A legend within the accounting tech scene, Guy provided us a look behind the curtain at Ignition and explained what it took to become an 'overnight success'.

Guy highlights the sacrifices, mistakes, challenges and risks he made to make Ignition one of the most successful accounting tech products of all time. And it all began with the harsh realisation that not everybody thought the same way as him.

"Like everyone who has thought about starting their own software product, I thought it was going to be easy."

A super interesting discussion about Jonathan Gaunt's journey to co-found, build and exit Xavier Analytics - A toolkit of intelligent data cleanup, bookkeeping and compliance tools designed for Xero Professionals.

Jonathan explains how he and his team, relatively quickly; identified a problem, launched a solution and successfully exited, whilst highlighting for our listeners a numbering of the mistakes he wants to avoid with startup #2 - that's right, he's back for more!

We had a fantastic and open discussion with Andrew Jordon, Founder of Connect4 - An online meeting platform built for accountants. 

Having built an online meeting platform just as covid struck and virtual meeting software became a must-have for all businesses, Andrew shed light on many of the reasons why he feels Connect4 never quite took off the way he'd hoped. He touches on the key technological challenges they faced, the struggle of trying to build a business and raise money simultaneously, and how he decided it was time to hand over the keys over to somebody else. 

An insightful conversation with Francois Henrion, one of the Co-Founders of Paytron - An international payable automation & spend management platform.

Francois explains how he and Jaco (Co-Founder) knew raising capital was imperative as they looked to take on a mammoth and complex challenge, and how accountants play an important role in their strategy. 

We had a great chat with James Rose, Founder of Content Snare - a document and information collection app for accountants (and other industries). 

The conversation went in a number of directions, with a spotlight on the process James went through to accelerate his understanding of the profession, which lead him to double-down on the accounting vertical.

A thought-provoking conversation about the challenges of building a brand new product, littered with deep insights about what makes entrepreneurs tick with Johnny Ridd, founder of RQ - A platform that connects accountants, financial planners, solicitors and more!

Having recently launched his beta product, Johnny gave us a look into what makes B2B beta testing different to B2C, and explains why it's so important to cherish every user. Johnny also opened up on the mindset he utilises to remain focused on adding value to customers, even if it means throwing features or entire product concepts in the bin. 

Edit: Apologies, audio quality on Jack's end wasn't fantastic.

We had a diverse discussion that took a few turns with Simon Langlois, Co-Founder of Stamped.ai - An accounting firm supported by its own tech platform.

Taking a different go-to-market approach to most accounting tech startups, Simon explains where the firm meets the tech, and how they landed on this unique approach. 

Simon also shares his experience with a number of different accelerators and startup programmes, highlighting when and how to make the most of these offerings. Plus a few golden insights from his experience with VCs and investment.

It was a great conversation about the challenges facing early-stage founders, filled with a tonne of practical nuggets, with Robert Davidson, founder of TaxTorch - A product for real-time and proactive tax-planning.

Robert opened up on his decision to part ways with version 1.0 of the product after getting carried away with functionality, and not properly testing critical assumptions. 

As an accountant turned founder, Robert knew the pain points himself and knew others who confirmed them, but it wasn't until performing structured, moderated market research that he heard brutally honest feedback - what he really needed to hear.  

We sat down with Kate & Matt, the Co-Founders of Brieff - a platform designed to help accountants scale bespoke advisory services.

The conversation covered a number of the challenges and lessons Kate & Matt faced in the early days, including how they came to terms with the risk and uncertainty of building a startup, getting financial investment through Antler and validating their initial idea with accountants.

This is our pilot and introductory episode, designed to set the scene for the rest of the series. 

We, your hosts (Jack & Yohan), speak briefly about our journey to end up here, and why we felt the need to create an accounting tech podcast for early-stage founders!

Plus, we unveil the meaning behind the 'Accounting Tech Tar Pit'!