Have a question you'd like us to answer in an episode or a topic you'd like us to cover? Reach us at [email protected]

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What we cover in this episode:
Verena and Simon open the mailbag for an Ask Us Anything deep dive, answering listener questions from every stage of Start - Launch - Grow, including the one so many founders are stuck on: 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗷𝗼𝗯?

Along the way they cover how much market research is enough when AI makes building so easy, how to find an idea worth pursuing, which AI tools to pick as a non-technical founder, why you might still need a developer, how to know your MVP is ready to launch, where to find your first paying customers, and whether it's too early to raise investment.

Have a question you'd like us to answer in an episode or a topic you'd like us to cover? Reach us at [email protected]

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What we cover in this episode:

Verena and Simon answer two listener questions, starting with the one every founder is quietly asking themselves: 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗜?

Then Simon sits down with Ben Dickens, Director of Technology at UK Coaching, and talks about building Play Their Way - a child-first coaching app that went from discovery to launch in both app stores in under three months. A charity, not a startup, working at startup speed.

Have a startup idea?
👉 Let's talk about how we can help bring it to life. 🚀

👉 Take our 2 Min Founder Quiz to get your idea scorecard

Have a question you'd like us to answer in an episode or a topic you'd like us to cover? Reach us at [email protected]

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What we cover in this episode:

Verena and Simon tackle the question that decides whether a startup ever gets off the ground: 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝗱𝗼 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁, 𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝘂𝗻 𝗮𝗱𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝘁?

They open with a hard truth drawn from working with 𝟮,𝟬𝟬𝟬+ 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀: the number one reason startups fail to get traction 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 - it's that most get their go-to-market wrong, or never really do it at all.

This isn't a "which ad platform should I use" episode. Founders always want to start with the channel - Meta, LinkedIn, TikTok, SEO - but that's the 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. Channels don't fail. Targeting does. So Verena and Simon walk through their three-step framework for finding your first paying customers.

Have a startup idea?

👉 Let’s talk about how we can help bring it to life. 🚀

👉 Take our 2 Min Founder Quiz to find your biggest priority & get a Million Labs Giveaway.

👉 Join our Free Masterclass on how to go from idea to paying customers in the age of AI.

---

What we cover in this episode:
Verena and Simon tackle one of the most common misconceptions founders bring to the build phase: 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗮𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗵 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝘄𝗲𝗯 𝗮𝗽𝗽 𝗼𝗿 𝗴𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲?

Most early-stage builds that go native too early end up 𝟯𝘅 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁 and take 𝟲+ 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗮𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗵 - thanks to testing across thousands of devices, Apple's brutal approval process, and rebuilding for two operating systems instead of one.

This isn't an anti-native episode - Verena and Simon build native when the product needs it. But they walk through the three things founders get wrong when choosing their launch platform:

𝟭. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗲𝗯 𝗔𝗽𝗽 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

𝟮. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗚𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲

𝟯. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 "𝗔𝗽𝗽 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗼𝗹𝗲𝗿" 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗽

Their takeaway: 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮 𝘄𝗲𝗯 𝗮𝗽𝗽 𝘂𝗻𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗼.

𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄: Verena sits down with 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗶𝗲, 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝗰.

Charlie has helped build and grow 𝗺𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 including Mission Inc, an AI-powered platform helping leaders identify performance gaps and delegate decision-making down the hierarchy - built on a military-inspired 𝘵𝘪𝘱-𝘰𝘧-𝘵𝘩𝘦-𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳 philosophy.

Have a startup idea?

👉 Let’s talk about how we can help bring it to life. 🚀

👉 Take our 2 Min Founder Quiz to find your biggest priority & get a Million Labs Giveaway.

👉 Join our Free Masterclass on how to go from idea to paying customers in the age of AI.

---

What we cover in this episode:
Verena and Simon dig into the uncomfortable question every founder faces the moment they hit deploy: 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘃𝗶𝗯𝗲-𝗰𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗠𝗩𝗣?

