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Artwork for Leap Forward

Leap Forward

David Rusenko
Y Combinator
Airbnb
Twitch
San Francisco
Justin.tv
Mercury
Omada Health
IDEO
Bobbie
Fintech
Startup Banking
Jimmy Douglas
Scribd
Healthcare
Live Streaming
Plug
Created By Humans
Immigrant Founders
Ann Miura-Ko
Tesla

David Rusenko interviews the founders of companies like Airbnb, Y Combinator, and Twitch, alongside the people who first believed in them. A mom. An early boss. A college roommate. Together, they reveal the intimate, unpolished stories of how successful companies actually get built, and why it rarely looks the way you might expect.

PublishesTwice monthlyEpisodes11Founded5 months ago
Number of ListenersCategories
EntrepreneurshipBusiness

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Artwork for Leap Forward

Latest Episodes

This summer, Leap Forward is going on a short break. We’ll be back this fall with more episodes. 

Listen for a look back on Season 1 and a taste of what’s next, including a family crisis over a wiped thesis, and some very big ambitions to change the... more

Live streaming feels inevitable now. But it started as what Michael Seibel called a "dumb idea."

In this episode, Michael traces the unlikely path from a post-Yale road trip to a 24-hour streaming experiment called Justin.tv. Years of pivots and spi... more

When Sean Duffy was a medical student interning at IDEO, he came face to face with a hard truth: millions of Americans with chronic disease weren’t getting the support they needed to actually get healthier. In this episode, Sean tells the story of ho... more

Scribd took off fast - then hit a wall that nearly broke the company. In this episode, Trip Adler tells the story of building the “Netflix for books,” only to face the moment every founder dreads: when everything comes tumbling down, as growth stalle... more

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Recent Guests

Michael Seibel
Co-founder of Justin TV/Twitch; early advisor and YC partner
Y Combinator / Twitch
Episode: The Strange Origins of Live Streaming: Twitch's Michael Seibel & His Co-founder Justin Kan
Justin Kan
Co-founder of Justin TV and Twitch
Twitch / Justin.tv
Episode: The Strange Origins of Live Streaming: Twitch's Michael Seibel & His Co-founder Justin Kan
Sean Duffy
Co-founder and CEO of Omada Health
Omada Health
Episode: From Design Thinking to $1 Billion Healthcare IPO: Omada’s Sean Duffy + His Former Boss
Trip Adler
Founder of Created by Humans, cofounder of Scribd
Created by Humans / Scribd
Episode: Created By Humans: Trip Adler & His Dad
John Adler
Professor of Neurosurgery at Stanford, former entrepreneur
Stanford University / ZAP Surgical
Episode: Created By Humans: Trip Adler & His Dad
Laura Modi
Founder of Bobbie infant formula
Bobbie
Episode: Bobbie: Laura Modi & Her Mentor
Chip Conley
Founder of Joie de Vivre; Modern Elder of Airbnb
Airbnb
Episode: Bobbie: Laura Modi & Her Mentor
Jimmy Douglas
Founder of Plug, marketplace for used electric vehicles
Plug
Episode: Plug: Jimmy Douglas & His First Investor
Ann Miura-Ko
Investing partner at Floodgate
Floodgate
Episode: Plug: Jimmy Douglas & His First Investor

Host

David Rusenko
Host of Leap Forward

Chart Rankings

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Talking Points

Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.

