Shows / Startup Dad
Startup Dad
Adam Fishman (author of a top business newsletter on Substack with 11K+ subscribers) interviews executives, entrepreneurs, and company leaders in technology companies who are also fathers. They discuss the tough aspects of work, parenting, family, the mistakes made and lessons learned along the way. All episodes at www.startupdadpod.com.
Episodes
Startup DadWhat Is Maternal Gatekeeping? | Sarah Schoppe-Sullivan (Mom of 1, Ohio State)
Sarah Schoppe-Sullivan is a Professor of Psychology at The Ohio State University and Director of the Children and Parents Lab. For nearly two decades, she has…
Startup DadI Quit My 7-Figure Job To Take Back My Time | Peter Yang (Dad of 2, Behind The Craft)
Peter Yang is the creator of Behind the Craft, a 100k+ subscriber YouTube channel and 150k+ subscriber newsletter focused on product, AI, and building…
Startup DadBuild an AI-Powered Parent OS | Aakash Gupta (Dad of 2, Author/Podcast Host)
Aakash Gupta is a creator, product advisor, author, and the host of one of the most popular newsletters, podcasts, and social accounts for product managers and…
Startup DadWhy I Stepped Down to Spend More Time With My Son | Ankit Gupta (Dad of 1, Founder of Bicycle Health)
Ankit Gupta is the Founder of Bicycle Health, a company he built and led for nearly nine years before handing over the CEO role and becoming a stay-at-home…
Startup DadWhy Dads Want to Do More at Home—but Still Don’t | Brad Harrington (Dad of 3, Work-Family Scholar)
Brad Harrington is the former Executive Director of the Boston College Center for Work & Family and spent nearly two decades at Hewlett-Packard, earning his…
Startup DadHe Trained a Trillion-Parameter Model on Dad Jokes for $200 | Adam Grenier (Dad of 3, AI Matey)
Adam Grenier is the Founder of AI Matey, a growth and product advisor, longtime startup operator, and the creator of DadBench, an AI evaluation system built…
Startup DadOur Screen Time Fear Misses the Evidence | Jackie Nesi (Mom of 3, Brown Professor, Techno Sapiens)
Jackie Nesi, PhD is a clinical psychologist, researcher, and associate professor at Brown University. She is also the creator of Techno Sapiens, a weekly…
Startup DadThe Founder Habit That Backfires At Home | Harry Roegiers (Dad of 3, Founder of Stuntpony)
Harry Roegiers is the founder of Stuntpony; a live call coach for B2B salespeople. He’s spent the last decade working in sales performance, growth, and revenue…
Startup DadWhat Happens When Parents Stop Hovering | Dirk Doebler (Dad of 1, Parento Leave)
Dirk Doebler is the Founder and CEO at Parento Leave, a company dedicated to helping organizations build better parental leave programs. He lives with his wife…
Startup DadYour Kids Are Smarter Than You. Let Them Govern Themselves. | Matt Fairbanks (Dad of 4, CMO at Island)
Matt Fairbanks is the Chief Marketing Officer of the enterprise browser and platform company, Island. He built a highly successful career as a tech executive…
Startup DadThe New Fatherhood: What Modern Dads Need Instead | Kevin Maguire (Dad of 2, Author)
Kevin Maguire is the former Head of Strategy for Consumer Apps at Google and is now the author of The New Fatherhood and creator of the newsletter of the same…
Startup DadAI Has Changed The Summer Job Playbook | Ghazi Masood (Dad of 2, CRO of Replit)
Ghazi Masood is the Chief Revenue Officer at Replit, where he leads revenue for one of the fastest growing AI coding platforms in the world. He’s also a father…
Startup DadWe Drove Through the Night to Meet Our Daughter | Matt Korn (Dad of 4, Founder of Dad Esquire)
Matt Korn is a Partner at Pierson Ferdinand LLP and the founder of Dad, Esquire, an online community dedicated to supporting fatherhood within the legal…
Startup DadDid I F*ck Up Already?” My First 24 Hours as a Dad | Zach Jaffe (Dad of 1, Create Music Group)
