Leif Abraham, co-founder and co-CEO of Public.com, joins The Demo Day Podcast to talk about how Public is redefining investing platforms and outpacing incumbents like Fidelity and Charles Schwab. He shares the story behind Public’s viral election marketing stunt, the challenge of managing billions in assets (and millions of users), and what it takes to stand out in the crowded fintech space. Plus, we dive into the origins of Public.com, what it’s like being a foreign founder in the U.S., and why Public is betting on a different future for retail investors.

Jeff Becker is an NYC-based general partner at Antler, the global early-stage VC known for its startup residency program, where hundreds of thousands apply and only the top 3% of applicants get in. He joins The Demo Day Podcast to break down what makes a founder truly stand out, the startup that’s blowing his mind right now, and how one entrepreneur in this year's "batch" is making $5,000 a week with AI-generated music. Plus, we dive into the power of memory, knowledge retention, and how Antler is building the next wave of breakout companies.🎧 Listen in to learn what it takes to get noticed by top VCs.

Rachel Holt is an operator-turned-investor who helped scale Uber into a global powerhouse before co-founding Construct Capital, a VC firm focused on foundational industries like supply chain, logistics, and manufacturing.She joins The Demo Day Podcast to discuss:🚀 How Uber rewrote the playbook on disrupting entire industries🏗️ Why Construct Capital is betting on overlooked but massive markets🤔 The skepticism Uber faced—and how it proved everyone wrong💡 What it takes to scale a business in the face of doubtFrom scaling one of the most transformational startups of our time to now backing the next wave of industry-changing companies, Rachel shares lessons on leadership, disruption, and investing in the future.

Bradley Tusk is a venture capitalist, political strategist, and founder of Tusk Ventures Partners. Known for his work advising Uber, leading political campaigns, and pushing for mobile voting, Tusk has a unique perspective on the intersection of politics, tech, and venture capital.
He joins The Demo Day Podcast to discuss:
 Why the US is doomed to a 4-year presidential cycle.
 VC valuations are broken—and public markets know it.
 The M&A and IPO wave that could return under Trump.
 Why social media is poison and the government must act.
 The urgent need for a national data privacy framework.
 The real reason Elon Musk is unhappy.
 How political incentives are broken—and what to do about it.
 The case for mobile voting and how it could reshape democracy.

Brett Perlmutter, founder and CEO of Bulletpitch, joins The Demo Day Podcast to share the story of how his newsletter grew to over 100,000 readers in under two years, and how Bulletpitch is bringing a media-first approach to venture.About Bulletpitch: We’re in the Age of Venture-Media. - Distribution: The next generation of great companies will be found through the medium of media. Our publication features a new early-stage startup each week, we have 100s of companies that apply monthly, have helped companies raise millions, and we’ve hosted everything from intimate dinners to large gatherings of 1000+. - Value-add: Traditional startup media covers companies that have raised money, but investors are looking for companies that are raising. Doing this has allowed Bulletpitch to emerge as a leading source for early-stage deal flow and as an incredible value add to founders.

Lily Lyman, partner at Underscore VC and renowned Boston investor, joins The Demo Day Podcast to discuss Boston's reclaiming of the venture capital throne, Underscore's portfolio company she's most excited about, how to get a VC's attention with your cold emails, and much more! About Lily: Lily drives Underscore VC investments in Future of Work, Digital Transformation, Vertical SaaS, Customer Experience, and Commerce, while also playing a critical role in the management and active evolution of Underscore VC as a firm. Lily is ideally suited to identify and support companies with global potential, as she offers a truly global perspective, having lived and worked in more than 75 countries. Lily has been a founder, investor, and operator in mobile technology. She came to Underscore VC from Facebook, where, as a growth leader, she launched products that drove 100M new users in 4 years. Prior to Facebook, she held strategy, operational, and entrepreneurial roles, including co-founding an Agtech & CPG startup while at Stanford. Today she is a Board Director for the New England Venture Capital Association, MIT Sandbox Funding Board, Harvard Allston Fund, and is a leader of the Boston All Raise chapter. Lily earned her undergraduate degree from Harvard University and her MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business. She also holds a Certificate in Entrepreneurship from Columbia Business School and a Certificate in Public Management from Stanford GSB, and was a founding member of the Yard Venture’s Investment Committee.

