Fund/Build/Scale season 2: Why I’m doing this podcast (and why you should listen)

Let me tell you a story.

I once worked at a startup where my boss ordered the entire office to stop what we were doing so we could decorate the empty cubicles with posters, coffee mugs, plants and other personal items.

The reason: the CEO was meeting potential business partners that afternoon, and they wanted to make sure the place looked “busy.”

After working for years in early-stage startups and as a journalist, here are three hard truths I’ve learned:

1. Success in Silicon Valley hinges on connections, hard work and luck.
2. Startups often fail because founders lack fundamental business knowledge.
3. Real, actionable advice comes from those who've actually done it.

There’s no such thing as “founder DNA.” If you’re willing to take on risk and invest years of your life in something that has maybe a 10% chance of paying off — less if you’re a woman or person of color — you can be a startup founder.

I like the Rule of Three, it lends clarity. Here’s why I founded Fund/Build/Scale:

1. To help founders make fewer mistakes.
2. To share successful strategies that can accelerate your go-to-market journey.
3. To inspire more people to see themselves as potential founders. There’s a lot of overlooked talent out there, and we are missing out.

This podcast is for anyone who’s interested in learning the basic skills required to launch a startup, secure initial funding and transform an idea into a sustainable business.

I’m talking to guests about everything: finding a co-founder, conducting customer discovery, recruiting early employees, developing a PLG strategy, fundraising when you’re outside a major tech hub — all of it.

In season two, meet industry leaders like:

• Allie Garfinkle , Senior Finance Reporter, Fortune
• Amr Awadallah , CEO, Vectara
• Chikodi Chima , growth communications/mentor
• Courtney Leimkuhler and Elana Berkowitz , Springbank
• David Placek , president and founder, Lexicon Branding
• Deb Kemper , managing partner, Golden Seeds Venture Fund
• Drew Glover , CEO, Fiat Ventures
• Hantz Févry , founder/CEO, Stoovo
• Igor J. , founder/CEO, Pryon
• Jenna Birch , founder, SISU
• Jeremiah Stone , CTO, Snaplogic
• Kevin Weber , managing director, Amex Ventures
• Laura González-Estéfani , founder/CEO, The Venture City
• Laura Schaffer , VP Growth, Amplitude
• Naveen Rao , VP Generative AI, Databricks
• 🌱🤝🌍 Nicolas Sauvage , president, TDK Ventures
• Nicholas Thorne , co-founder, Audos
• Tim Davis , CEO/co-founder, Modular
• Tracy Young , CEO/co-founder, TigerEye
• Tzahi (Zack) Weisfeld , GM, Intel Ignite
• Viviana Faga , general partner, Felicis Ventures

Interested? Subscribe to Fund/Build/Scale on all major platforms and follow the podcast on LinkedIn or Substack to get articles, excerpts, transcripts and more.

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fund-build-scale/id1719488387

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0EbC8PTUSfpZ4USPC9ErnN

Thanks for listening!

– Walter.