Episodios

  • What’s Holding Back 98% of Women Founders from $1M Revenue? ft. Nomiki Petrolla

    What’s Holding Back 98% of Women Founders from $1M Revenue? ft. Nomiki Petrolla
    Nov 13 2025
    In this episode, Nomiki Petrolla founder of Theanna, a groundbreaking platform empowering women tech founders, unpacks the realities of startup success few talk about. She reveals why crossing major business milestones remains elusive for most founders and how a combination of grit, knowing your product inside out, and embracing rejection can transform your journey. What’s inside: • The systemic challenges and gaps women founders face in tech and funding • How to own your product vision without losing control • “Rejection therapy” - why being comfortable with failure is a superpower • The obsession and rapid experimentation mindset every entrepreneur needs • Building a supportive community that fuels growth and accountability • How to validate ideas efficiently and avoid costly missteps • Balancing cutting-edge AI tools with genuine human connection • Practical wisdom from someone leading a women-first startup revolution If you’re on the path to scaling your business, breaking barriers, or fueling unstoppable growth, this episode offers a raw yet hopeful blueprint for owning your vision and reaching new heights. 📌 Perfect for: Entrepreneurs, women founders, startup enthusiasts, and changemakers committed to making an impact. Connect with Nomiki Petrolla(Guest): LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nomikipetrolla/ Website: https://theanna.io/v2 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About the host: I’m Abhinav Sinha, host of “Funds & Founders”, a podcast for Austin entrepreneurs navigating early-stage startups. I explore the highs, lows, and breakthrough moments of local founders through candid conversations. I also sit down with VCs to uncover how they evaluate early-stage companies and share practical insights. I create an intimate space for guests to share authentic stories, inspiring aspiring founders along their journey. Contact me here, LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abhinavbsinha/ Newsletter: https://newsletter.fundsandfounder.com/ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0:00 - Trailer 0:58 - Intro 1:23 - Why do only 2% of VC funds go to women? What’s Ana’s mission to change that? 1:42 - What inspired you to build Ana? What was the defining moment? 5:00 - Why does a business fundamentals skill gap exist for women founders? 7:40 - What top 2–3 skills should women focus on when starting a business? 12:30 - What did day one of building Ana look like, from idea to first revenue? 17:35 - What goals or KPIs drive Ana’s growth journey? 18:22 - How do you measure the real impact, are members actually launching? 20:11 - What key skills do founders need at each stage, launch, grow, scale? 23:08 - Why do so many founders overbuild before validating their idea? 26:20 - How do you decide when to ship or scrap an idea within 48 hours? 27:54 - What’s the 60-second version of your six-step founder framework? 28:43 - How easily can founders turn your framework into action? 30:28 - Why do most productivity or milestone tools fail to feel personalized? 34:13 - What tool or system gives you back the most focus hours each week? 35:36 - What are your most-used tools for productivity and growth? 38:05 - What happens when everyone uses AI for cold outreach? 39:21 - Will authentic voices get drowned out in the AI outreach era? 40:07 - What kind of merch should Theanna create for its community? 44:20 - Beyond funding, what hidden barrier slows women founders the most? 45:41 - What mindset cues reveal if a founder will stay the course or quit early? 46:16 - How important is a risk-taking attitude in overcoming rejection and failure? 48:24 - What was your experience hitting 10K MRR and dealing with investors? 49:40 - How do you approach fundraising, safe notes, valuation, or waiting it out? 50:21 - What should founders understand about investor incentives and FOMO? 53:12 - If you could send a 60-second voice note to your past self, what would it say? 53:39 - What’s the first validation step for someone with an idea in their notes app? 53:57 - Fast forward 3 years, what headline do you want to read about yourself and Theanna? 54:21 - Who’s your dream podcast guest to interview next? #WomenInTech #FemaleFounders #WomenEntrepreneurs #StartupJourney #ProductLeadership #WomenWhoBuild #Entrepreneurship #TechInnovation
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    57 m
  • What Founders Get Wrong About Success ft. Harry | Funds and Founders

