flywheel

1. Search: Describe what you want naturally
2. Educate: AI explains what matters
3. Recommend: Get matched with real products
4. Refine: Continue the conversation
5. Purchase: Buy from trusted retailers

Tonita’s GTM Strategy:

• Target demo: 20–40 age group who value time and efficient shopping.
• AI-first design; neutral UX to avoid over-skewing toward any specific gender or trend.
• Growing user base is priority before monetization.

About Siva:

• 15 years at Google in AI/ML
• Academic background in math, search, and CS
• Inspired by personal shopping pain points and the rise of LLMs

Links:

• Tonita.co

• South Park Commons
• aiforfounders.co

Guest: Elle, CEO of Made AI and Founder of Same Skincare
Host: Ryan Estes | Podcast: AI for Founders

Key Takeaways:

• Weekly workflow automation can lead to 50+ automations a year with very little effort.

• Start by asking your team: “What’s driving you nuts?” That’s your workflow opportunity.

• Tools like Fixer and Zapier can help you categorize tasks and automate inboxes.

• Break your automation goals into small weekly tasks—don’t try to solve everything at once.

• Same Skincare is an EDC-free skincare brand that supports endometriosis research.

• Their app predicts breakouts 3 days in advance using biometric data like BBT, HRV, sleep, and stress.

• Elle treats skincare as a biomarker to help people understand hormonal health.

• Simple practices like splashing cold water or elevating legs can boost HRV and skin health.

• Bootstrapping allowed Elle to grow intentionally without chasing inflated valuations.

• AI works best when positioned to support, not replace, human work.

• Elle’s philosophy: build enduring companies and enjoy the process—shoutout to EnjoyTheWork.com.

  
  

Framework: Weekly Workflow Automation

1. Ask your team: What’s driving you nuts?

2. Break the problem into smaller steps.

3. Identify the right tool or AI to solve one part.

4. Automate just one step per week.

   
   

Resources Mentioned:

• usemade.ai – Elle’s AI-powered manufacturing platform

• sameskincare.com – Predictive skincare and hormone tracking

• enjoythework.com – Startup coaching and support

• endofound.org – Endometriosis research and education

Alberto Rizzoli, Co-Founder & CEO of V7 Labs

Alberto joins host Ryan Estes to share how V7 Labs is automating back-office workflows with AI agents. They dive into product pivots, AI hype, fundraising in hard times, and what it really takes to scale AI products in B2B environments.

• AI Agents with Memory: Unlike basic prompts, V7’s agents operate in multi-step logic to complete real-world business tasks.
• Concierge Agent System: Route any task via Slack, email, or upload, and it’s assigned to the right AI agent.
• Human-in-the-Loop: Visual grounding ensures source verification and minimizes hallucinations.
• Fundraising Lessons: Use CRM strategies and strong product positioning to raise capital even in tough climates.
• Pivot Playbook: Every 6 months, build the product that could put you out of business—before someone else does.

• AI Agent Architecture: Step-by-step processing, data routing, structured output with verification.
• Investor CRM Strategy: Systematic outreach, rejection tracking, recurring relationship building.
• Service-as-Software: Use tech-enabled services to deliver SaaS-like results with fewer people.
• Customer Retention: Blend AI automation with human-powered customer success for long-term retention.

• V7 Labs
• Alberto Rizzoli on LinkedIn
• Alberto’s TED Talk
• Cursor AI Tool
• Granola Meeting Recorder
• YC: Services as Software

Episode Summary:
In this episode, Ryan Estes speaks with Johnny and Sebastian, the father-son team behind Talent Scout, an AI-powered hiring solution that started as a college platform called Juntos. They discuss building an AI tool that helps HR teams make better hiring decisions by analyzing psychographic traits, ensuring compliance, and maintaining cultural fit.

• Talent Scout evolved from Juntos, a social app designed to connect students.
• Core technology includes a psychographic engine measuring six human dimensions.
• The team pivoted from B2C to B2B to meet real market demand.
• Colorado legislation influenced their AI compliance guardrails.
• Hiring directors receive ranked, evidence-based candidate recommendations.

• Six-Dimensional Model: Analytical, Creative, Ethical, Assertive, Innovative, Silent
• Talent Scout Workflow: Job Description Upload → Candidate Profile → Assessments → Resume Import → Candidate Ranking → Compliance Reporting

• Talent Scout Platform
• Kitcaster Podcast Booking
• Descript Editing Tool
• LinkedIn
• Colorado Legislation

Subscribe for more founder-focused episodes on startup innovation, AI adoption, and go-to-market strategies.

Guest: Steven Schrembeck, Founder of Impossible Labs
Host: Ryan Estes

Episode Summary:
In this wide-ranging conversation, Steven Schrembeck shares how over a thousand hours of meditation practice, close encounters with unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs), and a fascination with consciousness led him to explore the intersection of AI, ethics, and inner engineering. We cover how personal insight informs system design, why AGI requires more than just code, and the ethical considerations of creating conscious machines.

Key Takeaways:

• Meditation as Technology: Steven discusses meditation not as a spiritual dogma but as a tool for cognitive engineering and self-regulation.

