Out Of Office

Join Kartik Sathappan and Jack Dwyer as they sit down with Chris Samra, co-founder of Waves, the viral camera glasses built for creators. We explore how Waves went from a Black Mirror-inspired idea to a launch video with 30M+ views, the privacy debate, and why Chris wants Waves to be more like Ray-Ban than “smart glasses.”

𝕏 Follow Chris: https://x.com/crsamra
🔗 Waves: https://www.waveglasses.com/

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𝕏 Follow Kartik: https://x.com/sathaxe
𝕏 Follow Jack: https://x.com/jackndwyer

Sponsored by Families Fund — backing founders rebuilding education and health for American families.
https://www.families.fund

• 00:00 Meet Chris & Waves
• 05:37 Design that looks good
• 10:45 Privacy debate
• 20:46 From Black Mirror to clips IRL
• 25:25 Capturing human moments
• 30:44 Brand > hardware
• 35:03 Creators as GTM

Join us on this inspiring episode of Out of Office, where Kartik Sathappan and Jack Dwyer sit down with Clayton Mooney, founder of Clayton Farms, to explore the future of healthy fast food and the fight against the lifespan crisis caused by America’s eating habits.

Clayton shares his unlikely journey—from growing up on an Iowa farm, to a career in professional poker, to building indoor farms that now power a profitable restaurant model. His mission? To give back millions of years of life to humanity by changing the way we eat, one healthy fast food meal at a time.

We cover how Clayton is competing with giants like Sweetgreen, why transparency and open-source food systems matter, and the bold vision of scaling to a thousand restaurants over the next two decades.

🌱 Check out Clayton Farms: claytonfarms.com

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𝕏 Follow Kartik: @sathaxe
𝕏 Follow Jack: @jackndwyer
𝕏 Follow Clayton: @MooneyMillions

Sponsored by Families Fund — Backing founders rebuilding education and health for American families.
https://www.families.fund

Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and share to stay updated with future conversations!

Chapters:
00:00 From Iowa Farm to Poker Pro
06:02 Tackling Food Waste with Kinosol
08:46 Building Clayton Farms: Indoor Farming Innovations
11:26 From Delivery Service to Restaurant Model
19:53 Competing with Sweetgreen & Scaling Healthy Fast Food
30:49 Health, Entrepreneurship & Building a Mission-Driven Brand
44:33 Fundraising, Transparency, and Open Sourcing the Farm
59:21 The Future of Nutrition & Adding 70 Million Years of Life

Out of Office — Ep.20

Kartik Sathappan and Jack Dwyer sit down with Sarv, founder of Origami Computing — a playful “sidekick computer” aiming to make our relationship with tech healthier. We cover the journey from scrappy, screenless prototypes to a colorful device that feels human, why phones exhaust us, and what it really takes to learn hardware, raise a round, and build something people love.

🧭 Links:
𝕏 Follow Sarv: https://x.com/SarvasvKulpati
🔗 Learn more about Origami: https://origamicomputing.com/

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YouTube — https://www.youtube.com/@OutOfOfficePodcastX

👤 Hosts:
𝕏 Follow Kartik: https://x.com/sathaxe
𝕏 Follow Jack: https://x.com/jackndwyer

💡 Sponsor:
Sponsored by Families Fund — the first VC fund backing founders rebuilding education and health for American families.
https://www.families.fund

