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.
Episodes
33 episodes
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...
Reindustrializing America: Zane Hengsperger on Building Nox Metals and the Future of Manufacturing
In this episode of First Builders, Amber Illig and Rachel Tsui sit down with Zane Hengsperger, Founder and CEO of Nox Metals, an AI-powered metal supplier building automated factories in Detroit.Zane grew up around manufa...
The Future of Healthcare Revenue: Eliana Berger on Fragmentation, AI, and Financial Infrastructure
In this episode of First Builders, Amber Illig and Rachel Tsui sit down with Eliana Berger, Co-Founder and CEO of Joyful Health, following the company’s recent $22M raise and rapid growth.Joyful Health began with a simple but ...
Trust Is the Product: Tina Hwang on Navigating Regulation, Global Growth, and Chaos
In this episode of First Builders, Amber Illig and Rachel Tsui sit down with Tina Hwang, Head of Legal at ClassDojo, whose career spans some of the most consequential moments in modern tech. From Google’s rise to WhatsApp’s global expansion, Tw...
Rebuilding the Safety Net: Siran Cao on Benefits Access, Care Infrastructure, and Founder Resilience
In this episode of First Builders, Amber Illig and Rachel Tsui sit down with Siran Cao, Co-Founder and CEO of Mirza, a company simplifying how families access public benefits. Inspired by her childhood navigating fragmented syst...
Empathy Meets Execution: Duanni Hurd on Shifting from Hardware Executive to Scaling Home Care
In this episode of First Builders, hosts Amber Illig and Rachel Tsui sit down with Duanni Hurd, Founder and CEO of Starlight Caregivers, to explore what it really takes to build and sustain a business in one of the most essentia...
The Assembly Economy: Filip Aronshtein on Trust, Manufacturing Systems, and Reindustrialization
In this episode of First Builders, hosts Amber Illig and Rachel Tsui sit down with Filip Aronshtein, Founder and CEO of Dirac, to unpack what it takes to create software for the physical world and why assembly, not just design o...
From Google to Healthcare: Lina Scroggins on Product Leadership, Scale, and Building for Trust
In this episode of First Builders, hosts Amber Illig and Rachel Tsui sit down with Lina Scroggins, SVP and Chief Product Officer at Mercy, to explore what it means to build and lead product orgåanizations inside some of the most...
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Inside the Physical Economy: Charles Julius on Platforms, Trust, and the Food Supply Chain
In this episode of First Builders, hosts Amber Illig and Rachel Tsui sit down with Charles Julius, Co-Founder and CEO of Loamy, to explore what it really takes to build platforms for essential, historically under-digitized indus...
From SaaS to Science: David Apple on Driving Biotech With Purpose
In this episode of First Builders, hosts Amber Illig and Rachel Tsui sit down with David Apple, founder and CEO of Shark Tooth Biotech, to explore purpose-driven building, rare disease innovation, and what i...
First Builders Holiday Special 2025
In this holiday special episode of First Builders, hosts Amber Illig and Rachel Tsui sit down to reflect on 2025, what it was like to build The Council in this tumultuous year, the launch of First Builders, and some predi...
Building Reliable AI: Haroon Choudery on Infrastructure, Education, and Scaling Trust
AI is moving faster than ever—but reliability remains the missing layer.In this episode of First Builders, hosts Amber Illig and Rachel Tsui sit down with Haroon Choudery, founder and CEO of Autoblocks AI, to unpack what it take...
Law, Policy & the Public Trust: Prashanthi Raman on Building at the Frontier
Regulation and policy is often seen as a barrier to innovation, but it doesn’t have to be. In this episode of First Builders, hosts Amber Illig and Rachel Tsui sit down with Prashanthi Raman, former head of government affairs...
Voice AI for Maintenance: Zacharie Esmili on Rail, Robotics and Founding Quintess AI
What if AI fit the way frontline workers actually do their jobs, instead of forcing them to fit the tools?In this episode of First Builders, hosts Amber Illig and Rachel Tsui sit down with portfolio founder Zacharie Esmili, Co-Founder &a...
Scaling with Taste: Cecilia Ziniti on GC AI’s Series B and the Discipline Behind Hypergrowth
A real-time debrief on a breakout moment. GC AI just announced its Series B led by Scale Venture Partners and Northzone after crossing $10M ARR and serving legal teams at more than 1,000 companies in under two years.Founder and CEO Cecil...
Democratizing Wealth: Alessandro Chesser on Building Dynasty and Lessons from Carta’s Early Days
What if the same wealth tools billionaires use were accessible to everyone?In this episode of First Builders, hosts Amber Illig and Rachel Tsui sit down with Alessandro Chesser, Co-Founder & CEO of Dynasty, a licensed Nevada...
Building Outside the Valley: Jack Greco on Scaling ACV Auctions and Betting on Builders
How do you build a billion-dollar company when you’re not in Silicon Valley?On this episode of First Builders, hosts Amber Illig and Rachel Tsui sit down with Jack Greco co-founder, COO & CFO of ACV Auctions, which went publ...
Aging in Place: Cameron Carter on Leading Rosarium Health and Navigating Healthcare Policy Changes
What if healthcare started at home?In this episode of First Builders, hosts Amber Illig and Rachel Tsui sit down with Cameron Carter, Founder and CEO of Rosarium Health, a company helping older adults and people with disabilitie...
Empathy at Scale: Lauren Makler on Building Cofertility’s Unique Model for Families
What if freezing your eggs could also help another family grow theirs?In this episode of First Builders, hosts Amber Illig and Rachel Tsui sit down with Lauren Makler, Co-founder and CEO of Cofertility—a groundbreaking fertility...
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Go Slow to Go Fast: Eliana Berger on Building Joyful Health
What does it really take to build in healthcare from the ground up? In this episode of First Builders, Amber Illig and Rachel Tsui sit down with Eliana Berger, co-founder and CEO of Joyful Health—a financial operating system for ind...
Data, Distance & the Decade Build: Web Sun on Scaling Komodo Health
What does it take to scale a healthcare data company over a decade—while bridging silos across an entire industry?Web Sun, Co-Founder and President of Komodo Health, joins First Builders to share the company’s journey from an early idea ...
Customer Experience at Scale: Building the Future of CX with AI
What happens when a frustrated operator decides to solve her own problem—and ends up building one of the most empathetic AI companies in the market?Lisa Popovici, Co-founder of Siena AI, joins First Builders to share how running...
Designing with Intention: David Hoang on Building the Right Things First
What does it take to make design a growth engine and not an afterthought?David Hoang, VP of Design at Atlassian and former design leader at Webflow, Replit, and One Medical, joins First Builders to share how intentional design c...
From Medicine to Market: Danish Nagda on Breaking In and Building Boldly
How does a doctor become a startup founder? Danish Nagda, Co-Founder & CEO of Rezilient, joins First Builders to share his journey from the hospital floor to reimagining how care is delivered for high-risk patients.Danish le...
