Pour Over

Why Deferred Exists : Judd explains how he discovered the world of 1031 exchanges and why he and his co-founders saw an opportunity to modernize it. Flipping the Revenue Model : Deferred chose a no-fee approach, shaking up the standard where legacy intermediaries charged fees and quietly profited on customer funds. Building with Three Co-Founders : Hear how the trio now divides responsibilities. E...

From eHarmony to Advertising Mark kicked off his career as a software engineer and unexpectedly made his way into advertising through a stint at eHarmony, where the focus was matching people with other people. Years later, it clicked for him that the same kind of logic could be applied to matching consumers with the right products. That insight ultimately became the foundation for MNTN. Today, MNT...

From KeepTruckin to Motive Shoaib kicked things off with a story about the company’s original name, KeepTruckin. He admitted it might have captured the early energy of the team, but it quickly became clear that the name didn’t match the scope of what they were building. Even in the early days, customers were coming from industries beyond trucking, including oil and gas, field services, and passeng...

Founder Journey: Min-Kyu started as a corporate lawyer in New Zealand, drawn to deal-making over litigation. While he enjoyed the challenge, the manual nature of contract work frustrated him, sparking the idea for an AI-driven solution. He began coding Ivo himself before moving to Silicon Valley to scale the company in a faster-moving, high-growth environment. New Zealand vs. Silicon Valley Startu...

Early Lessons & Shannon’s Motivations: How far you can get if you have a high level of ambition and are willing to challenge what is commonly accepted as impossible. Working at Zenefits, Shannon was able to see the blockers behind accessibility before landing on the need for new infrastructure.  Early Challenges & Building a Trusted Brand: Noyo Aims to demystify the world of benefits to empower ev...

First Impressions: Jo and Will met through friends at a club in Miami and instantly connected before finding a parallel path and co-founding Payabli together. Jo’s Entrepreneurial Experiences: Growing up around entrepreneurs before working alongside influential leaders at Seamless, GrubHub, and ServiceTitan taught Jo what he needs to know about leadership.  Will’s Core Team Value: A bootstrapper a...

Leadership journey: Went from working as a consultant at Deloitte Digital to becoming CMO at Fika portfolio company, Specright.   Personal Values: Learned to take pride in her work as the child of immigrants who worked in a factory.  Learned by Example: Watched her father embody the principle of dreaming big, finding courage, and rejecting the limits applied by others.  Specright Premise: Pioneeri...

Jake's Journey: Started in kitchen knife sales at Cutco where he learned to cold call for the first time. Siro Co-Founder: Co-founded Siro, a platform aiming to provide an AI coach for field sales. Future Vision: Envisions an AI coach like Siro inspiring salespeople, pushing them to set ambitious goals and providing targeted information for success. Universal Sales Skills: Asserts the universal re...

Alok’s Journey: Insights into his unique leadership style shaped by his founder journey. Leadership Principles: Emphasizes leading by example, cultivating trust, and setting the pace. Team Building: Highlights the significance of resilience, adaptability, curiosity, and attention to detail in building the right team. Pitfalls of Arrogance: Warnings against arrogance, emphasizing the importance of...

Jessica’s Journey into Childcare: Her transition from a personal struggle with childcare to becoming a preschool owner and co-founder of Upwards. Entrepreneurial Challenges: Challenges and insights in establishing Upwards, offering a comprehensive view of childcare entrepreneurship. COVID-19 Impact: The profound impact of the pandemic on Upwards and the industry, highlighting the shared responsibi...