Born In Silicon Valley

Why 90% Of Drugs Fail

Discover how Liran Belenzon went from having just $2,000 in his bank account to raising $170 million for an AI startup that is revolutionizing drug discovery. In this episode, we dive deep into the journey of building BenchSci and how generative AI is actively solving the massive 90 percent failure rate in clinical trials.
 
Liran shares his incredible story of immigrating to Canada, teaming up with PhD scientists, and risking it all to solve one of the most complex problems in modern healthcare.
 
We explore how BenchSci acts as an artificial intelligence co-pilot for the top pharmaceutical companies in the world, empowering scientists to unravel disease biology faster and more efficiently than ever before.
 
Beyond the groundbreaking technology, Liran opens up about the harsh realities of scaling a company to 350 employees and navigating the rapid evolution of generative AI.
 
He also breaks down the critical lessons he learned about hiring for the right growth stage and why running a tight, three-week fundraising process is vital for founders seeking capital.
 
Whether you are a startup founder looking for leadership strategies or an innovator curious about the future of tech bio, this conversation is packed with actionable insights on building a resilient and impactful business.
 
Chapters00:00 Welcome to Born in Silicon Valley01:39 The Immigrant Entrepreneur Mindset04:12 Risking It All With Only 2,000 Dollars Left08:56 Solving the 90 Percent Failure Rate in Clinical Trials11:10 Building an AI Co-Pilot for Top Pharmaceutical Companies14:20 Navigating the Generative AI Boom in Tech Bio18:11 The Ultimate Founder Challenge: Relentless Focus19:53 Work-Life Balance and Managing Founder Burnout24:07 Crucial Hiring Lessons for Scaling Startups27:53 The Secret to a Fast and Successful Fundraising Process29:10 Evolving From an Early Founder to a 350-Person CEO33:37 The Future of Agentic AI in Drug Discovery
 
Host: Jake Aaron Villarreal leads the top AI recruitment firm in Silicon Valley, www.matchrelevant.com, uncovering stories of funded startups and going behind the scenes to tell their founders’ journeys. If you are growing an AI startup or have a great story to tell, email us at: jake.villarreal@matchrelevant.com

Why Your Pitch Gets Ignored

Want to know exactly what it takes to secure seed funding for your AI startup in today’s hyper-competitive market? Susan Liu, Partner at Uncork Capital, reveals the insider secrets to capturing a VC’s attention and securing the capital you need to scale.
 
In this episode of Born in Silicon Valley, we take you behind the scenes of venture capital with one of the industry’s most insightful seed investors. Susan shares her exact blueprint for a successful cold outreach, explaining why a warm introduction is ideal but a perfectly crafted cold email can still win the day.
 
We dive deep into the rapid growth of AI startups and discuss why proving real ROI is the ultimate shield against market bubbles. Susan also explains the concept of the obsessed founder and why having an encyclopedic knowledge of your market, product wedge, and daily numbers is non-negotiable for securing early-stage investment.
 
Whether you are bootstrapping a vertical AI solution outside the Bay Area or building the next massive infrastructure platform, this conversation is packed with actionable advice on perfecting your pitch, running a competitive fundraising process, and knowing exactly when to raise.
 
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Background05:38 The Role of Seed Funding09:42 Finding the Right Fit: Uncork Capital13:27 Navigating the Funding Process21:25 The Impact of AI on Startups29:27 Strategies for Founders Seeking Funding37:18 Post-Investment Support and Involvement43:16 Market Dynamics and the Future of AI
 
Host: Jake Aaron Villarreal leads the top AI recruitment firm in Silicon Valley, www.matchrelevant.com, uncovering stories of funded startups and going behind the scenes to tell their founders’ journeys. If you are growing an AI startup or have a great story to tell, email us at: jake.villarreal@matchrelevant.com

Why Your AI Projects Fail

Want to know why so many enterprise artificial intelligence projects fail before they even start? Tyler Hochman, Forbes 30 Under 30 entrepreneur and CEO of Fore, reveals the expensive mistakes companies make and how to actually generate real ROI.
 
Dive into the reality of deploying new tech in business as Tyler shares his journey from Stanford startups to building custom architectures for major real estate firms and professional sports teams.
 
We break down his ERR framework, identifying problems that are Expensive, Repetitive, and Repeatable, and explain why you should never try to solve your edge cases first.
 
Whether you are a founder trying to optimize your workflow or a leader tasked with bringing innovation to your enterprise, this episode provides a no-nonsense roadmap to making these tools work for you rather than against you.
 