The Strange Origins of Live Streaming: Twitch's Michael Seibel & His Co-founder Justin Kan
Q: How did you handle the near-bankruptcy moment in 2010?
They faced a painful burn rate and laid out a two-sided plan to either cut costs or find profitability, implemented aggressive cost-saving measures and new monetization strategies, which brought the company to break-even and eventually profit.
The Strange Origins of Live Streaming: Twitch's Michael Seibel & His Co-founder Justin Kan
Q: What was the moment you realized the camera-based live streaming idea could actually work?
The idea seemed unlikely at first, but the team pushed through multiple uncertainties, and a combination of persistence, a strong team, and strategic pivots convinced them to pursue it, leading to the formation of Justin TV and the later evolution into Twitch.
Created By Humans: Trip Adler & His Dad
Q: Why start Created by Humans now?
To address a pressing, systemic problem at the intersection of copyright and AI, leveraging prior industry contacts to build a scalable marketplace that licenses rights for AI use.
Created By Humans: Trip Adler & His Dad
Q: What was the hardest moment, and how did you get through it?
A major product flop led to a morale crisis and massive turnover; the team refocused on the core business, shifted to profitability through subscriptions, and leveraged leadership resilience and family support to push through.
Created By Humans: Trip Adler & His Dad
Q: How did Scribd go from an idea to a real company?
By meeting and iterating with a co-founder, pivoting early based on feedback from Paul Graham at YC, and emphasizing a model that eventually combined document sharing with a subscription framework, which built scalable growth.

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Frequently Asked Questions About Leap Forward

What is Leap Forward about and what kind of topics does it cover?

This show centers on founders, investors, and early believers who helped build iconic tech companies. Across episodes, listeners hear intimate origin stories, the pivots, challenges, and mentorship moments that shape successful startups—from scrappy beginnings in dorm rooms or apartments to scaling and navigating fundraising, crises, and growth. Guests often bring a founder's perspective, hands-on product thinking, and human-interest context—from family influence to culture and trust in building trusted brands. The format tends to blend personal anecdotes with practical lessons, offering listeners a backstage view of startup journeys, leadership mindset, and the human side of scaling businesses.

Where can I find podcast stats for Leap Forward?

Rephonic provides a wide range of podcast stats for Leap Forward. We scanned the web and collated all of the information that we could find in our comprehensive podcast database. See how many people listen to Leap Forward and access YouTube viewership numbers, download stats, audience demographics, chart rankings, ratings, reviews and more.

How many listeners does Leap Forward get?

Rephonic provides a full set of podcast information for three million podcasts, including the number of listeners. View further listenership figures for Leap Forward, including podcast download numbers and subscriber numbers, so you can make better decisions about which podcasts to sponsor or be a guest on. You will need to upgrade your account to access this premium data.

What are the audience demographics for Leap Forward?

Rephonic provides comprehensive predictive audience data for Leap Forward, including gender skew, age, country, political leaning, income, professions, education level, and interests. You can access these listener demographics by upgrading your account.

How many subscribers and views does Leap Forward have?

To see how many followers or subscribers Leap Forward has on Spotify and other platforms such as Castbox and Podcast Addict, simply upgrade your account. You'll also find viewership figures for their YouTube channel if they have one.

Which podcasts are similar to Leap Forward?

These podcasts share a similar audience with Leap Forward:

1. The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
2. Uncapped with Jack Altman
3. Big Take
4. Are We Doomed?
5. The Red Flags Podcast

How many episodes of Leap Forward are there?

Leap Forward launched 5 months ago and published 11 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.

How do I contact Leap Forward?

Our systems regularly scour the web to find email addresses and social media links for this podcast. We scanned the web and collated all of the contact information that we could find in our podcast database. But in the unlikely event that you can't find what you're looking for, our concierge service lets you request our research team to source better contacts for you.

Where can I see ratings and reviews for Leap Forward?

Rephonic pulls ratings and reviews for Leap Forward from multiple sources, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Castbox, and Podcast Addict.

View all the reviews in one place instead of visiting each platform individually and use this information to decide if a show is worth pitching or not.

How do I access podcast episode transcripts for Leap Forward?

Rephonic provides full transcripts for episodes of Leap Forward. Search within each transcript for your keywords, whether they be topics, brands or people, and figure out if it's worth pitching as a guest or sponsor. You can even set-up alerts to get notified when your keywords are mentioned.

What guests have appeared on Leap Forward?

Recent guests on Leap Forward include:

1. Michael Seibel
2. Justin Kan
3. Sean Duffy
4. Trip Adler
5. John Adler
6. Laura Modi
7. Chip Conley
8. Jimmy Douglas

To view more recent guests and their details, simply upgrade your Rephonic account. You'll also get access to a typical guest profile to help you decide if the show is worth pitching.

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