Ardie Sameti is the Co-Founder and CEO of Scala. Ardie is part of a new generation of Northwest leaders rethinking how AI can solve one of the biggest challenges in enterprise operations—the ability to act on customer data in real time.

Scala is building an AI platform that unifies enterprise data and turns it into actionable intelligence, helping leaders see what's happening across their operations, respond faster, and empower their teams to perform at their best.

Before co-founding Scala, Ardie spent nearly a decade at Accolade leading AI and Platform initiatives inside high-volume healthcare operations. Ardie and his wife Ali are raising their three young kids in Kirkland, and he remains deeply engaged in the Pacific Northwest startup and community ecosystem.

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 Amanda Schutzbank and Deborah Benton are Co-Founders and General Partners at Willow Growth Partners. Willow is an emerging growth fund providing early capital to entrepreneurs building next-generation, values-led consumer brands.

They typically lead the first institutional round for companies generating $1-5 million in revenue, applying a disciplined approach to valuation, capitalization, and scaling for long-term success.

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Evan Zhao is the Co-founder and CEO of Pacagen, using biotechnology to revolutionize consumer products. Before Pacagen, he served as Chief Science Officer at ODDITY, and previously built and sold Revela.

He earned a PhD in Chemical Engineering from Princeton University, and completed work as a Schmidt Science Fellow at Harvard.

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Aaron Finn is the CEO of SingleFile. He  has spent over 25 years building and leading technology companies across consumer, internet, digital advertising, healthcare, and legal and compliance infrastructure.

Earlier in his career, he held leadership roles at classmates.com, where he worked on customer acquisition analytics and scaling consumer platforms. He later co-founded AdReady, an automated advertising company, and led it through multiple growth phases and an eventual acquisition. Across those roles, Aaron has often been responsible for stepping into complexity and helping organizations scale responsibly. He joined SingleFile in 2021 to lead the company through its next phase of growth, with a focus on clarity, execution, and building infrastructure that works quietly and reliably in a highly regulated space.

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Brent Beardall  is the President and CEO of WaFd Bank, the largest bank headquartered in Washington state with more than $27 billion in assets and 200 offices located in nine Western states. He has spent over two decades at WaFd, rising through Finance and Operations before becoming CEO in 2017.

Known for his candid leadership style and public advocacy for community banking, Brent has led WaFd through significant economic disruption, strategic pivots, and cultural transformation. He is a Stanford Executive Program graduate, a CPA by training, and serves on several civic and financial boards. Brent often describes himself as the luckiest man alive, a perspective shaped by lived experience, gratitude, and responsibility.

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Court Lorenzini is the founder and CEO of multiple successful technology startups including DocuSign, Point.com, Primus BioVision and MetaBrite Inc. His latest venture, FounderNexus, aims to triple the success rate of venture-backed startups, and his work with the Lorenzini Family Foundation is aggressively investing in building a stronger and more equitable society. Additionally, Mr. Lorenzini serves on the Boards of many early-stage companies across the US and UK as well as the United States Olympic and Paralympic Foundation, and is an active investor and advisor. Over his career, Mr. Lorenzini has raised over $300M in venture and strategic funding from leading corporations and venture capital funds. Prior to his entrepreneurial ventures, Mr. Lorenzini held senior management positions with Cisco Systems and KLA-Tencor, including two years running a technology business in Neuchatel, Switzerland. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Duke University and post graduate credentials from Stanford University, UC Berkeley and University of Wisconsin at Madison.

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Ari Roisman is an  entrepreneur, CEO, and executive coach who helps ambitious founders push through barriers and build meaningful lives beyond success. Over the past decade, he's founded and led companies that have defined new categories from instant video messaging with Glide to wearable tech with Wristcam, which partnered with Apple and landed on Time's 100 best inventions list.

He's been recognized by MIT Technology Review as one of "35 Innovators Under 35", and now channels his experience into coaching founders, serving as Forum Officer for the YPO Entrepreneurship Network and advising companies at the intersection of technology and human growth.

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Raina Kumra  is the Founder of Spicewell, a "Food is Medicine" startup focused on bringing everyday Ayurveda to the American diet, closing nutrient gaps, and planetary health.

Raina is also an advisor to Google X and CEO of Juggernaut, a transformation bureau that focuses on placing capital and storytelling for an organization's next leap. Previously, she worked in the Obama administration and served as Head of Digital for Wieden + Kennedy in New York.

For What Fuels You listeners, Raina has provided a promo code for 25% off SpiceWell products. Shop here for superfood seasonings, which make a great gift: What Fuels You discount code (https://spicewell.com/whatfuelsyou)

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