Merge recently launched Merge MCP helping AI apps understand everything about their customers. Today, Anika sits down with Shensi, co-founder and CEO of Merge, to dive into: 

💡 How AI is unlocking more use cases for Merge 

🛠️ Why she still codes as a non-technical founder who never worked as a software engineer 

📩 How she and her co-founder Gil personally reached out to 10,000+ people to find their first engineering hires 

🧠 What the Chief of Staff role actually means in a startup and how it prepared her to be a founder 

💬 A raw and honest take on what it’s like to be a woman founder in tech 

00:00 Introduction 

01:18 Founding Merge 

04:24 Founder philosophies around leadership and hiring 

14:44 Understanding Merge's product and AI's impact 

25:23 Hot seat

The pod is back from their travels and are talking tariffs in the best episode yet. They also breakdown Anthropic’s Model Context Protocol (MCP), which is a new standard that helps LLMs and applications communicate. Finally, the hosts deep dive into Base Power, which is a hot new energy startup everyone is talking about.First up: Trump’s surprise rollout of “reciprocal” tariffs aren’t actually reciprocal. The hosts debrief the details of the tariffs, the partial reversal, and the math behind the tariff equation, which is allegedly from ChatGPT. The pod gets into how tariffs are impacting international trade, U.S. China relations, and the market (rip the 2024 gains). The hosts also zoom out to contextualize today’s tariffs in comparison to Trump’s first term tariffs and America’s history with tariffs.Next, they get into Anthropic’s Model Context Protocol (MCP a standard that was announced in November, but is creating buzz now after OpenAI, GitHub, AWS, and more announced their adoption. They discuss how it works, what it means for agents and tool integration, and how it builds a universal language between LLMs, apps, and data sources. The hosts also talk about the implications of Google’s new Agent to Agent protocol and how it could lead to a company team that’s all AI agents.For the first time ever, there’s a company that would “Get the Check”: Base Power. This Texas based battery startup just raised $200 million from a16z to tackle rising power outages and growing electricity distribution costs. Their strategy is to install home batteries, charge them during low-demand hours, and sell energy back to the grid when demand spikes, capturing a huge spread. Consumers benefit too by staying powered during outages and getting electricity at or below market prices the rest of the time.00:00 Intro 01:33 Trump's tariffs and partial reversal 35:37 Anthropic's Model Context Protocol (MCP)43:52 A16z's $200M check into Base Power

Billions of people use email every single day. For the first time in decades, it’s been reimagined. Say hello to Notion Mail.

Today, Priya sits down with Andrew to talk about:

🤖 How Notion AI is redefining the inbox

🚀 The story behind Andrew’s company Skiff joining Notion

📝 Marketing 101: How Notion Mail used their waitlist to generate hype

💰 Andrew on being a Sequoia Scout

📧 Does Andrew live in inbox chaos or inbox zero world?

00:00 Intro

02:02 Founding Skiff and joining Notion

06:36 Email as a product

08:11 How Notion Mail uses Notion AI

10:58 Building the product

15:41 Launching the product

22:46 Andrew’s pilots license

25:17 Working as a Sequoia Scout

28:25 Hot Seat

🚀 Big moves from @Glean!

Last month, they announced that any employee across any department can now build AI agents

Today, @Maya sits down with @Matt Kix, CMO of @Glean, to dive into:

🔍 How he has spotted the next big tech trend 3x in his career

🤖 Why Glean is empowering everyone to use AI, not just developers

📈 The shift from AI boosting productivity to AI driving revenue and code velocity

🏢 When AI-powered workplace search will become table stakes for every company

00:00 Trailer

00:40 Intro + Early Career

06:20 Staying adaptable

07:28 Building useful AI technology

14:05 Being the horizontal work AI platform

21:21 Measuring ROI for Glean's customers

30:07 The price of intelligence going down

35:09 The nature of roles in a Glean-powered workplaces

This week the pod covers Google’s acquisition of Wiz, Pepsi’s acquisition of Poppi (two deals in one pod wow M&A is so back!), and key announcements from Nvidia’s GTC conference.Google just made history with its biggest acquisition ever dropping $32 billion in an all-cash deal to acquire Wiz, which is a cloud security startup. We break down Wiz’s founding story and how this deal fits into Google’s broader cloud strategy. The hosts also debate if the FTC let this acquisition go through.

