Founders For Good

Anya Roy is the Co-Founder of Syrona Health.

Gynaecological health is an area of healthcare that has been overlooked and underinvested in for decades. Lack of proper funding and research has led to people suffering. Shockingly, it’s the norm for people with common gynaecological conditions to go years without the correct diagnosis and treatment.  

Enter Syrona Health, an all-in-one healthcare platform that provides personalised and inclusive support to people for all of their gynaecological needs. Syrona’s aim is to democratise women’s health and give everyone access to the help they need. 

Anya shares why the current system is failing people, the lack of investment in gynaecological health, how Syrona are solving this problem, plus her advice on building a tech for good business and hiring great people. 

Highlights:

03.34: What is gynaecological health and how people’s needs change throughout their life?

05.40: A broken system, with correct diagnosis taking 7.5 years on average    

08.44: The main causes, why is the system so broken?  

18.52: How is Syrona Health solving this problem? 

21.07: The early days, pivoting from medical device to healthcare platform 

35.06: Fundraising and what’s next for Syrona

38.21: The long term vision: democratising women’s health and removing the stigma

40.45: The secret to an effective co-founder relationship

45.00: Building a for-profit business that aligns with your mission and values

51.33: Anya’s tips for early stage hiring

Our Host:
 

Craig Turner. Founder of Confido Talent, a business that helps Tech For Good startups to scale their product, design and engineering teams.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigturner7/ / www.confidotalent.com / [email protected] 
 

Our Guest:

Anya Roy, Co-Founder of Syrona Health.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/anya-roy-673b0532/ / www.syronahealth.com  

Our Sponsor:

Jobs For Good. The only job platform to find the best jobs in sustainability, impact and much more.
www.jobsforgood.io / https://bit.ly/3wjwJa0

Our Producer:
 
Jabriel Al-Suhaimi. Jabriel is a podcast aficionada, editing and producing podcasts for many, including himself.
https://www.jabrielalsuhaimi.com/ / https://twitter.com/jabealsuhaimi 
 

Our Content and Marketing:

Rachel Loosley, Content and Marketing Manager at Confido Talent.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelloosley/ / [email protected] 

Ally Fekaiki is the CEO and Founder of Juno.

The employee benefits space has been broken for a long time, with Covid and remote working the disconnect between what companies offer and what employees want has become apparent. 

Ally wanted to take a completely different approach to employee benefits. So rather than companies try and guess what their people want, employees have the power to decide what they need.

With Juno, employees have a monthly allowance in the form of Juno points, which can be used at Juno’s marketplace that has thousands of premium products and services, from Barry’s Bootcamp to childcare to home laundry to healthy snacks – pretty much anything you could imagine. 

In this episode, Ally gives his frank views on why companies have been getting it wrong for so long, how Juno are fixing the problem and how to scale a remote company. 

Highlights:

05.21: The history of employee wellbeing and why it’s not worked

09.19: What’s caused the shift of companies focusing more on employee wellbeing?

14.04: What is Juno and how does it work?

17.31: Starting Juno with £500, a WordPress website and tonnes of tenacity 

26.07: Juno appeals to all sizes and types of companies

30.36: Brand is key to driving user engagement

32.57: What are the top benefits employees want? 

37.42: Ally’s biggest strength as a leader and the worst thing about working with him

45.05:  The key steps to building a remote business

Our Host:
 

Craig Turner. Founder of Confido Talent, a business that helps Tech For Good startups to scale their product, design and engineering teams.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigturner7/ / www.confidotalent.com / [email protected] 

Our Guest:
 

Ally Fekaiki, Founder and CEO of Juno.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/allyfekaiki/ / https://www.withjuno.com/ 
 

Our Sponsor:
 

Jobs For Good. The only job platform to find the best jobs in sustainability, impact and much more.
www.jobsforgood.io / https://bit.ly/3wjwJa0
 

Our Producer:

Jabriel Al-Suhaimi. Jabriel is a podcast aficionada, editing and producing podcasts for many, including himself.
https://www.jabrielalsuhaimi.com/ / https://twitter.com/jabealsuhaimi 

Our Content and Marketing:
 

Rachel Loosley, Content and Marketing Manager at Confido Talent.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelloosley/ / [email protected] 

Freddie Ward is the Co-Founder and CEO of Wild.

