The Luba Show

Automate Compliance (and get $1,000 off!!) - https://vanta.com/luba

Today I walk with Blake Scholl, founder and CEO of Boom Supersonic. Blake was roughly Amazon's 200th engineer, spent more than a decade building XB-1 into the first supersonic jet made outside a government or military, and got the US ban on supersonic flight repealed after breaking the sound barrier, and now he's scaling Boom toward carrying passengers in 2030. He gets into the six years Boom spent waiting on Rolls-Royce for an engine, and why that breakup turned out to be the best gift the company ever got.

We get into:

• Why he'd rather be a "dark matter entrepreneur" who tried and failed than spend his life asking what if
• The six years Boom spent trying to get Rolls-Royce to build a custom engine, and why losing that deal is what made the business financially viable
• Why "work on something you know about" is terrible advice, since what you know is far easier to change than what you love
• How a parenting lesson turned into the practice that built candor inside Boom's staff meetings

So much more!

𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐒

(00:00) Trailer

(00:41) Intro

(01:39) The day XB-1 broke the sound barrier

(05:40) 2,000 pounds overweight and called the Theranos of aviation

(09:15) How big a dent can we make in the universe

(12:01) Bill Gates and the dark matter entrepreneur

(14:55) Mom's advice: work on something you already know

(17:12) The flying lesson at 19 that decided everything

(23:17) Starting Boom with three kids under two

(24:39) The mistake dinner that became a staff meeting

(27:22) Why the Rolls-Royce breakup was the best gift Boom got

(30:37) Brian Chesky and permission to make the big swing

(34:29) Amazon at engineer 200 and automating ads at 22

(37:58) Congestion price the entire road network

(40:12) "I'd be proud of you for trying"

(43:58) The $750K prize to fly supersonic

(44:33) Outro

Follow Blake

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/blakescholl/

X: https://x.com/bscholl

Website: https://boomsupersonic.com/

Follow Luba

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lifeoflubaa/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yudasinal/

X: https://x.com/LubaYudasina

Automate Compliance (and get $1,000 off!!) - https://vanta.com/luba

Today I walk with Ann Miura-Ko, co-founding partner of Floodgate. Ann has spent almost 18 years building Floodgate around a deliberately small, non-consensus fund model, made early bets on companies like Lyft and TaskRabbit, and teaches entrepreneurship at Stanford, and now she's watching AI rewrite the lean startup playbook in real time. She gets into the AI agent inside one portfolio company that quietly caught millions of dollars in missed credit, and why she believes not losing is not the same as winning.

We get into:

• Why she waited nearly 18 years to grow Floodgate's fund size, and how staying small means a $1 billion exit still moves the needle for her investors
• Making debate opponents cry for a slice of pizza, and the permission that gave her to be disagreeable for the rest of her career
• SmarterDx, the company she couldn't get other investors to take seriously at Series A, that went on to exit for over $1 billion
• The math behind "founder friendly" investing, and why a $100M exit barely registers against a $1 billion fund

So much more!

TIMESTAMPS

(00:00) Ann Miura-Ko, Co-Founding Partner, Floodgate

(01:35) Making debate opponents cry for a slice of pizza

(05:41) Truth-seeking VS defending your ego

(11:12) How Mike Maples treated her as an intellectual equal from day one

(18:04) Being told she was "average" before finding her calling

(26:07) How AI is rewriting the lean startup playbook

(36:35) Floodgate's bet to stay small while other firms scale up

(39:53) The AI agent that caught millions in missed credits

(46:43) SmarterDx: the $1B exit no other investor wanted

(48:49) The real math behind a "founder friendly" investor

(53:55) Category design and why Lyft had to break the law to launch

(1:08:39) The Toyota Corolla he drove for 25 years to buy her a piano

(1:11:53) Being the only woman in her electrical engineering class

(1:16:37) Turning 50 and her year of saying yes

Follow Ann

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amiura/

X: https://x.com/annimaniac

Follow Luba

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lifeoflubaa/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yudasinal/

X: https://x.com/LubaYudasina

Automate Compliance (and get $1,000 off!!) - https://vanta.com/luba

Today I walk with Jean-Denis Greze, co-founder and CEO of Town, an AI on-ramp platform for individuals and businesses. Jean-Denis is the former CTO of Plaid, led engineering through a blocked $5.3B Visa acquisition, and walked away from the C-suite at 45 to start over from zero, and now he's turned a scrapped AI tax-prep startup into a $55M Series A company backed by Andreessen Horowitz. He gets into the week he decided to kill a business that was actually working, and why he refuses to call Town an "AI assistant."

