From Startup to Exit
Welcome to the Startup to Exit podcast where we bring you world-class entrepreneurs and VCs to share their hard-earned success stories and secrets. This podcast has been brought to you by TiE Seattle. TiE is a global non-profit that focuses on fostering entrepreneurship. TiE Seattle offers a range of programs including the GoVertical Startup Creation Weekend, TiE Entrepreneur Institute, and the TiE Seattle Angel Network. We encourage you to become a TiE member so you can gain access to these great programs. To become a member, please visit www.Seattle.tie.org.
Episodes
In this special tribute episode of From Startup to Exit, hosts Shirish Nadkarni and Gowri Shankar reflect on the life, legacy, and enduring impact of their dear friend, S. Somasegar—known to so many simply as “Soma.” A pioneering Microsoft executive, respected venture capitalist at Madrona, mentor, investor, and community builder, Soma touched countless lives across the technology and startup ecosy...
What does it take to build infrastructure for a world that didn't fully exist yet? In this episode, Kumar Senthil, CEO and Co-Founder of Firmly, shares how he spent five years quietly building the plumbing that lets AI agents discover products and complete purchases on behalf of consumers, all while keeping the merchant in control of their data and customer relationship.
Kumar recounts the long, often painful jou...
In this episode, we sit down with Praveen Seshadri, former Microsoft executive and co-founder and CEO of Thunk.AI. He previously co-founded AppSheet, which was acquired by Google.
Praveen shares his journey from leaving Microsoft at age 40 to navigating five pivots over two years before discovering product-market fit with AppSheet. He discusses how the company pioneered no-code and product-led growth, t...
In this heartfelt episode, Monish Darda remembers Samir Bodas not just as the CEO and co-founder of Icertis, but as a close friend, co-founder, and extraordinary human being. He shares the origin story of Icertis, the trust that defined their partnership, and the values that shaped the company’s culture. Icertis is the market leader in Contract Lifecycle Management.
This is a moving conversation about e...
What happens when a former investment banker turns a life-changing personal experience into a startup? In this episode, Preeti Suri, founder of Adventure Tripper, shares how she built a curated marketplace for multi-day adventure travel—connecting travelers with vetted local guides around the world.
Preeti Suri is the Founder and CEO of AdventureTripr, a global adventure and wellness travel marketplace ...
In this episode, we feature Aravind Bala, who is the CTO and co-founder of Seekout. SeekOut (https://seekout.io) empowers companies to go beyond LinkedIn in recruiting hard-to-find and diverse talent. Prior to SeekOut, Aravind spent 14 years at Microsoft as a Partner Engineering Manager.
In this episode, Aravind shares the following:
- From Big Tech to startup leap: Aravind Bala shares why he left a 14-y...
Listen to our 2026 Annual Investment Outlook Panel with four top VCs. Get their perspective on the investment climate in 2026 and their plans to invest specifically in AI based startups. See how they did with their 2025 forecast and what their big predictions are for 2026.
Tim Porter, Managing Director, Madrona Ventures
Tim joined Madrona in 2006 and invests in B2B software companies in the Pacific Northwe...
We’re excited to feature Yifan Zhang, Managing Director at AI2 Incubator, one of the most successful AI incubators in the world, born out of the Allen Institute for AI and backed by a newly announced $80M Fund III.
Yifan is a 2x founder and CEO, Entrepreneur “50 Most Daring Entrepreneurs” honoree, and Forbes 30 Under 30 alum. Her journey spans building and exiting venture-backed startups, na...
Join us for a dynamic highlight reel featuring short segments from the 2025 season of From Startup to Exit, TiE Seattle’s flagship podcast showcasing world-class entrepreneurs, innovators, and industry leaders sharing candid insights from their journeys. Each mini-segment brings you the essence of these remarkable conversations — from foundational lessons in product and leadership to reflections on how t...
