Shows / Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
Join Chris Lustrino as he talks to startup founders, angel investors, fund managers, investing platform executives, and more about the online private markets. Inside Startup Investing gives listeners the inside scoop on alternative investing such as startups from an investor and founder perspectives.
Episodes
Inside Startup Investing with Chris LustrinoDermaSensor CEO Cody Simmons on Putting Skin Cancer Detection in the Primary Care Office
Cody Simmons had his first skin biopsy at 15, and his mom and aunt both had early-stage melanoma. Today he is the co-founder and CEO of DermaSensor, a Miami…
Inside Startup Investing with Chris LustrinoGreenlite Holdings CEO Jonathan Lewis on Buying Distressed Apartments in Oklahoma
Jonathan Lewis started flipping distressed houses in Phoenix in 2008, in the middle of the financial crisis. Seventeen years later he's the founder and CEO of…
Inside Startup Investing with Chris LustrinoAnywhere DX CEO Nathalya Mamane on Building a $25 At-Home Strep Test
Nathalya Mamane is the co-founder and CEO of Anywhere DX, and she's building the thing every parent has wished for at 9 p.m. on a Friday: an at-home strep…
Inside Startup Investing with Chris LustrinoBito CEO Amar Goel on the Context Layer That Cuts AI Coding Costs by 40%
Amar Goel founded PubMatic in 2006, grew it to about $300 million in revenue and took it public on the Nasdaq in 2020. Now he and his PubMatic co-founder are…
Inside Startup Investing with Chris LustrinobluShift Aerospace's Sascha Deri on Hybrid Rockets and America's Rocket Motor Shortage
Sascha Deri, founder and CEO of bluShift Aerospace, builds hybrid rocket engines that aren't explosive, can throttle, and can sit on a shelf ready to go. He…
Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino151 Coffee's Mark Wattles: Running the Hollywood Video Playbook on Drive-Thru Coffee
Mark Wattles opened the first Hollywood Video in 1988 and grew it to 2,000 company-owned stores. Now he's running the same playbook with drive-thru coffee. He…
Inside Startup Investing with Chris LustrinoAutoCamp's Neil Dipaola on Getting 100 Million People Outdoors
AutoCamp founder and CEO Neil Dipaola joins Chris Lustrino to explain how a design-forward glamping brand became the "Marriott of outdoor hospitality" — nine…
Inside Startup Investing with Chris LustrinoFarm to Pet CEO on Building a $5M Treat Brand
Jackson Jones spent his career in manufacturing and supply chain — Berkshire Hathaway's Marmon Group, then acquiring Duracell from Procter & Gamble. Then COVID…
Inside Startup Investing with Chris LustrinoHEVO CEO on the Race to Standardize Wireless EV Charging
Jeremy McCool is back on Inside Startup Investing, and a lot has changed since his last appearance. HEVO builds wireless charging for electric vehicles —…
- Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
Rejuvenate Bio CEO on Gene Therapy for Aging Pets and Humans
Rejuvenate Bio CEO Dan Oliver joins Chris Lustrino to discuss the company’s gene therapy platform for aging-related disease. A spinout from George Church’s lab…
- Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
Avadain CEO Brad Larschan on Bringing Graphene to Commercial Scale
Avadain CEO Brad Larschan joins Chris Lustrino to discuss the company’s effort to commercialize one of the most promising materials in advanced manufacturing…
- Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
Influence Mobile CEO Daniel Todd on Building a $28M Mobile Gaming Rewards Business
Influence Mobile founder and CEO Daniel Todd joins Chris Lustrino to discuss how the company built Rewarded Play into a major rewards platform for mobile…
- Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
Hill Road Pictures on Film Investing, Creators, and Comedy
Hill Road Pictures’ Frank Peluso and Bob Vanech join Chris Lustrino to discuss So I’m the Crazy One, an upcoming R-rated comedy built around a creator-driven…
- Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
Lumida Wealth CEO Ram Ahluwalia on the Future of AI-Powered Wealth Management
Lumida Wealth founder and CEO Ram Ahluwalia joins Chris Lustrino to discuss how the company is building an AI-powered wealth management platform for…
- Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
TerraCycle CEO Tom Szaky on Building a Profitable Circular Economy Business
TerraCycle founder and CEO Tom Szaky joins Chris Lustrino to discuss how the company built a global waste management business around recycling the products…
- Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
What It Takes to Build a Flying Car Company
Doroni Aerospace founder and CEO Doron Merdinger joins Chris Lustrino to discuss the realities of building a flying car company and why he believes electric…
- Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
How Chris Graebe Built a Portfolio of Startup Winners
Chris Lustrino sits down with Chris Graebe, founder of IPO Deal Hunter and one of the longest-tenured private market investors in the equity crowdfunding…
- Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
DealMaker CEO Rebecca Kacaba on the Rise of Retail Investors
This week on Inside Startup Investing, Chris Lustrino sits down with Rebecca Kacaba, co-founder and CEO of DealMaker, one of the leading platforms powering…
- Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
Inside Oxeia Biopharma’s Mission to Heal Brain Damage From Concussions
On this episode of Inside Startup Investing, Chris Lustrino speaks with Dr. Michael Wyand, CEO of Oxeia Biopharma, a clinical-stage biotech company developing…
- Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
How Pytheas Energy Is Using AI to Revive Abandoned Oil Wells
