Science & Technology

The wrong time to hire with David Park, Narada

This week on Build Mode, we’re joined by David Park, co-founder and CEO of Narada, an enterprise AI agent platform spun out of UC Berkeley AI Lab research. Narada uses large action models to automate complex, multi-step workflows across enterprise systems. After previously co-founding and exiting Coverity, Park is now building his second company with…

Published

3 months ago

March 5, 2026

CYBER TECH TV

In this episode, he shares why Narada spent a year making nearly 1,000 customer calls before raising institutional capital, how the company reached 99.99% reliability in production environments, and why he believes too much funding too early can derail even the strongest teams. Park also reflects on his experience as a Startup Battlefield Top 20 company and the lessons he’s carried from his first exit into building Narada.

He breaks down:
🧩 Why customers won’t tell you your “baby is ugly” — but their wallets will
🧩 How Narada achieves enterprise-grade AI reliability
🧩 Why raising money before product-market fit can be dangerous
🧩 The discipline of building a lean, “mean building machine”
🧩 When to scale your go-to-market team (and when not to)
🧩 Why founders must stick to their values, even under pressure
🧩 Lessons from Startup Battlefield and building in public

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.

Grab your tickets: If you want to take these conversations beyond the podcast, then come join us in person at a TechCrunch event on June 9 in Boston, we’re hosting our founders Summit, which is essentially build mode in real life. It’s a full day focused entirely on founders, builders and the conversations that actually move startups forward. It’s also a great way to sharpen your story.
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 at techcrunch.com/events

Use code buildmode15 for 15% off any ticket type,

Chapters:
00:00 – Why customers won’t tell you the truth (but their wallets will)
02:43 – What Narada does: enterprise AI agents powered by large action models
04:28 – Enterprise reliability: reaching 99.99% accuracy
07:32 – Trust, security, and on-prem deployment
12:26 – Bootstrapping, 1,000 customer calls & finding real pain
15:05 – Raising after traction & meeting their lead VC at Disrupt
18:47 – Scaling responsibly after product-market fit
22:46 – Go-to-market strategy & leveraging channels
23:48 – From Coverity exit to Narada: a founder’s second act
27:05 – Founder advice: passion, grit & integrity
30:20 – Fake it till you make it? Not quite.
30:44 – Startup Battlefield experience
36:05 – Final reflections on disruption & building for impact

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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26 Comments

@عليموحان-س5ع

March 5, 2026 at 5:27 am

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@FlorineMontalvo

March 5, 2026 at 7:24 pm

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March 5, 2026 at 7:24 pm

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March 5, 2026 at 7:24 pm

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March 5, 2026 at 7:25 pm

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@LuizaPeter-v7t

March 5, 2026 at 7:25 pm

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March 5, 2026 at 7:25 pm

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March 5, 2026 at 7:25 pm

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March 5, 2026 at 7:25 pm

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March 5, 2026 at 7:25 pm

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March 5, 2026 at 7:26 pm

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March 5, 2026 at 7:26 pm

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Reply
@TrishIvory-d1e

March 5, 2026 at 7:26 pm

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Reply
@ShashiAlbiter

March 5, 2026 at 7:26 pm

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@MarianneRyan-d8k

March 5, 2026 at 7:26 pm

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@AquilioTerry

March 5, 2026 at 7:26 pm

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@MarcellusBurke-l6u

March 5, 2026 at 7:26 pm

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@SerenaBarboza-t1k

March 5, 2026 at 7:26 pm

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March 5, 2026 at 7:26 pm

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@MadinaWilfred

March 5, 2026 at 7:27 pm

Larry Fink the man who moves trillions of dollars just said he believes $XA20P coin will move with Bitcoin to a $15 TRILLION market cap which is bullish for $XA20P

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Science & Technology

Uber’s AI Budget Crisis Is a Warning Sign for Not Just Anthropic

The economics of AI are getting harder to ignore. Uber went from over-budget to capping internal AI usage in roughly six weeks, which sparks a bigger question…can AI labs bring costs down fast enough to meet what enterprises and consumers are actually willing to pay?

Published

19 hours ago

June 5, 2026

CYBER TECH TV

Science & Technology

The most interesting startups right now want to get you off your phone | Equity Podcast

While the AI fundraising machine keeps breaking its own records, some founders are building in the other direction. Mirror founder Brynn Putnam just raised money for Board, a startup focused on bringing people together through in-person games and social experiences. Cyberdeck creators are going viral crafting whimsical DIY computers that literally encourage users to touch…

Published

23 hours ago

June 5, 2026

CYBER TECH TV

While the AI fundraising machine keeps breaking its own records, some founders are building in the other direction.

Mirror founder Brynn Putnam just raised money for Board, a startup focused on bringing people together through in-person games and social experiences. Cyberdeck creators are going viral crafting whimsical DIY computers that literally encourage users to touch grass. Unlike the AI-free browser crowd, this doesn’t just feel like backlash, but also people genuinely gravitating toward things that feel a little more human.

On this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Sean O’Kane dig into the week’s headlines, from the “together tech” wave to what Anthropic’s confidential IPO filing means against the backdrop of Alphabet’s $80 billion AI raise, and whether the money is all flowing back to the big guys anyway.

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

01:45 YouTubers are taking over the box office

02:46 Everyone’s fleeing climate tech — except this $250M fund

07:03 Impulse Space raises $500M and is hiring humans

13:03 Anthropic quietly files for IPO as Alphabet drops $85B on AI

21:52 The token bubble is starting to burst

26:08 From Board games to DIY cyberdecks, founders are betting on IRL

33:09 Outro

CNET

What to REALLY Pay Attention to at WWDC26

Apple’s big developers conference keynote is expected to focus on updates to Siri and Apple Intelligence. But the software can sometimes give us clues to the direction of Apple’s future hardware. CNET’s Bridget Carey goes through what key areas she’s most interested in for WWDC news. Follow CNET’s WWDC 2026 Live Blog on CNET.com Apple…

Published

1 day ago

June 5, 2026

CYBER TECH TV

Follow CNET’s WWDC 2026 Live Blog on CNET.com
Apple WWDC 2026: What We Expect From This Year’s Keynote and How to Watch

0:37 The future of Apple Glasses
0:50 Visual Intelligence
1:53 Siri in the Camera app
2:15 Smart home controls and HomePod
2:50 Apple TV updates
3:14 Siri and wearable tech
3:33 Get ready for WWDC
3:53 Bridget LIVE from WWDC!

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#apple #wwdc2026 #wwdc #timcook #appleglasses #ios27 #applenews