Fayl Tales

Loveth Ochayi

"failing" is a normal part of building, especially when you're at the frontier of great innovation. so i sit down with founders and investors and get into the messy version of their story: the pivots, the near-misses, mistakes and everything usually edited out. and i break down jargon and deep dives into the things nobody explains properly.

  1. 2 days ago ·  Video

    two rejections, one pivot, $3.5m ~ Cordelia King

    The Superstat crew applied to Startmate three times. Got rejected twice. Went from zero to $240,000 in recurring revenue in 12 weeks. And then Blackbird led a $3.5 million pre-seed round. And who are these weapon trio? Cordelia King, Sam Hung and Kai Bloomfield. SuperStat uses AI to turn raw match footage into player stats, event timelines and performance patterns automatically. Built for the 99% of sport that has absolutely no data at all.  The parents spending two to four hours every weekend manually cutting up footage and doing stats. The kids who never get seen because they don't have the data to back up how good they are. This one moves fast. Because so did they. We get into 👇: ★ The previous company TrainStop, called the Tinder for local sport, and how it led to SuperStat ★ Why footy didn't work and basketball did, courts are the same size every time ★ Going to stadiums on Friday nights with flyers and approaching strangers filming games ★ Zero to $240,000 in recurring revenue in 12 weeks during the Startmate program ★ Pitching to American VCs and being told Aussies are way too laid back ★ Why they're moving to Austin, Texas and what scares Cordelia most about leaving Follow us on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fayltales/ Keep up to date with Loveth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/loveth-ochayi-a67491152/ Follow superstat on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/superstatsport/  Chapters: 0:00 the teaser 0:58 the tinder for local sport 1:51 why footy didn't work and basketball did 3:45 the first four weeks 5:43 friday nights at stadiums with flyers 9:35 zero to $240k in 12 weeks 10:34 san francisco and pitching american vcs 11:58 the aws bill anxiety 13:23 blackbird led the $3.5m raise 14:45 why austin texas 16:28 graphic designer who designed the logo in a day #startuppodcast #founderstory #sportstech #buildinginpublic #femalefounder  Follow us on all platforms! Instagram ~ @fayltales Tiktok ~ @fayltales  LinkedIn ~ @fayltales

  2. 10 Aug ·  Video

    maggots, robots and aussie's most underfunded startup ~ Ryan Woodcock

    Ryan Woodcock joined Goterra as a software developer in a company using maggots and robots to process food waste inside refurbished shipping containers. By the time he left, he was the engineering manager, could instruct people on heavy machinery, had sorted through tons of food waste by hand, and had watched what the media called Australia's most loved and underfunded startup go into liquidation. He also came out as bisexual. Left Christianity. And says a startup about maggots gave him the community that changed his life. This episode is unlike anything we've done before on Fayl Tales. Goterra was founded in 2016 by Olympia Yarger out of a garage in Fyshwick, Canberra. It raised over $15 million. It had Woolworths, Hyatt, Melbourne Airport and Lendlease as clients. Its technology worked. Its customers loved it. And on June 3rd, 2026, it went into voluntary administration because it couldn't raise the capital it needed to scale.  Ryan was there for all of it. And he has a lot to say. We get into 👇: ★ What Goterra actually built and how maggots, robots and shipping containers fit together ★ What it's like to join a hardware startup as a software dev and end up doing everything ★ Why Australia's most loved startup couldn't get funded despite working technology and loyal customers ★ The week after administrators came in, when the team was still planning routes and scooping maggots ★ What Ryan learned about leadership from watching Olympia Yarger lead right to the end ★ How a climate startup gave Ryan the community that helped him come out and leave Christianity Follow us @fayltales on all platforms! And follow Loveth @lovethochayi on LinkedIn and instagram Annnddd you can find Ryan Woodcock on LinkedIn #startuppodcast #climatetech #founderstory #startupfailure #australianstartups Follow us on all platforms! Instagram ~ @fayltales Tiktok ~ @fayltales  LinkedIn ~ @fayltales

  3. 6 July ·  Video

    first exit at 21, next goal is $10 billion ~ Moritz Lechner

    Moritz Lechner started his first company at 14 with 100 euros of pocket money. At 15, he pitched on Austria's version of Shark Tank and raised €170,000. At 21, he sold the company he built to 50 people and millions in revenue. He is now 22 and already planning the next one. What could possibly go wrong along the way? A lot, actually. The subscription box business that never quite took off. A product launch where they spent a fortune, did the full campaign, and then, well, nobody cared. The overnight shift from three people to 50 and having absolutely no idea how to manage that. And trying to run a real business while your voice hadn't broken yet and clients kept calling you Mrs. Lechner. We get into 👇: ★ Starting with €100 and a self built website at 14 ★ Pitching on 2 Minuten 2 Millionen at 15 and tripling the business overnight from TV coverage ★ Why the subscription box model hit a ceiling and how they spotted the pivot early ★ Managing 50 people at 19 with zero experience of ever being an employee ★ The structured M&A process that led to the exit and the closing party that went until 7am ★ Why he thinks the next company has to be a $10 billion generational company Let's keep the crew together 🤝 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fayltales/ 🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fayltales 💼 LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/loveth-ochayi-a67491152 On the move? 🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/64449Kq2PDzlkVyCjlN5U8 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/fayl-tales/id1797274868 Follow us on all platforms! Instagram ~ @fayltales Tiktok ~ @fayltales  LinkedIn ~ @fayltales

  4. 29 June ·  Video

    €150m raised, failed launches, layoffs and Europe's #1 ~ Kilian Kaminski

    Hey Crew! Kilian Kaminski was running Amazon's entire refurbished program in Europe. He could see the opportunity. He could see Amazon had no intention of building it. So naturally, he quit and decided to do it himself. What could go wrong... refurbed is now the largest refurbished marketplace by markets across Europe. 24 countries. 10 million products sold. Over €150 million raised.  But getting there involved investors telling him to delete the slide he cared most about, layoffs he describes as the most painful moments of his whole life, a Poland expansion that flopped, and customers calling to report they had accidentally received a new product. The messy middle is all here. We get into 👇: ★ Why Amazon built the refurbished program to keep customers in, not to do good ★ Founding refurbed in 2017 and selling the first product six weeks later ★ How Jürgen built alone in five months what agencies quoted at €200K and six people for six months ★ The layoffs that were the most painful moments of his life, not just his business life ★ Why they became profitable last year and what that actually means for their next phase ★ Do you have a random question or need advice? Pop it into the chat or send them to me!! I get to meet and interview some amazing founders and investors globally, so I'll have it included in an upcoming episode :) ★ Follow us on all platforms! Instagram ~ @fayltales Tiktok ~ @fayltales  LinkedIn ~ @fayltales

About

"failing" is a normal part of building, especially when you're at the frontier of great innovation. so i sit down with founders and investors and get into the messy version of their story: the pivots, the near-misses, mistakes and everything usually edited out. and i break down jargon and deep dives into the things nobody explains properly.