Podcast
8Spotlight
Hosted by Eight Capital · EN
Welcome to 8Spotlight, a founder-focused podcast brought to you by Eight Capital: a pre–Demo Day fund that has been backing Y Combinator startups for years.
With a portfolio of 200+ startups (and counting), we’ve had the privilege of working closely with some of the most ambitious entrepreneurs in the world, often at the very start of their journeys. This podcast is our way of opening that window for you.
In each episode, we go founder by founder, startup by startup, shining a spotlight (wink wink, nod nod) on the stories behind the companies in our portfolio. You’ll hear firsthand what it’s like to launch from YC, how great ideas take shape in real time, and the gritty, inspiring, and often surprising details that don’t always make it into TechCrunch headlines.
At Eight Capital, we believe that investing in startups is about more than term sheets and cap tables. It’s about people. The ones bold enough to ask, “Why not us? Why not now?” 8Spotlight is our celebration of those people. We’re proud to share their stories with you.
So plug in, press play, and discover the founders reshaping industries and rewriting the future one startup at a time.
12episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Spotlighting RealRoots: How Dorothy Li is Revolutionizing Friendship for Women
Oct 1400:33:33Tap to summarize"Can something artificial create something real?" This is one of the questions we tackle in this poignant episode of 8Spotlight with Dorothy Li, the co-founder of RealRoots. A Y Combinator–backed company growing at lightning speed, RealRoots is on a mission to help women form genuine friendships in a world that often makes that harder than ever.RealRoots started with a simple but profound realization: women experience constant disruption in their social circle. From moving cities and changing jobs to marriage, motherhood, and beyond, maintaining deep connections has become an uphill battle.Dorothy and her team built an AI-powered matching engine that helps women reconnect, rebuild, and root themselves in authentic friendships. This episode is for anyone who ever struggled to make friends as an adult, or wondered where technology fits in our most human experiences...you might leave more hopeful than you started.
Transcribe →Spotlighting Taiv: How Noah Palansky Found PMF And The Road To A Successful Series A Raise
Sep 1500:30:41Tap to summarizeIn this episode of 8Spotlight, we sit down with Noah Palansky, co-founder of Taiv, the company turning everyday TVs in restaurants, gyms, and retail spaces into dynamic, revenue-generating media networks.Since its early days in Y Combinator, Taiv has grown rapidly: now with more than 3,000 signed partners and a freshly closed Series A led by IDC Ventures. Noah takes us behind the scenes of that growth, sharing how Taiv built and scaled a product that works for business owners, advertisers, and consumers alike.For anyone interested in startups, media, or the future of advertising, this conversation offers a candid look at what it means to build a category-defining company from the ground up.8Spotlight is brought to you by Eight Capital, a pre–Demo Day YC fund with a portfolio of 200+ companies. Each episode shines a light on the founders and startups shaping the future.
Transcribe →