Starcast Join the waitlist
The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

20VC: From $6.2BN Market Cap to $2.8BN: What Is Not Translating About Navan's Public Story | Are Any Public Company CEOs Actually Happy? | Why Navan Built It's Own Customer Service AI and What it Could Mean For Customer Service AI with Ariel Cohen

Feb 7, 2026 · 54m

Coming soon to iPhone. Already have it? “Listen in Starcast” takes you straight there.

On this episode

About this episode

Ariel Cohen is the Co-Founder and CEO of Navan (formerly TripActions), an AI-powered travel and expense platform. Last month, Ariel took the company public, since being a public company, they have faced a torrid time seeing stock price decline by 50%. The company is currently valued between $4BN-$5BN. AGENDA: 0:00 The Truth About Going Public After 11 Years 5:50 Why We Couldn't Wait: The Real Reason for the IPO 8:15 Disrupting the Giants: Amex, Concur, and the $1T Opportunity 11:50 "If We Don't Build This, We're Dead": Seeing ChatGPT Early 18:35 Why Navan Built Their Own Customer Service AI 23:45 Why Infrastructure is Overrated (and What Actually Matters) 28:55 Vibe Coding: How We Rebuilt…