After being one of the first hires at Hello Fresh and seeing the company scale to over £100 million in revenue, Freddy had caught the startup itch. Towards the end of his time there Freddie was starting to see the strong demand from consumers for more environmentally friendly products. Combining that with the lack of innovation in the personal hygiene/care space Freddy saw an opportunity to create a more sustainable, plastic-free, consumer product. 

Wild are on a mission to remove single use plastic from the bathroom and allow consumers to switch to more sustainable personal care without compromising on experience and quality. Their flagship product is their natural deodorant that comes in the most stylish design you will ever see.

If that’s not enough, listen out for Freddy’s naked PR stunt and Wild’s kinky polar bear sex advert.

Highlights:

01.43 The crazy startup journey with Hello Fresh

04.49: Freddie’s focus on sustainability 

07.45: What are the problems with “traditional” personal hygiene products? 

13.05: Wild’s mission to remove single use plastic from the bathroom

16.58: How did Wild manage to design such a sexy looking product?

20.51: Was the naked PR campaign in Trafalgar Square a success or flop?

26.07: Building an omnichannel brand and launching in retail 

34.53: Freddie’s strengths and weaknesses as a leader 

41.09: Running, family time and his co-founder – the keys to Freddie’s mental health

43.04: The difficulty in building a great culture when growing from 0 to 30 to 50

47.34: Interviewing with Wild, this is how to stand out 

Our Host: 

Craig Turner. Founder of Confido Talent, a business that helps Tech For Good startups to scale their product, design and engineering teams.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigturner7/ / www.confidotalent.com / [email protected] 

Our Guest:

Freddy Ward, Co-Founder and CEO of Wild.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/freddy-ward-32074a56/ / www.wearewild.com 
 

Our Sponsor:
 

Jobs For Good. The only job platform to find the best jobs in sustainability, impact and much more.
www.jobsforgood.io / https://bit.ly/3wjwJa0
 

Our Producer:

Jabriel Al-Suhaimi. Jabriel is a podcast aficionada, editing and producing podcasts for many, including himself.
https://www.jabrielalsuhaimi.com/ / https://twitter.com/jabealsuhaimi 
 

Our Content and Marketing:
 

Rachel Loosley, Content and Marketing Manager at Confido Talent.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelloosley/ / [email protected] 

Alex Stephany is the Founder and CEO of Beam. 

Alex and Beam need no introduction, both have received multiple awards and recognition for their social impact work: Best Social Entrepreneur in the UK, Best Tech Social Enterprise, Best Entrepreneur For Good (to name a few). 

Beam use crowdfunding from individuals and businesses to support homeless people and refugees into jobs and accommodation. So far, they’ve partnered with the government, charities and employers to help over 1,000 people to get into jobs and homes across the UK.

Alex shares his story, the current state of homelessness in the UK, how the solution needs a multi-stakeholder approach and hiring exceptional, mission-driven people.

Highlights:

01.44: Alex’s journey into running a social impact business                     

11.51: How Beam works

15.30: What is the current state of homelessness, is it getting better or worse? 

17.43: Taking a collaborative and multi-stakeholder approach to solving the problem 

19.51: Using tech to solve the problem at scale 

23.06: The journey from first consultation, finding the right job and becoming self-sufficient

30.00: Digital inclusion leads to improved social mobility 

34.51: What is a social enterprise? 

41.43: The challenge of hiring exceptional people and continually raising the bar

44.52: Work for a dynamic tech startup doing world changing work 

Our Host:

Craig Turner. Founder of Confido Talent, a business that helps Tech For Good startups to scale their product, design and engineering teams.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigturner7/ / www.confidotalent.com / [email protected] 
 

Our Guest:

Alex Stephany, Founder and CEO of Beam.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexstephany/ / www.beam.org / www.beam.org/careers 

Our Sponsor:

Jobs For Good. The only job platform to find the best jobs in sustainability, impact and much more.
www.jobsforgood.io / https://bit.ly/3wjwJa0

Our Producer:

Jabriel Al-Suhaimi. Jabriel is a podcast aficionada, editing and producing podcasts for many, including himself.
https://www.jabrielalsuhaimi.com/ / https://twitter.com/jabealsuhaimi 

Our Content and Marketing:

Rachel Loosley, Content and Marketing Manager at Confido Talent.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelloosley/ / [email protected] 

For our last show of Season One, we have Youssef Darwich, the Co-Founder and CEO of Nosso.

