The Tech Founders Podcast

Follow Ross on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rossandrew1/
Maropost: https://maropost.com/

In this episode, Ross Andrew Paquette shares how he built Maropost from a one-man operation into a global software business, expanding from its email marketing roots into a broader commerce and customer engagement platform while staying focused on ownership, long-term thinking, profitability, and disciplined execution.

He also breaks down his perspective on bootstrapping, avoiding the traditional startup playbook, simplifying operations, and helping brands unify more of their customer experience in one place.

I hope you enjoy the episode!

Nayak: https://www.nayak.ai/
Jean Templin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeantemplin/

In this episode of The Tech Founders Podcast, we explore the future of AI-powered human connection with Jean Templin, founder of Nayak, a real-time AI relationship coach that helps sales teams build trust and communicate more effectively on calls.

Jean shares her fascinating journey from working on early eye-tracking models and neuroscience-backed tech to launching Nayak, a platform designed to analyze emotional intelligence and guide users in real time during high-stakes conversations. Nayak’s AI doesn’t just surface insights post-call, it gives dynamic, in-call nudges to improve rapport, credibility, and confidence while helping salespeople stay in sync with their prospects’ emotions.

What you’ll learn:

- How Nayak uses real-time AI to coach sales teams during live calls
- The difference between Nayak and traditional conversation intelligence tools like Gong and Fathom
- Why emotional intelligence is becoming the ultimate sales differentiator
- The psychology behind building trust—and how Nayak quantifies it
- How future use cases (from hiring to dating) could benefit from “vibe intelligence”

If you’re a SaaS founder, GTM leader, or anyone building at the edge of AI and human interaction, this episode is packed with forward-thinking insights.

Druid Learning: https://www.druidlearning.com/

Niamh’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/niamhfaller/

In this episode, we dive into the story behind Druid Learning - a platform transforming legacy media and publishing content into AI-ready datasets.

Founder and CEO Niamh Fowler shares how Druid Learning started during COVID as a tool to help students access educational content and has since evolved into a generative AI platform helping publishers increase output and efficiency. Their AI solution enables journalists and content creators to repurpose historical archives into high-quality, on-brand, predictive content - reducing article creation time and boosting publishing velocity by over 30%.

Niamh walks us through:

• How she identified the hidden goldmine of historical content within media organizations
• Pivoting post-COVID and building with design partners
• Druid Learning’s product roadmap and new features that support smaller content teams
• Fundraising differences between the US and Europe—and what founders need to know
• Lessons learned as a first-time founder, including how to trust your gut in a noisy startup world

I hope you enjoy the episode!

Erik's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erik-braund/
Katmai: https://katmaitech.com/

In this conversation, we explore how a former music producer from Alaska transitioned into founding a cutting-edge virtual office company, Katmai. Erik Braund shares the unexpected journey that led him from running a production studio to launching immersive video conferencing software at the height of the pandemic.

Erik walks us through how Katmai went from stealth mode to serving major clients like Starbucks, and why immersive 3D environments can radically change how remote teams communicate. We also dig into Katmai’s product evolution, the gamification of remote work, and how the company balances enterprise use cases with viral consumer experiences.

What you’ll learn:

- How Erik transitioned from a creative career to building a tech startup
- The origin story and product evolution of Katmai
- How immersive virtual offices are reshaping communication for remote teams
- Why Katmai built a custom experience for Starbucks and what it taught them about scale
- The role of video storytelling in explaining emerging tech

I hope you enjoy the episode!

Paige's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paigevelasquez/
Zilker Media: https://www.linkedin.com/company/zilkermedia/

In this episode, we dive into the power of building a personal brand as a tech founder with Paige Velasquez-Budde, co-founder and CEO of Zilker Media.

Paige specializes in helping high-performing entrepreneurs build personal brands that drive trust and business growth. In this conversation, she explains why trust is the new currency in business—and how founders can leverage their personal brand to earn it. We cover everything from conducting a brand audit to aligning your content strategy with company goals.

Paige also shares real-world stories of tech founders who used their personal brands to drive results—from winning awards and attracting top talent to creating new sales opportunities and partnerships.

What you’ll learn:

• Why building trust is your secret weapon as a founder
• How to align your personal brand with your startup’s growth goals
• A step-by-step guide to building a brand with limited time and resources
• Three types of content every founder should be creating
• The biggest branding mistakes founders make—and how to fix them

If you’re a startup founder looking to stand out, build relationships, and grow your business, this episode is packed with practical strategies you can start using today.

In this conversation, we dive deep into the world of user-generated content (UGC) and how it’s reshaping the e-commerce landscape with Eulogi Bordas, CEO of Flowbox. Flowbox is a powerful platform helping over 800 global brands harness visual UGC to improve engagement and increase sales.

