Aussie Founders

Sam Hodgson and Nikita Boldyrev

Australia has some underrated founders. Find their stories and insights here

Episodes

  1. Forced Out & Bankrupt: A Founder's Story of Overcoming It All | Jonas Eliasson

    17/11/2025

    Forced Out & Bankrupt: A Founder's Story of Overcoming It All | Jonas Eliasson

    In 2001, after working as an architect for many years, Jonas co-founded his first company, O-pen, after inventing a novel optical touch screen technology. After receiving €6 million of investment, and bringing in an international CEO, Jonas was ousted from his own company in 2005 and left the company officially in 2007. Now, O-pen is called FlatFrog and has partnerships with major companies such as Google and Samsung. In 2008, Jonas moved onto his next company, Me-Mover, where he invented a new type of transportation device which was like a cross between a scooter and a bicycle. After successfully launching the product, in a sudden turn of events, the company went bankrupt. Now, Jonas is the team lead of the SkyLab at the Denmark Technical University (DTU) where he coaches student start-up founders.  In this episode you will learn: How to retain control over your company whilst receiving investmentWhat company bankruptcy actually looks likeHow to create hype around your product launch Chapters: (00:00) - Introduction (01:23) - The Touch Screen Idea Born From a Computer Mouse (08:34) - Fired From My Own Company (11:23) - How Founders Lose Control (Investor Lessons) (17:56) - The Second Startup: The Me Mover (23:53) - Kickstarter Success & The Unexpected Pivot (45:03) - How a Tiny Fee Bankrupted My Company (50:32) - Buying Back The Company's Assets (53:18) - Coaching the Next Generation of Founders (1:00:40) - What Truly Makes a Founder Successful

    1hr 9min

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

Australia has some underrated founders. Find their stories and insights here