Now I’m pretty sceptical of fintech’s but Nosso are building something very different. Nosso focus on helping families to use their money in a smarter way to build both a better world and a better future for their children. 

Using the Nosso app, families set a goal like buying a first house or paying for school fees.  They select the product that best suits them, then anyone in the family can contribute to that goal. Each time a family member contributes they can leave a message or video for the recipient, creating a unique time capsule of special memories for when they’re older. 

All of their investments are ESG and they offer specifically themed products that are good for the planet, like Carbon Cutter which invests in climate tech companies.  

Highlights:

06.59: The three traditional ways to save for your children and their flaws 

11.10: Why are people and parents not making better financial decisions with their money?

14.58: How does Nosso make investing in children a special memory for all of the family 

24.32: Nosso focusing on ESG investments and avoiding companies doing bad

28.32: Trademarks and the rebrand to Nosso

31.22: What big things are Nosso focusing on next?  

35.05: The difference in being a founder versus senior employer and how to handle it 

39.18: Entrepreneur First: Love Island for Founders and how to choose your Co-Founder

44.34: Youssef’s approach to building a scalable company culture 

50.02: Youssef’s tips for identifying those high potential up and comers 

Our Host:

Craig Turner. Founder of Confido Talent, a business that helps Tech For Good startups to scale their product, design and engineering teams.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigturner7/ / www.confidotalent.com / [email protected] 
 

Our Guest:
 

Youssef Darwich, Co-Founder and CEO of Nosso.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/youssefdarwich/ / https://www.withnosso.com/ 
 

Our Sponsor:
 

Jobs For Good. The only job platform to find the best jobs in sustainability, impact and much more.
www.jobsforgood.io / https://bit.ly/3wjwJa0
 

Our Producer:
 

Jabriel Al-Suhaimi. Jabriel is a podcast aficionada, editing and producing podcasts for many, including himself.
https://www.jabrielalsuhaimi.com/ / https://twitter.com/jabealsuhaimi 
 

Our Content and Marketing:
 

Rachel Loosley, Content and Marketing Manager at Confido Talent.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelloosley/ / [email protected] 

Sançar Sahin, is the Co-Founder and CMO of Oliva Health. 

After working in high-growth tech startups both co-founders had struggled with their own mental health and had negative experiences when it came to finding suitable support. The private and public mental healthcare options have a number of associated challenges, so Sancar and his co-founder create Oliva Health to solve this problem. 

With people giving a large chunk of their lives to work and work often being a cause of mental health issues, Oliva see a huge opportunity for employers to take more responsibility in supporting their employees with their mental health.  

Oliva focuses on providing people with support for all mental health needs whilst also helping them to build up their emotional resilience. They also care about creating a platform that supports therapists and their needs too. 

Highlights:

05.30: Sançar’s background and mental health journey

08.42 : What is the current state of mental health in the UK? 

12.50: The problems with current private and public mental health care 

18.44: The huge opportunity for employer’s to solve the mental health crisis 

21.40 How does Olive provide employees with “proper mental health support and emotional growth” 

26.25: Why their first senior hire needed to be a Chief Clinical Officer 

35.55: Fundraising and how that money has been spent

46.43: Building a productive remote-first working culture 

53.26: The reasons for bringing in a Head of Talent  & People early on in your journey 

Our Host: 

Craig Turner. Founder of Confido Talent, a business that helps Tech For Good startups to scale their product, design and engineering teams.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigturner7/ / www.confidotalent.com / [email protected] 
 

Our Guest:

Sançar Sahin, Founder and CMO of Oliva Health .
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sancarsahin/ / https://olivahealth.app/ 

Our Sponsor:
 

Jobs For Good. The only job platform to find the best jobs in sustainability, impact and much more.
www.jobsforgood.io / https://bit.ly/3wjwJa0
 

Our Producer:

Jabriel Al-Suhaimi. Jabriel is a podcast aficionada, editing and producing podcasts for many, including himself.
https://www.jabrielalsuhaimi.com/ / https://twitter.com/jabealsuhaimi 

Our Content and Marketing:

Rachel Loosley, Content and Marketing Manager at Confido Talent.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelloosley/ / [email protected] 

Mary Liu is the Co-Founder and COO of Junee.

