Best Ron Gross Podcasts (2026)

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Jared Friedman, Partner, Y Combinator; Co-founder, Scribd 1:10:05

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4h ago1:10:05

1:10:05

In the latest episode we talk to one of the great YC insiders, Jared Friedman, who was in the third batch back in summer 2006, as cofounder of Scribd, and who has worked since 2015 as a YC partner. Jared really embodies the spirit of YC. He's incisive, but also a mensch, as you'll notice when you listen to the episode.…

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KILLING TIME WITH JOHN WAYNE GACY-Karen Conti 1:04:39

4d ago1:04:39

1:04:39

John Wayne Gacy raped, tortured, and murdered 33 boys and young men, burying most of them in the crawlspace under his Chicago home. Karen Conti was in high school at the time watching the bodies being removed on the television news. Fourteen years pass. Through a twist of fate, Conti, now a young and inexperienced attorney, is called upon to handle…

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Jessica & Carolynn Announce Season 5! 2:38

2d ago2:38

2:38

Jessica & Carolynn Announce Season 5 of The Social Radars

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DARK TIDE: Growing Up With Ted Bundy 1:30:31

11d ago1:30:31

1:30:31

Edna's world turned upside down when her close cousin, Ted Bundy, was linked to the gruesome murders that had plagued her hometown of Seattle. Both devastating and dangerous, she reveals her journey of discovering the truth about her cousin who was more like a sibling, a man she loved, admired, and thought she knew so well. Edna delves into the unb…

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DIG ME A GRAVE— Dick Harpootlian 58:41

18d ago58:41

58:41

The definitive true “Southern Gothic” account of the life, crimes, conviction, and execution of Donald “Pee Wee” Gaskins, the charismatic, brutal, well-liked, remorseless South Carolina serial killer who was dubbed the Charles Manson of the South—written by the prosecutor who brought him to justice. Of the hundreds of murder cases that noted South …

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Blake Scholl, Founder & CEO of Boom Supersonic 1:24:02

21d ago1:24:02

1:24:02

In today’s episode, we talk to Blake Scholl, Founder & CEO of Boom Supersonic. Building a supersonic airliner sounds hard, and it is: startups often have dramatic ups and downs, but Boom’s are among the most dramatic we’ve heard. His story was a gripping series of last-minute saves.

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EMPIRE CITY UNDER SIEGE—Craig McGuire 59:56

26d ago59:56

59:56

Empire City Under Siege shares true stories of an FBI Special Agent spanning three tumultuous decades in New York City, beginning in the gritty 1970s when law enforcement refused to let their city be consumed by corruption and violence. Starting as an undercover operative investigating Mafia hijackers in Red Hook, Anthony John Nelson offers a gripp…

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SISTERS IN DEATH—Who Killed The Black Dahlia?—Eli Frankel 1:29:47

1M ago1:29:47

1:29:47

Who killed the Black Dahlia? In this eye-opening shocker, award-winning producer, true-crime researcher, and Hollywood insider Eli Frankel finally solves the greatest-and most gruesome-murder mystery of the twentieth century just before its 80th anniversary. In January 1947, the bisected body of Elizabeth Short, completely drained of blood, was dis…

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RUNAWAY GROOM—Ron Peterson Jr 1:17:49

1M ago1:17:49

1:17:49

Good-hearted country boy Petie Miller vanishes without a trace two days before his wedding in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley in 1983. Some speculate it’s a case of cold feet, but investigators suspect cold-blooded murder. The bride’s stepfather, a violent career criminal named Charlie Almond, is the prime suspect. Circumstantial evidence suggests tha…

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A NEED TO KILL—Mark Pettit 1:09:15

2M ago1:09:15

1:09:15

From two-time best-selling author and three-time Emmy-winning investigative reporter Mark Pettit comes the haunting true story of Nebraska serial killer John Joubert—a case that shocked a nation and still echoes across the true-crime world. It was one of the most terrifying times in Nebraska's history. The year a young Air Force Airman went on a ki…

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THE PEOPLE vs THE GOLDEN STATE KILLER—Thien Ho 50:52