1. 00:00 Meet Sarv and the birth of Origami Computing
2. 02:35 What makes a device “healthy”
3. 05:12 The digicam prototype and retro tech’s comeback
4. 07:46 A silent rebellion against social media
5. 10:50 From screenless experiments to sidekick computers
6. 12:57 Why cute eyes went viral
7. 15:00 AI as self-actualization, not autocomplete
8. 19:59 Moving to SF: from scarcity to abundance
9. 22:27 Teaching himself hardware and PCB design
10. 26:29 Mentors, suffering, and the hard truths of hardware
11. 28:18 Staying true in a hype-driven Silicon Valley
12. 30:56 GTM, social media virality, and the weight of followers
13. 33:38 Building a tiny but mighty team
14. 34:11 Berkeley lessons: liberal arts, CogSci, and POV
15. 39:11 Almost dropping out, Tech Twitter, and finding direction
16. 43:27 Early curiosity: clubs, skateboards, and coding hands
17. 44:53 Creativity beyond tech: music, writing, and art
18. 45:34 Social media, hermits, and healthier online spaces
19. 47:41 Origami’s vision: a phone that feels human
20. 49:09 The future of AI-native devices

In this inspiring episode of Out of Office, Kartik Sathappan and Jack Dwyer sit down with Alex Mathew, a high school student at the experimental Alpha School and the teenage founder of Berry, an AI-powered stuffed animal that teens can talk to for mental health support.

Alex shares how his own struggles with therapy and school stress led him to build Berry, why he believes AI will replace traditional therapy, and how a cuddly plushie could help millions of young people reflect and build self-awareness. We dive into the science behind “transitional objects,” what’s wrong with online therapy, and why he’s designing Berry to push back instead of just validate.

We also explore Alpha School’s radical education model: three hours of AI-powered academics, no teachers, and afternoons spent launching real-world ventures. Alex explains how he balances building a startup with being a student and how Alpha helps teens find their passion and develop it to Olympic-level standards.

🐻 Learn more about Berry: https://berryplush.com/
🏫 Learn more about Alpha School: https://alpha.school
𝕏 Follow Alex: https://x.com/alxmthew

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𝕏 Follow Kartik: https://x.com/sathaxe
𝕏 Follow Jack: https://x.com/jackndwyer

Sponsored by Families Fund:
The first VC fund backing founders rebuilding education and health for American families.
https://www.families.fund

Chapters:

• 00:00 Meet Alex Mathew: Teen Founder of Berry and Student at Alpha
• 01:13 Why He Built an AI Plushie for Teen Mental Health
• 04:17 Gaps in Therapy and the Problem with ChatGPT as Support
• 07:33 How Berry Works: Reflection, Voice, and Personalization
• 11:28 Why a Plushie? Science, Nostalgia, and Virality
• 18:42 Go-To-Market Strategy: Teens, Parents, Schools, and TikTok
• 22:45 Data Privacy, Memory, and Ethical AI in Mental Health
• 25:17 Building a Startup Inside High School
• 27:41 Inside Alpha School: AI Learning, No Teachers, Big Projects
• 39:04 Rethinking Focus, ADHD, and the Future of Learning
• 48:31 Life at Alpha vs Traditional School
• 51:39 Should You Still Go to College After Alpha?
• 59:48 Real Role of Guides and How They Motivate Students
• 01:01:11 Screens, SEL, and Defeating Brainrot
• 01:06:50 What's Next for Berry and How to Get Involved

Join us on this special episode of Out of Office brought to you by Families Fund, where Kartik Sathappan and Jack Dwyer sit down with Karen Kirchner — a California elementary school teacher — to break down what’s really happening inside public schools today.

Karen shares how COVID, politics, and outdated literacy methods have collided to leave kids behind — and what it will take to turn things around. We explore why teachers get so little respect, how the “science of reading” can transform classrooms, and what parents should look for when evaluating their children’s education. From the rise of AI tutors to the false promise of endless tech in the classroom, this conversation cuts through the noise to spotlight what strong schools actually do right.

