There's a lot of hype around disruption and building a "blue ocean" business:

Where you create new, uncontested market space rather than competing head-to-head in existing markets.

But here’s a reality check: 90% of startups fail and 42% of those fail because they create something nobody wants.

Meanwhile, savvy startups are looking for a "purple ocean" — taking proven ideas and applying them to specific verticals.

On the latest episode of The High-EQ Founder, I spoke with Melissa Kwan, serial entrepreneur and CEO of eWebinar, who did exactly this by applying existing webinar technology to customer success teams tired of repeating the same demos and trainings.

Melissa’s been on the entrepreneurial journey for 14 years. Here’s what she shared:

🌊 The trap of trying to be completely original, and why entrepreneurs should aim for "purple oceans" instead

🚀 How bootstrapping chose her when venture capital wasn't an option—and the many benefits she’s discovered

🧠 The unexpected way success started triggering self-sabotage behaviors that nearly derailed her progress

It’s a playbook in scrappiness and turning limitations into competitive advantages.

Connect with Melissa on her Substack the founder next door and on Linkedin.

Want to know your Founder EQ? Take the (free) 3-minute assessment here.

Did you know companies 'lose' 10-15% of their physical assets every year?

That's thousands of chairs, computers, mobile devices and specialized equipment that just get moved around or disappear.

So what happens? Operations managers end up buying replacements for stuff they already have. No wonder the asset tracking market is on track to hit $55.1 billion by 2026.

On the latest episode of The High-EQ Founder, I sat down with Nadine Cino, CEO and co-founder of TygaSmart, which specializes in sustainable moving, storage and asset tracking solutions.

Nadine and I covered a lot in this 20-minute convo:

* The pitfalls of being the first-mover and when to make the painful decision to quit a product that’s not working

* Learning the hard way that companies won’t pay attention until there’s an impact on their bottom line (and the magic number that gets companies to make a change)

* How persistence and pivoting helped TygaSmart evolve from reusable moving boxes to comprehensive asset tracking technology

* Her approach to relationship-building that has sustained her business through 30 years of economic ups and downs

Connect with Nadine on Linkedin here.

Connect with Renita on Linkedin here.

Want to know your Founder EQ? Take the five-minute quiz here.

Ever been on a cruise? If not, no doubt you know someone who has.

Because the global cruise industry is big business and growing steadily: There are about 323 cruise ships out there right now, and each one is serving over 20,000 meals a day.

That's a ton of food on board these floating cities. And with all that food comes a serious question: how do you manage the supply chain and minimize waste?

On the latest episode of The High-EQ Founder, I sat down with Robert Buchanan, the CEO and co-founder of Adhere Gear. His company is on a mission to transform single-use cardboard boxes into "smart" reusable containers. Containers that can actually collect important data about environmental impact, cargo conditions and how efficiently the supply chain is running.

Robert and I talked about:

▶️ That age-old question: to be a specialist or a generalist — and how it affects the way you build your team.

▶️ How he was faced with a sudden health scare - with doctors giving him just a 7% chance of recovery - a year and a half into building his startup.

▶️ His belief in creating his own luck and the incredible lengths he goes to prepare when opportunity knocks.

It's a conversation filled with grit, determination, and some serious wisdom.

Connect with Robert on Linkedin here.

Want to know your Founder EQ? Take the five-minute quiz here.

Most of the news you hear about startups is about how much VC funding they raised.

But what if VC rejection is exactly what your startup needs to succeed?

That’s what happened to one of the biotech startups launched by CAOS Focado, a venture builder that helps deep tech founders survive the brutal early days of building a business.

In the latest episode of The High-EQ Founder, I dive into the backstory with Diogo Dutra, serial entrepreneur and co-founder of Caos Focado.

He shares:

▶️ How he navigated the strategic decision to bootstrap a biotech startup, and what made him trust his technical co-founder was in for the long haul.

▶️ The trap of being too attached to Plan A — and when to move on to Plan B.

▶️ The unexpected benefits of bootstrapping and how missing out on VC funding created unexpected opportunities to generate revenues, improve their moonshot technology and become a stronger, well-functioning team.

