Coffee with a Founder Podcast: Varun Puri, Yoodli

16- Jul-2026

In this episode of Coffee with a Founder, Beck Bamberger is joined by Varun Puri, CEO and co-founder of Yoodli, the AI-powered communication coach helping people become more confident and effective speakers. From sales calls and job interviews to media appearances and public speaking, Yoodli provides real-time feedback designed to help users improve how they communicate.

Varun shares the personal experiences that inspired Yoodli's creation, including his journey from India to the United States and his time coaching public speaking at Google. He explains how those experiences revealed a common challenge: highly capable people often miss opportunities not because they lack talent, but because they struggle to communicate their ideas with confidence. That insight led to the creation of Yoodli, which he describes as a "Grammarly or Duolingo for speech."

Throughout the conversation, Beck and Varun explore the realities of building and scaling an AI startup, navigating enterprise adoption, and creating lasting behavior change through technology. Varun also offers an honest look at the emotional highs and lows of entrepreneurship, discussing founder identity, maintaining perspective during periods of rapid growth, and the lessons he's learned while fundraising and pitching investors.

show notes:

00:00 - Introducing the smart mirror coach

04:09 - Rapid team growth and expansion

06:55 - Overcoming personal challenges and launching career

09:57 - Addressing public speaking anxiety

15:18 - Choosing the right VCs

18:14 - Discussing learning app habits

20:31 - Prepping for media dinners

22:48 - Listing media event opportunities

Read More About The Episode:

0:00 – Introducing the Smart Mirror Coach
Varun Puri introduces Yoodli, an AI-powered communication coach designed to help people become more confident and effective speakers. Drawing comparisons to "Grammarly for speech" and "Duolingo for communication," he explains how the platform creates a judgment-free environment where users can practice presentations, pitches, and conversations while receiving personalized feedback. The discussion explores why communication remains one of the most important—and overlooked—skills in professional success.

04:09 – Rapid Team Growth and Expansion
Varun reflects on Yoodli's growth journey, including scaling the company from a small team to a rapidly growing organization. The conversation explores how the platform evolved beyond public speaking into interview preparation, sales training, executive communication, and support for users working through speech-related challenges. He also shares lessons learned about management, enterprise sales, fundraising, and navigating startup growth.

06:55 – Overcoming Personal Challenges and Launching a Career
Varun opens up about his upbringing in India, where academic success was heavily focused on math and science while communication skills received far less attention. He shares his personal struggles with confidence, fitting in, and overcoming a lisp, and explains how those experiences shaped his mission to help others find their voice. The discussion also covers his early experiences at Google, exposure to executive coaching, and the realization that communication training was often reserved for senior leaders.

09:57 – Addressing Public Speaking Anxiety
The conversation turns to one of the most common professional fears: public speaking. Varun explains why so many people avoid practicing communication despite its impact on career growth and opportunity. He discusses how Yoodli helps users overcome anxiety through AI coaching, private practice, personalized feedback, and measurable improvement. The discussion explores the psychology behind behavior change, confidence building, and why communication remains a universal challenge across industries and job levels.

15:18 – Choosing the Right VCs
Varun shares his perspective on venture fundraising, including the realities of hearing investor feedback and separating valuable insights from generic reasons to pass. He discusses what makes a great venture partner, why the best investors are excited to help founders solve difficult problems, and how entrepreneurs can evaluate whether a VC relationship will truly add value beyond capital.

18:14 – Discussing Learning App Habits
The conversation explores the challenge of behavior change and what founders can learn from successful learning platforms like Duolingo. Varun discusses how feedback loops, habit formation, and measurable progress keep users engaged, as well as Yoodli's vision for combining learning, practice, AI roleplays, and real-world application into a seamless communication improvement experience.

20:31 – Prepping for Media Dinners
Beck and Varun discuss practical use cases for Yoodli, including preparing for media interviews, investor pitches, executive presentations, networking events, and high-stakes business conversations. The discussion highlights how founders, executives, and communications professionals can use AI-powered coaching and roleplays to refine their messaging, build confidence, and improve performance before important moments.

22:48 – Listing Media Event Opportunities
The episode concludes with a discussion about Yoodli's growing adoption among founders, speech coaches, communications agencies, media professionals, Toastmasters groups, and enterprise training programs. Varun shares his vision for the future of communication coaching, the role of AI in professional development, and opportunities for collaboration across the startup, media, and business ecosystems.