
How Mill closed the deal with Amazon and Whole Foods
2025/12/29 | 5 mins.
Matt Rogers's food waste startup will soon deploy its commercial food waste bins in grocery stores throughout the U.S. Here's how Rogers thinks about preparing a startup for success. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Why ‘hold forever’ investors are snapping up venture capital ‘zombies’
2025/12/26 | 5 mins.
An investor explains the "buy, fix, and hold" model employed by Bending Spoons and similar companies that buy distressed startups. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How a headphone site operator built loyalty startup Lantern to solve his own problems; plus, Deel hits $17.3B valuation after raising $300M from big-name VCs
2025/12/25 | 7 mins.
After struggling to retain customers at his e-commerce site Headphones.com, founder Andrew Lissimore built his own loyalty solution — and it’s now a startup called Lantern. The Shopify-native platform helps brands boost retention through customizable loyalty, referrals, and account management tools. Also, Deel says it's been profitable for three years and surpassed $1 billion in ARR, including having a month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How AI startups should be thinking about product-market fit; plus Immortality startup Eternos pivots to a personal AI that sounds like you
2025/12/24 | 7 mins.
Two experienced investors share their tips for founders and operators hoping to nail product-market fit at their AI startups. Also, Uare.ai, formerly Eternos, raised $10.3 million in seed funding led by Mayfield and Boldstart Ventures. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The tooth fairy just got reimagined for the tech-savvy generation; also, Lemon Slice nabs $10.5M from YC and Matrix to build out its digital avatar tech
2025/12/23 | 8 mins.
Move over, Santa. Now there’s another magical character for kids to track: the Tooth Fairy. After making a personalized Tooth Fairy video for his nephew, Oliver Finel noticed a gap. While there are plenty of Santa trackers, nothing similar existed for the Tooth Fairy. Also, digital avatar generation company Lemon Slice is working to add a video layer to AI chatbots with a new diffusion model that can create digital avatars from a single image. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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