Founders in Motion with Thea Ngo

Thea Ngo
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  • Entrepreneurship
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The best early-stage founders before the world catches on and how they're building their business today, Australia, Southeast Asia, the US, and everywhere in between. Hosted by Thea Ngo (Wharton grad, early-stage investor), each episode is one unscripted conversation with a founder who is still in it, while the decisions are still fresh. Think → Customer discovery hacks to sell before you build → Fundraising rounds that nearly didn't close & ones that closed too rapidly → Pivots that saved the company, and ones that didn't New episodes weekly

  1. The D1 Athlete Who Built a $100M Voice AI Company | Will Bodewes, Phonely (YC S24)

    May 21

    The D1 Athlete Who Built a $100M Voice AI Company | Will Bodewes, Phonely (YC S24)

    Will Bodewes wrote a sticky note to himself on day one of building Phonely: "there are no shortcuts for you, Bodewes." That note sat on his desk every day for 2 years. We talk about building a category before it exists, keeping customers through a 30% failure rate, the SMB-to-enterprise pivot, the cycling LinkedIn post that landed a $16M Series A, and what building a company actually costs in your 20s. For: early-stage founders in B2B SaaS, athletes turned entrepreneurs, founders exploring voice AI, anyone weighing whether to start a company. If this episode helped you, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or follow on Spotify so you never miss an episode. It takes 30 seconds and it's how the next founder finds us. CHAPTERS 00:00 - Intro 01:18 - The D1 Athlete Grind 03:18 - Melbourne Bet 04:11 - Why We Win 10:14 - Spoke Sound Dies 13:37 - First Customers 15:46 - 30% Failure Rate 19:27 - Y Combinator 21:52 - No Shortcuts 23:04 - The Cycling Post 27:01 - Don't Do It FOLLOW US ⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@FoundersInMotion⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/thea.yaps⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@foundersinmotion⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/theango/⁠⁠⁠ Hosted by Thea Ngo, a Wharton grad, venture capital investor, and (your new favorite?) interrogator behind Founders in Motion. Subscribe for the stories that don't make the headlines yet. Subscribe for the insider playbook on building companies, growth tactics, and founder stories.

    29 min
  2. $40M FinTech Founder on Raising Millions Before He Had a Business Idea | Shakeel Lala, Marloo

    May 8

    $40M FinTech Founder on Raising Millions Before He Had a Business Idea | Shakeel Lala, Marloo

    Shak quit his job, convinced a VC to back him with no business idea, and spent nine months running 800 conversations with financial advisors before building Marloo - the AI doing the actual work inside financial advice firms, now raised $10M and live across seven markets. For: founders still searching for the right idea, operators thinking about AI and vertical SaaS, anyone who's ever over-engineered their way through uncertainty, people building B2B tools who want to see what real customer discovery looks like. If this episode helped you, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or follow on Spotify so you never miss an episode. It takes 30 seconds and it's how the next founder finds us. CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro 01:18 Starting a company without a business idea 02:56 3 lessons from 9 months of market discovery 09:59 What is Marloo? 12:38 The vibe-coded conference demo 15:43 How they got VC-backed before finding the idea 18:40 Pressure, mindset & momentum 19:43 Building across Sydney, London & Wellington 25:29 The mission: making financial advice accessible 29:20 The $10M raise & vision 32:38 Most valuable founder lesson FOLLOW US ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@FoundersInMotion⁠⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/thea.yaps⁠⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@foundersinmotion⁠⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/theango/⁠⁠ ABOUT FOUNDERS IN MOTION Hi, I'm Thea. I started this series because I wanted to find out how to build incredible companies from the ground up. I work in venture capital by weekday and act as an interrogator during the weekends. If you like this content, hit subscribe, that's the best way to support me and it means more than you know. Subscribe for the insider playbook on building companies, growth tactics, and founder stories.

