Growth Capital Podcast

🧪 Growth Capital Podcast — Episode 94 🧪
What does it take to build a biotech company, sell it right before a crisis hits, and then find the motivation to start all over again?
In this episode of the Growth Capital Podcast, host Justin Dixon sits down with Tero-Pekka Alastalo, Co-founder & CEO of Avenue Biosciences, a protein engineering company re-engineering therapies to make them cheaper and faster to manufacture. An MD-PhD and trained pediatric cardiologist, Tero-Pekka's path from Stanford postdoc to founder took him through a genomics company that was sold just before COVID, a stint at the acquiring organization, and ultimately to co-found Avenue.
Key topics discussed: ● Selling a genomics startup weeks before the COVID shutdown ● Life inside an acquiring company, and knowing when it's time to leave ● How Avenue re-engineers proteins to lower manufacturing costs ● Building a platform play inside the biosimilar market ● Where AI is actually accelerating drug discovery today ● Finding the right investor niche for deep-tech biotech ● Why go-to-market, not technology, is the hardest problem to solve
🎧 Whether you're a founder weighing an exit, an operator navigating a company post-acquisition, or an investor trying to understand platform plays in biotech, this conversation offers a grounded, honest look at what building — and rebuilding — actually looks like.
📩 Connect with Tero-Pekka Alastalo:Email: tpa@avenuebiosciences.com
🌐 Learn more about Avenue Biosciences: https://www.avenuebiosciences.com/
👉 Watch now and subscribe to the channel!
💬 Tell us in the comments: Have you ever had to rebuild your motivation after a big win?

🏆 Growth Capital Podcast — Episode 93 🏆
What happens when a former pro triathlete decides the sport that shaped him still has an unsolved problem?
In this episode of the Growth Capital Podcast, host Justin Dixon sits down with James Elvery, Co-founder & CEO of RaceRanger, the drafting-detection system now used across professional triathlon. James spent his twenties chasing an Olympic berth before retiring at 28. He spent the next decade building the technology that finally gives athletes and referees a real answer to one of the sport's oldest fairness problems.
This conversation goes far beyond triathlon. It's a founder story about validating a real pain point before building a product, choosing the right first customer, and the operational grind of scaling hardware from a handful of prototypes to a real company.
🔍 Key topics discussed:
Why drafting has been the triathlon's most contested, hardest-to-police problem
How James and co-founder Dylan validated the idea before building anything
The personal loss that turned a shelved side project into a full-time company
Why they deliberately kept human referees in the loop instead of full automation
The operational challenges of scaling hardware from dozens of devices to thousands
What elite athletic competition taught James about competing in business
Whether you're a founder validating your next idea, an operator thinking about scaling hardware or operations, or simply curious how a professional athlete became a startup CEO, this episode offers a real, unfiltered look at building something over more than a decade.
📩 Connect with James Elvery and Race Ranger:🌐 Website: https://www.raceranger.com/ Also on Instagram: https://lnk.ua/BujnClNrz ,andLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/raceranger/
👉 If you found this conversation valuable, give the video a like, share it with a founder validating their next idea, and subscribe for more in-depth conversations with the founders, investors, and operators shaping the future of business.
💬 Tell us in the comments: Have you ever had a "What would they do?" moment that pushed you to finally commit to something you'd been putting off?

⚙️ Growth Capital Podcast — Episode 92 ⚙️
What if AI's next breakthrough isn't writing better code, but finally understanding the code we already have?
In this episode of the Growth Capital Podcast, host Justin Dixon sits down with Anand Kulkarni, Founder & CEO of CoreStory, an AI platform that reverse-engineers massive, undocumented codebases into plain-English specifications enterprises can actually use. Anand has spent two decades building venture-backed AI companies out of Berkeley, and he brings a rare, clear-eyed view of how legacy technology actually works under the hood.
Key topics discussed: ● Why roughly 800 billion lines of COBOL still run the world's banks, airlines, and government systems ● Why coding agents break down once an application gets too large for their context window ● How CoreStory turns undocumented legacy code into a living specification ● Why "vibe-coded" MVPs need a spec before they can scale into production ● Why AI is making human roles more valuable, not less ● Practical steps founders can take to drive real AI adoption inside their own teams
Whether you're a founder wrestling with technical debt, an investor evaluating AI infrastructure plays, or an operator trying to roll out AI without the hype, this conversation offers a practical framework for thinking about how AI should actually be used.
🌐 Learn more about Core Story: https://corestory.ai/
🔔 If you found this conversation valuable, give the video a like, share it with a founder or CTO wrestling with legacy systems, and subscribe for more in-depth conversations with the founders, investors, and operators shaping the future of technology and business.
💬 Tell us in the comments: Is your organization still running on code nobody fully understands anymore?

