Early Stage Podcast

the early stage podcast is devoted to interviewing top entrepreneurs at the seed and series a stages of their startups. this project is a deep dive into the initial challenges and breakthroughs driven innovators endure as they build their mvp, launch, raise funding, grow their teams, and find product-market fit. early stage is hosted by john valentine, manager of technology identification and communications at thales, a worldwide leader in aerospace, space, defense, transportation, and security. a two-time founder and early employee at venture-backed mobile payments startup levelup, jv has deep experience launching new products, building systems, and scaling. in his current role, john embraces the opportunity to support hundreds of high-growth startups each year in much the same way as the innovation ecosystem helped him.