The Founders Peak Podcast

Anton Bukov co-built 1inch in just 36 hours at a hackathon. Now, it moves over half a billion dollars a day. In this high-energy talk, he shares his journey from self-taught coder to DeFi pioneer - and the lessons every 2025 project builder should hear. It’s sharp, real, and straight from the code and chaos.

Russell Cummer, Founder, Paidy & AltX Research Our speaker Russell Cummer was born in Singapore, raised across Canada and Hong Kong, educated in the UK and California - and has spent the last two decades building in Japan. He’s the founder of Paidy, the fintech that transformed how millions shop online - and achieved Japan’s largest-ever venture exit with a 2.7-billion-dollar sale to PayPal. I...

Taejun Shin, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Gojo & Company Taejun Shin holds a black belt in karate, a 6th dan in Go, has run a 1,648 km ultra-marathon - and built a company that now serves over 2.4 million clients across five countries. But here’s what sets him apart: Taejun is stateless. He doesn’t hold a passport. And yet, he founded Gojo & Company - a startup working to become...

Mark Makdad, Director, Co-Founder, Moneytree KK Mark co-founded Moneytree KK, pioneered financial data aggregation in Japan, and helped shape the country's open banking movement - all while becoming fluent in Japanese and navigating startup life in a foreign land. But in ‘ Rebound ’, Mark pulls the curtain back on what building really costs - from almost missing payroll to almost losing himself. Y...

Sairee Chahal, Founder & Chairperson, Mahila Money Sairee Chahal’s journey started in a small town called Nara - near a steel plant built by Kobe Steel - and today, she’s forging a digital future for millions of women across India. She’s the founder of SHEROES, which launched a free helpline that’s supported over 3.5 million women - and Mahila Money, a platform born from real demand - after mi...

Howard Wu, Founder, Aleo Howard Wu is a cryptographer with a passion for privacy. He’s the founder of Aleo, a blockchain built for private smart contracts from the ground up. He launched it at the start of the pandemic, betting on zero-knowledge tech before most people could even spell it. But in this talk, Howard takes us behind the code - into the brutal rebuilds, regulatory risks, and hard deci...

Noboru Takahashi, Co-founder, M-DAQ Global Noboru Takahashi is a nature-loving technologist who’s spent the last decade pioneering a world without currency borders. As the co-founder of M-DAQ Global, he’s building tools that bridge markets - and in this talk, he turns inward to explore a different kind of bridge - the one between humans and technology. In his talk, ‘Lost in Translation ,’ Takahash...

Tim Kobe, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Eight Inc. Our next speaker has been called ‘Apple’s best-kept secret’ - and for good reason. Tim Kobe is the founder & CEO of Eight Inc., the strategic design firm behind the original Apple Store. He spent over 12 years working side-by-side with Steve Jobs, helping redefine what a retail experience could be - not just for Apple, but for an enti...

Utkarsh Amitabh, Chief Executive Officer, Network Capital Utkarsh Amitabh has travelled over 80 countries, starred in one of the world’s longest-running plays, and picked up degrees like souvenirs - including one in Moral Philosophy from Oxford. As the CEO of Network Capital, he’s helped empower over 7 million students across India - but in this talk, Utkarsh steps away from the rankings and the r...

Nikhilesh Goel, Co-founder & Group Chief Executive Officer, Validus Our next guest is a poker player, an anime fan, and a founder who knows what it means to go all in. As co-founder and Group CEO of Validus, Nikhilesh Goel built Southeast Asia’s largest digital SME financing platform - with over $4.5 billion in loans disbursed and counting. In his deeply personal talk, ' Find Your Resilience W...

Takahiko Kawasaki, Co-founder, Authlete Takahiko Kawasaki is a 50-year-old co-founder who still codes every day, and one of the fastest implementers of new global security standards in the world. He built Authlete to power secure APIs at scale - but here’s the twist - he wasn’t even interested in digital identity when he started. In this radical talk, ‘ The Entrepreneur’s Blind Spot ,’ Taka-san re...

