Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots

519: Ammi's Mission to Empower Parents

April 4th, 2024  |  Season 14  |  42 mins 47 secs

Host Will Larry talks with Priyanka Mahajan, founder of Ammi, about the startup's mission to support new and expectant parents through expert advice, community, and digital resources. They delve into the unique challenges of parenting, including the transition to motherhood, mental health, and the concept of "matrescence." Priyanka shares her personal journey and the inspiration behind Ammi, highlighting the need for a tailored support system for parents in the early stages of parenthood.

518: The Standard of Self-Care: Unlocking Personal Growth with Chris Pallatroni

March 28th, 2024  |  Season 14  |  41 mins 20 secs

Host Victoria Guido chats with Chris Pallatroni, who unveils the journey behind creating The Standard, a unique platform for sharing self-care stories. Chris highlights how his love for gardening and dedication to mental wellness shaped the platform's ethos and addresses the challenges of melding technology with human connection to foster a community of support and growth. The Standard aims to inspire and connect individuals by sharing personal triumphs to make mental health struggles feel less isolating.

517: Building Better Design Systems with Luro's Trent Walton

March 21st, 2024  |  Season 14  |  44 mins 59 secs

Trent Walton, CEO of Luro, joins hosts Victoria Guido and Will Larry to discuss his transition from a typography enthusiast to co-founding Paravel and eventually creating Luro. This no-code platform enhances design systems for better adoption, collaboration, and organizational alignment. Emphasizing a holistic approach that merges design and development, Luro addresses the challenges of traditional design systems by making them more accessible and integrated with performance and accessibility metrics. This solution fosters a more collaborative and efficient team environment, streamlining product building and maintenance across disciplines.

516: Innovating Fashion: Charlotte Holt's Tech-Driven Approach

March 14th, 2024  |  Season 14  |  28 mins 17 secs

Hosts Will and Victoria interview Charlotte Holt, Founder of The Fashion Library, a London-based wardrobe rental resource for stylists. Charlotte discusses her journey from stylist to entrepreneur, highlighting The Fashion Library's mission to address environmental and financial challenges in the fashion industry by offering a rental platform. She emphasizes the importance of technology in driving sustainability and outlines her vision for the future growth of The Fashion Library.

515: Healing Minds, Changing Lives: The Meru Health Experience

March 7th, 2024  |  Season 14  |  36 mins 42 secs

Kristian Ranta, the founder of Meru Health, shares insights into the company's transition from wellness to healthcare, emphasizing the role of intuition in entrepreneurship. He discusses challenges in regulatory compliance and insurance reimbursements while highlighting Meru Health's holistic mental health approach and plans for global expansion.

514: The New Frontier of Fertility Treatment: Technology, Telemedicine, and Hera Fertility

February 29th, 2024  |  Season 14  |  32 mins 48 secs

In this episode, Will Larry explores Hera Fertility's mission to transform fertility care through telemedicine with Founder and CEO Thiv Paramsothy. Addressing the challenges of traditional fertility treatments, including high costs and long wait times, Hera Fertility offers affordable, accessible, and less invasive alternatives. Thiv's approach leverages technology to enhance patient care and experience, making fertility care more accessible, especially in underserved areas, marking a significant shift towards a more patient-centered fertility treatment landscape.

513: Custom Fit, Global Impact: MADE TECH's Apparel Innovation with Dustin Butcher

February 22nd, 2024  |  Season 14  |  37 mins 11 secs

In this episode, Victoria Guido chats with Dustin Butcher, CEO and Co-Founder of MADE TECH, about revolutionizing performance apparel with custom and made-to-measure automation technology. From personal frustrations with ill-fitting gear to pioneering a technology that offers 100% size inclusivity, Dustin shares how MADE TECH is enhancing individual performance and comfort and pushing the industry towards more inclusive and sustainable practices by partnering with established brands.

512: Unboxing thoughtbot's Revolutionary Design Sprint Kit

February 15th, 2024  |  Season 14  |  34 mins 33 secs

In this episode of the Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots podcast, hosts Will Larry and Victoria Guido are joined by thoughtbot's senior designers, Rami Taibah and Ferdia Kenny, to discuss the innovative Product Design Sprint Kit. This tool compresses the design process into a focused five-day sprint, facilitating the efficient transition from idea to user-tested prototype. The conversation highlights the kit's development, its open accessibility, and its impact on product strategy through iterative design and user feedback. Real-world examples illustrate how these design sprints can lead to crucial product refinements, showcasing the critical role of user testing in product development.

511: Tele911: Pioneering Remote Emergency Care with Dr. Ramon Lizardo

February 8th, 2024  |  Season 14  |  35 mins 59 secs

Host Victoria Guido dives into the transformative world of Tele911 with its CEO, Dr. Ramon Lizardo. They explore how Tele911 is revolutionizing emergency healthcare by enabling paramedics to provide on-site treatments with remote guidance from doctors via iPads, significantly reducing the need for hospital visits. Dr. Lizardo discusses his motivations, the challenges of innovating within digital health, and how the COVID-19 pandemic catalyzed the acceptance and growth of Tele911, emphasizing the importance of a values-driven approach in navigating the expansion and ensuring data privacy.

