Build Mode

Surviving the long road to FDA approval isn’t just about building great technology, it’s about keeping your team motivated, finding the right investors, and learning how to operate when timelines are uncertain.

This week on Build Mode, Isabelle Johannesen sits down with Robbie Bustami, co-founder and CEO of BioticsAI, a Startup Battlefield-winning company building an AI copilot for ultrasound to help detect fetal abnormalities. From a $100K prototype to FDA clearance, Robhy shares what it actually takes to build in one of the most regulated industries in the world.

In this episode, they break down what it really looks like to build a medtech startup, where you can’t “move fast and break things,” and every milestone takes time, coordination, and trust.

This conversation covers:

 Subscribe to Build Mode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you like to listen. And watch the full videos on YouTube.

Apply to Startup Battlefield: We are looking for early-stage companies that have an MVP. So nominate a founder (or yourself): techcrunch.com/apply. Be sure to say you heard about Startup Battlefield from the Build Mode podcast.  

TechCrunch Disrupt: If you're thinking about applying to Startup Battlefield, then October 13 to 15 in San Francisco, we're back for TechCrunch Disrupt, where the Startup Battlefield 200 takes the stage. So if you want to cheer them on, or just network with 1000s of founders, VCs, and tech enthusiasts, then grab your tickets.  

Use code buildmode15 for 15% off any ticket type. 

Chapters:

00:00 Building a $100K MedTech Startup

00:32 Intro: Biotics AI & the Problem with Ultrasound Misdiagnosis

02:16 What Biotics AI Actually Does (AI Copilot for Ultrasound)

02:54 Early Days: Startup Battlefield & First Product

07:10 Navigating FDA Approval (Without Guesswork)

09:22 What FDA Clearance Unlocks (Going to Market)

10:59 Selling into Hospitals & Early Customers

12:11 Keeping a Team Motivated During Long Timelines

18:54 The Hardest Parts of Building in MedTech

22:22 Fundraising, Advisors, and Building the Right Team

28:33 The Future of AI in Reproductive Healthcare

New episodes of Build Mode drop every Thursday. Hosted by Isabelle Johannessen. Produced and edited by Maggie Nye. Audience development led by Morgan Little. Special thanks to the Foundry and Cheddar video teams.

Surviving the early days as an AI startup isn’t just about making the technology work, it’s about hiring the right people, avoiding costly mistakes, and standing out in a crowded market.

This week on Build Mode, Isabelle Johannessen sits down with Jaspar Carmichael-Jack, founder and CEO of Artisan, a fast-growing AI startup building AI employees for sales. Best known for its viral “Stop Hiring Humans” campaign, Artisan is rethinking outbound sales with AI, while still betting on hiring exceptional human talent.

In this episode, they break down what it really takes to build and scale a venture-backed AI company, from Y Combinator to rapid growth.

This conversation covers:

Startup hiring mistakes every founder should avoid

Lessons on firing, team building, and company culture in early-stage startups

The strategy behind bold, controversial marketing that drives growth

How AI is transforming sales, hiring, and the future of work

What founders get wrong about the necessary roles needed for a scaling startup

This conversation gets to the heart of building a startup: making the right hires early or paying for it later.

 Subscribe to Build Mode on ⁠Apple Podcasts⁠, ⁠Spotify⁠, or ⁠wherever you like to listen⁠. And watch the full videos on ⁠YouTube⁠.

Apply to Startup Battlefield: We are looking for early-stage companies that have an MVP. So nominate a founder (or yourself): techcrunch.com/apply. Be sure to say you heard about Startup Battlefield from the Build Mode podcast.  

TechCrunch Disrupt: If you're thinking about applying to Startup Battlefield, then October 13 to 15 in San Francisco, we're back for TechCrunch Disrupt, where the Startup Battlefield 200 takes the stage. So if you want to cheer them on, or just network with 1000s of founders, VCs, and tech enthusiasts, then grab your tickets.  

Use code buildmode15 for 15% off any ticket type. 

New episodes of Build Mode drop every Thursday. Hosted by Isabelle Johannessen. Produced and edited by Maggie Nye. Audience development led by Morgan Little. Special thanks to the Foundry and Cheddar video teams. 

