In this episode of Zero.24%, Michael Livingstone speaks with Judy Leung, founder and CEO of Sweqlink, a platform helping early-stage founders access the skills and expertise they need through fair and transparent sweat equity partnerships.

Many founders face the same challenge: they need a strong team to develop their idea, build a product and demonstrate traction, but they cannot afford to hire experienced professionals before securing investment.

Sweqlink is working to break that cycle by connecting founders with talented individuals who are prepared to contribute their time and expertise in exchange for a share in the future success of the business.

Michael and Judy explore how sweat equity can help founders make progress before investment, while giving skilled professionals an opportunity to become more than employees or volunteers—they can become owners and long-term partners in the businesses they help build.

They also discuss the barriers faced by women and underrepresented founders, the importance of making entrepreneurship more accessible, and why early-stage partnerships must be built around transparency, realistic expectations and shared values.

• What sweat equity is and how it works
• Why early-stage founders struggle to access experienced talent
• The relationship between investment, talent and startup growth
• How founders can build an initial team before raising funding
• The difference between sweat equity, employment and volunteering
• Why ownership can create stronger alignment and commitment
• How to protect both founders and contributors in equity-based arrangements
• The importance of clear expectations, responsibilities and agreements
• The barriers facing women and underrepresented entrepreneurs
• Judy’s experience building Sweqlink as a first-time technology founder
• Why a founder’s background should not determine their potential
• How a more inclusive startup ecosystem could unlock overlooked ideas and talent

Judy Leung is the founder and CEO of Sweqlink, a Manchester-based platform connecting early-stage businesses with skilled professionals through sweat equity opportunities.

With more than two decades of experience across digital marketing and project management, Judy founded Sweqlink to help entrepreneurs overcome the financial and talent barriers that often prevent promising ideas from progressing.

Her mission is to make entrepreneurship more accessible by enabling founders to build capable, committed teams while giving professionals the opportunity to invest their skills in businesses they believe in.

Judy is a recipient of the Innovate UK Women in Innovation Award and is an advocate for greater representation, fairness and accessibility within the startup ecosystem.

Sweqlink is a sweat equity talent platform that helps pre-investment startups find skilled people who are prepared to exchange their expertise and time for equity.

The platform aims to make sweat equity arrangements clearer, fairer and more transparent while opening up business ownership to a wider range of professionals.

Learn more about Sweqlink:

https://www.sweqlink.com/

Zero.24% explores the experiences, strategies and resilience of Black and underrepresented founders building businesses within an investment ecosystem where access to funding remains deeply unequal.

Hosted by Michael Livingstone, the podcast features honest conversations with founders, investors and ecosystem leaders about building businesses, overcoming barriers and creating meaningful change.

Follow, subscribe and share the episode with someone who is building a startup, searching for a co-founder or considering contributing their expertise to an early-stage business.

Listen and subscribe to Zero.24% on your preferred podcast platform.

In this episode of Zero.24%, Michael Livingstone sits down with Manoj Ranaweera, founder of Techcelerate, Deal Lite and SkilledUp Life, and one of the people credited with helping build Manchester’s tech startup ecosystem.

Manoj’s story is not the polished founder fantasy. It is about failure, rebuilding, bootstrapping, community, exits, and the uncomfortable truth that most founders do not have unlimited access to capital, talent or networks.

From launching his first tech startup in 2004, to building founder communities, creating the Northern Tech Awards, exiting ventures, and now helping startups access skilled volunteer talent through SkilledUp Life, Manoj has spent two decades inside the real machinery of startup survival. His work has focused on founders, commercialisation, investment readiness, and building ecosystems before they become fashionable.

For founders operating in the 0.24% reality, this conversation matters. Because when funding is limited, your network, your credibility, your commercial discipline, and your ability to build with what you have can become the difference between giving up and staying in the game.

This episode is for founders who are tired of being told to “just raise money” when the system was never built with them in mind.

Manoj brings a direct, experienced and sometimes uncomfortable perspective on what it really takes to build a startup when you do not have easy access to capital. He has built, failed, exited, restarted, and supported thousands of founders across the UK tech ecosystem. His journey shows why community, consistency, commercial thinking and founder resilience matter long before investment arrives.

