Tech Startup Network Podcast with Ashley DiBiase

Kaila Lim is Head of Community at Antler in the US, where she designs the founder experience for one of the world’s most active early-stage investors, shaping how startups are chosen, launched, and cared for across New York, Austin, and San Francisco. Her work sits at an unusual intersection: part talent scout, part culture architect, part the person who makes sure founders leave better than they walked in, whether or not the check ever clears. She believes the room is the product, that care can’t be performed, and that the subtle things are usually the whole thing. Off the clock, she writes, hosts small, cozy dinners, and thinks a lot about how power and softness can live in the same person at the same time.

During this episode, we discuss:

• How Kaila built her career in community and what she does at Antler
• Why the best founders Kayla meets radiate conviction
• Kayla's event philosophy is rooted in intentional preparation
• One of the most powerful ways Antler generates deal flow
• Her advice for founders new to a city
• What she recommends for aspiring community builders
• Why maintaining strong personal spiritual and wellness practices is non-negotiable for a sustainable community career
• Her push to founders

And more. Tune into this episode as we dive into all things community!

Lily Dash is the Founder of Future Caribbean and Co-Founder of ACTAI Advisors, where she works at the intersection of artificial intelligence, venture building and economic development. A Barbadian entrepreneur and attorney, she is focused on positioning the Caribbean as a global hub for AI innovation by connecting founders, investors, governments and international institutions to build the next generation of AI-native companies.

Through Future Caribbean, Lily is leading one of the region's most ambitious AI initiatives, including the Global Open-Source Agentic AI Buildathon, bringing together world-class partners across technology, finance and development. She is a leading voice on AI's role in transforming emerging markets, with expertise spanning innovation policy, startup ecosystems, digital infrastructure and the opportunities for regions like the Caribbean and Africa to become builders of AI, not just consumers.

During this episode, we discuss:

• What Future Caribbean is and why Lily started it
• Lily's entry into tech
• What Future Caribbean's build-a-thon offers
• Why the Caribbean is a strong tech hub
• How Future Caribbean has grown
• Lily's advice for community builders

And more. Tune into this episode as we dive into the tech ecosystem in the Caribbean!

Andrew Cote is an engineering physicist and aspiring science fiction author that runs Deep Tech Week, the world's largest community of investors, founders, engineers and scientists building startups in physical industries which runs in 8 cities and has had over 50k attendees. Before starting Deep Tech Week he was an engineering physicist designing high temperature superconducting magnets for nuclear fusion, and before that he ran an LLM startup pre-chatGPT in infectious disease research after working on the BioEngineering team at Chan Zuckerberg Biohub throughout the COVID years. He has degrees in sociology, anthropology, applied physics and engineering.

During this episode, we discuss:

• How Andrew spent nearly a decade as an engineer before accidentally starting Deep Tech Week
• The origin of Deep Tech Week
• How Deep Tech Week has grown across 8 cities and 50,000+ attendees
• The growing representation of deep tech in venture capital investment
• The marketing thesis behind Deep Tech Week
• Deep Tech Week's upcoming city lineup
• Andrew’s long-term vision for Deep Tech Week
• His top advice for community builders

And more. Tune into this episode as we dive into all things deep tech!

Natalie Levy spent years navigating male-dominated environments from the classrooms in engineering school and advanced mathematics coursework to derivatives trading on Wall Street to tech sales and investing.

She spent years in search of a workplace culture that inspired and supported her, and witnessed countless individuals (often, women) lacking fulfillment who were working too hard while failing to reach the professional roles they had earned. Following the loss of her mother to suicide at the beginning of 2019 she made a life and career transition to honor the loss she experienced and the journey she experienced.

Natalie launched She’s Independent to create a space in the world to support and celebrate women stepping into private investing and money flows.

She’s Independent exists to offer a real path to access and equity. The investment community is a space offering real belonging and promoting impactful capital allocations together. So that we can live in a world that invests in, supports, and celebrates women.

During this episode, we discuss:

• What led Natalie to start She's Independent and what it offers
• Why money is energy and how talking about it openly is essential to growth
• Where most of She's Independent's current portfolio lies
• Natalie's top advice for first-time angel investors
• How founders can get in front of She's Independent
• What’s next for She's Independent this year

And more. Tune into this episode as we dive into all things investing!

Dylan Morris is the Founder & CEO of Stone Power Technologies. Prior to starting the company, Dylan has built and run manufacturing companies since high school, scaling manufacturing at Anduril and leading hardware delivery as Head of Manufacturing at Rainmaker, shipping every drone, dispersion system, and radar.

During this episode, we discuss:

• What Stone Power is building
• How the idea came to Dylan
• Why energy independence and manufacturing independence are deeply linked
• Dylan's approach to customer discovery
• When Stone will be delivering their first product

And more. Tune into this episode as we dive into all things turbines!

Allison Byers is a founder, investor, and capital access advocate working to build a funding system that includes The Rest of Us. She’s the founder of Scroobious, a relationship-first capital access platform, author of the book Fundraising for The Rest of Us, co-authored California’s landmark Fair Investment Practices by Venture Capital Companies Law, and serves on multiple boards. Previously, she co-founded a medtech company spun out of MIT, raised nearly $10 million, and brought an FDA‑registered product to market, only to watch the all‑male team that acquired it raise $55 million. That experience led her to uncover the systemic barriers facing underestimated founders and to dedicate her career to dismantling them.

