Founders and Builders

Steve Phillips is the founder of Zappi - a consumer insight platform used by Pepsi, McDonald’s and Vodafone to test ideas before they launch. Zappi has raised over $170 million to transform market research from a slow, manual service into a scalable, automated product. What started as a simple idea has grown into one of the leading data-driven insight platforms in the world. In this episode, Steve...

Mahdi Yahya is the founder and CEO of Ori Industries, a company building the infrastructure behind the AI revolution. From the invisible cables connecting continents to the GPUs driving today’s most advanced models, Mahdi breaks down how the internet really works - and how AI is reshaping the very foundations of computing. He explains the rise of GPU clouds, the shift from traditional data centres...

Michael Young is the co-founder of Lindus Health and a former Special Advisor to the UK Prime Minister on life sciences. Lindus has raised $55 million to redesign clinical trials from the ground up - building what Michael calls an “anti CRO” that treats the trial as the product, not a service. In this episode, Michael explains why the real bottleneck in medical progress is the way we test new trea...

Steve Peralta is the co-founder of Unmind, a leading workplace mental health platform valued at over $130 million, used by global organisations including Uber, Major League Baseball, and British Airways. Steve opens up about an unexpected period in his life. What began as a sudden feeling of complete disconnection led to months of mental and physical struggle ultimately reshaping how he thinks abo...

Mahdi Yahya is the founder of Ori, the operating system for AI factories - building the invisible layer between artificial intelligence and the physical world. With over 20 years in data centres and internet infrastructure, Mahdi explains how the “content internet” is evolving into the AI internet, why we’re building GPU megaclusters on land and underwater, and how compute itself is becoming modul...

In this clip, Kevin Costa, founder of Belief Capital, shares why most venture capital funds don’t actually serve founders, how incentive structures create misalignment, and why the future belongs to small, technical teams building at speed. He also explains the opportunity he sees in backing undiscovered talent outside the usual Stanford/Silicon Valley bubble - where some of the most exciting foun...

At 19, Erifili Gunari built Z-Link, a Gen Z-led agency helping brands like Pepsi, IKEA, and the United Nations actually talk to young people 🚀 In this episode of Founders and Builders, Erifili shares how to start before you feel “ready,” turn cold outreach into major press, and use intuition (not permission) to build a life you actually want. We dig into Gen Z behaviors, UGC that performs, and wh...

Steve is the co-founder of Unmind , a workplace mental-health platform that’s raised $80M and scaled to serve companies worldwide. With a background as both a musician and entrepreneur, he’s now helping leaders design cultures where wellbeing and performance go hand in hand. In this episode Steve opens up about the morning his life short-circuited, the five-month breakdown that followed, and what...

At 21, Kevin Costa bet his own savings on overlooked founders 🚀That blueprint became Belief Capital , a $20M fund backing young technical teams before the world notices. In this episode of Founders and Builders, Kevin reveals how to spot the next iconic founders, why the future belongs to disagreeable builders, and where the most undervalued talent is hiding. As always, if you enjoyed this episod...

Is AI really that powerful? Short answer: yes. Long answer: watch this. In this clip, Dev explains how spotting AI’s real superpower - pattern recognition - led to the creation of NPLAN, an AI company transforming how mega-projects get delivered. What You’ll Learn 👇 1. Why most people underestimated AI back in 2016 2. The real superpower of AI: pattern recognition at scale 3. How “unlimited exper...

In this clip, Dev Amratia, co-founder and CEO of NPLAN, breaks down why traditional pricing models don’t capture true value and shares his vision for a future built on ‘bounty pricing.’ 👉 If you enjoyed this, check out the full episode for the complete conversation. ⭐ Listeners Suggestion - Software of the Week: https://www.granola.ai/ 👍 Why subscribe? If you sketch business ideas on napkins, o...

“If you build billion-dollar projects on gut feel, you’ll burn billions.” In this episode, Dev Amratia, co-founder of Nplan - explains how AI trained on hundreds of thousands of construction schedules can finally fix why mega-projects run late and over budget. From Shell and Crossrail to grids, hospitals, and railways, Dev breaks down the human biases that wreck timelines and how Nplan’s AI (yes,...