We get into:

• Why he waited until 45, after seven years as Plaid's CTO, to become a founder for the first time
• The week he and his co-founder killed a working, revenue-generating tax-prep startup because it wasn't going to be a rocket ship
• Town's real bet: not a smarter AI assistant, but an onboarding layer that gets normal people leverage from AI without writing a single prompt
• His "accelerators, table stakes, foundations" framework for staying ahead of OpenAI, Gemini, and Google
• Why turning "uncool" work into cult culture, from Dropbox's Team Cash to Plaid's colorful tights, built teams that stuck around

so much more!

Timestamps

[00:00:00] Trailer

[00:00:43] Intro

[00:01:41] Leaving Plaid at 45 to become a founder

[00:06:01] Redefining success beyond IPOs and revenue

[00:11:56] The YC prodigy myth VS two decades of hard-earned instinct

[00:19:47] The stress gap between being an exec and being the founder

[00:25:35] Time-boxing family, health, and friends at Series A

[00:32:11] Betting on AI tax prep and grinding for a year

[00:38:13] The week they decided to shut down a profitable business

[00:41:53] The worst three weeks: telling the team and winding down right

[00:57:47] The accidental prototype that became Town

[01:04:15] Why Town calls itself an on-ramp, not an AI assistant

[01:12:29] Beating OpenAI, Gemini, and Google's home-field advantage

[01:20:31] Team Cash: making "uncool" work fun at Dropbox and Plaid

[01:32:02] Landing Andreessen Horowitz and Forerunner for the Series A

[01:37:41] Outro

Follow Jean-Denis

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jeandenisgreze

X: https://x.com/jgreze

Website: https://town.com

Follow Luba

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lifeoflubaa/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yudasinal/

X: https://x.com/LubaYudasina

Today I walk with Laura Deming, co-founder of Until, a reverse cryopreservation company in San Francisco. Laura got interested in longevity at eight, started working in Cynthia Kenyon's lab at UCSF at 12, and spent years backing the field as an investor through the Longevity Fund. She now builds technology to pause biological time, starting with donor organs and building toward whole-body medical hibernation. 

We get into:

-The conference talk she was not supposed to give, and how it ended her VC chapter

-What "transcend death" actually means once you press on it, tested with a teleporter to Mars

-Why San Francisco kills intuition, and the breakdown in her mid-20s that made her protect hers

-The big magnet, and rewarming an organ in about a minute

-Why transplant patients live inside a two-hour radius with a pager on them at all times

so much more!

Timestamps

00:00:00 Trailer 
00:00:48 Intro 
00:01:35 "I love science" and the things that have stayed constant 
00:05:13 A childhood without rules and reconstructing what normal means 
00:07:03 What is actually worth preserving when a person dies 
00:13:00 The Dreaming Machine and the film that never got made 
00:19:02 When you could not say the word aging out loud in the lab 
00:22:55 Emailing Cynthia Kenyon at 12 and the day her life started 
00:28:49 The talk that made her leave VC for cryo 
00:32:39 San Francisco as an intuition killer
00:35:04 Molecules in clockwork synchrony and feeling loved by the universe 
00:44:39 The big magnet and rewarming an organ in about a minute
00:46:19 The two-hour radius and the pager that runs a transplant patient's life 
00:53:50 Her best arguments against her own work 
00:58:44 The teleporter to Mars and what dies in the process 
01:01:42 Outro

Follow Laura
X: https://x.com/LauraDeming?lang=en
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-deming-b255362a/
Website: https://www.untillabs.com/

Follow Luba I
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lifeoflubaa/ 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yudasinal/ 
X: https://x.com/LubaYudasina

Today I sit down with Avichal Garg, co-founder and General Partner at Electric Capital. Avichal has built and sold companies, worked inside early Google and Facebook, served as a visiting partner at Y Combinator, and now backs founders across crypto and frontier tech.

We get into:

-Why founders are more like artists than operators

-What actually compounds a person's trajectory

-His "software eating money" thesis behind Electric Capital

-Why honesty ends up being the real edge in venture

so much more!

