PODCAST · business
Founder's Voyage
by Spencer Walker-Fooks, Nancy Nash
Founder’s Voyage is a podcast for the ones building in the dark, the ones failing forward, and the ones figuring it out as they go. We bring you unfiltered conversations with founders who’ve faced the highs, and the lows. Just real lessons from the people in the arena. Whether you're scaling a startup or sketching your first idea on a napkin, these are the stories that remind you you're not alone—and the insights that help you move forward. We are an entrepreneurial community united by a shared mission of shared learning and supporting each other.
Episodes
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178 - How this Founder is using engaging with AI Innovation - Claudia Villegas
Claudia is a marketing data and AI strategist with over 15 years of experience bridging business, product, and data systems. She previously served as CEO and Marketing Intelligence Director at LUNAVE, and most recently led data and BI at Food Stream Network. A passionate advocate for…
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177 - How can Online Communities Shape a Founder's Voyage - Claudia Villegas
Claudia is the Business Intelligence Director at LUNAVE with over 12 years of experience in marketing, social media strategy, and data analytics. An alumni of MIT's IoT Bootcamp, she brings a rare combination of deep technical expertise and creative vision, including her work as a talented…
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176 - A Founder's Unconventional Voyage - Arturo Alvarez
Arturo is a Honduras-based full stack software developer with a rich entrepreneurial background that spans theology studies in London, a coffee market venture, and a geo-tracking startup for cattle. After years of searching for his true calling, he found his passion in software development…
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175 - A Founder’s Journey Through Art and Cultural Wisdom - Gema Alava
Gema Alava is an artist, writer, and global speaker whose multidisciplinary work bridges art, culture, and humanity. As the founder of Hexagons Global, she has created a powerful art project spanning paintings, installations, seminars, and cultural education platforms inspired by the wisdom of…
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174 - Navigating the Last 10% from Prototype to Production - Ben Thorpe
Ben Thorpe is the Design and Manufacturing Director at Naiad Aqua Systems, a startup revolutionising chemical control for swimming pools through modern connected technology. With nearly two decades of industry experience, he has worked across major companies including SharkNinja and Tech21,...
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173 - "Build $#!t That Matters" - Marius Ursache
Marius is a serial entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience spanning healthcare, fintech, HR tech, B2B software, e-commerce, and consumer apps. As an MIT Teaching Fellow, he helped launch the MIT Bootcamps program and taught there for over a decade. He is also a co-author of the upcoming…
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172 - Fostering Teamwork Between People and Machines in Modern Service Businesses - Shoko Taka and Jaime Garcia
Shoko Takahashi and Jaime Garcia is the founder of Incubion Social Robotics Laboratories (Incubion), a company dedicated to bridging the gap between robot providers and service industry users in Japan. With over a decade of experience in the robotics sector, Shoko has spearheaded initiatives...
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171 - How this Founder Navigates Ownership - Chris Sacchinelli
Chris is the founder of Bootstrap AI, a platform helping founders measure ownership risk, strengthen equity durability, and improve exit readiness. He is the author of two books, Unwinnable and Exit with Ownership, hosts the Bootstrapping to Billions podcast, and publishes the Simple Profits...
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170 - How Is Data Analytics Shaping the Future of Crypto and DeFi - Mattheus Veloso Dias
Matt is a data and analytics leader with a rare blend of traditional finance and crypto expertise. After five years at Nubank, one of Latin America's largest digital banks, where he built analytics infrastructure at scale, he now leads data at Ether.fi, a major DeFi protocol based in the Cayman...
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169 - When Passion Meets Conservation - Megan Brief
Megan Brief is a wildlife photographer, nature writer, and passionate conservation storyteller who documents human-wildlife conflict and coexistence across the globe. She works as a Digital Marketing Coordinator for Natural Habitat Adventures, an ecotourism company partnered with World Wildlife...
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168 - Founders Lessons on AI Integration - Sayantika Banik
Sayantika Banik is the founder of Data Journey HQ, an evolving ecosystem that connects open source innovation with design-first AI. With a background shaped by a nomadic military family upbringing, Saya has channeled a lifelong love of exploration into building tools that empower solo and...
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167 - The Founder Behind Dolly - Angela Scott
Angela is an experienced executive, founder of TC BioPharma, and Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. She was part of the pioneering PPL Therapeutics team that cloned Dolly the sheep and went on to serve as Operations Director at Angel Biotechnology. With a career spanning decades across...
