PODCAST · business
Inspiring Founders Podcast
by Mash (Michael) Ashley
Most startups don’t fail because the idea is bad.They fail because the journey is harder than expected.Inspiring Founders explores what it really takes to survive and succeed in entrepreneurship. Each episode features honest conversations with founders and startup leaders about customer discovery, risk, resilience, and building companies that don’t just launch — but last.No shortcuts. No startup theater. Just the real work behind innovation.
Episodes
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Everything is giving us feedback!! Elizabeth Greenfield Inspiring Founders Interview
Elizabeth Greenfield spent 25 years as a nurse — 15 of them as a nurse anesthetist — before walking away from a job she loved to build her own functional medicine practice.She was running marathons and triathlons, working 24-hour shifts, and raising two small kids. Her own health was falling…
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SJSU Startup, ConscioussAI launches AI on your phone
In mid-2024, Shiven Dave was an aerospace engineering student drowning in wind tunnel test data. So he built a pipeline that let an AI watch his screen and answer his questions. He called it Jarvis — he's a lifelong Iron Man fan — and he had no intention of sharing it. His cousin talked him out…
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Saeed Amidi, Founder at Plug and Play talks Entrepreneurship
"You can either get a job at Google or BUILD Google!" In this episode Saeed sits down with host Mash to talk about pressure as a prerequisite, why he won't back a founder who has a plan B, what he's building with the new AI Center of Excellence in San Jose, and why he believes the AI revolution…
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The $100B Fraud Problem
This interview with Mykyta Tretynko, the founder of Billioncore joins us over Zoom to talk about his founder journey, what it's like being a startup in Ukraine, and why he is on a mission to stop fraudsters and chargebacks! Check out his startup at https://billioncore.tech/
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The Cloud Startup Saving Founders 40–60% on AWS
Handoyo is the founder and CEO of Lyrid, a cloud infrastructure platform he describes as "Airbnb for data centers" — aggregating compute, storage, and networking from local data centers and hyperscalers into one platform, and delivering it to startups and enterprises at 40–60% less than the big...
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Can AI Replace Startup Mentors? Natalia Bishop thinks it just might.
What does it take to bridge the gap for entrepreneurs in overlooked geographies? In this episode of Inspiring Founders, Mash sits down with Natalia Bishop—a serial tech founder and the visionary behind Story and Wild. Originally from Colombia and now a pillar of the Louisville startup scene,...
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Tom Shen Entrepreneurship is in the Heart
The One Trait Every Successful Founder Needs (It’s Not What You Think)What does it take to build, grow, and exit multiple companies? For serial entrepreneur Tom Shen, the secret isn't a high IQ or a perfect business plan—it’s humility.In this episode of Inspiring Founders, host Mash sits down…
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Benjamin Baer on Decision Intelligence, AI Guardrails, and Asking Better Questions
AI can generate an answer instantly — but that doesn’t mean it’s answering the right question. In this episode of Inspiring Founders, I sit down with Benjamin Baer of DecideWise in downtown San Jose to talk about “decision intelligence” — the tools and practices companies use to operationalize AI...
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Wayne Fenton on Startup Survival, Product-Market Fit, and Becoming “Default Alive”
In this episode of Inspiring Founders, Wayne Fenton shares lessons from decades in big tech, multiple startups, and now founding a deep tech company in Santa Cruz. We explore what it really means to become “default alive” — surviving the early stages of a startup long enough to reach…
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Inspiring Founders #4 - Raymond Cheng from Decrypt Compliance Shares When and Why to Launch a Startup
Meet Raymond Cheng, Founder and CEO at Decrypt Compliance, a Silicon Valley Startup providing compliance audits and certifications for small and medium sized businesses. If your startup wants to do business with the government, public universities, health care, or any other highly regulated...
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Inspiring Founders #3 - Sameer Saran from ParkStash talks about Bootstrapping a Startup
Meet Sameer Saran, the CEO and Founder of ParkStash a Parking Management Software for Real Estate used by Apartments, Student Housing, Mixed-use Retail Sites, and even Truck Parking. Sameer has been bootstrapping ParkStash for 8 years and is now profitable and gaining momentum. He sat down for an...
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Inspiring Founders #2 - Eli Finn and Edgar Ceron talk free founder resources and support in San Jose, California
Welcome to another episode of the Inspiring Founders Podcast. I'm your host, Michael Ashley and today we are heading over to San Jose to learn how SJSU supports Startups and Small Businesses at the south end of Silicon Valley.Join Edgar Ceron, Director of the Silicon Valley Small Business...
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Inspiring Founders #1 - Sol Lipman, PieFi, and the Future of Startups in Santa Cruz
Join Michael Ashley, AKA MASH, for an interview with PieFi founder Sol Lipman and learn what Pizza has to do with Startups coming out of Santa Cruz, California.
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Most startups don’t fail because the idea is bad.They fail because the journey is harder than expected.Inspiring Founders explores what it really takes to survive and succeed in entrepreneurship. Each episode features honest conversations with founders and startup leaders about customer discovery, risk, resilience, and building companies that don’t just launch — but last.No shortcuts. No startup theater. Just the real work behind innovation.
HOSTED BY
Mash (Michael) Ashley
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Inspiring Founders Podcast have?
Inspiring Founders Podcast currently has 13 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Inspiring Founders Podcast about?
Most startups don’t fail because the idea is bad.They fail because the journey is harder than expected.Inspiring Founders explores what it really takes to survive and succeed in entrepreneurship. Each episode features honest conversations with founders and startup leaders about customer discovery,...
How often does Inspiring Founders Podcast release new episodes?
Inspiring Founders Podcast has 13 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Inspiring Founders Podcast?
You can listen to Inspiring Founders Podcast 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 Inspiring Founders Podcast?
Inspiring Founders Podcast is created and hosted by Mash (Michael) Ashley.
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