Founders and Funding

Ep 34 - James Robson - Co-Founder & CEO of FundOnion

In this episode of the Founders & Funding Podcast, Philip Smith speaks with James Robson, Founder and CEO of Fund Onion, a UK commercial finance brokerage evolving into an investment bank for small and medium-sized businesses. James shares the full arc of the business, from a failed comparison platform built on a WordPress site with almost no capital, through a pivot into brokerage, to becoming one of the largest players in unsecured lending for its niche. He talks about why Fund Onion has never taken debt or equity, how they've reinvested free cash flow at every stage, and why he actively advises certain founders against raising equity at all.

Ep 33 - Mark McCarthy - Founder of How You Doing

In this episode of the Founders & Funding Podcast, Philip Smith speaks with Mark McCarthy, Founder of How You Doing, a new app built to help people with their mental health and get the help they need. Drawing on seven years of frontline experience with An Garda Síochána, Mark explains why he wanted to bridge the gap between people struggling in silence and the friends and family who would want to help. He talks about the app's features, including a positive news feed, daily mood journaling, trusted contacts, and links to local therapists and support services. Mark also shares how he self-funded the prototype before partnering with Perfutil Technologies, secured a Local Enterprise Office Feasibility Grant, and took the app from an idea to a live launch on the App Store and Google Play.

Ep 32 - Eoin Quirke - Co-founder of TRACE

In this episode of the Founders & Funding Podcast, Philip Smith speaks with Eoin, Co-founder and CEO of Trace. Eoin shares how a problem he watched his college friends struggle with, burning through AI subscription credits within hours because of inefficient prompting, turned into a company tackling the same issue at enterprise scale. He talks about bootstrapping Trace alongside a part-time job and a degree at UCC, recruiting his co-founder by physically tracking him down in a Cork shop, and why proving the product first is the right sequence before approaching grants or investors. They also discuss what he learned from the NDRC pre-accelerator, the value of easygoing conversation over hard selling in the Irish startup scene, and why procrastination is the biggest obstacle most aspiring founders face.

Ep 31 - Stas Levitan - Founder & CEO of Lightsite AI

In this episode of the Founders & Funding Podcast, Philip Smith speaks with Stas Levitan, Founder and CEO of Lightsight AI, a full-stack AI search platform that covers both the technical and analytics sides of winning visibility in AI search. Stas shares the story of bootstrapping Lightsight AI to over 150 clients within its first year, growing almost entirely through referrals and community trust with near-zero marketing spend. He talks about why he recommends founders avoid chasing funding too early, what he learned watching well-funded startups run fast in the wrong direction, and how getting to know customers deeply was the foundation everything else was built on. They also discuss the skills that matter most for founders today, why go-to-market and brand building have become harder than building the software itself, and why the best way to attract investors is to stop thinking about attracting investors.

Ep 30 - Emma Meehan - Founder, CEO & CTO of KinetikIQ

In this episode of the Founders & Funding Podcast, Philip Smith speaks with Emma Meehan, Founder and CEO of KinetikIQ, a software platform using the 3D scanning technology built into iPhone and iPad Pro devices to deliver real-time, lab-grade exercise analysis for professional sports teams, physiotherapists, universities, and personal trainers. Emma shares the reality of funding a deep tech company in Ireland as a solo, first-time female founder, navigating New Frontiers, Enterprise Ireland grants, SAFE notes, angel investors, and accelerator programmes across nearly five years. She talks about the challenge of sitting between SaaS and MedTech in investors' eyes, why being capital efficient has kept KineticIQ alive when others have folded, and what founders get wrong about how quickly a funding round closes. They also discuss the skills founders need now, how to source and approach the right investors, and why saying no to the wrong term sheet can be as important as closing the right one.

Episode 29 - Ben Barrett - Co Founder of Nomad

In this episode of the Founders & Funding Podcast, Philip Smith speaks with Ben Barrett, Co-Founder of Nomad, an AI adoption and software company he started while still in college. Ben shares the full arc of Nomad's journey, from burning through their first €3,000 in savings on a product nobody asked for, to hitting €40,000 in monthly revenue less than two years later on a two-times monthly growth trajectory. He talks about the discipline of building on customer money, why they deliberately avoided funding conversations until the model was working, and how refocusing on client delivery over product-building changed everything. They also discuss what funding should actually do for a business, why momentum matters more than ideas to investors right now, and how Nomad is thinking about raising as it prepares to expand beyond Ireland.

Ep 28 - Mark Swaine - Founder & Fractional CPO

In this episode of the Founders & Funding Podcast, Philip Smith speaks with Mark Swaine, who spent 3 years as product lead at Elkstone VC and now founder of Swaine Partners. Mark shares his perspective from both sides of the table, having spent three years on the investor firm side and now working with regulated financial institutions on AI-native implementation. He talks about the harsh realities facing AI startups today, why so many wrapper products lack defensibility, and what founders get wrong when they assume AI will solve every step of a customer workflow. They also discuss the importance of deep customer validation before raising, what red flags investors are watching for in the current AI cycle, and why PLG expertise is one of the most underrated and underserved skills in the Irish startup ecosystem.

