Berkeley Startup

About Berkeley Startup

On the Berkeley Startup podcast, hosted by UC Berkeley Haas students, listen to UC Berkeley student/alumni entrepreneurs share their Best Practices on how you can build a product, find product market fit, raise funding and launch a company.

Publisher

University FM

Category

business

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

19 Feb 2025

Latest episode

23 Jul 2025

Latest episodes

10 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   23 Jul 2025

   From Tech Exec to Founder-Coach: Rohan Verma’s Journey of Grit, Growth & Giving Back

   Rohan Verma, founder of Arbor Advisory, shares his transition from tech executive to founder-coach, discussing his values-driven career, coaching philosophy, and edtech venture in this interview.

2. 

   2 Jul 2025

   Climate Action, One Household at a Time: Lisa Altieri’s Journey with BrightAction

   Lisa Altieri, BrightAction founder, discusses building a SaaS platform that empowers individuals and organizations to reduce their carbon footprint through everyday actions, highlighting the importance of aligning business with impactful climate solutions in this interview.

3. 

   4 Jun 2025

   Execution Over Ideas: Arjun Dev Arora on What Really Builds Startups

   Founder Arjun Dev Arora shares his experience supporting startups, discussing the importance of communication, obsession, and resilience for founders navigating growth and market changes in this interview.

4. 

   14 May 2025

   The Entrepreneur’s Dilemma: Build or Buy?

   In this episode of Berkeley Startup, Bob Wang (https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobwang23/), Haas MBA and founder of Tee Up Advisors, a fractional CFO firm supporting entrepreneurs and searchers. Previously, Bob built and sold Legacy Advantage to Deloitte, and served as a CFO and private equity principal—bringing a rare mix of operational and deal-making experience to the table. Bob dives deep into the world of entrepreneurship through acquisition (ETA), sharing why he believes it’s a viable path for those who want the rewards of entrepreneurship without starting from scratch. He explains the kind of businesses Tee Up Advisors helps clients acquire, and the ideal profile for a searcher looking to enter the small business M&A space. Bob also reflects on how his own acquisition of a tutoring company changed his perspective on value creation, and why being 100% committed to entrepreneurship is non-negotiable. From practical insights on business due diligence to a candid look at the emotional commitment required for success, this episode is packed with value for aspiring entrepreneurs, especially those curious about ETA, private equity, or fractional leadership roles. Bob also shares how intentional networking helped him triple his income—and why in today’s digital world, human connection is still king. Episode Quotes On Why He Chose Entrepreneurship It's just who I am. I think I grew up that way. My parents were entrepreneurs. I saw how hard they worked and the reward that came along with it. I was able to live a good life because of their hard work. I tried my hand at entrepreneurship when I was in my early twenties. I started my own business, grew that to about 30 people, and sold my first business to Deloitte. That was my first venture. I tried some other jobs, but I really wanted to get back to running a business and having control over my time, my destiny, and be creative in that way. On Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (ETA) A good zero-to-one project is a combination of skill, interest, and market need. If there's skill and interest, but no market need, well, that's a hobby. If you have a market need, and you're interested, but you don't have the skill, well, that's not a business. And the third vector, where, you know, there’s a market need, you have a skill, but you're not interested, well, that's just a job. When I was in Haas and was looking at what opportunities I wanna pursue, what businesses I wanna start, none of them met all three criteria. You know, I had ideas that had a market need, but I had no skill. And there were ideas that were super interesting to me, and I had the skill, but there was no market need. So then ETA was great because it allowed me to be an entrepreneur again without needing my own idea that needs to be proven out. On The Importance of Commitment Entrepreneurship is hard so be ready to grind it out. It has to be one of those things where there's no other path for you. I've met entrepreneurs who started a business as a side gig, and they're holding onto their job. A job is always a backup. Well, when you have a backup, you're not fully in. There's a saying, part-time effort, part-time result, and it never really takes off. So the most successful entrepreneurs, the ones that make it, for them, having a job is not an option. They would shrivel inside if they had to work for somebody else. And so they have to make their business work. And then it works. On Networking in a Digital World The more the world becomes digital, the more valuable relationships are. Strangely, the more valuable physically showing up becomes. I'm out there, you know, getting coffees, going to lunches and networking events and shaking hands, and you know, I tripled my income in nine months. So my intention when I go to networking is always how I can help you and how we can help each other. Never what I can get from you. I never look for one-sided relationships. Show Links Tee Up Advisors (https://www.teeupadvisors.com/) – Bob Wang’s fractional CFO firm Buy Then Build by Walker Deibel (https://buythenbuild.com/) – Book Bob recommends on acquisition criteria Broadtree Partners (https://www.broadtreepartners.com/) – The private equity group where Bob previously worked Berkeley Haas Entrepreneur Through Acquisition Club (https://haas.campusgroups.com/eta/home/) Legacy Advantage (https://www.legacyadvantage.ca/) – Bob’s previous company, acquired by Deloitte https://haaspodcasts.org/podcast/bob-wang-ewmba-23-the-road-to-c-suite-enabling-a-problem-solving-mindset/ (https://haaspodcasts.org/podcast/bob-wang-ewmba-23-the-road-to-c-suite-enabling-a-problem-solving-mindset/)

5. 

