Why the Future of Video Games is Moving Back to the Dinner Table from This Week in Startups

Why the Future of Video Games is Moving Back to the Dinner Table

1 hour 8 minutes Posted Jun 24, 2026 at 8:01 pm.

Board's Brynn Putnam joins the show

Board's proprietary AI software stack

Why Board manufactures in Mexico (not China)

LinkedIn: Thanks to our partners at LinkedIn! Post your job for free at https://linkedIn.com/twist then promote it to get access to LinkedIn Jobs' new AI assistant.

How to raise a Seed round for hardware without a finished product

Brynn's daughter and the mermaid example

Can Board limit screen time fears?

Northwest Registered Agent: Get more when you start your business with Northwest. In 10 clicks and 10 minutes, you can form your company and walk away with a real business identity — Learn more at https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist

Selling the first 10,000 units

Deel Founders scale faster on Deel. Set up payroll for any country in minutes, hire anyone anywhere, get visas handled fast, and get back to building. Visit https://deel.com/twist to learn more.

Why Board is steering away from simple ports toward native IP experiences

Hermeus's AJ Piplica joins the show

What is Dark Horse?

Commercial applications: Cargo, organs, flowers, and trans-Atlantic in 90 minutes

Dark Horse range and the "reusable first stage" analogy

$350M Series C led by Khosla; total funding now exceeds $500M

The SpaceX model: get customers to fund your R&D

Closing: the American Dynamism pitch

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Show notes

This Week In Startups is made possible by:

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Today's show:

Jason sits down with Brynn Putnam, CEO and founder of Board, to learn more about her company's tabletop gaming console. The pair talks about how to raise capital for yet-to-launch hardware projects, the screen-time debate, and how Board is approaching building or buying IP for its family-friendly games. Next, Alex got Heremus's AJ Piplica on the horn to chat hypersonic, autonomous jets. The startup's technology bridges the gap between rockets and airplanes, and may represent the future of warfare, yes, but also fast freight!

Guest Links:

Brynn Putnam https://x.com/BrynnPutnam

Board https://board.fun/

Board Series A announcement https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/02/board-the-new-game-startup-from-mirror-founder-brynn-putnam-raises-20m-has-already-sold-thousands/

Mirror https://www.lululemonstudio.com/

AJ Piplica https://x.com/AJ_Piplica

Heremus https://www.hermeus.com/

Heremus Series C announcement https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hermeus-reaches-1-billion-valuation-with-350-million-raise-to-build-todays-fastest-aircraft-for-the-american-warfighter-302735273.html

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