52 Founders

In this episode, you’ll hear about: -How Atlas operates on the ground, and how Mickey, who’s from New York, discovered this opportunity halfway across the globe -The challenges to building a company in West Africa, and why it was critical that the team lived there when they first were getting started -Mickey’s childhood growing up in Westchester, and why he originally aspired to become a marine biologist -His earlier forays into entrepreneurship, including a TV show entitled "The Candidate", and why Mickey ultimately decided to attend law school -The evolution of Mickey’s founder journey, starting from attending monthly NYC Tech Meetups to meeting with the investment team of Alibaba, and how grit played an integral role in the process -What’s been the most surprising part of entrepreneurship thus far, and why the benefits ultimately come down to the people you work with and create products for Check out the end of the (final!) episode, where Mickey shares the best piece of advice he’s ever received, in addit

In this episode, you’ll hear about: -How Andela’s cofounders, Christina and Jeremy Johnson, came together over shared values and vision about the opportunity in Africa -What it was like pitching to early stage investors, and why it was critical that they accompanied them to Africa to see the magic firsthand -The company’s headquarters in Lagos and New York, and why both cities have benefitted Andela thus far -Christina’s father, who emigrated from Germany, and how her parents instilled in her a global mindset from a young age -Her experience as an educator, starting first as an idealist in Clark County, Georgia then to the West Bank and Southeast China, before finally heading to Nairobi and Kenya -Christina’s thoughts on the traditional education system, both in and outside of the U.S., and how Andela is fixing it for those who need it most Be sure to listen through the end, where Christina shares the African startups to watch, and the reason why she’d want to chat with Elon Musk.

In this episode, you’ll hear about: -How Electric was born from Ryan’s own frustrations with IT in his previous company, and why he was on the look out for hardships during that time -Why Ryan decided to start his next company in NYC vs SF, where his former company Swarm was headquartered, and the big takeaways he learned from running his past startups -Ryan’s first childhood career aspiration (which draw chuckles from me) and how filmmaking eventually inspired his interest in entrepreneurship -How some professional athletes have parlayed their talents into new ventures, and why passion projects are always a great place to start creating -Ryan’s reasoning for attending college after already having success in his late teens, and how he views education during the hiring process -The qualities that make for a great hire at Electric, and why persistence is hands down the best attribute an entrepreneur can have Listen as Ryan shares a New York startup he really loves (so much so that he personally invested), in a

In this episode, you’ll hear about: -The autonomous vehicle stack, and why companies aren’t building everything in house -Why Carmera decided to build its headquarters in New York versus the Bay, and the benefits of doing so -The entrepreneurial genes that run in Ro’s family, and why his parents ended up leaving India to come to the States -When Ro started thinking about entrepreneurship as a viable career option, and how it relates to the immigrant mentality -The differences between operating at an early stage startup versus creating your own, and the unrelenting stress that comes with the latter (even when the -cause is good) -How the CEO of a startup should think about allocating his or her time, and why working smarter is a must Be sure to check out Ro’s picks for his favorite NYC startup, in addition to the operator he’d most want to interview.

In this episode, you’ll hear about: -How Loftium was inspired by Yifan’s own experience when she and her husband moved to Seattle and started renting out a spare bedroom -The new market Loftium has created for home buyers, and the company’s initial traction since its recent launch -The pros and cons to growing a real estate, and fintech, focused start up in Seattle -Yifan’s parents' emigration from China, and her memories of when they purchased their first home -What Yifan’s first venture, Pact, taught her about motivating users, why she decided to recently shut it down, and what she plans on doing differently this time around -The skills Yifan learned from going through Techstars with Pact, and why she decided not to go through it again with Loftium Catch the end of the show, where Yifan shares the Seattle startup she loves, and the founder she’d most want to interview (it’s a new one)!

In this episode, you’ll hear about: -How May’s travels to Asia while living in Abu Dhabi inspired the creation of Qordoba, in addition to growing up as a non-native English speaker -Why the company is named after the historic Spanish city Cordoba during the time of the Enlightenment, and examples of how language has continually unified people -How being the oldest of eight children prepared May for being a CEO and allowed her to embrace her feminine leadership traits -Moving from Lebanon to Canada with her family at the age of five, and how her parents’ entrepreneurial behavior became second nature to May -How seeing the hard aspects of her father’s venture taught May some of the most important tenants of business -How May inspires loyalty at Qordoba among her employees, and how having an international team creates empathy At the end May shares the San Francisco startup she loves (and uses at Qordoba) and the founder she most wants to interview (hint: he’s one that crops up a lot on this show).