   30 Apr 2025

   Chirag Mahapatra: Startup Lessons from YC to Acquisition

   In this episode of Berkeley Startups, host Aish interviews Chirag Mahapatra, founder of Blaze, a Y Combinator-backed startup that built AI-powered marketing agents on emerging platforms like Discord and Telegram. Chirag shares how he transitioned from working at leading tech companies to co-founding Blaze, which went on to raise over $5 million in funding and was recently acquired. He opens up about the intense experimentation process at Y Combinator, where he and his co-founder tested new product ideas weekly until they found product-market fit. We dive deep into the pivotal moment that validated their direction—when inbound customer interest sparked demand before a single line of code was polished. Chirag also breaks down how his team harnessed AI tools like GitHub Copilot to increase product development speed, enabling a small, globally distributed team to launch multiple products in a single summer. He shares the behind-the-scenes strategies they used to scale efficiently, the challenges of building cross-functional teams in the US and India, and why open-source contributions became a key hiring signal. As the conversation moves toward acquisition, Chirag reveals how they navigated the process—from recognizing their growth plateau to leveraging investor networks and exploring acquisition pathways with customers and strategic partners. The episode wraps with valuable advice for aspiring founders on navigating uncertainty, embracing experimentation, and building enduring skill sets—plus a sneak peek into Chirag's next chapter at Merko, a startup using AI to improve hiring outcomes. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, a product builder, or someone fascinated by the future of AI in startups, this episode is packed with practical insights, real-world lessons, and inspiration. Episode Quotes: On exploring different paths to acquisition There are a number of ways you can get acquired. Typically, people get acquired by their customers, or people get acquired by, you know, strategics, et cetera. And the third one is through investors. We were actually recommended to explore all of them and then see what works out, right? I think that’s actually the best way to go about it so that you create the maximum optionality for yourself, and for your investors as well. As founders, I think it’s actually—you know—you’re doing the right thing by exploring as many avenues as possible. I can share that with examples. A customer would be, of course, the simplest one—if someone is already using your software, spending a lot on it, they have a reason to acquire it. The second is strategic—there might be bigger players in the industry who want to, let’s say, add additional functionality and features. They’re definitely not a customer of yours, but they might be interested in acquiring you to hire the talent as well as acquire the product. And the third one is, of course, some of your investors who already know other companies who might see you as a fit in their portfolio. That’s kind of how we approached it as well. We looked at all avenues and ended up seeing what worked best for all stakeholders. On taking the leap into entrepreneurship I think—just do it. That’s probably the only way to kind of understand the nuances and the processes of building a company. And I think, at least from my experience and that of many of my friends, whether it turns out to be a great outcome or not, the experience itself is very relevant—even if you end up working as an operator in a big company. Of course, as everyone knows, the stats show that very few startups actually make it in the way we typically define success. That said, the skill sets you build along the way definitely go a long way in helping you understand the business end-to-end. At least from my personal perspective, it helped me improve technically, from a product point of view, and also helped me become much more business-minded in how I think through things. So, if there’s any takeaway from this podcast, it’s this: just go and do it—and see how things shape up. Show Links: Y Combinator (https://www.ycombinator.com) Blaze (https://www.withblaze.app/) Mercor (https://mercor.com/) Open Source Contributions (https://opensource.guide/how-to-contribute/) (as a hiring signal) NFX (https://www.nfx.com)

6. 

