The Everyday Founder

In this episode of The Everyday Founder, James sits down with Tomas Helgaš, founder and CEO of Sutro — the AI platform that turns a single text prompt into a full production-ready app.Before Sutro, Tomas worked at Facebook (helping power the “People You May Know” feature), then went on to build and sell Sphere to Twitter after raising $30M.Now, he’s back for round two — building Sutro to change the way the world builds software. This conversation dives into the mindset, mission, and mechanics behind one of the most fascinating builders in AI today.We discuss:- Why Tomas left his dream job at Facebook to start Sphere- How he built a company that became the foundation for X (Twitter) Communities- The early days of Sutro and building secure, production-grade AI tools- The tradeoff between shipping fast vs. building safely- Co-founders, hiring mistakes, and second-time founder lessons- How AI will reshape how software is built — and why security is the next big frontierChapters:00:00 – Mission: change how the world builds software01:18 – Intro: Tomas Halgaš, Sutro, Facebook → Sphere → Twitter02:08 – Why go back after a successful exit03:10 – Early bet on OpenAI (GPT-2) and text-to-app ideas04:02 – Viral demos: prompt → live front- & back-end, fully deployed05:12 – Sphere origin story & community product07:42 – From partnership talks to Twitter acquisition09:24 – Post-acquisition & starting Sutro (overlap period)11:05 – Co-founder transition; going solo as CEO12:21 – Sutro thesis: production software with guarantees14:02 – Security horror stories & why prototypes don’t cut it15:42 – Comp landscape: “shipping fast” vs “building safely”16:57 – The mission (again): security-first software at scale18:13 – Sponsor: Opus18:38 – From prompt links to better human–computer interaction19:13 – Product/LLM inflection points; scaffolds & reasoning21:13 – Moving upmarket: serious, enterprise use cases21:39 – Raising capital: when VC makes sense23:16 – What a “good VC” actually does for founders28:15 – Second-time founder perspective on investor value28:42 – Family roots, teenage hacking, first sparks30:16 – Silicon Valley internship & mindset shift31:01 – Leaving Facebook: parental push & perspective33:02 – Hiring mistakes at Sphere: brilliant but hard to work with34:12 – New bar at Sutro: great humans, ex-founders35:04 – Remote vs in-person; hiring uncommon talent37:41 – Advice to younger self: read deeply, then build deeply41:01 – Working with people: persuasion vs. coaching42:03 – Coaching someone with a “dream job” to leap43:18 – Calibrate at the best; then go build45:21 – CTO vs CEO: different learning curves46:04 – Big tech cycles & urgency vs comfort47:03 – Co-founders: marriage, commitment, alignment49:13 – The “F-you number” & exit alignment51:21 – Host anecdote; aligning on outcomes52:19 – Post-acq reality: agency & decision-making changes54:21 – Corporate planning constraints & politics55:24 – How to set better terms for future acquisitions56:10 – Where Sutro is going57:16 – Better models, but HCI is the hard problem59:16 – English is ambiguous: need precise interfaces1:00:19 – The compliance/security wave is coming1:01:27 – Sutro’s advantage: guarantees, compliance, real software1:01:54 – The next interface: text + visuals + flows1:02:17 – AI moves fast; strategy expires quickly1:02:39 – Luck vs talent vs hard work1:03:39 – Where to follow Tomas & try Sutro1:04:03 – Outro

Riham Satti was on track for a life in academia — Oxford PhD, research papers, professorship.Then she met her co-founder, built an app to get him a job at Microsoft, and accidentally uncovered a billion-dollar problem: human bias in recruitment.Today, she’s the CEO and co-founder of MeVitae, an AI platform using neuroscience and data to make hiring fairer and faster.In this episode, we go deep into what it really takes to go from academia to entrepreneurship — without the safety net of VC money or a Silicon Valley network.Riham’s story is one of grit, grants, and growth — building a mission-driven business the long, hard, but sustainable way.💬 Watch this episode if you want to learn:- How to turn research into a real business- The neuroscience of bias and decision-making- When to expand to the US (and how to know if you’re ready)- Why compassion is a founder’s superpower- How to stay in “startup mode” after 10+ years of building🎧 CHAPTERS00:00 – Intro: From Oxford to Entrepreneurship02:00 – Falling in love with STEM and academia05:30 – Building an app to hack into Microsoft08:00 – The first 50k downloads that changed everything10:30 – Discovering bias in hiring and founding MeVitae13:00 – Bootstrapping with grants (no VC, no network)16:20 – Early lessons in startup survival18:40 – How bias actually works in the human brain22:00 – The first enterprise client (and the chaos that followed)25:00 – Building the MeVitae team and culture29:00 – Expanding to the US — when and why33:00 – Balancing perfectionism with speed37:00 – The “10-year overnight success”42:00 – Compassion, leadership, and building a real company46:00 – What’s next for Riham and MeVitae