    What Founders Get Wrong About Success ft. Harry | Funds and Founders
    Nov 5 2025
    In this episode of Funds and Founders, we sit down with Harry Morton, the founder of Lower Street and host of Moneywise, to uncover the emotional reality behind wealth, success, and the often-overlooked emptiness that follows an exit. Harry’s company produces podcasts for some of the world’s top brands. But his journey started with waiting tables at Buckingham Palace while bootstrapping his agency from zero. From sound engineering to building a multimillion-dollar podcast business, Harry shares his honest take on: - How to build a real podcast brand in an oversaturated space - What billionaires and millionaires really feel after success - The biggest mistake founders make after an exit - Why 70% of second startups fail — and how to avoid the trap - What founders should know before starting a podcast - The power of differentiation and authenticity in podcasting If you’ve ever wondered how to use podcasting strategically, or what success actually feels like once you’ve achieved it, this episode is a must-watch. 🔗 Connect with Harry Morton Website: https://lowerstreet.co LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harrymorton/ About the host: I’m Abhinav Sinha, host of “Funds & Founders”, a podcast for Austin entrepreneurs navigating early-stage startups. I explore the highs, lows, and breakthrough moments of local founders through candid conversations. I also sit down with VCs to uncover how they evaluate early-stage companies and share practical insights. I create an intimate space for guests to share authentic stories, inspiring aspiring founders along their journey. Contact me here, LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abhinavbsinha/ Newsletter: https://newsletter.fundsandfounder.com/ 0:00 - Trailer 0:40 - Intro 1:47 - The Hidden Truth About High Net-Worth Founders 5:19 - The Dark Side of Entrepreneurship Nobody Talks About 8:02 - Redefining Success: Why a Chill Life Might Be Better Than a Billion-Dollar Company 12:55 - From Idea to First Client: The Real Startup Timeline 15:36 - Moving from Small Clients to Enterprise Deals 16:44 - Building a Face for Enterprise Podcasts 18:12 - Why Big Brands Are Turning Into Media Companies 20:28 - Rethinking Podcast Sponsorships 22:34 - The Harsh Reality of Podcast Growth 26:34 - Getting Real with Guests Without Alienating Them 29:07 - Should SaaS Founders Start a Podcast? 35:17 - Why 80/20 Episodes Perform Better 37:16 - Evergreen vs. Topical Content: What Works Better? 38:23 - What’s Missing in the Podcasting Industry 42:56 - The Future of Podcast Distribution & Authentic Content
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    44 m
  • How to Survive the First 6 Months ft. Albert Behr | Revenue and Investment Consultant

    How to Survive the First 6 Months ft. Albert Behr | Revenue and Investment Consultant
    Nov 4 2025
    Most founders don’t fail because of bad ideas. They fail because they run out of money, energy, or clarity in the first six months. In this brutally honest episode, Albert Behr, Founder of Behr & Associates and a veteran with over 30 years experience in corporate strategy, strategic partner development and technology commercialization, Albert Behr brings the expertise to ensure funding, early adoption and swift market penetration for your technology. Albert Behr has helped launch and scale dozens of technology ventures across North America and Asia, driving partnerships, licensing deals, and multi-million-dollar exits. Whether you’re in your first startup cycle or planning your exit, this episode will challenge how you think about money, risk, and success. 00:00 Intro 02:00 Leaving corporate life for entrepreneurship 05:00 The 6-month deal with his wife 08:00 Why the first 6 months define everything 14:00 “Go f***ing make money” — how Albert learned his core rule 20:00 VC vs. licensing: what actually creates wealth 30:00 Healthy paranoia and staying in the game 45:00 Why America breeds fearless entrepreneurs 55:00 The #1 mistake founders keep repeating Follow Albert Behr: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/albert-behr-3ab460/ 🔗 behrassociates.com Follow me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abhinavbsinha/
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    1 h y 1 m
  • Inside the $6B Scotch Whiskey Industry – Opportunities, Tech & Building a Fund | Ep 71