CHAPTERS
00:00 - Introduction to Tyler Hochman and Fore Enterprise02:18 - Stanford Origins and Early Entrepreneurial Successes07:21 - Building Safe Stop and the Trap of Accidental Virality10:49 - Predicting Employee Turnover Before It Happens12:49 - Why Fore Shifted Focus to Data Ingestion Architecture16:10 - The ERR Framework: Expensive, Repetitive, and Repeatable18:48 - Democratizing NBA Scouting with Video Recognition24:37 - The Real Reason Most Proof of Concepts Fail28:05 - Why Edge Cases Will Destroy Your Tech Integration30:08 - Tech Automation vs. Workflow Optimization33:27 - Hiring Software Engineers in the Age of Coding Agents35:01 - How Fore Educates Its Team on Evolving Tech Trends38:17 - Why Founders Must Constantly Sell Their Vision41:04 - Achieving Profitability and Expanding to the Bay Area43:12 - Where to Connect with Tyler Hochman
 
Host: Jake Aaron Villarreal leads the top AI recruitment firm in Silicon Valley, www.matchrelevant.com, uncovering stories of funded startups and going behind the scenes to tell their founders’ journeys. If you are growing an AI startup or have a great story to tell, email us at: jake.villarreal@matchrelevant.com

How AI Fixes Insurance Claims

Is the insurance industry stuck in the past? Grace Hanson, founder and CEO of Elysian, reveals how AI is transforming the messy and complex world of claims processing.
 
In this episode of Born in Silicon Valley, we sit down with Grace, a former lawyer and claims leader who decided to build the solution she desperately needed. She shares her journey from managing thousands of people at top insurance firms to launching an InsurTech startup that uses tomorrow's technology to contextualize massive amounts of data.
 
Discover how Elysian is empowering adjusters by eliminating tedious admin work and amplifying human judgment. Grace also opens up about the realities of startup life, the challenges of hiring the right culture fit, and why domain expertise is your biggest advantage when building an AI product.
 
Whether you are an aspiring founder, an engineer, or a professional in the financial services sector, this conversation offers an unfiltered look at what it takes to find product-market fit and scale a venture-backed company in 2026.
 
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Context Setting02:43 Grace's Background and Career Journey09:40 Identifying Industry Problems and Solutions17:26 Building Elysian: The Vision and Team Dynamics25:40 Hiring and Company Culture29:01 Vision Communication and Future Outlook
 
Host: Jake Aaron Villarreal leads the top AI recruitment firm in Silicon Valley, www.matchrelevant.com, uncovering stories of funded startups and going behind the scenes to tell their founders’ journeys. If you are growing an AI startup or have a great story to tell, email us at: jake.villarreal@matchrelevant.com

Stop Losing Your Best Employees

Middle managers are facing unprecedented burnout, but AI might be the ultimate solution to scale leadership development. Join us as Jennifer Dulski, founder and CEO of Rising Team, reveals how she went from teaching high school to scaling Yahoo and Google, and why she is now transforming how companies build high-performing teams.
 
In this episode of Born in Silicon Valley, Jennifer shares her incredible journey from early-stage Yahoo to becoming the president of change.org, leaving massive financial incentives on the table for the sake of global impact. She breaks down the critical lessons she learned about pattern recognition, focusing resources, and why investing in your people is the ultimate growth hack.
 
We dive deep into the creation of Rising Team and how it functions as a personalized leadership trainer for managers. Jennifer explains why middle managers are the most under-invested group in corporate America and how AI-driven software can provide executive-level coaching at a fraction of the cost, dramatically boosting employee retention and productivity.
 
For founders and hiring managers, Jennifer also drops a masterclass on the exact frameworks she uses to hire top talent. Learn how to build a foolproof hiring scorecard focusing on outcomes and attributes, and discover the specific questions you need to ask during reference checks to uncover the real truth about a candidate.
 
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Jennifer Dulski and Rising Team05:39 Jennifer's Journey: From Coxswain to CEO12:14 Lessons from Yahoo: Scaling and Focus16:43 Transitioning from Google to Change.org23:28 The Birth of Rising Team: Solving Leadership Challenges27:08 Empowering Middle Managers: The Overlooked Heroes36:11 Teaching and Learning: The Impact of Education39:10 Hiring Strategies: The Importance of Scorecards42:44 Effective Reference Checking: Getting the Real Story46:37 Onboarding and Measuring Success with Rising Team48:37 Reflections: What Jennifer Would Do Differently
 
Host: Jake Aaron Villarreal leads the top AI recruitment firm in Silicon Valley, www.matchrelevant.com, uncovering stories of funded startups and going behind the scenes to tell their founders’ journeys. If you are growing an AI startup or have a great story to tell, email us at: jake.villarreal@matchrelevant.com

