52 Founders

In this episode, you’ll hear about: -How Atlas operates on the ground, and how Mickey, who’s from New York, discovered this opportunity halfway across the globe -The challenges to building a company in West Africa, and why it was critical that the team lived there when they first were getting started -Mickey’s childhood growing up in Westchester, and why he originally aspired to become a marine biologist -His earlier forays into entrepreneurship, including a TV show entitled "The Candidate",...

In this episode, you’ll hear about: -How Andela’s cofounders, Christina and Jeremy Johnson, came together over shared values and vision about the opportunity in Africa -What it was like pitching to early stage investors, and why it was critical that they accompanied them to Africa to see the magic firsthand -The company’s headquarters in Lagos and New York, and why both cities have benefitted Andela thus far -Christina’s father, who emigrated from Germany, and how her parents instilled in...

In this episode, you’ll hear about: -How Electric was born from Ryan’s own frustrations with IT in his previous company, and why he was on the look out for hardships during that time -Why Ryan decided to start his next company in NYC vs SF, where his former company Swarm was headquartered, and the big takeaways he learned from running his past startups -Ryan’s first childhood career aspiration (which draw chuckles from me) and how filmmaking eventually inspired his interest in...

In this episode, you’ll hear about: -The autonomous vehicle stack, and why companies aren’t building everything in house -Why Carmera decided to build its headquarters in New York versus the Bay, and the benefits of doing so -The entrepreneurial genes that run in Ro’s family, and why his parents ended up leaving India to come to the States -When Ro started thinking about entrepreneurship as a viable career option, and how it relates to the immigrant mentality -The differences between...

In this episode, you’ll hear about: -How Loftium was inspired by Yifan’s own experience when she and her husband moved to Seattle and started renting out a spare bedroom -The new market Loftium has created for home buyers, and the company’s initial traction since its recent launch -The pros and cons to growing a real estate, and fintech, focused start up in Seattle -Yifan’s parents' emigration from China, and her memories of when they purchased their first home -What Yifan’s first venture,...

In this episode, you’ll hear about: -How May’s travels to Asia while living in Abu Dhabi inspired the creation of Qordoba, in addition to growing up as a non-native English speaker -Why the company is named after the historic Spanish city Cordoba during the time of the Enlightenment, and examples of how language has continually unified people -How being the oldest of eight children prepared May for being a CEO and allowed her to embrace her feminine leadership traits -Moving from Lebanon to...

In this episode, you’ll hear about: -Rebecca’s time spent living in Lima, Peru working with female entrepreneurs, and why she left to go to Kellogg School of Management -How Rebecca’s friends’ experiences with “mom guilt” inspired the idea for Wise Apple -Why Wise Apple chose to go after the consumer segment of the problem rather than the B2B side (i.e. school supplied lunches) -Rebecca’s take on why Chicago is a great place to disrupt older industries, and her views on overall startup...

In this episode, you’ll hear about: -The story behind ShieldPay’s origin, and why the company isn’t targeting the friends and family transaction space -How many UK startups use the country as a testing ground for ideas before scaling out into alternative markets such as the U.S. -Why Pete decided to enter the Techstars Barclays accelerator, even though he -already was a serial founder -How aspirations to play professional rugby eventually led Pete to a career in media, and later, his first...

In this episode, you’ll hear about: -How the Pioneer Square Labs model works, and why the team views the people that eventually run the company as the true founders -What qualities PSL looks for in these founders, and why domain knowledge is key -The startup ecosystem in Seattle, and why the big tech incumbents are largely to thank for it -How Taunt currently operates, and the future monetization strategy the company sees playing out -How Startup Weekend played a pivotal role in both Ben and...

In this episode, you’ll hear about: -How Tovala controls the entire end-to-end experience of each meal, from sourcing the ingredients to creating unique recipes with its in-house chefs -David’s background in the food industry, and how he found himself creating Tovala shortly after arriving at Chicago Booth -How the advice David received from the founders of Airbnb helped him go after such a bold idea -The decision to go through Y Combinator after winning Booth’s New Venture Challenge, and...

