Funds and Founders: Untold Journeys Behind Their Breakthroughs

Newsletters are not dead Dylan from Growth in Reverse breaks down how indie founders and B2B operators are building 5-figure audiences and monetizing with just email. He shares the underrated metric every newsletter creator should track, how to launch a newsletter from scratch, and why owning your distribution is your biggest unfair advantage. We also go deep on: - Sponsorships - Paid ads - Person...

LinkedIn promised networking. What we got instead were cold DMs, spam, and fake connections In this episode of Funds & Founders, I sit down with Krishna Dosapati, Founder & CEO of Clockout—the fastest-growing networking platform for Gen Z. Clockout crossed 350,000+ downloads, hit #19 on the App Store, and is on track to reach $1M ARR in under 10 months, all by rethinking what real networking shoul...

Building a startup can feel lonely. You make decisions with incomplete information, learn things the hard way, and hope you're moving in the right direction. In this episode, I spoke with Chelsea Cooper, Founder & CEO of Approvely, about the lessons that only come from actually building—not from books or Twitter threads. We talked about: Learning the hard way why distribution matters Building in t...

At 19, he quit college with no safety net. Four months later, he built a $1M business. This isn't a motivational story. It's a step-by-step breakdown of what actually happened—the mistakes, near-bankruptcy moments, brutal trade-offs, and the decisions most people are too scared to make. In this episode, we go deep into: Why starting young gives you an unfair advantage (if you use it right) How a p...

In this episode, Nomiki Petrolla, founder of Theanna—a groundbreaking platform empowering women tech founders—unpacks the realities of startup success few talk about. She reveals why crossing major business milestones remains elusive for most founders and how a combination of grit, knowing your product inside out, and embracing rejection can transform your journey What's inside: - The systemic cha...

In this episode of Funds & Founders, we sit down with Harry Morton, founder of Lower Street and host of Moneywise, to uncover the emotional reality behind wealth, success, and the often-overlooked emptiness that follows an exit Harry's company produces podcasts for some of the world's top brands. But his journey started with waiting tables at Buckingham Palace while bootstrapping his agency from z...

Most founders don’t fail because of bad ideas. They fail because they run out of money, energy, or clarity in the first six months. In this brutally honest episode, Albert Behr, Founder of Behr & Associates and a veteran with over 30 years experience in corporate strategy, strategic partner development and technology commercialization, Albert Behr brings the expertise to ensure funding, early adop...

# Christian Facey Christian Facey shares Master resilience, focus, and practical strategies for building a successful, high-performance startup. ## What you'll learn: 1. How to cultivate relentless dedication: Be prepared to sacrifice everything for 10 years, even reaching a zero bank account, to build something great. 2. How to develop extreme founder resilience: Embrace inevitable obstacles as o...

In this episode of *Funds and Founders*, we sit down with a whiskey entrepreneur who has spent over a decade in the Scotch industry — building investment funds, luxury travel experiences, cask storage businesses, and more. From Scotch’s 600-year-old traditions to AI-driven forecasting tools, the whiskey industry is ripe for disruption. We cover: - The $6B Scotch export market & where the real...

Michael’s entrepreneurial journey started at 12 with a paper route and grew into building Thrive Pet Healthcare into a billion-dollar company. In this episode, he shares exactly how he scaled from one affordable vet clinic to 250+ locations, the mistakes and pivots along the way, and how he’s now tackling home services with the same playbook. We talk market opportunities, raising private equity, s...

James Brewer went from being Import Yeti’s 3rd user to its co-founder—and helped scale it to 150K+ paying users and 2M monthly visitors. In this episode of Funds and Founders, he breaks down how import/export data can power sales, how to turn sweat equity into real ownership, and the systems that helped build a multi-million dollar bootstrapped SaaS. 💡 Whether you're in logistics, SaaS, or trying...

Lucy Banks went from corporate banking to becoming a top 1% OnlyFans creator—and now runs a PR & marketing agency for adult creators In this episode, she exposes the harsh truths about building in the creator economy, why most OnlyFans accounts fail, and what it really takes to scale in the adult space. We go deep into: - The business behind OnlyFans - Why creators need more than "just looks" - Pa...