Zach Jaffe is an M&A professional at Create Music Group, where he focuses on independent record label acquisitions. After years in the LA music industry and…
Startup DadFrom TBS’s My Boys to Stay-at-Home Dad | Jamie Kaler (Dad of 2, Actor and Comedian)
Jamie Kaler is a former Naval Officer turned actor, stand-up comedian and stay-at-home dad. He is best known for his role on TBS's "My Boys" and decades of…
Startup DadCotopaxi Founder: How I Built A Values-First Company And Family | Davis Smith (Dad of 4)
Davis Smith is the Founder and Chairman of Cotopaxi, an outdoor gear brand built around fighting poverty and doing good in the world. Before stepping back as…
Startup DadScience of Reading: Teach Any Kid to Read | Matt Pasternack (Dad of 3, Once)
Matt Pasternack is the co-founder and CEO of Once, a science of reading-based software that teaches children ages three to seven how to read. He built the…
Startup Dad40 Kid Emails a Week. So I Built a Bot | David Reich (Dad of 3, Founder/CEO of Fambot)
David Reich is the Founder and CEO of Fambot, an AI-powered assistant built to help parents manage the overwhelming admin work that comes with modern family…
Startup DadThe Bar for 'Involved Dads' Is Embarrassingly Low | Richard Petts (Dad of 2, Associate Dean at Ball State University)
Richard Petts is a Professor of Sociology and Associate Dean of the College of Sciences and Humanities at Ball State University. He’s also the author of Father…
Startup DadEverything Is Trivial After Infant CPR | Ben Norment (Dad of 3, Founder/CEO of Stork Exchange)
Ben Norment is the Founder and CEO of Stork Exchange, a company helping parents access high quality baby gear at more affordable prices by working with…
Startup DadDad Bods, Brains and Testosterone | Darby Saxbe (Mom of 2, Author and Professor at USC)
Darby Saxbe is a clinical psychologist, professor at USC, and one of the few researchers in the world studying how men’s brains change when they become…
Startup DadI Use Hostage Negotiation Tactics With My Daughter | Walter Velazquez Taboada (Dad of 2, Architect at Winning by Design)
Walter Velazquez Taboada is a consultant and former operations leader at Winning by Design, where he helps executive teams navigate complex decisions and…
Startup DadWhat 7 Kids Taught Me About Letting Go | Nate Quigley (Dad of 7, Co-founder/CEO of Chatbooks)
Nate Quigley is the co-founder of Chatbooks, the photo book company that helps families preserve their memories from Instagram photos. He started the company…
Startup Dad“Kids Expose Wasted Motion” | Gabe Larsen (Dad of 5, CRO of Atonom)
Gabe Larsen is the CRO of Atonom, an AI company building always-on AI agents. He has spent his career leading go-to-market teams at high-growth companies…
Startup DadMy Mom Interviews Famous People; Dad Coaches Baseball | Jonathan Stull (Dad of 4, COO of Handshake)
Jonathan Stull is the President and COO of Handshake, the career platform connecting students and recent grads with employers that recently made a massive…
Startup Dad“Stop Making Kids Your Trophy” | Ashish Kundra (Dad of 1, CEO of Conceptual)
Ashish Kundra is the CEO of Conceptual, a growth agency that helps companies like Cursor, Perplexity, Superhuman, Fenty Beauty, GPTZero, and dozens more. Prior…
Startup DadAI Is Failing Kids and This Founder Will Fix It | Robert Whitney (Dad of 1, Co-founder/CTO of Stickerbox)
Robert Whitney is the Co-Founder and CTO of Hapiko, the company that invented Stickerbox, an AI powered product helping kids create and play in more…
Startup DadEither the Kids Suck or the Parents Suck | Caleb Avery (Dad of 3, Founder of Tilled)
Caleb Avery is the Founder and CEO of Tilled. He started his first company at 19 and has spent the last seven years building Tilled while raising three kids…
Startup DadHow to Not Raise Entitled Kids | Sam Yagan (Dad of 3, OkCupid & Match Group)
