Fund/Build/Scale

After working for years in early-stage startups and as a journalist, here are three hard truths I’ve learned:1. Success in Silicon Valley hinges on connections, hard work and luck.2. Startups often fail because founders lack fundamental business knowledge.3. Real, actionable advice comes from those who’ve actually done it.There’s no such thing as “founder DNA.” If you’re willing to take on risk and invest years of your life in something that has maybe a 10% chance of paying off — less if you’re a woman or person of color — you can be a startup founder.Here’s why I founded Fund/Build/Scale:1. To help founders make fewer mistakes.2. To share successful strategies that can accelerate your go-to-market journey.3. To inspire more people to see themselves as potential founders. There’s a lot of overlooked talent out there, and we are missing out.This podcast is for anyone who’s interested in learning the basic skills required to launch a startup, secure initial funding and transform

Fund/Build/Scale is a technology podcast hosted by Walter Thompson, with 125 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Walter Thompson hosts Fund/Build/Scale, a technology show with 125 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

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  Episode #112

  Why Technical Founders Should Stop Answering Questions

  Aug 18, 202643 minS2

  Peter Wang is co-founder and Chief AI and Innovation Officer at Anaconda, a company he helped start in 2012 after years of working as a software developer and consultant. In this episode, Peter draws on Anaconda’s early days and the entrepreneurship lessons he shares with scientists and engineers at Cornell to explain what technical people need to learn when they launch a company. We talk about learning to ask better questions instead of rushing to provide answers, recognizing the limits of what you know, and treating yourself as an investor when deciding whether an idea is worth pursuing. Peter also explains his approach to customer discovery, why employees are investors too, and how aspiring founders can practice entrepreneurship by building something — however small — that someone will actually pay for. RUNTIME 43:00 EPISODE BREAKDOWN (1:53) Finding the Product by Doing the Work (10:19) "I'm just sharing my own field notes on what I had to learn." (14:05) Know the Limits of What You Know (18:18) Climbing the Ladder of Disbelief (23:59) Customer Discovery: Listen, Validate, Explore (29:02) "Your employees are also investors." (31:02) " It's really incredibly important that the vision is compelling for people." (38:39) An Exercise for Entrepreneurship Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/GuysuVrGd8Y LINKS Peter Wang Anaconda Swim With the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive , Harvey Mackay Are you building something that’s hard to explain? That’s often a sign you’re working on something interesting, but it raises the risk that you’re missing out on fundraising, sales, hiring, and media opportunities. I help early-stage founders sharpen the narrative : what matters, why now, who needs to care, and why they’re the right team to make it happen. If you’re preparing for a raise, launch, important customer meeting, panel, or hiring push, I can help you pressure-test the story before the stakes get higher. Visit the Fund/Build/Scale website to learn more, or email fundbuildscale@gmaii.com Learn more SUBSCRIBE Get the Fund/Build/Scale newsletter on Beehiiv: https://fundbuildscale.beehiiv.com/ Watch Fund/Build/Scale on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFFH4cs2B1BKatPGs8SFRJw

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  Episode #111

  If It’s Not on Paper, It’s Not Real: Canvas Prime's Rebecca Lynn

  Aug 13, 202641 minS2

  Canvas Prime Co-founder and Managing Director Rebecca Lynn has spent 25 years in venture capital, backing companies including LendingClub, Doximity and Casetext and helping founders navigate more than a dozen exits. In this conversation, we get into why taking venture capital puts founders on a path toward liquidity, and why an IPO isn't the only outcome worth building toward. Rebecca explains how founders can develop relationships with potential acquirers years before they're ready to sell, when it makes sense to bring in a banker or strategic advisor, and how Casetext built the relationships that eventually led to its acquisition by Thomson Reuters. We also talk about why founders should get an offer on paper before trying to improve it, how to negotiate without overplaying your hand, what to watch for with earnouts and other deal terms, and how to make sure employees aren't forgotten when a company gets sold. Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/5kV4SvM9rBY RUNTIME 40:51 EPISODE BREAKDOWN (2:17) Creating Strategic Options (8:50) What Taking Venture Capital Really Means (11:42) Don't Build to Sell; Build Strategically (15:18) How Casetext Built Toward an Exit (21:39) Where Acquisition Offers Come From (27:54) "If it's not on paper, it's not real." (33:02) Price Isn't the Only Thing That Matters (35:22) Take Care of Your Employees (37:32) How to Get M&A Ready LINKS Rebecca Lynn , LinkedIn Canvas Prime Thomson Reuters Completes Acquisition of Casetext, Inc. Doximity Lending Club Gabi -------- Are you building something that’s hard to explain? That’s often a sign you’re working on something interesting, but it raises the risk that you’re missing out on fundraising, sales, hiring, and media opportunities. I help early-stage founders sharpen the narrative : what matters, why now, who needs to care, and why they’re the right team to make it happen. If you’re preparing for a raise, launch, important customer meeting, panel, or hiring push, I can help you pressure-test the story before the stakes get higher. Visit the Fund/Build/Scale website to learn more, or email fundbuildscale@gmaii.com Learn more SUBSCRIBE Get the Fund/Build/Scale newsletter on Beehiiv: https://fundbuildscale.beehiiv.com/