Florian Ehrbar, founder of OnchainLabs, went from calling time on a failing consulting gig… to convincing the investor to back a new team and a new idea: connecting real-world assets (skis, classic cars, gold - even trees) to the blockchain with actual utility.We get into radical candour, building “Wallet 2” that feels like email (not MetaMask), no-code tokenization, raising private capital, and leading a half-inherited team while staying focused when you could do everything.In this episode you’ll learn:- Why telling the hard truth can start your next company- Funded-from-day-one: hidden pressures and how to navigate them- Real user value in tokenization (CRM, warranties/insurance, provenance)- UX trade-offs: self-custody vs ease, and designing guardrails- The vision: a white-label, no-code RWA platform you can drag-and-drop deployChapters00:00 Intro — honesty when everything’s on fire01:10 The investor asks “what now?” → forming the new team02:36 Florian’s path: consulting → dating app → investments → founder05:10 Quitting a safe career with a young family06:19 Side-hustle vs jump: why he didn’t moonlight (and regrets it)07:45 Funded from day one: blessings and pressure09:06 The moment of candour that killed a project and birthed Onchain Labs11:05 What Onchain Labs does (physical → digital, real utility)12:54 Tokenizing luxury skis: CRM, insurance, activation incentives15:04 Blockchain basics (wallets, ownership, self-custody)17:22 UX reality: too easy vs too risky — finding the line19:35 Classic cars & provenance: why digitised records matter21:30 Leading a “half-inherited” team: empower vs decide23:40 Focus when you can do everything: pick the beachhead25:05 Building “Wallet 2” — make blockchain feel like email27:10 Towards a no-code, white-label RWA platform29:00 Commercial model: SaaS + transactions + implementation31:05 Who it’s for: gold tokenization, consumer apps, and beyond33:12 Ambition: the AWS/Shopify of tokenization (for non-financial assets)35:00 Fundraising, unusual backers & validation moments37:05 Founder life: work ethic, optimism, taking bigger risks sooner39:00 Skill vs luck — and where to follow FlorianIf this helped, hit like, subscribe, and drop a comment with the next founder you want on the show.#Startups #Web3 #Tokenization #RWA #FounderJourney #Leadership #EverydayFounderPodcast

Former RAF pilot turned deep-tech founder, Kyle Thomas is building SAIF Autonomy—the “application firewall” for autonomous systems. We get into embodied AI vs deterministic autonomy, what it takes to certify and deploy robots in the real world, the UK vs US VC mindset, nearly running out of cash (with £22 left in the bank), and why veterans often thrive in startups.What's in the episode:- Embodied AI in the physical world (and why “trust layers” matter)- Defense to startup: decision-making under uncertainty- Real use cases: drones, logistics, shipping, aviation, space- Public perception & regulation: earning societal trust- Raising $1.2M from Silicon Valley as a UK deep-tech startup- Culture design: borrowing the best of military leadership- Practical founder advice: start sooner, ignore the naysayersChapters:0:00 Cold open — embodied AI, safety & “wrappers”1:12 Intro — Kyle’s RAF background & SAIF’s mission2:23 Military → startup: decision-making & stress tolerance4:09 UK vs US mindset on speed, growth & work ethic6:30 Meeting co-founder Matt; origins in RAF programs7:22 Rapid Capabilities Office & TRL (3→7 fast)8:42 From scripted autonomy to embodied, goal-based systems10:03 Real-world examples (drones, Waymo, sidewalk bots)11:01 Autonomy vs AI — clear definitions12:53 Deterministic vs embodied AI (and their failure modes)13:53 Today’s drone deliveries (hospitals, corridors, BVLOS)14:10 Scaling without city-wide infrastructure15:52 Proving it on land, sea, air… and space18:19 Public perception, safety cases & building trust19:13 Logistics, shipping & aviation use cases20:06 “Application firewall” for autonomy (trust layer)22:19 Fundraise story — $1.2M pre-revenue from Silicon Valley24:03 Why UK/EU VC often feels like PE (risk appetite)25:59 US lead, diligence, patents & why it clicked27:12 UK engineering talent vs US scaling capital29:05 CEO self-awareness: when to level up or step aside30:39 Targeting specialist US funds next33:17 Sponsor break — Opus community33:49 Near-death runway tale: £22 in the bank36:50 Money lands at 8:22pm on New Year’s Eve43:17 Split-second RAF story — refuelling saves lives47:49 Why veterans can excel in startups49:17 Culture & leadership: high trust, high standards52:04 Practical rituals (socials, flexibility, outcomes)55:11 Advice to younger self: start sooner, be bold58:07 Founder communities: Opus, ICE, Founders Pledge1:00:12 Be in the room — why London matters1:01:12 Trust over impressions (in-person beats ads)1:02:30 Luck vs talent (and timing)1:03:55 Where to find Kyle (LinkedIn, site, IG)1:04:45 Blog & updates coming soon1:05:08 OutroAbout Kyle / SAIF AutonomyKyle Thomas, Co-founder & CEO, SAIF AutonomyMission: a safety & assurance “trust layer” so autonomous systems can operate safely at the edge (air, land, sea, space)