In this episode, you’ll hear about: -Rebecca’s time spent living in Lima, Peru working with female entrepreneurs, and why she left to go to Kellogg School of Management -How Rebecca’s friends’ experiences with “mom guilt” inspired the idea for Wise Apple -Why Wise Apple chose to go after the consumer segment of the problem rather than the B2B side (i.e. school supplied lunches) -Rebecca’s take on why Chicago is a great place to disrupt older industries, and her views on overall startup community (as a Chicago native) -How Rebecca fought her way into her elementary school’s gifted program herself after she was initially passed over (as an 8 year old!) -The importance of learning great from a young age, and how you can continue to grow even as you get older Check out Rebecca’s pick for her favorite Chicago startup and the top people she would want to interview if given the chance (hint: one has already been interviewed on this show).

In this episode, you’ll hear about: -The story behind ShieldPay’s origin, and why the company isn’t targeting the friends and family transaction space -How many UK startups use the country as a testing ground for ideas before scaling out into alternative markets such as the U.S. -Why Pete decided to enter the Techstars Barclays accelerator, even though he -already was a serial founder -How aspirations to play professional rugby eventually led Pete to a career in media, and later, his first startup venture -Why raising too much capital can kill a startup, and what to consider when accepting venture funding -How playing sports for the majority of his life instilled in Pete the importance of diversity on teams At the end, Pete shares another London startup he’s a big fan of, in addition to the entrepreneur he’d most want to interview (hint: he’s also from the UK).

In this episode, you’ll hear about: -How the Pioneer Square Labs model works, and why the team views the people that eventually run the company as the true founders -What qualities PSL looks for in these founders, and why domain knowledge is key -The startup ecosystem in Seattle, and why the big tech incumbents are largely to thank for it -How Taunt currently operates, and the future monetization strategy the company sees playing out -How Startup Weekend played a pivotal role in both Ben and his father’s careers -Ben’s advice to budding entrepreneurs about working for a large tech company before starting something of your own -Why accountability is critical to having a great career, and the best thing Ben’s ever read on the topic Check out Ben’s Seattle startup pick (outside of PSL companies) at the end of the episode, in addition to hearing us both geek out about Amazon.

In this episode, you’ll hear about: -How Tovala controls the entire end-to-end experience of each meal, from sourcing the ingredients to creating unique recipes with its in-house chefs -David’s background in the food industry, and how he found himself creating Tovala shortly after arriving at Chicago Booth -How the advice David received from the founders of Airbnb helped him go after such a bold idea -The decision to go through Y Combinator after winning Booth’s New Venture Challenge, and how it gave the Tovala team an excuse to focus on nothing but the business for a few months -The benefits to growing an IoT startup in the Midwest, and how it has allowed Tovala to rapidly scale -How David’s parents, who are both Iranian immigrants, molded his ideas on entrepreneurship and healthy eating Catch the end of the show, where David shares another Chicago startup he’s a fan of and the founder he’s most keen to interview. P.S. Thanks to 52 Founders alumn Kevin Marvinac for the intro!

In this episode, you’ll hear about: -The opportunity Tia sees in the market for women’s health, and why the company is focused on millennial women -Carolyn’s perspective on raising funding as a female founder of a women’s healthcare company -How Tia is a hybrid of both her parents, particularly her mother, whom she grew up attending Planned Parenthood meetings with -Where the name “Tia” comes from, and how Carolyn and her team thought of the entire persona behind “her”  -The grand vision behind Tia and why Carolyn decided to make the initial focus on birth control -How Carolyn’s time at Google gave her the right background to rethink how people access and engage with information platforms Listen at the end, where Carolyn shares her favorite startup brand and, as usual, who she would like to interview and why (it’s a new one to boot).

In this episode, you’ll hear about: -Why simulations have advanced in recent years, and why enterprises should utilize them for more scenarios than ever before -How Simudyne plans to first go after the financial services market while other sectors’ technology catches up -Why London has the best ecosystem for startups with a financial focus, even over New York, and why it’s not just due to the close proximity to banks -Jonathan’s experience teaching math after attending Cambridge, and why he was chosen as head of the department -How helping others for a few months and attending hackathons built Jonathan’s London network -The early days of Simudyne pre-Techstars and the office perils they originally endured before entering the program After Jonathan shares some colorful stories about office life, be sure to listen to the end, where he tells me a London startup he loves and the founder he’d most want to interview.

In this episode, you’ll hear about: -How Lattice sprung from the growing pains Jack and his cofounder felt while working together at Teespring, and how Lattice has evolved from their original vision -Growing up in St. Louis, and why Jack is grateful that his formative years took place in a Midwestern suburb -The influence Jack’s older brothers had on him and how sibling dynamics play an integral role in a person’s development -The benefits to gaining operating experience at other startups before venturing out of your own -Why having a company culture that inspires people to want to come to work was a major goal for Jack when starting Lattice -Why some roles are harder to create success metrics for than others (and why it may not be the ones that immediately spring to mind) Catch the end of the show, where Jack tells me the startup he’s a big fan (and user) of, and the person he most wants to interview and why.

