18VC Podcast
Conversations with the founders and investors shaping the student startup ecosystem.
Latest Episode
Cheyoung Ahn & Bekhruz Malikov of Night Owl Network: All the Mixers End at 6 PM, So They Built a Community for Founders Who Hustle till 3 AM
with Cheyoung Ahn, Bekhruz Malikov
Every SF mixer ends by 6 PM — so Stanford co-founders Cheyoung Ahn and Bekhruz Malikov built the Night Owl Network, a late-night community that planned for 50 and pulled 120+ signups in two weeks.
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Yurii Tovarnytskyi of Aximon: 10 Failed Startups by 19 — Now He's Automating $1B Real Estate Deals
with Yurii Tovarnytskyi
Yurii Tovarnytskyi failed ten startups by 19. Six weeks into his eleventh — Aximon, an AI operating system for commercial real estate — he has a $250K pipeline, a $1B client.
Evan Buhler of Talok Capital: Creativity, Consciousness, Culture, and AI for Human Flourishing
with Evan Buhler
Evan Buhler quit law live on air to build Talok Capital, an early-stage VC investing at the intersection of creativity, consciousness, and culture — from xAI and Neuralink to pre-seed bets.
Abdi Sherif of gBETA: 100x in 18 Months, a $5M Fund at HBS — Now He Backs Founders VCs Never Visit
with Abdi Sherif
Abdi Sherif returned 100x in 18 months, raised a $5M fund at HBS, and helped Eudia land a $105M Series A. Now he runs gBETA Inland Empire, backing founders VCs never visit.
Heroza Zhang of Gorest: “LLMs Will Never Make the Next Elden Ring” — Building the AI-Native Game Engine
with Heroza Zhang
Heroza Zhang on building Gorest — an AI-native game engine that turns a sketch into a playable 3D greybox with zero AI-generated assets — and why prompts will never replace human taste.
With Clarence Keith @ Nalana: What If You Could Speak 3D Into Existence?
with Clarence Keith
Clarence Keith is building Nalana — “Cursor for Blender” — an AI that turns speech into editable 3D. On the LLM-meets-Blender spark, the data moat, and the “be the 2%” mindset.
Manuel David of Paradigm Outreach: The College Dropout Building an AI for the Entire Sales Cycle
with Manuel David
Manuel David dropped out of ASU to build Paradigm — an AI that runs the whole outbound sales cycle, from finding the lead to booking the meeting — and the infrastructure moat behind it.
Andy Liu of Lullaby: Her Boyfriend's Bedtime Story Beat Calm, Headspace & Melatonin
with Andy Liu
Andy Liu on building Lullaby — an AI sleep companion born from a 2 AM bedtime story — why she wants you off your phone, and how “sleep intelligence” is her moat against ChatGPT.
Barry Li: He Ran a $1K/Week “Dark Market” at 15 — Now He Teaches Kids to Out-Build AI
with Barry Li
Barry Li — founder of OMNIAPATH and Wov3 — on running a $1K/week dorm “dark market” at 15, killing a profitable business the day he saw ChatGPT, and how to survive the AI era.
Founders, Foreign Markets, and Going Global from Korea with The Ventures' Ethan Cho
with Ethan Cho
Ethan Cho of TheVentures on building an AI-native fund, why “good companies” beat “good stocks,” and the brutal signals he uses to tell real founders from tourists.
With Model OS Founder Fernando Jia: The Doom of the “Rent Model” Era
with Fernando Jia
Fernando shared with us his journey building the survival layer for AI Applications.
From a War Zone to Venture Capital — The "Chaos Native Strategist" Tigran Ghukasyan
with Tigran Ghukasyan
Tigran shared with us his story about growing up and learning to thrive in chaotic environments, and his journey from startup, corporation to venture capital.
Building Invisible AI with Bubbl Founder Tony Xiong: The AI Assistant With No App — It Just Texts You
with Tony Xiong
Tony Xiong shared his journey of building an AI assistant that lives in your texts and pulls what actually matters out of your message chaos.
Building the AI Operating System for Apparel Manufacturing with ThreadLabs Co-Founders Rylan Jimenez & Diora Juraboeva
with Rylan Jimenez, Diora Juraboeva
Rylan and Diora shares their journey as student founders building the OS for apparel manufacturing.
"You can't AI your way out of bad taste" — Diana Melencio (GP, XRC Ventures) on building the next $100M consumer brands
with Diana Melencio
"You can't AI your way out of bad taste." Diana shares with us her take on how AI will reshape the next $100M consumer brand.
With Sabrina Li: “Question the Status Quo” — A Gen Z Investor's Playbook
with Sabrina Li
Sabrina Li shared her playbook as a Gen-Z investor.
Building the Robotic Workforce: Yondu AI's Michael Chen on Warehouse Robots, Teleoperation & Going from MIT to YC
with Michael Chen
We dive into Yondu AI's story on how they are reshaping the warehouse workflow using humanoid robots.
With Founding GP Jack Crawford at CerraCap Impact Venture Capital: Bridging the Gap Between Market-Innovating Startups and Market-Leading Corporations
with Jack Crawford
Jack shared his journey into founding CerraCap Impact Venture Capital and his investment philosophy.
Revolutionizing Allergy Management with Immuny.ai Co-founders Luna Li & Mackenzie Dennill
with Mackenzie Dennill, Luna Li
Luna and Mackenzie shared their vision of "curing" allergy and their story of initiating Immuny.ai