Inside YC’s Hottest Startup: Building A1base, Giving Agent’s Identity, and Lessons From YC Elite

Helping people hear has always been a race against biology. Matt de Jonge, CEO of Fortell, is changing that. He watched his grandparents drift away at family dinners — present in the room but completely disconnected. He tried to solve it in 2014, got intimidated by how hard the problem was, and gave up. Then a Zoom call during COVID changed everything. We cover the full landscape: why he walked away from finance because it felt dystopian, how a chance meeting with Josh Kushner almost became a hospital company, why he pitched a better hearing aid two weeks after telling his investor they were quitting, what it actually took to squeeze a massive AI into something that fits behind your ear in milliseconds, why his biggest nightmare isn't failing but growing too fast and blowing the trust, and what it will take to bring this technology to the 1.5 billion people who need it. This conversation covers: Why Matt felt he gave up on his grandparents — and what brought him back How a COVID Zoom call changed everything Why Josh Kushner initially pitched them on a technology hospital Why Matt felt guilty working in finance How Fortell scales a $6,800 device beyond billionaires What keeps Matt up at night about going too fast Thanks to our sponsor Notion for supporting our mission of telling technology stories that matter. They are a significant reason why this is possible. Sign up for 3 months free of Notion for Business. Join our community 🚀 LinkedIn 🐦 X 📸 Instagram About us We are two best friends, trying to build a community around in-depth interviews and short documentaries with the best minds in technology and startups. Through bold storytelling and candid conversations, we explore how visionary thinkers are shaping a positive future. The best way to support is subscribing — truly it makes all the difference for us 💙

Curing disease has always been a race against time. Josh Meier, co-founder of Chai Discovery, is changing that. He's training AI on the language of DNA and proteins to compress drug design from years to hours. We cover the full landscape: why people initially said this was impossible, how a 30-person team built a $4B startup, why "turning GPUs into drugs" became his mission, what he'd cure right now, and what it will take to bring AI-designed medicines to the world. None of this would be possible without our sponsor Vanta. As we've scaled, security and compliance became critical. Vanta automates compliance (SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA) so companies can focus on building. They're actively supporting startups and helping founders build trust from day one. Check out vanta.com/sachinandadam. Join our community 🚀 LinkedIn 🐦 X 📸 Instagram About us We are two best friends, trying to build a community around in-depth interviews and short documentaries with the best minds in technology and startups. Through bold storytelling and candid conversations, we explore how visionary thinkers are shaping a positive future. The best way to support is subscribing — truly it makes all the difference for us 💙

Quantum computing has been "almost here" for decades. PsiQuantum's co-founder Pete Shadbolt tells us exactly when that changes — and why his $7B company raised $2.3 billion before building a single useful machine. We cover the full landscape: what every quantum company is racing toward, why most won't get there, and what happens to the world when someone does. Thanks to our sponsor Notion for supporting our mission of telling technology stories that matter. They are a significant reason why this is possible. Sign up for 3 months free of Notion for Business. Join our community 🚀 LinkedIn 🐦 X 📸 Instagram About us We are two best friends, trying to build a community around in-depth interviews and short documentaries with the best minds in technology and startups. Through bold storytelling and candid conversations, we explore how visionary thinkers are shaping a positive future. The best way to support is subscribing — truly it makes all the difference for us 💙

Runway started by building AI tools for filmmakers. Today, the major studios run on it — and the same models are now learning to simulate the real world, training robots and pointing toward a new kind of AI entirely. We sat down with Anastasis Germanidis, Co-Founder & Co-CEO of Runway, at their New York office to trace how three self-described "failed filmmakers" built one of the most competitive video AI labs in the world on a fraction of the compute of the big players — and where world models go from here. None of this would be possible without our sponsor Vanta. As we've scaled, security and compliance became critical. Vanta automates compliance (SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA) so companies can focus on building. They're actively supporting startups and helping founders build trust from day one. Check out vanta.com/sachinandadam. Join our community 🚀 LinkedIn 🐦 X 📸 Instagram About us We are two best friends, trying to build a community around in-depth interviews and short documentaries with the best minds in technology and startups. Through bold storytelling and candid conversations, we explore how visionary thinkers are shaping a positive future. The best way to support is subscribing — truly it makes all the difference for us 💙

In this episode, we sit down with Zach Dell, co-founder and CEO of Base Power — the Austin-based energy company backed by Addition, a16z, Lightspeed, and Thrive Capital, and last valued at $13 billion. Zach shares Base's mission to build America's next great energy company: replacing stale incumbents not through government entrenchment, but through a cult of speed, self-funded R&D, and a better product. From quitting a job in venture capital and meeting his co-founder on a factory tour at Anduril, to raising $1B and turning every home into a piece of grid infrastructure, Zach offers a rare look at what it actually takes to rebuild American energy. None of this would be possible without our sponsor Vanta. They support our mission of telling technology stories that matter. As startups scale, security and compliance becomes critical. Vanta automates compliance (SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA) so companies can focus on building. They're actively supporting startups and helping founders build trust from day one. Check out vanta.com/sachinandadam. Join our community 🚀 LinkedIn 🐦 X 📸 Instagram About us We are two best friends, trying to build a community around in-depth interviews and short documentaries with the best minds in technology and startups. Through bold storytelling and candid conversations, we explore how visionary thinkers are shaping a positive future. The best way to support is subscribing — truly it makes all the difference for us 💙