Every technological shift creates new opportunities, challenges old assumptions, and redefines what’s possible. Builders features conversations with founders, operators, and visionaries who are building cutting-edge products and generational companies.Matthew Cowan, General Partner at N47, takes an inside look at the challenges, decisions, and breakthroughs that define the building process.N47 partners with bold builders, those who begin with insight and move with urgency, and helps them grow from belief to scale. Learn more at n47.com
In this episode of Builders, Matthew sits down with Paul Lee, Co-Founder and CEO of Patlytics, the AI-powered platform that supports the full patent lifecycle. Paul spent years as a venture capitalist before jumping to the other side of the table, and in under two and a half years, he's taken Patlytics from an idea to a company trusted by more than 40% of AmLaw 100 firms.
This episode digs into what it actually took to earn that trust: a "business first, fundraising follows" philosophy, a decade-old friendship with his co-founder that became the company's operating glue, and a hard line on accuracy in a profession where attorneys don't get a second shot.
In this episode, Matthew and Paul discuss:
Why Paul walked away from venture capital to found Patlytics, and how founder stress differs from investor stress
How to build a healthy and long-lasting co-founder relationship
Patlytics' contrarian fundraising philosophy that led to a Seed, Series A, and Series B in under two and a half years
How Patlytics builds trust with lawyers who have almost zero tolerance for AI hallucinations
Selling to two very different buyers, law firms and in-house counsel, under one platform
The love-hate relationship every vertical AI company has with frontier labs as LLMs keep improving
The most common mistakes founders make when applying general AI to high-stakes, specialized domains
What law firms will look like in five years, and the parts of the job that will always need a human
REFERENCED:
Patlytics
Tribe Capital
Global Founders Capital
Harvey
Latham & Watkins
FedRAMP
LINKS:
Paul's LinkedIn
Matthew's LinkedIn
N47 Website
------
Timestamps:
01:03 - Why abandon VC
03:23 - Co-founder relationship
05:57 - Where did the idea for Patlytics come from
09:07 - VC misconceptions about founders
13:00 - How did you win over the trust of attorneys
17:17 - How are you serving two different buyers
20:42 - How the Patlytics product is built
22:07 - Security level
23:40 - Warning for law firms
25:52 - Rapid fire questions
5 Aug 2026
Don't Waste Time Thinking About Your Competitors
Steffen Wulff Petersen and Ben Dixon are Co-Founders of Sona, the AI-native workforce management platform for frontline enterprises, along with their third Co-Founder, Oli Johnson. Before Sona, the three of them founded Catapult, a gig-economy marketplace for shift-based work in retail and hospitality.
This episode digs into how Steffen and Ben created an operating system for the world's frontline workforce, why they've built Sona to work across verticals and geographies from day one, and how a decade of shared operational scar tissue shapes the way they run the company today. They also share Sona's recent $45 million raise, and accelerated push into the US market, and share why the frontier labs are unlikely to come after their category directly.
In this episode, Matthew, Steffen, and Ben discuss:
Share the behind-the-scenes of a co-founder relationship that’s lasted over a decade and across two companies. Highlighting how to delegate workload, building out priorities, the impacts of international expansion, and even the importance of group vacations with their families.
How to build products for the physical economy (and how that differs from “traditional” B2B product building and sales).
Taking on legacy systems and building a moat to stay ahead of frontier labs.
Why founders should build across verticals instead of deep into only one.
References:
Sona
Lazada
Alibaba
Slack
Palantir
Claude
Anthropic
Paul Graham
Links:
Steffen's LinkedIn
Ben’s LinkedIn
Matthew’s LinkedIn
N47 Website
23 Jun 2026
Which Pain Points Should Founders Solve?
Episode 1: Jahan Khanna is the Co-Founder and CEO of XBuild, the first AI platform built for construction, helping contractors streamline their estimating process and win more jobs. Jahan is a serial entrepreneur, with XBuild being the third company he’s founded. First, he built Shepherd Intelligence Systems, then he co-founded Sidecar, one of the original rideshare pioneers, which General Motors acquired in 2016. Prior to starting XBuild, he led product at Uber for nearly 4 years.
This episode digs into Jahan’s experience building an AI product for an industry that runs on clipboards, when he knew it was time to leave Uber and build something new, and how to find and address your customers’ existential needs.
In this episode, Matthew and Jahan discuss:
Patience as a product strategy
How to build in a “post-disruption” world
Advice to technical founders delegating engineering tasks
How to find the wedge in a customer base that doesn't think they need AI
Building AI-native and high-impact engineering teams
Referenced Links:
XBuild
General Motors
Uber
Claude Code
Anthropic
WiMAX
Links:
Jahan’s LinkedIn
Matthew’s LinkedIn
N47 Website
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
4 ratings
Contact Builders
Guest appearances
Books guests
Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.
Host of Builders?
Claim your podcast to manage its listing and keep your show details accurate.
Pod Engine is an independent podcast discovery and analytics service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by this podcast. Artwork and show content belong to their owners. Full legal notice.
Explore this show Podcast research with Pod Engine
