Startup Builders & Backers

What if entrepreneurship were not only about starting companies, but about shaping how a generation thinks about impact, ownership, and responsibility?

In this episode of Startup Builders and Backers, I’m joined by Danielle Vogel, Assistant Director of the Veloric Center for Entrepreneurship at American University, where she works at the intersection of sustainability, entrepreneurship, and education. Danielle brings a rare perspective to the conversation, shaped by experience as a founder, an investor, and an educator supporting the next wave of builders long before they pitch a deck or incorporate a company.

Before stepping into academia, Danielle founded and operated Glen's Garden Market, a climate-motivated grocery store in Washington, DC, that became a launchpad for local food entrepreneurs. Through that venture, she helped support more than 90 local businesses, with a strong emphasis on women founders and founders of color. That lived experience informs how she now thinks about access, capital, and what it really takes to build something sustainable, both financially and socially.

We talk about her journey from founder to investor, including her direct investments, support for founders through the AccelerateHERdc grant program, and involvement with SoGal Ventures. Danielle shares how her approach to investing is shaped by values as much as returns, and why early belief, mentorship, and community can matter just as much as capital in the earliest stages of a startup’s life.

The conversation also dives into her work at the Veloric Center for Entrepreneurship, where she supports students across undergraduate and graduate programs, including sustainable entrepreneurship courses, incubators, competitions, and speaker series. We explore how young people are redefining what it means to be entrepreneurial today, and why the mindset itself is becoming just as important as founding a company.

This episode is not only about startups, funding, or accelerators. It is about expanding the definition of entrepreneurship, lowering the barriers to entry, and helping first-time builders take that initial step with clarity and confidence. As more young founders look for purpose alongside opportunity, how should we rethink what entrepreneurship really means, and who it is actually for?

Useful Links

• The Veloric Center for Entrepreneurship's LinkedIn:
• Follow Danielle Vogel on LinkedIn:
• Follow the Kogod School of Business on LinkedIn
• Kogod School of Business entrepreneurship website

Thanks to our sponsors, Alcor, for supporting the show.

What does it really take to rewrite your own story, and then challenge an entire industry at the same time?

In this episode of Startup Builders & Backers, I’m joined by Steven Woods, Founder of Stirlingshire Investments, for a conversation that goes far beyond balance sheets and buzzwords. Steve’s journey is anything but predictable. From leaving high school early to advising on Wall Street, earning credentials from Harvard and Oxford, and ultimately building a firm that questions how modern asset management should actually work, his path challenges many of the assumptions we still take for granted in finance.

We talked about why the traditional broker-dealer model feels increasingly out of step with today’s founders, operators, and investors. Steve shared how transparency, ethics, and genuinely personalized service can coexist with modern technology, and why large firms often struggle to deliver any of those at scale. Rather than chasing complexity, he argues that clarity and alignment are becoming the real differentiators in wealth management, especially for builders who want their capital to work in ways that reflect their values as well as their goals.

What I appreciated most was how practical this conversation became. Whether you are a seasoned investor, a startup founder thinking about long-term financial strategy, or simply finance-curious, Steve offers grounded advice shaped by lived experience rather than theory. We also touched on life outside the boardroom, from growing up in Kansas City to the contrast between Manhattan and Missouri, along with football, fishing, and why good barbecue still matters when building relationships.

If you are building something new or backing others who are, this episode offers a candid look at how personal reinvention and industry change often go hand in hand. As capital, technology, and trust continue to shift, what kind of financial partners will founders and investors really need in the next decade, and are we brave enough to move away from models that no longer serve us?

Useful Links

• Connect with Steven Woods
• Learn more about Stirlingshire Investments,

Thanks to our sponsors, Alcor, for supporting the show.

What makes a startup founder stay inspired after years of building, scaling, and sometimes starting over? In this episode of The Startup Builders and Backers Podcast, Emanuel Pirker shares a founder’s journey that every entrepreneur can learn from. Recorded live at IGEL’s Now & Next event in Frankfurt, Emanuel opens up about the path from launching Stratodesk to becoming Field CTO at IGEL, where his vision continues to influence the future of secure digital workspaces.

Emanuel reflects on how he built Stratodesk into a global player in Linux-based endpoint technology and the lessons learned along the way about scaling, product focus, and resilience. His advice for founders is refreshingly practical: stay obsessed with solving real problems, move fast when you fail, and never build technology for its own sake. We also talk about how IGEL’s acquisition of Stratodesk became a story of alignment rather than loss, showing how founders can successfully transition into leadership roles within larger organizations without losing their entrepreneurial drive.

We also dive into how his leadership philosophy has evolved. Emanuel explains how letting go of control after the acquisition gave him the freedom to focus on what matters most: innovation and people. He describes how creativity thrives when leaders balance listening with action, and how this mindset now shapes his work bridging customer insights with product development at IGEL. It’s a story that reminds any founder that scaling isn’t just about growth—it’s about adapting how you lead.