    35 min
  3. He Turned Falling Socks into an Eight Figure Global Brand | Nathan Yun, Paire

    Apr 23

    He Turned Falling Socks into an Eight Figure Global Brand | Nathan Yun, Paire

    Nathan Yun built Paire into an eight-figure brand by doing almost everything the DTC playbook said not to: engineering fabric from scratch, opening a physical store, and turning Shark Tank into a sales channel rather than a funding pitch. This is the story of building an iconic brand from the least sexy product in fashion. We talk about manufacturing from the yarn up, pricing strategy, the Shark Tank pivot, and why DTC doesn't mean online. For: consumer brand founders, DTC operators, early-stage product builders, and anyone who's wondered if boring products can build great companies. If this episode helped you, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or follow on Spotify so you never miss an episode. It takes 30 seconds and it's how the next founder finds us. FOLLOW US ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@FoundersInMotion⁠ ⁠https://www.instagram.com/thea.yaps⁠ ⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@foundersinmotion⁠ ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/theango/⁠ ABOUT FOUNDERS IN MOTION Hi, I'm Thea. I started this series because I wanted to find out how to build incredible companies from the ground up. If you like this content, hit subscribe, that's the best way to support me and it means more than you know. Subscribe for the insider playbook on building companies, growth tactics, and founder stories.

    30 min
  4. This Stanford Dropout Wants to Help You Fall in Love | Celeste Amadon, Known

    Apr 9

    This Stanford Dropout Wants to Help You Fall in Love | Celeste Amadon, Known

    Celeste Amadon left Stanford, cancelled her job offers, and raised her seed round in four days before Known had a single paying user. Her thesis: dating apps aren't broken by accident. They're engineered to keep you swiping, paying, and single. We talk about the loneliness epidemic and why it's already your problem too, how Known uses voice inference to understand personality beyond what you say, the business model flipping dating on its head, and what it took to raise from Forerunner as a 21-year-old first-time founder. For: founders building consumer products, anyone exhausted by dating apps, operators thinking about AI and matching problems, people considering leaving school to build. If this episode helped you, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or follow on Spotify so you never miss an episode. It takes 30 seconds and it's how the next founder finds us. CHAPTERS 0:00 - Intro & Cold Open 1:13 - Meet Celeste 4:33 - Dating Is a Political Problem 6:50 - Seed Round in 4 Days 8:05 - Pitching Forerunner at 21 11:34 - Why Apps Keep You Single 16:36 - Leaving Stanford 22:13 - The Marina Green Moment FOLLOW US https://www.instagram.com/thea.yaps https://www.tiktok.com/@foundersinmotion https://www.linkedin.com/in/theango/ ABOUT FOUNDERS IN MOTION Founders In Motion brings you honest, tactical conversations with early-stage founders building companies from the ground up. Hosted by Thea Ngo, the show goes beyond the headlines to reveal the real decisions, trade-offs, and mechanics behind building startups. Past guests include founders from YC-backed companies, edtech leaders, SaaS operators, and global entrepreneurs. Subscribe for the insider playbook on building companies, growth tactics, and founder stories.

    29 min
  5. How He Turned 3 YC Rejections into a $25M AI Governance Company | Nam Nguyen, TruthSystems (YC S25)

    Mar 26

    How He Turned 3 YC Rejections into a $25M AI Governance Company | Nam Nguyen, TruthSystems (YC S25)

    Nam got told to come back in 5 years by major law firms. A year later he was YC-backed, had raised $4M in 48 hours, and was serving some of the biggest law firms in the world. But the harder story is what it took to get there, January in Poland, rejections piling up, a parental deadline looming, and 20 something selling AI governance to people with decades of experience. We talk about how to sell to the most risk-averse buyers in the world, why their first customer came from a cold LinkedIn comment, what actually changed between YC application #1 and #4, and why speed alone is no longer a startup advantage. For: early-stage founders, legal tech builders, aspiring YC applicants, anyone who's been told they're too early. If this episode helped you, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or follow on Spotify so you never miss an episode. It takes 30 seconds and it's how the next founder finds us. CHAPTERS 0:00 - Intro 5:16 - Selling as a 21-Year-Old 7:07 - First Customer 13:12 - The YC Journey 15:05 - The Fundraising Sprint 18:12 - Hardest Founder Moment FOLLOW US ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@FoundersInMotion⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/thea.yaps⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@foundersinmotion⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/theango/⁠⁠⁠⁠ Hosted by Thea Ngo, a Wharton grad, venture capital investor, and (your new favorite?) interrogator behind Founders in Motion. Subscribe for the stories that don't make the headlines yet. Subscribe for the insider playbook on building companies, growth tactics, and founder stories.

