Founder Confessions

Startup Baddie & Sweta Govani

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Are you tired of the one track story to building a scalable business? Founder Confessions interviews six founders that have scaled to $2 - $5 million in annual recurring revenue and asks them a key question: What did you assume about building a business that turned out to be wrong? Drops every Thursday.

2d ago

From 20 years in corporate to AI startup founder: Betting on myself | Founder Confessions

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode! What would make you walk away from a great corporate career? Sharon Joseph, founder and CEO of CREWASIS.AI, joins Ashley Grace Jefferson for the third of six founder interviews in the Founder Confessions limited series. After 20 years in marketing and consumer packaged goods, with great salaries and bonuses, she bet on herself. She founded CREWASIS.AI in 2018 and was building in AI before most people called it AI. Today CREWASIS.AI works with brands like Lysol, Enfamil, Centrum and Aquafresh. Her confession? She thought building the platform would be the hardest part. It turned out to be building the company around it: the team, the right engineers, the right talent at the right time, and the right advisors. It takes a village, and it takes years. Sharon shares what kept her going when she thought about quitting, why AI hasn’t delivered the instant ROI customers expected, and why her best product ideas come from lunch with customers, not Zoom. In this episode: why building the company is harder than building the producthow CREWASIS.AI fits into Sharon’s Wealth Garden after 20 years in corporatewhat kept her going: wanting more women and diverse founders in techwhy AI still takes work, and what that means for enterprise teamsthe AI wrapper problem and the shift from SaaS pricing to creditswhy the best customer insights happen over lunch, not on ZoomSharon shares, "If I could go back to when I started my business, I would tell myself..."A candid conversation about betting on yourself, building with people you trust, and treating your hardest days as breakthroughs. About the Founder Confessions limited series Are you tired of the one-track story to building a scalable business? Ashley Grace Jefferson & Sweta Govani interview six founders building $2–$4 million+ businesses and ask: “What did you assume about building a business that turned out to be wrong?” Founders also share how they’re getting closer to their customers, what it’s like building in 2026, and how their business fits into their Wealth Garden. Seven episodes, released every Thursday starting October 8, 2026. Subscribe to follow the series.
Oct 29

Startup founder mistakes: Why you should fight for control of your company | Founder Confessions

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode! What if the biggest thing you give away when you raise isn't money, but control? Mukund Venkatakrishnan, co-founder of Upfront, joins Sweta Govani for the third of six founder interviews in the Founder Confessions limited series. His confession? Upfront won the Harvard Business School pitch competition as a crypto company. It isn't one today. And after founding companies before this one, he learned the hard way that founders should fight for every part of the company they can keep. Upfront builds back office operations and financial services for the real estate industry. Today it supports more than 80 enterprise accounts, representing 200+ brokerages and 20,000 agents across 38 states and Canada, and processes more than 45,000 transactions a year. The company is a few months away from being cash flow positive, by choice. He shares why he'd rather grow than turn on profit today, why they don't walk in the door as an AI company, and what he'd look for in investors if he could start over. In this episode: how Upfront went from a crypto pitch competition idea to real estate back office and financial serviceswhy governance and control matter more than your payout at exitwhy the unsexiest businesses are usually the most valuablebeing close to profitable, and choosing growth insteadbuilding trust in an industry that doesn't want an "AI company"what he learns from customers that he could never get from an email or a LinkedIn posthow Upfront fits into his Wealth Garden, and why he wants to build one for his customersMukund shares, "If I could go back to when I started my business, I would tell myself..."A candid conversation about ownership, investors, and building the business you actually want to run. About the Founder Confessions limited series Are you tired of the one-track story to building a scalable business? Sweta Govani & Ashley Grace Jefferson interview six founders building 2–4 million+ businesses and ask: “What did you assume about building a business that turned out to be wrong?” Founders also share how they’re getting closer to their customers, what it’s like building in 2026, and how their business fits into their Wealth Garden. Seven episodes, released every Thursday starting October 8, 2026.
Oct 22

