Episode 11
No Risk, No Story
The Life of AI Entrepreneur and zally Founder, Patrick Smith
Guest: Patrick Smith — entrepreneur, AI specialist and founder of zally
Episode Description
Patrick Smith started his first two businesses at the age of ten — a website-building operation for his dad’s friends and a DJ booking agency, with his mum driving the equipment to school discos in the back of the car. By 13 he was being paid professionally as a DJ and lying about his age to get the gigs. By 25 he had built and lost eleven ventures. He took full ownership of every one of them and saw each failure as training.
Born in Oslo to a family with entrepreneurship in its DNA — his great-grandfather built 40 bespoke tailoring businesses across Europe before the war stripped them away — Patrick has since built and exited multiple companies, moved to London knowing nobody, then Manchester, and is now based between Manchester and San Francisco building zally, a behavioural AI company working on what he describes as giving technology the one thing it lacks: intuition.
In this conversation, Patrick talks about what it actually costs to be a founder — on your family, your friendships, your mental health. About the sacrifices his wife and children make so he can build. About the eleven failures before 25, and what each one taught him. About stopping drinking four years ago, treating himself like an athlete, and counting bad days rather than good ones. About the personal story behind zally — his mother’s death from cancer, his father’s dementia, and a problem with passwords that became a business.
And about why, when you ask a billionaire in San Francisco why they’re doing it again, they always give you the same answer: I don’t know anything else.
Timestamps
00:33 Introducing Patrick Smith — zally Founder, AI Entrepreneur
02:00 Torque Ten — Quickfire Questions with Patrick
04:08 What Drove Him — Intrinsic or External?
04:14 Born in Oslo, Born an Entrepreneur
05:22 Building Websites at Ten — HTML for Dummies on Holiday
05:51 Where Did It Come From?
07:38 Would He Let His Own Daughter Do the Same?
08:53 Eleven Failures Before 25 — What Did He Learn?
09:45 The Biggest Lesson — Bring People In Earlier, Ask for Help
11:14 How Do You Deal with Failure Personally?
11:40 The UK vs US Attitude to Failure
12:25 The More Chaos Around Him, the Calmer He Becomes
14:07 What Is the Personal Cost of Founder Life?
14:52 No Time for Friends, Family Sacrifice — What Are They Giving Up?
15:29 30 Mortgages Depending on Him Every Month
16:00 Balance Doesn’t Exist — You Need Harmony
17:28 The No Risk, No Story Tattoo
18:52 Landed in London Knowing Nobody, Then Manchester, Now San Francisco
19:02 Who Do You Turn to When Things Are Tough?
20:43 Stopping Drinking, Treating Himself Like an Athlete
22:00 What Does a Bad Day Look Like?
23:06 Learn to Dance in the Rain
23:51 Building a Startup Is Like Jumping From a Mountain
24:34 In San Francisco, Money Isn’t the Motivator
25:47 Money Doesn’t Solve Your Purpose
26:47 AI and the Fear of Job Losses — His View
28:46 Humans in the Loop — Why That Matters
30:45 What Future Does He Want for His Children?
32:57 Lost His Thursday, Friday and Saturday Nights at 13
37:49 The Personal Story Behind zally — His Mother’s Death and His Father’s Dementia
38:28 Passwords, Dementia, and a Better Way to Authenticate Users
39:21 How zally Works in Practice
40:39 Dom’s Closing Reflection
You can find Patrick and zally at
PREVIOUS EPISODES -
From Patrol To Podium - Torque | Acast
Debunking Sleep Myths - Torque | Acast
Lessons From A Father's Influence - Torque | Acast
Diving Into Olympic Pressure - Torque | Acast
Do You Feel Frozen Out? - Torque | Acast
What Makes A Man? Part 1 - From Anger to Understanding, A Journey of Growth - Torque | Acast
Regaining a Zest for Life and coming back from Burnout - Torque | Acast
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