The Everyday Founder

Hosted by James Farnfield

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Nov 2025

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Welcome to the everyday founder podcast with James Farnfield 👋🏽 James chats with everyday founders and ask them questions across a range of serious and lighthearted topics. It’s time that we celebrate those everyday founders doing incredible things. Celebrating their successes, learning from their journey and supporting their future. Enjoy 🚀 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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November 20, 202548 min

How She Turned a Crowded Tube Ride into a Deep Tech Startup (and Nearly Lost It All) | Dash Tabor

What if your business could predict the future — even with barely any data? In this episode, I sit down with Dash Tabor, founder and CEO of TUBR, a predictive analytics platform turning small data into big insights. Dash started TUBR after one too many packed Tube rides in London — and ended up building a deep-tech company using a physics-based machine learning engine that helps small businesses forecast demand, sales, and staffing needs with minimal data. But her journey wasn’t smooth. She’s lost £500k in a day, rebuilt her team after losing her co-founder mid-fundraise, and turned down “life-saving” investor cash on moral grounds — all while keeping TUBR alive and growing. We get into the raw parts of being a founder: - Fundraising in a volatile market - Building deep tech without a technical background - Understanding investor psychology - Rebuilding after disaster - And why she left London for Sheffield This is one of the most brutally honest founder stories yet. Chapters: 00:00 - Why founders should never take “trenched” investor money 00:41 - Introducing Dash Tabor & the TUBR story 02:11 - The London Tube moment that sparked the idea 03:47 - From overcrowded trains to AI innovation 05:05 - What “machine learning” really means for small businesses 07:09 - Predicting croissants, customers, and chaos 08:57 - How much data is really needed for AI to work 10:21 - Sponsor: Opus — the network for entrepreneurs 10:41 - How Dash built deep tech without being a coder 12:28 - Leaving a stable job to build something from scratch 14:19 - When Liz Truss’ budget wiped out her customers overnight 18:09 - Losing her co-founder mid-fundraise 20:24 - Rebuilding the team from zero 21:09 - Hitting rock bottom — and the “keep going” moment 25:16 - The near-collapse and the £10K that saved TUBR 26:17 - Fundraising lessons: quantity over tranches 28:22 - The reality of raising as a female founder 31:13 - How to “build the house you want to live in” with investors 32:32 - Saying no to bad money — even when desperate 35:14 - Choosing Sheffield over London 38:48 - Building community and talent outside the capital 39:28 - Finding balance (or trying to) as a founder 43:10 - Who TUBR serves today & their new product “Pulse” 45:57 - What’s next: partnerships, scale, and profitability 47:53 - The real answer: talent vs luck in startup life 49:49 - Where to follow Dash & TUBR Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