Pytheas Energy CEO Josh Zuker joins Inside Startup Investing to discuss how the company is using AI and data analytics to revive overlooked oil wells abandoned…
- Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
Renji Bijoy, Immersed — The Future of Work Through Spatial Computing
In this episode of Inside Startup Investing, Renji Bijoy joins Chris Lustrino to discuss why he believes spatial computing glasses will become the next major…
- Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
Madeline Fraser, Gemist — Modernizing Jewelry With AI and Custom Ecommerce
In this episode of Inside Startup Investing, Madeline Fraser joins Chris Lustrino to discuss how Gemist is bringing AI, automation, and modern ecommerce…
- Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
George Moringer, Tapouts — The $5M Child Wellness Platform Teaching Kids Emotional Intelligence
In this episode of Inside Startup Investing, Chris Lustrino speaks with George Moringer about building a platform that teaches kids emotional intelligence…
- Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
Inside Startup Investing: Carter Fowler, Totem — The Viral Offline Device Solving a Universal Problem
In this episode of Inside Startup Investing, Chris Lustrino sits down with Carter Fowler, founder and CEO of Totem, a company building decentralized, offline…
- Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
Alaffia: Building a Profitable Social Enterprise Connecting West Africa to Global Markets
In this episode of Inside Startup Investing, Chris Lustrino speaks with Olowo-n’djo Tchala about building Alaffia, a mission-driven consumer brand rooted in…
- Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
Solgaard: Building a Sustainable Travel Brand by Turning Ocean Plastic into Premium Products
In this episode of Inside Startup Investing, Chris Lustrino speaks with Adrian Solgaard about building a sustainable travel brand rooted in ocean plastic…
- Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
Fragment Media: Building a $40M Digital Media Business by Selling Quality Journalism
In this episode of Inside Startup Investing, Chris Lustrino speaks with Nicholas White, CEO of Fragment Media, about building a subscription-first digital…
- Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
Reinventing the Wheel: How GACW Is Building Airless Suspension Wheels for Extreme Performance
In this episode of Inside Startup Investing, Chris Lustrino speaks with Harmen van Kamp, CEO of GACW, about reinventing the wheel with an airless suspension…
- Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
How Sen-Jam Is Building a Portfolio of Inflammation Drugs
In this episode of Inside Startup Investing, Chris Lustrino speaks with Jim Iversen, CEO of Sen-Jam Pharmaceutical, about building a platform of therapeutics…
- Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
Atari Hotels: Building a $124M Gaming-Themed Destination in Phoenix
In this episode of Inside Startup Investing, Chris Lustrino speaks with Jordan Taylor, managing member of Atari Hotels, about the development of a $124 million…
- Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
Why Most Crowdfunding Campaigns Fail (And How Top Issuers Avoid It)
In this episode of Inside Startup Investing, Chris Lustrino sits down with Jason Fishman, founder of Digital Niche Agency (DNA), one of the earliest and most…
- Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
FDA Progress + Manufacturing Scale: Inside Pirouette Pharma's Latest Round
Pirouette Pharma CEO Conor Cullinane returns to Inside Startup Investing to share the company’s progress since its last Wefunder raise—spanning FDA engagement…
- Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
From 7 Years to 12 Weeks: Sunstone Health’s AI for Epilepsy & Autism
Sunstone Health CEO Joshua Resnikoff joins Chris Lustrino to explain how Sunstone uses AI on healthcare claims data to proactively identify children with…
- Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
Atombeam: AI Data Compaction That Sends 4× More Data Without New Networks
Atombeam CEO Charles Yeomans joins Chris Lustrino to break down a deceptively simple idea with massive implications: make data smaller while it’s streaming so…
- Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
Scaling Regenerative Ag with Swarms of Robots
Founder Clint Brauer explains how Greenfield Robotics builds compact, row-running robots that mow weeds and lay mulch while enabling nighttime foliar…
- Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
Why People Buy: Inside Solsten's Cognitive-Behavioral AI
Today, Chris sits down with Joe Schaeppi, co-founder & CEO of Solsten—a deep-tech company mapping human psychology and turning it into actionable AI for…
- Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
Scaling Whiskey in a Down Market: Cleveland’s Global Pivot
Cleveland Whiskey was my first-ever equity crowdfunding investment (May 16, 2016), and founder/CEO Tom Lix has sent detailed quarterly updates ever since. In…
- Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
Robots as a Service: Macrovey's Recurring Revenue Model in the Aisles
Read our Macrovey deal analysis (closed) on Kingscrowd Robotics hype is everywhere—but who actually makes robots work on real warehouse floors? In this…
- Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
Paladin Power: The Inverter Breakthrough Making Homes Truly Off-Grid
Read our deal analysis on Paladin Paladin Power CEO Ted Thomas—a U.S. Navy veteran with 20+ years in energy storage and the named inventor on multiple U.S…
- Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
Chad Rosen, Victory Hemp — Clean Protein, Oils & Xylitol from Hemp Seeds