From AI-powered voice tools improving human connection to IGEL’s preventative security model, Emanuel illustrates how technology can both simplify and humanize work. His enthusiasm for building purposeful, people-first innovation remains undiminished after decades in tech. For startup founders, his journey is a reminder that reinvention never ends—it just takes new forms.

If you’re a founder looking for real-world startup lessons about scaling, acquisition, and staying inspired through change, this episode is for you. What do you think helps a founder thrive after their company is acquired? Share your thoughts and join the conversation.

Useful Links

• Connect with Emanuel Pirker on LinkedIn
  • Learn more about IGEL
  • Follow on LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube

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In this episode of Tech Talks Daily, I sit down with Steve Flavell, co-CEO of LoopUp, to hear how a company once known for improving conference calls became a global force in cloud telephony. LoopUp began in 2003 with a mission to make conference calls less frustrating, growing steadily for more than a decade before going public on the London Stock Exchange in 2016. When the pandemic hit, their core business vanished almost overnight as platforms like Teams and Zoom took over the world.

Rather than giving up, Steve and his team made a bold pivot. They transformed LoopUp from a conferencing specialist into a global provider of cloud telephony for Microsoft Teams. Today, the company delivers enterprise voice services across 136 countries and proudly calls itself the world’s most multinational telco. Steve explains how this shift helps multinational businesses simplify operations by replacing dozens of regional telecom providers with a single unified system. With one contract, one support model, and one management portal, LoopUp allows companies to manage telephony the same way they already manage Teams globally.

We also talk about the wider transformation of the telecom industry. Legacy phone systems are being replaced by cloud infrastructure that integrates directly into the platforms people use every day. Steve shares what that change means for businesses seeking efficiency, scalability, and control.

Our conversation isn’t only about technology; it’s about leadership. Steve opens up about the lessons he’s learned through both highs and setbacks, from staying persistent during tough times to keeping honest communication flowing across the team. He also reflects on the strength of his long partnership with fellow co-founder Michael Hughes. For anyone building through uncertainty or leading through change, Steve’s journey is a powerful reminder that adaptability and openness are key to lasting success.

What if you could accelerate your startup’s growth with the combined power of AI, targeted mentorship, and a connected community? In this episode of Startup Builders and Backers, I speak with serial entrepreneur, investor, and technologist Paul Pluschkell, the founder of StartupOS, to unpack how their Launchpad platform is reshaping the way early-stage companies find their footing and scale.

Paul shares lessons from his own entrepreneurial journey and explains how StartupOS helps founders refine their pitch decks, reach product-market fit, and assemble strong teams. We discuss how AI-powered tools can streamline investor readiness, surface strategic insights, and guide decision-making in ways that were previously out of reach for most startups.

The conversation also explores the importance of surrounding founders with the right ecosystem — one that blends mentorship, investor access, and collaborative networks — and how accelerators, enterprises, and even universities can plug into the StartupOS model. Paul offers his view on where the venture space is heading over the next year and what that means for early-stage founders looking to break through.

If you are building a startup and seeking practical, tech-driven ways to accelerate growth, this episode provides a blueprint for leveraging AI and community to drive success.

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In this raw and deeply human conversation, I sit down with Yael Daniely, a seasoned startup psychologist, co-founder, therapist, and founder of one of the world’s only clinical practices dedicated to the emotional well-being of startup leaders.

Yael joins me from Israel in the middle of a war zone, where the urgency of her message becomes even more profound. Together, we explore what founders rarely talk about publicly: emotional fatigue, burnout, the silent strain on co-founder relationships, and the psychological toll of building a startup when your identity is wrapped up in its success or failure.

Drawing from her work with over 400 founders and leadership teams around the world, Yael breaks down:

• Why startup life often mimics survival mode and how to manage it
• The unconscious emotional drivers behind decision-making and leadership fatigue
• How dysfunctional co-founder dynamics quietly derail 65% of startups
• Why psychological contracts matter as much as shareholder agreements
• The overlooked link between childhood experience and startup behavior
• What founder burnout really looks like and how to recover from it holistically

As Yael puts it, “High-growth startups require high-growth founders.” This episode is an honest, moving reflection on what it really takes to survive and thrive as a startup leader, especially during times of extreme uncertainty.

In this episode of Startup Builders and Backers, I sat down with Rahul Baig, Head of Venture Capital and Growth Equity Coverage at Wells Fargo, for one of the most wide-ranging and insightful conversations I’ve had this year.

We discuss the seismic shifts occurring across the tech landscape, particularly how AI is driving a new cycle of investment, innovation, and disruption. With $200 billion already invested in AI infrastructure and more to come, Rahul breaks down why this moment feels different from anything we've seen before—more accessible, more transformative, and, in many ways, more challenging.

We also talk about the slowdown in software growth, the short-term pressure on IT budgets, and how the most innovative companies are leveraging AI not just to survive, but to innovate faster and extend their competitive edge. Rahul also shared his views on the state of venture capital, the consolidation of VC firms, and why traditional players are regaining dominance.