Next, they dive into Pepsi’s $1.65 billion buyout of Poppi, the influencer-backed prebiotic soda that took over TikTok. From angel investors like Alex Earle securing massive payouts to Poppi’s legal drama over misleading health claims, they unpack the rapid rise (and possible risks) of trendy consumer brands.

Finally, the hosts break down the biggest announcements from NVIDIA’s GTC, which Jensen Huang calls the “AI Super Bowl.” From the Blackwell GPUs promising massive efficiency gains, to NVIDIA’s move into personal AI supercomputers that could put serious computing power in the hands of individual researchers and startups, the hosts discuss what these advances mean for the future of AI. They also debrief Nvidia’s new human-like robots.

In this week’s would not “Get the Check” segment, they talk about the wild legal battle between Rippling and Deel, including corporate espionage, Slack channel traps, and a dramatic office raid (complete with a suspect allegedly flushing his phone down the toilet).If you aren’t already follow us on social media @getthecheck and leave 5 stars on our Spotify, Apple, or like our YouTube video!

00:00 Google acquires Wiz for $32B

16:18 Pepsi acquires Poppi

29:38 Nvidia’s GTC conference highlights

52:09 Rippling alleges Deel is conducting corporate espionage

A decade ago when you got equity at your cool new tech startup you would get an envelope in the mail with a ledger. Now you just log in to Carta. Today CPO of Carta Vrushali Paunikar sits down with Anika Mirza and Priya Kamdar to discuss how Carta disrupted the equity management space and where they are headed next, they dive into:

🎉 The lore behind Carta confetti

💰 Why West Coast VCs passed on Carta’s Series A

👨‍💻 How Carta is now building the NetSuite of private capital

🪜 How Vrushali became CPO when she stopped focusing on promotions and started focusing on product

⭐ Why GTM people make the best PMs

00:00 Intro

01:00 Product as a career

06:18 Almost leaving Carta

09:38 Carta’s founding story

28:15 Carta confetti

31:04 Hot seat

In this episode of Get the Check, the hosts cover TSMC’s massive $100 billion investment in US chip facilities, Anthropic’s new Claude 3.7 Sonnet model, and Trump’s bold move to create a strategic Bitcoin reserve.TSMC is doubling down on US manufacturing, adding $100 billion on top of their previous $65 billion investment in Arizona. While Trump’s camp claims this is thanks to his tariff threats, the hosts break down the bigger picture, including how initiatives like the CHIPS Act have been pushing for domestic TSMC manufacturing long before Trump got involved. They also explore what this means for Taiwan’s “silicon shield,” the idea that TSMC’s dominance in chip production helps protect Taiwan from invasion. Curious about the odds of a Chinese invasion? The hosts share their predictions.Next up, they dive into Anthropic’s Claude 3.7 Sonnet release — a hybrid reasoning model that combines foundational AI capabilities with advanced reasoning. Unlike OpenAI, which has traditionally released separate models for these tasks, Anthropic is combining the two. The hosts explore why they might have taken this approach and what it could mean for the future of AI. They also break down how Claude 3.7 is designed to excel at agentic workflows.Finally, Trump’s latest executive order is all about Bitcoin. The hosts unpack his plan to create a strategic Bitcoin reserve and digital asset stockpile, which includes auditing the 200,000 Bitcoin the US government already holds and allowing the purchase of more Bitcoin, if it’s budget-neutral. The hosts debate what having a crypto king in office might mean for the US dollar.Oh, and Lucy Guo’s startup Passes would not “Get the Check”. They discuss how the Scale AI co-founder’s attempt at building a monetization platform for creators allegedly took a dark turn and is now being sued for exploitation from a former creator.Don’t forget to follow us, @getthecheck wherever you like to doom scroll lol :)

00:00 TSMC pledges $100B to expand US chip manufacturing

16:07 Anthropic launches Claude 3.7 Sonnet

31:09 Strategic Bitcoin Reserve

49:46 Lucy Guo’s Passes

If you live in America, experts say your leading cause of death is what you eat. There’s one company changing that.

