Funds and Founders: Untold Journeys Behind Their Breakthroughs

In this episode, serial entrepreneur, investor and founding partner of Anti-VC, Saleem Ahmed, joins us in an engaging discussion about his transition from an unfulfilling career in engineering to founding successful startups. In addition to Anti-VC, Saleem founded Jrop and Zown. Today, Saleem discusses what many founders tend to underestimate about building a startup, finding mission alignment wit...

In this episode, Brandon Tigges, the CEO of Job Machine, shares his journey as an entrepreneur, and the valuable lessons that have shaped his career in sales and marketing. He portrays the picture of a resilient military child. He gives an insight into his transformative experiences in creating a failed marketing agency and then working for a robotics startup that exposed him to understanding cust...

In this episode, we sit down with the founder of Training Layers, Bret Sears. He shares his entrepreneurial journey, from running a financial services company to building TrainingLayers, a ground-breaking software training platform. We delve deep into the learning curve involved in building a SaaS product from the ground up and how Bret navigated these challenges. He shares how they prioritize a c...

Marc Nathan is the Vice President of Client Strategy at Egan Nelson LLP, specializing in Emerging Technology and Venture Capital. With a robust background in the Texas Technology and Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) startup community, he serves as a mentor to early-stage startups, providing expertise in fundraising strategy, connecting with investors, and offering general strategic advisory for seed...

Lekan Olude is a distinguished Nigerian entrepreneur best known as the co-founder of Jobberman, West Africa's leading job search engine. Born and raised in Ogun State, he pursued his education at Obafemi Awolowo University, earning a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science. With a diverse career that includes experiences at Goldman Sachs and TeleMobile Nigeria Limited, Olude has not only played a...

Justin Schoenfelder, CEO & Founder of Fantasy Elect, shares how he built a platform merging fantasy sports with politics—and why genuine entrepreneurial success comes from stopping the push and letting ideas emerge naturally. ## What you'll learn: 1. How to validate your business before building the product through strategic customer discovery and market testing. 2. Framework for operating in a re...

Welcome to "Funds & Founders: Untold Journeys Behind Their Breakthroughs," where we dig deep into the stories of successful Austin founders. Instead of focusing on their successes though, we dive into their journeys, particularly the struggles and obstacles they had to overcome. This weekly podcast is tailored for Austin founders navigating the early stages of their entrepreneurial journey and...