On this episode of Coffee with a Founder, Beck Bamberger sits down with Nikhil Sethi, co-founder and CEO of Workgrounds. After building and selling his first company to Accenture, Nikhil jumped back in to solve a surprisingly painful problem: booking and managing hotel room blocks for teams. The conversation dives into why group travel is still wildly manual, how distributed teams are reshaping how companies gather, and what it actually looks like to build a company the second time around. If you're into founders rebuilding with the same team, solving unsexy but real problems, and designing companies for how we actually work today, don't miss this one.

On this episode of Coffee with a Founder, Beck Bamberger sits down with Alex Wright-Gladstein, CEO and founder of Sphere. After struggling for years to get a climate-friendly option added to her first company's 401(k), Alex set out to build a better solution for employees who want their retirement savings aligned with their values. The conversation explores the strange world of 401(k) investing, why climate-friendly retirement options have been so hard to access, and how Sphere is making it easier for everyday people to move their money with purpose. If you're into founders turning a frustrating financial system into a clear climate action step, don't miss this one.

On this episode of Coffee with a Founder, Beck Bamberger sits down with Bobby Samuels, co-founder and CEO of Protege, to talk about one of the biggest challenges in artificial intelligence today: data.

As AI models grow more powerful, the demand for high-quality training data is exploding. Protege is building infrastructure that helps organizations unlock valuable, often untapped datasets while keeping privacy, compliance, and responsible AI development at the center.

Bobby shares what it's like building an AI startup in a market moving at breakneck speed—from navigating the realities of early traction and scaling a data-driven company to balancing founder life with family (including a toddler cameo in the background).

On this episode of Coffee with a Founder, Beck Bamberger sits down with Natalya Thakur, founder and CEO of KNOVA. The company is building infrastructure that allows financial institutions to operate seamlessly across both traditional assets and tokenized assets from a single technology stack.

The conversation explores the future of digital asset infrastructure, lessons from building fintech systems that institutions will actually use, and why thoughtful product development can matter more than startup speed.

If you're into founders building the infrastructure layer behind the next generation of finance, don't miss this one.

On this episode of Coffee with a Founder, Beck Bamberger sits down with Matthias Hofmann, co-founder and CEO of Eyebot, for a candid conversation about building a company that's reimagining access to vision care.

Matthias shares his journey from growing up in Switzerland with dreams of becoming a fighter pilot, to navigating his own experience with vision loss, and ultimately launching Eyebot—an innovative kiosk-based solution bringing affordable eye exams to retail locations, including Walmart stores.

The conversation explores what it really feels like to hit product-market fit, the operational realities of scaling hardware and distribution, and the pressure that comes with turning a prototype into a national rollout. Matthias also opens up about the role financial stability plays in entrepreneurship, how family keeps him grounded, and what it takes to bottle that rare "lightning strike" moment when everything clicks.

On this episode of Coffee with a Founder, Beck Bamberger sits down with Ethan Smith from Graphite for a follow-up conversation on AEO and GEO, plus what's actually changing right now in how people discover brands inside AI tools. Coming off two conferences in the same week, they get into prompt behavior, why citations are more fragmented than most people think, and why earned media is becoming even more important in an AI-first world.

The conversation dives into what's working, what people are doing wrong, and how founders should think about measurement when clicks are disappearing.

If you're into the new playbook for getting found in AI search and want the practical version, don't miss this one.

On this episode of Coffee with a Founder, Beck sits down with Yehuda Kog, co-founder and CEO of Lin Health, just hours after the company announced its $11 million Series A raise.

The conversation explores how Lin Health is rethinking chronic pain care through a multidisciplinary digital platform, why pain can be understood as a learned skill and how mental health, anxiety, and depression shape recovery. Yehuda also shares his own decade-long experience living with chronic pain, the company's shift from direct-to-consumer to B2B and the importance of trusted partnerships, including work with organizations like Mayo Clinic.

If you're interested in digital health, mission-driven startups and what it really takes to scale a healthcare company while staying human, don't miss this one.

On this episode of Coffee with a Founder, Beck Bamberger sits down with Kyle Kamrooz, co-founder and CEO of Bonus Homes. Kyle is building a new financial category that allows homeowners to unlock their equity without selling their homes.

The conversation dives into housing wealth, middle-class retirement gaps, why low interest rates are hidden assets, and what it takes to create an entirely new financial model from scratch.

If you're into founders rethinking how everyday Americans build wealth, don't miss this one.

On this episode of Coffee with a Founder, Beck Bamberger sits down with Rema Matevosyan, co-founder and CEO of Near Space Labs. Rema is building stratospheric robotics that capture ultra-high-resolution Earth imagery, giving insurers and climate responders access to data that reflects current reality.

We cover climate resilience, insurance underwriting, why balloons beat satellites, and the long-term mindset required to build infrastructure that actually lasts.

On this episode of Coffee with a Founder, Beck Bamberger sits down with Justin Sherlock, co-founder and CEO of Caspian. After scaling Flexport's financing arm past $1B, Justin saw how tariffs and red tape quietly choke capital for global brands. Caspian is his answer, turning months of customs paperwork into days and helping companies reclaim time and cash.

We talk about earning a Customs Broker License, building deep domain expertise, and what it takes to hire in San Francisco's competitive startup scene.

If you're into founder-led innovation tackling old-world infrastructure, don't miss this one.