Sam Yagan is the founder of OKCupid and former CEO of Match Group. He’s also an investor, board member, married to a CEO, and a dad of three kids ages 12 to…
Startup DadNew Dads: Stop Fighting The Change | Rex Gelb (Dad of 1, Summit Chase)
Rex Gelb is the Founder/CEO of Summit Chase, a paid media agency serving B2B, SaaS, and professional services companies. Before starting Summit Chase, Rex…
Startup DadFamily First Is Harder Than It Sounds | Jesse Randall (Dad of 5, Sweater Ventures)
Jesse Randall is the founder and CEO of Sweater, a company making venture investing accessible to anyone with a smartphone. He is also a husband and father of…
Startup DadParenting Through Projectile Vomit | Mike Rome (Dad of 3, moonwater)
Mike Rome is the founder of moonwater, a performance marketing studio that helps startups grow, and a longtime operator in growth stage tech where he…
Startup DadThis Working Mom and Stay-At-Home Dad Flipped The Script on Parenting | Amy and Chris Winther (Parents of 3, Square, Stay-at-home Dad)
Amy Winther is the Head of Product Design for Core Products at Square and the writer behind Motherboard, a Substack sharing honest stories about senior women…
Startup DadStartups Are BETTER for Parents Than Big Tech | Jacob Bank (Dad of 3, Founder at Relay.app, ex-Google)
Jacob Bank is the Founder and CEO of Relay.app, a profitable, fast-growing startup that helps teams build AI agents to automate their work. Previously, Jacob…
Startup DadMove the Ball Forward: A COO Dad's Framework | Amit Shah (Dad of 2, Virta Health)
Amit Shah is the COO of Virta Health, a company on a mission to reverse Type 2 diabetes, and a dad to two young children. As a high-level executive and father…
Startup DadBeing a Dad at Two Hypergrowth AI Startups | Lee Robinson (Dad of 1, Cursor)
Lee Robinson is the VP of Developer Education at Cursor, one of the fastest-growing AI developer tools in the world. Before Cursor, he spent five years at…
Startup DadStop Being A Boring Dad | Pranav Piyush (Dad of 2, Paramark)
Pranav Piyush is the co-founder and CEO of Paramark, a marketing analytics company, and a dad to two young children. On his entrepreneurial journey, Pranav has…
Startup DadBuilding Meaningful Connections | Jason Smith (Dad of 2, Klue)
Jason Smith is the Co-Founder and CEO of Klue, an AI-powered competitive intelligence platform. He’s a five-time startup founder, Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of…
Startup DadFinding Peace in the Dopamine Desert | Dr. Emilio Galán (Dad of 2, Founder turned Stay-At-Home-Dad)
Dr. Emilio Galán is a former medical student, entrepreneur, and now a full-time stay-at-home dad. He took a drastic turn in his career, moving from building a…
Startup DadHomeschooling My Kids Across 21 Countries | Michael Goodbody (Dad of 2, Robinhood)
Michael Goodbody is the former Global Head of Marketing & Communications at Robinhood, CMO at Dave, and VP Marketing at Credit Karma. A year ago, he resigned…
Startup DadFounding A Company As A Single Dad | Andrew Song (Dad of 2, Make Sunsets)
Andrew Song is the co-founder of Make Sunsets, a climate startup working to slow global warming by deploying reflective aerosols in the stratosphere. A…
Startup DadWhat 46 Dads Taught Me About Modern Fatherhood | Best of 2025 (Startup Dad Recap)
This special episode looks back at the most powerful moments from Startup Dad in 2025. Host Adam Fishman reflects on a year of raw, honest conversations with…
Startup DadThe Hidden Benefits of Raising Kids in NYC | Dan Borok (Dad of 2, nvp capital)
Daniel Borok is a Managing Partner at nvp capital, an early-stage venture firm investing in founders building the next generation of vertical AI companies…
Startup Dad10,000 Independent Decisions | Oji Udezue (Dad of 2, Author, Typeform, Calendly, Twitter)
Oji Udezue is an AI Product Expert at ProductMind, and a veteran product leader with more than 25 years of experience across Typeform, Twitter, Calendly…
