Quinten Farmer

Recent appearances

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  50 Gigawatts To The Face, 17% GDP Growth Please, Road to COD 4, Bing Gordon Joins

  October 19, 2026 · 📺 TBPN

  00:01:35 "You Can See Everything" Spoiler Talk 00:23:51 AI Data Center Forecast Jumps 00:33:59 Anthropic Staff Predict AI Boom 00:40:59 Call of Duty Campaign Review 00:48:32 Katie Drummond discusses Nathan Fielder’s film about Elizabeth Holmes, its complex portrayal of empathy, fraud, and human behavior, and its potential to become a classic. The global editorial director of WIRED also reflects on how the tech press once amplified Holmes’s claims and enabled the era of visionary, larger-than-life startup founders. 01:07:17 Bing Gordon, founding executive of Electronic Arts and co-author of *Ev…

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  After A $300M Walmart Exit He Raised $60M From Khosla and USV To Build An AI Friend

  October 19, 2026 · 📺 Luba Yudasina

  Today I walk with Quinten Farmer, co-founder of Tolan, a personal AI built to be a guide through life. Quinten has sold his last company, Even, to Walmart for $300M, saved millions of Americans billions in payday loans and overdraft fees, and raised $60M from USV and Khosla. He gets into why he has zero interest in an AI that books your flights, and why Tolan takes most of its time from TikTok and television. We get into: Why he has zero interest in an AI that books flights or writes work emails, and the guardian angel idea behind Tolan Social penetration theory, and why every Tolan gets its…

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  Therapy is Expensive, So We Built an AI Alien Guardian Angel with Quinten Farmer | Coffee N°5

  August 25, 2026 · 📺 Lara Schmoisman

  In this episode of Coffee N°5, Lara Schmoisman chats with Quinten Farmer, founder of Portola and creator of Tolan. Quinten dives into his journey of developing an innovative personal AI that acts as a supportive companion to help users navigate overwhelm and life's everyday challenges. From exploring ethical considerations and data privacy to designing a non-human, lovable alien character, this conversation uncovers what it takes to build AI platforms that prioritize emotional safety, user connection, and responsible future growth.  🚀Key Topics Covered: The vision behind Tolan and the develo…

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  The little AI making $20M a year by actually listening

  July 16, 2026 · 📺 Sources Podcast

  Ellis sits down with Quinten Farmer, founder of Tolan, the AI companion doing over $20M in annual revenue by being a genuinely good friend, not a yes machine. They get into why Tolan's little aliens accidentally became beloved by moms 35 to 45, how Tolans stick up for themselves when users are mean, and why Quinten dropped "companion" as a word entirely. They also talk about why he went premium-only at $25 a month when Character.AI and ChatGPT couldn't afford to go free, how 78% of Tolan users say it improved a real-world relationship, and what it looks like to build the calmest startup cultur…

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  Quinten Farmer (Portola) Is Building The Voice-First AI Companion Taking Off With Gen Z

  October 22, 2025 · 📺 Founders You Should Know

  This pitch is part of our invite-only Founders You Should Know startup showcase. Apply to attend one of our shows person: https://forms.gle/YM73r9KUCQMTjvn97. Portola builds and develops the AI companion app Tolan. Founder: Quinten Farmer (  / quintendf  ) Learn more @ https://www.tolans.com/

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  How This AI Alien Brings In $4M a Year in Revenue - Ep. 56 With Quinten Farmer and Eliot Peper

  April 17, 2025 · 📺 Every

  I think storytelling is one of the most essential skills of the AI age, and our sponsor for today’s episode, LTX Studio, is helping storytellers visualize their stories. With LTX Studio, you can bring your stories to life, complete with a cast, storyline, and settings, all according to your style and specifications. Check them out here: https://bit.ly/LTXStudioEvery 500k people are confiding in an AI alien—and it's on track to generate $4M this year. It’s called a Tolan: an animated AI character that can talk to you like your best friend. The company behind it, Portola, has 4x’d their ARR in…

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