The VentureFizz Podcast

Episode 428 of The VentureFizz #podcast features Mike Pappas, CEO & Co-Founder of Modulate.

Is Boston the best place to build a voice AI company? Based on its rich history in this category, I would have to say 1000%.

From the early days of ScanSoft and Dragon to SpeechWorks and Vlingo—all of which eventually fell under the voice juggernaut Nuance, which worked on the early days of Siri and was acquired by Microsoft—the pedigree in this city is unmatched. Add in players like Bose, Vivox, and the sizable presence of Amazon Alexa in the area, and it's clear: Boston is the voice capital of the world.

Mike Pappas and his co-founder Carter Huffman are adding a massive new chapter to that legacy and thatis Modulate, a venture-backed voice intelligence company building AI models and APIs designed to understand real-world conversational audio at scale.

Modulate is the company behind ToxMod, the world's most advanced proactive voice moderation platform. If you’ve played Call of Duty lately, you’ve likely interacted with their tech. And, the company recently launched a new product called Velma, the leading AI-platform for real-world voice intelligence.

In this episode of our podcast, we cover:

Mike’s perspective on the shift from license-based to usage-based pricing models.

Mike’s background story—from his physics studies at MIT to his early career at Bridgewater Associates.

Entering "startup land" at Lola and the critical hiring lessons he learned while working alongside Paul English.

The founding of Modulate and the pivotal moment when they realized the tech they built was actually the solution to a massive safety problem in gaming which led to a relationship with Activision.

All the details about ToxMod and Velma, including customer examples and use cases.

Why their dataset is a "moat" that makes their technology uniquely defensible in the age of generic LLMs.

Mike's advice for first-time founders on raising capital and building a high-performance culture.

Plus, so much more!

This podcast is brought to you by one of the strongest longtime supporters of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank, a division of First Citizens Bank. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors and $44B in loans as of Q4 2025 – SVB delivers expert guidance, specialized products and a team that knows the innovation economy inside and out. Learn more at SVB.com.

Episode 427 of The VentureFizz #podcast features Joshua Summers, CEO & Co-Founder of EnFi.

Josh is a serial entrepreneur who has been at the center of multiple success stories in the Boston tech scene. He has a unique ability to see exactly how technology will impact an industry right at the beginning of a platform shift - whether that was mobile, digital advertising, or in the case of his current startup, AI.

However, as Josh and I discuss, building a "Native AI" company is fundamentally different from his past experiences. We get into the nuances of how companies are being built this time around - from the breakneck pace of development to the new ways you have to structure a team.

Josh’s latest venture is EnFi, an AI-native platform that delivers autonomous agents to complete end-to-end commercial lending workflows. They are solving a massive "human capital crisis" in the credit industry, and the market is taking notice. The company recently announced a $15M Series A, bringing its total funding to date to $22.5 million.

In this episode of our podcast, we cover:

00:00 Introducing Joshua Summers, CEO & Co-Founder of EnFi

02:38 The Difference of Building an AI Native Startup

05:48 Josh's background & Growing Up

07:27 Career Beginnings and Entrepreneurial Journey

11:37 The Birth of Zync and being Early to Market

14:04 Acquisition by WHERE and Early Phone App Strategies

17:29 Building Ad Platform and Monetization

20:29 PayPal Exit

24:05 Starting clypd - Scaling & AT&T Exit

31:59 Why Culture Matters!

34:08 Angel Investing and the Beginnings of TBD Angels

38:41 How EnFi got Started

46:25 The Details of EnFi: AI in Lending

50:28 Cultivating Culture at EnFi

52:40 The Hardest Positions to Hire for Right Now

53:58 Why Boston is a Great Place to Build a Startup

55:26 3 Essential Apps

57:55 Podcast / Book Recommendations for Entrepreneurs

Episode 426 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Natan Linder, CEO & Co-Founder of Tulip.

There are very few entrepreneurs in Boston who have built multiple tech companies to a billion+ valuation (Tulip & Formlabs), but Natan is one of them. He is a “builder” in the truest sense of the word, focusing on building what he calls “important things” rather than just the latest “shiny object.”

In our conversation, we have a discussion about Physical AI, meaning AI that lives outside of the digital domain in things like robotics and self-driving cars. Natan believes we are hitting a “ChatGPT moment” for the physical world, so it was interesting to hear his perspective on this trend.

Tulip is the leader in frontline operations. They help companies of all sizes and industries equip their workforces with connected, composable, and intelligent tools. With Tulip’s no-code platform, manufacturers can digitize processes, collect real-time data, and drive continuous improvement by using AI and without writing a line of code. The company recently announced a $120M Series D round of funding at a $1.3B valuation.

