Peter Hopton founded Iceotope, a liquid-cooling technology for data centers that Forbes called a solution to a "multi-billion dollar question" facing the entire IT industry — raising $73M to date.

He's also served as a Commercialisation Advisor to NASA and now works as a venture capitalist through Venture.Community, in addition to chairing multiple technology-focused companies across the UK, including Ampere.

In this first part of a two-part conversation, Peter shares the founding story behind Iceotope, how a VC almost bankrupted the company and how he saved it, and the lessons from his own near-death experiences.

Chris Hladczuk scaled Meow from $100 million to $1.5 billion in assets as Chief Revenue Officer — including closing a single $25 million deal after 26 follow-ups — before leaving to found Hanover, an AI-native fund admin platform that's already raised $3.5M in seed funding.

A former Goldman Sachs investment banker and Yale grad, Chris also built a large following through his growth-marketing newsletter.

In this episode, Chris breaks down the fundraising lessons from Meow and Hanover, why he believes work-life balance guarantees a mediocre career for founders in their 20s, and how to filter feedback and advice as a founder.

Henrik Sanchez started angel investing in 2015 while still a university student, building a personal portfolio of over 40 investments — including early bets on Monzo ($880M in revenue) and Revolut ($2.2B in revenue) years before they became two of Europe's biggest fintech unicorns.

He's now a General Partner at Playfair Capital, a London-based VC firm investing at pre-seed across the UK and Europe, and a Kauffman Fellow.

In this episode, Henrik shares stories from his angel and VC investments, lessons from sitting on the board of portfolio companies like Passionfruit, insider tips on being a VC, and what he actually looks for in the founders he funds.

Tim Ericson founded Zagster, a bike-share startup that raised over $40 million from VCs and grew to $10M in recurring revenue and more than 250 programs across 35 states, before exiting in 2020.

From there, he left startups behind to buy up America's growing list of boring businesses that need new owners — acquiring several SMBs, including We Rent Copiers, now the largest short-term copier rental company in the US.

He also co-founded Shareholder Ventures, a fund helping entrepreneurs acquire profitable SMBs as part of the broader "Silver Tsunami" of retiring business owners. In this episode, Tim breaks down how he built Zagster into an 8-figure startup, raised $40M as a student with zero experience, bought his first SMB, and why he believes ETA is the next big thing in entrepreneurship.

Daniel Harding co-founded Rebills, a checkout and payments solutions provider he bootstrapped from scratch to a multi-million pound exit in just 24 months.

Since then, he's become an active angel investor and founded Sonorous Group, a London-based holding company where he now holds shareholdings and board-level positions across companies including AdMediaCards, TokaCity, and Ad360.

In this episode, Daniel shares how Rebills went from 0 to exit in under two years, his first few angel investments, and how he decides which founders to fund.

Stefan Avivson, known as "Mister Raw," has spent nearly 30 years building startups — founding 15 companies, exiting 5, and going bankrupt twice, including a $1 billion loss after his investor, a Russian oligarch, died by suicide.

He's since rebuilt, raising millions in new funding and becoming an author and advisor to founders navigating traction, sales, and fundraising. In this episode, Stefan shares how he recovered from the depression that followed his bankruptcy, the lessons from his most successful startups, and the raw, unfiltered truths he's learned from three decades in business.

Jeff Martin is the #1 Amazon bestselling author of "Peak Teams" and founder of Collective Genius, where he's spent two decades helping VC-backed CEOs and founders build high-performing teams.

The startups he's worked with have gone on to raise and exit for over $2 billion combined.

In this episode, Jeff breaks down how to master content as a founder, why passion matters in startups, how to find and attract A+ talent, and the traits and blind spots that separate high-performing startups from the ones that stall out.

Nectarios Economakis was the first business development hire at Google Montreal, where he quietly built an angel investing track record on the side — backing companies like BonLook (later acquired in 2021) and Chronogolf.

He went on to co-found The PNR, hosting the Point of No Return podcast and interviewing over 250 entrepreneurs and investors on what it takes to build enduring companies, before transitioning fully into venture capital as a Partner at Amiral Ventures, which has closed the first round of a $75M fund.

In this episode, Nectarios shares stories from angel investing while working full-time at Google, how he evaluates startups, the future of VC fundraising, and why bootstrapping is becoming a bigger trend.

KP Reddy is a serial entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and author who has exited three technology companies — including Cereus Technology Partners, which IPO'd on NASDAQ and reached a $350M market cap within two years before later selling to Verso at a 35x multiple.

He went on to found Shadow Ventures, a fund investing in startups reshaping the built environment, where he wrote the very first check into Icon — a company then just three people 3D-printing homes out of concrete, which KP believed could become a $10–100 billion company.

In this episode, KP breaks down how to come up with killer startup ideas, why most of what you believe about startups is wrong, and how to break into traditional "unsexy" industries as a young, inexperienced founder.

Kelsey Dixon co-founded davies + dixon, an award-winning, all-female social media marketing agency, before it was acquired by Rossman Media — a firm that serves global brands like Airbnb, Nike, Louis Vuitton, and Saks Fifth Avenue.

Kelsey and her co-founder were named to multiple 40 Under 40 lists and spoke on stages across the marketing industry before merging their agency into Rossman, where Kelsey went on to become SVP of Agency Growth.

In this episode, Kelsey shares how founders can master marketing, the lessons she learned from selling her agency, and what it actually took to build an award-winning brand from scratch.