Get the Check

Get the Check welcomes Florian Juengermann, CTO and co-founder of Listen Labs, to talk about his journey from a small town in Germany to becoming an international mathlete and starting an AI company.Maya and Priya ask about Florian's origin story from wanting to program his toys to winning IOI medals (the olympics for nerds). They also dig into his path to America: Harvard, Tesla's self-driving team, and the moment he realized he wanted to build after watching a company with no product raise $3M off a pitch deck when he'd actually built the product they pitched.From there, Listen Labs is born, but v1 was a viral consumer AI image app with 20k users and a scary GPU bill charged directly to their personal credit cards. They still had a positive margin though!The real insight came when they realize the hardest part of building products is understanding what users actually think, so they flip the model: instead of AI answering questions, they build AI that asks them. Listen Labs becomes the AI interviewer that can talk to thousands of customers at once and turn those conversations into real insights.Maya and Priya deep dive into how the company found product-market fit, why marketing teams turned out to be the perfect first customers, and how Listen Labs went from scrappy demos to landing massive enterprise clients. Florian shares what it felt like to raise a Series A and then a Series B in rapid succession—and why it finally felt like the market caught up to what they'd believed all along.The episode also delivers one of Listen Lab’s most memorable moments: the story of the infamous San Francisco billboard. Just a string of numbers. No logo. No explanation. Turns out it's an elaborate puzzle designed to nerd-snipe engineers and recruit talent in the most on-brand way possible.By the end, the conversation zooms out to what it really means to build in Silicon Valley, and Florian's philosophy around AI deepening human connection instead of replacing it.00:00 Intro00:18 Learning about programming in a small German town01:46 Becoming an international mathlete06:21 The dream of going to Harvard07:33 Working at Tesla10:19 Creating a viral app with co-founder Alfred Wahlforss10:47 Founding Listen Labs23:19 Finding product market fit27:40 Fundraising and market validation28:59 The power of customer insights37:07 The SF billboard that went viral44:01 AI and human connection44:59 Why you should join Listen Labs

Maya woke up to Happy New Years texts from people she hadn’t heard from in awhile. She thought it was really special till she realized she texted them first the night before and forgot. Including Anika and Priya who got 5 Happy New Years texts from her each. Another year, and the same friends.The pod talks about 2026 as an IPO comeback year and highlight SpaceX, OpenAI, Anthropic, and Cerebras. Maya gives her hot take on why SpaceX’s Starlink numbers look better than they are because their EBITDA hides how much depreciation their satellite business has. Anika explains why she’s still bullish. Next they discuss why OpenAI and Anthropic are considering a 2026 IPO. The trio breaks down why both companies are sprinting toward IPOs and how many $Bs they’re spending each quarter. Priya draws a comparison to Uber IPO-ing pre-profitability, but model technical growth may mean the product catches up with the spend in this case. Lastly, is Cerebras, the AI chip company with a previously attempted IPO. The group explains why having one customer account may be tough in the public markets. They also discuss the recent Groq <> Nvidia deal’s impact on the company.The episode then pivots into full scale political discourse with the California billionaire tax debate. What started as a policy discussion on X quickly turned into tech billionaires threatening to move to Austin and Ro Khanna who was once their go to guy joking that he doesn’t care if they leave. The pod talks about the right way to tax wealth and if they think there will actually be an exodus to Austin. Priya also debriefs the why behind Austin’s cheap housing.Finally, this week the “Get the Check” segment goes global with Arya.ag, a company helping Indian farmers store grain, access cheaper loans, and use AI to improve crop yields. Maya and Anika are bias on this one because it reminds them of a Parafin and Fay combo.00:00 Intro02:35 Companies that are predicted to IPO in 202603:23 SpaceX’s IPO06:37 Data centers in space12:05 OpenAI and Anthropic’s race to IPO22:52 Cerebras take two on an IPO23:40 Cerebras G42 Controversy28:06 Debate on X about billionaire tax in California39:14 SF vs. Austin future tech hub debate44:09 Would Arya.ag “Get the Check”?

