Founder Portraits

Christianne

Ambition, pressure, taste, instinct. FP decodes how the best builders actually think and decide; the gut-feel behind the companies that work. Long-form founder conversations, hosted by Christianne, a former comms & media banker who traded the deal desk for the mic. Formerly GUT with Christianne (CC).

  1. 1d ago

    Alana Picov: Every Problem Is Mine Now

    The night before Good Greed's launch party, Alana Picov tasted the first production run. It was too sour, and the cherry flavour came out wet and sticky. Her parents had flights booked. Friends were flying in from Toronto and London, and 125 people were on the guest list. The candy was supposed to hit the shelves at Pop Up Grocer the next morning. Two years earlier, Alana was at the top of the Salesforce leaderboard in London. She refreshed it every morning and couldn't work out why she was still unhappy. She left, moved to New York with two suitcases, and carried them up five floors to a walk-up with no AC. On one of her first calls, a mentor who had built a $100 million company told her the candy space was saturated and the margins were thin. Then he offered her a job. She took the call sitting on her bed with her camera off. She said no. Now every problem is hers, down to the visa she loses if the company doesn't work. Her brother is eight years older and a serial founder. When she got a 90 on a test, he told her that ten percent of the time she was a hundred percent wrong. So what do you hand the people who flew in to celebrate, when you know it isn't right yet?

    Alana Picov: Every Problem Is Mine Now

  2. Sep 10

    Cam Stajer: The $20 Logo That Became an Olympic Sponsor

    He cold emailed the Olympic committee with no connections and no reply for weeks. Three months later, his company had exclusive rights as Team Canada's official wellness recovery partner through 2028.Cam Stajer started Kala with 5,000 dollars, a 20 dollar Fiverr logo, and a product he found through a podcast because he couldn't afford the real thing. He turned down a deal on Dragon's Den. He bought out his co-founder. He recalled a million and a half dollars of product over a manual printing error. He didn't pay himself a cent for three years.Now Kala is the exclusive red light therapy partner of the Canadian Olympic Committee, sold in Costco, Walmart, and Cam still owns the company outright.What does it actually take to build a brand from your parents' basement into an Olympic sponsorship, without giving up equity? And why walk away from a deal that was already on the table? 00:00 Cold open 00:53 Meet Cam: CEO of Kala Therapy 01:35 20 years of hockey & what it taught him 02:40 Discovering red light therapy 03:56 Starting Kala: $20 logo, Alibaba & the name 06:02 Going on Dragon's Den 09:19 Early disaster: the Suez Canal shipment 10:49 Betting the whole farm12:12 Paying himself $0 for three years 14:33 The $1.5M Costco recall17:52 The dumbest mistake: wiring $50k to the wrong supplier 20:60 The Q4 inventory "Hail Mary" 22:54 Hype, misinformation & medical-device approvals23:55 Sponsor break26:40 Loneliness, mentors & building solo 28:42 Who shouldn't be a founder + ADHD as a superpower30:20 Growing up "different" 32:00 Envy, Forbes 30 Under 30 & what nobody sees 34:47 The Olympic deal 42:52 The Richard Branson cola story 44:47 The Shopify screenshot on his vision board 45:31 Manifestation & training the mind 48:42 Being the main character 49:19 What's next for Kala 50:16 OutroCam Stajer is the founder and owner of Kala, a red light therapy company and the official wellness recovery partner of the Canadian Olympic Committee.Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@founderportraitsListen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6T3jeLZ0wkMrUE2T9jkRzzListen on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/founder-portraits/id1875549655Follow on Instagram: @founderportraitsFollow on X: @founderportraitWebsite: https://www.founder-portraits.com #podcast #founderstory #entrepreneur #redlighttherapy #founderportraits

    Cam Stajer: The $20 Logo That Became an Olympic Sponsor

  3. Jul 23

    Ilias Anwar: His Company Died in One Night

    Ilias Anwar is the founder New York's startup world can't stop talking about; the one who throws 16 events in a week, treats every room like a king, and once faked a $28 million sale on April Fool's just to get investors to call him back. What almost nobody knew: months before the crowds, he was broke, subleasing from a roommate about to be evicted, and borrowing money from his younger sister, swearing every time it was the last. This is a conversation about what generosity costs when you use it to feel safe. Ilias traces his drive back to childhood family weddings; the only place he felt secure with everyone he loved under one roof. And to a mother who taught him that being a good host means forgetting everything about yourself. He gives everyone everything. The question he's still sitting with is what's left for him.

    Ilias Anwar: His Company Died in One Night

  4. Jul 21

    Brian Schardt: He Killed 250K Users to Bet on Nancy Pelosi

    He was 24, eating at Michelin-star restaurants in New York. He'd never been more miserable. Brian Schardt was Director of Engineering at Warner Music Group; parties, money, everything he thought he wanted. Then he flew to Argentina for a wedding and watched people with nothing laugh harder than anyone he knew in Manhattan. He quit from a dinner table that night. No two weeks notice. Just an email: "This is my last day." He came home and built a stock trading app with his brother. Then in one week, everything collapsed: the market crashed, his investor threatened to sue, his girlfriend left, his dad passed away, and his faith went quiet. He fired everyone. Reduced his salary to zero. Took three months off. When he came back, he did the thing his entire team told him was insane, killing a 250,000-user app to bet everything on four words: Invest Like Nancy Pelosi. It hit number one in the App Store. Craft Ventures wrote a million-dollar check without a pitch. Autopilot now manages $1.7 billion. His dad once texted him: "There's no doubt in my mind you will change the world." His dad never saw Autopilot.

