Episode 12 - Speed to Market and the Reality of Shipping AI Startups

In this episode of Project Gamma, Warner Moore welcomes Rob Zwink, Co-Founder & CTO of Razi Title and former JPMorgan “Expert Engineer,” to unpack what it really takes to ship AI startups that last.

Together, they explore:

• Why speed to market can determine whether a startup survives

• The hidden costs of emerging tech like blockchain and GenAI

• Why GenAI prototypes without architectural foundations stall at scale

• Lessons from moving from corporate skunkworks at JPMorgan to founding startups

• The story behind VendGuard, age-verified beer vending machines launching at Ohio Stadium

Rob shares candid insights on tradeoffs, compliance, and building systems you’ll still be proud of five years later. Warner reflects on the founder’s challenge of balancing speed and scale while staying grounded in real business problems.

You’ll also hear book recommendations, including:

📚 Algorithms to Live By by Brian Christian & Tom Griffiths

📚 Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture by Martin Fowler

📚 Web Operations by John Allspaw & Jesse Robbins

If you’re a founder or startup leader working with AI, this conversation is for you.

Learn more about Gamma Force: https://gammaforce.io/

Connect with Rob Zwink: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zwink/