• Psychedelics vs. Meditation: A comparison between altered states via psychedelics and those accessed through prolonged meditation.

• AI Consciousness: Why it’s critical to study the “rules” of consciousness before engineering AGI.

• UFO Sightings as Catalyst: Personal encounters with UAPs led Steven to take inner exploration more seriously.

• Framework of Attention: Let go of willpower, build systems instead. Schrembeck’s productivity philosophy is built around behavioral architecture, not brute force.

• Anti-Dogma Thinking: A DIY approach to spiritual and technological practices yields innovation through synthesis.

• Ethical AI: Black Mirror scenarios are closer than we think—ethical questions must precede technical ones.

• AGI Architecture: Steven believes current LLMs are only one component of a broader AGI stack and likens their awareness to mycelial networks.

• Reverse Engineering the Mind: The human brain is a “found technology” we haven’t fully decoded yet.

• Use of AI Tools: Steven prefers building custom tools over using off-the-shelf agents, believing most packaged AI workflows are inefficient.

• Time & Focus: Meditation helps ensure intentionality in response, grounding decisions in values rather than reactivity.

Frameworks Discussed:

1. Inner Space Framework:
   Meditation → Insight → Behavior → Design Systems

2. Consciousness Exploration Continuum:
   Sleep < Meditation < Psychedelics < UAP encounters

3. Anti-Willpower Productivity:
   Willpower is unreliable → Use rules, triggers, and systems → Increase energy efficiency and reduce decision fatigue

4. Techno-Spiritual Inquiry Model:
   Attention + Engineering + Inner States = Next-gen Tech Understanding

Resources Mentioned:

• The Untethered Soul by Michael Singer: https://untetheredsoul.com

• The Surrender Experiment by Michael Singer: https://untetheredsoul.com/surrender-experiment

• Impossible Labs: https://impossiblelaboratories.com

• Meditation Traditions Mentioned: Yoga Sutras, Zazen, Dzogchen, Kundalini

• Crystal Ball Practices: Referenced symbolically in Tibetan Buddhist art

• Black Mirror Series: https://www.netflix.com/title/70264888

• Shambhala Buddhist Scandal Reference: https://www.denverpost.com/2019/02/19/shambhala-boulder-sexual-misconduct/

Guest: Zack Holland
Host: Ryan Estes
Company: Averi AI

Episode Summary

Zack Holland joins AI for Founders to explore why executing marketing strategies—not creating them—is the biggest challenge for startups today. In this episode, we discuss Averi AI's unique blend of automation and human expertise, Zack’s philosophy of “seed-strapping,” and the emotional resilience required to survive as a founder. From AI memory to stoic wisdom, Zack shares deeply personal and professional insights for anyone building in tech.

Key Takeaways

• Averi AI closes the gap between strategy and action with AI + human execution.
• Founders often fail not from lack of ideas but from inability to act consistently.
• Seed-strapping allows founders to grow without being trapped in endless fundraising.
• AI tools should amplify creativity—not flood the world with “slop.”
• Revenue per employee is a key metric for modern AI-first companies.
• Stoic philosophy and meditation are powerful tools for emotional resilience.

Frameworks

• The Execution Gap: Most founders know what to do—few can get it done consistently.
• Seed-Strapping: Raise what you need, build lean, keep control, maximize output.
• Founder Brand: Your identity should evolve beyond the company name.
• Daily Practice: Meditation + Stoicism + Voice notes = Momentum.

Resources

• Averi AI
• The War of Art – Steven Pressfield
• Meditations – Marcus Aurelius
• Letters from a Stoic – Seneca
• Whisper AI Dictation
• Hampton Founders Network

Connect with Zack

Twitter / Instagram: @zackholland
LinkedIn: Zack Holland on LinkedIn

Listen + Subscribe

Subscribe to AI for Founders wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on YouTube for full video interviews and highlight clips.

In this episode of AI for Founders, Marco, the co-founder of Crono, shares how his AI-powered sales automation platform is redefining modern B2B outbound. From enriched data and custom lead signals to full-funnel multichannel automation, Crono is helping sales teams eliminate busywork and focus on building relationships.

• Crono is AI-first—automating 80% of repetitive sales tasks
• Over 10 integrated data sources for unmatched contact accuracy
• Cross-channel outreach: Email, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, phone
• Perfect for structured outbound and high-ticket offers
• Prioritizes quality over quantity: 100 contacts/day strategy
• Deep email deliverability insights and safeguards
• Platform connects with CRMs and sales tools
• Supports both startups and enterprise sales teams
• Bootstrapped to $50k+ MRR before considering next raise
• Future-focused with a grounded roadmap and strong vision

• Data: Multi-source enrichment and validation
• AI: Personalization, insights, automation logic
• Automation: End-to-end campaign orchestration

1. Engage on LinkedIn (likes, comments)
2. Send a personalized email follow-up
3. Initiate cold call to build trust
4. Use WhatsApp for warm outreach and follow-ups

• Crono Official Website
• Marco on LinkedIn
• Kitcaster Podcast Booking
• OpenAI
• LinkedIn Sales Navigator