Ep 27 - Ankur Arora - Co-founder of Montro

In this episode of the Founders & Funding Podcast, Philip Smith speaks with Ankur Arora, Co-Founder of Montro. Ankur shares the story behind Montro, a Dublin-based, EU-native AI and SaaS governance platform that helps mid-sized companies discover every tool and AI application in use across their organisation and map it against frameworks like the EU AI Act, DORA, NIS2, and GDPR. He talks about bootstrapping the business to date through founder sweat equity, why he and his co-founder deliberately built a live product with design partners before raising a pre-seed round, and how their combined fifteen years of industry experience has shaped investor trust. They also discuss why founders should focus on emitting the right signals rather than chasing investors directly, and why proving traction always beats pitching a vision.

Ep 26 - Sanket Agarwal - Co Founder of Fleek

In this episode of the Founders & Funding Podcast, Philip Smith speaks with Sanket Agarwal, Co-Founder of Fleek. Sanket shares the story behind Fleek, a marketplace solving the inventory problem for the secondhand fashion supply chain, an idea that began while helping his mother-in-law grow her own resale business. He talks about going through Y Combinator, raising funding from Andreessen Horowitz and HV Capital, and why strategic investors who understand your industry matter more than the size of the cheque. They also discuss the difference between building a venture-scale business and bootstrapping, why founding teams of two tend to outperform solo founders, and why loving what you do has to come before the fundamentals.

Ep 25 - Sean Mullaney - Founder & CEO of Seapoint

In this episode of the Founders & Funding Podcast, Philip speaks with Sean Mullaney, Founder & CEO of Seapoint. Sean shares the story behind Seapoint, an all-in-one financial platform built specifically for startup founders who are drowning in spreadsheets, scattered receipts and fragmented bank accounts. He talks about raising a $3 million pre-seed and a $7.5 million seed round, why he built a network of 40 angel investors not just for capital but as brand ambassadors, and why the first year of building was never about revenue. They also discuss what investors are really backing at the earliest stages, why category-leading product love matters more than ARR, and how to run a fundraise like a process rather than waiting for inbound.

Ep 24 - Daria Berman - Co-Founder & CEO of FUSS

In this episode of the Founders & Funding Podcast, Philip Smith speaks with Daria Berman, CEO and Co-Founder of Fuss. Daria shares the story behind Fuss, a mobile app and social platform helping people spend more meaningful time offline by solving two very real problems, cognitive overload and loneliness. She talks about what it was like to fundraise in London as a first-time founder with no network, why chasing institutional VC funding almost cost her everything, and how finding angel investors and the UK's SEIS scheme changed the game for her. They also discuss what it really takes to keep going through the uncertainty of early stage building, why the best way to attract investment is to not need it, and why having a financial safety net matters more than most founders admit.

Ep 23 - Aleksandrina Ikonomova - Exited Founder & Angel Investor

In this episode of the Founders & Funding Podcast, Philip speaks with Aleksandrina Ikonomova, exited founder, startup mentor and angel investor. Aleksandrina brings a rare combination of perspectives to the conversation, she has built and exited her own companies, works with VC portfolio startups on turning around underperformance, and invests her own capital into early stage founders. She shares what she really looks for when investing, why the best founders are defined by their relationship with the problem they are solving, and what it actually takes to survive the emotional and operational demands of building a startup. They also discuss when fundraising makes sense and when it doesn't, why being coachable is not always the compliment people think it is, and what ruthless execution really looks like in practice.

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Ep 22 - Niall Moran - Fractional CTO & Startup Advisor

In this episode of the Founders & Funding Podcast, Philip Smith speaks with Niall Moran, Fractional CTO and Startup Advisor. Niall brings over 20 years of experience across software development, go-to-market strategy, and startup advisory, having worked with the likes of Google and Microsoft before going out on his own. He shares what it really looks like to build in the age of AI, why defensibility has completely changed for startups, and the most common mistakes he sees founders make when taking an MVP to market. They also discuss why getting sticky customers matters more than revenue or funding right now, and what technical due diligence actually means for an early stage startup.

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Ep 21 - Darragh Gaffney - Business Lead Ireland at Leyton

In this episode of the Founders & Funding Podcast, Philip Smith speaks with Darragh Gaffney, Business Lead Ireland at Leyton. Darragh shares how Leyton helps startups and scaling companies unlock funding they didn't know was available to them, particularly through Ireland's R&D tax credit scheme. He talks about the importance of choosing the right funding mechanism at the right time, why good governance and documentation matter more than founders realise, and what separates the startups that scale from those that stall. They also discuss delegation, laser focus on commercial priorities, and why chasing the wrong money can cost you more than it gives you.

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Ep 20 - Ross Keating - Co-Founder of Overpath

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.

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Ep 19 - Damien Mulley - Start-Up Programme Manager at UCC

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.

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Ep 18 - Richard Blythman - Founder & CEO of Naptha AI

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.

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Ep 17 - Roger Courtney - Founder & CEO of Sunstone

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.

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Ep 16 - Alister Esam - Angel Investor and Founder of Angel6

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.

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Ep 15 - Adriana Ignat - COO of Pulsate and Founder of VEKT AI

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.

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