November 13, 20251 hr 2 min

He Sold His Startup to Twitter. Now He’s Building AI That Codes | Tomas Halgas

In this episode of The Everyday Founder, James sits down with Tomas Helgaš, founder and CEO of Sutro — the AI platform that turns a single text prompt into a full production-ready app. Before Sutro, Tomas worked at Facebook (helping power the “People You May Know” feature), then went on to build and sell Sphere to Twitter after raising $30M. Now, he’s back for round two — building Sutro to change the way the world builds software. This conversation dives into the mindset, mission, and mechanics behind one of the most fascinating builders in AI today. We discuss: - Why Tomas left his dream job at Facebook to start Sphere - How he built a company that became the foundation for X (Twitter) Communities - The early days of Sutro and building secure, production-grade AI tools - The tradeoff between shipping fast vs. building safely - Co-founders, hiring mistakes, and second-time founder lessons - How AI will reshape how software is built — and why security is the next big frontier Chapters: 00:00 – Mission: change how the world builds software 01:18 – Intro: Tomas Halgaš, Sutro, Facebook → Sphere → Twitter 02:08 – Why go back after a successful exit 03:10 – Early bet on OpenAI (GPT-2) and text-to-app ideas 04:02 – Viral demos: prompt → live front- & back-end, fully deployed 05:12 – Sphere origin story & community product 07:42 – From partnership talks to Twitter acquisition 09:24 – Post-acquisition & starting Sutro (overlap period) 11:05 – Co-founder transition; going solo as CEO 12:21 – Sutro thesis: production software with guarantees 14:02 – Security horror stories & why prototypes don’t cut it 15:42 – Comp landscape: “shipping fast” vs “building safely” 16:57 – The mission (again): security-first software at scale 18:13 – Sponsor: Opus 18:38 – From prompt links to better human–computer interaction 19:13 – Product/LLM inflection points; scaffolds & reasoning 21:13 – Moving upmarket: serious, enterprise use cases 21:39 – Raising capital: when VC makes sense 23:16 – What a “good VC” actually does for founders 28:15 – Second-time founder perspective on investor value 28:42 – Family roots, teenage hacking, first sparks 30:16 – Silicon Valley internship & mindset shift 31:01 – Leaving Facebook: parental push & perspective 33:02 – Hiring mistakes at Sphere: brilliant but hard to work with 34:12 – New bar at Sutro: great humans, ex-founders 35:04 – Remote vs in-person; hiring uncommon talent 37:41 – Advice to younger self: read deeply, then build deeply 41:01 – Working with people: persuasion vs. coaching 42:03 – Coaching someone with a “dream job” to leap 43:18 – Calibrate at the best; then go build 45:21 – CTO vs CEO: different learning curves 46:04 – Big tech cycles & urgency vs comfort 47:03 – Co-founders: marriage, commitment, alignment 49:13 – The “F-you number” & exit alignment 51:21 – Host anecdote; aligning on outcomes 52:19 – Post-acq reality: agency & decision-making changes 54:21 – Corporate planning constraints & politics 55:24 – How to set better terms for future acquisitions 56:10 – Where Sutro is going 57:16 – Better models, but HCI is the hard problem 59:16 – English is ambiguous: need precise interfaces 1:00:19 – The compliance/security wave is coming 1:01:27 – Sutro’s advantage: guarantees, compliance, real software 1:01:54 – The next interface: text + visuals + flows 1:02:17 – AI moves fast; strategy expires quickly 1:02:39 – Luck vs talent vs hard work 1:03:39 – Where to follow Tomas & try Sutro 1:04:03 – Outro Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

October 23, 202551 min

She Quit Her Oxford PhD to Build an AI Company Tackling Bias in Hiring | Riham Satti

Riham Satti was on track for a life in academia — Oxford PhD, research papers, professorship. Then she met her co-founder, built an app to get him a job at Microsoft, and accidentally uncovered a billion-dollar problem: human bias in recruitment. Today, she’s the CEO and co-founder of MeVitae, an AI platform using neuroscience and data to make hiring fairer and faster. In this episode, we go deep into what it really takes to go from academia to entrepreneurship — without the safety net of VC money or a Silicon Valley network. Riham’s story is one of grit, grants, and growth — building a mission-driven business the long, hard, but sustainable way. 💬 Watch this episode if you want to learn: - How to turn research into a real business - The neuroscience of bias and decision-making - When to expand to the US (and how to know if you’re ready) - Why compassion is a founder’s superpower - How to stay in “startup mode” after 10+ years of building 🎧 CHAPTERS 00:00 – Intro: From Oxford to Entrepreneurship 02:00 – Falling in love with STEM and academia 05:30 – Building an app to hack into Microsoft 08:00 – The first 50k downloads that changed everything 10:30 – Discovering bias in hiring and founding MeVitae 13:00 – Bootstrapping with grants (no VC, no network) 16:20 – Early lessons in startup survival 18:40 – How bias actually works in the human brain 22:00 – The first enterprise client (and the chaos that followed) 25:00 – Building the MeVitae team and culture 29:00 – Expanding to the US — when and why 33:00 – Balancing perfectionism with speed 37:00 – The “10-year overnight success” 42:00 – Compassion, leadership, and building a real company 46:00 – What’s next for Riham and MeVitae Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