Antoni Zolciak, Co-Founder, Aleph Zero Antoni Zolciak co-founded Aleph Zero, a privacy-focused Layer 1 blockchain - and watched it go from a 30-million-dollar idea to a 960 million rocket ride...and then back down to earth. He blends cybersecurity with creativity, grew up between art and algorithms, and built Aleph Zero from scratch - with no safety net, no funding, and nothing but belief. In this...

Yoshi Yokokawa, Co-founder & Chief Executive Officer, Alpaca Yoshi Yokokawa co-founded Alpaca, a remote-first fintech with over 200 team members, and built it alongside his college best friend - the same duo that once launched a salsa dance circle together. But in ‘ Y-Combinator Grad - Yet Rejected ,’ Yoshi shares the part no one talks about - ghosting after warm intros, rejections after partn...

Sam Pemberton Ahmed, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Smartpay Sam Ahmed was once told, 'No, you can’t do that in Japan. ' Today, he’s the founder and CEO of Smartpay, Japan’s first embedded finance company - redefining Buy Now, Pay Later with zero fees, zero friction, and a fully integrated bank network covering 97% of the population. In this bold and relentless story of defiance, Sam share...

David Chen, Co-Founder, Kapsule David is the kind of founder who breaks every mould - a former runway model, a professional boxer, and an award-winning poet who also happens to be the co-founder of Kapsule, the world’s largest source of African health data. A company he built with his best friends, and they all even live together...six years later! But David’s journey to building something meaning...

Shema Steve, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Exuus What do Marvel superheroes, unexpected aunty-advice, and mobile money have in common? They’ve all shaped the journey of Shema Steve, Founder & CEO of Exuse - the platform digitising savings groups and transforming financial access across Africa. His obsession with cartoons meets a real-world mission sparked by a chance encounter with a...

Evelyn Kaingu, Chief Executive Officer, Lupiya Our guest today is Evelyn Kaingu , who co-founded Lupiya with her husband - armed with just $500, no playbook, and a dream waaaay bigger than their bank account. Since then, she’s raised over $15 million, hosted former U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, and built Zambia’s first VC-funded startup now powering small businesses across Africa. But Evelyn’...

Hannah Acquah, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, TKC Africa Hannah Acquah is a force - part Ghanaian, part Austrian, and fully committed to building Africa’s future from the ground up. She’s the founder of TKC Africa, CEO of Ghana’s Venture Capital & Private Equity Association, a former athlete and coach - and yes, once crowned Miss Africa International Austria. But in this bold talk, Han...

Oluwatosin Olaseinde, Founder, Money Africa Tosin is the Founder of Money Africa, as well as a mountain hiker, ocean lover, and financial educator with serious range. She bootstrapped her way to three live apps, built a community of half a million followers, and launched a movement that’s changing how Africans think about money - from kids to adults. In this refreshingly honest talk, Tosin shares...

Meghan McCormick, Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Oze Meghan McCormick studied finance and theatre, and turns out, both are surprisingly useful when you’re pitching banks in Ghana. She moved to Guinea in her early 20s, built a business accelerator, survived Ebola, and later co-founded Oze - a fintech startup closing Africa’s 331-billion-dollar credit gap, one small business at a time. In...

Diana Mpyisi, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Blue Oceans Rwanda Diana Mpyisi became Rwanda’s youngest English news anchor at 19 - straight out of high school, live on national TV. She then founded Blue Oceans Rwanda , created the country’s first current affairs show, and built a creative agency that’s shaped national conversations - all while politely ignoring her uncle’s repeated offers t...

Hilda Moraa, Chief Executive Officer & Founder, Pezesha At just 26, Hilda Moraa made history with one of Kenya’s first FinTech exits - and she hasn’t slowed down since. She’s the founder of Pezesha , a pioneering platform that’s enabled over 300,000 SME loans, raised $11 million in funding, and broken barriers across East Africa’s fintech space. But in this deeply reflective talk, Hilda shares...

Emmanuel Emodek, Founder & Director, ChapChap Africa As a kid, Emmanuel Emodek sold hand-drawn cartoons just to afford a snack. Today, he’s the founder of ChapChap Africa, a tech platform that’s helped over 50,000 small businesses to grow - and impacted more than 7 million lives. He touched his first computer in 2015. Launched a startup in 2016. Got ghosted by his first developer - and still t...