From the Ground Up

Mo Maureen Cowie, founder of Seahorsegal Designs, joins the show to share how a passion for handmade jewelry grew into a brand centered on affordability, individuality, and beauty. From custom pieces and natural stones to her philosophy on confidence, creativity, and self-trust, Cowie brings a refreshing perspective on building a business with heart. The conversation also explores positivity, social media, and how small acts of generosity can spark something much bigger.

Silicon Valley investor Ed Dua shares the journey from coder to venture capitalist and the lessons he has learned backing more than 100 startups. He explains how IAC Ventures evaluates early-stage companies, why vertical AI is attracting serious investor attention, and what founders often misunderstand about raising capital. The conversation also explores how artificial intelligence is reshaping industries and why the best opportunities may come from entrepreneurs who deeply understand the problems they are trying to solve.

In this episode of From the Ground Up, Taiefa Tabassum shares how lean SaaS teams can compete by prioritizing positioning, disciplined experimentation, and founder-led storytelling over vanity metrics. Drawing from her journey from visual design to tech marketing at MyWorks, she explains the 70–30 rule, the importance of narrative-driven campaigns, and how small teams can validate demand before scaling spend. She also breaks down how marketers should think about AI today, using it as an efficiency layer and analytical companion rather than a replacement for human strategy.

Will Cady, founder of HEAL MVMNT and former Reddit executive, joins From the Ground Up to discuss why culture, story, and human values are becoming essential leadership tools in an increasingly data-driven world. He explains how his HEAL framework helps organizations align decision-making with purpose, uncover blind spots, and build stronger communities both inside and outside the business. Cady also shares practical insights for founders looking to lead with greater clarity, define their “north star,” and create companies people genuinely want to be part of.

Peter Rojas, Mozilla’s SVP of New Products, joins From the Ground Up to share how his early internet-building background influences the way he approaches mission-driven product development today. He breaks down how Mozilla is thinking about trust, transparency, and sustainable business models while expanding beyond Firefox with new products. Rojas also explains the Mozilla Pioneers program, a residency-style initiative designed to bring in outside builders to prototype ideas with Mozilla and potentially turn the strongest concepts into full-fledged products.

Check out Mozilla's new products:

https://newproducts.mozilla.org/

Learn about the Mozilla Pioneers program:

https://newproducts.mozilla.org/mozilla-pioneers/

Jasper Fu, Co-Founder & CEO of Coinsub, is building stablecoin payments infrastructure that feels so seamless most people won’t realize it’s crypto. In this episode, he explains why adoption is still earlier than the industry thinks, why payment service providers—not merchants—are the key to scale, and how programmable subscriptions unlock real-world use cases. It’s a grounded conversation about invisible technology, founder discomfort, and leading with empathy while building the next layer of money.

Jim Alkove, CEO of Oleria, shares how decades inside Microsoft, Google, and Salesforce led him to tackle one of enterprise security’s most overlooked problems: identity. This episode explores why access management is broken, how AI is reshaping security from the inside out, and what it really takes to transition from big tech leadership to startup founder. It’s a candid look at trust, conviction, and building systems that work while everyone else sleeps.

Amy Rencher, SVP of Small Business and Talent at the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, breaks down how Michigan supports entrepreneurs across all 83 counties through local partner networks, access-to-capital programs, and place-based initiatives. She explains what makes Detroit’s ecosystem distinct, how SmartZones and Small Business Support Hubs connect founders to resources, and why one-on-one technical assistance still matters most. The conversation also covers Industry 4.0, supply chain resilience, and what Michigan is prioritizing for small business growth over the next few years.

Ethan Williams, CEO of Quantide Growth Partners, breaks down why pricing is one of the most overlooked growth levers for small and mid-sized businesses, and how founders can stop defaulting to discounting. He explains Quantide’s new Digital Pricing Officer, built around proprietary pricing data and structured workflows that help companies quantify value, choose pricing models, and defend price with confidence. The episode also digs into AI pricing economics, common proposal mistakes, and why the future of pricing may look like a managed service rather than a one-time project.

Emily Smith shares how she is tackling the everyday chaos of dead batteries and lost devices with smart charging and asset management solutions. She breaks down how HonestWaves serves schools, hospitals, logistics centers, and major venues by combining hardware, software, and real-world feedback. This conversation explores leadership, partnerships, and what it takes to build a durable company by solving practical problems at scale.