270: Real People, Real Startups: Lessons from Our Alumni
Most people think you need to be a Silicon Valley insider — or have millions in funding — to start a tech venture. That's just not true. In this episode, Sophia Matveeva shares the journeys of four Te...
17 Sep 202517min
269: 4 Non-Technical Founders Who Built Billion-Dollar Tech Empires
Most founders think you need to be technical to build a billion-dollar company. But some of the world's biggest tech giants were started by people who never wrote a single line of code. In this episod...
10 Sep 202518min
268: How to Align Founders and Investors (Before Things Go Wrong)
Most founders think securing investors will solve all their problems. But fundraising often creates a new set of challenges—misaligned expectations, endless reporting requests, and pressure that pulls...
3 Sep 202542min
267: 7 Startup Lessons from BlackBerry's Rise and Fall
Most non-technical founders dream of building a game-changing tech product—without learning to code. But bridging the gap between vision and execution? That takes more than just a good idea. In this e...
27 Aug 202515min
266. Founder-Led vs. Product-Led Growth: how to pick the right path for your startup
Most founders dream of creating a product so good it sells itself. That's the promise of product-led growth: customers discover, share, and adopt your product with little to no sales effort. Sadly tha...
20 Aug 202536min
265. From vodka shots to Y Combinator: how a non-technical founder built a global tech company
If you're a non-technical founder building your first product, this episode is for you. In today's lesson, Robyn Exton shares the real story of how she went from branding agency employee to founder of...
14 Aug 202559min
264. The vacation strategy for people who can't switch off
If you're the kind of leader who is "on" all the time — even on vacation — this episode is for you. In today's lesson, Sophia Matveeva shares a practical, honest approach to taking time off without pr...
6 Aug 202513min
263. The feature factory trap: when output doesn't equal progress
Why do so many software teams feel busy — but deliver so little value? Fractional tech leader Thanos Diacakis shares why shipping more features doesn't always mean progress. Drawing on 25+ years in so...
30 Juli 202531min