2M ago50:52

50:52

In The People vs. the Golden State Killer, Thien Ho, the current District Attorney of Sacramento, recounts his harrowing and exhilarating experience as the lead prosecutor responsible for capturing and prosecuting Joseph DeAngelo. Referred to at various times by law enforcement and the media as the Visalia Ransacker, the East Bay Rapist, the Origin…

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NUREMBERG and THE NAZI AND THE PSYCHIATRIST—Jack El-Hai 57:06

2M ago57:06

57:06

The film NUREMBERG, to be released November 7th, 2025 is an American drama written, co-produced and edited by James Vanderbilt. It is based on the 2013 book, THE NAZI AND THE PSYCHIATRIST by Jack El Hai.. In 1945, after his capture at the end of the Second World War, Hermann Göring arrived at an American-run detention center in war-torn Luxembourg,…

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A TOWN WITHOUT PITY—Jason Vuic 1:23:56

2M ago1:23:56

1:23:56

In the 1980s, the tiny town of Arcadia, Florida, was “fifty miles and fifty years from Sarasota.” With its cowboy roots, low-wage agricultural industries, and violent frontier history, Arcadia was a curious mix of the desolate ranchlands of West Texas and the stately homes and bitter race relations of the South. In A Town without Pity, award-winnin…

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NOIR BY NECESSITY—Mike Gatto 50:54

2M ago50:54

50:54

Mike Gatto was an up-and-coming young lawmaker when his father was brutally murdered. The act sucked him into the world of noir: wild theories, intransigent detectives, and unimaginable violence. This true crime story reads like a thriller, offering insight into the world of politics and the seedy underbelly of crime investigation in modern Los Ang…

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Founder Mode: Sajith Wickramasekara, Founder & CEO, Benchling 13:20

3M ago13:20

13:20

In today's Social Radars, we talk to Sajith Wickramasekara of Benchling. For Sajith, founder mode means a pervasive feeling of responsibility for everything at the company. Nothing can be bad at Benchling.

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THE LAS VEGAS MASSACRE CONNECTIONS—Mark Gray 1:13:30

3M ago1:13:30

1:13:30

On October 1, 2017, Mary Jo von Tillow’s world changed forever. Her husband, Kurt, was killed in the Route 91 Harvest Festival mass shooting in Las Vegas, the deadliest in U.S. history. In just eleven minutes, her life—and the lives of thousands of others—were shattered. But what followed was more than grief. Out of devastation came unexpected bond…

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Founder Mode: Jen Herbach, Founder & CEO, Adventris Pharmaceuticals 16:17

3M ago16:17

16:17

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Every Killer Leaves A Trace - Dennis Carson 50:43

3M ago50:43

50:43

They blended in. They raised families, held steady jobs, and hid in plain sight. But behind the mask of normalcy, they were monsters—responsible for decades of terror, pain, and death. Every Killer Leaves A Trace is a chilling narrative nonfiction thriller that exposes moments that led to the shocking unmasking and ultimate capture of twenty-six of…

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Founder Mode: Andy Lapsa, Founder & CEO, Stoke Space 15:19

3M ago15:19

15:19

In this episode we talk to Andy Lapsa of Stoke Space. This startup is literally doing rocket science, because they're building fully reusable rockets. Anyone who meets Andy is struck by the depth of his expertise, and in this company that's what founder mode means: a deep understanding of all the engineering problems.…

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25 FROZEN, 1 THAWED—Bob Cyphers 1:07:41

3M ago1:07:41

1:07:41

25 Frozen, 1 Thawed: Murder and Mayhem in the Midwest takes readers deep into the heart of unsolved mysteries and chilling crimes that have haunted communities across the Midwest. From small towns shattered by sudden disappearances to cities rocked by violent acts, each chapter brings a different story—twenty-five cases left frozen in time, still w…

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Founder Mode: Emmett Shear, Founder, Softmax & Twitch 21:28