Steve Kraus is a partner at Bessemer Venture Partners in the Cambridge office and a world-renowned healthcare investor. He is the author of Bessemer’s 10 Laws of Healthcare, Benchmarks for Growing Health tech Businesses, and co-host of the podcast Heart of Healthcare. He joins The Demo Day Podcast to discuss Trump, the Affordable Care Act, why healthcare was not as big a priority for voters in 2024, the game-changing power of AI, and the future of healthcare tech that he's investing in right now.

Rob Biederman, managing partner at Asymmetric⁠, joins The Demo Day Podcast for a discussion about his firm's unique approach to the VC playbook, why M&A may be back on the menu with Trump now in office, and how a founder can stand out to attract venture money. He also tells the story of how a cold email to Mark Cuban saved his first startup.

Quantum computing, encryption, nation state security, generative AI, and the secret to having a good marriage--our conversation with Jeff Wong, EY's former global chief innovation officer, has it all.

John Coogan, co-founder of Lucy and Soylent, sits down with the Demo Day team for a conversation about the rise of new media and the complicated regulatory challenges of running a nicotine-product brand. Coogan is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Founders Fund. He also regularly publishes videos about tech companies and Silicon Valley to his 455k YouTube subscribers.

3-D printed drones are revolutionizing the speed and versatility of drone defense. Dan Magy is the founder and CEO of Firestorm Labs, a San Diego-based startup specializing in low-cost, modular military UAS systems. Previously, he founded Citadel in 2016, a counter-drone firm that employs innovative technologies, such as radio-frequency jamming to identify and counter unauthorized drone threats. Magy joins the Demo Day Podcast for a riveting discussion on the necessity of drones in conflicts around the world, especially the war in Ukraine, and to dive into the ethics of what it means to run a drone defense company contracted by the US Department of Defense. Learn more at https://www.launchfirestorm.com/.

Ann Bordetsky is a partner at NEA, where she focuses on early-stage investing in consumer technology and AI application software and marketplaces. Prior to NEA, Ann was Chief Operating Officer of Rival (acquired by Live Nation) and held business leadership roles at Uber and Twitter during their growth phase. As an operator, she has seen Silicon Valley startups through each phase of the company-building lifecycle, from first launch to IPO. Ann holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a BS from UC Berkeley.

The rapid success of beehiiv as a newsletter platform is largely due to the tenacity of its founding team. Tyler Denk, co-founder and CEO, joins The Demo Day Podcast to share how his lifelong passion for startups has evolved into the fulfillment of his childhood dream—becoming a successful founder. Before beehiiv, Tyler was the second employee at Morning Brew in a role that spanned engineering, product, and growth—responsible for building the renowned referral program and bespoke tech ecosystem that facilitated the company to scale to a successful $75m exit in 2020. After a stint at Google as a product lead at YouTube Music, he left to cofound beehiiv—a newsletter platform to fuel creators' ability to create, monetize, and grow their audience. Over 1 billion emails per month are sent on the platform from over 20,000 active newsletters. On the side, Tyler enjoys building cool projects, most recently Big Desk Energy. Learn more at https://www.beehiiv.com/.

Larsen Jensen, founder and general partner at Harpoon Ventures, is a two-time Olympic medalist and former Navy SEAL. He won a silver medal in the 1500m freestyle in Athens in 2004 and a bronze medal in the 400m freestyle in Beijing in 2008. In 2009, Jensen joined the US Navy SEALs, serving until 2015. In 2016, Jensen joined Andreessen Horowitz as a summer associate and then joined Lightspeed Venture Partners until 2018, when he started Harpoon Ventures. Harpoon is a seed focused venture capital firm with a mission to ensure American technological dominance for future generations. Learn more at https://www.harpoon.vc/.

Jett Fein, general partner at Headline, invests at the intersection of worthwhile and fun. He focuses on global consumer internet and software companies that are upending categories like food, healthcare, work, financial services, retail, education, and fitness & wellness. Learn more at https://headline.com/.