Michael and Manoj explore:

The reality of building when you do not have funding

Why Manoj’s first fintech failure became the foundation for everything that followed

How Manchester’s tech startup ecosystem was built through events, relationships and founder energy

Why founders need to understand commercialisation before chasing investment

The role of SkilledUp Life in helping startups access global volunteer talent

Why talent, not just money, is one of the biggest barriers for early stage founders

What underrepresented founders can learn from ecosystem builders

Why sharing what you are building can create more opportunity than hiding your idea

The difference between looking like a startup and actually building one

What founders need to do when the investment landscape does not favour them

Manoj Ranaweera has been building tech startups and related ventures since 2004. He is the founder of Techcelerate, Deal Lite and SkilledUp Life, and has been closely associated with the development of Manchester’s tech startup ecosystem. His ventures include Northern Tech Awards, acquired by GP Bullhound, and edocr.com, acquired by Accusoft. Through SkilledUp Life, Manoj helps tech startups access skilled volunteers from around the world, supporting founders who need talent but may not yet have the resources to hire full teams.

This conversation goes to the heart of Zero.24%.

Black founders received just 0.24% of venture capital funding in 2024, but founders still have to build, survive, sell, hire, learn, and grow. Manoj’s journey reminds us that the startup world is not only shaped by investors. It is also shaped by founders who create ecosystems, open doors, build communities and help others keep going when money is not available.

This episode is not about pretending funding does not matter. It is about what founders do when funding is not coming fast enough.

“When funding is limited, community becomes infrastructure.”

“Some founders wait for permission. Manoj built the room.”

“The startup game is not just about raising money. It is about learning how to survive long enough to matter.”

“If the system will not build around you, sometimes you have to build the ecosystem yourself.”

Zero.24% podcast, Manoj Ranaweera, SkilledUp Life, Techcelerate, Deal Lite, Manchester tech startup ecosystem, Black founders, underrepresented founders, startup funding, bootstrapping, venture capital, startup survival, founder journey, UK tech startups, startup volunteers, early stage founders, startup ecosystem, investment readiness, founder resilience

Manoj Ranaweera

SkilledUp Life

Techcelerate

Startup Funding

Bootstrapping

Black Founders

Underrepresented Founders

Manchester Tech

Startup Ecosystem

Founder Journey

Zero.24%

Venture Capital

UK Startups

Startup Survival

Entrepreneurship

Business

Entrepreneurship

Technology

Society and Culture

Michael Livingstone speaks with Manoj Ranaweera, founder of Techcelerate, Deal Lite and SkilledUp Life, about startup failure, bootstrapping, ecosystem building, volunteer talent, and what founders do when investment is not available.

What do you do when the funding does not come?

You build anyway.

In this episode of Zero.24%, Michael Livingstone speaks with Manoj Ranaweera, founder of Techcelerate, Deal Lite and SkilledUp Life, about startup survival, bootstrapping, Manchester’s tech ecosystem, and why founders need more than money to succeed.

This is a conversation for every founder building outside the usual networks.

#ZeroPoint24Percent #BlackFounders #StartupFunding #Bootstrapping #FounderJourney #TechStartups #ManchesterTech #SkilledUpLife #Entrepreneurship #UnderrepresentedFounders

Episode title

Why Brilliant Women Founders Are Still Overlooked, Lisa Maynard Atem Exposes the Real Problem

Episode summary

In this episode of Zero.24%, Michael Livingstone speaks with Lisa Maynard Atem, founder of STYLISA, an ecosystem focused on increasing the visibility, capital, and influence of women.

Lisa sits at the intersection of storytelling, positioning, and access, helping ambitious founders, especially women and underrepresented entrepreneurs, present themselves at the level they are already operating at so they can unlock funding, partnerships, and long term growth.

This is a powerful conversation about why so many brilliant founders are still being overlooked, what it really means to be seen and valued in business, and how better positioning can change the opportunities that come your way.

From founder visibility to investment readiness, this episode unpacks the hidden gap between talent and recognition, and why closing that gap matters more than ever.

Why you should listen

If you are a founder, particularly from an underrepresented background, this episode will challenge how you think about branding, visibility, and access to opportunity.

This conversation is for anyone who has ever felt that their ambition, talent, or business has not been fully recognised. Lisa shares insight into why that happens, and what founders can do to position themselves more powerfully in rooms where decisions are made.

In this episode

How Lisa built STYLISA to increase the visibility, capital, and influence of women

Why so many brilliant founders are still overlooked

The connection between narrative, positioning, and access

Why having a strong business is not always enough on its own

How founders can better reflect their true value through their brand and presence

What holds women and underrepresented founders back from funding and partnerships

The role of storytelling in shaping perception and opening doors

Why conversations around money, visibility, and influence matter

Lisa’s wider work across innovation, STEM, education, and future opportunity

About the guest

Lisa Maynard Atem is the founder of STYLISA, an ecosystem designed to increase the visibility, capital, and influence of women. Through her work, she supports purpose driven founders in positioning themselves for funding, partnerships, and sustainable growth.

She also leads STYLISA FoundHers, a storytelling platform spotlighting bold female founders, and FoundHer FundHers, which explores how women engage with money, investment, and long term financial positioning.

