Maxime Germain

Maxime Germain – Beside's Stealth Rise & AI Phone App

Beside founder Maxime Germain explains how the company stayed in stealth for 18 months while reaching $4M ARR and 20,000 paying customers by targeting 'real economy' users—tradespeople, construction workers, even priests—who aren't on X or LinkedIn. He traces Beside's origin from selling his mental health app to Alan, through an AI-first phone and messaging app that answers calls for users (2.5M calls a month), to his thesis that conversations are untapped context on the way to AGI. He covers the new round from Index Ventures and EQT, plans to expand across platforms and into teams, thoughts on OpenAI's device play, and why founders must put a face on the product. Afterward, the hosts marvel at his retention stats—half of users open the app 14 times a day, six days a week.

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