October 2, 202549 min

The Future of Real-World Asset Tokenization Explained Simply | Florian Ehrbar

Florian Ehrbar, founder of OnchainLabs, went from calling time on a failing consulting gig… to convincing the investor to back a new team and a new idea: connecting real-world assets (skis, classic cars, gold - even trees) to the blockchain with actual utility. We get into radical candour, building “Wallet 2” that feels like email (not MetaMask), no-code tokenization, raising private capital, and leading a half-inherited team while staying focused when you could do everything. In this episode you’ll learn: - Why telling the hard truth can start your next company - Funded-from-day-one: hidden pressures and how to navigate them - Real user value in tokenization (CRM, warranties/insurance, provenance) - UX trade-offs: self-custody vs ease, and designing guardrails - The vision: a white-label, no-code RWA platform you can drag-and-drop deploy Chapters 00:00 Intro — honesty when everything’s on fire 01:10 The investor asks “what now?” → forming the new team 02:36 Florian’s path: consulting → dating app → investments → founder 05:10 Quitting a safe career with a young family 06:19 Side-hustle vs jump: why he didn’t moonlight (and regrets it) 07:45 Funded from day one: blessings and pressure 09:06 The moment of candour that killed a project and birthed Onchain Labs 11:05 What Onchain Labs does (physical → digital, real utility) 12:54 Tokenizing luxury skis: CRM, insurance, activation incentives 15:04 Blockchain basics (wallets, ownership, self-custody) 17:22 UX reality: too easy vs too risky — finding the line 19:35 Classic cars & provenance: why digitised records matter 21:30 Leading a “half-inherited” team: empower vs decide 23:40 Focus when you can do everything: pick the beachhead 25:05 Building “Wallet 2” — make blockchain feel like email 27:10 Towards a no-code, white-label RWA platform 29:00 Commercial model: SaaS + transactions + implementation 31:05 Who it’s for: gold tokenization, consumer apps, and beyond 33:12 Ambition: the AWS/Shopify of tokenization (for non-financial assets) 35:00 Fundraising, unusual backers & validation moments 37:05 Founder life: work ethic, optimism, taking bigger risks sooner 39:00 Skill vs luck — and where to follow Florian If this helped, hit like, subscribe, and drop a comment with the next founder you want on the show. #Startups #Web3 #Tokenization #RWA #FounderJourney #Leadership #EverydayFounderPodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

September 25, 20251 hr 3 min

From RAF Pilot to Deep Tech Founder: Building the Trust Layer for Autonomy at SAIF | Kyle Thomas

Former RAF pilot turned deep-tech founder, Kyle Thomas is building SAIF Autonomy—the “application firewall” for autonomous systems. We get into embodied AI vs deterministic autonomy, what it takes to certify and deploy robots in the real world, the UK vs US VC mindset, nearly running out of cash (with £22 left in the bank), and why veterans often thrive in startups. What's in the episode: - Embodied AI in the physical world (and why “trust layers” matter) - Defense to startup: decision-making under uncertainty - Real use cases: drones, logistics, shipping, aviation, space - Public perception & regulation: earning societal trust - Raising $1.2M from Silicon Valley as a UK deep-tech startup - Culture design: borrowing the best of military leadership - Practical founder advice: start sooner, ignore the naysayers Chapters: 0:00 Cold open — embodied AI, safety & “wrappers” 1:12 Intro — Kyle’s RAF background & SAIF’s mission 2:23 Military → startup: decision-making & stress tolerance 4:09 UK vs US mindset on speed, growth & work ethic 6:30 Meeting co-founder Matt; origins in RAF programs 7:22 Rapid Capabilities Office & TRL (3→7 fast) 8:42 From scripted autonomy to embodied, goal-based systems 10:03 Real-world examples (drones, Waymo, sidewalk bots) 11:01 Autonomy vs AI — clear definitions 12:53 Deterministic vs embodied AI (and their failure modes) 13:53 Today’s drone deliveries (hospitals, corridors, BVLOS) 14:10 Scaling without city-wide infrastructure 15:52 Proving it on land, sea, air… and space 18:19 Public perception, safety cases & building trust 19:13 Logistics, shipping & aviation use cases 20:06 “Application firewall” for autonomy (trust layer) 22:19 Fundraise story — $1.2M pre-revenue from Silicon Valley 24:03 Why UK/EU VC often feels like PE (risk appetite) 25:59 US lead, diligence, patents & why it clicked 27:12 UK engineering talent vs US scaling capital 29:05 CEO self-awareness: when to level up or step aside 30:39 Targeting specialist US funds next 33:17 Sponsor break — Opus community 33:49 Near-death runway tale: £22 in the bank 36:50 Money lands at 8:22pm on New Year’s Eve 43:17 Split-second RAF story — refuelling saves lives 47:49 Why veterans can excel in startups 49:17 Culture & leadership: high trust, high standards 52:04 Practical rituals (socials, flexibility, outcomes) 55:11 Advice to younger self: start sooner, be bold 58:07 Founder communities: Opus, ICE, Founders Pledge 1:00:12 Be in the room — why London matters 1:01:12 Trust over impressions (in-person beats ads) 1:02:30 Luck vs talent (and timing) 1:03:55 Where to find Kyle (LinkedIn, site, IG) 1:04:45 Blog & updates coming soon 1:05:08 Outro About Kyle / SAIF Autonomy Kyle Thomas, Co-founder & CEO, SAIF Autonomy Mission: a safety & assurance “trust layer” so autonomous systems can operate safely at the edge (air, land, sea, space) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

