The Nichole Wischoff Podcast

Alan left Revolut to tackle one of the biggest problems of the next 25 years: energy 

In this episode, we break down how Fuse Energy scaled to $400M in revenue, raised $170M, and is rebuilding the power grid from scratch full-stack, global, and brutally efficient.

We talk energy economics, AI’s power problem, why renewables alone don’t work (yet), and what it really takes to build a trillion-dollar company.

00:00 Why energy is a trillion-dollar problem

01:54 Being the 5th employee at Revolut

04:19 Finding the right co-founder

06:56 The 25-year bet: energy & AI

09:52 Energy vs fintech regulation

12:55 Why Fuse went full-stack

13:18 Cutting power costs by 30%

15:20 What customers actually buy

16:56 $12B of energy wasted every year

18:56 Why the grid is broken

21:16 EVs, smart devices & demand control

24:55 Why 100% renewables don’t work (yet)

27:18 Nuclear: hype vs reality

29:58 Equity vs debt in energy startups

33:40 Hiring elite engineers globally

34:30 The trillion-dollar vision

Rho 

Website - https://www.rho.co/

Public

Website - https://public.com/

Alan Chang 

 https://www.linkedin.com/in/alan-chang

Nichole wischoff

 https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholewischoff/

Description

In this episode, we sit down with Meltem, one of Deel’s earliest growth leaders, who joined when the company was sub-$250K in revenue and helped scale it into a $1B+ ARR generational company.

00:00 — Joining Deel early & Andreessen backing

03:10 — From agencies to growth in tech

06:40 — Why paid ads break at SMB scale

10:25 — Deel in 2020: sub-$250K revenue

13:45 — What “Head of Growth” really meant

16:20 — First customers: cold emails & Reddit

20:05 — Non-scalable hustle vs long-term growth

24:10 — Competing with PayPal & wire transfers

27:40 — Sales ↔ Growth handoff that actually works

31:15 — Product feedback in hypergrowth

34:30 — First real inflection point

38:10 — Back-to-back fundraises & momentum

41:50 — Founder dynamics & execution speed

45:30 — Deel’s intense culture explained

49:20 — Hiring bar-raisers at scale

52:40 — Growth bets that surprised them

56:10 — Turning channels off to find truth

59:30 — Why she didn’t start a company

1:02:10 — The ideal stage to join a startup

Rho 

Website - https://www.rho.co/

Public

Website - https://public.com/

Meltem Kuran Berkowitz  

https://www.linkedin.com/in/meltem-kuran-berkowitz

Nichole wischoff

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholewischoff/

In this episode, we sit down with Casey Handmer, founder of Terraform Industries, to break down one of the biggest challenges of the next decade: power.

From solar’s insane cost curve to AI data centers overpowering utilities, Casey explains why cheap, abundant energy will decide which countries — and companies — win next.

00:00 – Terraform’s mission: making fuel from sunlight & air

01:00 – Casey’s background (physics, NASA, Hyperloop → startup)

03:00 – Who Terraform’s customers actually are

04:40 – Energy explained like you’re 5 (how the grid really works)

06:50 – Why electricity changed human civilization

09:40 – Solar + batteries permanently destabilize utilities

11:40 – Why solar suddenly got insanely cheap

12:50 – Solar’s 48% learning rate (this is wild)

14:00 – Will solar dominate all primary energy?

16:30 – Electrification myths (cars, heating, transport)

18:30 – Batteries are about to explode in scale

21:00 – Why Tesla is winning energy, not just cars

23:00 – AI data centers are starving for power

25:00 – Why utilities don’t want hyperscalers

27:50 – Nuclear won’t scale fast enough (hard truth)

29:20 – Why solar beats everything on speed & scale

31:00 – Turning solar energy into fuels & materials

34:40 – Mining metals using pure energy (basalt theory)

38:10 – Will data centers replace utilities?

41:00 – The real long-term energy future

43:40 – Careers at Terraform & final thoughts

Rho 

Website - https://www.rho.co/

Public

Website - https://public.com/

Casey Handmer

https://www.linkedin.com/in/casey-handmer/

Nichole wischoff

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholewischoff/

In this episode, Nicole breaks down how No Crumbs went from a side project to one of the most in-demand cookie drops in San Francisco  selling out weekly with 250+ people waiting, all powered by Instagram, community, and engineered scarcity.