    Brian Schardt: He Killed 250K Users to Bet on Nancy Pelosi

  5. Jul 20

    Why a 'Safe' Job Is the Most Dangerous Bet | Ex-Big Law Founder, Sabih Siddiqi

    Sabih Siddiqi had the golden handcuffs: big law, the prestige, the paycheck, and walked away to build Irys (formerly Iqidis), a legal-AI company he calls "Palantir meets Bloomberg." A cancer diagnosis at 18 blew up the pre-med identity he'd built his whole life around. He rebuilt it as a litigator, spent nearly seven years in the law, then gave up the safe, charted track for the uncharted one. On this episode of FP, host Christianne digs into why staying would've been the real risk, why "trust your gut" is the exact instinct a legal career trains out of you, and the difference between starting a startup and starting a company. If you've left the corporate track — or you're sitting in one wondering if you should — start here. In this episode, you'll hear how to: Know when it's actually time to quit a stable jobTake action before you feel readyThink about financial risk when you're starting from scratchMake the worst-case scenario work for you instead of against youBuild resilience from injury, setback, and rejectionTrust your gut when everyone around you says to play it safeLive with a decision that scares youGuest: Sabih Saddiqi, founder of Irys (formerly Iqidis) Host: Christianne Find Sabih and Irys on LinkedIn: @sabihsid and linkedin.com/company/irys-legal-ai Watch the full conversation on YouTube: @founderportraits

    Why a 'Safe' Job Is the Most Dangerous Bet | Ex-Big Law Founder, Sabih Siddiqi

  6. May 15

    He Quit a Top Ad Agency to Bet on a Category That Didn't Exist | Rei Lalo, TRIHARD

    If you've been telling yourself you'll start the thing "when you're ready," this episode is for you. Rei Lalo had a stable job at McCann — one of the biggest ad agencies in the world. He'd been promoted twice in three years. He had a clear ten-year trajectory, a real salary, and the kind of resume that opens doors for the rest of your career. He walked away from it. With no college degree, no credibility in the industry he wanted to enter, and some savings, he started building TRIHARD — a hair and skincare brand for athletes. Six years later, it's in over Dick's Sporting Goods stores across the country, used by Olympic swimmers, and has raised ~$5M. In this conversation, we get past the highlight reel. Rei tells us about the rounds that almost didn't close and what it really took to break free from corporate. The voice in his head that is against playing it safe — and the question he asks himself every time he's tempted to hold back. If you're in the comfortable job dreaming about the uncomfortable one, this is the conversation you didn't know you needed and the best use of your time. In this episode, you'll learn: How to know when it's time to quit a stable jobHow to fundraise without experience or a track recordHow to take action before you feel readyHow to build a brand in a category that doesn't exist yetHow to make the worst-case scenario work for you instead of against youHow to think about financial risk when you're starting from scratchHow to keep going when investors push backHow to build resilience from injury, setback, or rejectionHow to listen to your gut when everyone around you says to play it safeHow to live with a decision that scares youThree takeaways for the founder you might become: The "right time" doesn't exist and is a story your fear tells youYour worst case is almost never as bad as you thinkRegret compounds faster than money doesConnect:Rei Lalo: on LinkedInTRIHARD: trihard.com / @wetrihard Follow GUT for conversations with founders about the calls they made that no one else would have.

    He Quit a Top Ad Agency to Bet on a Category That Didn't Exist | Rei Lalo, TRIHARD

  7. May 4

    Hedge Fund to Founder: Building Lasso in 11 Months, Clarke Pennington

    Clarke Pennington spent a decade in finance: investment banking, Columbia MBA, a consumer hedge fund. Then he left to build Lasso, a better-for-you gelatin cup with protein and fiber that no one had been able to manufacture before. He gave himself 12 months. He did it in 11 — with six failed production runs, a co-manufacturer who wouldn't return his calls for four months, and stress so severe his hair started falling out. We talk about what it's like to leave a career everyone envies, what happens when the people who raised you to always perform your best become your investors, and the line between relentlessness and self-destruction. "As long as you don't kill yourself in the process." @eatlasso on Instagram and TikTok Claim Your Complimentary Career Clarity Session: https://www.wellthbykirsten.com/booking-calendar/complimentary-consultation?referral=book_button_widget

    Hedge Fund to Founder: Building Lasso in 11 Months, Clarke Pennington

  8. Feb 17

    VP at BlackRock to Quitting With No Plan | Kirsten Breidenbruch, Wellth by Kirsten

    Kirsten Breidenbruch spent a decade at BlackRock. She made VP. She was making great money. From the outside, she had everything figured out. From the inside, she was waking up two hours early every day just to calm herself down enough to walk to work. Her feet felt like cinder blocks. Her body was rejecting the life she built. In this conversation, Kirsten takes us inside the war between the identity she spent years constructing and the person she was becoming underneath it, the panic attacks she masked, the mindfulness sessions she led at work while quietly falling apart, the spreadsheet she made to see if she could afford to quit (and then ignored for months), and the walk on the beach with her dad where she finally said it out loud. She talks about what it actually feels like to dismantle a life that looks perfect, why she wore a white Anthropologie dress to her quitting meeting, and the moment her boss called an hour after she resigned and said "I'm kinda jealous." This is for anyone who has everything they're supposed to want and still feels like something is fundamentally wrong.

    VP at BlackRock to Quitting With No Plan | Kirsten Breidenbruch, Wellth by Kirsten
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About

Ambition, pressure, taste, instinct. FP decodes how the best builders actually think and decide; the gut-feel behind the companies that work. Long-form founder conversations, hosted by Christianne, a former comms & media banker who traded the deal desk for the mic. Formerly GUT with Christianne (CC).

Information

  • Creator
    Christianne
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    13
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Christianne
  • Show Website
    Founder Portraits