Alongside STYLISA, Lisa contributes to wider conversations around innovation, skills, and global opportunity, including board level involvement with The Blair Project and support for Verciti, an immersive EdTech platform focused on net zero skills.

Listen if you care about

Women in business

Founder visibility

Investment readiness

Personal branding

Underrepresented founders

Storytelling for business growth

Access to funding

Entrepreneurship and influence

Follow and connect

If this episode resonates with you, follow Zero.24% for more honest conversations on investment, survival strategies, and the founder journey.

You can connect with Lisa here: [email protected]

Hashtags

#Zero24Percent #WomenFounders #FemaleFounders #FounderVisibility #StartupFunding #UnderrepresentedFounders #Entrepreneurship #PersonalBranding #InvestmentReadiness #StorytellingInBusiness #WomenInBusiness #LisaMaynardAtem

Episode summary

In Episode 2, Part 2, Michael Livingstone continues the conversation with Eric Masaba, and this time the story gets even more shocking. After 17 years of fighting for recognition, Eric opens up about the real cost of being overlooked, the pain of seeing innovation go uncredited, and what his journey says about how Black inventors are too often pushed to the margins. This is not just a story about a patent. It is a story about power, erasure, and refusing to give up.

Why you should listen

If you have ever felt ignored, underestimated, or robbed of your moment, this episode will hit hard. Eric’s story is a wake up call for founders, innovators, and underrepresented builders trying to succeed in systems that were never built with them in mind.

In this episode

What really happened during Eric’s 17 year fight for recognition

The hidden emotional and financial toll of protecting innovation

Why this story is bigger than one inventor or one patent

How Black innovators can be written out of history

What founders must do to protect themselves, their ideas, and their future

The uncomfortable lessons this story holds for investors, institutions, and policymakers

Guest

Eric Masaba, inventor and founder, patent holder for Taxi Dispatch System, US11586999.

Host

Michael Livingstone, founder of Dustid.com, building the addressing architecture for the digital economy and beyond.

Keywords for discoverability

Black founders, Black inventors, underrepresented founders, startup story, patent battle, innovation, intellectual property, founder resilience, business injustice, venture capital, bootstrapping, startup struggles, recognition, UK startups, inclusive innovation.

Resources mentioned

Eric Masaba patents listing, including Taxi Dispatch System, Patent 11586999

Patent publication page for the Taxi Dispatch System

Eric’s post describing his 17 year journey, in his own words

Call to action

If this story moved you, share it with someone who needs to hear it. Follow Zero.24% on Amazon Music, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other major podcast platforms for more real stories about founders who refused to be erased. You can also listen hands free on Amazon Music with Alexa.

Here is an even more aggressive headline style version of the episode summary if you want it punchier:

Episode summary

They nearly wrote him out of the story. In Episode 2, Part 2, Eric Masaba reveals the brutal reality behind his 17 year fight for recognition, exposing the personal cost of protecting innovation while being overlooked by the very systems meant to reward it. This episode is raw, powerful, and a must listen for anyone who has ever had to fight twice as hard just to be seen.

In our opening episode, Michael Livingstone sits down with Eric Masaba, inventor behind the Taxi Dispatch System patent, to unpack a story that will hit home for black and underrepresented founders building with limited access. Eric shares what it took to keep going through a long patent journey, the personal cost of protecting IP, and what founders should know about innovation, resilience and power.

If you're building a startup in the UK, raising pre seed or seed, bootstrapping, or fighting to protect your ideas, this episode is a reminder that the system is not always designed for you, but your conviction still matters.

1. Eric’s origin story, what problem he was trying to solve
2. The invention, and what his Taxi Dispatch System patent covers
3. Eric’s account of a 17 year patent process, and what that did to his life and momentum
4. The founder reality of IP, legal cost, mental load, and staying in the game
5. Lessons for underrepresented founders on protecting your work, documenting everything, and building leverage
6. What Eric wants innovators, investors, and policymakers to learn from his experience

Eric Masaba, inventor and founder, patent holder for Taxi dispatch system, US11586999.

Michael Livingstone, founder of Dustid.com, building the addressing architecture for the digital economy and beyond.

Black founders, underrepresented founders, venture capital, fundraising, bootstrapping, startup growth, intellectual property, patents, USPTO, innovation, resilience, UK startups, founder story, investor readiness, product strategy, go to market.

1. Eric Masaba patents listing, includes Taxi dispatch system, Patent 11586999
2. Patent publication page for the Taxi Dispatch System
3. Eric’s post describing his 17 year journey, in his own words

If this episode resonates, share it with one founder who needs encouragement today, and follow Zero.24% on your podcast platform so you never miss an episode. New episodes every two weeks.