During this episode, we discuss:

• How Allison's path to advocacy began with her own startup experience
• What Scroobius offers and how it works
• A core reason venture capital remains so homogenous
• One of Scroobious' most memorable success stories
• Allison's top networking advice
• What’s next for Scroobious in 2026

And more. Tune into this episode as we dive into all things relationships!

Casey Williams is a Partner & COO at Fenway Summer, a VC firm investing in early-stage fintech companies. She focuses on companies building infrastructure for the financial system, with a particular conviction for founders raising their first institutional round in complex, policy-adjacent markets.

Casey has walked a non-linear path to venture capital. She began her career as a fourth-grade math teacher through Teach for America, an experience that shaped how she thinks about problem-solving, resilience, and working in under-resourced environments. She then moved into financial inclusion work at Kiva Microfinance and, later, product and R&D at Wells Fargo. Her venture capital career began on the operating side of the business, when she first joined the Fenway Summer team in 2020 as an Operations Associate. She was quickly promoted to COO and has spent years managing every aspect of the business side of the firm, from fund administration to tax and audit processes.

Casey has a demonstrated pattern of conviction on non-consensus founders, looking for ideas that sit outside the comfortable consensus of what fintech “should” look like, and a track record of being early. She holds a Master's in Public Administration from the University of Oklahoma and a B.A. in English Literature from Elon University. She lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband, two kids, and a growing collection of rescue animals.

During this episode, we discuss:

• Casey's nonlinear career path that led her into investing
• Her advice for aspiring VCs
• What she does at Fenway Summer
• The three things she looks for when evaluating early-stage fintech founders
• Why distribution has become the ultimate moat in financial services
• How her operator background makes her a genuinely hands-on partner
• A common misconception the VC world got wrong
• What Fenway Summer is announcing later in 2026

And more. Tune into this episode as we dive into all things fintech investing!

Andrew Rush is the President and CEO of Star Catcher, a pioneering company advancing the development of the world’s first space-based energy grid. A seasoned space industry executive, Andrew is widely recognized for scaling groundbreaking ventures and driving transformational growth across the commercial and defense space sectors.

He first gained prominence as President and CEO of Made In Space, where he led the company from its early startup phase into a profitable leader in space manufacturing technology. Under his leadership, Made In Space achieved historic milestones, including the first-ever manufacturing in space and the creation of the first satellite capable of in-orbit manufacturing and assembly. Andrew also guided the company through its successful acquisition by Redwire Corporation in 2020.

At Redwire, he served as President and Chief Operating Officer, overseeing strategic execution, investment planning, and expansion across civil, defense, and commercial markets. During his tenure, Redwire enhanced the International Space Station’s power systems, scaled to over 700 employees, and went public on the New York Stock Exchange.

Today, Andrew continues to lead at the forefront of space innovation, shaping the future of space infrastructure and sustainable energy through his leadership at Star Catcher.

During this episode, we discuss:

• Andrew’s expertise building in the space domain
• How Star Catcher is building the world's first space-based power grid
• The core problem Star Catcher solves
• Why customer validation was baked in from day one
• How their philosophy is crawl, walk, run
• What’s next for Star Catcher this year after closing a $65M Series A
• Why the space economy is booming right now
• Andrew’s advice for space founders

And more. Tune into this episode as we dive into all things space!

Jodi Innerfield is a marketing strategist and consultant helping enterprise companies and high-growth start-ups with product launches, storytelling, and go-to-market strategy. Previously, she spent eight years at Salesforce as a marketing leader spanning content and solutions marketing, GTM, product launches, messaging and positioning, and PLG. Jodi’s marketing and leadership perspectives reach audiences through her Marketing Musings Newsletter and through speaking engagements and interviews including CNN International, Harvard Business School, and the University of Michigan. When she’s not talking marketing, you can find her talking about Taylor Swift’s songwriting on her podcast, AP Taylor Swift, where she does deep reading and literary analysis of Taylor Swift’s lyrics.

During this episode, we discuss:

• Jodi’s expertise as a product marketing strategist and how she started her consultancy
• Where early-stage founders should start with their product marketing
• Why features alone are no longer a differentiator
• The importance of having solid positioning
• How messaging evolves over time
• Why your website is no longer the first place buyers go

And more. Tune into this episode as we dive into all things product marketing strategy!

Porter Geer is one of the cofounders of Girl Math Capital, the alternative investing community for women. Founded in 2023, Girl Math Capital exists to support women on their wealth-building journeys by increasing the number of women investing in private markets. To date, Girl Math Capital has deployed over $1M into 60+ companies. Porter has spent her career in the crypto and digital asset space and is currently a member of the Governance team at Uniswap. She is based in Austin, TX.

During this episode, we discuss:

• What Girl Math Capital is and why Porter and her two co-founders built it
• Why Girl Math Capital focuses on alternative investing and what that is
• Common misconceptions about alternative investing
• Why financial independence is a core value underlying Girl Math Capital's mission
• An inside look into their cohort
• How they source deal flow
• The power law of early-stage investing
• Porter's personal investing advice
• Girl Math's long-term vision

And more. Tune into this episode as we dive into alternative investing!