Stop AI Data Poisoning Now

AI is evolving faster than we can secure it, and data poisoning threatens to turn the systems we trust into unpredictable liabilities. Join us as Wendy Chin, CEO of PureCipher, reveals the silent vulnerabilities in artificial intelligence and how we can protect the future of super intelligence before it is too late.
In this episode, we explore the critical intersection of cybersecurity and artificial intelligence. Wendy breaks down how even a fraction of a percent of compromised data can drastically reduce AI accuracy and lead to dangerous real-world outcomes. We discuss the transition from traditional cybersecurity perimeters to defending the data itself, ensuring that AI models remain safe, ethical, and aligned with humanity.
We also dive into the groundbreaking Omniseal technology from PureCipher, an invisible watermark that authenticates data and prevents malicious tampering. Whether you are building AI agents, managing sensitive enterprise data, or simply navigating the new digital landscape, understanding these advanced security layers is absolutely essential for the future of business.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Background of Wendy Chin01:06 AI Security and the Future of Technology04:07 Meet Wendy Chin and the Future of AI Security05:46 From Bell Labs to Cybersecurity Innovation08:21 Why Startups Outpace Corporate Hierarchies11:18 The Hidden Dangers of AI Data Poisoning13:33 Building PureCipher to Secure Artificial Intelligence17:57 Why Super AI Needs Empathy to Survive22:38 Securing Training Data with Invisible Watermarks28:21 Data Sovereignty and Monetizing Your Digital Footprint32:27 How the PureCipher Platform Protects Data35:02 Partnering with the Defense Industry for AI Safety38:28 What Every Company Must Ask AI Vendors41:08 Why AI Hallucinates and How to Fix It45:00 The 2026 Roadmap for PureCipher and OmniSeal46:32 The Business Model Behind AI Trust Layers48:04 Where to Connect with Wendy Chin
Host: Jake Aaron Villarreal leads the top AI recruitment firm in Silicon Valley, www.matchrelevant.com, uncovering stories of funded startups and going behind the scenes to tell their founders’ journeys. If you are growing an AI startup or have a great story to tell, email us at: jake.villarreal@matchrelevant.com

AI Will Break Email

The AI revolution isn't coming—it's already here, and it's systematically breaking legacy email security as we know it. In this episode of Born in Silicon Valley, Alan LeFort, Co-Founder and CEO of StrongestLayer, reveals exactly why pattern-matching defenses are failing against AI-generated attacks and how his team is engineering reasoning-based detection to secure the future of enterprise communication.
Alan brings over 25 years of experience scaling products at tech giants like Proofpoint, McAfee, and Intel. We dive into the critical pivot from large corporate life to startup innovation, exploring why true disruption requires a 10X leap in performance, not just incremental improvement. We also unpack the reality of the cybersecurity landscape: what hackers are really after, why AI is the ultimate double-edged sword, and how StrongestLayer is building the third generation of email security specifically for the AI era.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Alan LeFort and StrongLayer03:01 Alan's Unique Career Journey06:13 The Decision to Join a Startup07:52 The Role of Age in Startup Leadership09:44 AI's Impact on Business and Email Security13:12 The Challenges of Email Security16:10 Disrupting Existing Categories in Sales19:29 Key Metrics for Email Security Success19:55 Common Threats in Email Security21:57 Advice for Employees on Email Security24:47 AI and Data Privacy in Security27:32 StrongLayer's Growth and Future Plans29:30 Navigating Change Management in Growth32:31 The Future of Email Security35:38 Dealing with Ransomware and Cyber Threats38:12 Preparing for AI-Driven Attacks39:34 Building a Strong Team for Growth43:55 Identifying Key Roles for Success
Host: Jake Aaron Villarreal leads the top AI recruitment firm in Silicon Valley, www.matchrelevant.com, uncovering stories of funded startups and going behind the scenes to tell their founders’ journeys. If you are growing an AI startup or have a great story to tell, email us at: jake.villarreal@matchrelevant.com

AI Coaches Every Sales Call

Discover how AI is completely transforming sales coaching and why the old methods of manual call reviews are obsolete. Join us as Matt Doyon reveals the exact system that helped Triple Session reach $1M ARR by automating sales feedback.
 
In this episode of Born in Silicon Valley, we sit down with Matt Doyon, Co-founder and CEO of Triple Session. Matt shares his journey from scaling massive teams at HubSpot to building a revolutionary AI-powered coaching platform. He breaks down why traditional sales tools were failing his teams and how he decided to build a solution that automatically serves up best practice clips for top performers.
 
We also dive into the realities of running a rapidly growing tech startup from Guadalajara, Mexico. Matt provides incredible insights on evaluating geographical risk, building powerful non-competitive partnerships like their deal with Aircall, and the exact hiring framework he uses to find top-tier talent. Whether you are leading a sales team or building an AI startup, this conversation is packed with actionable takeaways.
 