This isn’t a food story.

It’s a distribution, demand, and systems story.

00:00 – How This Cookie Business Accidentally Started

00:50 – Both Working Tech Jobs… Then This Happened

02:35 – The Market Gap in SF Nobody Was Serving

06:45 – Why She Obsessed Over Cookies (Not Cakes)

08:50 – One Base Recipe = Infinite Flavors (Product Moat)

10:55 – The “Cookie Draft” That Changed Everything

13:30 – Growth Hack: Engagement Pods on Instagram

16:35 – Why She Didn’t Sell Anything for Months

18:45 – First Drops: Selling Cookies via DMs

20:55 – Hot Plate: The Inflection Point

23:55 – TikTok Reviews That Exploded Demand (No Ads)

26:45 – Engineering Scarcity on Purpose

29:45 – Running a Bakery From a 1-Bedroom Apartment

33:15 – The Numbers: 70 Boxes / Week, 250 Waiting

36:05 – When Exclusivity Becomes a Problem

38:35 – Scaling Beyond the Apartment (What’s Next)

Rho 

Website - https://www.rho.co/

Public

Website - https://public.com/

Nocrumbs  (Nicole)

https://www.instagram.com/nocrumbscookies/#

Nichole wischoff

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholewischoff/

Construction is one of the least productive industries in the world — slower, more expensive, and more broken every year.

In this episode, we sit down with Alex, founder of an AI-native construction company that just raised a $12M seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz, to talk about why traditional construction fails  and how AI can finally fix it.

00:00 – $12M seed round & why this company came out of nowhere

01:30 – Alex’s background: from software to heavy industry

03:30 – Why building large projects in the US keeps getting worse

05:00 – How industrial construction actually works (developers, EPCs, GCs)

06:40 – The real problem: incentives, finance, and cost-plus contracts

09:20 – Why change orders are where construction companies make money

11:00 – How AI removes risk instead of just “adding software”

13:30 – Automating design to eliminate ambiguity before construction starts

16:00 – Why doing 10,000 design iterations changes everything

18:30 – Why selling software to GCs doesn’t fix productivity

21:00 – Why this company chose to be the GC, not a tool vendor

23:30 – Lessons from failed vertical construction startups (Katara, prefab)

26:30 – Who their customers are: data centers, mining, manufacturing

29:30 – How fast AI-native construction could actually get

32:30 – Why construction should be treated like a software problem

35:00 – Hiring plans & building a multidisciplinary team

37:30 – The long-term vision: rebuilding the physical world faster

Rho 

Website - https://www.rho.co/

Public

Website - https://public.com/

Alex Modon

https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexmodon/

Nichole wischoff

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholewischoff/

Meet Paces, the startup building the largest permitting and power-availability dataset in the United States — enabling developers, data-center builders, and renewable-energy players to move faster than ever.

From automating 80%+ of the energy-development workflow to unlocking hidden power on the grid, Paces is quietly shaping trillions of dollars worth of energy infrastructure.

00:00 – Why America Has 28,000 Permitting Jurisdictions

01:12 – How Paces Began: The Origin Story

03:40 – Early Problems in Renewable Development

06:30 – Why Paces Joined YC

08:55 – Building the Largest Permitting Dataset in the US

11:20 – Scraping, Cleaning & Using LLMs for Zoning Laws

14:05 – Finding Power on the Grid (and why it got harder)

16:50 – Transformer Shortages & Multi-Million-Dollar Deposits

19:40 – Data Centers vs Utilities: The New Reality

22:15 – Can Clean Energy Actually Power AI?

