The Startup Journey Podcast

When Daniel Lenton completed his PhD in Machine Learning, he quickly realised that the hardest part of building AI products wasn’t the models, it was the infrastructure around them. That insight led him to found Unify, a platform designed to help teams deploy, scale, and manage AI systems in production. In this episode, Daniel breaks down the realities of building a deep-tech startup in one of the...

Season 1 of The Startup Journey Podcast has been an incredible ride! Over the past 11 episodes, we’ve had the privilege of sitting down with world-class entrepreneurs, startup experts, and thought leaders to uncover the secrets behind launching and scaling successful startups. In this recap, Rui revisits some of the most memorable moments and key lessons from the season, including: Finding Product...

A while back, WHU Business School earned recognition as one of Europe’s top "unicorn universities," a title that reflects its track record of producing successful entrepreneurs.  With campuses in Vallendar and Düsseldorf, Germany, WHU boasts an impressive list of alumni, including founders of high-growth companies like Forto, FlixBus, and SumUp. In addition to six alumni-founded companies with $1...

In this episode, we sit down with Peter Fishman, a data scientist whose journey took him from prestigious roles at Microsoft and Walt Disney to launching his own startup. Peter is the founder behind Mozart Data, a startup that simplifies the data consolidation and analysis process, making it accessible to a wider audience.  Having navigated Mozart Data through Y Combinator, Peter and his team have...

In this episode, Ahana Banerjee, CEO of Clear, recounts her journey from a physics student at Imperial College London to founding a social commerce app for skincare.  Her hard work on the project led her to Y Combinator, and a Forbes 30 under 30 award, despite all the struggles she had as a female founder who was, as she put it “often dismissed due to her gender.” In this conversation, we delve in...

This episode shines a spotlight on Diane Prince, whose entrepreneurial career launched with a bang through her first venture, Onstaff, which quickly grew to a $50M ARR business.  Diane's journey didn’t stop there; it was merely the beginning of a 30-year-long odyssey through the startup ecosystem, where she built multiple startups, achieving five successful exits.  Beyond her entrepreneurial succe...

In this episode, we're thrilled to welcome Jags Kandasamy, a visionary entrepreneur whose latest venture, Latent AI, is setting new standards in the artificial intelligence sector.  Founded in 2018, Latent AI has quickly garnered success, securing over $22M in funding through its unique approach to AI development. Jags and his team are on a mission to make AI accessible, efficient, and scalable fo...

Join us as we sit down with Louwrens Van Schalkwyk, a seasoned entrepreneur with a rich background in building and leading companies in the Fintech sector.  Today, we're diving deep into one of his hallmark ventures, MyBucks. This Fintech giant has made headlines for its comprehensive range of financial solutions, from insurance to banking, marking a significant footprint in the industry.  The rec...

A few years ago, Atul saw an inefficiency in the way insurance products were sold in India.  Calling on his two decades of Fintech experience and expertise, he set out to solve it with his company, Scripbox.  Atul had to take a lot of time and effort to educate the market that their money would be safe. As people at the time weren’t used to digital banking or transferring money online.  To achieve...

Today’s guest, Roger Van Duinen is the co-founder of Varo Money – an “entirely new kind of bank” that uses tech to bring financial inclusion and opportunity to all of its users.  With 25 years of experience working as a C-level executive in the banking and financial services sector – he brought a lot of industry expertise to the table. In that time, he built and nurtured an extensive network of li...

Back in 2013, Slater and his co-founder had an idea in their dorm room – to revolutionise the data industry by creating a platform that takes raw data and structures it, enabling you to build innovative, mission-critical enterprise workflows. The idea quickly gained interest as they were accepted into Techstars Boston – and before long, Slater was questioning whether or not he needed to stay in sc...

Today’s guest, Markus (Maex) Ament, is the founder behind Taulia, a  leading provider of working capital solutions with over 1.8 million companies using it across the globe – including Airbus, Nissan & the UK Government.  And, like most successful companies, it began with a problem. In Taulia’s case, that problem was liquidity:  “When a company invoices a client, they’re generally going to hav...

Back in 2008, Kathryn Petralia and her founding team had a vision. To use technology to give small businesses the funding tools they need to grow and scale their companies.  A few months later, Kabbage was born. The platform quickly evolved and grew to not just provide loans to SMEs, but a full suite of cash management solutions for founders and entrepreneurs.  In this episode, we break down: The...