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  Episode #110

  Why Technical Founders Hire Marketing Too Late

  Aug 13, 202641 minS2

  Head of Marketing for Observe at Snowflake Shruti Bhat has spent her career helping highly technical companies explain why their products matter, find the customers who need them most, and build go-to-market systems that can actually scale. In this episode, she talks about how founders identify their real market, recognize genuine product-market fit, hire their first product marketing and GTM leaders, and earn trust across engineering, product, sales, and marketing. Drawing on three startup exits, including Observe’s acquisition by Snowflake, Shruti explains why demand generation often starts too early, what repeatability looks like in enterprise sales, and why the best GTM leaders know how to unlearn their old playbooks. This is a practical conversation about turning technical innovation into customer conviction. RUNTIME 41:29 EPISODE BREAKDOWN (2:28) From Engineering to Product Truth (7:10) Finding Observe’s Enterprise Sweet Spot (16:48) When Technical Founders Need To Hire A Product Marketer (24:57) Hiring Your First GTM Leader Depends on More Than Stage (34:27) How GTM Leaders Build (and Lose) Trust With Technical Teams LINKS Shruti Bhat on LinkedIn Snowflake Observe by Snowflake ______ Are you building something that’s hard to explain? That’s often a sign you’re working on something interesting, but it raises the risk that you’re missing out on fundraising, sales, hiring, and media opportunities. I help early-stage founders sharpen the narrative : what matters, why now, who needs to care, and why they’re the right team to make it happen. If you’re preparing for a raise, launch, important customer meeting, panel, or hiring push, I can help you pressure-test the story before the stakes get higher. Visit the Fund/Build/Scale website to learn more, or email fundbuildscale@gmaii.com Learn more SUBSCRIBE Get the Fund/Build/Scale newsletter on Beehiiv: https://fundbuildscale.beehiiv.com/ Watch Fund/Build/Scale on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFFH4cs2B1BKatPGs8SFRJw Follow Fund/Build/Scale on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fundbuildscale/

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  Episode #109

  CVC Is Not Your Exit Strategy or GTM Plan

  Jul 31, 202636 minS2

  Tamara Steffens is managing director of Thomson Reuters Ventures, where she invests in early-stage companies building around legal, tax, accounting, and enterprise workflow. Corporate venture capital can look like a shortcut to customers, distribution, and credibility, but Steffens says founders need to understand what has to be true before strategic money can actually help. In this conversation, we get into what happens after Thomson Reuters Ventures joins your cap table, how founders can turn a corporate investor into real product or go-to-market leverage, and why inflated TAM slides can work against you. We also talk about what founders should do before and after the check clears, why some good businesses should avoid venture capital entirely, and why she says every founder should be thinking earlier about exit paths. RUNTIME: 36:14 EPISODE BREAKDOWN (1:53) An Overview of Thomson Reuters Ventures (3:57) CVC Expectations: When Strategic Capital Can Actually Help (7:09) Why Your TAM Needs to Match the Product You Actually Have (10:04) When Strategic Capital Becomes Product Leverage (13:13) What Founders Should Do Before and After the Check Clears (22:18) How CVC Evaluates Founders When the Market Gets Frothy (29:05) Building the Relationship Before Series A (31:30) Why Exit Paths Matter Earlier Than You Think LINKS Tamara Steffens Thomson Reuters Ventures Thomson Reuters Fund/Build/Scale Founder Narrative Advisory SUBSCRIBE Get the Fund/Build/Scale newsletter on Beehiiv: https://fundbuildscale.beehiiv.com/ Watch Fund/Build/Scale on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFFH4cs2B1BKatPGs8SFRJw Follow Fund/Build/Scale on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fundbuildscale/

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  Episode #108

  AI Makes Building Easier. Selling Is Still Hard.

  Jul 22, 202642 minS2

  Thanks to AI, you could have an idea for a startup on your way home from work Thursday and finish a rough prototype by Monday morning. That's great news for founders, but it also raises the bar: if everyone can build a convincing demo, what actually separates a durable company from a clever prototype? To explore that question in depth, I interviewed Alex Niehenke a partner at Scale Venture Partners since 2012. He invests in early-stage companies tackling complex industries like insurance, wealth management, construction, and logistics. We discuss why product innovation has to be paired with distribution innovation, how he judges your TAM estimate, how founders create entirely new categories, and what investors are looking for now that building software has never been easier. RUNTIME 41:43 EPISODE BREAKDOWN (02:58) Overview: Scale Venture Partners (04:42) What Makes Slow-Moving Markets Attractive? (06:19) Product Innovation Needs Go-to-Market Innovation (08:58) Why TAM Is Really a Test of Strategic Thinking (12:03) At Least Two-Thirds of My Investments Are Category Creation (15:54) What Founder-Market Fit Means in the AI Era (21:41) What Makes a Vertical AI Startup Fundable? (24:52) What Separates a Nice Demo from a Durable Business? (27:11) Selling Into Hard Markets (33:03) When Regulation Becomes a Competitive Advantage (34:52) Founder-Led Go-to-Market Wins Early (37:01) Why Obsession Still Matters Most LINKS Alex Niehenke Scale Venture Partners Tessa Lau , CEO/Founder, Dusty Robotics Deep Tech Without Stealth: Inside Dusty Robotics’ Origin Story , Fund/Build/Scale Root Insurance Motive Shoe Dog , Phil Knight Building something that’s hard to explain? That’s often a sign you’re working on something interesting. It can also cost you fundraising, sales, hiring, and media opportunities. I help early-stage founders sharpen the narrative around what they’re building: what matters, why now, who needs to care, and why they’re the right team to make it happen. If you’re preparing for a raise, launch, important customer meeting, panel, or hiring push, I can help you pressure-test the story before the stakes get higher. Learn more SUBSCRIBE Get the Fund/Build/Scale newsletter on Beehiiv: https://fundbuildscale.beehiiv.com/ Follow Fund/Build/Scale on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fundbuildscale/ Watch Fund/Build/Scale on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFFH4cs2B1BKatPGs8SFRJw

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