The Room Podcast is a leading technology podcast that shares inspiring founding stories from the tech leaders of today to catalyze the founders of tomorrow. Co-hosted by Claudia Laurie (a founder) and Madison McIlwain (a funder), The Room gives listeners an inside look into the early days of your favorite companies and answers your tactical questions about what it takes to build an iconic business.
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Claudia and Madison met in San Francisco in 2018 as they started their tech careers as product managers and bonded over a mutual passion for community and product building. Two years later, The Room Podcast was founded when they both started navigating career pivots: Claudia in leaving big tech to start a startup , and Madison in joining an early-stage venture capital fund as an investor. As they asked founders and funders for advice, Claudia and Madison realized that the conversations they were having should be available to everyone.
Since the start of the podcast, Madison became the partner for defy vc's seed stage practice and as responsible for driving the seed investment strategy for the firm. She worked closely with founders across b2b and consumer technology. Madison is currently a student at Harvard Business School.
Claudia has gone on to co-found Prive, a commerce payments and infrastructure startup. They’ve raised over $4.75 million from top-tier VCs including an investment from defy vc led by Madison.
Claudia and Madison bring the unique perspective of founder and funder to their conversations with the world's most inspiring entrepreneurs.
Currently at Harvard Business School. Previously Partner of Seed Investments at defy vc.
Forbes 30 under 30 Media 2024
Dartmouth Class of 2018
Co-founder & Co-CEO of Prive.
Forbes 30 under 30 Media 2024
Harvard Class of 2018
Software Development Engineer at Amazon.
Duke University Class of 2021
The Room Podcast is proudly partnered with Mercury and Perkins Coie.
Mercury is the fintech ambitious companies use for banking* and all their financial workflows. With a powerful bank account at the center of their operations, companies can make better financial decisions and ensure that every dollar spent aligns with company priorities. That's why over 200K startups choose Mercury to confidently run all their financial operations with the precision, control, and focus they need to operate at their best.*Mercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by Choice Financial Group and Evolve Bank & Trust, Members FDIC.
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Perkins Coie is a leading international law firm that is known for providing high-value, strategic solutions and extraordinary client service on matters vital to our clients’ success. With more than 1,200 lawyers in offices across the United States and Asia, we provide a full array of corporate, commercial litigation, intellectual property and regulatory legal advice to a broad range of clients, including many of the world’s most innovative companies and industry leaders as well as public and not-for-profit organizations.
Learn more at perkinscoie.com.
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