3M ago21:28

21:28

In this Social Radars episode we talk to Emmett Shear, who told us about an interesting founder mode technique he developed when he was running Twitch. He wanted people there to be able to answer the question "What would Emmett do?" and he found the best way to ensure this was via the weekly all-hands, which he'd spend hours preparing for.…

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GREG SCARPA, LEGENDARY EVIL—Jonathan Dyer 1:13:30

3M ago1:13:30

1:13:30

Goodfellow, capo, killer, thief. A man so diabolically evil that he ordered his eldest son to murder his closest associate, and his youngest son to murder his best friend. When Greg Scarpa was in his early twenties he became a goodfellow in the Profaci family by swearing a blood oath to the Mafia, at the time the country’s largest organized-crime s…

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Founder Mode: Christina Cacioppo, Founder & CEO, Vanta 13:01

4M ago13:01

13:01

In today’s episode, Christina Cacioppo gives us her take on founder mode, which is becoming more important now that Vanta has 1000 employees around the world. She told us about a new variant of the idea: founder mode in fundraising. Christina delayed fundraising till after Vanta hit $100m ARR, which caused some investors to dismiss her, but she end…

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THE MURDER OF DEBBIE GAMA—Justin Dombrowski 1:12:03

4M ago1:12:03

1:12:03

The murder that still haunts a Pennsylvania city. On the morning of August 8, 1975, sixteen-year-old Debbie Gama disappeared after leaving her home in Erie, only to be found raped and strangled days later in a creek nearly thirty miles from her home. What followed was an investigation that lacked suspects or even evidence pointing to a viable suspe…

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Founder Mode: Kashish Gupta, Founder and co-CEO of Hightouch 19:32

4M ago19:32

19:32

In this episode we talked to Kashish Gupta of Hightouch, who made an important point about founder mode: one of the most important things founders can do that employees can't is to take big risks.

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Founder Mode: Paul Gross, Founder & CEO of Remora Carbon 14:02

4M ago14:02

14:02

In this episode we talk to Paul Gross of Remora Carbon, a startup that does carbon capture right out of the exhausts of trucks and trains. Paul has a unique take on founder mode: once a quarter he decides what the three top risks to the company are, and for that quarter, those three things, whatever they are, are the main things he works on.…

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31 MURDERS-—Alvin A.J. Esau 1:00:38

4M ago1:00:38

1:00:38

Many decades before Ted Bundy roamed the country there was serial killer Earle Nelson. During the 1920s, this geographically mobile killer went from city to city. His modus operandi involved getting into a house by pretending to be a person looking for a room to rent or inspecting a house that was for sale, and then strangling the landlady, often f…

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Founder Mode: Chris Best, Founder & CEO, Substack 27:53

4M ago27:53

27:53

In this episode, taped in front of a live audience, Chris Best tells us the story of Substack. He reminisces about his adventures with Elon Musk, and explains how he persisted in bringing to market a component of Substack that he knew was critical to their vision, even though any non-founder CEO would have killed it after years without any growth.…

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EXPERT WITNESS—Ann Burgess 57:57

4M ago57:57

57:57

From the author of the critically-acclaimed true crime account, A Killer By Design (the inspiration behind Hulu's original docuseries, Mastermind), a groundbreaking look into the crucial role played by expert witnesses in the most high-profile criminal cases, based on Dr. Ann Burgess’ personal experiences within the criminal justice system. Written…

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Founder Mode: Jake Heller, Founder & CEO, Casetext 23:41

4M ago23:41

23:41

In this episode, Jake Heller talks about how he and his cofounder discovered the perfect product in a weekend of intense experimentation after GPT4 was released, and then changed the whole direction of the company. This was a classic case of founder mode, because Casetext was already 9 years old at that point and it was hard to convince everyone to…

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THE SERIAL KILLER TRAVEL GUIDE ACROSS AMERICA—Johnny Trevisani 51:08

4M ago51:08

51:08

The Serial Killer Travel Guide Across America isn’t your typical road trip companion. This darkly fascinating guide is quirky and unconventional and takes readers on a dark journey through the United States, exploring notorious locations linked to infamous and not-so infamous serial killers. From the shadowy forests of the Pacific Northwest to the …