    Inside the $6B Scotch Whiskey Industry – Opportunities, Tech & Building a Fund | Ep 71
    Sep 28 2025

    In this episode of *Funds and Founders*, we sit down with a whiskey entrepreneur who has spent over a decade in the Scotch industry — building investment funds, luxury travel experiences, cask storage businesses, and more.From Scotch’s 600-year-old traditions to AI-driven forecasting tools, the whiskey industry is ripe for disruption.

    We cover:


    - The $6B Scotch export market & where the real money is

    - Why whiskey is a unique, high-value alternative asset

    - Tech & AI opportunities in distillation, warehousing, and customer engagement

    - How to break into traditional industries as an outsider

    - Building and exiting a whiskey private equity fund


    If you’re an entrepreneur, investor, or simply a whiskey lover, this episode will change how you see the liquor business.


    📍 What You’ll Learn:


    - How forecasting works when your product takes 18+ years to make

    - Which markets (beyond the US) are booming for whiskey

    - Ways to attract a new generation of drinkers

    - The role of education & experience in luxury branding


    Timestamps:

    00:00 – Intro & Guest Background

    00:46 – Projects in the Whiskey Industry

    01:33 – Scotch Whiskey Market Size & Growth

    03:08 – Why Forecasting is a 30-Year Game

    05:30 – Opportunities for Entrepreneurs & AI in Whiskey

    07:12 – How the Customer Experience is Changing

    08:48 – New Generation of Whiskey Drinkers

    09:45 – How Open Is the Industry to New Tech?

    10:53 – Building a Warehouse for Private Clients

    12:36 – Industry Adoption Curve: Big vs Small Players

    15:16 – Whiskey Trends in Global Markets (India, Taiwan, Middle East)

    20:12 – Go-to-Market for Selling to the Whiskey Industry

    24:07 – The Luxury Ladder & Aspirational Drinking

    25:28 – Whiskey Education as a Business Opportunity

    29:23 – Tastes, Palates & Evolving Preferences

    31:16 – The Power of Experiences in Luxury Branding

    33:33 – Speyside: The Napa Valley of Scotch

    35:30 – Building a Whiskey-Luxury Travel Vertical

    37:31 – Collecting, Investing & Niche Business Ideas in Whiskey

    39:10 – From Wine to Whiskey: Early Journey

    42:29 – Raising a $12M Whiskey Private Equity Fund

    45:47 – Legal & Fund Management Learnings

    48:42 – Finding the Right Team in Niche Industries

    50:31 – Fundraising Strategy & Deploying Capital

    53:01 – Turning Early Wins into More Investment

    56:08 – Exiting the Fund & Market Timing

    59:01 – Learning to Control the Exit Strategy

    01:03:13 – Why Whiskey is a Stable Alternative Asset

    01:05:08 – What Excites the Guest About the Next 5 Years in Whiskey

    01:06:48 – How to Work with Rare Whiskey Holdings

    01:07:26 – Expanding Your Business Horizons
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    1 h y 9 m
  • From Zero to $1 BILLION: The Vet Clinic That Broke Every Business Rule | Ep 70

    From Zero to $1 BILLION: The Vet Clinic That Broke Every Business Rule | Ep 70
    Sep 26 2025

    Michael’s entrepreneurial journey started at 12 with a paper route and grew into building Thrive Pet Healthcare into a billion-dollar company. In this episode, he shares exactly how he scaled from one affordable vet clinic to 250+ locations, the mistakes and pivots along the way, and how he’s now tackling home services with the same playbook.