Timestamps

00:00:00 Trailer

00:00:44 Intro

00:01:00 Watches, luxury markets, and the AI parallel

00:12:48 Opportunity is a luxury

00:14:43 Founders as artists, not just operators

00:18:26 Authenticity and cutting through market noise

00:24:38 Betting on outliers as a life philosophy

00:37:58 Storytelling as a founder superpower

00:55:41 How Elad Gil helped launch Electric

01:07:55 Why crypto was the wedge for Electric

01:19:28 Why he prefers market corrections

01:31:00 The firms Electric was modeled after

01:36:21 Honesty as the core operating principle

01:42:15 Over-committing resources to founders

01:51:03 Dodging SBF and reading fake authenticity

02:01:40 Outro

Follow Avichal
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/avichalgarg/

X: https://x.com/avichal?lang=en

Follow Luba

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lifeoflubaa/
Linkedin:https://www.linkedin.com/in/yudasinal/

X: https://x.com/LubaYudasina

Today I'm talking to Ben Rudolph, co-founder and CTO of Peregrine Technologies, to trace his path from Stanford gymnastics to building one of the fastest-growing companies in government technology. They discuss his time at the UN working with refugees, the 18 months he and co-founder Nick Noone spent embedded inside a police department, surviving the early "wilderness" of company building, and how Peregrine grew into a multi-billion dollar business. The conversation also covers leadership lessons, company values, and balancing fatherhood with running a fast-scaling company.

Timestamps:
00:00:00 Trailer
00:01:18 Intro
00:01:21 Stanford gymnastics and meeting Nick
00:09:06 Working with refugees at the UN
00:16:20 Deciding to start the company
00:19:10 Moving into a police department for 18 months
00:26:44 Where the Peregrine name comes from
00:31:23 Winning the California RFP
00:41:47 Growth from wilderness to product-market fit
00:44:58 Biggest mistake and hardest lessons as a leader
00:48:39 Becoming a father while scaling the company
00:48:52 How Peregrine uses AI internally and externally
00:56:01 Life philosophy and closing thoughts
00:57:00 Outro

Links:

Ben Rudolph
Website: https://www.benrudolph.info/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/__benrudolph/?hl=en
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brudolph

Luba Yudasina
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lifeoflubaa
X: https://x.com/LubaYudasina
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yudasinal/

Today I’m speaking with Anatoly Yakovenko, co-founder and CEO of Solana, to trace his journey from a childhood in the Soviet Union to building one of the largest blockchain networks in the world. They discuss his years at Qualcomm, the eureka moment that led to Solana, surviving the FTX collapse, and how he uses AI to run multiple side projects. The conversation closes with reflections on stress, risk, parenting, and his definition of success.

Timestamps:

00:00:00 Trailer

00:01:06 Intro

00:01:17 Growing up in the Soviet Union

00:04:02 Immigrating to the United States

00:07:34 Career dreams and studying computer science

00:09:47 First startup and early lessons

00:11:19 13 years at Qualcomm

00:22:32 Meeting Raj and founding Solana

00:26:44 Fundraising and early investors

00:28:41 Surviving the FTX collapse

00:40:19 Solana's mission and impact

00:43:54 Using AI to run side projects

00:49:39 Hardest decisions as a leader

00:52:51 Outlook on crypto and Solana's future

00:59:22 Twitter, being public, and politics

01:05:52 Beliefs on human nature and life philosophy

01:09:34 Outro

Links:

Anatoly Yakovenko
 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/solanafounder/?hl=en
X: https://x.com/toly?lang=en
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anatoly-yakovenko

Luba Yudasina
 Instagram: Luba Yudasina (@lifeoflubaa) • Instagram photos and videos
X: luba yudasina (@LubaYudasina) / X
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yudasinal

I got to walk with Leah Solivan, founder of TaskRabbit and now Managing Director of Precedent VC, through her journey from IBM engineer to startup founder to venture capitalist. We got into the early days of building TaskRabbit, the decision to sell the company to IKEA, and her transition into investing. Leah also shared her philosophy on evaluating founders, the AI-powered deal scoring tool she built, and the story behind her upcoming book, Breaking Precedent

Timestamps:

00:00:00 Trailer
00:01:12 Intro
00:01:21 Ballet background and SF Ballet board
00:06:12 TaskRabbit's origin story
00:10:52 Move to the Bay Area
00:23:00 Selling TaskRabbit to IKEA
00:33:03 Letting go of founder identity
00:35:37 Launching Precedent VC
00:38:26 AI-powered deal scoring system
00:41:26 Investing philosophy and founder fit
00:54:30 Founder green and red flags
00:58:26 Why she wrote Breaking Precedent
01:07:12 Parenting and work-life balance
01:10:46 Defining success
01:12:20 Outro

Links:

Leah Solivan
Website: Leah Solivan
Instagram: Leah Solivan (@leah_solivan) • Instagram photos and videos
LinkedIn: Leah Solivan | LinkedIn

Luba Yudasina
Instagram: Luba Yudasina (@lifeoflubaa) • Instagram photos and videos
X: luba yudasina (@LubaYudasina) / X
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yudasinal

Today I’m talking to Joe Cohen, founder and CEO of Infinite Machine, a company building electric vehicles. But this conversation is really about something bigger: what it means to live freely and build things that matter.