Founder Confessions: Don’t build an app with MJ Perez | Founder Confessions

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode! What if the app you’re building is the thing slowing your business down? MJ Perez, co-founder of Arete Studios, joins Ashley Grace Jefferson for the second of six founder interviews in the Founder Confessions limited series. Her confession? She thought the app would be the go to market strategy. They put a lot of money into building a fashion app, and realized they needed to get smarter about where tech fits. Today, it powers their brand insights and internal processes, as the brand and the tech grow together. MJ came from machine learning at Uber, and co-founded Arete while still working there. Arete gives shoppers who are tired of mainstream stores a place to find emerging designers from around the world, and gives those designers the infrastructure they need to grow. Arete is now on track for $4.5 million in revenue by the end of 2026. She shares how opening a store in New York changed what they knew about their customers, why she kept her day job until the business could pay her, and why she and co-founder Kotryna Jukneviciute joke it’s IPO or nothing. In this episode: why not every business needs an appthe moment a tech company realized it needed to be a brandwhy she spends more time on operations than strategy, and how fixing shipping became a new business linewhat a physical store taught them that an app couldn’tkeeping your 9 to 5 until the business can pay you, and why that can be better for the businessusing AI beyond basic tasks, even if you’re not an engineerhow Arete fits into MJ’s Wealth Garden and the bar she set before quitting her jobMJ shares, "If I could go back to when I started my business, I would tell myself..."A candid conversation about building what your customer wants, not what looks good on a pitch deck. About the Founder Confessions limited series Are you tired of the one-track story to building a scalable business? Sweta Govani & Ashley Grace Jefferson (aka Startup Baddie) interview six founders building $2–$4 million+ businesses and ask: “What did you assume about building a business that turned out to be wrong?” Founders also share how they’re getting closer to their customers, what it’s like building in 2026, and how their business fits into their Wealth Garden. Seven episodes, released every Thursday starting October 8, 2026. Subscribe to follow the series.
Oct 15

Startup fundraising mistakes: Raising too much | Founder Confessions

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode! What if raising more money for your startup leaves you with fewer options? ⁠Joseph Lee⁠, co-founder and CEO of Supademo, joins ⁠Sweta Govani ⁠for the first of six founder interviews in the Founder Confessions limited series. His confession? He assumed bigger was always better. In his first company, he raised too much money before deciding what success meant for him, giving up control and limiting the outcomes he could pursue. This time, he’s building differently. Joseph shares how he grew Supademo to more than $4 million in annual recurring revenue with $1 million raised, while keeping the business profitable and his options open. In this episode: * why raising more venture capital isn’t always better * how to build a business that gives you options to keep operating, sell or raise more * why human connection still matters, even in a product-led AI business * how pricing and the buying experience affect whether customers buy and stay * staying focused when every new AI launch feels like a threat * how Supademo fits into Joseph’s Wealth Garden and his evolving definition of success * Joe shares, " If I could go back to when I started my business, I would tell myself..." A candid conversation about choosing the business you want to build before committing to someone else’s version of success. About the Founder Confessions limited series Are you tired of the one-track story to building a scalable business? We interview six founders building $2–$4 million+ businesses and ask: “What did you assume about building a business that turned out to be wrong?” Founders also share how they’re getting closer to their customers, what it’s like building in 2026, and how their business fits into their Wealth Garden. Seven episodes, released every Thursday starting October 8, 2026. Subscribe to follow the series.
Oct 7

Introducing Founder Confessions: Are you building the wrong business?

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode! What we cover: introduction & co-hosts own confessions takes on business building why moving on isn’t always failure why surveys don’t mean you know your customer what to build when you need money now what's to expect from Founder Confessions

5 Episodes

Are you tired of the one track story to building a scalable business? Founder Confessions interviews six founders that have scaled to $2 - $5 million in annual recurring revenue and asks them a key question: What did you assume about building a business that turned out to be wrong? Drops every Thursday.

Creator

Startup Baddie & Sweta Govani
Years Active

2026
Episodes

5
Rating

Clean
Copyright

© Founder Confessions
Show Website

Founder Confessions