Peter Reinhardt & Calvin French-Owen: Segment Before the Breakthrough

Segment (acquired by Twilio in 2020) almost didn’t happen. Before it became a $3.2B company, Peter Reinhardt and Calvin French-Owen (then students at MIT) cycled through failed ideas, panic attacks, and near shutdown — with just weeks of runway left. In this episode, Peter and Calvin share the raw story behind Segment — from launching a desperate Hail Mary on Hacker News to discovering the product their users actually wanted. It’s a story about letting go of your vision, listening deeply, and building something the market pulls out of you. Peter also reflects on what came after Segment — founding Charm Industrial to fight climate change, and leading Revoy to electrify freight — proving there’s more than one way to build a generational company. 🎙️ HOST: David Rusenko — founder of Weebly (acquired by Square for $365M), now backing early-stage founders at Leap Forward Ventures. 🔗 Website: https://leapforward.fm/ 💼 LinkedIn:   / leapforwardfm   📸 Instagram:   / leapforwardfm   🐦 Twitter/X: https://x.com/leapforwardfm Leap Forward brings together the founders behind iconic companies and the people who knew them first. A co-founder. A roommate. A first believer. Together they tell the real, unpolished story of how success actually happens. New episodes every other week. Subscribe so you don't miss one. #Segment #StartupPodcast #FounderStories