In the final episode of the year, the pod gives out superlatives:Most likely to dupe the FTCMoment of the yearMost questionable purchase of the yearBiggest startup product letdownThey kick things off by debriefing the Somali-run fraud scandals in Minnesota (Anika’s home state), then dive into their superlatives.They pick Nvidia and Groq’s $20B licensing deal as Most Likely to Dupe the FTC. Groq, last valued around $7B just months ago, is known for building Language Processing Units (LPUs) — chips designed specifically for inference, the process of generating real-time outputs from AI models. Unlike GPUs, which handle everything from training to inference, LPUs are narrowly optimized, which becomes a major advantage as inference costs explode across consumer and enterprise AI products. The pod also chats about Groq CEO Jonathan Ross, who originally helped create Google’s Tensor Processing Unit (TPU). The deal is part of a larger trend this year: licensing technology, absorbing talent, and leaving a shell company behind.They name prediction markets like Kalshi as the Moment of the Year. With an estimated $44B in trading volume, major platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi raising significant funding, and partnerships with CNN and CNBC, prediction markets are increasingly positioned as the new media. The pod also discusses the “death of the expert” and how people are turning to prediction markets as a source of truth in a post-truth world. They debate whether insider trading is possible and get into all the tea around AlphaRaccoon, who some believe is an insider trader at Google. Use the podcast’s exclusive Kalshi sign-on deal before the year is over: https://kalshi.com/r/getthecheck.Next, Scale AI takes Most Questionable Purchase of the Year, after Meta acquired a 49% stake for $14.3B. Since the purchase, Meta has seen high-profile departures, including Yann LeCun, Meta’s Chief AI Scientist. Meta is rumored to be working on a closed-source model, but nothing has launched yet, and there are rumors that former Scale CEO Alexandr Wang has a different vision for Meta than its previous executive team, which has been focused on existing products like WhatsApp and Instagram.Finally, 1X’s NEO humanoid wins Biggest Startup Product Letdown. Despite ambitious goals to perform household tasks like folding clothes, the robot currently requires someone to remote in and complete tasks while effectively peering into your house. Priya says that’s chill with her, if it’s doing her dishes. The hosts discuss why humanoids are such a hard problem to crack and why 1X decided to “launch” before the product was truly ready. Even though NEO was a letdown this year, the pod is excited to see what it can do once the company collects more data.00:00 Intro05:53 Most likely to dupe the FTC: Nvidia and Groq’s $20B licensing agreement18:02 Moment of the year: prediction markets like Kalshi35:00 Most questionable purchase of the year: Meta’s stake in Scale AI48:05 Biggest startup product letdown: the NEO humanoid59:43 Conclusion