    25 min
  6. I Lost the Interview in 15 Seconds

    Mar 19

    I Lost the Interview in 15 Seconds

    I walked into a top consulting firm interview fully prepared and lost the room in 15 seconds. Six months later, same resume, same experience, I got the offer. The only thing that changed was how I showed up. We talk about reading the room in real time, how to research your interviewer like a journalist, and what to do in the 24 hours after the interview. For: early career job seekers, career pivoters, anyone stuck in final-round purgatory CHAPTERS 0:00 - Intro: The Rejection 1:00 - Before the Interview 5:26 - During the Interview 7:30 - After the Interview FOLLOW US https://www.instagram.com/foundersinmotion https://www.tiktok.com/@foundersinmotion https://www.linkedin.com/in/theango/ ABOUT FOUNDERS IN MOTION Founders In Motion brings you honest, tactical conversations with early-stage founders building companies from the ground up. Hosted by Thea Ngo, the show goes beyond the headlines to reveal the real decisions, trade-offs, and mechanics behind building startups. Past guests include founders from YC-backed companies, edtech leaders, SaaS operators, and global entrepreneurs. Subscribe for the insider playbook on building companies, growth tactics, and founder stories.

    9 min
  7. 5 Invisible Mistakes That Got Me Rejected

    Mar 5

    5 Invisible Mistakes That Got Me Rejected

    Same resume. Same background. First time: didn't make it past screening. Six months later: six-figure consulting job in New York. The difference was five invisible mistakes. CHAPTERS 0:00 - Intro 1:15 - Mistake 1: Your Story Doesn't Add Up 2:40 - Mistake 2: You're Too Late 3:35 - Mistake 3: Wrong People, Wrong Questions 5:27 - Mistake 4: Bad Relationship Management 7:35 - Mistake 5: You Do Nothing Special FOLLOW US https://www.instagram.com/foundersinmotion https://www.tiktok.com/@foundersinmotion https://www.linkedin.com/in/theango/ ABOUT FOUNDERS IN MOTION Founders In Motion brings you honest, tactical conversations with early-stage founders building companies from the ground up and occasionally tactical career advice. Hosted by Thea Ngo, the show goes beyond the headlines to reveal the real decisions, trade-offs, and mechanics behind building startups. Past guests include founders from YC-backed companies, edtech leaders, SaaS operators, and global entrepreneurs. Subscribe for the insider playbook on building companies, growth tactics, and founder stories.

    10 min
  8. Why Early Facebook Investors Backed a Self-Taught Aussie Dev | Finnlay Morcombe, Fluency

    Feb 26

    Why Early Facebook Investors Backed a Self-Taught Aussie Dev | Finnlay Morcombe, Fluency

    Finnlay raised $6M from Accel VC weeks after landing in the US, no deck, no data room, just two pages. But the bigger story is what Fluency is actually building: a platform that maps how work gets done inside enterprises, heading toward AI models that can predict your business before it happens. We talk about US fundraising, product-market fit vs. the pivot that came before it, and whether AI will displace more jobs than it creates. For: early-stage founders, enterprise SaaS builders, anyone building with or around AI agents. If this episode helped you, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or follow on Spotify so you never miss an episode. It takes 30 seconds and it's how the next founder finds us. CHAPTERS 0:00 - Intro 1:48 - Raising From Facebook Investors 5:51 - What Does Fluency Do? 9:17 - World Models & AI Vision 12:45 - Agentic AI Hot Take 14:23 - The Pivot 17:24 - Tall Poppy Syndrome 20:07 - Unicorn Pressure 21:20 - What It's Cost 22:35 - If You Could Start Over FOLLOW US ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@FoundersInMotion⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/thea.yaps⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@foundersinmotion⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/theango/⁠⁠⁠⁠ Hosted by Thea Ngo, a Wharton grad, venture capital investor, and (your new favorite?) interrogator behind Founders in Motion. Subscribe for the stories that don't make the headlines yet. Subscribe for the insider playbook on building companies, growth tactics, and founder stories.

    23 min
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The best early-stage founders before the world catches on and how they're building their business today, Australia, Southeast Asia, the US, and everywhere in between. Hosted by Thea Ngo (Wharton grad, early-stage investor), each episode is one unscripted conversation with a founder who is still in it, while the decisions are still fresh. Think → Customer discovery hacks to sell before you build → Fundraising rounds that nearly didn't close & ones that closed too rapidly → Pivots that saved the company, and ones that didn't New episodes weekly

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