In this episode of the Tech Startup Stories podcast, Natalie Binns sits down with Sofia Hamilton, co-founder and COO of Souk, to explore how partnerships can become a powerful and scalable go to market channel when they are treated as core infrastructure rather than a side motion.

Sofia shares Souk’s early journey from Antler accelerator to revenue, rapid customer traction, and ISO 27001 certification, alongside honest reflections on co-founding with people she had only recently met and building a product while actively selling it.

The conversation covers partnership led growth, founder dynamics, validating problems before scaling solutions, and the operational realities of building trust, compliance, and payouts into a platform from day one.

This episode offers practical insight for founders thinking about channels, early traction, and building companies that can scale without losing clarity or momentum.