Eulogi shares how Flowbox automates the collection, management, and distribution of social media content to enrich every step of the customer journey—from websites to emails, ads, and more. We also cover Flowbox’s unique European market approach, how the merger with Photoslurp came to be, and how his team aligns outbound and inbound sales strategies to scale efficiently.

What you’ll learn: 
• Why user-generated content is the future of e-commerce marketing 
• How Flowbox helps brands increase conversions with authentic content 
• Insights into building a multilingual go-to-market strategy across Europe 
• How to scale outbound sales with structure and a fighting spirit

I hope you enjoy the episode!

In this episode, we explore the revolutionary impact of AI on hiring with Barb Hyman, CEO of Sapia.ai. Barb brings a unique perspective to tech leadership—she’s a non-technical founder with deep HR experience, driven by a mission to transform how companies hire and how candidates experience the process.

Barb shares how Sapia took two years to reach product-market fit and eventually secured backing from Macquarie Bank and Woolworths’ venture arm, thanks to the platform’s powerful impact on high-volume hiring.

We go deep into how Sapia’s AI eliminates bias, automates hiring decisions, and gives every applicant structured feedback. Barb also opens up about the challenges of selling innovation to large enterprises, her distribution strategy through ATS partners, and why she’s focusing growth in Europe over the U.S. due to regulatory complexity.

What you’ll learn:

• How Sapia’s AI is helping companies hire in under 48 hours, with no human touch
• The unique approach to ethical AI and why transparency builds trust
• How to qualify enterprise clients to avoid long, unproductive sales cycles
• The surprising power of feedback in improving candidate experience
• Why “CVs need to die” and how competency-based hiring is the future

This episode is packed with insight for anyone building AI products for the enterprise or rethinking how hiring should work.

In this episode, we explore the journey of Tony Jamous, CEO of Oyster—a mission-driven platform that enables companies to hire talent globally with ease.

Tony shares how his personal experiences as an immigrant entrepreneur shaped the vision for Oyster. He dives into the company’s mission to reduce wealth inequality and reverse brain drain by making global hiring as easy as local hiring. 

With a distributed team of 450+ people across 70 countries, Tony breaks down how they built a hyper-diverse company culture, automated complex employment infrastructure, and navigated the post-pandemic hiring boom.

What you’ll learn: 
• How Oyster helps companies scale remote teams globally 
• Trends in global hiring and why emerging markets are thriving
• Building company culture in a distributed workforce 
• Sustainable leadership and Tony’s personal growth journey 
• Lessons from scaling a SaaS business through economic shifts

I hope you enjoy the episode!

In this episode, we dive into the full journey of building and scaling TextRequest—a bootstrapped SaaS company that grew to $18M in ARR and was acquired on its 10-year anniversary.

Brian Elrod, CEO and co-founder of TextRequest, shares how he transitioned from the franchising world into tech, what it took to build the MVP, and how he found the right technical co-founder.

He also breaks down how TextRequest found product-market fit by shifting from customer service to revenue-focused messaging, and how they scaled through a “bottom-up” strategy targeting franchisees first.

We also explore Brian’s approach to customer feedback, how he ran daily demos even years into the business, and how building a strong relationship with Twilio turned into a game-changing distribution channel.

What you’ll learn: 
• The mindset and milestones behind bootstrapping to $18M ARR 
• How TextRequest turned franchisees into their biggest growth engine 
• Why staying close to customers can guide your entire roadmap 
• The art of the sales demo and listening for product insights

I hope you enjoy the episode!

In this episode, we dive into the future of travel infrastructure with Sarosh Waghmar, the founder and CEO of Spotnana. With over two decades of experience in the travel industry, Sarosh is on a mission to completely transform how travel is booked, managed, and experienced—starting with business travel.

Spotnana is rebuilding the foundational systems behind the travel industry, creating an open, API-first platform that empowers others to innovate on top of it. Whether you’re booking through a travel agency, a company portal, or a partner app, Spotnana’s infrastructure powers the seamless experiences behind the scenes.

Sarosh shares how his obsession with improving travel experiences—rooted in his early days as a travel agent—led him to create Spotnana. He breaks down how the platform works, the major inefficiencies in legacy systems, and why he believes the travel industry is long overdue for change.

What you’ll learn:

• Why travel still lags behind in user experience—and how Spotnana is changing that
• How Spotnana’s “Travel as a Service” platform empowers other companies to build on top of it
• How Sarosh fosters innovation and builds a mission-driven culture at Spotnana

If you’ve ever felt frustrated booking travel, this episode will change how you think about what’s possible.