Did you know in the UK each year, 11 billion pieces of single use plastic get thrown away from lunch on the go? Even “green” alternatives like compostable or recyclable packaging are not as environmentally friendly as consumers think, as Mary explains in the episode.

So after spending time in the food industry and seeing the harmful impact of single use packaging, Mary wanted to create a scalable, long term solution to the problem.

She co-founded Junee who want to make “reuse” the default for food packaging. Tune in to hear how they plan to achieve their goal of replacing 25 million single-use containers by 2025.

Highlights:

04.59: What is the current state of single use plastic in the UK? 

07.14: How did single use plastic become the default for packaging? 

11.25: Mary explains Junee “reusable packaging-as-a-service” 

13.39: Building a startup during the pandemic

17.57: The considerations for creating their reusable container

23.56: Reusable versus other alternative packaging – the pro’s and con’s 

28.14: Mary’s advice on raising a pre-Seed round

32.27: What Junee needs to get right to achieve their goal of replacing 25 million single-use containers by 2025

41.37: Having a clear mission and focusing on trust and transparency to build a scalable culture 

46.34: How do Junee go about attracting top people?

Our Host:

Craig Turner. Founder of Confido Talent, a business that helps Tech For Good startups to scale their product, design and engineering teams.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigturner7/ / www.confidotalent.com / [email protected] 
 

Our Guest:

Mary Liu, Co-Founder and COO of junee.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/liumary/ / https://www.junee.co/ 
 

Our Sponsor:
 

Jobs For Good. The only job platform to find the best jobs in sustainability, impact and much more.
www.jobsforgood.io / https://bit.ly/3wjwJa0
 

Our Producer:
 

Jabriel Al-Suhaimi. Jabriel is a podcast aficionada, editing and producing podcasts for many, including himself.
https://www.jabrielalsuhaimi.com/ / https://twitter.com/jabealsuhaimi 
 

Our Content and Marketing:

Rachel Loosley, Content and Marketing Manager at Confido Talent.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelloosley/ / [email protected] 

Beckie Taylor is the Co-Founder and CEO of Tech Returners.

From her own personal experience of taking time out to have her first child. Beckie realised the barriers that exist for people returning to work in the tech space.  Although there is a huge demand for tech talent, sadly, those that take career breaks are often overlooked or ignored. 

So Beckie set up Tech Returners to combat this problem. Tech Returners run programmes that allow people to brush up on the soft and technical skills they need to feel confident about returning to work. These programmes are sponsored by tech companies, so they are completely free for returners and offer them employment at the end. 

When you consider over 80% of their applicants are women and they have an average of 12 years’ experience in tech, it’s mind-blowing that more companies are investing in returning talent. 

In this episode, Beckie shares her views on the barriers for people who take career breaks, the current state of diversity and inclusion in technology, and her lessons in building a tech for good business. 

 Highlights:

04.45: Why do people take career breaks and how does it affect them returning to work? 

08.53: The reasons so many companies overlook “returners”

11.15: Inclusivity needs to come first to drive greater diversity in tech

16.11: The Tech Returners model and why it’s free for “returners”

26.09: Making sure they partner with the right kind of programme sponsors

32.27: Launching the Confidence Collective to focus on women in leadership roles

38.51: Beckie’s biggest learns as a founder and leader

41.56: How to build a scalable tech for good business 

Our Host:
 

Craig Turner. Founder of Confido Talent, a business that helps Tech For Good startups to scale their product, design and engineering teams.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigturner7/ / www.confidotalent.com / [email protected] 

Our Guest:

Beckie Taylor, Co-Founder and CEO of Tech Returners.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/beckie-taylor-92840712/ / https://www.techreturners.com/ 

Our Sponsor:

Jobs For Good. The only job platform to find the best jobs in sustainability, impact and much more.
www.jobsforgood.io / https://bit.ly/3wjwJa0

Our Producer:

Jabriel Al-Suhaimi. Jabriel is a podcast aficionada, editing and producing podcasts for many, including himself.
https://www.jabrielalsuhaimi.com/ / https://twitter.com/jabealsuhaimi 

Our Content and Marketing:

Rachel Loosley, Content and Marketing Manager at Confido Talent.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelloosley/ / [email protected] 

Ari Last is the CEO and Founder of Bubble.

After becoming a parent, Ari was shocked by the lack of innovation in the childcare space and set out to change this. 