In this episode of Get the Check, Anika and Priya debrief booking a flight 2 hours before it left to surprise their college friend for his birthday. Once they settle in, they break down power struggles across AI, the economy, and autonomous vehicles.They start with OpenAI’s internal code red after Google’s Gemini 3 launch began cutting into ChatGPT market share. The hosts explain why this moment actually matters. OpenAI’s daily visits fell about 6% and user growth slowed for multiple months in a row. They unpack why Google’s distribution advantage through Chrome, Android, YouTube, and Workspace becomes critical now that model quality is converging. They also discuss the positive industry reactions to OpenAI’s GPT 5.2 launch. The model is designed for professional use that outperforms human benchmarks on more than 70% of tasks and reduces hallucinations with longer context windows. OpenAI frames this less as a consumer release and more as a direct grab for enterprise budgets.From there they zoom out to a market most US coverage ignores, which is India. Google and OpenAI both dropped prices by close to 90% bundling AI subscriptions with telecom plans. With more than 1B internet users, even a small conversion rate could translate into $2 to $3B in annual revenue. The hosts explain why Android dominance matters here and how prepaid bundles quietly turn AI search into an expected feature rather than a premium add on.The episode then moves to the Fed’s third rate cut of the year, a 25 basis point reduction that passed with rare internal disagreement. Two members voted for no cut and one wanted a larger cut highlighting how split the Fed is right now. Anika Maya and Priya walk through the data driving the decision like unemployment rising from 4.1% to 4.4%, job openings falling below unemployed workers for the first time since 2021, and monthly job growth slowing. They also connect tariffs to everyday impact noting that tariffs account for roughly 0.5% of current inflation.They wrap with an autonomous vehicle industry update. Rivian announced its first custom autonomy chip and a driver assist system built on cameras, radar, and front mounted lidar, pushing back on Tesla’s camera only approach. Uber expanded its robotaxi strategy through a partnership with Avride reinforcing its role as the operating layer for autonomy rather than the manufacturer. Nissan quietly enters the conversation with a hands off eyes on system targeting 2028 at an estimated $4K price point showing that advanced driver assistance is quickly becoming standard rather than premium.Chapters00:00 Intro04:00 OpenAI’s code red12:30 GPT 5.2 and the enterprise shift27:00 AI price war in India32:00 Fed cuts rates for the third time40:30 Rivian’s AV updates46:00 Uber’s robotaxi strategy50:00 Nissan and the future of semi autonomous cars

In this episode of Get the Check, the pod covers one of the largest deals of the year: Netflix’s $82B bid for Warner Brothers. Also, Harvey AI’s third raise this year for a total of $760M at an $8B valuation, and why Meta is making cuts to Reality Labs.Netflix’s $82B bid to acquire Warner Brothers gives it access to some of the best IP in the world like Harry Potter and Game of Thrones. The hosts break down how Netflix would inherit 117M global subscribers, a century of IP, and about $30B in Warner Bros’ debt. There’s also a $5B break-up fee that Netflix will have to pay if the deal falls apart because of regulatory issues. They unpack why the industry is panicking: from Hollywood insiders warning about the death of film culture to regulators pointing out that a Netflix–HBO merger could control over 30% of the streaming market, which is generally considered a monopoly. Meanwhile, Paramount’s CEO, who also happens to be Larry Ellison’s son, is still trying to convince Warner Brothers that they have time to change their mind and pick Paramount instead.Next, the group dives into Harvey, the “it girl” in vertical AI. The company has gone from $50M to $150M ARR in a year, raised three rounds from Tier 1 VCs in 12 months, and is valued at $8B. They debrief the founding story: from answering legal questions on Reddit using GPT-3, to cold-emailing OpenAI’s general counsel (who ended up investing), to naming the company after Harvey Specter. They also talk about the actual product and Harvey’s moat, which comes from data and creating a sticky platform not just a chatbot.The episode ends with Meta’s Reality Labs, which just bought an AI pendant. Meta quietly acquired Limitless, a wearable that records everything you say. The hosts make the point that “always-on” devices haven’t worked in the real world, which is why Meta likely bought Limitless for the talent, not the product. Reality Labs still lost $4.4B last quarter alone, which is why Meta is cutting budgets, delaying future headsets, and potentially regretting the rename.If you want to trade on anything from Taylor Swift to hockey download Kalshi: https://kalshi.com/sign-up?referral=getthecheck.Follow us on Instagram @getthecheckpod and DM us any thoughts on the episode :)00:00 Intro02:31 Netflix’s $72B bid for Warner Bros03:47 History of the streaming wars04:53 Deal terms of the offer10:53 How Warner Bros ended up for sale12:19 Paramount’s fight for Warner Bros14:18 Industry and regulatory reactions26:00 Would Harvey AI get our check?27:46 Harvey’s founding story29:39 Harvey’s customers34:21 Harvey’s product suite36:38 Harvey’s moat39:19 Harvey’s competitors41:01 The vertical AI landscape42:47 Harvey expanding beyond legal45:01 Update on Meta Reality Labs45:09 Meta acquiring Limitless49:57 Meta Ray-Ban AI glasses51:25 Reality Labs cuts