   28 Apr 2025

   Growing a Business in the Wealth Management Space

   In this episode, we sit down with Vishal Kumar (https://www.linkedin.com/in/vishalk87/), co-founder of Twin Peak Wealth Advisors, a boutique financial advisory firm he launched with his identical twin brother, Tushar. Vishal shares how early life experiences—including the loss of their father and the influence of their entrepreneurial mother—shaped their path into wealth management. He opens up about bootstrapping their business straight out of UC Berkeley, cold-calling engineers in Silicon Valley, and eventually scaling their firm to manage over $150 million in assets. From building credibility in a saturated industry to embracing niche marketing, Vishal offers invaluable insights into what it takes to grow a service-driven business while staying true to your values. Whether you're a budding entrepreneur or simply curious about what it’s like to manage money for the tech elite, this episode is packed with practical advice, real-life lessons, and entrepreneurial honesty. Berkeley Startup Podcast is produced by University FM. Episode Copy Better and effective marketing made a big difference We did a lot of cold calling and just spent our networks that way. It wasn't until 10 years into the business where we started to really consider, Hey, what can we do to have hyper growth in this industry? That's where we realized that what was missing was not our sales aspect or the ability to get referrals. It was marketing effectively. Our top of the funnel was much smaller than it could and should have been. Once we started investing, putting time and energy and money behind the marketing efforts, that's when we saw our business almost grow by threefold in one year. My brother and I really started applying ourselves, understanding business, marketing, investing in coaches and mentors very heavily, et cetera, and that's when our growth really started to accelerate. On talking to people who may not be interested You build thick skin over time, but you realize that you're not going to be for everybody. And you're really trying to go through this world and figure out who the people are that you are speaking to and that resonate with your message. And I realize you don't need to be everybody's cup of tea. You just need to find the people that you are that cup of tea for, right? And so, I think dealing with rejection is something that you get used to very quickly when you are in a sales-oriented career. It was tough, but we got comfortable with it early on. Entrepreneurship comes with trade-offs I think it can be a very rewarding journey but it comes with a lot of risk. You know, I had seen my mom having the flexibility of being able to be there for us as kids because she was a business owner. But I think people who get into entrepreneurship for the flexibility, that's one thing I've learned is, it’s not really it. Because you don't just have a boss. Every single one of your clients is your boss, and then you're also managing your employees, your hr, you’re just everything. So I would say anybody that thinks of it as like this is easier than going and working for a corporation, that's definitely not true. And I think a lot of people know that now, too. Show Links: Twin Peak Wealth Advisors (https://www.twinpeakwealth.com) The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel (https://www.amazon.com/Psychology-Money-Timeless-lessons-happiness/dp/0857197681)

7. 

   15 Apr 2025

   How Riley AI Sparked Demand Before a Single Line of Code

   In this episode, we sit down with Claudia Natasia (https://www.linkedin.com/in/claudianatasia/), CEO and Co-founder of Riley AI, to explore her unexpected journey into entrepreneurship, the power of AI-driven insights, and the challenges of building a startup from the ground up. Despite initially resisting the idea of launching her own company, Claudia found herself inundated with interest for a product she had only presented conceptually—before a single line of code was ever written. She shares how speaking at conferences led to Riley AI’s first paying customer, how she and her co-founder built the platform in stealth mode, and how they raised $3 million in seed funding without the typical VC milestones. Claudia also explains why early advocates are crucial, how the go-to-market strategy often matters more than the product itself, and what it took to win over established companies as early adopters. This episode is packed with insights on building with intent, leveraging thought leadership, and navigating the fast-evolving landscape of AI in business. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, data scientist, or simply curious about how big ideas take shape, Claudia’s journey offers a powerful blueprint. Episode Quotes On the Unexpected Path to Entrepreneurship My mom's an entrepreneur, and she always asked me to consider this path, but I would tell her, no, there's no way I'm going to be an entrepreneur. I started my career in data science, and I was so adamant that I was just going to stay as a data scientist and a product manager. I think what made me decide to take this leap is, people always talk about product market fit and how hard it is to find product market fit. For me being in this space for so long, I presented this idea for this product at a few different conferences, and hundreds of PMs, researchers, and data scientists had reached out to me on LinkedIn after asking for access to what is now Riley. And so knowing that there's already that initial traction even before one line of code was written made me decide. I think we have something amazing here. I want to be the person building this for the future. And so I don't think it was being an entrepreneur that drew me into entrepreneurship. It's the fact that there is this huge need that I feel like I'm the best person equipped to build this for the world. On Building a Defensible Startup Two reasons. One, we wanted to be sure that we build a defensible moat. And two, we wanted to be sure that we stay focused in the first few months of building the product. Defensible moat is hard to build right now. AI makes it very easy for anyone to build anything. I think it's very good to be disciplined and to realize that you want to be focused. You don't want to follow flashy trends. This is what you stand for, and to build that quietly. The moment you start publicizing what you're building, competitors or aspiring competitors will go on your LinkedIn profile, go on everything to try to find out exactly what you're building. So it was to really protect that. On Female Entrepreneurship The  thing that was encouraging is, I remember pitching to one investor, and that investor said it is very rare. You are probably the only female founder who is also a CEO who is also technical and the person in charge. It's very rare, but I want to write you a check right now. So before this, my narrative was it's very rare, and therefore it's going to be hard. But this conversation proved to me that it's very rare, but it's special. So please,  if you're a (female) founder, again, start something right away. Startup Advice from Claudia My biggest advice is to not overthink it. Most of the learning happens after you start the company. So start it right now. Start experimenting with your idea right now. And then the second thing that I learned very quickly is the hardest part about building a company is not building the product, it’s building the go-to-market engine. So if you already have something that gives you an unfair advantage from a go-to-market perspective, you're already many steps ahead from competitors or other founders. So please pay attention to the go-to market. Show Links Riley AI (https://www.askriley.io/)

8. 