Deep tech founders face a unique challenge: turning breakthrough science into a scalable startup. From navigating academia and IP to fundraising, manufacturing, and product-market fit, the path from research lab to real-world impact is anything but straightforward.

This week on Build Mode, Isabelle Johannessen sits down with Capella Kerst, founder and CEO of geCKo Materials and 2024 Startups Battlefield runner up.  geCKo Materials is building a bio-inspired adhesive with applications across robotics, manufacturing, and even space. In this episode, they explore how she turned a Stanford PhD breakthrough into a venture-backed deep tech company. 

This conversation covers:

How to turn academic research into a scalable startup

The challenges of moving from Stanford PhD to founder and CEO

What it takes to raise capital as a deep tech and hardware startup

Why commercialization and manufacturing are the hardest parts of innovation

How to identify real-world use cases and achieve product-market fit

Following recent episodes on building teams, this conversation focuses on the foundation behind every startup: transforming breakthrough technology into a viable business.

Apply to Startup Battlefield: We are looking for early-stage companies that have an MVP. So nominate a founder (or yourself): techcrunch.com/apply. Be sure to say you heard about Startup Battlefield from the Build Mode podcast.  

TechCrunch Disrupt: If you're thinking about applying to Startup Battlefield, then October 13 to 15 in San Francisco, we're back for TechCrunch Disrupt, where the Startup Battlefield 200 takes the stage. So if you want to cheer them on, or just network with 1000s of founders, VCs, and tech enthusiasts, then grab your tickets.  

Use code buildmode15 for 15% off any ticket type. 

Chapters:

00:00 The Breakthrough Moment

01:45 From Startup Battlefield to Scale

02:42 What Gecko Materials Actually Does

05:18 Turning a PhD Into a Company

07:44 The Big Vision for Gecko Materials

09:19 From Wild Ideas to Real Use Cases

11:16 Spinning Out of Stanford

14:49 Raising Capital (and a 36-Hour Round)

17:54 Breakthroughs and Momentum

18:00 Building a World-Class Team

22:19 Owning the Founder Role

24:21 Finding Product-Market Fit in Deep Tech

26:54 Why More Research Doesn’t Become Startups

29:15 What’s Next for Gecko Materials

New episodes of Build Mode drop every Thursday. Hosted by Isabelle Johannessen. Produced and edited by Maggie Nye. Audience development led by Morgan Little. Special thanks to the Foundry and Cheddar video teams.

This week’s guest is Ayal Yogev, co-founder and CEO of Anjuna Security, who has experienced both sides of the startup journey: scaling quickly during the boom years and then making the incredibly difficult decision to lay off a significant portion of his team when the market shifted.

From growing to 75 employees to scaling back and rebuilding, Yogev learned firsthand that the hardest part of leadership isn’t hiring fast, it’s making tough decisions with care, transparency, and integrity.

In this episode, Isabelle Johannessen and Yogev unpack what it really means to lead through layoffs with compassion and how founders can support their teams even in the most challenging moments. They also explore the lessons learned from scaling too quickly and how to build a more resilient company the second time around.

They discuss:

How to approach layoffs with empathy and transparency

Ways to support employees beyond financial compensation

What founders get wrong about scaling and hiring

Why culture matters most during difficult moments

Lessons from rebuilding after layoffs

Apply to Startup Battlefield: We are looking for early-stage companies that have an MVP. So nominate a founder (or yourself): techcrunch.com/apply. Be sure to say you heard about Startup Battlefield from the Build Mode podcast.  

TechCrunch Disrupt: If you're thinking about applying to Startup Battlefield, then October 13 to 15 in San Francisco, we're back for TechCrunch Disrupt, where the Startup Battlefield 200 takes the stage. So if you want to cheer them on, or just network with 1000s of founders, VCs, and tech enthusiasts, then grab your tickets.  

Use code buildmode15 for 15% off any ticket type. 

New episodes of Build Mode drop every Thursday. Hosted by Isabelle Johannessen. Produced and edited by Maggie Nye. Audience development led by Morgan Little. Special thanks to the Foundry and Cheddar video teams. 