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Background03:08 Matt Doyon's Journey to Entrepreneurship05:54 Identifying the Need for Coaching Solutions11:00 The Role of AI in Sales Coaching14:12 AI Coaching: Seller Reactions and Insights19:32 Building an AI-Driven Coaching Platform21:55 Business Model and Market Positioning23:26 Growth and Partnership Strategies27:46 Challenges of Running a Startup in Mexico28:07 Risk Perspectives in Entrepreneurship30:50 Challenges in Hiring Qualified Candidates32:56 Effective Hiring Strategies37:40 Future of Sales and AI43:42 Building Interconnected Systems in Business46:10 Prioritizing Key Roles for Growth
 
Host: Jake Aaron Villarreal leads the top AI recruitment firm in Silicon Valley, www.matchrelevant.com, uncovering stories of funded startups and going behind the scenes to tell their founders’ journeys. If you are growing an AI startup or have a great story to tell, email us at: jake.villarreal@matchrelevant.com

Stop Losing Deals Silently

AI is revolutionizing the legal industry, but the hidden risks of hallucinations are costing companies millions. Discover how Monjur is solving the AI verification paradox by combining cutting-edge LLMs with human attorney supervision to protect growing businesses.
 
Rob Scott, Co-founder and CEO of Monjur, joins the Born in Silicon Valley podcast to reveal his journey from managing partner of a tech law firm to bootstrapping a legal AI startup to $3 million in ARR. He breaks down the exact RAG architecture and proprietary confidence scoring system his team built to eliminate AI hallucinations and achieve over 98 percent accuracy in legal workflows.
 
We dive deep into the challenges of pivoting a SaaS 1.0 company to an AI-first model, the realities of raising a Series A, and why the future of legal tech is about amplifying human empathy rather than replacing it. Whether you are a startup founder looking to leverage AI or an entrepreneur curious about the future of legal tech, this episode is packed with actionable insights on scaling a B2B SaaS business.
 
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Technical Setup02:35 Rob Scott's Background and Legal Expertise05:16 Transitioning from Law to Tech Entrepreneurship08:16 Client-Centric Approach in Startup Development11:27 AI in Legal Services: Opportunities and Risks14:27 Target Audience and Market Strategy17:15 Building a Reliable AI System20:03 The Role of a Non-Engineer in Tech Development23:07 Bootstrapping vs. Venture Capital26:10 Hiring and Team Dynamics in a Growing Startup29:02 Future Growth and Scaling Strategies32:14 Challenges in Transitioning to AI35:07 The Future of AI in Legal Work37:57 Client Relationships and AI's Role40:54 Vision for the Future of Monjour
 
Host: Jake Aaron Villarreal leads the top AI recruitment firm in Silicon Valley, www.matchrelevant.com, uncovering stories of funded startups and going behind the scenes to tell their founders’ journeys. If you are growing an AI startup or have a great story to tell, email us at: jake.villarreal@matchrelevant.com

Why Your Models Decay Daily

Discover how a serial entrepreneur turned childhood adversity and nine failed startups into a groundbreaking AI and quantum computing platform. Martin Sajon, founder of /q99, reveals the harsh realities of startup life and how quantum tech is solving enterprise supply chain mysteries before they happen.
In this episode, we dive deep into the mind of a multi-exit founder who started building computers at age five. Martin shares the intense, unfiltered story of his previous cybersecurity venture, leading up to a grueling eight-month acquisition process by Coalfire. He opens up about the severe physical and mental toll of building a company on the brink of collapse, offering a critical warning to founders about prioritizing sleep and personal health over the endless grind.
Beyond the personal journey, we explore the cutting-edge technology behind /q99. Martin breaks down how they are tackling the massive problem of unstructured enterprise data by combining artificial intelligence with quantum computing. Learn how quantum embeddings and knowledge graphs are enabling large enterprises in the energy and supply chain sectors to discover hidden vulnerabilities and predict complex failures across global networks.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Martin Sajon and His Journey02:38 Overcoming Adversity: The Impact of Childhood Experiences09:44 The Path to Acquisition: Lessons from Neuralis15:34 The Thrill of Entrepreneurship: Embracing Failure17:56 The Importance of Self-Care in Startup Life21:31 Prioritizing Self-Care in Entrepreneurship23:45 Transitioning from Acquisition to New Ventures26:39 Understanding Q99's Market Solutions29:51 The Role of Quantum Computing in Data Management33:39 Navigating the Investment Landscape for Q9936:27 Targeting the Right Audience for Q9939:26 Flexible Pricing Models for Clients41:45 Lessons Learned from Past Failures43:33 Future Roadmap and Growth Plans for Q99
Host: Jake Aaron Villarreal leads the top AI recruitment firm in Silicon Valley, www.matchrelevant.com, uncovering stories of funded startups and going behind the scenes to tell their founders’ journeys. If you are growing an AI startup or have a great story to tell, email us at: jake.villarreal@matchrelevant.com