Joe has built companies across education, fashion, software, and now vehicles — and what ties them together is his obsession with freedom, accessibility, and enabling people to do life on their own terms. He calls it the “infinite game” — a framework that shapes how he thinks about business, creativity, and life itself.

It’s a conversation about ambition, creativity, and what it actually takes to build something meaningful — without losing sight of why you’re building it in the first place.

Topics covered

• The “infinite game” framework and why finite thinking limits your potential
• From Universe (empowerment through creation) to Infinite Machine (freedom through mobility)
• Why “autonomous humans” is the core mission behind everything he builds
• Building a company with your brother and the importance of going separate ways first
• Hiring for low ego and autonomy — how to spot these qualities 

SO much more!

Timestamps
0:00 Intro
0:40 The motivation to make things
1:55 The infinite game
2:40 Deciding to be an entrepreneur
5:55 Artist vs capitalist
7:34 Why freedom matters
9:29 What is an autonomous human
10:26 Vehicles as tools for freedom
13:14 What's next for Infinite Machine
14:27 How Infinite Machine started
15:08 Going your own way as brothers
16:35 Different paths, same vision
17:36 Design in the DNA
18:42 How brothers handle design disagreements
22:35 The C2 app and Friday feedback
23:33 Building trust
25:38 Team culture and hiring
27:21 Friday show and tell ritual
30:26 Nurturing creativity
32:22 Fundraising
36:47 Manufacturing stories
37:46 Managing stress
39:09 Meditating daily for 13 years
42:56 Life philosophy
44:58 Top books

Links

Joseph Cohen
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jmc/?hl=en 
X: https://x.com/josephcohen 
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/josephmcohen 

Luba Yudasina
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lifeoflubaa
X: https://x.com/LubaYudasina
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yudasinal

Today I’m talking to Robbie Bent, CEO and co-founder of Othership. Othership has scaled from a DIY backyard ice bath to a cult-like wellness brand with multiple sold-out locations across North America and plans to open a first-of-its-kind “social spa” on the Upper East Side.

Robbie is a former drug addict-turned founder who’s built something genuinely novel: a space where emotional processing and human connection are the product, and sauna and cold plunge are the delivery mechanisms. What’s rare about his story is that he’s done it with four co-founders — two couples working full-time together after seven years — and he’s obsessive about building the best version of the product, not the fastest path to profit.

We talk about the long-term vision, the willingness to go all-in on something nobody thought would work, and what it means to build a company around healing and community in a culture obsessed with optimization. Robbie gets vulnerable about the financial terror of physical retail, the near-death moments when he thought it was over, and why he turned down aggressive investor terms to maintain control and equity.

Topics covered
- From backyard experiment to $2M+ first location — and how he knew it was real
- Why he thinks fear doesn’t disappear when you succeed — it just evolves
- The almost-zero odds of building a successful company with two couples as co-founders
- How a sauna and cold plunge became a Trojan horse for emotional healing and friendship
- Why he’s terrified of competition (and how that terror drives everything he does)
- From ADHD, boredom with early fatherhood to being present — the shift that changed his priorities
SO much more!

Timestamps 

00:00 Intro 

01:52 The 20-year vision 

05:50 Horse trough to $2M 

10:00 Building with 4 co-founders 

15:39 The New York crisis 

22:10 Why didn't he quit 

24:25 What still scares him 

27:19 The social spa experiment 

31:16 Does fear ever disappear? 

34:00 His anxiety toolkit 

39:25 Health and clarity 

40:21 Competition and abundance 

43:08 Product creates community 

49:48 From addiction to healing 

53:58 How his wife changed him 

58:35 Fatherhood evolution 

01:02:18 The balance act (work, family, health, friends) 01:07:53 Other cultures and values 

01:12:46 Learning from founder stories 

01:16:31 Bathhouse inspiration worldwide 

01:21:05 Creative retreats and psilocybin 

01:23:14 Acceptance

Links

Robbie Bent
Instagram: https://instagra.com/robbiebent
X: https://x.com/robbiebent
LinkedIn: Robbie Bent

Luba Yudasina
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lifeoflubaa
X: https://x.com/LubaYudasina
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yudasinal