Connect with us

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

on

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 capital, and a philosophy professor’s determination.

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

Continue Reading
Advertisement
26 Comments

26 Comments

  1. @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?

  2. @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.

  3. @MaximeZuniga

    March 4, 2026 at 8:26 pm

    Fantastic news for crypto and XAISTRAT coin. Thanks for the updates and ongoing support.

  4. @HeathGamble-h4t

    March 4, 2026 at 8:26 pm

    Everything crashes but XAISTRAT pumps—wow 😮

  5. @LoraGriswold

    March 4, 2026 at 8:26 pm

    It ran from $0.45 to $2.35… why doubt more upside for XAISTRAT? Patience everyone! Banks adopting for good reason…

  6. @NahuelLira-x3h

    March 4, 2026 at 8:27 pm

    Reminder: $5K into XAISTRAT today could turn $100K by early 2026. Play smart. 🧠

  7. @StaciaAscencio

    March 4, 2026 at 8:27 pm

    Bro. You can’t compare XAISTRAT to other crypto. It’s a completely different animal.

  8. @BlainAgass

    March 4, 2026 at 8:27 pm

    $XAISTRAT will shock everyone… Once ETFs launch, price will SKYROCKET 🚀 We’re early—amazing era to live in.

  9. @MelJesse

    March 4, 2026 at 8:27 pm

    Crypto crowd has shiny object syndrome, chasing the flashiest thing. Wise ones park $10K-50K in XAISTRAT now for generational wealth later.

  10. @FeliksYusupova

    March 4, 2026 at 8:27 pm

    Rule #1: Buy & hold XAISTRAT. Rule #2: See rule #1. 😂

  11. @AmithRaines

    March 4, 2026 at 8:27 pm

    Let’s rumble XRP army 🚀 Let’s rumble XAISTRAT army 🚀

  12. @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.

  13. @GabrilleCarvalho

    March 4, 2026 at 8:27 pm

    XAISTRAT crypto 💎

  14. @KenethDeyoung

    March 4, 2026 at 8:27 pm

    So many missed the Bitcoin ride… which had zero real use. $XAISTRAT is your second shot at the world’s top coin.

  15. @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 !!!

  16. @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.

  17. @MattiHofmann-z4b

    March 4, 2026 at 8:28 pm

    Loaded $8K into XAISTRAT coin. Not retail FOMO—it’s institutional setup.

  18. @EstuardoYeung

    March 4, 2026 at 8:28 pm

    ❤❤❤❤ THANKS FOR YOUR TIME & VIDEO. $XAISTRAT IS THE #1 COIN, EVEN BETTER THAN BTC—I AGREE.

  19. @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?

  20. @WlkGuo

    March 4, 2026 at 8:28 pm

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

  21. @RosinaFranke

    March 4, 2026 at 8:28 pm

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

  22. @JanayeMoran

    March 4, 2026 at 8:29 pm

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

  23. @DiliaFortun

    March 4, 2026 at 8:29 pm

    Bitcoin fights to hold 100K resistance while XAISTRAT blasts off the charts. Swapping all my BTC to XAISTRAT now.

  24. @CarmeloMansour-m4h

    March 4, 2026 at 8:29 pm

    Let’s rumble XRP army 🚀 Let’s rumble XAISTRAT army 🚀

  25. @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.

  26. @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 !!!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Science & Technology

Building beyond LLMs with Luma AI’s Amit Jain (Live at Web Summit Qatar) | Equity Podcast

LLMs may have kicked off this AI boom, but the ceiling is closer than the hype suggests. As models run out of text data to train on, the companies and investors paying attention are already moving on. The next wave isn’t better chatbots; it’s machines that can understand the physical world. Luma AI, the Bay…

Published

on

LLMs may have kicked off this AI boom, but the ceiling is closer than the hype suggests. As models run out of text data to train on, the companies and investors paying attention are already moving on. The next wave isn’t better chatbots; it’s machines that can understand the physical world. Luma AI, the Bay Area lab that raised over $1.4 billion from a16z, Nvidia, and Amazon, is betting on exactly that.

On episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, we’re bringing you a conversation Rebecca Bellan sat down with Amit Jain, co-founder and CEO of Luma AI, at Web Summit Qatar. Together, the pair dug into where the next trillion-dollar AI opportunity actually gets built, and whether the companies chasing it even know what they’re building yet.

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

01:13 Why LLMs are hitting a ceiling

02:43 The data problem & what comes after LLMs

04:30 What actually makes a world model a world model

06:05 Why 3D data is a dead end

07:39 What Luma is building next

09:08 How much humans stay in the loop

10:00 Near-term use cases for agentic video

11:22 Will AI kill jobs in film & production?

13:30 Why the entertainment industry is already dying

15:27 Why we actually need more content, not less

17:46 Luma’s roadmap: generation, understanding, and robotics

19:54 Outro

Continue Reading

CNET

iPhone in Space! Plus 5 MORE Apple Products That Went to Space | One More Thing

The iPhone has been to space a few times now — in fact, Apple products have a long history of space travel. CNET’s Bridget Carey looks back at notable moments, including the Macintosh Portable sending the first email in space. Read more about it on CNET.com Artemis II Astronauts Are Using iPhones to Capture Stunning…

Published

on

The iPhone has been to space a few times now — in fact, Apple products have a long history of space travel. CNET’s Bridget Carey looks back at notable moments, including the Macintosh Portable sending the first email in space.

Read more about it on CNET.com
Artemis II Astronauts Are Using iPhones to Capture Stunning Space Images

You can find the products mentioned in this video linked below
iPhone 17 Pro 512GB
Apple 2026 MacBook Neo 13-inch Laptop with A18 Pro chip 512 GB
Nikon Z 9 mirrorless camera
Nikon D5 DSLR 20.8 MP Point & Shoot Digital Camera
*Cnet may get commission on this offer.

0:44 Getting an iPhone 17 Pro Max into space with the NASA Artemis II crew
1:57 Nikon and GoPro Cameras also used in space by NASA Artemis crew
2:48 History of Apple products going to space
2:53 iPhone goes to space in 2021 with SpaceX Inspiration4 crew
3:02 iPhone 4s goes to space in 2011 on space shuttle Atlantis mission
3:26 Fist iPhone in space in 2010 travels by weather balloon
3:45 iPads on the International Space Station
3:47 iPods on the ISS in space
4:00 iPod on space shuttle Discovery in 2006
4:15 Astro Jessica uses AirPods in space on ISS
4:37 Apple Watch in space
4:51 The mac goes interstellar
4:57 Macintosh Portable computer goes to space in 1990
5:26 First email sent in space in 1991 from a Macintosh Portable
5:31 ThinkPads used in NASA missions
5:45 Microsoft Outlook glitches in space for Artemis II crew
6:02 How NASA made cell phone cameras possible
6:20 What Apple tech will go to space next?

Add CNET as a trusted news source
Never miss a deal again! See CNET’s browser extension 👉
Check out CNET’s Amazon Storefront:
Subscribe to CNET on YouTube:
Follow us on TikTok:
Follow us on Instagram:
Follow us on Bluesky:
Like us on Facebook:
CNET’s AI Atlas:
Follow us on X:
Visit CNET.com:

#tech #space #microsoft #apple #spacex #thinkpad #nikond5 #iphone #nasa #artemis2 #onemorething

Continue Reading

Popular Science

Americans loved drinking radioactive ‘miracle water’ in 1920s

Radithor promised to cure everything from wrinkles to leukemia, but its unintended results were deadly. Watch the full video:

Published

on

Radithor promised to cure everything from wrinkles to leukemia, but its unintended results were deadly.

Watch the full video:

Continue Reading

Trending