52 Founders

In this episode, you’ll hear about:

-Why Danielle and Michael decided to focus solely on younger founders, regardless of whether or not they attended university

-How starting a venture fund increased her empathy for entrepreneurs, particularly through fundraising efforts

-Danielle’s experience starting a charter school in San Diego, and why it was easy to fall prey to “imposter syndrome” during that time

-Her experience as an instrumentalist growing up and how that helped her learn to lead, direct, and give feedback to her peers

-Why previous execution is critical for applicants to the Thiel Foundation and for entrepreneurs looking for investments from 1517 Fund

-The correlation between alternative schooling and entrepreneurship

Stay tuned to the end of the episode, where Danielle shares why founders should read personal development books and her current interest in sensor-based technology.

In this episode, you’ll hear about:

-How Popular Pays evolved its product since its inception based on the feedback it got from its initial customers

-Why building a company on a mission is more important (and challenging) to Corbett that figuring out ways to simply make a profit

-His father’s own work on a startup, and how that helped Corbett learn more about term sheets, making connections, and raising initial funding

-How failure can teach you a lot about your appetite for risk, and how Corbett’s experience in advertising helped him build a thick skin

-The “graveyard” of ideas Corbett’s cofounder built while at Leo Burnett, and how it served as future inspiration for new ideas

-Why having a cofounder is a good way to hold yourself accountable and why picking the right one is the most important thing you’ll ever do

Check out the final few minutes of the show, where Corbett shares a few book recommendations and why he’d want to interview more recent startup founders than the traditional tech giants.

In this episode, you’ll hear about:

-How one customer with over 5,000 employees saved $48M in savings in a year from offloading these everyday tasks to Zoom

-Why Toronto is the ideal location for creating a machine learning / AI company, and how it’s become the 3rd largest technology hub in North America

-How being an only child raised by a single parent made Roy think creatively about how to make extra money from a young age

-How Star Wars and his first software sale made Roy realize he was meant to be an engineer, and why joining someone else’s startup first made him a better entrepreneur

-Why building a business is like being in a dark room with lots of furniture, and how befriending experienced founders will keep you from getting hurt

-Roy’s experience as a solo founder, and why he doesn’t recommend being one to other people

Roy’s also an investor an advisor to other startups, so be sure to catch the end of the episode where he shares the advice he gives to first time founders and the best books to read when starting up.

In this episode you’ll hear about:

-The struggles of content marketers today, and why media startups need to be especially scrappy and resourceful to succeed

-The present opening Rachel sees in media companies and who the Love Stories TV’s typical user is (it may surprise you)

-Rachel’s childhood growing up in suburban Detroit, where she was a competitive, synchronized skater!

-How coming from a family of entrepreneurs helped inspire Rachel to eventually become one herself

-The grand vision beyond weddings that Rachel sees for Love Stories TV, and why content is king when it comes to videos

-Why entrepreneurs should be wary of using the “we’re the [blank] for [blank]” description when first building their companies

Stay tuned until the end of the episode, where Rachel shares the best piece of advice she’s gotten thus far and explains why she’d want to interview The Knot’s Carla Roney if given the chance.

In this episode you’ll hear about:

-The origins of Kylie.ai, and why it’s entrepreneurs should always listen to prospective customers when developing new products 

-How his mother’s blend of math and psychology, and his father’s 30+ year tenure working at GE, inspired him to be an entrepreneur

-Sinan’s experience as a professor at Johns Hopkins’ (after finishing his Bachelor’s degree in just 2 years), where he met his then-chocolatier (yes, chocolatier!) cofounder 

-How Sinan fell in love with data science after teaching himself how to code as it’s the perfect blend of computer science and math

-Why it’s critical to continually show people what you are building

Sinan’s response to critics of AI, and why the winners of AI will be ones that can integrate successfully into what humans are already doing

Be sure to stay tuned to the end of the episode, where Sinan explains his love for Henry Ford and why he’d want to talk about the way Ford integrated technology with the masses to ensure widespread adoption.

In this episode you’ll hear about:

-When Taylor first saw the opportunity for Tiz, and why he decided to work at -Drizly before striking out on his own

-The benefits of launching a startup in Chicago over San Francisco, and why top universities are critical to the ecosystem

-How Taylor broke the family occupational mold by being an entrepreneur (he comes from a long line of surgeons!)

-Why working in sales at a tech startup provided the best foundation for eventually running a company

-Why attending college was always the choice to make, and why Taylor would encourage others to do the same

Catch the end of the episode, where Taylor goes over the best (and worst) advice he’s ever heard as an entrepreneur, and why you shouldn’t hold a grudge when things don’t work out.

In this episode you’ll hear about:

-Why innovation tends to happen at the cross-section of disciplines, and how Sparrho is helping foster that innovation

-Vivian’s childhood growing up in Australia (with parents working in education and publishing) where she discovered a love for science

-The “contained chaos” that happens when getting a PhD at Cambridge, and the opportunities for leadership that were there

-Why the occupational and cultural diversity in London will continue to drive problem solving and lead to the creation of more startups

-The state of entrepreneurship and venture in Australia

-How learning to program gave Vivian an appreciation for logic that went beyond her education in science

Be sure to check out the end of the episode, where Vivian succinctly sums up the best piece of advice she’s ever received, the question she’d want to ask Elon Musk, and why she’d want to interview small-scale entrepreneurs.

In this episode, you’ll hear about:

-The genesis of Aire, the vision Aneesh sees for the next 20+ years, and how to show value to investors along the way

-His own transient childhood as the son of the diplomat (and a journalist), and how the “start, restart” mindset led way to entrepreneurship

-Aneesh’s early activism, starting with an angry letter he wrote to Panasonic as a 16 year old to fix his MD player, and why he has always refused to accept “no” as an answer 

-What leadership truly means in an organization, and how his opinion has evolved over time

-The value of building a startup in London, especially if you know the fintech ecosystem

-Why having the right foundations means everything when starting a company, and why complexity at the beginning will only create more worries later on

At the end of the episode, be sure to catch Aneesh’s recommendations on top books to read as a founder and his response to the founder he would most like to interview (hint: it’s a new one!).

In this episode, you’ll hear about:

-Why it was important for Cleo to have a personality, and the opportunity Aleksandra sees in the space

-Growing up in Poland and how her father helped foster her early interest with -technology 

-How, as a child, computer science felt like wizardry, where scripts were spells and programs were magic

-Why Aleksandra was not deterred by not having prior leadership experience (and why learning by doing is critical to success)

-Why London is the perfect locale for launching a new venture

-The importance of having balanced personalities between cofounders

Check out the end of the episode, where Aleksandra talks about the future of VR and why it’s critical to not be afraid of who you are (and who you want to be).

In this episode, you’ll hear about:

-How the idea for Occasion was born out of frustration from being unable to reserve tennis court time in Chicago

-Aksh’s view on how AI will transform his industry

-The long lineage of entrepreneurship in Aksh’s family, and how it molded his childhood dreams

-Why Aksh works at his mother’s store every six weeks, and how that enables him to build a better product

-The apprenticeship program Occasion started for its employees in order to gain more customer empathy

-Why entrepreneurs shouldn’t equate business failure with personal failure

Catch the end of the episode, where Aksh talks about the growing importance of voice interfaces and why it’s critical to surround yourself with mentors who are much more senior in their career.