Join us as Team Kymavi, the TYE Global winner, discusses their groundbreaking solution addressing environmental challenges through biodegradable bags, and Team Key Beauty, creators of an AI-driven makeup matching platform for women of color, shares their journey in redefining inclusivity in beauty.
The teams dive into their experiences with market research, customer validation, and developing sustainable busi...
In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Ece Kamar, Director of the AI Frontiers Lab at Microsoft Research, and one of the leading voices in Responsible AI.
With over 15 years at Microsoft, Ece has played a pivotal role in shaping how AI systems are designed to collaborate with humans safely and effectively. She shares her journey from earning a PhD at Harvard University, where she researched how AI agents can b...
Yashovardhan Wagh is the co-founder & CEO of Gone.com, a Seattle-based circular commerce company giving quality goods a second life through local supply chains. He previously built supply chains for Amazon and other Fortune 100 companies. His mission: to build a national circular economy so future generations can thrive on a healthy planet.
Brought to you by TiE Seattle
Hosts: Shirish Nadkarni and Gowri Shanka...
In this episode, we talk to Sabrina Wu who is an Investor at the famed VC firm Madrona Ventures. Sabrina shares her thoughts about closed source vs open source, agentic applications and the emergence of multi modal applications.
Sabrina joined Madrona’s investment team in 2021 and focuses on sourcing and evaluating new investment opportunities from Seed through Series C across Madrona’s core investm...
In the final installment of the Microsoft@50 series, we interview Laura Jennings, who was the Vice President in charge of MSN and one of the senior most female executives at Microsoft in her time. Laura was the Microsoft executive who shifted MSN's strategy as a proprietary online service to becoming one of the top portal's on the internet. I worked for Laura and together we bought Hotmail and got into the search bu...
In the 5th installment of the Microsoft@50 series, we interview Brad Chase, who was the SVP in charge of the launch of Windows 95. Later on, he took over the reins for MSN. Brad joined Microsoft in 1987 and was the first product manager responsible for the launch of the Microsoft Office on the Mac. Later he became the Group Product Manager for MS D0S 5.0. Brad negotiated the licensing of the famous Start Me Up song ...
In this 4th installment of the Microsoft@50 series we bring you Steve Wood who was the sixth employee at Microsoft. He was recruited out of Stanford where he completed his Masters in Electrical Engineering. He went on to work at Microsoft's Albuquerque office in 1976 where he had the opportunity to work closely with Bill Gates and Paul Allen. He worked on the FORTRAN compiler before becoming a General Manager. He le...
This is the 3rd installment of the Microsoft@50 series. We interview Robbie Bach, who was the Chief Xbox Officer at Microsoft and the founder of Xbox at Microsoft. Before founding Xbox, he ran Microsoft Office and made it into the standard it is today. After 22 years at Microsoft, Robbie announced his retirement from Microsoft effective in the fall of 2010. Robbie has spoken to corporate, academic, and civic groups ...
This is the 2nd installment of the Microsoft@50 series. We interview Jeff Raikes, who was President of the Business Systems Division at Microsoft. Jeff was the one of the senior most executives at Microsoft after Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer. Jeff served as a member of the company’s senior leadership team that set the overall strategy and direction for the firm. He began his career with Microsoft in 1981 and w...
In this first installment of the Microsoft@50 series, we interview Paul Maritz who was the third most senior executive at Microsoft.
From 1986 to 2000, he worked at Microsoft and was on its executive committee. He became executive vice president of the Platforms Strategy and Developer Group and part of the 5-person executive management team. He was often said to be the third-ranking executive, behind Bill Gates a...
Learn about Simbian, an AI security company. Simbian is the first security company to accelerate security by empowering every member of a security team, from the C-Suite to frontline practitioners, to craft tailored insights and workflows for their unique security needs - ranging from complex investigation and response to governance and reporting. Learn how they pivoted from providing security for Gen Ai to le...
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