   20 Mar 2025

   Launching Fast & Listening Hard: Pranav Mallampalli’s AI-based CRM Startup Journey

   In this episode, we sit down with Pranav Mallampalli (https://www.linkedin.com/in/pranavmallampalli/), founder of Assembly and a recent graduate of UC Berkeley, where he double-majored in Political Science and Data Science. Pranav takes us through his entrepreneurial journey—from initially wanting to become a lawyer to discovering his passion for building companies. Inspired by early experiences in high school entrepreneurship competitions and a study abroad program in Portugal, Pranav found himself drawn into the vibrant startup culture at Berkeley. He discusses how Assembly began as a solution for code search for engineers but pivoted to customer success software after engaging with over 400 potential users and identifying a more pressing market need. Pranav shares valuable insights on how to approach pivoting with confidence, the importance of listening to customers, and how founder-led sales can make or break an early-stage startup. We explore how participating in Y Combinator helped shape Assembly’s direction and how the team leverages their technical background to differentiate in a competitive space. Pranav also reflects on the challenges of fundraising as a young founder, the value of leveraging your alumni network, and why flexibility and hyper-focus on your ideal customer profile (ICP) are critical to startup success. Whether you’re an aspiring entrepreneur, an early-stage founder, or simply curious about startup life, this conversation is packed with practical advice, candid stories, and a healthy dose of Berkeley pride. Episode Quotes On Building and Releasing a Product: I think one of the hardest things was actually that moment which is building a product and releasing it. To a lot of founders out there, the most daunting thing you could do is creating something and then giving it to other people or showing it to somebody else. A lot of people will feel really self-conscious about it. You get really stressed out about what people think about your product or if they'll use it at all. And if there's one thing that I learned in that moment, it was literally like, it doesn't really matter. Build the product and release it and kind of go from there. You need something to build off of in order to build a company. On Finding Patterns and Knowing When to Pivot: I think one of the biggest things, especially when you're pivoting, talking to as many people as you can and hearing them say the same thing was a very, very important metric for us in order to fully commit to a new product. It's not necessarily hearing the same thing, but it's hearing the same problem. What great companies do is they hear or see a pattern in different verticals or even across an entire industry, like a horizontal product. And so what you're trying to do when you're really, really early on at a startup, and if you're a founder is can you find this pattern a hundred times? Can you find it five hundred times? Can you find it a thousand times? And what you are trying to do is build a product that can essentially solve that pattern problem over time. On the Power of Founder-Led Sales: I think founder-led sales is both the most beautiful and daunting thing that any startup goes through, because, as a founder, there's literally nobody else that can replicate your passion for what you're building. This is your baby. You spend an enormous amount of time, maybe even too much time, building it, working on it, stressing about it. When you sell something to another company or to another person, they see that from you. They see the passion you have. If a founder can't sell, that's a really big problem. The founder should be able to sell the thing that they're building because at the end of the day, it's their passion project. It's their child. You need to be able to put it out there and get people to want it. Show Links Assembly (https://www.askassembly.app/) Y Combinator (https://www.ycombinator.com/) Berkeley SkyDeck (https://skydeck.berkeley.edu/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAzvC9BhADEiwAEhtlN_63IPNKzyM7ijeAcPTaQL1hU2K2-cLeXj6ZaY9PCFpwVB49hn7hBRoCByYQAvD_BwE)

9. 