Startup DadThe Mental Workload of Family Life | Allison Daminger (Mom of 1, Author & Sociologist)
Allison Daminger is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she specializes in gender, family dynamics, and social…
Startup Dad12 Parenting Rules and Frameworks | Jamie Nacht (Dad of 2, Co-founder & CEO of Havium)
Jamie Nacht is the co-founder and CEO of Havium, a company he built from the ground up with his wife and co-founder, Cristin. Together, they’re raising two…
Startup DadModern Parenting Rules with David Simnick CEO of Soapbox | Dad of 1
Dave Simnick is the founder and CEO of Soapbox, a company with a mission to provide personal care products while donating soap to those in need. He's also a…
Startup DadParenting in face of Technology with Tech CEO Chet Kittleson at TinCan | Dad of 3
In this episode of Startup Dad, Adam Fishman sits down with Chet Kittleson, serial founder and co-founder of Tin Can, an analog phone for kids that helps…
Startup DadLearning the Hard Way as a Single Parent with Colin Anawaty, CPO | Dad of 2
In this episode of Startup Dad, Adam Fishman sits down with Colin Anawaty, technologist and founder of Flying A Capital. He’s also a single dad of two boys…
Startup DadHow to Make Screentime Actually Work for Your Family with Chad Pytel | Dad of 2
Chad Pytel is the founder and CEO of thoughtbot, a product development consultancy, and co-founder of 12 Sided Studios, a gaming and production company. He’s…
Startup DadBalancing Work and Family as a CEO | Jonathan Jamil, Dad of 2
Jonathan Jamil, founder and CEO of Springboard, shares his story of growing up in a two-bedroom apartment with six family members, building a business powered…
Startup DadStaying Present as a Dad and a CEO with Adam Lieb | Dad of 2
In this episode of Startup Dad, I sit down with Adam Lieb, the founder and CEO of Gamesight, a marketing technology company that helps video game studios…
Startup DadWhy being a Dad makes Entrepreneurship Easier | Rishabh Jain, Dad of 2
In this episode of Startup Dad, Adam Fishman sits down with Rishabh Jain, the CEO of FERMÀT Commerce, a company he launched when his oldest daughter was just a…
Startup DadHow to Teach your Kids Financial Independence with a Finance Leader | Zach Teutsch, Dad of 2
Zach Teutsch is the founder of Values Added Financial, and a former leader at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. He’s also a husband, father of two, and…
Startup DadCEO Jeremy King on Parenting rules, Leadership, Entrepreneurship, and Ocean Conservation | Dad of 2
Jeremy King, co-founder and CEO of Ocean Orchestra and former CEO of Attest, shares his journey as a founder, ocean advocate, and father of two daughters. In…
Startup DadTips to Help your Child Choose a College | Jeff Selingo, Dad of 2
In this episode of Startup Dad, Adam Fishman sits down with Jeff Selingo, a bestselling author, journalist and education expert, to discuss the complexities of…
Startup DadPeter Kazanjy on Fatherhood, Entrepreneurship, and IVF | Dad of 1, Finding Sales
Peter Kazanjy is the best-selling author of Founding Sales and co-founder of Atrium. He’s also a dad to a seven-year-old son, Michael, and husband to Tracy, a…
Startup DadJames Currier - One Tip that Changed the way he Parents | NFX, Dad of 4
James Currier is a serial entrepreneur, founding partner at NFX, and a father of 4 boys. Known for his sharp insights into human behavior and startup dynamics…
Startup DadPro Dad Hacks as an Entrepreneur with Mike Malloy | Dad of 1
Mike Malloy is the founder of Malloy Industries, a firm that connects scaling entrepreneurs with vetted fractional executives. He's also a Georgetown…
Startup DadTips for Parenting a Toddler with Head of Growth from Adobe | Dad of 1
Michael Leibovich is the Head of Growth at Adobe, but at home, he’s dad to a curious two-and-a-half-year-old and husband to a full-time working partner. With a…