What if the safest path to entrepreneurship isn't quitting your job, it's staying in it a little longer?

Ksenia Votinova-Arnaud is the co-founder of LeVPN, a profitable SaaS business she's been building for 15 years without a single outside investment. She's also the founder of the Weatherproof Business Launchpad, where she coaches women in tech to leave corporate life on their own terms, with a validated idea, real customers, and a business that's profitable by design.

In this episode, Ksenia gets real about what it actually took to build something that lasts, the moment in Bali when she realized she was building someone else's life, the Eastern European mindset around resilience that shaped how she thinks about risk, and why she believes "build it and they will come" is the most dangerous lie in entrepreneurship.This one's for you if you've been thinking about leaving corporate, but want to do it right.

WHAT WE COVER:

- Why Ksenia built LeVPN to be profitable from day one,and never needed outside funding

- The Bali pivoting moment that changed everything- Eastern European vs Western mindsets on risk, and which one builds better businesses- The #1 mistake women in tech make when leaving corporate.

- How to validate your idea in 5 hours a week without quitting your job

- Why you're already a founder, even if nobody knows it yet

- What Google and Adobe executives still struggle with

- The "weatherproof business" formula: what it means and why it matters

__________

Connect with Ksenia:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kseniavotinova/

Website: https://kseniavotinova.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kseniavotinova/

Follow Emily Jean:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emily.jeans/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-jeans/

Follow Founders In Jeans:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/foundersinjeans/

Website: livegooddigital.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FoundersinJeans

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3kiqSke5mnlFIlC9t4xLU0

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/founders-in-jeans/id1802430594

Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://foundersinjeans.substack.com/subscribe

__________

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Loved this episode? Rate and review Founders in Jeans. It helps more women find us.

__________

women in tech entrepreneurship, how to leave corporate job, SaaS founder story, build a profitable business, weatherproof business, LeVPN founder, female founder podcast, startup without funding, business resilience, women entrepreneur podcast, corporate to founder, how to validate a business idea, business coaching for women, product market fit explained