They open with a cautionary tale - an AI-built social app that launched in 𝟯 𝗱𝗮𝘆𝘀 with zero lines of hand-written code. It demoed beautifully and users signed up. Then, three days later, security researchers pulled 𝟱𝟬𝟬,𝟬𝟬𝟬 𝗔𝗣𝗜 𝘁𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗻𝘀, 𝟯𝟱,𝟬𝟬𝟬 𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁. The demo worked, but the product didn't.

This isn't an anti-AI episode - Verena and Simon use these tools every day. But they walk through the three things the AI builders won't tell you.

Have a startup idea?

👉 Let’s talk about how we can help bring it to life. 🚀

👉 Take our 2 Min Founder Quiz to find your biggest priority & get a Million Labs Giveaway.

👉 Join our Free Masterclass on how to go from idea to paying customers in the age of AI.

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What we cover in this episode:
Verena and Simon tackle one of the biggest shifts happening in software right now: 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘂𝗺-𝘀𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗱 𝗦𝗮𝗔𝗦.

Drawing on recent studies showing that 𝟴𝟬% 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝗮𝗮𝗦 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱, they unpack why companies are hitting a breaking point with bloated monthly bills and rigid software that forces you to change your workflows. They discuss how AI and no-code tools like Bubble have slashed development costs by 𝟲𝟬%, making it cheaper for an enterprise to completely rebuild a custom tool (like their own overnight Slack replacement) than to pay for annual seat licensing.

Their takeaway - the era of broad, one-size-fits-all SaaS is fading - if you want to build software today, you have to go aggressively niche.

𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄: Verena sits down with 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘄, 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗦𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁.

Matthew is a solo coach turned international franchisor who started his business 𝟭𝟰 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗴𝗼 with a simple mission: helping young children discover the sports they love through structured rotations. Today, MiniSport operates across 𝗛𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗞𝗼𝗻𝗴, 𝗦𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗧𝗮𝗶𝘄𝗮𝗻.

Have a startup idea?

👉 Let’s talk about how we can help bring it to life. 🚀

👉 Take our 2 Min Founder Quiz to find your biggest priority & get a Million Labs Giveaway.

👉 Join our Free Masterclass on how to go from idea to paying customers in the age of AI.

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What we cover in this episode:
Verena and Simon tackle one of the biggest reasons non-technical founders waste time and money on AI-built apps: 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗽 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴.

Drawing on data from over 𝟮,𝟬𝟬𝟬 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀, they unpack why a strong scope makes you 𝟱𝟯% 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲𝗹𝘆 to ship a successful app - and why the temptation to dive straight into Lovable or Replit is the fastest path to a product nobody wants.
They walk through the 𝟱-𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝘀𝗰𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 every Million Labs build runs through: 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻, 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝘀, 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄𝘀, 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻. Their takeaway - 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯 𝘈𝘐 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵.

𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄: Simon sits down with 𝗔𝗶𝗻𝗮, 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗪𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽.

Aina is an ex-JP Morgan and SoftBank M&A specialist turned serial entrepreneur, who has built a startup incubator that has 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝟭𝟴 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝟮𝟬 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽𝘀 - in 24 months or less, with returns as high as 𝟯𝗫 𝗥𝗢𝗜.

Aina shares the 𝟯𝟬-𝗰𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮 𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 her team built from analysing 150 M&A deals to figure out what makes a Japanese cross-border acquisition succeed, why she models Waveland on 𝗥𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘁'𝘀 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 by localising proven foreign services for Japan, and how a small detail like 𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮 𝗺𝗮𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘁 became the difference between a successful exit and a flop.

Have a startup idea?

👉 Let’s talk about how we can help bring it to life. 🚀

👉 Take our 2 Min Founder Quiz to find your biggest priority & get a Million Labs Giveaway.

👉 Join our Free Masterclass on how to go from idea to paying customers in the age of AI.

