Founders Future

In this episode of *Founders, Future*, host Laura Skinner sits down with Kiran Panjwani, the visionary CEO of Foundaway, to explore the motivations and experiences that led to the creation of her startup. 

Kiran shares her decade-long journey through accelerators and incubators, where she gained invaluable insights into the entrepreneurial landscape. She reflects on her experiences running funding programs in Canada, noting the stark contrast between those who secured funding and those who did not. This observation sparked her interest in addressing the gaps in startup education, prompting her to develop programming that democratizes access to vital resources for founders.

Listeners will hear about the challenges Kiran faced in balancing the responsibilities of accelerators to their funders while striving to prioritize the needs of the founders. Her passion for empowering entrepreneurs to navigate their path to success led her to leave her corporate role and pursue her dream of building Foundaway, leveraging the power of AI to enhance startup education.

Join us as Kiran discusses her plans for future growth and the innovative strategies she believes are essential for helping founders thrive in today's competitive landscape.

In this episode of *Founders Future*, Laura Skinner interviews Dr. Yann Golanski, CEO of Firmament, a consultancy aimed at helping tech companies improve software security, team alignment, and operational efficiency. Dr. Golanski shares insights from his extensive background in software engineering and DevOps, highlighting the challenges he observed—such as inadequate cybersecurity practices and poor team communication—that motivated him to start Firmament. He discusses the early days of Firmament, including establishing the company’s positioning, building a team, and securing initial contacts with VCs and accelerator partners. Dr. Golanski also delves into his vision of making Firmament a go-to resource for startups needing a reliable software foundation, emphasizing the importance of work-life balance and his strategic goals for scaling the company. The conversation offers valuable advice for founders on balancing technical precision with market strategy in the startup world.

In this Founders Future episode, Dean Halonen, co-founder of Steelhead Technologies, shares his journey from a mechanical engineer to SaaS entrepreneur. Launched four years ago, Steelhead was born from Dean and his cousin Jeff’s discovery of inefficiencies in a manufacturing job shop, where they transitioned from selling automation equipment to creating a SaaS platform that streamlines manufacturing operations. Starting with a one-time fee model, they grew to a 70+ team serving 140+ clients, incorporating strategies like multi-channel marketing, user conferences, and SDR teams to maintain customer engagement and drive growth. Steelhead's future focuses on enhancing manufacturing efficiency, expanding into related industries, and building a connected ecosystem for supply chain improvement. Dean emphasizes the importance of adapting to customer needs, refining the value proposition, and balancing short-term metrics with a long-term vision for success.

In this episode of *Founders Future*, Laura Skinner interviews Bob Remeika, co-founder and CEO of Raggy, a platform offering retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) as a service. Bob shares the journey behind Raggy, which began with the goal of simplifying the infrastructure around RAG—a technique that injects large language models (LLMs) with specialized, enterprise-specific data from sources like Salesforce or Jira.

Bob discusses how Raggy evolved into a managed solution for developers, enabling them to leverage RAG technology without building extensive infrastructure from scratch. He explains their initial go-to-market strategy, which included a pivotal mention on the popular *All-In Podcast*, leading to hundreds of leads. Now with the support of Craft Ventures and other prominent investors, Raggy’s focus is on scalability and content-driven growth to maintain a robust top-of-funnel.

The episode also covers Bob's insights on scaling and maintaining sustainable growth in a VC-backed environment, his advice for navigating the complex world of developer-focused sales, and the importance of strategic content to engage and educate the developer community. Bob closes with advice for fellow founders, emphasizing the importance of hands-on problem-solving and avoiding over-reliance on hires to solve foundational issues.

In this episode of *Founders Future*, Laura Skinner interviews Jordan Silverman, CEO of Starfish, a SaaS platform designed to help small businesses optimize their financial operations and manage cash flow. Jordan discusses his transition from leadership roles in sales and customer success to launching Starfish, inspired by his observation of the struggles small businesses face with cash flow management and data analysis. He shares how Starfish helps companies streamline data insights, reducing costs and improving profitability through automated action items. Jordan provides insights into Starfish’s customer acquisition journey, his approach to outbound sales, and plans for scaling with marketing and a future fundraising round. He also reflects on the challenges and rewards of entrepreneurship, offering valuable advice to aspiring founders on perseverance, taking the first steps, and the support systems that make it all possible.

In this episode of *Founders, Future*, host Laura Skinner welcomes Marcin Kierdelewicz, the CEO of BIAMI.io, to discuss his entrepreneurial journey and the innovative solutions his company offers in the business process automation space. 