 Chapters:

00:00 We grew too fast

02:30 What Anjuna actually does

04:45 Scaling the team quickly

06:10 The market crash hits

09:40 Handling layoffs with empathy

12:10 Supporting employees the right way

15:30 Why culture matters in crisis

20:50 The hiring mistake founders make

27:40 When to scale your sales team

34:40 Rebuilding after layoffs

If one thing has become clear this season, finding the right talent for your team isn’t as easy as picking from a pile of resumes This week’s guest is  Leah Solivan, the founder of Taskrabbit and now an early-stage investor who has seen that the power to change a homogenous startup exosystem comes from empowering diverse VCs to fund underrepresented founders who will hire the hidden tech talent.

From bootstrapping TaskRabbit on credit cards to scaling it into one of the defining companies of the gig economy, Leah learned firsthand that the hardest part of building a company isn’t the product, it’s selecting the right people to build it.

In this episode, Isabelle Johannessen and Leah unpack what it really takes to build diverse teams from day one and why most companies get it wrong by waiting too long. They also explore how the lack of diversity in venture capital directly shapes who gets funded, and ultimately, who gets hired.

They discuss:

How to build diverse teams intentionally from the very beginning

Why the “easy path” in hiring leads to less diverse outcomes

The connection between diverse VCs and diverse companies

How to hire for culture and values over credentials

Apply to Startup Battlefield: We are looking for early-stage companies that have an MVP. So nominate a founder (or yourself): techcrunch.com/apply. Be sure to say you heard about Startup Battlefield from the Build Mode podcast.  

TechCrunch Disrupt: If you're thinking about applying to Startup Battlefield, then October 13 to 15 in San Francisco, we're back for TechCrunch Disrupt, where the Startup Battlefield 200 takes the stage. So if you want to cheer them on, or just network with 1000s of founders, VCs, and tech enthusiasts, then grab your tickets.  

Use code buildmode15 for 15% off any ticket type.

Chapters:

00:00 The hard way to hire diverse talent

01:20 From engineer to Taskrabbit founder03:39 The moment that sparked Taskrabbit

07:39 Why building teams is the hardest part

12:06 Learning how to hire from scratch

17:36 Why venture capital lacks diversity

27:25 How to build diverse teams from day one

39:42 What founders get wrong about competition

If one thing has become clear this season, it’s that there is no formula to building the perfect team. But no one breaks the mold quite like this week’s guest, Isaiah Granet, the co-founder and CEO of Bland. The voice AI startup has been growing at a breakneck speed but the founding team has taken their time to prioritize passion over pedigree and find their team members in places many might not think to look. 

In this episode, Isabelle Johannessen and Isaiah Granet unpack a radically different approach to hiring that prioritizes aligned work ethic, curiosity, and flexibility rather than resumes and connections. So far, that approach has worked for Bland. The scrappy team has gone from pre-seed to series B in less than a year. 

They discuss:

How to identify “hidden gem” talent in unexpected places

The role of cold inbound and unconventional sourcing

When to hire ahead of need and when not to

How hiring philosophy shapes company culture at scale

Apply to Startup Battlefield: We are looking for early-stage companies that have an MVP. So nominate a founder (or yourself): techcrunch.com/apply. Be sure to say you heard about Startup Battlefield from the Build Mode podcast.  

TechCrunch Disrupt: If you're thinking about applying to Startup Battlefield, then October 13 to 15 in San Francisco, we're back for TechCrunch Disrupt, where the Startup Battlefield 200 takes the stage. So if you want to cheer them on, or just network with 1000s of founders, VCs, and tech enthusiasts, then grab your tickets.  

Use code buildmode15 for 15% off any ticket type. 

Chapters:

00:00 — Hiring for Passion Over Pedigree

New episodes of Build Mode drop every Thursday. Hosted by Isabelle Johannessen. Produced and edited by Maggie Nye. Audience development led by Morgan Little. Special thanks to the Foundry and Cheddar video teams.

Every founding team is a mix of personalities, communication styles, and strengths. That can be a superpower or cause founders to butt heads. Without a clear framework for navigating conflict, even the strongest teams can fall apart before they really get started.

This week on Build Mode, Isabelle Johannessen sits down with Ian Schmidt, strategic advisor at Trimergence, to unpack the “personal operating system” behind every founder. As a coach, consultant, and occasionally a bouncer, Ian helps teams build the self-awareness and relational tools they need to scale without unnecessary friction.