In this episode of our podcast, we also cover:

Chapters:

00:00 Intro - Natan Linder, Co-Founder & CEO, Tulip

03:30 The Physical-AI Moment

10:56 Natan Linder's Early Life and Curiosity

14:58 Early leadership role with Samsung

19:07 Getting involved with Rethink Robotics

25:34 Natan's thoughts on humanoid robots

28:55 Revolutionizing 3D Printing at Formlabs

33:49 Landing Mitch Kapor as an Investor in Formlabs & The "Elevator" Pitch Story

39:38 The Genesis of Tulip & Details of the Platform

50:31 Customer Use Cases

57:11 Tulip's Growth and Future Direction

01:04:30 Why Now Is a Good Time to Join Tulip

01:07:28 Boston is an Epicenter of Advanced Technology

This podcast is brought to you by one of the strongest longtime supporters of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank, a division of First Citizens Bank. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors and $44B in loans as of Q4 2025 – SVB delivers expert guidance, specialized products and a team that knows the innovation economy inside and out. Learn more at SVB.com.

Episode 425 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Charlie O’Donnell, Founder of Brooklyn Bridge Ventures and now, a published author.

Charlie is a staple of the NYC startup scene and someone who has had a significant influence in helping to build the ecosystem to what it is today. I first met Charlie back in 2010 at First Round Capital’s offices in NYC. At the time, I was helping out some of the city’s early high-flyers, like Birchbox. As you’ll see if you’re watching the video – or hear in this interview, I actually still have his business card from that meeting.

2010 was still the early innings for New York tech, and our conversation is a fun trip down memory lane. Charlie had his hands in some of the most important building-block companies of that era, including Foursquare, GroupMe, and Etsy. We also dive into the story of his investment in Backupify, a Boston startup founded by Rob May that was eventually acquired by Datto.

After his time at First Round, Charlie went on to launch Brooklyn Bridge Ventures, becoming the first VC to plant a flag in Brooklyn. He is now out with a new book titled Founder Unfriendly: A No-Nonsense Guide to How Investment Decisions Actually Get Made. It’s an honest look at what actually happens after you leave a pitch meeting.

Chapters:

00:00 Intro: Charlie O’Donnell

01:44 Meeting Charlie Back in 2010

03:27 Advice for Networking and Navigating the Job Market in 2026

06:35 Getting His Career Started in Corporate Pension Fund Industry

12:49 Early Days of the NYC Startup Scene

15:43 Early at Union Square Ventures

20:32 Early USV Deals: Twitter, Delicious, Etsy, Indeed

27:50 Challenges of Building in Recruiting & EdTech Industries

31:32 How Foursquare Led to NYC’s Startup Rebirth & His Role at First Round Capital

43:42 Sourcing GroupMe

49:00 The story of Backupify

52:16 Launching Brooklyn Bridge Ventures

54:35 Becoming a VC Coach

55:27 Founder Unfriendly – Book Details

58:55 Is Your Company a Fit for Venture Capital?

01:05:22 How Your Investors Might Affect Your Exit

01:12:59 More Details About Founder Unfriendly

Episode 424 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Kelton (or KJ) Hardrict, CEO & Co-Founder of Talvy.

Is the resume officially dead? It’s been a moment that seemed inevitable. I mean, the first resume credit goes to Leonardo da Vinci and that was over 500 years ago.

I’ve been in recruiting for over 20 years and I can officially say that this is the first moment where disruption in the industry is truly happening. AI has killed the resume and when you think about it, for a lot of jobs these days that require some level of AI aptitude, what you did 10 years ago doesn’t really count as much anymore.

So, I’m saying it… the resume is dead and this is good news for a recently funded startup.

Meet Talvy – a video-first networking platform that lets professionals showcase who they are, not just what’s on their resume. It’s like TikTok-meets-LinkedIn which allows people to be seen and voice their skills and interests versus a traditional resume. The company recently announced a $2M seed round of funding led by Link Ventures.

Chapters:

00:00 KJ Hardrict Introduction

02:50 KJ’s Experience as a Creator & How He Creates Content

05:23 The Evolution of His Content Creation Process

07:20 Biggest Lessons Learned as a YouTube Creator

09:28 KJ’s background: His Childhood and Path to MIT

15:12 How Sports Influenced Him

15:47 KJ’s Experience at MIT

20:21 Navigating a Major Health Issue

27:07 His Role at Posh

30:14 From Startups to Venture Capital at Link Ventures

34:13 Details on Talvy, the Video First Networking Platform

34:54 The End of Resumes in the AI Era

35:59 How Does Talvy Work?