---

What we cover in this episode:
Verena and Simon tackle three of the biggest concerns founders raise about AI-assisted and no-code builds: 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝗚𝗗𝗣𝗥 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆.

In a 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗲-𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁, Verena steps into the shoes of a non-technical founder firing the questions every business leader is asking, while Simon shares what they actually explain behind the scenes. They unpack why 𝗔𝗜 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹𝘀 of secure infrastructure, how Bubble's default US hosting compares to coded environments where you can spin up a database in Germany or the UK, and why scale is usually 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 - only around 5% of startups ever hit that wall. Their takeaway - 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘈𝘐, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘵.

𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄: Verena sits down with 𝗞𝗮𝘁𝘆, 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗴𝗼.

Katy has over 𝟭𝟴 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘀, 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿, who turned her solo consultancy into a nine-person audience research and insight business by listening to what the sector actually needed when COVID closed every theatre's doors overnight.

Katy shares how a single audience survey signed up by 𝟲𝟬𝟬 𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 in a week became the foundation of 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗴𝗼 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲, and why scaling it forced her out of the "𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦-𝘧𝘰𝘳-𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺" 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘱 she'd been in for 15 years.

Have a startup idea?

👉 Let’s talk about how we can help bring it to life. 🚀

👉 Take our 2 Min Founder Quiz to find your biggest priority & get a Million Labs Giveaway.

👉 Join our Free Masterclass on how to go from idea to paying customers in the age of AI.

---

What we cover in this episode:
Verena and Simon tackle one of the most misunderstood concepts in the startup world: 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗼𝗼 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻 𝗠𝗩𝗣?

With 𝟰𝟮% 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 due to no market need, they unpack why so many MVPs fall apart because the product never delivered enough value for users to care. They break down the three things every MVP needs to test properly: the 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 users must be able to complete, the 𝗨𝗫 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗱𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳𝗳, and enough functionality to capture real learning. Their takeaway - 𝘢𝘯 𝘔𝘝𝘗 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦.

𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄: Simon sits down with 𝗡𝗶𝗰𝗸, 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗘𝗢 𝗼𝗳 𝗚i𝘁𝗟𝗮𝘄.

Nick is a serial entrepreneur who has spent over $𝟮 𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝘀 across his career - and decided to do something about it. GetLaw is an 𝗔𝗜 𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗹 𝗱𝗼𝗰𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀, built for the 𝟵𝟬% 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀 that can't afford a lawyer and currently rely on ChatGPT or whatever they have in their inbox.

Nick shares how he validated GetLaw by 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘴 and why he believes founders pitching investors without a prototype is no longer acceptable in 2026.

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What we cover in this episode:
Verena and Simon revisit one of the foundational frameworks in startup building - the Lean methodology - and ask whether it still holds up in the age of vibe coding and no-code.

In this episode they explore how Eric Ries' build-measure-learn loop has been reshaped now that building a product is up to 10 times faster and 10 times cheaper than the traditional 100k, 12-to-18-month build.
They dig into the hidden danger of that speed: founders skipping validation altogether because building is suddenly easy, and finding out there's no customer only after they've spent the money. Their takeaway - speed solves the build, but not the clarity of knowing what you're actually testing.

Verena sits down with Aneta, founder of Aithea.

Aneta is a Munich-based founder with over 16 years in the compliance industry, building an AI-powered marketplace that helps organisations self-assess their financial crime risks and get matched to the right technology vendors - effectively replacing the expensive consultant for businesses with limited budgets.

Aneta shares how deep market knowledge from her years as a global market strategy planner became her real validation, why she landed on a product "way beyond an MVP," and the honest reality of pricing something the compliance industry has never seen before.
She also reflects on the trap of perfectionism, the unglamorous surprises of going from no-code prototype to live product - databases, hosting, password resets, notification emails - and learning to take the cut on feature creep and just launch.