# He Built a $130M Company That Changes How You Sound | Ep. 399 with Shawn Zhang CTO and Co-Founder of Sanas

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/founder-s-story-648906/he-built-a-130m-company-that-changes-how-you-sound-ep-399-with-shawn-zhang-cto-and-co-founder-of-sanas
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/founder-s-story-648906/he-built-a-130m-company-that-changes-how-you-sound-ep-399-with-shawn-zhang-cto-and-co-founder-of-sanas.md
Podcast: [Founder's Story](https://stenobird.com/podcast/founder-s-story-648906)
Published: 2026-05-18T18:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://bleav.com/shows/founders-story/episodes/he-built-a-130m-company-that-changes-how-you-sound-ep-399-with-shawn-zhang-cto-and-co-founder-of-sanas/
Audio file: https://clrtpod.com/m/pscrb.fm/rss/p/mgln.ai/e/1184/afp-969439-injected.calisto.simplecastaudio.com/a7765f3f-02e4-4ded-bca1-01a20b7f82a5/episodes/d932529c-4fa7-4cd8-89cf-77e3884d9caa/audio/128/default.mp3?aid=rss_feed&awCollectionId=a7765f3f-02e4-4ded-bca1-01a20b7f82a5&awEpisodeId=d932529c-4fa7-4cd8-89cf-77e3884d9caa&feed=NVPdHs07
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/founder-s-story-648906/episodes/he-built-a-130m-company-that-changes-how-you-sound-ep-399-with-shawn-zhang-cto-and-co-founder-of-sanas
Duration seconds: 2319

## Resource

Daniel Robbins sits down with Shawn Zhang, CTO and co-founder of Sanas, to unpack the real human problem behind “accent translation.” Shawn shares how COVID made college feel pointless without people, how a friend working in a Nicaragua call center was punished for his accent, and how that moment became the spark to build Sanas. They also talk backlash, founder pressure, unknown unknowns, Silicon Valley energy, and what happens when a startup goes from zero to $62M in revenue in two years.

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## Transcript

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