Lessons From the Front Lines of Building an AI Startup
Jun 16, 2026 ·
23m 30s
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Description
Ahmed Rashad started his career on an oil rig, taught himself to code, and went on to build and sell a company. After stops at Oracle, MIT, McKinsey, Amazon, and...
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Ahmed Rashad started his career on an oil rig, taught himself to code, and went on to build and sell a company. After stops at Oracle, MIT, McKinsey, Amazon, and Scale AI, he founded Perle to solve a problem he kept running into: the AI data gap.
Perle builds specialized training data for AI models in fields like medicine and linguistics — the niche areas where general AI struggles.Despite the anxiety around AI, Ahmed believes the upside far outweighs today’s disruption. Faster development doesn't shrink markets; it expands what's possible. In his view, AI isn't replacing human potential. It's amplifying it.
Tune in to hear:
Don’t miss this episode for practical, hard-earned advice from a founder who has been in the thick of it since day one.
====Chapters====
00:18 – Meet Ahmed Rashad, Founder & CEO of Perle
01:15 – From Oil Rig to Software: Ahmed's Unlikely Origin Story
02:34 – What Perle Does and the Problem It's Solving
03:35 – Why This Problem Was Personal
04:35 – Use Cases: Healthcare, STEM, and Linguistics
05:02 – The Arabic Language Challenge: 22 Dialects and Counting
07:22 – How the Rapidly Changing AI Landscape Is Impacting Perle
09:16 – Fundraising Advice: The Four Things Founders Should Never Delegate
10:40 – Why the Right VC Beats the Highest Valuation
11:30 – What to Look for in an Investor Relationship
12:09 – How to Communicate Effectively with Your Investors
13:40 – The Reality of the Founder Journey: It's Never a Straight Line
16:36 –Why Ahmed is So Optimistic About AI
18:27 – What Concerns Ahmed About AI
19:47 – The AI Slop Problem
20:53 – Final Advice for Founders: Take Care of Yourself
22:42– Where to Find Ahmed and Learn More About Perle
----Stay connected with our host, Kate Adams, here on LinkedIn!
Learn more about Perle: https://www.perle.ai/
This episode is produced by:
Brenda Hernández Jaimes: Podcast Producer & Talent Coordinator, Ellas Media
Angela R. Chong: Audio Editor & Post-Production Producer, Amplify Podcasts
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Perle builds specialized training data for AI models in fields like medicine and linguistics — the niche areas where general AI struggles.Despite the anxiety around AI, Ahmed believes the upside far outweighs today’s disruption. Faster development doesn't shrink markets; it expands what's possible. In his view, AI isn't replacing human potential. It's amplifying it.
Tune in to hear:
- Why the right VC partner matters more than the biggest check
- The 4 things founders should never delegate
- How to keep investors engaged and informed
- What Arabic’s 22+ dialects reveal about the depth of the AI data gap
Don’t miss this episode for practical, hard-earned advice from a founder who has been in the thick of it since day one.
====Chapters====
00:18 – Meet Ahmed Rashad, Founder & CEO of Perle
01:15 – From Oil Rig to Software: Ahmed's Unlikely Origin Story
02:34 – What Perle Does and the Problem It's Solving
03:35 – Why This Problem Was Personal
04:35 – Use Cases: Healthcare, STEM, and Linguistics
05:02 – The Arabic Language Challenge: 22 Dialects and Counting
07:22 – How the Rapidly Changing AI Landscape Is Impacting Perle
09:16 – Fundraising Advice: The Four Things Founders Should Never Delegate
10:40 – Why the Right VC Beats the Highest Valuation
11:30 – What to Look for in an Investor Relationship
12:09 – How to Communicate Effectively with Your Investors
13:40 – The Reality of the Founder Journey: It's Never a Straight Line
16:36 –Why Ahmed is So Optimistic About AI
18:27 – What Concerns Ahmed About AI
19:47 – The AI Slop Problem
20:53 – Final Advice for Founders: Take Care of Yourself
22:42– Where to Find Ahmed and Learn More About Perle
----Stay connected with our host, Kate Adams, here on LinkedIn!
Learn more about Perle: https://www.perle.ai/
This episode is produced by:
Brenda Hernández Jaimes: Podcast Producer & Talent Coordinator, Ellas Media
Angela R. Chong: Audio Editor & Post-Production Producer, Amplify Podcasts
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