Maverick is not your typical founder. Laid off two days after moving to London. No clients, no money, no safety net. Told by a close friend that he didn’t know how to build a company. Twelve months later, he’d raised investment, built an AI start-up from scratch, and landed his first paying customers.

This is the unfiltered story of what it actually costs to build something from zero.

In this episode, we cover:

How a third-generation gambling family shaped Maverick’s obsession with betting only on what he can control

The rocket ship start-up Maverick joined that swiftly collapsed and what he learnt from this t

How cold LinkedIn DMs and relentless outreach landed him his first clients in weeks

How a single LinkedIn video caught the attention of a three-time YC founder and changed everything

What working at $100 million Model ML company taught him about standards, sales, and speed

Why he moved to San Francisco, lasted six weeks, and left on his own terms

How he booked a one-way ticket to Vietnam with barely any money and kept building anyway

What Maverick Intelligence actually does and how it turns anonymous website visitors into paying customers

Why he’s focused on the US market and what GDPR means for founders building in this space

His honest take on AI agents and how Maverick Intelligence identifies thousands of people every single day, around the clock

The exact sales tools he uses including Clay, Orange Slice, Instantly, and Condo

Why A/B testing before 10,000 users is a complete waste of time

How to upskill technically without a computer science background

Why graduate schemes might actually be holding young people back

The one piece of advice for anyone sitting on an idea they still haven’t started.

This is a revenge arc, a masterclass in sales, and one of the most honest founder conversations we’ve had on the show.

Connect with Maverick on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maverick-f/

Learn more about Maverick’s company Maverick Intelligence: https://maverickintelligence.co/