They discuss:

Why founders should invest in coaching before conflict escalates

How to repair after conflict goes sideways

The importance of understanding your own triggers as a leader

How to create space for the self-work that actually saves time long-term

Following last week’s episode on family co-founders, this conversation expands those lessons into practical tools any founding team can use.

Apply to Startup Battlefield: We are looking for early-stage companies that have an MVP. So nominate a founder (or yourself): techcrunch.com/apply. Be sure to say you heard about Startup Battlefield from the Build Mode podcast.  

TechCrunch Disrupt: If you're thinking about applying to Startup Battlefield, then October 13 to 15 in San Francisco, we're back for TechCrunch Disrupt, where the Startup Battlefield 200 takes the stage. So if you want to cheer them on, or just network with 1000s of founders, VCs, and tech enthusiasts, then grab your tickets.  

Use code buildmode15 for 15% off any ticket type. 

Chapters:

00:00 Why Conflict Isn’t the Problem

02:18 The Founder Operating System

04:21 Why Co-Founders Clash

05:34 How to Map Your Personal OS

10:26 Start Early or Pay Later

16:59 Frameworks for Navigating Conflict

23:32 Relationships, Loneliness & Support Systems

31:15 Identity, Habits & Scaling Yourself

New episodes of Build Mode drop every Thursday. Hosted by Isabelle Johannessen. Produced and edited by Maggie Nye. Audience development led by Morgan Little. Special thanks to the Foundry and Cheddar video teams.

In startups, choosing a co-founder is often compared to choosing a spouse. But what happens when your co-founder actually is family?

In this episode of Build Mode, host Isabelle Johannessen explores how founders navigate co-founder relationships that come with built-in trust and unique challenges. First up is Hala Jalwan and Alessio Tresanti, the married co-founders of AI agent for procurement focusing on autonomous sourcing, Rivio. They discuss building a company from the same household and why clear roles and communication matter when both your personal and professional lives are on the line.

Then Isabelle talks with Anna Sun, co-founder of Nowadays, an AI co-pilot for corporate event planning that she launched with her sister Amy shortly after graduating from MIT. Sun explains how their sibling dynamic shapes decision-making, team culture, and the way they move quickly as founders.

They discuss:

How trust shapes strong co-founder partnerships

The benefits and challenges of building a startup with family

Dividing roles and decision-making between co-founders

Hiring and culture in early-stage startups

Why some founders turn to co-founder coaching to navigate conflict

This episode looks at how unconventional co-founder relationships can become a startup’s biggest advantage and why trust may be the most powerful tool a founding team has.

Apply to Startup Battlefield: We are looking for early-stage companies that have an MVP. So nominate a founder (or yourself): techcrunch.com/apply. Be sure to say you heard about Startup Battlefield from the Build Mode podcast.  

TechCrunch Disrupt: If you're thinking about applying to Startup Battlefield, then October 13 to 15 in San Francisco, we're back for TechCrunch Disrupt, where the Startup Battlefield 200 takes the stage. So if you want to cheer them on, or just network with 1000s of founders, VCs, and tech enthusiasts, then grab your tickets.  

Use code buildmode15 for 15% off any ticket type. 

New episodes of Build Mode drop every Thursday. Hosted by Isabelle Johannessen. Produced and edited by Maggie Nye. Audience development led by Morgan Little. Special thanks to the Foundry and Cheddar video teams.

This week on Build Mode, we’re joined by David Park, co-founder and CEO of Narada, an enterprise AI agent platform spun out of UC Berkeley AI Lab research. Narada uses large action models to automate complex, multi-step workflows across enterprise systems. After previously co-founding and exiting Coverity, Park is now building his second company with a different playbook: Stay lean, talk to customers, and don’t raise before you’re ready. 

In this episode, he shares why Narada spent a year making nearly 1,000 customer calls before raising institutional capital, how the company reached 99.99% reliability in production environments, and why he believes too much funding too early can derail even the strongest teams. Park also reflects on his experience as a Startup Battlefield Top 20 company and the lessons he’s carried from his first exit into building Narada. 