24:30 – Solar + Batteries vs Gas vs Nuclear for Speed

27:00 – The True Bottleneck: Capital & Supply Chain Timing

29:10 – How Startups Can Innovate in Energy Hardware

32:45 – The One-Person Billion Dollar Power Company

36:00 – Automating 80% of Energy Development

38:10 – Future of Energy, AI & Infrastructure

40:00 – How to Contact Paces / Hiring

The Electric Slide

https://www.notboring.co/p/the-electric-slide

Rho 

Website - https://www.rho.co/

Public

Website - https://public.com/

James McWalter

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesmcwalter/

Nichole wischoff

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholewischoff/

In today’s episode, we sit down with Jacob, co-founder & CEO of NewLimit, a company that has raised $247M to push the frontier of aging science  from epigenetic reprogramming to AI-driven drug discovery.
We dive deep into how NewLimit plans to restore youthful function in human cells, what’s actually possible with aging reversal, how AI accelerates drug discovery, why GLP-1s changed the game, and whether there’s a real chance that none of this works.
If you're curious about biology, longevity, AI in drug discovery, or what it takes to build a $1.5B+ biotech startup from scratch this episode is a must-watch.

Timestamps
00:00 – 00:58
 How epigenetic reprogramming works & why aging might be reversible
00:58 – 01:03
 How big AI models changed biotech
01:03 – 02:21
 NewLimit’s origin story — Jacob, Brian Armstrong & Blake Byers
02:22 – 05:20
 Early breakthroughs, skeptical experiments & why results surprised them
05:20 – 08:25
 Choosing the first targets: liver, immunity & where aging hits hardest
08:25 – 11:35
 AI in drug discovery — protein language models, predicting experiments, and cutting years of R&D
11:35 – 14:10
 What medicines could actually make us “feel” younger?
14:10 – 16:15
 Diseases of aging vs. problems that hit everyone after 25
16:15 – 19:10
 How biotech actually works — discovery → development → commercialization
19:10 – 21:00
 Why Eli Lilly invested & how a drug goes to market
21:00 – 23:30
 How close NewLimit is to human trials
23:30 – 25:50
 What needs to happen before a drug ever touches a human
25:50 – 27:45
 Phase 1, 2, 3 trials explained simply
27:45 – 29:20
 Building the team: from 5 scientists to a world-class 40-person biotech
29:20 – 31:20
 Why staying small is a superpower in biotech
31:20 – 33:10
 Fundraising: why aging reversal needs $200M+ instead of $5M
33:10 – 35:10
 Is there a chance they discover nothing? Startup-like risk in drug discovery
35:10 – 38:02
 What Jacob is most excited about: GLP-1s, diagnostics, AI & the future of health
38:02 – 38:30
 How to get in touch + final thoughts

Rho 
Website - https://www.rho.co/

Public
Website - https://public.com/

Jacob Kimmel
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-kimmel/

Nichole wischoff
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholewischoff/

Today’s guest is Max, the founder & CEO of Superpower, one of the fastest-growing AI-driven healthcare companies in the U.S.

His journey started with years of unresolved health issues insomnia, migraines, surgeries, and doctors who couldn’t find the cause. That experience exposed him to elite $100,000+ precision medicine and eventually sparked the idea behind Superpower:
Using AI to bring world-class healthcare to everyone for just $199/year.

In this episode, Max breaks down how Superpower is building a parallel healthcare system, why 100 million Americans are pre-diabetic, how hormones are collapsing for both men and women, and why AI can now outperform doctors in creating personalized health protocols

00:00 — Intro: Max’s mission & America’s health crisis

01:05 — Max’s personal health struggles & early obsession with medicine

03:40 — Discovery of elite doctors & the $100k healthcare model

05:10 — ChatGPT moment: AI unlocking elite healthcare for all

07:50 — Meeting co-founders & building the company

10:20 — Early days, early mistakes & 2022 origin story

13:05 — What Superpower does today: 100+ biomarker tests

16:40 — AI protocols vs. doctors

19:00 — Common issues: metabolism, hormones, lipids

23:00 — Integrating CGMs, wearables & real-time insights

25:40 — Behind the scenes: full-stack healthcare infrastructure

29:50 — Marketing: Meta ads, virality & the “Healthiest Hoodie”