📖 Growth Capital Podcast — Episode 91 📖
What happens to a family's wealth after they sell a business at exactly the right moment, and then decide they're not ready to stop building?
In this episode of the Growth Capital Podcast, host Justin Dixon sits down with Brandon Ball, Partner & CFO at Blue Diamond Capital, a single-family office based in Provo, Utah. Blue Diamond traces its roots back to an independent phone directory business that the Bingham family sold off just as the iPhone was about to make the entire industry obsolete. That exit became the foundation for a decades-long investment platform spanning real estate, home building, construction, and operating companies across the country.
This conversation goes beyond a typical investing breakdown. It's a look at how a family office actually thinks differently from private equity and venture capital, why timing can matter more than a deal’s strength, and how patient, relationship-driven capital is emerging as a real alternative for founders navigating today's tighter fundraising environment.
🔍 In this episode, you'll learn:● How family office investment thesis and timeline differ from PE and VC● How Blue Diamond grew from real estate into home building, construction, and franchise businesses● What a typical deal structure and check size looks like, including non-dilutive subordinated debt● How the family's philanthropic foundation is built directly into the business model
Whether you're a founder evaluating non-traditional capital, a PE or VC professional trying to understand how family offices compete for deal flow, or an operator curious about how one exit became a multi-decade investment platform, this episode offers a practical look at a side of the capital markets that rarely gets discussed publicly.
Connect with Brandon Ball: 📧 Email: brandonb@bluediecap.com 🌐 Website: https://www.bluedicap.com/
🔔 If you found this conversation valuable, give the video a like, share it with a founder exploring alternative capital, and subscribe for more in-depth conversations with the founders, investors, and operators shaping the future of business.
💬 Tell us in the comments: Would you rather raise from a fund racing a clock, or a family office with no clock at all?

🤝 Growth Capital Podcast — Episode 90 🤝
What happens when AI agents stop being tools in your security stack and start acting like coworkers on your SOC team?
In this episode of the Growth Capital Podcast, host Justin Dixon sits down with Dov Yoran, Co-Founder and CEO of Command Zero, an autonomous, AI-assisted SOC investigation platform built for complex enterprise environments, to unpack exactly that shift.
Dov has spent nearly three decades in cybersecurity and has three career exits to show for it, including the acquisition of ThreatGrid by Cisco and Polar Security by IBM. He brings that rare mix of deep security expertise and repeat-founder experience to a conversation that goes well beyond a typical AI hype cycle discussion.
In this episode, you'll learn:
How AI agents are becoming coworkers to security analysts instead of replacements for them
Why AI is making the attacker's playbook faster and more dangerous, not just the defender's
What separates a real AI security platform from a weekend "vibe coded" project in an increasingly noisy market
Why culture and trust determine whether a startup acquisition actually succeeds, based on Dov's experience being acquired by both Cisco and IBM
Who Command Zero's autonomous SOC platform is really built for, and why maturity matters more than company size
The basic cyber hygiene principles every company, from solo founders to enterprise security teams, still needs to get right
Whether you're a security leader evaluating AI SOC platforms, a founder thinking about your own eventual acquisition, or an operator trying to separate real cybersecurity innovation from the noise, this conversation offers a grounded, experience-based look at where AI is actually taking the security industry.
🎧 Watch or listen now, and let us know in the comment section: Do you see AI agents as tools, or are they starting to feel like teammates on your team?
Connect with Dov: 🌐 Website: https://www.commandzero.ai/💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dovyoran/📧 Email: dov@commandzero.ai🔔 If you found this conversation valuable, give the video a like, drop a comment with your take, share it with a security leader or founder navigating AI adoption, and subscribe for more in-depth conversations with the founders, investors, and operators shaping the future of technology and business.

