What happens when two founders build companies—and a family—under one roof?

In this episode of Unbottled, Manuela sits down with Andy Dunn — a founder of Bonobos, Monica + Andy, and Pie, venture investor, and author of Burn Rate — for a candid conversation on entrepreneurship, partnership, and the reality of a “double alpha household.”

But this isn’t a typical founder interview. It’s a behind-the-scenes look at what it actually takes to build ambitious companies while building a life together—navigating mental health, parenting, competing priorities, and the constant tension between ambition and presence.

Together, they unpack how to support each other without collapsing into each other’s work, what venture capital often gets wrong about long-term bets like hardware and infrastructure, and why betting on your partner may be one of the boldest (and riskiest) investments you can make.

In this episode, you’ll see:

• What a “double alpha household” really looks like (and why winning isn’t the goal)
• How to balance being a partner, investor, and operator at the same time
• Why startups can feel like a “mind virus”
• The role of sleep, exercise, and routine in protecting mental health while building
• How parenting reshapes ambition, time, and identity
• Why venture capital struggles with non-consensus, long-term investments like hardware

Andy also shares how his relationship with ambition has evolved—from chasing outcomes to finding meaning in the process itself.

Because when you zoom out, building a company is just one part of the equation—the harder challenge is building a life that can sustain it.

💧 Unbottled is brought to you by Kadeya — building closed-loop beverage systems for a world beyond single-use.

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Follow Andy Dunn

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andyrdunn/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dunn/

Substack: https://dunn.substack.com/ 

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Follow Kadeya: 

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kdy/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kadeya.club/ 

Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@kadeya.club 

Website: https://www.kadeya.com/ 

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Follow Manuela: 

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/manuelasweb/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/manuelasweb/ 

Substack: https://manuelazoninsein.substack.com/

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Building the future of beverage—one sip, one story at a time.  

Unbottled shares raw conversations with the people rethinking everything we know about water, plastic, and sustainability. Because the future of beverage isn’t bottled—it’s built. New episodes every Monday.

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