Today CEO and co-founder Sammy Faycurry sits down with Anika for a tell-all episode on Fay, a marketplace for dietitians, and one of the fastest growing health and wellness companies ever. They just raised a $50M Series B at a $500M valuation

They dive into:

🫶 Fay's origin story as a family business

🏥 Why are dietitians overlooked in healthcare, even though they are one of the most critical providers of care

🤖 How Fay became the Harvey AI of the nutrition space

💡 The best path forward for health insurance companies to gain Americans' trust and how Fay is acting as a partner

They might even drop some information on Fay’s secret launch happening in 24 days 🤫

00:00 Series B leaked

03:38 Intro

04:19 Founder journey

09:11 Finding product market fit

14:53 Waiting to raise VC money

17:45 Anika joining Fay

19:42 Health insurance companies

25:27 Vertical AI

32:08 Validating the care model

35:05 Insurance prescribing food

36:53 Founder philosophies

52:02 Speed round

If you haven’t yet, follow us @getthecheckpod on TikTok, Instagram, and X

In this episode of Get the Check the hosts get political by diving into Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and then get technical by breaking down Microsoft’s new chip the Majorana 1, which is a huge break through for quantum computing. 

Maya, Anika, and Priya discuss the sweeping layoffs DOGE has instated at key agencies like the FAA and Department of Defense. They debate DOGE’s approach to government efficiency including the controversy around the agencies young engineers, and how to balance increasing efficiency without compromising the impact of programs like USAID. 

Next they cover Microsoft’s new chip the Majorana 1. The hosts talk about what quantum computing is good at in comparison to classical computing. They also break down the technical achievement of Microsoft creating a new state of matter and why that is important for quantum computing, as well as the differing approach competitors like Google are taking.

Finally they announce this week’s company that would NOT get their check…Humane AI. The hosts talk about why this company was sold to HP for less than their venture funding added up to.

Follow us @getthecheckpod. If you have any episode feedback we always love hearing from you at [email protected] :)

00:00 DOGE updates

37:20 Microsoft’s Majorana 1 chip

1:00:02 HP acquires Humane

In this episode of Get the Check, Anika, Maya, and Priya discuss the Super Bowl, focusing on the brands running ads and Robinhood’s attempt to offer Super Bowl sports contracts through Kalshi. The hosts also dive into Stargate, a $500 million AI infrastructure initiative led by SoftBank, OpenAI, Oracle, and MGX. Finally, they cover Apple Invites, Apple's new version of Partiful.

The hosts predict that tech companies like Ramp will dominate this year’s Super Bowl ad space. They also debate Perplexity’s strategy of skipping a traditional Super Bowl ad and instead running a giveaway where users can win $1 million by asking five questions in the app. Next, they discuss Robinhood’s attempt to partner with Kalshi on Super Bowl event contracts, which the CFTC shut down after Robinhood had already rolled it out to 1% of their users. Despite this, Kalshi will still allow users nationwide to bet (wait, sorry, we mean trade!) the outcome of the game. The hosts break down Robinhood and Kalshi’s partnership, weighing the pros and cons of Kalshi using Robinhood as a brokerage versus being their own. They also discuss what a potential Trump-led CFTC could mean for event contracts. Plus, they share how Kalshi’s social media intern just earned a $6,900 bonus (hint: it has to do with Elon).

The conversation then shifts to Stargate, an initiative aiming to position the U.S. as the global AI superpower and create over 100,000 jobs. While the initiative has raised concerns over its environmental impact, particularly CO2 emissions from new data centers, efforts are underway to make the centers more sustainable. The hosts also debate the government’s role in regulating AI safety and ethics, especially in light of Trump reversing Biden’s AI executive orders and implementing his own.

Finally, the hosts discuss Apple Invites, a new app that rips off Partiful. While they acknowledge that Partiful still has the stronger product, they argue that Apple Invites exposes Partiful's lack of a technical moat and a clear path to profitability.

Follow us on social media @getthecheckpod, and please rate us on Spotify or Apple—your support helps us reach more listeners!

00:00 Super Bowl ads

06:26 Robinhood attempts Super Bowl events contracts

36:12 The Stargate project  

49:53 Company that wouldn’t get our check: Partiful