🛡️ Growth Capital Podcast — Episode 89 🛡️
What if your biggest AI risk isn't a hacker, but an employee who's just trying to get their job done faster?
In this episode of the Growth Capital Podcast, Justin Dixon sits down with Arti Raman, Founder & CEO of Portal26. This AI adoption management platform helps enterprises discover, secure, and get real value from the AI already running through their business. Arti built her first company in 2019 around data encryption, years before AI became mainstream, and pivoted the entire business in the months after ChatGPT launched, redirecting existing capital and technology toward an entirely new problem: shadow AI.
This conversation goes far beyond a typical security discussion. It's a look at how AI usage is quietly spreading across every department, why the biggest risk isn't always a data breach, and why some of the most dangerous exposure a company faces right now is financial, not just technical.
In this episode, you'll learn:
Why most companies have no visibility into how employees are already using AI
What "token explosion" is, and how it can quietly wipe out a budget in minutes
Why agentic AI creates legal liability that traditional security tools were never built to catch
Why AI hasn't cut headcount at Portal26, even as productivity has multiplied
Why early-career hiring is genuinely harder now, and what needs to change about it
How Arti pivoted a fully funded company without losing her investors' trust
Whether you're a founder rolling out AI across your organization, an investor evaluating AI-driven risk, or an operator trying to understand your own blind spots, this episode offers a practical framework for thinking about AI adoption before it becomes a liability.
Connect with Arti Raman🌐 Website: https://portal26.ai/💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arti-arora-raman/
🔔 If you found this conversation valuable, give the video a like, share it with a leader rolling out AI across their team, and subscribe for more in-depth conversations with the founders, investors, and operators shaping the future of technology and business.
💬 Tell us in the comments: Does your company actually know how employees are using AI today, or is that still a blind spot?

🔍 Growth Capital Podcast — Episode 88 🔍
What happens when the traffic your business built for years starts flowing into an AI answer instead of your website?
In this episode of the Growth Capital Podcast, Justin Dixon sits down with Thomas Howell, Co-founder & CEO of FancyAI, a generative engine optimization (GEO) company based in Austin, Texas. After spending over a decade running a search marketing agency, Tom watched the SEO playbook he'd built his career on get upended within months of the AI engines emerging — and rebuilt his business around a new question: how do you become the answer AI recommends, not just a link it might cite?
This conversation goes far beyond marketing tactics. It's a look at how AI-generated answers are quietly reshaping how customers find every kind of business, why small companies can still outmaneuver private equity-backed competitors, and why the next twelve months may determine who wins their market for the next decade.
In this episode, you'll learn:
Why organic traffic is declining even for businesses doing everything "right"
The difference between eligibility and visibility in AI search
Why Reddit has become one of the most influential sources AI engines trust
How an "agent to agent" economy could eliminate websites and phone calls entirely
Why GEO strategies are outperforming traditional SEO, even on Google
Why small businesses are lagging behind enterprise on AI adoption, and what that will cost them
Whether you're a founder rethinking your marketing strategy, an operator competing against larger, better-funded rivals, or an investor trying to understand where AI is creating real business value, this episode offers a practical framework for showing up where your customers are actually looking.
Connect with Tom Howell🌐 Website: getfancy.ai 📧 Email: tom@getfancy.ai
🔔 If you found this conversation valuable, give the video a like, share it with a business owner still relying on old-school SEO, and subscribe for more in-depth conversations with the founders, investors, and operators shaping the future of technology and business.
💬 Tell us in the comments: Has your organic traffic changed in the last year, and have you noticed AI answers showing up where Google search results used to be?