33:05 — Why competitors help their growth

35:10 — The hard part of healthcare + regulations

41:20 — Two healthcare systems: sick care & optimization

45:30 — Seed & Series A fundraising story

48:00 — What customers get today for $199

50:10 — Hiring insanely brilliant talent

52:10 — Market size: building a $300B company

55:00 — Closing thoughts

Rho 

Website - https://www.rho.co/

Public

Website - https://public.com/

Superpower.com

Website - https://superpower.com/

Max Marchione 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxmarchione/

This episode features an in-depth conversation with Zack Peng, founder and CEO of Seel, discussing the company's remarkable journey from a software engineering background to building an eight-figure revenue AI-enabled service platform. The discussion explores Seel's evolution in the e-commerce returns management space, tackling the significant problem where merchants spend 25% of GMV on returns, refunds, and post-purchase services. Zack shares candid insights about early technical challenges, operating at -200% contribution margins, discovering surprising behavioral signals like the impact of human models in product images on return rates, and the strategic transition from SMB to enterprise clients. The conversation covers founding philosophy, product-market fit discovery, the advantages of AI-enabled services over traditional SaaS models, scaling from minimal revenue to approaching nine figures with a lean team of 30 people, and contrarian views on the future of agentic shopping in e-commerce. Zack discusses how Seel uses proprietary underwriting algorithms with hundreds of signals to predict return probability, enabling merchants to offer risk-free shopping experiences while protecting their margins.

00:00:00 - Intro
00:00:42 - Pre-Seel career and algorithmic underwriting origins
00:01:29 - Early experimentation and proof of concepts
00:02:25 - Discovery of e-commerce returns opportunity
00:03:21 - Early algorithm development and behavioral insights
00:05:22 - Business model evolution and AI-enabled services
00:07:20 - Building vertical-specific applications at scale
00:09:21 - Growth strategy: SMB to enterprise transition
00:11:46 - Founder-led sales and learning enterprise motion
00:13:29 - Building with modern technology and lessons learned
00:15:13 - Current product offering and value proposition
00:18:22 - Team growth and hiring across functions
00:20:30 - Ideal customer profile and market positioning
00:21:42 - Future of e-commerce and agentic shopping
00:24:50 - Closing thoughts

SEEL
Website - https://www.seel.com/

Zack Peng
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/zackpeng/

Malory McLemore, Co-Founder and CEO of Stell Engineering, discusses her career path from aerospace engineer at Airbus and Raytheon to founding a venture-backed defense technology startup that is revolutionizing the way the aerospace and defense industry manages digital engineering requirements.

In this episode, Mallory reveals:
- The frustrations that led her from the factory floor to Harvard Business School
- How Anduril inspired her to start Stell Engineering
- Navigating government contracts and achieving Authority to Operate (ATO)
- Why developer tools for hardware engineering is a $10B market opportunity
- Building a dual-use strategy serving both DoD and prime contractors

00:00 - Introduction & Welcome
00:31 - Background and Origin Story
00:45 - Early Career in Aerospace Engineering
01:27 - Challenges in the Defense Industry
01:54 - Decision to Pursue Business School
02:26 - Discovering Defense Tech Startups
02:51 - Internship Experience
03:16 - Meeting the Co-Founder
03:51 - Working at a High-Growth Defense Company
04:35 - Starting Stell Engineering
06:13 - The Problem They're Solving
07:15 - Product Vision and Strategy
08:29 - Navigating Government Sales
08:51 - Going Enterprise and Dual-Use Strategy
09:10 - Current Customer Base
10:13 - Marketing Strategy
10:50 - Sales Cycle Timeline
11:00 - Team Structure and Hiring
11:30 - Go-To-Market Strategy
12:09 - Product-Led Growth Approach
12:17 - Cybersecurity Requirements
12:40 - Major Milestone Achievement
14:25 - AI in Regulated Industries
15:30 - Building Practical Solutions
17:25 - Company Culture
18:15 - Hiring and Open Positions
19:52 - Key Roles Hiring For
20:11 - Future Hiring Plans
20:37 - Future Market Outlook
21:11 - Industry Predictions
21:32 - Investment Thesis
22:00 - Closing Thoughts & Contact Info

STELL ENGINEERING
Website - https://www.stell-engineering.com/

Malory McLemore
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/malorymclemore/