Inside Startup Investing with Chris Lustrino

Author: Kingscrowd, Sam Fiske

Join Chris Lustrino as he talks to startup founders, angel investors, fund managers, investing platform executives, and more about the online private markets. Inside Startup Investing gives listeners the inside scoop on alternative investing such as startups from an investor and founder perspectives.
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Language: en-us

Genres: Business, Investing, Technology

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Why People Buy: Inside Solsten's Cognitive-Behavioral AI
Episode 161
Wednesday, 21 January, 2026

Today, Chris sits down with Joe Schaeppi, co-founder & CEO of Solsten—a deep-tech company mapping human psychology and turning it into actionable AI for creative, targeting, and product personalization. After 8 years of R&D, Solsten's “human context layer” helps enterprises and SMBs understand why people act the way they do—then adapt ads, products, and AI agents to match. Clients like LEGO and Peloton report creative wins and 3× conversion lifts, while a new self-serve product opens the stack to smaller teams.Highlights include...• Building a cognitive-behavioral AI model from clinical-grade psychometrics and authentic behavior data• Why “creative is the new targeting” (Meta’s Andromeda) and how psychology-matched creative cuts CPI/raises LTV• Personalization beyond demographics—training AI agents to speak in users’ thinking and communication styles• Go-to-market shift: from years of R&D to scale (>$35M raised; investors incl. RedBird & Galaxy)• Use cases across gaming, fintech, health/fitness, hospitality, and more