𝕏 Follow Karen: https://www.instagram.com/karenkirchnr/
🔗 Learn more about Families Fund: https://www.families.fund

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Chapters:
00:00 The State of Reading Scores and Education Systems
21:25 Science of Reading vs. Balanced Literacy + Teacher Training
29:55 Multi-Sensory Learning, Parent Roles, and Cultural Attitudes
38:19 Education Policy, Teacher Quality, and Curriculum Gaps
45:05 Classroom Management, Tech Hype, and AI Tutors
53:44 Alternative Models, Community, and What Traditional Schools Get Right

Episode 17 – Can a Robot Fold Your Laundry? Evan Wineland on Building Weave Robotics

On this episode of Out of Office, hosts Kartik Sathappan and Jack Dwyer welcomeEvan Wineland, co-founder of Weave Robotics. Evan unveils Isaac—a telescoping,wheeled home robot that folds laundry, tidies rooms, and even taps human tele-operatorswhen autonomy needs a boost. We explore why wheels beat legs (for now), how onboardcompute keeps your data private, what Evan learned while shipping Apple Intelligence,and why your own robo-housekeeper could arrive as early as late 2025.

Links
𝕏 Follow Evan: https://x.com/evan_wineland
Weave Robotics: https://weaverobotics.com
𝕏 Follow the show: https://x.com/outofofficepodx
Spotify: show link
Apple Podcasts: show link
YouTube: channel link

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Chapters
00:00 Introduction & Isaac highlight reel
02:45 First impressions: Roomba ≠ Isaac
06:45 What Isaac is and isn’t
13:40 Wheels > legs: safety & reliability
19:40 Why start with laundry-folding & tidying
23:40 Mapping, memory & onboarding your home
32:00 Tele-operation, trust & guardrails
39:30 Pricing, early adopters & parents vs. entropy
49:10 From Apple Intelligence to home robots
57:00 YC, quadrupeds & pivoting to Isaac
1:03:00 Shipping timeline & Weave is hiring!

Enjoy the episode, and don’t forget to rate, follow, and share!

In this episode of Out of Office, Kartik Sathappan and Jack Dwyer sit down with Brandon Aversano, founder of Alloy, the online platform making it safe, simple, and transparent to sell gold and precious metals.

Brandon shares the wild origin story of Alloy—starting with a cancer diagnosis, medical debt, and a humiliating pawn shop experience. He explains how Alloy offers 80%+ payouts (versus 20–30% industry standard), the challenges of building trust in a scammy industry, and why customer empathy is his biggest weapon. We also discuss the future of jewelry resale, how Brandon bootstrapped his way from a failed app to state-backed funding, and what most people don’t understand about the value of their gold.

🔗 Check out Alloy: https://www.alloymarket.com/
📺 Watch on YouTube: Out of Office Podcast
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𝕏 Follow Kartik: https://x.com/sathaxe
𝕏 Follow Jack: https://x.com/jackndwyer

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• 00:00 Introduction to Alloy and Brandon's Cancer Diagnosis
• 04:23 Selling Gold the Old Way—and the Idea That Sparked Alloy
• 07:57 Building Empathy Into a High-Trust Customer Experience
• 10:38 Hiring Non-Salespeople and Operationalizing Support
• 12:35 Beating the Pawn Shops: Trust, Transparency, and Pricing
• 15:07 Go-to-Market, SEO Strategy, and Early PR Wins
• 20:39 Customer Segments, Indian Gold Culture, and Repeat Use
• 25:32 Alloy’s Wild Origin: FBI Gold Scandal and Elderly Clients
• 30:01 Partnerships, Value Chain, and Expanding Beyond Gold
• 37:11 Funding Alloy: From 401k to Institutional Rounds
• 44:29 Winning Over the State of Pennsylvania
• 48:09 Fundraising Strategy in a Skeptical Market
• 49:59 Competition, Ecosystem Vision, and What’s Next
• 52:00 The Truth About Jewelry Valuation
• 56:00 Why Gold Beats Diamonds—and Advice for Founders

In this episode of Out of Office, Kartik and Jack sit down with John Marmaduke, co-founder of Aurelius Systems, a defense startup building laser turrets that shoot drones out of the sky.

