michael Livingstone

Zero.24%

Business EN ↓ 4 episodes

Zero.24% is a UK podcast spotlighting Black and underrepresented founders. Speaking to the founders, operators and investors backing them, while navigating a funding system that still underinvests in Black and underrepresented innovators. Named after the 0.24% of venture capital reportedly received by Black founders in 2024, the show goes beyond inspiration, into the real work, real numbers, and real lessons behind startup growth, bootstrapping, and fundraising, from pre seed through seed and beyond. Hosted by Michael Livingstone, founder of Dustid.com, each episode delivers honest conversatio...

Author

michael Livingstone

Episodes

The Man Who Built Manchester’s Tech Scene Without Waiting for Permission 08.06.2026 1:31:32

Episode summary In this episode of Zero.24% , Michael Livingstone sits down with Manoj Ranaweera , founder of Techcelerate, Deal Lite and SkilledUp Life , and one of the people credited with helping build Manchester’s tech startup ecosystem. Manoj’s story is not the polished founder fantasy. It is about failure, rebuilding, bootstrapping, community, exits, and the uncomfortable truth that most fou...

Why Brilliant Women Founders Are Still Overlooked, Lisa Maynard Atem Exposes the Real Problem 15.04.2026 1:13:59

Episode title Why Brilliant Women Founders Are Still Overlooked, Lisa Maynard Atem Exposes the Real Problem Episode summary In this episode of Zero.24% , Michael Livingstone speaks with Lisa Maynard Atem , founder of STYLISA , an ecosystem focused on increasing the visibility, capital, and influence of women. Lisa sits at the intersection of storytelling, positioning, and access , helping ambitiou...

Eric Masaba PT2. They Almost Wrote Him Out of History, Eric Masaba’s 17 Year Fight for Recognition 24.03.2026 1:06:26

Episode summary In Episode 2, Part 2, Michael Livingstone continues the conversation with Eric Masaba, and this time the story gets even more shocking. After 17 years of fighting for recognition, Eric opens up about the real cost of being overlooked, the pain of seeing innovation go uncredited, and what his journey says about how Black inventors are too often pushed to the margins. This is not jus...

Another Black Innovator Almost Got Written Out, Eric Masaba’s 17 Year Fight for Credit 10.03.2026 1:25:07

Ep 1, Eric Masaba, The 17 yr patent battle behind ride hailing Episode summary In our opening episode, Michael Livingstone sits down with Eric Masaba , inventor behind the Taxi Dispatch System patent, to unpack a story that will hit home for black and underrepresented founders building with limited access. Eric shares what it took to keep going through a long patent journey, the personal cost of p...