In episode 35 of Built by Margin, Laurie Chen talks with Anekha Sokhal, founder of Moshi, an AI startup building an “AI super analyst” for financial investors. Anekha shares how her path from J.P. Morgan trader to machine learning researcher at Rice University led her to raise venture capital and launch a company at the intersection of finance, data science, and AI. They discuss how Moshi is using both classical machine learning and generative AI, why AI safety and data governance matter so much in enterprise environments, and what it takes to build a startup team that is truly bought into the mission. The conversation also dives into Anekha’s refreshing philosophy on risk: that the real danger is not taking the leap, but settling for a life that feels mediocre or misaligned. It’s an inspiring conversation about ambition, intuition, innovation, and building the future on your own terms.

Tune in to discover insights from a trailblazing female founder and her vision for the future of financial analysis.

QUOTES

• "For me, a risk is staying in something that you're frustrated in, and you're unhappy in." -Anehka Sokhal
• "Taking venture capital money has a different type of progression for the company and opens so many more doors compared to just running a company and bootstrapping it." -Anehka Sokhal

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS

Laurie Chen

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

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

Anekha Sokhal

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

Moshi Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/moshi-space/ 

WEBSITES

Risk Worthy: https://www.riskworthy.co/

Advanced CFO: https://www.advancedcfo.co/

Built By Margin: https://www.builtbymargin.com/