What does it take to raise $1.5M from 66 angels across 400 meetings?Jamie Hamer, CEO of Loxa and founder of React News (acquired by Green Street), shares the unfiltered reality.From walking away from a £150k salary to making 30 cold calls a day, Jamie is building one of the most ambitious insurtechs in the UK—backed not by VCs, but by a cap table stacked with mission-aligned angels.In this episode of The Everyday Founder, we dive into:- Why angels is better than funds (and how to manage 66 of them)- The litmus test for picking advisors (time and money or nothing)- The playbook for user research that doubles as early sales- Why founder-led sales is still king in early-stage B2B- How to build a team around “total ownership”- What it’s really like to rebrand midstream- And how to “increase the surface area of your luck”If you’re raising, hiring, or selling at the early stage, Jamie’s insights are a masterclass in founder grit and strategic execution.👉 Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and drop your thoughts in the comments.Chapters00:00 – Why advisors must have skin in the game01:20 – Jamie’s journey: from P&G to React News03:30 – Leaving a £150k salary to start up06:00 – The power of user research (The Mom Test in action)08:15 – Building and exiting React News10:20 – Why angels beat VC funding13:00 – How Jamie raised $1.5M from 66 angels15:25 – Managing a cap table of 66 investors18:00 – Co-founders, vesting, and avoiding dead equity21:00 – Hiring playbook: KPIs, probation, and personality tests24:00 – Total ownership as a cultural value27:00 – Founder-led sales: why cold calling still works31:00 – The pain (and lessons) of a rebrand34:00 – Building Loxa: tackling insurtech complexity38:00 – Transparency, trust, and fixing insurance for good42:00 – Increasing the surface area of your luck46:00 – Reflections on skill vs luck in entrepreneurship49:00 – Jamie’s advice to early-stage founders53:00 – Where to follow Jamie and Loxa

Nikhil Arora has built a career at the intersection of leadership, global growth, and purposeful impact. Today, he’s the CEO of Epignosis, the company behind TalentLMS, serving 22M+ learners across 160 countries. But his story stretches far beyond EdTech.From helping build Kazakhstan’s first stock exchange, to leading international growth at GoDaddy, scaling Intuit in India, and launching WeWork in Asia, Nikhil has lived and worked across 9 countries and 4 continents—all while keeping up a daily running habit.In this episode, we cover:- What it takes to step in as CEO after two founders step aside.- How to balance mission and growth in a global SaaS company.- Why listening tours with customers and employees shape better strategy than any playbook.- Building culture across remote, hybrid, and global teams.- Vulnerability, failure, and why leaders must lead with authenticity.- The balance between being a missionary (purpose-driven) and mercenary (growth-focused) leader.If you’re a founder, CEO, or aspiring leader, this conversation is packed with insights on scaling businesses, managing up, and staying grounded while running at speed.⏱️ Chapters00:00 – Declaring strategy vs listening first01:00 – Introducing Nikhil Arora, CEO of Epignosis02:00 – Building Kazakhstan’s first stock exchange04:00 – What Epignosis does today06:00 – Taking over from the founders08:00 – Balancing preservation and change as CEO10:00 – Product, customers, and culture as priorities12:00 – Leading a 250-person global team15:00 – Fireside chats, townhalls, and communication clarity18:00 – Vulnerability, failure, and celebrating mistakes22:00 – Creating a safe culture for feedback25:00 – Clarity, guiding principles, and decision-making27:00 – Staying focused and prioritising as a leader30:00 – Red, yellow, green framework for CEO focus33:00 – Managing energy, family, and fitness36:00 – Mission vs mercenary: purpose and growth40:00 – Managing up as an installed CEO45:00 – The #1 mistake founders often make48:00 – Why no one is truly self-made50:00 – Keeping your network and mentors alive53:00 – The importance of mentors (older and younger)56:00 – Skill vs luck in business59:00 – Where to find Nikhil online