39:32 Business Model for Talvy

42:13 How Talvy Handles Biases and Restrictions

45:35 The Current “Video First” Culture

48:03 Talvy – $2M in Funding + Launch

49:47 How Being a VC Made KJ a Better Founder

52:50 Navigating Leadership and Team Dynamics

54:16 KJ’s 3 Essential Apps

55:22 Podcast / Book recommendations for Founders

56:32 Hobbies Outside of Work

Episode 423 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Sasha Hoffman, Partner at Remus Capital.

I first met Sasha over ten years ago, when she was the Chief Operating Officer at Piaggio Fast Forward. VentureFizz helped cover the launch of Gita, the cargo carrying robot named Gita.

Thus, this interview was long overdue and I was excited to interview Sasha as her career has been so prolific.

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction

02:46 Tips For Creating High Impact, Curated Events

17:33 Sasha's Background

20:59 Career Path: From Finance to Startups

22:09 Experience at Goldman Sachs

22:14 Joining Startup - Plastiq

26:03 Sasha's Time at Piaggio Fast Forward

29:09 Navigating Challenges During COVID at Uber

33:05 Insights on Loyalty Programs and User Retention

37:27 Transitioning to Venture Capital and Investing

40:42 The Future of AI and committing to Voice AI

44:02 Remus' "Say, See, Do" Thesis

45:14 Thoughts on OpenClaw and AI

49:19 EquipmentShare IPO and the Overall Market

51:00 Angel Investing

53:14 How to Get Started as an Angel Investor?

56:06 Balancing Work and Having Fun Traveling

01:01:01 Resources for travel deals and incentives

This podcast is brought to you by one of the strongest longtime supporters of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank, a division of First Citizens Bank. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors and $44B in loans as of Q4 2025 – SVB delivers expert guidance, specialized products and a team that knows the innovation economy inside and out. Learn more at SVB.com.

Episode 422 of The VentureFizz Podcast features David Fialkow, Co-Founder & Managing Director of General Catalyst.

Entrepreneur, venture capitalist, philanthropist, and Oscar winner - those are just a few of the words that describe David’s legendary career.

As you’ll hear from this interview, he emphasizes the importance of storytelling, which he originally learned from filmmaking, but it goes beyond making a compelling documentary. It is an often-overlooked but essential skill for every entrepreneur. Whether you are hiring, winning over customers, or raising capital, being able to align everyone with your mission through a powerful narrative is critical for success.

Most of you are likely familiar with General Catalyst. They are one of the top VC firms in the world, having backed a "Who’s Who" of tech giants including Stripe, Anduril, Circle, Airbnb, HubSpot, Snap, Canva, and Discord - just to name a few.

In this interview, we cover a lot of ground, plus David shares lots of stories and interesting advice along the way, such as:

What it’s like to win an Oscar and making impactful documentary films.

David’s thoughts on the Boston tech scene.

His long standing partnership with Joel Cutler (which I didn’t know they met when they were seven years old) and the details on their entrepreneurial initiatives in the travel industry including building the largest tour & cruise business in the U.S.

The story of how a donation to Children’s Hospital led him to compete in the Ironman triathlon with just 90 days to train.

How General Catalyst got started during the 2001 VC winter after dot-com bubble burst.

The firm’s myopic focus on founders and their approach to building a firm with long term, intergenerational value.

Investing in pillar Boston companies like HubSpot, Circle, ITA Software, KAYAK, and others… and their thought process around expanding the firm to the West Coast.

The importance of surrounding yourself with people who know more than you do.

And so much more!

Podcast Sponsor:

This podcast is brought to you by one of the strongest longtime supporters of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank, a division of First Citizens Bank. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors and $44B in loans as of Q4 2025 – SVB delivers expert guidance, specialized products and a team that knows the innovation economy inside and out. Learn more at SVB.com.

Episode 421 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Harris Stolzenberg, Partner at Pear VC.

I spend a lot of time on LinkedIn and in my travels, I love discovering individuals who are local to the Boston area but are perhaps working for a meaningful company that is headquartered elsewhere.

This is what happened when I stumbled on Harris’ profile - I stopped and thought to myself… wait, Pear has an investor in Boston who is leading the firm’s expansion to the East Coast?  No way - game on and off I went to connect with Harris and ultimately bring you this interview!

Pear is a west coast pre-seed / seed stage VC firm which has invested in over 200 companies like Doordash, Gusto, Vanta, Dropbox, and many more.  The firm also offers an exclusive, small batch accelerator program for pre-seed companies called PearX.

In this episode of our podcast, we cover:

* Harris’s best networking advice plus tactical tips.

* His background playing lacrosse at MIT, and the incredible story of how he raised money for the Boston Marathon bombing victims which even led to a personal donation from Oprah.