September 11, 202558 min

How This Exited Founder Raised $1.5M from 66 Angels to Launch Insurtech Loxa | Jamie Hamer

What does it take to raise $1.5M from 66 angels across 400 meetings? Jamie Hamer, CEO of Loxa and founder of React News (acquired by Green Street), shares the unfiltered reality. From walking away from a £150k salary to making 30 cold calls a day, Jamie is building one of the most ambitious insurtechs in the UK—backed not by VCs, but by a cap table stacked with mission-aligned angels. In this episode of The Everyday Founder, we dive into: - Why angels is better than funds (and how to manage 66 of them) - The litmus test for picking advisors (time and money or nothing) - The playbook for user research that doubles as early sales - Why founder-led sales is still king in early-stage B2B - How to build a team around “total ownership” - What it’s really like to rebrand midstream - And how to “increase the surface area of your luck” If you’re raising, hiring, or selling at the early stage, Jamie’s insights are a masterclass in founder grit and strategic execution. 👉 Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and drop your thoughts in the comments. Chapters 00:00 – Why advisors must have skin in the game 01:20 – Jamie’s journey: from P&G to React News 03:30 – Leaving a £150k salary to start up 06:00 – The power of user research (The Mom Test in action) 08:15 – Building and exiting React News 10:20 – Why angels beat VC funding 13:00 – How Jamie raised $1.5M from 66 angels 15:25 – Managing a cap table of 66 investors 18:00 – Co-founders, vesting, and avoiding dead equity 21:00 – Hiring playbook: KPIs, probation, and personality tests 24:00 – Total ownership as a cultural value 27:00 – Founder-led sales: why cold calling still works 31:00 – The pain (and lessons) of a rebrand 34:00 – Building Loxa: tackling insurtech complexity 38:00 – Transparency, trust, and fixing insurance for good 42:00 – Increasing the surface area of your luck 46:00 – Reflections on skill vs luck in entrepreneurship 49:00 – Jamie’s advice to early-stage founders 53:00 – Where to follow Jamie and Loxa Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

August 28, 202559 min

From GoDaddy & WeWork to CEO of Epignosis: Scaling Learning for 22M People Globally | Nikhil Arora