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166 - 2025 in Review
Early this year Nancy and Spencer took a moment to look back on an incredible year for Founder's Voyage. In this special retrospective episode, we reflect on the podcast's growth, our most memorable conversations, and the lessons that have stayed with them. From episode 56 to episode 153…
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165 - The Mistakes that Killed my First Business - Spencer Walker-Fooks
Our own Co-Founder Spencer Walker-Fooks talks about his first business, Unseen Games, the motivations behind it, and the mistakes that eventually killed it. This episode is a little different, it comes from one of our live events in London. Over four years, Spencer navigated the challenges of...
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164 - Joanna Montgomery on Leadership, Funding, and Finding Freedom for Founders - Joanna Montgomery
Joanna Montgomery is a pioneering entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of Little Riot, an internationally acclaimed company best known for bringing emotion-driven connected products like Pillow Talk to life. With over 15 years of experience, Joanna has redefined how technology can foster human...
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163 - Who does a Founder need on their Board - Jordan Schlipf
Jordan is a seasoned entrepreneur, investor, and operator with an impressive track record in both founding and scaling technology businesses, as well as supporting over 1,600 early-stage investments through roles at Rainmaking and Startup Bootcamp. As the current CEO of Cowshed and a co-founder…
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162 - How this Founder Turned a Passion Project into a Worldwide Wonder - Michael Kuzma
Michael is the creator of the Kuzma self-playing guitar, a groundbreaking fusion of engineering and artistry that brings a unique guitar performance to life. What began as a college dorm room project has evolved into a globally recognized innovation featured at high-profile events and delivered…
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161 - A Founder's Guide to the Data Center Industry - Gabriel Storti
Gabriel is an accomplished entrepreneur and innovator with over 16 years of experience in mission-critical operations, team building, and leading business unit development for Fortune 200 companies. He is known for co-founding Brazil’s first ultra-fast grocery delivery platform and executing...
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160 - The Founder at NeuroX is Pioneering the Future of Cognitive Health - Anoop Antony
Anoop Antony is a neuroscientist, tech founder, and CEO of NeuroX, where he leads innovations in brain mapping, neurofeedback, and photobiomodulation. With academic credentials spanning psychology and cognitive neuroscience, Anoop has transformed his expertise into building cutting-edge...
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159 - Founder's Vision for 3d Printing Ceramics - Yu-Wei (Wayne) Tang
Wayne is the co-founder of 3Dceramet, a pioneering company in the field of ceramic 3D printing, dedicated to enabling high flexibility and sustainable design for industrial-grade ceramics. With a strong background in data expertise and entrepreneurial experience across multiple countries, Wayne…
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158 - Youth Football Coach and Founder - James Doubtfire
James is the Director at Digital Twin Build and Managing Director at Format Design London, with over 15 years of entrepreneurial experience at the intersection of design, technology, and the built environment. Having started as a graphic designer and eventually carved a path into business...
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157 - From Cyber Security for POTUS to Repeat Founder - Roselle Safran
Roselle is an accomplished cybersecurity founder and executive, with a unique journey from civil engineering at Princeton to leading cybersecurity efforts at the White House and launching multiple startups, including Uplevel Security (acquired by McAfee) and Key Caliber. With over two decades in...
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156 - Advise for Founders from Both Sides of the Table - Maria Luque Antigue
Maria is an accomplished AI researcher, community builder, and talent investor based in London. She co-founded the YAMLRG community, bringing together AI researchers and engineers to discuss advances in machine learning. Maria was a Founder in Residence, and now a Talent Investor at Entrepreneurs...
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155 - Founder Siblings Solving AI Safety - Arul and Shirali Nigam
Arul and Shirali Nigam are the sibling co-founders behind Circuit Breaker Labs, a pioneering venture focused on detecting mental health vulnerabilities in AI-powered applications. Blending Arul's technical expertise in AI with Shirali's background in Business Administration and Science, the duo...
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154 - Dual Insight into Founders and Investors - Simon Olson
Simon is a serial entrepreneur and investor known for applying cutting-edge AI to real-world problems, with a track record spanning over a decade across diverse verticals. As CEO and founding partner of Togi AI, he leads initiatives to bring autonomous intelligence to manufacturing, building on a...
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153 - Founder Leverage AI to Transform Local Government Efficiency - Erica Olsen
Erica Olsen is an accomplished entrepreneur, strategic planning expert, and the co-founder and CEO of OnStrategy, a strategic planning software and consulting firm. With over 20 years dedicated to helping organizations worldwide execute their vision, Erica recently launched Madison AI, a...
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152 - Fordje Founder Changing the Game for Clean Tech and Construction - Gillian (Wildfire) Sowray
Gillian (Wildfire) Sowray is the co-founder and CEO of Fordje, the first AI platform designed to truly understand and structure the complex and ever-changing world of city, zoning, and building codes. With a background that spans political campaigns, an MBA from Carnegie Mellon, and product...