In this episode, you’ll hear about: -How Mantas uncovered this opportunity and the initial applications Accelerated Dynamics is focusing on -Mantas’ response to people who might have concerns about unmanned drones that are programmed with artificial intelligence applications -Why Accelerated Dynamics is based in London, and how being in a top rated accelerator like EF helps startups receive funding -Growing up in Lithuania, and how studying in Spain broadened Mantas’ perspective on what he wanted to do -Both of his parents’ small-scale entrepreneurial ventures, and how Mantas spent his childhood building and designing for fun Hear the end of the show, where Mantas shares some startups he loves in London and of course, shares the founders he most wants to interview and why.

In this episode, you’ll hear about: -Automata’s product progression and the early surprises Mostafa and his cofounder uncovered when Eva was first introduced -The most common use cases Automata sees and how companies evaluate whether a robot could be useful for its business -Why London is the ideal location to create a company, particularly for highly technical startups -Mostafa’s experience growing up in Dubai, and how living there inspired him to pursue architecture -The software component that accompanies Eva, and the “teach by example” approach Automata uses to train the product -Why Mostafa and his cofounder Suryansh ultimately decided to leave architecture and join Entrepreneur First to pursue their dream Catch the end of the show, where I ask Mostafa some new questions, in addition to, of course, hearing the person he’d most want to interview and why.

In this episode, you’ll hear about: -Why Fred and his cofounder Russell decided to leave Europe and come to San Francisco to create their company  -Fred’s family tradition that inspired him to think creatively about problems, even when he was a child -How Rainforest tries to incorporate diversity in its culture, and why it’s important not to reward office politics -Why working weekends doesn’t translate to more success, and why you have to always believe in your own approach  -Why the main job of a founder is to endure the bulk of the stress for the company, and why employees shouldn’t always look to them for the right answers -Fred’s main motivator, and what success will look like for Rainforest Though it’s a longer than normal episode, be sure to catch the end of the show. Fred shares two favorite startups (one of which is a future podcast interviewee!), and how his family’s iMac inspired Fred to be a designer.

In this episode, you’ll hear about: -How Ezza stores plan to operate, and the thought process that went into the details behind the customer experience -The benefits of starting a business while obtaining an MBA, and how Chicago Booth’s New Venture Challenge helped make things happen -What it’s like to work inside of 1871, Chicago’s technology and entrepreneurship center -Kim’s ability to bring people together, ranging from full-scale performances when she was young to an outhouse team race in South Dakota to pizza trolleys for MBAs (myself included) -Why Ale finds ways to continually challenge herself, even in activities not related to work -The most surprising aspects of entrepreneurship that each woman has learned thus far At the end of the episode we’ll chat about the startup both founders love in Chicago, in addition to the person they’d most want to interview and why (it’s a new one to boot!).

In this episode, you’ll hear about: -How Charlie’s own experience trying to put in vacation time at Google inspired Merlin Guides -The value Charlie sees in the New York startup scene, and why the American market is extremely attractive to founders -How Charlie is really the perfect blend of both of his parents’ backgrounds, and why he always knew he wanted to be an entrepreneur -Why Clark Kent, the journalist, not necessarily as Superman, was one of Charlie’s heroes growing up -Why setting aggressive goals is something Charlie swears by, and why it’s important to give yourself permission to fail -Expa Labs, the incubator Charlie joined and the locale for Merlin Guides, and the reason why he decided to join Stay tuned for end of the episode, where Charlie shares a startup he really believes in, and the three founders he would want to interview if given the chance (very diverse answers, all of which I thoroughly enjoyed hearing the reasoning behind).

In this episode, you’ll hear about: -The opportunity Alex saw for humans to amplify the results of machines, and how Scale API plans to act on it -Growing up in Los Alamos, New Mexico, the birthplace of the Atomic bomb, and how its emphasis on science impacted Alex’s childhood -How working at Addepar and Quora before college influenced Alex’s career, and how that led to his taking a leave of absence from MIT -The thought process behind starting Scale API, and why Alex and his cofounder Lucy Guo were going to start it whether they got into Y Combinator or not (but they did!) -What Scale API looks for when hiring, and why they feel comfortable betting on smart, inexperienced candidates -Why having a passionate initial user base, even a small one, is critical to creating a successful company Catch the end of the episode, where Alex shares a startup he is a big fan of (hint: it’s a London-based one) and the best advice he took away from being a part of Y Combinator.

In this episode, you’ll hear about: -CMG’s evolution from its initial site, Who What Wear, to the conglomerate it’s become today -How Katherine ensures CMG remains close to the consumer, and why its critical to the company’s success in light of fashion’s globalization -Katherine’s early entrepreneurial endeavors that included putting on (paid) shows for the neighborhood and creating faux restaurants with her toy kitchen -Her previous aspiration to be a film producer, and why she doesn’t think she now could handle the slower pace of that industry -Why Katherine decided to move to LA on her own at 16, and the decision to forgo college in favor of gaining work experience -The path she took before becoming the West coast editor of Elle Girl at a mere 24 years old Be sure to stay tuned until the end of the episode, where Katherine shares her favorite LA companies, why she’s a fan of Beautycon, and, of course, the founder she most would want to interview and why.