Creating the Standd AI-Native Due Diligence Platform with Stephen Solka

Stephen Solka, CTO and co-founder of Standd.io, joins Elixir Wizards Owen and Charles to share the journey of building an AI-native deal intelligence and due diligence platform. Designed to streamline document analysis and text generation for venture capital firms, Standd.io leverages large language models and AI tools to address key customer pain points in document workflows. Stephen explains how Elixir and Phoenix LiveView enabled rapid UI iteration and seamless integration between the front-end and back-end. The conversation also explores the human side of startup life. Stephen reflects on balancing tech debt with customer demands, the value of accelerators in building networks and securing funding, and the challenges of pricing in early-stage startups. He emphasizes the importance of validating ideas with potential customers and learning from the hurdles of growing a business. Tune in for insights on leveraging AI in Elixir, solving real-world problems, and navigating the journey from concept to company. Topics discussed in this episode: The journey from self-taught programmer to CTO The perks of Phoenix LiveView for rapid UI development Integrating front-end and back-end technologies AI tools for code generation How early adopters balance functionality with product polish Validating ideas and understanding customer needs The impact of accelerators on networking and fundraising Approaches to managing pricing strategies for startups Balancing technical debt with feature development The role of telemetry and error reporting in product development Creating collaborative and supportive tech communities Educating users on AI’s capabilities and limitations The broader implications of AI tools across industries Links Mentioned Contact Stephen & Julie at Standd: founders@standd.io https://www.standd.io/ https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/gangs-of-four-gof-design-patterns https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/code-complete_steve-mcconnell/248753/item/15057346/ https://aws.amazon.com/sagemaker/ https://www.anthropic.com/ https://getoban.pro/ https://kubernetes.io/ https://www.apollographql.com/ https://aws.amazon.com/startups/accelerators https://accelerate.techstars.com/ https://aider.chat/ https://github.com/Aider-AI/aider https://neovim.io/ https://ui.shadcn.com/ https://tailwindui.com/ https://www.ycombinator.com/ https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/close-to-the-machine-technophilia-and-its-discontents_ellen-ullman/392556Special Guest: Stephen Solka.

Om Podcasten

Elixir Wizards is an interview-style podcast for anyone interested in functional programming and the Elixir Programming Language. Hosted by SmartLogic engineers and Elixirists Owen Bickford, Dan Ivovich, and Sundi Myint, this show features in-depth discussions with some of the brightest minds in the industry, discussing training and documentation in Phoenix LiveView, the evolution of programming languages, Erlang VM, and more. In the current season, we're branching out from Elixir to compare notes with thought leaders and software engineers from programming languages like JavaScript, Ruby on Rails, Go, Scala, Java, and more. Each episode will take a deep dive into a topic from Machine Learning and AI, to ECS and game development, to education and community. Learn more about how SmartLogic uses Phoenix and Elixir. (https://smartlogic.io/phoenix-and-elixir?utm_source=podcast)