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151 - Founder After Space Industry Opportunities - Spencer In Space
Spencer is a senior R&D Robotics Systems engineer at Magnet Medical Robotics, a co-founder of the Founder's Voyage Discord Community, and an MIT Entrepreneurship Bootcamp alumnus. With a deep passion for robotics, household automation, and IoT, Spencer focuses on leveraging technology to improve...
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150 - The Role of Technology and Ethical Considerations in Modern Logistics - Pavithra Gopal
Pavithra Gopal is an accomplished corporate innovator specializing in supply chain management and logistics. With roots in eastern India and a background as the daughter of an entrepreneur, Pavithra’s journey has taken her from engineering studies to a master’s from the University of Illinois at...
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149 - The Secret Weapon for Feeding the World and Saving the Planet - Mollie Langdon
Mollie Langdon is a postdoctoral seed development biologist at Rothamsted Research in the UK, where she focuses on increasing crop yields through advanced gene editing techniques such as CRISPR. With a PhD and undergraduate degree in biology from the University of Bath, Mollie has become a key...
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148 - How this Founder is Revolutionizing Cancer Treatment - Sharon Cunningham
Sharon Cunningham is the CEO and co-founder of Shorla Oncology, an innovative specialty pharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing oncology drugs for women’s and pediatric cancers. Recognized as Ireland's Best Young Entrepreneur of 2019 and EY Entrepreneur of the year 2024,...
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147 - How Founder's Adapt in Times of Crisis - Miranda Phua
Miranda is an accomplished social entrepreneur and co-founder/CEO of ZigWay, a social enterprise dedicated to supporting low-income families in Myanmar. An MIT Bootcamp alumna, Miranda has mentored multiple bootcamp cohorts and brings a unique perspective as a first-generation immigrant, seasoned...
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146 - Polite Persistence an Unstoppable Tool for Founders - Iman Urooj
Iman Urooj is an accomplished entrepreneur and business development leader, currently serving as Head of Business Development at SafePay, a pioneering fintech startup backed by Stripe and a Y Combinator alum, focused on transforming online payments in Pakistan. Recognized as a top-five finalist…
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145 - The Power of Community and Innovation in Driving Sustainable Entrepreneurship - Elizabeth Fuller MacKellar
Liz is a seasoned entrepreneur, educator, and advocate for sustainability with a track record spanning high-tech, consumer electronics, strategic planning, and environmental activism. Her diverse journey includes founding a surf shop that championed eco-friendly practices, working in corporate...
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144 - A Founder's Insight into Maternal Care - Sangheetha Parthasarathy
Sangeetha Parthasarathy is a healthcare entrepreneur, SaaS leader, and trauma therapist whose career spans three continents. With roots in India and professional experience in the US and UK, she brings a unique perspective to maternal health, mental well-being, and the intersection of culture and...
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143 - Founder Transforming Burnout into Brilliance - Moncia Kang
Monica is an award-winning entrepreneur, speaker, and founder of InnovatorsBox, a company dedicated to transforming workplace culture and unlocking creativity at every level of an organization. With a background that spans international relations, nuclear security, and consulting for Fortune 500...
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142 - How Data Transparency Can Revolutionize Offshore Wind Energy - Fay Fang
Our guest today, Fay de Waal, is a dynamic and passionate sustainability innovator, materials scientist, and diversity advocate. With experience with multiple master thesis, a specialist in the recyclability of offshore wind turbines, an analyst at 414, and founder of the Libra Network, Fay...
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141 - The Trials, Triumphs, and Transformations of an AI Consultancy Founder - Reuben McQueen
Reuben McQueen is the co-founder and CTO of Open Kit, an AI consultancy focused on helping organisations strategise, develop, and integrate cutting-edge AI solutions to reduce costs, minimize errors, and boost efficiency. With a background in computer science and years of entrepreneurial...
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140 - How Can African Founders Navigate the Challenges of Funding and Growth? - Mark Kwame Akakpo
Mark is an accomplished engineer, entrepreneur, and fintech leader originally from Ghana and now based in South Africa. With a background in electronic engineering and experience spanning food production, investment banking, and technology, Mark currently leads the fintech advisory at Absa Group…
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139 - 🎙 Redefining Brand Engagement in the Digital Age - Natalia Suniga
In this episode of Founders Voyage, we welcomed Natalia Suniga, an accomplished PhD Sociologist and Foundress of Strategy Of Things where she develops 360 strategies connecting brands, communications, culture and business. Natalia lead the TikTok Creative Operation for more +10 markets in LATAM,...