In this clip, Stephen Whitworth, co-founder of incident.io shares the two biggest decisions that shaped the company’s success - and the hardest challenge every founder eventually faces. He talks about building a revenue-focused product team, ruthlessly dogfooding their own platform, and why hiring remains the most irreducibly complex part of scaling a startup. 👉 If you enjoyed this, check out the...

Stephen Whitworth is the co-founder & CEO of Incident , the company building the emergency response layer for the internet. Before Incident, he saw the cracks firsthand at Monzo - the outages, the midnight firefighting, the broken playbooks. Now, backed by investors like Index, Insight Partners, and Point Nine with $96M raised, Stephen and his team are re-wiring how the world responds when the...

In this clip, Pinstripe Chris reflects on creativity, discipline, and why life is ultimately about experiences and memories, not just work. He talks about the balance between Rick Rubin’s go-with-the-flow approach and Steven Pressfield’s disciplined mindset, and how both shape his outlook on art and life.👉 If you enjoyed this, check out the full episode for the complete conversation. ⭐ Listeners...

“I’ve never had a problem betting on me.” Chris Dunlop (Pinstripe Chris) Chris built a global brand painting one-off masterpieces for companies like Porsche without art school, safety nets, or a plan B. 🔍 What You’ll Learn In This Episode: - Why the boldest investment you can make is in yourself. - The hidden process behind Pinstripe Chris’s “overnight success.” - How to build creative freedom in...

🚀 “Entire software categories are up for grabs.” Investor Akash Bajwa explains why the next wave of AI‑native startups will rewrite today’s playbooks and how first‑time founders can ride it. What you’ll learn The three‑layer stack (AI chips → models → apps) and the product & data flywheel that lets tiny startups punch above their weight. A clear framework for deciding “AI‑native or AI‑assist?...

💊 90% of drugs fail. Clinical trials take years. And billions are lost every time. In this episode of Founders & Builders, I sit down with Dr. Olga Kubassova, a mathematician turned biotech investor, and founder of Image Analysis Group — a company using AI-powered imaging biomarkers to reinvent how we measure whether a drug is actually working. We cover: 🧠 Why clinical trials are broken — an...

🧬 Most new medicines are billion-dollar bets made in the dark. Charm Therapeutics is changing that — using AI to design drugs that actually work. Laksh Aithani, co-founder and CEO, joins the Founders and Builders podcast to break down how AI is transforming drug discovery — and why Charm raised $50M from Nvidia, General Catalyst, and Khosla Ventures to do it. We talk about:– The wild science behi...

He built a product from $0 to $1B+ at Google. Now he’s building the integration layer for the AI-first future of SaaS. In this episode of Founders & Builders, I sit down with Romain Sestier, CEO and co-founder of StackOne — the next-gen platform unlocking 3,000+ actions across 200+ SaaS tools for AI agents and enterprise software. We dive into: 🧠 Why integrations are now table stakes for SaaS...

What if banks weren’t built in the 1800s? What if we could start again? David Brear, CEO and founder of 11:FS joins Founders & Builders to unpack what it really means to build digital financial services from scratch—and why most of what exists today is just a “digital facade.”David shares: • The origin story of 11:FS and how they scaled globally • How he spots broken systems ripe for disruptio...

Will, Co-Founder of Workflow shares with us his perspective on:Finding the right problems to solve, how to define your vision as a founder, placing the right bets when building your startup and more. Will previously founded Rota, the UK's fastest growing on-demand staffing platform. Follow Will on X/Twitter: x.com/willrftaylor

🎙 Sebastiaan Debrouwere — From VC to Founder: The Future of AI-Powered E-commerceIn this episode of Founders & Builders, we sit down with Sebastiaan Debrouwere, founder of Genie, the engine behind over 150 of Shopify’s fastest-growing brands. Seb shares a rare founder’s perspective shaped by both operating and investing — previously in Balderton Capital, the fund behind Revolut and Depop. We e...

Mahdi, Co-Founder of Humble AI shares with us his perspective on: Building AI startups, the importance of creating meaningful relationships, how to define your vision as a founder, the opportunity ahead in the AI revolution and more. Mahdi has also angel-invested in early-stage startups and funds, including Tiny. VC, Aire.io, Purple. AI, Pathao, Sheetgo, Silkfred, Noty. AI & JustPark. Timestam...