Founders and Funding

In this episode of the Founders & Funding Podcast, Philip Smith speaks with Ross Keating, Co-Founder of Overpath.Ross shares the story behind Overpath, an AI-powered revenue execution platform built to help sales reps work smarter without switching between tools. He talks about raising a VC-led pre-seed round, why speed of execution matters more than ever in AI, and what it really takes to build a founding team that investors will back. They also discuss the difference between bootstrapping and venture funding, and why distribution might be the most important thing an early-stage startup can build.

In this episode of the Founders & Funding Podcast, Philip Smith speaks with Damien Mulley, Start-Up Programme Manager at UCC Innovation.Damien shares what it really looks like to support early-stage founders coming straight out of university, the funding routes available to student startups, and what separates the founders who make progress from those who stay stuck. They discuss the importance of getting paying customers early, how to pitch to investors, and why communication might be the most underrated skill in any founding team.

In this episode of the Founders & Funding Podcast, Philip Smith speaks with Richard Blythman, Founder & CEO of Naptha AI.Richard shares his journey building Naptha AI, from predicting the rise of AI agents before MCP was even mainstream, to the hard lessons of fundraising, pivoting, and finding product-market fit in one of the fastest-moving spaces in tech. They discuss what it really takes to build in AI, why the old rules of startups are changing fast, and how founders need to think differently to stay relevant.

In this episode of the Founders & Funding Podcast, Philip Smith speaks with Roger Courtney, Founder & CEO of Sunstone.Roger shares his journey building Sunstone, the challenges of scaling a company, and what it takes to turn an idea into a growing business. They discuss funding, growth strategy, and the realities founders face as they navigate early-stage decisions and making the right calls as a founder.

In this episode, Alister Esam shares with Philip what really drives successful startup investing, from spotting patterns across hundreds of deals to why traction matters more than ideas. We discuss founder traits, funding trade-offs, and the reality behind 10x returns and failed investments.

In this episode, Adriana Ignat (COO of Pulsate and Founder of VEKT AI) unpacks what it actually looks like to build a startup alongside a full-time executive role. From late nights and weekend sprints to creative ways of funding a business without chasing big VC rounds, she shares a candid view on discipline, trade-offs, and redefining success as a founder.

On this episode Philip speaks with Alan Costello, Partner at Resolve Partners, about what founders should focus on when building and funding a startup.They discuss customer discovery, building real traction, and how founders can find the right early investors.A practical conversation on why customer insight should come before capital.

In this episode of Founders and Funding, Philip speaks with Oscar Williams - VC investor, climate tech specialist and deep tech mentor. They explore funding strategies for hard tech startups, mixed capital stacks, what investors really look for in founders, and why raising capital is more like a marriage than a fling. A must-listen for founders navigating early-stage fundraising.

After exiting his advertising business, Michael Nissim became an angel investor backing early-stage startups across sectors.In this episode, Michael shares what he really looks for before investing — why founder resilience matters more than the business model, why he prefers founders who bootstrap first, and how startups should tailor their pitch to different types of investors.If you’re raising capital (or planning to), this is a practical look at funding from the investor’s side of the table.

In this episode of the Founders & Funding Podcast, Philip chats with Simon Gray, Founder and former CEO of Boost Drinks.Simon shares how he built Boost from a small wholesale operation in 2001 into a nationally recognised energy drinks brand, without taking on external investment, before selling the business to AG Barr (makers of IRN-BRU) in 2022.They discuss building a product that customers come back for (not just hype), why cash flow beats vanity sales, when funding acts as an accelerator, and what Simon now looks for as an investor and mentor.A practical conversation for founders thinking about scaling, exits, and raising capital the right way.

In this episode of the Founders & Funding Podcast, Philip chats with Kieran Greene, Founder & CEO of Shinka, an adtech platform powering ultra-fast real-time advertising auctions.Kieran shares his journey as a solo founder from bootstrapping and early debt financing to raising pre-seed and closing a seed round. They discuss how investor expectations change at each stage, building a technical MVP without a co-founder, and why having a clear vision has been critical to Shinka’s growth.A practical conversation for founders navigating early-stage fundraising and scaling technical products.

Philip Smith is joined by angel investor Matthew Stafford, co-founder of Nine Others and founder of Stafford VC.Matthew shares how 9others grew from a simple monthly dinner into a trusted global founder community, why honest peer conversations matter, and how founders can better navigate the challenges of building a company. He also discusses his approach to early-stage investing, what he looks for in founders, and why ideas that start niche or obscure often become the most interesting opportunities.The conversation covers funding with customers, building investor relationships before you need them, and why being genuinely helpful, and human, still matters in startups and investing.

Philip and Frank discuss when bootstrapping makes sense and when it limits ambition, why founders should raise if there’s a real path to $100M ARR, how to think about investors as partners not just capital, what Frank looks for when investing in startups himself and the startups he's invested in including Boardy and Clay, why red oceans don’t matter if you build your own lane and why founders should “engineer for luck” instead of building in silence

Philip and Leroy discuss why co-founder fallouts are one of the biggest causes of startup failure, what bootstrapping really looks like day-to-day, why sales is a non-negotiable skill for founders, how “easy money” can quietly destroy startups, what investors actually respond to (and what they ignore), when to take funding — and when to stop chasing it and much more.

Philip and Moe discuss why most founders avoid selling (and why that’s fatal), what “runway” really means and why cash flow matters more than vision, what investors are actually looking for when backing a founder, common funding mistakes that quietly kill great ideas, the mindset shift from entrepreneur to solopreneur and much more.

Philip and Fran covered a wide range of topics including bootstrapping while balancing full-time work, building a B2C startup and the challenges of achieving critical mass, the soft skills founders need to pitch effectively, how geography and industry shape your funding journey and lessons from Fran’s earlier startup successes and acquisitions.

Philip and Mark discuss deline8, building your pitch deck, managing startup stress, Enterprise Ireland's New Frontiers programme, pitching VCs, bootstrapping and much more.

Eoin and I discussed Decision Analytics, MVPs, delegating, founder-led sales, Local Enterprise Offices Priming Grant, Microfinance Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and much more.

Philip and Clive discuss Plynk, his work as a fractional CTO, raising funds, building relationships with investors and much more.

Philip and Michael discuss how startups can attract talent, the skills founders should have, funding your startup's growth, and much more.