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138 - 🎙 Lessons for Founders from Simon Olson on Success, Grit, and Innovation - Simon Olson
Simon is the CEO and founding partner of XY Ventures, a seasoned VC investor, and a venture advisor to leading accelerator programs such as 500 Startups, Techstars, and Founder Institute. With a background in energy engineering and deep experience in entrepreneurship, Simon has mentored and...
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137 - 🎙 Key Insights on Becoming Exit Ready for Founders - Damian Connolly
Damian Connolly is the founder and Managing Director of Sakura Business Solutions, an accountancy practice specializing in outsourced finance team services and strategic business advisory. With a rich background spanning private equity, SME advisory, and hands-on experience in business exits,...
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136 - 🎙 How Resilience Fuels the Founder's Spirit in Healthcare - Dr Nithya Koratagere
Dr Nithya Koratagere is a doctor, healthcare innovator, passionate sustainability advocate, and co-founder of Care on Call, a pioneering home and corporate healthcare company based in India. With a background in medicine and years of leadership experience, Nithya navigated her company through the...
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135 - 🎙 A Founder in Social Entrepreneurship and Community - Alice Layton
Alice is a trailblazing social entrepreneur, founder and CEO of Wabbani, and president of the Rupununi Learners Foundation. Her work bridges nonprofit and social enterprise by partnering with indigenous communities in Guyana, most notably through Cayman House, a community-owned enterprise that is...
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134 - The Power of Humility and Curiosity in Founding - Sameer Vishwanathan
Sameer is an accomplished entrepreneur and founder with a rich cross-continental journey from India to the United States. With a background in mechanical engineering and operations research, Sameer transitioned from a tech and engineering career to founding his own quantitative finance recruiting...
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133 - 🎙 How Can Founders Empower Patients Through Digital Health Innovation - Felix Oen
Felix is a seasoned medical innovator, entrepreneur, and mentor with over 30 years of experience spanning investment banking, healthcare, and technology. As a two-time founder with one exit, Felix has trained at Stanford in medical bio-design and further broadened his expertise at MIT and…
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132 - 🎙 Insights on Lifelong Learning and Professional Growth - Giovanni Giardina
Giovanni is an accomplished supply chain management professional with a passion for lifelong learning and social impact. Having twice served as a CTA for the MIT Supply Chains Analytics course, Giovanni continues to expand his expertise across statistics, economics, and logistics. Outside his…
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131 - 🌎︎Porter's Five Forces
This episode features a deep-dive discussion into Porter's Five Forces framework, an essential analytical tool for understanding industry competition and strategic positioning. Rather than a traditional guest interview, our hosts and team explore how Michael E. Porter's model helps businesses of...
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130 - 🎙 Founder Building Sustainable Partnerships in Social Entrepreneurship - Wycliffe Barasa
Wycliffe is a Kenyan social entrepreneur, educator, and community leader dedicated to empowering young people and combating educational inequality, youth unemployment, and Africa's brain drain. As founder of Kosi Africa and Kosi Tech Initiatives, Wycliffe has mentored tens of thousands of youth,...
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129 - 🎙 How Can mRNA Technology Transform the Future of Medicine? - Xinyue (Frank) Zhang
Frank is a results-driven scientist with over ten years of experience in the biotechnology sector, specializing in mRNA therapeutics, process development, and analytical development. He has played a pivotal role in pioneering applications of mRNA, from vaccines to gene therapies, and has...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Founder’s Voyage is a podcast for the ones building in the dark, the ones failing forward, and the ones figuring it out as they go.
We bring you unfiltered conversations with founders who’ve faced the highs, and the lows. Just real lessons from the people in the arena.
Whether you're scaling a startup or sketching your first idea on a napkin, these are the stories that remind you you're not alone—and the insights that help you move forward.
We are an entrepreneurial community united by a shared mission of shared learning and supporting each other.
HOSTED BY
Spencer Walker-Fooks, Nancy Nash
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Founder's Voyage have?
Founder's Voyage currently has 163 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Founder's Voyage about?
Founder’s Voyage is a podcast for the ones building in the dark, the ones failing forward, and the ones figuring it out as they go. We bring you unfiltered conversations with founders who’ve faced the highs, and the lows. Just real lessons from the people in the arena. Whether you're scaling a...
How often does Founder's Voyage release new episodes?
Founder's Voyage publishes regularly with 163 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to Founder's Voyage?
You can listen to Founder's Voyage on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Founder's Voyage?
Founder's Voyage is created and hosted by Spencer Walker-Fooks, Nancy Nash.
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