    We talk market opportunities, raising private equity, scaling operations fast, and the mindset needed to push through slow starts and build industry-leading businesses. Whether you’re building your first startup or scaling your 10th, this episode is packed with practical takeaways. Watch the full episode @FundsAndFounders


    What you’ll learn:

    - How to spot and validate opportunities in massive markets

    - The business model behind affordable pet care

    - Scaling from zero to $1B top line in 5 years

    - Why acquisition can outpace building from scratch

    - Lessons on being relentless as a founder


    Timestamps


    0:00 – Intro & Michael’s first hustle at 12

    3:25 – Early lessons from the paper route

    7:48 – Baseball card collecting & the value of collectibles

    11:40 – From M&A to starting Thrive Pet Healthcare

    15:28 – Identifying the affordable pet care gap

    21:02 – Building the first clinic: model, pricing & efficiency

    27:44 – Surviving a slow start & hitting profitability

    31:55 – Scaling to multiple locations & hiring the right team

    38:19 – Raising capital & accelerating growth

    42:56 – Inside the pet care market size & opportunity

    48:03 – From 20M to $1B revenue in 5 years

    54:32 – Challenges of scaling fast & integrating acquisitions

    1:00:50 – Industry consolidation & competing with giants

    1:05:24 – Why Michael moved into home services

    1:10:12 – Parallels between pets & HVAC (and the crazy costs)

    1:15:30 – AI opportunities in vet care & home services

    1:20:15 – Michael’s #1 lesson for founders: Be relentless

    1:24:07 – Where to connect with Michael
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    57 m
  • James Brewer hacked his way into the founding team | Ep 69

    James Brewer hacked his way into the founding team | Ep 69
    Sep 24 2025

    James Brewer went from being Import Yeti’s 3rd user to its co-founder—and helped scale it to 150K+ paying users and 2M monthly visitors. In this episode of Funds and Founders, he breaks down how import/export data can power sales, how to turn sweat equity into real ownership, and the systems that helped build a multi-million dollar bootstrapped SaaS.

    💡 Whether you're in logistics, SaaS, or trying to break into tech—this episode is packed with actionable frameworks on:


    - Sales with data

    - Startup equity

    - Scaling without VC

    - Automation stacks that save 10+ hours/week

    - And the power of never taking “no” as the final answer


    📬 Want to try Import Yeti’s premium tools? Watch the full episode @FundsAndFounders


    Timestamps:


    00:00 – James Brewer on retention and the surprising start of Import Yeti

    01:20 – From user #3 to co-founder: the cold email that changed everything

    03:10 – The pitch mistake that taught James how to actually sell

    05:00 – Using import/export data to close million-dollar clients

    07:00 – What makes global logistics shockingly inefficient

    09:00 – The sweat equity deal: how James negotiated his way in

    11:15 – Building trust without funding: early growth, first users, and retention

    13:30 – The automation stack that saves him 10+ hours/week

    15:45 – Why James still handles support tickets personally

    17:20 – Growth without VC: systems, obsession, and ownership

    19:50 – Customer feedback vs. product focus: what they say “no” to

    22:00 – How Import Yeti avoids getting outpaced by copycats

    23:30 – The three biggest use cases driving 2M monthly visits

    26:00 – Sales vs. product: how to balance short-term wins and long-term moat

    28:10 – Lessons from scaling a “boring” SaaS in a niche market

    30:00 – Founder conflicts, and why their partnership actually works

    33:00 – Most SaaS founders get sales wrong — here’s what to fix

    35:15 – How to earn founder-level equity even if you weren’t there day one

    37:30 – Final advice: Build something useful. Stay in the game. Get obsessed.

    39:30 – Where to find James + how to access Import Yeti’s premium features
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    1 h y 8 m
  • How Lucy Banks Built a Million-Dollar Brand Without Stripe or Ads | Ep 68

    How Lucy Banks Built a Million-Dollar Brand Without Stripe or Ads | Ep 68
    Sep 22 2025

    Lucy Banks went from corporate banking to becoming a top 1% OnlyFans creator — and now runs a PR & marketing agency for adult creators. In this episode, she exposes the harsh truths about building in the creator economy, why most OnlyFans accounts fail, and what it really takes to scale in the adult space.