   5 Mar 2025

   The Startup Hustle from Berkeley to Venture Funding: Ishan Sharma

   In this episode of Berkeley Startup, host Aish Venketeswaran (https://www.linkedin.com/in/aish-v/) speaks with Ishan Sharma (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ishansharmaster/), a serial entrepreneur, and Haas School of Business alum. Ishan shares his journey from childhood inspiration to managing multiple ventures, including Memory Labs, Boxlet, Daily Dropout, and his current company, SellScale. Drawing from experiences like the Lightspeed Summer Fellowship and roles in consulting, Ishan breaks down key lessons in startup development, customer discovery, and building scalable systems. The episode also dives into fundraising strategies, finding co-founders, and the emerging role of AI agents in transforming the workplace. Episode Quotes: On Prioritizing Customer Validation: Ishan highlights the importance of understanding customers before building a product. The first thing our mentor told us was, “You are not allowed to code. Hands off the keyboard. All you should be doing is talking to customers and figuring out how to make your first sale."  This is a lesson I have taken with me even now at SellScale. To make the first version of a prototype, you really should be using low-code tools. You should be using the fastest route possible. You should be hacking stuff, and you should be talking with people and describing it to them at a high level. And if they liked the idea, then that is a good kernel for an initial startup. You don't need to be building for a very long time. On Building with Limited Resources: Ishan emphasizes the power of starting small and iterating fast. Your job as an operator is to stress the engineers. When you first start your business, your job is to say, "Okay, what can I do with all the tools that I have?” And I don't have to code to get a bunch of different customers, to be able to show someone, “Hey, this is something that people are paying for, and, you know, this is how a version one of the app or the idea could look like.” And that's enough. Now you have a right to be able to build some sort of an app. It also applies to even later-stage companies. If you build version one, then you should get more customers to test it as an operator and come up with a bunch of bugs and fire back to the engineering team to say, "Hey, these are some of the stuff we have to fix." That's kind of the playbook, especially if you want to start a business. On Finding the Right Co-Founders: Ishan shares his framework for choosing co-founders. I would put values as probably the number one thing that I would look for when looking to work with people. Then I would look for, how gritty are you? Then, I would look at is actual skill. So, I look top-down from that. Values, you want somebody who's honest. On the Future of AI in Business: Ishan discusses the transformative potential of AI agents in sales and beyond. I think agents are going to take over the workforce. They can do a lot of mundane tasks that people otherwise would not want to do. And I think it's going to reshape the future of the workplace for the next 10, 20 years. Honestly, for the better because it's going to make orgs more efficient, and it'll keep humans on strategic work. And so I'm super excited for the future about agents and how we build them. Show Links: Lightspeed Summer Fellowship (https://www.lsvp.com/) SellScale (https://www.sellscale.com/)

10. 

    19 Feb 2025

    Turning a Personal Problem into a Healthcare Revolution Using AI: Akilesh Bapu's DeepScribe Story

    In this episode, we sit down with Akilesh Bapu (https://www.linkedin.com/in/akileshbapu/), CEO and co-founder of DeepScribe, the most widely adopted ambient documentation tool used in over a thousand organizations across the U.S. Akilesh takes us through his unconventional journey to entrepreneurship, from coding in middle school to tackling one of healthcare’s most persistent issues: physician burnout due to overwhelming documentation. DeepScribe began as a personal mission to solve his father’s time-consuming documentation struggles and has evolved into a transformative tool for clinicians nationwide. Akilesh shares how he navigated the startup world without a medical background, the power of building the right network, and why he believes the best time to start a company is now. From hackathons to healthcare, this conversation is packed with entrepreneurial insights, lessons on resilience, and the future of AI in medicine. Episode Quotes: On Finding His Entrepreneurial Spark: Akilesh reflects on his first hackathon experience and how it ignited his passion for creating solutions. I thought it was a joke that people would build something and release it by the end of the time frame that we were there, but we actually pulled it off. And not just us. Hundreds of other teams also did that, and it was just incredible to me to see that you could just come up with an idea, and then you could open your laptop, go heads down and code for 72 hours, and come up with something that people could actually use. It just blew my mind and I was super excited about continuing to double down on that. Embracing the Non-Medical Perspective: Akilesh talks about the benefits of bringing a tech-first perspective to the healthcare industry. One of the things my co-founder and I love to say is that we're not doctors, we’re not natively from medicine. And I think how that helps is we're able to bring in this outsider tech perspective and really rethink how these processes are done. So, whenever there is a process or a fact of truth that's shared with us, we naively would ask, why is this the case? Why do we need this? Just asking ‘why’ helped DeepScribe be successful early on when a lot of folks that were native to health care took that for granted. So, I think having that outsider perspective helps. Show Links: DeepScribe (https://www.deepscribe.ai/) UC Berkeley SkyDeck (https://skydeck.berkeley.edu/) The House Fund (https://www.thehouse.fund/) HackDFW (https://hackdfw.com/) Berkeley AI Research Lab (BAIR) (https://bair.berkeley.edu/)

Who has been a guest on Berkeley Startup

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Rohan Verma
• Lisa Altieri
• Arjun Dev Arora

Podcast Authority Score: 9 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

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0

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