510: The Forecastr Formula :Steven Plappert’s Path to Startup Success

February 1st, 2024  |  Season 14  |  32 mins 4 secs

Victoria Guido interviews the CEO of Forecastr, Steven Plappert, about the company's journey and mission to assist non-finance savvy founders with financial modeling. Steven shares insights on balancing growth with financial health and the strategic introduction of a human element into Forecastr's software. He also discusses the company's goals, including cultural strength, profitability, and growth, as well as the crucial role of work-life balance in entrepreneurship. He and Victoria discuss how Forecasts and Thoughtbot integrate this philosophy into their culture.

509: Revolutionizing Learning in Web Development with Wes Bos

January 25th, 2024  |  Season 14  |  37 mins 48 secs

Hosts Will Larry and Victoria Guido are joined by Wes Bos, a full-stack developer, course creator, and podcaster. Wes shares his web development journey, from blogging and creating a successful book on Sublime Text to developing his popular online courses and hosting the Syntax podcast. He talks about the spontaneous start of his teaching career, his approach to creating content that is both approachable and practical, and the importance of making web development accessible to all learners.

thoughtbot's Incubator Program Mini Session 3: Episode 08: Goodz with Mike Rosenthal and Chris Cerrito

January 23rd, 2024  |  Season 13  |  28 mins 35 secs

Lindsey Christensen and Jordyn Bonds catch up with the co-founders of Goodz, Chris Cerrito and Mike Rosenthal, where they share insights from their journey during the Incubator program, including the usefulness of the application process in aligning their vision and the challenges and benefits of user interviews and the importance of not overreacting to single user feedback and finding a balance in responding to diverse opinions. They reveal the varied reactions of users to Goodz's product, highlighting the different market segments interested in it.

As the Incubator program nears its end for Goodz, Chris and Mike reflect on their achievements and future plans. They've made significant progress, such as setting up an e-commerce site and conducting successful user interviews. The co-founders discuss their excitement about the potential of their product and the validation they received from users. Mike mentions the importance of focusing on B2B sales and the possibility of upcoming events like South by Southwest and Record Store Day.

508: Drumming Up Connections: Jessica Wallace on Networking in Real-Time

January 18th, 2024  |  Season 14  |  30 mins 13 secs

Host Victoria Guido talks with Jessica Wallace, CEO of Flok22, about her journey from hairdressing to tech entrepreneurship and the creation of Flok22, an app for real-time networking. They share a mutual passion for music and discuss the challenges and successes in developing Flok22, emphasizing its impact on modern networking and personal connections in the tech world.

thoughtbot's Incubator Program Mini Session 3: Episode 07: Knect with Josh Herzig-Marx

January 16th, 2024  |  Season 13  |  38 mins 23 secs

Josh Herzig-Marx, founder of Knect, discusses the latest developments in his startup journey since his last appearance on the show. He emphasizes the program's value in helping founders like himself refine ideas and strategies. He particularly notes the program's effectiveness in addressing challenges unique to startups, such as managing professional networks and dealing with the rapid growth of online presence.

The conversation also delves into AI's technical aspects and potential applications and the practicalities and ethical considerations of using it in professional networking. Josh and Jordyn explore various AI use cases, distinguishing between beneficial applications and those they deem undesirable.

507: Scaling New Heights: Innovating in Software Development with Merico's Founders Henry Yin and Maxim Wheatley

January 11th, 2024  |  Season 14  |  44 mins 42 secs

Host Victoria Guido, Henry Yin, and Maxim Wheatley of Merico, with special guest co-host Joe Ferris of thoughtbot, delve into Merico's evolution from focusing on open-source funding to creating Apache DevLake, emphasizing community-driven development and transparency. They also explore the integration of AI in software engineering, underscoring AI's role in enhancing productivity and the significance of data-driven approaches in team management and software delivery.

thoughtbot's Incubator Program Mini Season 3 - Episode 06: Goodz with Mike Rosenthal and Chris Cerrito

January 9th, 2024  |  Season 13  |  26 mins 27 secs

Mike Rosenthal and Chris Cirrito discuss the progress of Goodz, focusing on the recent intense weeks they've had. Goodz, a startup merging the digital and physical worlds of music, has stayed on course with its initial concept. Mike details their approach to Thanksgiving and the launch of their e-commerce experiment. He shares insights from recent user interviews, which have influenced their approach and understanding of their target audience.

When the discussion turns to the challenges of launching and maintaining their e-commerce platform, Mike and Chris talk about learning from analytics, marketing strategies, and the importance of understanding consumer behavior. They discuss the challenges in balancing short-term and long-term goals, and the upcoming fundraising efforts.