    We go deep into:

    - The business behind OnlyFans

    - Why creators need more than “just looks”

    - Payment platform struggles in sex tech

    - How Lucy made $1M+ on OnlyFans without going full-time

    - Building tech & startups in taboo markets

    Follow Lucy:


    Instagram: [@imlucybanks](https://www.instagram.com/imlucybanks)

    Agency: [@millionbillionmedia](https://www.instagram.com/millionbillionmedia)

    LinkedIn: [Lucy Banks](https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucybanksmbm/)


    Timestamps


    00:00 - Intro: Lucy Banks on Funds & Founders

    01:00 - What people get wrong about OnlyFans in 2025

    03:30 - The myth: “Being hot = success”

    06:12 - Why 99% of creators make less than $300/month

    08:40 - OnlyFans approval process and creator struggles

    11:20 - Meet Million Billion Media — helping adult creators

    14:45 - Censorship, shadowbans & banned bank accounts

    18:40 - Why Stripe and Mailchimp block this industry

    21:00 - Is sex tech the next billion-dollar wave?

    25:12 - How to build a Stripe alternative for adult creators

    29:00 - Go-to-market in a censored industry (no ads allowed)

    34:35 - How to get creators to trust your startup

    38:10 - Rev share models, affiliate structures, creator feedback

    42:00 - Lucy’s story: From banking to OnlyFans

    46:00 - Making $1M+ on OnlyFans (without going all in)

    49:20 - What OnlyFans doesn’t do for creators

    52:05 - Break down of revenue streams: subs, tips, chats

    55:50 - Why OnlyFans still wins despite lacking features

    58:30 - Top 5 growth tactics for new creators

    01:07:30 - Closing thoughts & where to find Lucy
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    47 m
  • The Smartest Founders Build Email First | Ep - 67

    The Smartest Founders Build Email First | Ep - 67
    Sep 20 2025

    Newsletters are not dead, Dylan from Growth in Reverse breaks down how indie founders and B2B operators are building 5-figure audiences and monetizing with just email.

    He shares the underrated metric every newsletter creator should track, how to launch a newsletter from scratch, and why owning your distribution is your biggest unfair advantage.


    We also go deep on

    - Sponsorships

    - Paid ads

    - Personal vs Company branding

    - How to stay consistent even when life gets in the way.


    Whether you're just starting or scaling, this episode is a must-listen.


    Timestamps:

    00:00 - Quick intro & Dylan plugs

    01:30 - The most overlooked truth about newsletters

    02:55 - One North Star metric every founder should track

    05:00 - Why owning your distribution is non-negotiable

    06:45 - How to start a newsletter from zero

    08:30 - Educate, Inform, Entertain: The content trifecta

    09:40 - How to *sell* through newsletters without annoying your readers

    11:55 - When to start thinking about sponsorships

    13:45 - Monetizing early: ads, partnerships & paid growth

    17:00 - Newsletter commitment: Why 10+ editions matter

    20:05 - Favorite growth channels: Paid, organic, lead magnets

    24:00 - Facebook ad hack that landed 20+ subscribers before launch

    27:10 - Building your system: SOPs, templates & content blocks

    30:00 - Should you steal playbooks? How to filter growth tactics

    33:00 - Writing vs Talking: Choosing the right medium

    36:00 - Guest posts, collaborations & ownership issues

    38:05 - Smart ways to collect feedback from your audience

    42:10 - Building brand: Personal vs Company vs Thematic

    45:30 - When personal branding blocks startup acquisitions

    47:00 - Behind the scenes at Growth in Reverse

    50:00 - Final tips for founders building in public
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    59 m