Marcin shares the inspiration behind founding BIAMI.io, highlighting the prevalent issue of employees being stuck in repetitive tasks that hinder their productivity. He emphasizes the significance of stepping back from execution mode to identify areas ripe for automation. With BIAMI.io's technology and framework, Marcin aims to empower employees to escape their "hamster wheels," enabling them to manage their work more effectively and focus on higher-value tasks.

Throughout the conversation, listeners gain insights into the challenges of defining what BIAMI.io does—and what it doesn’t do—in a crowded marketplace. Marcin illustrates how automation can transform workplace dynamics, fostering team development and enhanced service delivery. 

Tune in to explore the roadmap for future growth at BIAMI.io and the evolving landscape of business automation.

In this episode of *Founders Future*, Laura Skinner speaks with Paul Couston, co-founder and CEO of Ascent Integrated Tech, a company focused on improving the safety and efficiency of first responders. Paul shares his entrepreneurial journey, including his experience starting his first company while still a student. He details how Ascent Integrated Tech addresses the outdated systems used by firefighters and law enforcement, offering precise location and wellness monitoring. The company’s mission is to augment existing tools like command boards rather than replace them, helping first responders make life-saving decisions in critical moments. Paul also discusses the challenges of entering the firefighting space as an outsider, his company’s shift toward software solutions, and the importance of scaling through partnerships. The conversation provides valuable insights into the intersection of technology and public safety, and Paul offers advice on leadership, work-life balance, and the long-term vision for Ascent.

In this episode of Founders Future, Laura Skinner speaks with Laura Close, co-founder of Included, an AI-native solution for people analytics. Laura shares the founding story of Included, which began with a mission to simplify the complex process of gathering actionable insights from HR data. She discusses how her team, comprising experts in big data, customer analytics, and data-driven human capital management, built a platform that helps companies make real-time, data-driven decisions about their workforce.

Laura explains the challenges of entering the HR tech space, where companies struggle to efficiently use their HR data. She highlights how Included differentiates itself as an AI-native platform, unlike many existing tools that only use AI as an add-on. Their goal is to democratize insights and provide immediate, practical solutions for leadership teams.

The conversation also delves into the company’s growth strategy, focusing on brand recognition and customer acquisition, particularly targeting forward-thinking HR leaders and people analytics teams. Laura emphasizes the importance of strategic customer acquisition and the need to avoid scaling too fast without the right foundation.

The episode wraps up with Laura’s advice for founders: while hustle is important, true success comes from making strategic, repeatable decisions that lead to long-term growth.

In this episode of *Founders Future*, Laura Skinner interviews Sebastian Gyr, CEO and co-founder of Indy, a platform designed to streamline freelancing for independent workers. Sebastian shares how he and his co-founder first identified the need for Indy after observing the growing trend of remote work and freelancing, which inspired them to build a solution that simplifies operations for freelancers. He discusses the challenges they faced in building the product, including high churn and finding product-market fit, as well as his key learnings about leadership and decision-making. Sebastian highlights Indy’s mission to make freelancing easier by managing everything from project management and client relationships to legal contracts and payments. He also outlines the company’s future growth plans, including customer acquisition strategies and plans to raise capital. The episode offers insights into the growing freelance economy and Sebastian’s vision for scaling Indy.

In this episode of Founders Future, Laura Skinner interviews Anthony Molzahn, CEO of Devii, a company that automates the creation of GraphQL APIs for SQL databases with a single click. Anthony shares his journey from starting as a server at Red Lobster to becoming a tech entrepreneur. He explains how Devii's middleware saves developers thousands of hours by automating API development, transforming the typically laborious process into a seamless and scalable solution.

Anthony reflects on his early career in precision agriculture, where he developed automated tools for farmers to monitor crops via satellite imagery, drones, and more. It was through these projects that he recognized the potential of automating software development, especially in fragmented industries like agriculture. Fast forward to Devii's creation, where Anthony and his co-founder began building software that reduces manual coding time and enables faster project execution.

The episode also highlights Devii’s recent growth, including their $2.2 million seed raise and expansion of the team. Anthony discusses Devii’s go-to-market strategy, their goals for the next six months, and plans for scaling in industries like healthcare and financial services. He also touches on their SaaS offering, which allows users to connect and manage databases for just $49 a month.

Anthony closes the episode with advice for founders: focus on "durability" —understand your strengths, identify your weaknesses, and build a strong team to support the areas where you need growth.