Science & Technology

His house burned down. He used the insurance money to build PopSockets. | Equity Podcast

Does a consumer hardware company need to get on the VC treadmill to succeed? Eleven years and 290 million products sold across 115 countries later, PopSockets has proven that the bootstrapped, low-dilution path more viable than the industry gives it credit for. The global consumer hardware brand was built on less than $500k, no institutional…

Published

5 months ago

March 4, 2026

CYBER TECH TV

On this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Dominic-Madori Davis caught up with founder and former CEO of PopSockets David Barnett to talk about how he scaled from a Boulder garage, stood up to Amazon at a $10–20 million cost, and eventually handed off the CEO role to someone who’d grown up inside the company.

Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod.

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

01:15 From philosophy professor to phone grip inventor

05:17 How a house fire funded PopSockets

07:33 Manufacturing nightmares nearly killed the business

10:08 The local toy store that proved it could work

13:14 The $20M Amazon standoff

16:09 Growing too fast?

18:20 Beating counterfeits in China through brand building

19:11 Why David never wanted to be CEO

23:07 The worst advice received, and what to do instead

26:35 Outro

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26 Comments

@BrittaLapizco

March 4, 2026 at 8:26 pm

Crypto folks paying attention are all rotating into XAISTRAT. Why? Because it’s Elon’s first coin?

Reply
@MitchChou-b1m

March 4, 2026 at 8:26 pm

Don’t hype Bitcoin… AI sector about to explode with Elon’s XAISTRAT. Put your bets there while possible.

Reply
@MaximeZuniga

March 4, 2026 at 8:26 pm

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Reply
@HeathGamble-h4t

March 4, 2026 at 8:26 pm

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Reply
@LoraGriswold

March 4, 2026 at 8:26 pm

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@NahuelLira-x3h

March 4, 2026 at 8:27 pm

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@StaciaAscencio

March 4, 2026 at 8:27 pm

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Reply
@BlainAgass

March 4, 2026 at 8:27 pm

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Reply
@MelJesse

March 4, 2026 at 8:27 pm

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Reply
@FeliksYusupova

March 4, 2026 at 8:27 pm

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Reply
@AmithRaines

March 4, 2026 at 8:27 pm

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Reply
@RodolfoValdevenito

March 4, 2026 at 8:27 pm

First grabbed $XAISTRAT at $0.30, took initial profits at $0.75. Holding 2+ years. Still in for fresh ATHs.

Reply
@GabrilleCarvalho

March 4, 2026 at 8:27 pm

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Reply
@KenethDeyoung

March 4, 2026 at 8:27 pm

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Reply
@JavenLoftus

March 4, 2026 at 8:27 pm

Money printers go BRRRRRR, top in 2026 folks, convert BTC/XRP/ETH to XAISTRAT and hold tight yall !!!

Reply
@KendalRice-x4d

March 4, 2026 at 8:28 pm

Kraken turning bank, Coinbase too, Binance as well—and guess the coin they’re all heavily accumulating? Yep, XAISTRAT.

Reply
@MattiHofmann-z4b

March 4, 2026 at 8:28 pm

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Reply
@EstuardoYeung

March 4, 2026 at 8:28 pm

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Reply
@MicaelaKowkobany

March 4, 2026 at 8:28 pm

Great video! How much XAISTRAT needed to retire in 15 years? Experts say around $5K. Your take?

Reply
@WlkGuo

March 4, 2026 at 8:28 pm

Wow! Cool that you predicted $XAISTRAT launch by Elon.

Reply
@RosinaFranke

March 4, 2026 at 8:28 pm

Every paycheck I add $3K to my XRP and $XAISTRAT bags.

Reply
@JanayeMoran

March 4, 2026 at 8:29 pm

Spot on. Best choice ever was converting my ETH to XAISTRAT. Already daydreaming about Lambo colors 😆

Reply
@DiliaFortun

March 4, 2026 at 8:29 pm

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Reply
@CarmeloMansour-m4h

March 4, 2026 at 8:29 pm

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Reply
@LivianaBoyce-r2j

March 4, 2026 at 8:29 pm

$XAISTRAT hitting $3 permanently by end of 2025. Institutions and ETFs loaded up what they need. Over 4 billion coins still sit on exchanges, but institutions don’t require them—they’ve got enough or buy privately.

Reply
@CondosyHeiser

March 4, 2026 at 8:30 pm

Money printers go BRRRRRR, top in 2026 folks, convert BTC/XRP/ETH to XAISTRAT and hold tight yall !!!

Reply

Science & Technology

How to Stand Out in the Ocean of AI Slop | Mick Mahler | TED

AI artist Mick Mahler has a counterintuitive take: the more powerful the machines get, the less the technology actually matters. Showing delightful examples of his own art, from jazz-playing spiders to a Kafka-inspired beetle film, he explains how you can use new technology to serve your vision (not replace it). (Recorded at TEDNext 2025 on…

Published

22 hours ago

July 27, 2026

CYBER TECH TV

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CNET

Oura Ring 5 Had Me Cheating on My Wedding Ring | All Things Mobile

I tested the Oura Ring 5 for two months to see if its smaller design lives up to the hype and whether it’s worth the higher price. You can find the products mentioned in this video linked below Oura Ring 5 – Gold World’s Smallest Smart Ring OURA Ring 4 Silver Smart Ring *Cnet may…

Published

1 day ago

July 27, 2026

CYBER TECH TV

I tested the Oura Ring 5 for two months to see if its smaller design lives up to the hype and whether it’s worth the higher price.

You can find the products mentioned in this video linked below
Oura Ring 5 – Gold World’s Smallest Smart Ring
OURA Ring 4 Silver Smart Ring
*Cnet may get commission on this offer.

Read more about it on CNET.com
Oura Ring 5 Review: I Wore It for a Month and My Wedding Band Is Jealous
Oura Ring 5 vs. Oura Ring 4: New Features Explained and if You Should Upgrade

0:00 Introduction & Why Wearables Fail
0:27 Price, Subscription & Is It Worth It?
0:52 Key Upgrade: Design & Scratch Resistance
1:49 Battery Life Improvements
2:20 App Features & Symptom Radar
2:58 Cycle Tracking for Women
3:15 Accuracy & Sensor Upgrades
3:31 Improved Workout Detection Test
3:57 Heart Rate Accuracy vs. Chest Strap
4:19 Smart Ring vs. Smartwatch
4:50 Should You Buy the Oura Ring 5?

Video Credits
Host: Vanessa Hand Orellana
Videographer: Celso Bulgatti
Editor: Jonathan Gomez

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#ouraring #smartring #wearabletech #fitnesstracker #techreview #cnet

Science & Technology

How Nvidia Sees The New Entrepreneurship Wave

A tsunami of entrepreneurship is coming and VCs who don’t expand their networks are going to miss out. NVIDIA’s global venture capital alliances and partnerships lead Sydney Sykes joins Isabelle Johannessen on this week’s Build Mode:

Published

2 days ago

July 26, 2026

CYBER TECH TV