In this episode, you’ll hear about: -The opportunity Tia sees in the market for women’s health, and why the company is focused on millennial women -Carolyn’s perspective on raising funding as a female founder of a women’s healthcare company -How Tia is a hybrid of both her parents, particularly her mother, whom she grew up attending Planned Parenthood meetings with -Where the name “Tia” comes from, and how Carolyn and her team thought of the entire persona behind “her” -The grand vision...

In this episode, you’ll hear about: -Why simulations have advanced in recent years, and why enterprises should utilize them for more scenarios than ever before -How Simudyne plans to first go after the financial services market while other sectors’ technology catches up -Why London has the best ecosystem for startups with a financial focus, even over New York, and why it’s not just due to the close proximity to banks -Jonathan’s experience teaching math after attending Cambridge, and why he...

In this episode, you’ll hear about: -How Lattice sprung from the growing pains Jack and his cofounder felt while working together at Teespring, and how Lattice has evolved from their original vision -Growing up in St. Louis, and why Jack is grateful that his formative years took place in a Midwestern suburb -The influence Jack’s older brothers had on him and how sibling dynamics play an integral role in a person’s development -The benefits to gaining operating experience at other startups...

In this episode, you’ll hear about: -How Mantas uncovered this opportunity and the initial applications Accelerated Dynamics is focusing on -Mantas’ response to people who might have concerns about unmanned drones that are programmed with artificial intelligence applications -Why Accelerated Dynamics is based in London, and how being in a top rated accelerator like EF helps startups receive funding -Growing up in Lithuania, and how studying in Spain broadened Mantas’ perspective on what he...

In this episode, you’ll hear about: -Automata’s product progression and the early surprises Mostafa and his cofounder uncovered when Eva was first introduced -The most common use cases Automata sees and how companies evaluate whether a robot could be useful for its business -Why London is the ideal location to create a company, particularly for highly technical startups -Mostafa’s experience growing up in Dubai, and how living there inspired him to pursue architecture -The software component...

In this episode, you’ll hear about: -Why Fred and his cofounder Russell decided to leave Europe and come to San Francisco to create their company -Fred’s family tradition that inspired him to think creatively about problems, even when he was a child -How Rainforest tries to incorporate diversity in its culture, and why it’s important not to reward office politics -Why working weekends doesn’t translate to more success, and why you have to always believe in your own approach -Why the main job...

In this episode, you’ll hear about: -How Ezza stores plan to operate, and the thought process that went into the details behind the customer experience -The benefits of starting a business while obtaining an MBA, and how Chicago Booth’s New Venture Challenge helped make things happen -What it’s like to work inside of 1871, Chicago’s technology and entrepreneurship center -Kim’s ability to bring people together, ranging from full-scale performances when she was young to an outhouse team race...

In this episode, you’ll hear about: -How Charlie’s own experience trying to put in vacation time at Google inspired Merlin Guides -The value Charlie sees in the New York startup scene, and why the American market is extremely attractive to founders -How Charlie is really the perfect blend of both of his parents’ backgrounds, and why he always knew he wanted to be an entrepreneur -Why Clark Kent, the journalist, not necessarily as Superman, was one of Charlie’s heroes growing up -Why setting...

In this episode, you’ll hear about: -The opportunity Alex saw for humans to amplify the results of machines, and how Scale API plans to act on it -Growing up in Los Alamos, New Mexico, the birthplace of the Atomic bomb, and how its emphasis on science impacted Alex’s childhood -How working at Addepar and Quora before college influenced Alex’s career, and how that led to his taking a leave of absence from MIT -The thought process behind starting Scale API, and why Alex and his cofounder Lucy...

In this episode, you’ll hear about: -CMG’s evolution from its initial site, Who What Wear, to the conglomerate it’s become today -How Katherine ensures CMG remains close to the consumer, and why its critical to the company’s success in light of fashion’s globalization -Katherine’s early entrepreneurial endeavors that included putting on (paid) shows for the neighborhood and creating faux restaurants with her toy kitchen -Her previous aspiration to be a film producer, and why she doesn’t...