In this episode, Ari explains the challenges in building a marketplace for users that are trusting you with the most valuable thing in their lives, their children. 

Bubble achieves this in two ways: 

1.      Using social proof as the key to building trust with parents. Who are you going to trust more than someone vouched for by a friend or family member?

2.      Secondly by giving the power back to the parents. Historically childcare agencies would just send a nanny to a family, with Bubble the parents decide which nanny they use.  

Tune in to hear how Ari has grown the UK’s largest on-demand in-home childcare platform, with over 200,000 families and 100,000 carers on the app.  

Highlights:

04.52: The current state of childcare, in-home versus out-of-home childcare options

07.15: Why is the childcare system so broken? 

10.30: The evolving role of the employer and childcare support 

13.00: What is Bubble and how do they get parents comfortable using their platform to book childcare? 

15.17: Why the phrase “Uber for babysitters” does Bubble a disservice 

18.02: Bubble’s vetting process and why only 25% make it through

21.14: How do you even go abut building a childcare marketplace? 

28.52: Bubble for work and pushing into the B2B space supporting working parents 

31.13: The future of Bubble: international expansion, B2B and in-home help. 

43.41: What does Ari look for when hiring people? 

Our Host:

Craig Turner. Founder of Confido Talent, a business that helps Tech For Good startups to scale their product, design and engineering teams.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigturner7/ / www.confidotalent.com / [email protected]

Our Guest:

Ari Last, Founder and CEO of Bubble.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/arilast/ / https://joinbubble.com/

Our Sponsor:

Jobs For Good. The only job platform to find the best jobs in sustainability, impact and much more.
www.jobsforgood.io / https://bit.ly/3wjwJa0

Our Producer:

Jabriel Al-Suhaimi. Jabriel is a podcast aficionada, editing and producing podcasts for many, including himself.
https://www.jabrielalsuhaimi.com/ / https://twitter.com/jabealsuhaimi

Our Content and Marketing:

Rachel Loosley, Content and Marketing Manager at Confido Talent.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelloosley/ / [email protected] 

Lenny Leemann is the Co-Founder and CEO of Greenspark.

Lenny’s personal mission is to make it as easy as possible for consumers and businesses to do good. His first tech for good venture MAMOQ, was a marketplace for sustainable consumer products and he’s now building Greenspark. 

Greenspark was founded on the belief that the only way to embed “doing good” into businesses for the long term, is to show that it will positively impact their revenue. 

Greenspark makes it easy for companies to link positive climate action to the behaviours they want to encourage with consumers. So, every time an order is placed, a tree is planted or every time there is a newsletter sign up, a piece plastic is removed from the ocean. This creates a clear, tangible connection between consumer action, positive impact and revenue. 

If Greenspark can make this the new normal for businesses, then there is a real opportunity to drive positive change on a global scale. 

Highlights:

06.28: Who can have the biggest impact on climate change? Individuals, businesses, or governments. 

09.27: What is Greenspark? 

13.38: Lenny’s early stage startup advice – launch early, iterate quicky and never give up. 

17.48: The factors that go into choosing their impact partners and projects

24.50: The challenge of pricing, balancing revenue generation versus funding impact actions

30.21: What makes Greenspark unique to other offerings in the market?

33.55: The second time building a startup with his best friend and wife-to-be 

36.01: Don’t outsource your tech, even in the early days 

43.46: Tying impact to revenue and transparency, are key to scaling a “for good” business 

47.12: What does Lenny look for in early stage hires? 

Our Host:

Craig Turner. Founder of Confido Talent, a business that helps Tech For Good startups to scale their product, design and engineering teams.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigturner7/ / www.confidotalent.com / [email protected] 

Our Guest:

Lenny Leemann, Co-Founder and CEO of Greenspark.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyleemann/ / https://www.getgreenspark.com/ 
 

Our Sponsor:
 

Jobs For Good. The only job platform to find the best jobs in sustainability, impact and much more.
www.jobsforgood.io / https://bit.ly/3wjwJa0

Our Producer:

Jabriel Al-Suhaimi. Jabriel is a podcast aficionada, editing and producing podcasts for many, including himself.
https://www.jabrielalsuhaimi.com/ / https://twitter.com/jabealsuhaimi 
 

Our Content and Marketing:
 

Rachel Loosley, Content and Marketing Manager at Confido Talent.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelloosley/ / [email protected]