🌱 Growth Capital Podcast - Episode 87 🌱
What if the goal isn't to sell your business, but to make it worth enough that selling is only one of your options?
In this episode of the Growth Capital Podcast, Justin Dixon sits down with Matt Andersen, President & CEO of Westlake Securities. Over nearly three decades in finance, Matt has advised on more than $5.7 billion in debt, securities, and M&A transactions, and he's watched an industry that almost always defaults to the same advice: sell.
Matt argues that's often the wrong answer. Drawing on his two books, Completing the Deal and the upcoming Intentional Growth, he breaks down how founders can reverse-engineer a growth plan rather than rushing toward an exit — and why timing, valuation psychology, and AI are reshaping the lower-middle market right now.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
Why most sellers fall into one of three valuation-expectation categories, and only two are fixable
How to reverse-engineer a 3-year plan to grow enterprise value before a sale
Why AI is compressing valuations in tech-enabled businesses
What "$1 trillion in dry powder" means for sellers over the next 2–3 years
Why multi-generational business transfer is changing how owners think about growth
The difference between a lower middle market bank and a traditional investment bank
Whether you're a founder considering an exit, a private equity investor evaluating deal flow, or an operator building toward a future sale, this conversation offers a practical framework for thinking about growth, timing, and value creation.
Connect with Matt Andersen:
🌐 Website: https://westlakesecurities.com/
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-andersen-8861811b/
📚 Books:
Completing the Deal (available now)
Intentional Growth (releasing on October 20, 2026 and available for pre-order)
Intentional Growth Summit:
Matt and his team hosted a 3-hour Intentional Growth Intensive last July 23rd, with another session coming in September. Growth Capital Podcast listeners get 50% off the September session. Message us for the discount code and registration link.
🔔 If you found this conversation valuable, give the video a like, share it with a founder or investor thinking about their next move, and subscribe for more in-depth conversations with the founders, investors, and operators shaping the future of business.
💬 Tell us in the comments: Would you rather grow your business for 3 more years to hit your number, or sell now at a lower valuation?

📦 Growth Capital Podcast — Episode 86 📦
What if the biggest opportunity for AI isn't replacing people, but helping them make better decisions?
In this episode of the Growth Capital Podcast, Justin Dixon sits down with Chris Condon, Founder & CEO of Aircon, to explore how AI is transforming one of the world's most complex industries: freight forwarding.
After spending decades in logistics—from unloading shipping containers to leading a private equity-backed freight company—Chris saw a recurring problem. Freight forwarders weren't losing business because they lacked data. They were losing because they couldn't turn that data into confident, timely decisions.
That realization led him to build Aircon, an AI-assisted quoting platform designed to eliminate "freight noise" and help teams quote faster, learn from every decision, and compete more effectively.
This conversation goes far beyond logistics. It's a masterclass in solving operational problems, building technology around customer needs, and why the future of AI belongs to companies that improve decision-making—not just automate tasks.
In this episode:
Why speed alone isn't a competitive advantage
How AI improves decision quality, not just efficiency
What founders misunderstand about building AI products
The hidden cost of fragmented data across supply chains
Why "the quote is the commitment"
Lessons from buying and scaling a company with private equity
Why technology is no longer the moat—solutions are
Whether you're building a software company, investing in industrial technology, or leading operations at scale, this episode offers practical insights into where AI creates real business value.
Connect with Chris Condon 🌐 Website: https://aircon.ai/ 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-condon-air-freight-ai/ 📧 Email: ccondon@aircon.ai🔔 If you found this conversation valuable, give the video a like, share this episode with someone working in AI, logistics, or enterprise software, and subscribe for more in-depth conversations with the founders, investors, and operators shaping the future of technology and business.💬 Tell us in the comments: Where do you see AI creating the most value—in automation or decision-making?

🔓 Growth Capital Podcast — Episode 85 🔓
What happens after building one of the world's most recognizable technology companies?
In this episode of the Growth Capital Podcast, host Justin Dixon sits down with Paul Allen, Founder & CEO of SOAR.com, to discuss why he believes artificial intelligence represents an even greater opportunity than the internet revolution.
Rather than focusing on AI replacing people, Paul shares a different vision—one where AI empowers individuals, entrepreneurs, and organizations to achieve more by combining open-source technology, public data, and human creativity.
From founding companies during the dot-com era to building AI platforms designed to democratize intelligence, Paul offers a thoughtful perspective on what the next generation of innovation could look like.
In this episode, you'll learn:
Why AI should augment humans, not replace them
How AI agents could transform the future of work
Why open-source AI may be one of the biggest opportunities for entrepreneurs
Lessons from building Ancestry and launching multiple technology companies
How founders can think differently about productivity, hiring, and company building
Why decentralized intelligence may shape the next decade of innovation
Whether you're a founder, investor, executive, or operator navigating AI, this conversation offers a strategic look at where technology is heading, and how businesses can prepare today.
Connect with Paul: • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulballen/ • Email: paul@soar.com • Substack: https://paulallenai.substack.com/
👍 If you enjoyed this conversation, subscribe to the Growth Capital Podcast, like the video, share it with someone building a business, and leave a comment: How do you think AI will change leadership over the next five years?