First Builders
The First Builders Podcast from The Council dives into the stories of those who go first—founders, funders, and early operators who helped build category-defining companies before they were household names. Hosted by General Partner Amber Illig and Partner Rachel Tsui, each episode brings a candid, practical conversation with someone who has helped shape companies before there was a playbook.
First Builders
Latest Episodes
The Last Twenty Percent: Georgia Rust on Craft, AI, and Why Design Has Never Mattered More
Georgia Rust is the Creation Engine Product Lead at Figma, where she leads the team behind generative AI plugins, shaders, design systems, and the core canvas capabilities that over ten thousand designers flew to Config 2026 to see unvei...
Creator Path to Venture Scale: Kristina Subbotina on Legal Automation and Social Distribution
Kristina Subbotina is the founder and CEO of Lexsy, an AI-powered legal operating system built for startups and the venture funds that back them. After nearly a decade inside the system, clerking for a federal judge on the Ninth C...
The 1099 Gap: Wyatt Stokesberry on Rebuilding Health Insurance for America's Independent Workforce
In this episode of First Builders, Amber Illig and Rachel Tsui sit down with Wyatt Stokesberry, Co-Founder and CEO of Molli Health. Wyatt spent years inside the health insurance machine, rising from early employee to Executive V...
Inside Clinical Trials: Kyle McAllister on Infrastructure, AI, and Building in Healthcare
In this episode of First Builders, Amber Illig and Rachel Tsui talk with Kyle McAllister, Co-founder and CEO of Trially, about what it really looks like to build inside the clinical trial ecosystem.Kyle shares ...
Building for Builders: Meagan Gamache on Craft, Platforms, and the Future of DevTools
In this episode of First Builders, Amber Illig and Rachel Tsui sit down with Meagan Gamache, VP of Product at Render, to explore what it really means to build products for the people who build everything else.Meagan share...