Victory Hemp turns hemp seeds into clean protein, healthy oils, and even xylitol with a solvent-free, patented process built for every aisle. At 00:00 we…
- Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
Kevin Morse, Cairnspring Mills — Building the Craft Flour Category at Scale
Most flour today is milled for shelf life, not flavor or nutrition. Cairnspring Mills set out to flip that script. Co-founder & CEO Kevin Morse explains how…
- Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
John Imbriglia, Crowd Street — From Digital CRE Pioneer to Full-Stack Private Markets
Founded in 2013, Crowd Street helped popularize online access to commercial real estate. Now CEO John Imbriglia is steering a 2.0 strategy: an…
- Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
Stacy Spikes, MoviePass — Rebooting a Cult Brand with Fantasy-Style Movie Gaming
MoviePass became a cultural phenomenon—then imploded under new ownership. Founder Stacy Spikes bought the brand out of bankruptcy for ~$140K, relaunched, and…
- Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
Fran Maier, BabyQuip — The “Airbnb for Baby Gear” Goes Mainstream
BabyQuip helps families travel lighter by delivering clean, vetted baby gear—like cribs, car seats, and strollers—right to your hotel or vacation rental. CEO…
- Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
Ivan Lo, Breath Diagnostics — A Breath Test for Early Lung Cancer
Early detection saves lives, but today’s tools are often invasive, slow, or used too late. In this episode, Breath Diagnostics CEO Ivan Lo explains how a…
- Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
Cathy Minter, wisdom.io — AI Fall Detection & Aging-in-Place Done Right
Most older adults want to age in place, but families and caregivers can’t be there 24/7. wisdom.io uses edge computing + radar + computer vision to detect…
- Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
Citizens Coffee: Scaling an Australian-Style Café Brand Across Texas & Beyond
In this episode, we catch up with Justin Giuffrida, CEO and co-founder of Citizens Coffee, to hear how the company’s Australian-style café model is performing…
- Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
Windlift: Airborne Wind Power and Tethered Flight Systems for Energy and Defense
In this episode, we talk with Rob Creighton, founder and CEO of Windlift, a deep tech company developing airborne wind energy systems and tethered flight…
- Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
HEVO: The Wireless EV Charging Platform Powering the Next Wave of Mobility
In this episode, we sit down with Jeremy McCool, founder and CEO of HEVO, a company building wireless charging systems for electric vehicles. Think of a…
- Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
How Groomit Is Scaling On-Demand Mobile Pet Grooming — With Quality and Control
In this episode, we speak with Groomit co-founders Sohel Kapadia and Lars Rissmann about building a mobile, on-demand pet grooming platform designed for…
- Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
How BackerKit Went from Crowdfunding Tool to Powering $26M Campaigns
In this episode, Maxwell Salzberg, co-founder and CEO of BackerKit, shares how his team built the infrastructure behind rewards crowdfunding—and why they’re…
- Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
Cracking 401(k)s: Sphere’s Climate-Friendly Fund with CEO Alex Wright-Gladstein
In this episode, Chris speaks with Alex Wright-Gladstein, founder & CEO of Sphere, the company behind the Sphere 500 Climate Fund—a low-fee, index-like mutual…
- Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
Building the Next History Channel on YouTube—Yarnhub CEO David Webb
David Webb’s Yarnhub pulls 400 million annual views for cinematic WW2 stories—no ad spend required. On Inside Startup Investing he details how that captive…
- Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
Re-Programming Viruses to Fight Brain Tumors—Inside Siren Biotechnology
On this week’s Inside Startup Investing, Dr. Nicole Paulk—founder & CEO of Siren Biotechnology—details her AAV gene-therapy “FedEx truck” that can deliver…
- Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
Replacing Hydraulics: Rise Robotics’ Clean Tech Opportunity
In this episode, Chris speaks with Hiten Sonpal, CEO of Rise Robotics, a company developing an energy-efficient alternative to hydraulic systems. Using a…
- Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
Building a DTC Hardware Giant From Cold Water
In this episode of Inside Startup Investing, Chris Lustrino speaks with Ryan Duey, co-founder and co-CEO of Plunge, the cold therapy and sauna brand that has…
- Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
Founder-Market Fit in Action: From Asthma Patient to CEO
In this episode of Inside Startup Investing, Chris Lustrino interviews Sharon Samjitsingh, co-founder and CEO of Health Care Originals, a respiratory health…
- Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
How Dr. Zwade Marshall Built a Fintech for His Peers
In this episode of Inside Startup Investing, Chris Lustrino sits down with Dr. Zwade Marshall, founder and CEO of Doc2Doc Lending, to explore how a…
- Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
From Lab to Industry: How Avadain is Commercializing Graphene
Brad Larschan, CEO of Avadain, joins Chris Lustrino to share how his company is transforming one of the world’s most promising materials—graphene—into a…
- Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino
From Shared Kitchens to Scale: Building a Food Startup That Lasts
In this episode of Inside Startup Investing, Chris Lustrino sits down with Ariane Valle and Turner Hoff, the founders of Vegetable + Butcher, a handcrafted…