Connect with Diogo on Linkedin here.

Want to know your Founder EQ? Take the five-minute quiz here.

The next cohort of The High-EQ Founder will be starting soon. If you’re ready to level up your leadership skills, sign up for the waitlist here.

Want to find out your Founder EQ? Take the 3-minute assessment here (it’s free).

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Here’s something you probably didn’t know:

Nearly 2 million tons of microplastic end up in our oceans every year. Not from bottles or bags—from paint.

Think about it: Every massive structure in the ocean—oil rigs, wind turbines, bridges—needs regular repainting to prevent rust.

When workers blast off the old paint, guess where it goes? Straight into the water. And those tiny paint particles are actually one of the biggest sources of ocean microplastic pollution.

Norwegian startup Pinovo wants to change that. They’ve designed a sort of vacuum that catches old paint particles before they can fall into the ocean. Simple, right? But nobody was doing it before.

Pinovo’s chairman and co-founder, Declan McAdams, is the latest guest on The High-EQ Founder.

We talked about:

* Why Pinovo decided to pivot and go all in on preventing microplastic pollution.

* How relying too heavily on one well-paying client was a wake-up call and pushed them to see sustainability as a golden opportunity.

* Why they took initiative to invest in scientific research to highlight the problem when industry players weren’t stepping up

* How being prepared for opportunity led to a seat at the table with big brands and NGOs like the World Economic Forum.

Connect with Declan on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/declan-mc-adams-70927649/

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Today, I'm speaking with San Kim, CEO and founder of Swing, the largest shared micromobility operator in Asia - and that’s saying a lot because Asia is one of the world's largest shared micromobility markets, expected to reach nearly $24 billion by 2031.

We talked about:

* How he went from having three co-founders to being a solo founder in the first 12 months .

* How being sued by a competitor and not being able to raise capital actually turned into a competitive advantage.

* The huge relief he felt in letting go of Asian cultural expectations about what it means to be CEO

* Why he took a risk and chose a wannabe hip hop artist as his COO instead of the candidate with the blue-chip resume

Enjoy my conversation with San!

Connect with San Kim here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/san-hyungsan-kim-1062a752/

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Property development has long been a lucrative vehicle for investment.

But it’s an exclusive club, traditionally accessible only to institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals.

As a hobbyist investor in Bitcoin with a 27-year career in construction operations, Gary Woodhead saw an opportunity with potential for huge societal impact.

What if working-class people – nurses, taxi drivers, teachers – were the financiers and beneficiaries of real estate development? he wondered.

So together with co-founders Joey Jones and Matthew Couch, Gary launched CurveBlock, leveraging digital securities to democratize property investment.

In the latest episode of The High-EQ Founder, Gary shares:

* how they pivoted when COVID-19 shut down the entire construction market

* why they partnered with a potential competitor

* the three-word mantra he learned from his military career that serves him as a founder

* the David & Goliath story of how they took on the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority to change regulation of digital securities

Follow Gary on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gary-woodhead-frsa-5ab00b132/

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Jehiel Oliver is changing the lives of smallholder farmers in 18 countries.

It started 10 years ago in Sub-Saharan Africa, where 60% of crops are plowed by hand.

That means there’s a 90% gap between what Africa’s smallholder farmers could be producing and what they’re actually producing.

But what if, Jehiel thought, you could connect Africa’s small-scale farmers with tractor owners — in the same way rideshare apps connect riders with drivers?

He founded Hello Tractor to connect small-scale farmers with tractor owners to do just that.

In the latest episode of The High-EQ Founder, Jehiel shares:

* Why he decided not to take VC funding (even though they were using credit cards to make payroll) and what he focused on instead

* The hard decision he had to make when COVID wiped out their revenue streams and how they bounced back to have their most productive year ever

* How being prepared for opportunity led to moderating a panel discussion with not one, but two sitting presidents, including President Obama which then led to a series of incredible strategic opportunities for Hello Tractor

Connect with Jehiel: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jehiel/

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