Nikhil Arora has built a career at the intersection of leadership, global growth, and purposeful impact. Today, he’s the CEO of Epignosis, the company behind TalentLMS, serving 22M+ learners across 160 countries. But his story stretches far beyond EdTech. From helping build Kazakhstan’s first stock exchange, to leading international growth at GoDaddy, scaling Intuit in India, and launching WeWork in Asia, Nikhil has lived and worked across 9 countries and 4 continents—all while keeping up a daily running habit. In this episode, we cover: - What it takes to step in as CEO after two founders step aside. - How to balance mission and growth in a global SaaS company. - Why listening tours with customers and employees shape better strategy than any playbook. - Building culture across remote, hybrid, and global teams. - Vulnerability, failure, and why leaders must lead with authenticity. - The balance between being a missionary (purpose-driven) and mercenary (growth-focused) leader. If you’re a founder, CEO, or aspiring leader, this conversation is packed with insights on scaling businesses, managing up, and staying grounded while running at speed. ⏱️ Chapters 00:00 – Declaring strategy vs listening first 01:00 – Introducing Nikhil Arora, CEO of Epignosis 02:00 – Building Kazakhstan’s first stock exchange 04:00 – What Epignosis does today 06:00 – Taking over from the founders 08:00 – Balancing preservation and change as CEO 10:00 – Product, customers, and culture as priorities 12:00 – Leading a 250-person global team 15:00 – Fireside chats, townhalls, and communication clarity 18:00 – Vulnerability, failure, and celebrating mistakes 22:00 – Creating a safe culture for feedback 25:00 – Clarity, guiding principles, and decision-making 27:00 – Staying focused and prioritising as a leader 30:00 – Red, yellow, green framework for CEO focus 33:00 – Managing energy, family, and fitness 36:00 – Mission vs mercenary: purpose and growth 40:00 – Managing up as an installed CEO 45:00 – The #1 mistake founders often make 48:00 – Why no one is truly self-made 50:00 – Keeping your network and mentors alive 53:00 – The importance of mentors (older and younger) 56:00 – Skill vs luck in business 59:00 – Where to find Nikhil online Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

August 21, 20251 hr 8 min

Scaling from Idea to 120+ People at Legal Tech AI startup - Juro | Richard Mabey

Richard Mabey left a comfortable career as a corporate lawyer at Freshfields to launch Juro, the all-in-one contract platform now trusted by Deliveroo, Cazoo, and hundreds of fast-scaling businesses. Since then, Juro has raised $38M+, grown to a team of 120+, and positioned itself at the forefront of AI-enabled legal tech. In this episode of The Everyday Founder, Richard shares: - Why he walked away from a secure legal career to pursue entrepreneurship - How Juro landed its first enterprise clients like Deliveroo through co-creation - The long road to product-market fit (and what retention really means) - Lessons in scaling sales, hiring the right early team, and keeping culture intact - Betting early on AI copilots and agents—and how that decision is reshaping the legal industry - His honest take on self-doubt, work-life balance, and what really makes founders succeed If you’re a founder, lawyer, or builder curious about the realities of growing a SaaS company in a competitive market—this conversation with Richard is packed with hard-won lessons. Chapters: 00:00 – Why sales isn’t demand (and the role of marketing) 00:49 – Introducing Richard Mabey, CEO & Co-Founder of Juro 01:26 – Leaving law for entrepreneurship: riches-to-rags story 02:44 – The pain point that sparked Juro 04:00 – The inefficiencies of corporate law 05:15 – Taking the plunge despite pressure & self-doubt 07:24 – Early days: learning to code & finding a co-founder 10:10 – Raising seed funding & first customers (Deliveroo) 12:27 – Co-creating with early adopters 16:10 – Slow growth to product-market fit (4+ years) 18:30 – Defining product-market fit (retention & renewal) 21:09 – Building repeatable sales: from scrappy to scalable 23:36 – Why marketing came before hiring sales 25:22 – Content as Juro’s growth engine 26:06 – Founder self-doubt & keeping balance with family life 29:16 – Work-life balance & startup intensity 31:21 – Starting Juro while becoming a parent 33:07 – Early hires, talent density & culture fit 37:12 – Scaling the team from 30 to 100+ 39:05 – Rethinking hiring in the AI era 40:51 – Why fewer people, but higher talent density, wins 41:22 – Picking the right VCs & long-term partners 45:28 – Radical transparency with the board & team 47:43 – Building trust with customers (handwritten notes & support) 50:20 – Using community to strengthen customer relationships 51:27 – Betting big on AI copilots & agents 55:09 – How AI is reshaping legal jobs 59:32 – Competing with incumbents & new AI-native challengers 1:02:12 – What’s Juro’s moat? 1:04:24 – The next 5 years for Juro 1:06:13 – Fundraising is just “stopping for petrol” 1:06:40 – Luck vs skill in entrepreneurship 1:08:41 – Final reflections & where to follow Richard Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