For founders, this episode is packed with candid insights. Rahul pulls no punches when discussing what it takes to get funded today, what investors are looking for, and why financial discipline and real-world use cases are now non-negotiables. If you’re still clinging to a “raise at all costs” mindset, this is the wake-up call you didn’t know you needed.

🎧 In this conversation, we cover:

• How AI is reshaping the rules of the game for software and infrastructure
• Why 55,000 venture-backed companies is a sign of overinvestment, not progress
• What it now takes to go public and why the IPO bar is higher than ever
• Why the next generation of great startups will emerge from this tougher environment
• The impact of geopolitical tensions, rate shifts, and investor risk appetite on capital markets

If you're a founder, investor, or just trying to make sense of where tech is headed next, this one’s for you. You can find Rahul on LinkedIn, and as always, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the conversation.

In this episode of Startup Builders & Backers, we sit down with Jeff Butler, General Manager of Cask Canada, for a candid conversation on what it really takes to launch and grow a high-performing tech consultancy in today's evolving enterprise landscape. In just over a year, Jeff helped Cask Canada scale to 25 employees and win 11 major clients, all while navigating a crowded implementation partner market, the complexity of ServiceNow, and the growing expectations of Canadian enterprises.

We explore how authenticity, trust, and relentless focus on value have been key to Cask’s success. Jeff reflects on lessons from the dot-com era, the power of genuine client relationships, and why every implementation is more about outcomes than technology alone.

From the rise of AI-enhanced platforms to growing demand for local partnerships, we cover emerging trends reshaping the ServiceNow ecosystem. Jeff also discusses the increasing role of automation, the future of implementation services, and why the best consultants push back instead of simply checking boxes.

If you're building in the enterprise tech space, thinking about platform partnerships, or just want to understand what it takes to lead with heart in a technical world, this episode is for you.

On this episode of Startup Builders & Backers, I sit down with Carsten Brinkschulte, co-founder and CEO of Dryad Networks, to uncover how a seasoned telecom entrepreneur pivoted from software to saving forests.

Carsten explains how witnessing devastating wildfires and his own daughter’s climate activism pushed him to found Dryad Networks, a company deploying solar-powered sensors and mesh networks deep into forests to detect wildfires before they spread. We dive into what it takes to build rugged IoT devices for some of the world’s harshest, most remote environments, how Dryad trains edge AI to sniff out the gas signatures of a forest fire, and why satellite partnerships are vital to keeping the network online when traditional connectivity vanishes.

He also shares hard-earned insights on scaling hardware startups, building trust with governments and forestry organisations worldwide, and balancing climate impact goals with commercial reality.

This episode is a masterclass for anyone interested in climate tech, IoT innovation, or the grit required to turn a fresh idea into a global venture that could prevent millions of hectares from going up in smoke.

Tune in and get inspired by a founder turning sensors, AI and satellite links into tools for fighting climate change—one forest at a time.

You've probably heard it before: "Self-published books don't make money." But what if we're measuring success with the wrong metrics? Eric Jorgensen, CEO of Scribe Media and million-copy bestselling author, challenges this conventional wisdom with a simple but powerful insight: "A book does not have to make money to make you money."

Rethinking Book Success

The math is compelling. While most self-published books won't sell millions of copies, even reaching 1,000-5,000 targeted readers can transform a business. Look at any major conference - roughly half the speakers include "author" in their bios, often listing it before achievements that took far longer to accomplish. Why? Because books build authority at scale.

Forget the image of the solitary author in a cabin. Today's most successful business authors work with teams, use structured processes, and leverage technology. As Jorgensen notes, "There's such thing as writer's block, but there's no such thing as talker's block." Modern book creation is about converting expertise into written content, often through conversation and collaboration.

Technology as the Game-Changer

While AI won't replace human authors, it's revolutionizing the process of creating books. From organizing content to generating ideas and processing existing materials (like podcasts and talks), technology is making book creation more accessible. The key is understanding that "options are now free, and the judgment to choose the options remains human."

The Audio Advantage

Audiobooks now generate up to one-third of book royalties for some authors. However, the format decision extends beyond financial considerations. For consultants, speakers, and experts, narrating your audiobook creates a powerful trust bridge. When prospects hear your voice for hours before meeting you, you've already built significant credibility.

Strategic Over Mass Market

Success isn't about maximizing hardcover sales. It's about reaching the right readers. One Scribe Media author who helps financial planners transition their businesses found that readers who connected with his book became clients. Another, a lawyer, converted readers into high-value customers. The book became their most effective sales tool.

The publishing world has changed. Success no longer means hitting bestseller lists or selling hundreds of thousands of copies. Instead, it's about strategically positioning your expertise and reaching the readers who can become your best clients, partners, and advocates.

A well-executed book isn't just another product, it's a business transformation tool that works while you sleep.

Want to get started? Begin by defining your ideal reader and the change you want to create. The technology and teams are in place to support everything else.