Science & Technology

Keeping Your Team Motivated When FDA Approval Isn’t Guaranteed l Build Mode

Surviving the long road to FDA approval isn’t just about building great technology, it’s about keeping your team motivated, finding the right investors, and learning how to operate when timelines are uncertain. This week on Build Mode, Isabelle Johannesen sits down with Robbie Bustami, co-founder and CEO of BioticsAI, a Startup Battlefield-winning company building an…

Published

6 months ago

April 30, 2026

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This week on Build Mode, Isabelle Johannesen sits down with Robbie Bustami, co-founder and CEO of BioticsAI, a Startup Battlefield-winning company building an AI copilot for ultrasound to help detect fetal abnormalities. From a $100K prototype to FDA clearance, Robhy shares what it actually takes to build in one of the most regulated industries in the world.

In this episode, they break down what it really looks like to build a medtech startup, where you can’t “move fast and break things,” and every milestone takes time, coordination, and trust.

This conversation covers:
🧩How to stay motivated and keep your team aligned when FDA approval isn’t guaranteed
🧩What founders need to know about navigating the FDA process from day one
🧩 How to find investors who understand the slower, high-risk nature of medtech
🧩 Why cross-functional collaboration (engineers, clinicians, researchers) is critical to success
🧩 The role of advisors and why active industry experts matter more than big names
How to build momentum and celebrate wins during long, uncertain timelines

Apply to Startup Battlefield: We are looking for early-stage companies that have an MVP. So nominate a founder (or yourself): techcrunch.com/apply. Be sure to say you heard about Startup Battlefield from the Build Mode podcast.
TechCrunch Disrupt: If you’re thinking about applying to Startup Battlefield, then October 13 to 15 in San Francisco, we’re back for TechCrunch Disrupt, where the Startup Battlefield 200 takes the stage. So if you want to cheer them on, or just network with 1000s of founders, VCs, and tech enthusiasts, then grab your tickets.
Use code buildmode15 for 15% off any ticket type.

Chapters:
00:00 Building a $100K MedTech Startup
00:32 Intro: Biotics AI & the Problem with Ultrasound Misdiagnosis
02:16 What Biotics AI Actually Does (AI Copilot for Ultrasound)
02:54 Early Days: Startup Battlefield & First Product
07:10 Navigating FDA Approval (Without Guesswork)
09:22 What FDA Clearance Unlocks (Going to Market)
10:59 Selling into Hospitals & Early Customers
12:11 Keeping a Team Motivated During Long Timelines
18:54 The Hardest Parts of Building in MedTech
22:22 Fundraising, Advisors, and Building the Right Team
28:33 The Future of AI in Reproductive Healthcare

New episodes of Build Mode drop every Thursday. Hosted by Isabelle Johannessen. Produced and edited by Maggie Nye. Audience development led by Morgan Little. Special thanks to the Foundry and Cheddar video teams.

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CNET

iPhone Duo Livestream: How Many Folds Can Apple’s Phone Take? Day 10

Apple’s iPhone Duo is out and we want to see how durable it is. So we built a robot to fold it 20,000+ times a day to test its limits. How long do you think it will last? 100,000 folds? 200,000 folds? 500,000 folds? Tune in and watch the testing live. We’ll have CNET’s editors…

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Join us weekdays from 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM PT / 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM ET

Read more about the iPhone Duo Folding Test on CNET.com
We Answer 16 Questions About Folding the iPhone Duo Hundreds of Thousands of Times

The iPhone Duo Is Now in Our Custom-Made Foldable Phone Test Machine. Will It Beat the Galaxy Fold 8?

iPhone Duo Review: Late to the Foldable Party, but It Steals the Show

Check out the 3D Printer Matthew Murray used to print the sled that iPhone Duo is sitting on:
Looking for the Most Accurate 3D Printer? Our Exclusive Testing Reveals One Clear Winner

Video Credits:
Host: Matthew Murray
Producer: Stephen Beacham
Thumbnail Designer: Zooey Liao

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Science & Technology

After the midterms, is the AI industry in for a rough two years? | Equity Podcast

Democrats’ historic victories in this week’s U.S. midterm elections could also transform the tech industry. The public voted on 41 data center-related ballot measures on Tuesday — in all but one, the majority voted to impose more restrictions on data center development. And even when data centers weren’t on the ballot directly, they were a…

Published

2 days ago

November 6, 2026

CYBER TECH TV

Democrats’ historic victories in this week’s U.S. midterm elections could also transform the tech industry.

The public voted on 41 data center-related ballot measures on Tuesday — in all but one, the majority voted to impose more restrictions on data center development. And even when data centers weren’t on the ballot directly, they were a major talking point, with newly-elected Democratic governors and congressmembers likely to support additional regulation.

On the latest episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Kirsten Korosec, Sean O’Kane, and Anthony Ha discuss what the election will mean for the tech industry moving forward — not just when it comes to data centers (which OpenAI is already trying to rebrand), but also increased government scrutiny of Big Tech.

Listen to the full episode to hear more about:

• Whether Google first satellite data center is ushering our orbital data center future
• If major layoffs at design software company Canva and website builder Squarespace can be blamed on AI
• Marvell’s $115 billion acquisition of Lumentum, in one of the largest deals in history
• Why CrowdStrike just acquired of two AI security startups
What NBCUniversal’s investment in Indian microdrama startup Elo • Elo means for the media landscape

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

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

0:47 Founder Summit recap and an Equity team update

2:23 Midterm results and the data center backlash

7:49 OpenAI rebrands data centers as “compute campuses”

10:57 Wall Street cools on the data center buildout

13:30 Regulatory certainty and building outside the U.S.

15:45 Canva and Squarespace layoffs

20:37 Can AI chatbots replace products like Squarespace?

23:22 Marvell’s $115B Lumentum acquisition

26:51 CrowdStrike buys Fiddler AI and Dreadnode

30:20 Micro drama startup raises $80M

30:59 Outro

CNET

Unboxing Sony’s New $60 USB-C Walkman Headphones

Riding on that resurgence, Bose recently released its USB-C Noise Cancelling Wired Earbuds and now Sony has a $60 USB-C version of its iconic MDR-3 Walkman on-ear headphones, called the MDR-3R. And they sound a lot better than we expected. Unbox them with us. #unboxing #sonywalkman #retro #mdr3r #usbcheadphones Video: David Carnoy Editor: Jon Gomez…

Published

2 days ago

November 6, 2026

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