This week on Build Mode, we’re diving back into the archives for a special best-of episode all about startup mistakes, hard-earned lessons, and the decisions founders wish they’d made differently.
Host Isabelle Johannesen and producer Maggie Nye revisit some of the most insightful conversations from past seasons to explore the missteps that shaped successful companies.

In this episode, you’ll hear from:
Deon Nicholas, cofounder & former CEO of Forethought AI and co-founder of Espa Labs
Jasper Carmichael-Jack, cofounder & CEO of Artisan
Yuri Sagalov, partner at General Catalyst
Isaiah Granet, cofounder & CEO of Bland
Ayal Yogev, founder & CEO of Anjuna
Sarah Lucena, founder & CEO of Mappa
Whether you’re building your first startup, hiring your early team, fundraising, or figuring out how to scale sustainably, this episode is packed with practical advice and honest reflections from founders and investors who learned these lessons the hard way.

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
02:20 Deon Nicholas (Forethought, Espa Labs): Product-market fit, iteration, and why your first product probably won’t work
05:45 Jasper Carmichael-Jack (Artisan): Hiring mistakes, logo shopping, and finding the right people
09:30 Yuri Sagalov (General Catalyst): Founder commitment, investor signals, and avoiding non-standard company structures
12:35 Isaiah Granet (Bland): Equity grants, payroll headaches, and taking care of early employees
17:25 Ayal Yogev (Anjuna): Overhiring, market shifts, and lessons from the 2022 downturn
22:55 Sarah Lucena (Mappa): Why every founder needs a great lawyer

Subscribe to Build Mode on ⁠Apple Podcasts⁠, ⁠Spotify⁠, or ⁠wherever you like to listen⁠. And watch the full videos on ⁠YouTube⁠. 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.
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.

Motorola released a new Razr Ultra, and it’s a lot like last year’s model, which earned a CNET Editors’ Choice award. But do minimal upgrades, and a $200 price hike make the 2026 Razr Ultra a worthy buy? We tested it to find out.

You can find the products mentioned in this video linked below
Motorola Razr Ultra 2025
Motorola Razr Ultra 2026
*Cnet may get commission on this offer.

Read more about it on CNET.com
Last Year’s Motorola Razr Ultra Is $800. Should You Buy It or the New 2026 Version?

0:00 Intro
0:11 Design
0:39 Price
1:46 Cameras Photo
3:59 Cameras Video
4:15 Battery
5:07 Charging
5:57 Wireless charging
6:34 Conclusion

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#foldphone #motorola #motorolarazr #razer

Defense tech is red hot right now. Anduril and Mach Industries just doubled and quadrupled their valuations, respectively, and the U.S. government is proposing a 40% increase in defense budget. A wave of new startups is chasing those government contracts, but according to Ross Fubini, the venture investor who wrote Anduril’s first check, most of them will get lost in the Valley of Death between prototype contract and real production deal.

On this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Rebecca Bellan asks Fubini — the founder and managing partner of XYZ Venture Capital, built on the Palantir alumni network and now approaching $2B AUM — what separates the survivors from the rest.

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

01:11 XYZ VC’s Palantir roots, Anduril investment, and the defense investing thesis

09:25 Ukraine, Iran, and real-time battlefield testing of startups

17:59 The global shift: sovereign defense tech & decoupling from the US

23:29 The dual-use dilemma & how startups should structure GTM

34:35 Manufacturing, govtech, and beyond weapons systems

36:25 Outro