Startup Stories - Mixergy

Entrepreneurship

"Startup Stories - Mixergy" hosted by Andrew Warner.

Claim This Profile

Basic Member

Recent Guest

Nick Sonnenberg

Latest Episodes

#2286 Pepper: AI + people = > $10 million

Pepper is creating content for clients like Shopify, Adobe and Instacart. We’re talking hundreds of thousands of posts & videos. And this is content that leads to sales. In this interview, founder Anirudh Singla tell us how they do it by using AI and humans.

Anirudh Singla is the founder and CEO of Pepper, a global content marketing platform that blends AI and human creativity to produce content at scale. What began as his side hustle on Upwork has grown into a company serving Fortune 500s —recently crossing $10M in annual recurring revenue. Pepper now operates across writing, design, video, and localization, helping brands drive measurable growth through AI-powered content systems.

More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint
Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

#2285 AEO: How to make ChatGPT promote you

Ethan Smith runs Graphite, the SEO & AEO company that helps brands like Webflow show up on Google’s page one and ChatGPT’s first answer. This is how he does it

Ethan Smith is the founder and CEO of Graphite, a growth and SEO firm that’s now pioneering Answer Engine Optimization—helping brands rank inside AI-generated responses.

More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint
Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

#2284 Why is Morning Brew’s founder selling “AI Transformation”?

Coming into this interview I wasn’t even sure what “AI Transformation” was, let alone why so many companies pay for it. Here’s the deal: Tenex, the company founded by Alex Lieberman & Arman Hezarkhani, goes into companies hunting for ways to save or making them money using AI. Once they find that, it becomes a no brainer for companies to hire them to build it. But Tenex does more than AI Transformation. They also run a dev shop where their developers use AI to build super fast for clients.

Alex Lieberman and Arman Hezarkhani are the co-founders of Tenex, a company blending high-performance engineering with AI transformation consulting. Their model aligns incentives around output rather than time, helping enterprises and startups build software faster and integrate AI across people, processes, and tools. Together, they’re building what they call the “McKinsey for AI”—a hybrid of dev shop, consultancy, and innovation lab helping companies thrive in the post-AI era.

More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint
Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

#2283 How Dan Shipper uses AI to build artisanal AI apps

“Why did you launch yet another voice dictation app?” I asked Dan Shipper, founder of Every. I thought he’d tell me that there was some kind of research that showed people needed another one. Nah. It came down to his team’s taste and personal preference. They just wanted something different. So a single creator on the team built it. AI makes it easier for more people to create apps. So what’s the differentiator? From what I got in this interview — over and over — it’s the creator’s taste.

Dan Shipper is the founder and CEO of Every, a hybrid media and software company creating AI-powered tools for productivity and creativity. The company publishes one of the most widely read newsletters on technology and builds products like Monologue (AI dictation), Spiral (AI ghostwriting), and Cora (AI email assistant).

More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint
Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

#2282 Neil Patel’s insanely powerful AI sales machine

I’ve been talking with founders who used AI to build companies, but aren’t getting enough customers. I found the perfect person to show them how to grow. Neil Patel has been on the cutting edge of AI marketing. He’s going to show us what’s working for his customers and his company. At the end of the conversation, you’ll see the exact process his company, NP Digital, is using AI to scrape yellow pages, create custom offers, and get clients.

Neil Patel is the co-founder of NP Digital, a global marketing agency serving clients such as Intuit, Canon, and Cartier. He’s also the creator of the SEO platform Ubersuggest and a leading authority on digital growth, named a top marketer by Forbes and The Wall Street Journal. Through his work, Neil helps businesses combine AI, data, and marketing strategy to drive measurable revenue.

More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint
Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

#2281 Garry Tan: Y Combinator Startups Growing 5X Faster – Here’s What Changed

AI changed everything. During their time at Y Combinator, startups typically grew revenue weekly by 2-4%. Now? 10-20%! PER WEEK. YC President Garry Tan told me the reason is simple: AI transformed software from a “nice to have” into an urgent necessity. “Before it was like, ‘Yeah, I know I need to replace my software.’…Today it’s becoming, ‘Oh. I see a demo. It’s really impressive… I need it right now. When can you start?'”

Garry Tan is President and CEO of Y Combinator, the world’s most successful startup accelerator. He previously co-founded Posterous, which was acquired by Twitter. Beyond the startup world, he’s a YouTuber with an eye for great design and understanding that three-act narratives aren’t just for movies.

More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint
Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

#2280 Read.ai is adding 50k users per day

How can Read.ai keep growing when 1) there are loads of meeting note taking apps, and 2) platforms like Zoom keep adding note-taking features? That’s what I asked its founder David Shim

David Shim is the founder and CEO of Read.ai, the fastest-growing AI meeting assistant with millions of users worldwide. Previously, he was CEO of Foursquare following its acquisition of his location analytics company, Placed, which had earlier been acquired by Snap. Today, David is building Read into the central hub where businesses capture, analyze, and act on every meeting, email, and message.

More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint
Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

#2279 How are there so many AI agencies?

I keep seeing AI agencies pop up everywhere, offering to AI-ify businesses. But what are they AI’ing? How are they doing it? Seems too general and unfocused to work. Still, they do. I wanted to understand how, so I interviewed Rob Howard, who teaches agency owners how to sell and deliver AI services.

Rob Howard is the founder of Howard Development & Consulting (HDC.net) and the creator of Innovating with AI, a program that has helped over 1,000 people start and grow AI consulting businesses. With a background in software development and WordPress, Rob has built and shipped projects for clients for more than 20 years. Today, he’s focused on teaching others how to combine no-code tools, automation, and AI to create profitable, sustainable agencies.

More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint
Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

#2278 How to build a $15M/year AI company.

Pavel Doležal built Keboola to $15 million per year. How he did it: 1. Start with consulting, so clients tell you what they need 2. Build software that makes companies’ chaotic data accessible. NO agents yet. 3. Create agents that take action. That’s the hardest part. At the end of this interview, Pavel tells you how YOU should start an AI company and about the three successful companies that followed his advice.

Pavel Doležal is the co-founder and CEO of Keboola, a cloud-based data platform used by over 21,000 companies worldwide. Before Keboola, he helped build Atlas, one of Eastern Europe’s leading internet portals, and went on to found several data-focused companies. Today, Pavel leads a global team making it easier for businesses to integrate, analyze, and automate their data—with clients ranging from fast-growing startups to global enterprises.

More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint
Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

Bio of Startup Stories - Mixergy

"Startup Stories - Mixergy" is a podcast hosted by Andrew Warner. Andrew is known for his ability to ask thought-provoking and challenging questions that delve into the real stories and experiences behind successful startups.

On the podcast, Andrew interviews entrepreneurs and founders, uncovering the trials, triumphs, and lessons learned throughout their startup journeys. By asking probing questions, Andrew encourages guests to share the authentic and sometimes gritty details of their entrepreneurial endeavors. Listeners gain insights into the strategies, challenges, and pivotal moments that contributed to the success of these startups.

"Startup Stories - Mixergy" provides a platform for entrepreneurs to share their experiences and offer valuable advice to aspiring founders. Through engaging and informative conversations, the podcast offers a wealth of knowledge and inspiration for those looking to navigate the startup world.