All episodes of This Week in Startups

This Week in Startups · 2026-10-12 · 80 min · 16,734 words

The Gadget That's Better in Crowds Than Your Phone + Ring’s Founder Before Amazon Bought It | E2349

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Hello, and welcome back to Twist. My name is Alex. I'm a regular co-host here on the show. Today we are talking to a founder of a company that is building Not an AI model, not AI infra, not AI connectivity, not even something for the enterprise. Instead, they have built a consumer device that helps you stay connected to your friends when you're out in the world, especially when your cell phone is going to struggle the most. I love this company, I love this founder, I love that it's working on bringing people together out in the world. So please join me in welcoming you to the show. It's Totem Labs. Carter Fowler. Before we get to that, we're gonna talk Just for a second about Plaud.

Now, if you're a long term listener of the show, you know that we are big plod fans here at Twist. Got mine with me whenever I do these shows to ensure that I have the transcript I need to find quotes, to find information, to find tasks to do's. Basically, if you work in the digital world and you use your voice and you need to keep track of things, you absolutely need to check out Plog. We cannot recommend it enough. So if you want to get one of your own, again, do it. Go to plod.ai slash twist, P-L-A-U-D dot AI slash twist. Use the code twist, save 10% off your purchase price, and then use it to save in advance your career. You won't be sorry. Trust me. All right.

Carter. How you doing? Great. Thanks for having me on, Alex. To be honest, it's uh A little surreal to be here. Um, we didn't found Totem that long ago, and our very first angel investor at the company was actually our only investor that I knew before the company was the one who. originally turned me on to twist. started listening to it about two years before we founded the company and this podcast was a

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