The Fastest Startup in Tech: Maria Palma on Lovable

The Fastest Startup in Tech: Maria Palma on Lovable

From Sand Hill Road by NBC Bay Area

November 18, 2025 · 30 min · Episode 190

About this episode

Scott interviews Maria Palma about her journey in venture capital and the startup ecosystem.

Scott's conversation with Freestyle Capital's Maria Palma ranges from venture capital hype cycles to ethics, engineering creativity, venture regret, and even the art of naming startups (“Cluster Fudge” stays). Palma also offers a personal take on her own journey—from GE supply chain to Harvard Business School to eventually discovering she was built for venture—all while keeping an engineer’s mindset and a founder’s empathy.

People in this episode

Host: Scott

Guest: Maria Palma

Topics covered

  • venture capital
  • startup naming
  • engineering creativity
  • venture regret
  • ethics

Keywords

  • venture capital
  • startup
  • engineering
  • ethics
  • creativity
  • naming
  • entrepreneurship

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Freestyle Capital, GE, Harvard Business School

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