Newsletters are not dead, Dylan from Growth in Reverse breaks down how indie founders and B2B operators are building 5-figure audiences and monetizing with just email. He shares the underrated metric every newsletter creator should track, how to launch a newsletter from scratch, and why owning your distribution is your biggest unfair advantage. We also go deep on - Sponsorships - Paid ads - Person...

What drives a founder to go back into the grind after a life-changing exit? In this episode, we sit down with Ganesh, a serial founder who bootstrapped his AI startup to millions in revenue, cracked the toughest enterprise clients like TCS and KPMG, and rebounded from losing 85% of revenue during COVID. We cover: - Why he didn’t raise VC early on - Building an assessment company without asking a s...

In this episode of Funds and Founders, we sit down with Michael, co-founder of Q Branch and Populace, who shares how he's helping international startups enter the U.S. and launching a fintech platform to fight financial inequality. From federal contracts and government culture to empowering underserved Americans through passive investing and discount networks, Michael breaks down the hard truths o...

From building apps at Best Buy to getting into Techstars, this episode is a masterclass in startup grit. Our guest, a Toronto-based founder and ex-Apple/IBM engineer, walks us through building 35+ projects, what failed, what made money, how he learned sales from scratch, and why he’s now obsessed with solving go-to-market problems for B2B startups. We go deep into: - How to know when to kill an id...

Cody Anderson is back for Part 2! In this episode, we dive deep into what actually works when it comes to go-to-market (GTM) strategies — especially for early-stage startups. Cody shares lessons from scaling Carta to $9B, building Tommy Homes, and advising multiple startups on GTM, brand building, and AI-led growth. We cover: - B2B vs B2C GTM approaches - Why most startup advice is noise - Persona...

How do you actually sell to enterprises? Why do most startups fail at it? In this episode, we talk to the founder of  DataColor.ai  — a serial entrepreneur who built and sold his last company and is now building in the enterprise AI space. We dive deep into how enterprise sales really work, how to tap into communities for feedback, and the mindset shift between your first and second star...

What happens when a startup sales pro burns out and decides to start a podcast? In this episode of Funds and Founders, we sit down with Pat Killoren — host of Lone Startups who shares his wild journey from scaling beer brands and influencer platforms to building community-led content in Austin. 🎙 We go deep into: Building sales teams as a founder The mistakes startups make in GTM strategy Burnout,...

In this episode of Funds and Founders, we sit down with Andrew Ackerman, a seasoned founder, venture studio operator, and author of The Entrepreneur’s Odyssey. Andrew shares real, gritty stories from his journey building startups, transitioning into VC, launching a venture studio, and why he decided to write a novel-style business book that actually teaches while entertaining. He breaks down the h...

In this episode of  Funds and Founders , we sit down with the co-founder and CEO of  FletchPMM —a company that’s helped over 350+ B2B startups fix their biggest problem:  nailing positioning and messaging . We go deep into: The $1.5M journey in just 20 months What most B2B startups get wrong about value props Why building distribution first beats product The real meaning of product-...

In this fundsandfounders episode, we uncover the legal blindspots most founders ignore while raising capital. From liquidation preference traps to estate planning for founders, we explore the real cost of not reading your term sheet carefully. 🎙️ Our guest shares first-hand insights on: - How he navigated a 14-day restructuring as CEO - Capital strategy gone wrong - Hidden investor clauses founder...

In this episode, we sit down with the founder of TrulyMadly, India's most trusted dating app, to explore the startup journey, fundraising pitfalls, growth hacks, and how TrulyMadly is solving the trust problem in Indian online dating. We dive deep into: - Competing with global giants like Tinder and Bumble. - How compatibility scores and trust-based algorithms changed the game. - The dark side of...

In this episode, we dive deep into a candid conversation with a founder who shares how he stumbled into consulting, earned a year's salary in a single month, and built impactful startups straight out of college. From building websites for the price of a cigarette to launching mobile products before the smartphone wave, this is a raw and relatable story for every aspiring entrepreneur and product b...

In this episode of Funds and Founders, we sit down with Cody Anderson — early employee at Carta, investor, limited partner, and now the founder of Tommy — a startup revolutionizing shared homeownership. Cody shares his journey from growing up in a small business family in Minneapolis to building a career at Carta, why he believes co-ownership is the future of real estate, and what it really takes...