He breaks down: 

Why customers won’t tell you your “baby is ugly” — but their wallets will 

How Narada achieves enterprise-grade AI reliability 

Why raising money before product-market fit can be dangerous 

 The discipline of building a lean, “mean building machine” 

When to scale your go-to-market team (and when not to) 

Why founders must stick to their values, even under pressure 

Lessons from Startup Battlefield and building in public 

Apply to Startup Battlefield: We are looking for early-stage companies that have an MVP. So nominate a founder (or yourself): techcrunch.com/apply. Be sure to say you heard about Startup Battlefield from the Build Mode podcast.  

Founders Summit: If you want to take these conversations beyond the podcast, then come join us in person at a TechCrunch event on June 9 in Boston, we're hosting our founders Summit, which is essentially build mode in real life. It's a full day focused entirely on founders, builders and the conversations that actually move startups forward. It's also a great way to sharpen your story. Get your tickets. 

TechCrunch Disrupt: If you're thinking about applying to Startup Battlefield, then October 13 to 15 in San Francisco, we're back for TechCrunch Disrupt, where the Startup Battlefield 200 takes the stage. So if you want to cheer them on, or just network with 1000s of founders, VCs, and tech enthusiasts, then grab your tickets. 
 

Use code buildmode15 for 15% off any ticket type

00:00 – Why customers won’t tell you the truth (but their wallets will) 
02:43 – What Narada does: enterprise AI agents powered by large action models 
04:28 – Enterprise reliability: reaching 99.99% accuracy 
07:32 – Trust, security, and on-prem deployment 
12:26 – Bootstrapping, 1,000 customer calls & finding real pain 
15:05 – Raising after traction & meeting their lead VC at Disrupt 
18:47 – Scaling responsibly after product-market fit 
22:46 – Go-to-market strategy & leveraging channels 
23:48 – From Coverity exit to Narada: a founder’s second act 
27:05 – Founder advice: passion, grit & integrity 
30:20 – Fake it till you make it? Not quite. 
30:44 – Startup Battlefield experience 
36:05 – Final reflections on disruption & building for impact 

New episodes of Build Mode drop every Thursday. Hosted by Isabelle Johannessen. Produced and edited by Maggie Nye. Audience development led by Morgan Little. Special thanks to the Foundry and Cheddar video teams. 

This season on Build Mode, we’re breaking down what it really takes to build a world-class team and that starts with hiring the right people the first time. 

This week, we’re joined by Sarah Lucena, founder and CEO of Mappa, a behavioral intelligence platform that uses voice AI to decode human behavior in under 60 seconds. After rebuilding teams over and over again early in her career, Sarah set out to answer the question: why do “great on paper” candidates fail to flourish after their hired? 

In this episode, she explains how Mapa analyzes thousands of voice biomarkers, from speech patterns to linguistic signals, to build behavioral profiles and match candidates based on compatibility, not just the on-paper credentials. They help their clients make the right hired the first time, saving crucial time and money. 

She breaks down: 

• Why most hiring decisions are still a gamble 
• Compatibility vs. similarity (and why it matters) 
• How voice biomarkers reveal behavioral traits 
• How to reduce bias without lowering the bar 
• How founders should think about building aligned teams 

Whether you’re hiring your first employee or scaling a fast-growing startup, this episode will change the way you think about talent, team dynamics, and what it really means to be a “fit.”  

Chapters: 

00:00 – Why great hires still fail 
00:47 – Meet Sarah Lucena (Founder & CEO, Mappa) 
01:39 – What Mappa does: voice → behavioral intelligence 
04:22 – Why voice (not video) is the best signal 
06:03 – The proprietary dataset & real-life outcomes 
12:30 – Mapping companies, not just candidates 
14:27 – Compatibility vs. similarity 
16:10 – Bias, diversity & better hiring signals 
23:53 – Expanding beyond hiring (VCs, finance, insurance) 
30:16 – Using Mappa to evaluate investors 
33:02 – Building Mappa’s own team 
35:49 – Founder advice: patience, compatibility & lawyers 
39:16 – Startup Battlefield experience 
41:29 – Outro 

New episodes of Build Mode drop every Thursday. Hosted by Isabelle Johannessen. Produced and edited by Maggie Nye. Audience development led by Morgan Little. Special thanks to the Foundry and Cheddar video teams.