August 14, 20251 hr 0 min

What Happens When Your Startup Fails - And Your Name Is on the Door | Cecily Motley

In this episode, I sit down with Cecily Motley — founder of Harriet and previously the CEO of Motley, a direct-to-consumer jewellery brand that raised millions before collapsing in the wake of Apple’s privacy update. We talk about the emotional toll of shutting down a business with your name on the door, the lessons she brought into building a venture-scale B2B company, and how she's leading a startup while raising two young children. This is a conversation about resilience, reinvention, and what happens after your startup fails. ⏱️ CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Intro: Cecily’s story in 20 seconds 01:15 - Why her first startup, Motley, shut down 04:33 - The hidden costs of DTC and the iOS14 death blow 08:10 - The emotional experience of failure as a founder 12:00 - Starting Harriet: a complete pivot to B2B HR tech 15:45 - What Harriet does and why it matters 18:20 - Lessons from DTC applied to B2B SaaS 21:30 - Fundraising post-failure: the mindset shift 25:00 - What makes a defensible company in 2025 28:00 - Building while parenting: realities vs LinkedIn myths 32:40 - Maternity & paternity leave: how founders should lead 36:15 - Advice for founders dealing with failure 39:00 - The importance of self-identity beyond the startup 42:00 - Final reflections and Cecily’s founder advice #Startups #Founders #B2B #DTC #Harriet #Leadership #TheEverydayFounder #Entrepreneurship Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

August 7, 202556 min

Why This Founder Left a $160M Startup to Fix Supply Chains with AI | Cedrik Hoffmann

Why This Founder Left a $160M Startup to Fix Supply Chains with AI Cedrik Hoffmann is the co-founder & CEO of Ameeba, a startup bringing AI-powered intelligence to supply chain operations. Before that, he scaled and exited Valoreo — a $160M VC-backed roll-up of consumer brands across Latin America. In this conversation, Cedrik shares the raw truth of leaving high-paid jobs, building in overlooked industries, and how personal loss and failure shaped his founder mindset. From hustling trade shows in Taiwan with no product, to raising millions and leading hundreds — this is a story of grit, reinvention, and staying obsessed with the problem. — Chapters 00:00 – The only career where failure is rewarded 01:00 – Cedrik’s early life and unlikely path to Goldman Sachs 03:00 – Realizing banking wasn’t the dream 04:40 – The turning point: advice from his wife 06:00 – Going all in: no business, no plan, just hustle 08:00 – Meeting Jack and taking over a Taiwanese factory 11:00 – How a cold call from old friends led to Valoreo 13:00 – Raising $160M and scaling across Latin America 15:30 – Why fundraising isn’t the milestone 17:00 – The truth about exit returns and dilution 18:50 – The origin of Ameeba and building the tool he wished he had 21:00 – AI in supply chains: hype vs real problems 23:30 – How Cedrik found the right co-founder 26:00 – Choosing co-founders like life partners 29:00 – Why co-developing with customers worked 32:00 – What most B2B founders get wrong about product 34:00 – The zombie tech stack inside global supply chains 36:00 – How geopolitics is reshaping where goods are made 38:00 – Nearshoring, cost misconceptions, and supply chain as a brand story 42:00 – Competing with Shein and surviving retail disruption 44:00 – Why founders need to understand their supply chain 48:00 – Balancing fatherhood and founder life 52:00 – Cedrik’s biggest failure — and what he learned 54:00 – Luck vs talent vs grit 56:00 – Where to find Cedrik online — Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe for more unfiltered conversations with the founders behind real businesses. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.