We dive into how John went from Ford engineer to crypto founder to building battlefield-ready AI-powered weapons. He walks us through their early CIA hackathon win, what it’s like working with the Department of Defense, and why lasers (not missiles) are the future of drone defense.

We also talk manufacturing, the defense tech vibe shift in SF, recruiting challenges, and why he might move operations to Detroit.

Follow John: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-marmaduke-77017a202/
Check out Aurelius: https://aureliussystems.us

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Chapters:
00:00 Intro to Aurelius & Laser Drone Defense
13:23 Laser Tech, Innovation & Deployment Challenges
22:12 Drone Warfare & U.S. Defense Readiness
32:19 From Hackathon to Pentagon Backing
41:27 Building a Defense Startup: Funding & Hiring
50:27 Culture, Recruiting & Future of Defense Tech
58:11 Advanced Tech, Manufacturing & What's Next

Join us for an imaginative and deeply thoughtful episode of Out of Office as Kartik Sathappan and Jack Dwyer sit down with Daniel Kuntz — founder of Creature Co. and the mind behind The Little Guy, a wearable digital pet that blends nostalgic design, emotional tech, and low-level engineering into a new kind of companion.

Daniel walks us through how a viral demo turned into a funded startup, how Fred Again ended up using his music plugin, and why he's rejecting the software subscription model in favor of playful, expressive hardware. We also dive into his artistic inspirations (like vintage Sony gadgets and absurd watches), the philosophy of meaningful design, and whether generative AI can ever create something with soul.

• 🦴 Meet The Little Guy
• 🎹 Try Daniel’s music plugins
• 𝕏 Follow Daniel

• 𝕏 Follow Kartik
• 𝕏 Follow Jack
• 🎧 Follow Out of Office

Sponsored by Noots — Enjoy 25% off your order

• 00:00 Intro to The Little Guy and Creature Co
• 03:00 Rethinking Tamagotchi: A Digital Pet for Adults
• 06:05 Prototyping, Dev Kits, and Early Community Feedback
• 08:52 Raising $1.2M and the Vision for a Hardware Company
• 12:06 Business Model, Software Tools, and Artistic Intent
• 14:55 Daniel’s Journey: Music Apps to Wearable Companions
• 21:03 Design Philosophy: Playful UIs and Hardware Aesthetics
• 28:09 Apple, iDog, and the Lost Era of Beautiful Tech
• 34:28 From Demo to Funding: Going All-In on Hardware
• 40:23 Can We Have Nice Things Again?
• 55:11 Generative AI, Creativity, and the Future of Art

Join us for this eye-opening episode of Out of Office, where we sit down with Andrew Song, co-founder of Make Sunsets, to discuss a radical approach to climate change: solar geoengineering. Andrew explains how releasing reflective aerosols into the stratosphere—something volcanoes do naturally—may help cool the planet, buying time for other sustainability efforts to catch up. We also dive into regulatory roadblocks, the role of public perception, and what it’s like to scale a startup focused on reversing global warming.

Sponsored by Noots — Enjoy 25% off your order! https://sendnoots.com/discount/OUTOFOFFICEPOD

Follow Andrew Song: https://x.com/asong408
Learn more about Make Sunsets: https://makesunsets.com

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction to Make Sunsets
03:23 The Science Behind Solar Geoengineering
06:46 Comparing Solutions: Stratospheric Aerosol Injection vs. Carbon Capture
10:26 Market Landscape and Competition
13:56 Customer Demographics and Engagement
17:17 Funding and Business Model
21:00 Regulatory Landscape and Challenges
24:21 Public Perception and Education
28:10 Operational Mechanics of Balloon Deployments
31:30 Future Outlook and Mission-driven Goals
34:48 Navigating Financial Sustainability
37:22 Evaluating Climate Solutions
39:13 The Reality of Recycling
41:46 Innovating for a Sustainable Future
45:16 Personal Journey to Climate Action
48:51 Future Aspirations and Opportunities
54:24 Building a Climate-Conscious Community

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