* Getting his start in investment banking before moving into the startup world at Pando and eventually landing his first role at Pear.

* The story of Flock, the company retreat platform he co-founded, its eventual acquisition, and the hard-won lessons he took from that experience.

* His transition back to the East Coast and his time serving as Chief of Staff at Pillar VC.

* His current role at Pear as a Partner, the firm’s approach to investing, and all the details on how the PearX program works.

* Harris’ thoughts on the Boston tech ecosystem.

* Plus, so much more!

Episode 420 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Megan Lanham, CEO & Co-Founder of Rithmm.

The betting industry has exploded over recent years. Apps like Kalshi now make it possible to bet on pretty much anything, like what companies will go public this year or where the Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce wedding will take place… but, let’s face it… this industry is driven by sports betting.

Last year, per ESPN, the sports betting industry hit a record $16.96B in revenue… yowza. And according to the American Gaming Association, Americans are expected to legally wager over $3B on March Madness alone!

Professional sports betters have a team of quants running models all day long which is their competitive advantage. So, what if there was an app that gave you, the every day consumer, the same competitive advantage?

Meet Rithmm…the AI-powered sports betting platform that surfaces the top betting opportunities backed by predictive models and explained by data. It’s not just what to bet, but why. It’s like having your own data science team in your pocket. The company has raised $8.75M in funding.

In this episode of our podcast, we cover:

* The state of the industry of sports betting and why parlays are your worst enemy.

* Megan’s background growing up in Illinois and playing basketball in college and then coaching D1 for a decade.

* Joining a life sciences staffing company at the ground level, scaling to an acquisition and moving into a CEO role.

* The decision to head to MIT Sloan for her MBA and how it inspired her current startup.

* All the details on Rithmm and a demo of the app.

* Acquisition strategies for attracting users.

* Entrepreneurial advice for women founders.

* What success looks like for Rithmm.

* And so much more!

Episode 419 of The VentureFizz Podcast features Chip Hazard, General Partner at Flybridge.

Before we get into the details of Chip’s career, I have to call out a random fun fact: Chip is the only VC with his own action figure, yes – it’s true. There’s a DreamWorks animated movie called Small Soldiers. The lead character is named Chip Hazard, voiced by Tommy Lee Jones. As you’ll hear in this episode, there’s a great story suggesting that the character’s name was actually inspired by Chip himself, which absolutely makes sense once you hear the story.

But beyond the fun facts, as you’ll hear, Chip has a major leg up on most investors because he’s successfully navigated multiple platform shifts – from the internet and mobile to the cloud and now AI. What’s impressive is that Chip and the team at Flybridge saw this latest AI shift coming long before the hype. For proof, you just have to look at his blog post titled “Applied AI: Beyond the Algorithms” which he published all the way back in 2019.

Chip has backed some of the most impactful companies in tech, like MongoDB back when it was still called 10Gen. Today, it’s a public company with a $20B+ dollar market cap, and Chip still serves on the board. His portfolio also includes Nasuni which was valued at $1.2 billion following a strategic investment led by Vista Equity Partners in 2024.

If you aren’t familiar with Flybridge, they are a seed-stage firm investing in ambitious founders leveraging the power of AI. Last September, they announced their latest fund, a $100M seventh fund.

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction

04:15 A movie character named after Chip in Small Soldiers

05:39 The Current AI Platform Shift & Patterns he has seen

09:48 Decades of blogging experience and how they stayed ahead of the curve

11:23 Chip's background

12:49 Stanford and Athletics

14:00 How Chip got his career started

15:29 Discovering Venture Capital and Landing at Greylock

19:27 A Walk Through His Investments at Greylock

24:50 Starting Flybridge

28:18 The Details about Flybridge

29:46 What gets you to the point of saying YES to entrepreneurs

32:20 Company storytelling at the seed stage

34:11 Investing in MongoDB

36:46 Key Decisions for MongoDB

42:38 Investing in Nasuni

43:41 Other company investments

46:05 Why They Invested in VoiceRun

48:38 Details on xfactor ventures

51:12 Advice for Entrepreneurs on Conducting Due Diligence on Investors

53:01 How VCs Handle an Investment Post-IPO

55:12 Three apps Chip can't live without

57:08 Podcast Recommendations

Podcast Sponsor:

This podcast is brought to you by one of the strongest longtime supporters of the local startup ecosystem, Silicon Valley Bank, a division of First Citizens Bank. With more than 1,500 bankers and relationship advisors and $44B in loans as of Q4 2025 – SVB delivers expert guidance, specialized products and a team that knows the innovation economy inside and out. Learn more at SVB.com.