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Founders in Motion with Thea Ngo

Thea Ngo
Artificial Intelligence
Networking
Y Combinator
Personal Branding
Voice AI
Lumiere Education
Keeyu
Growth Marketing
Public Portfolio / Public Proof
Ecommerce
Fluency
Interviewing
Hello Clever
Job Search Strategy
Positioning
Australia
Vibeflow
Butter
Dyna Robotics
Strongroom AI

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 → ... more

PublishesWeeklyEpisodes39Foundeda year ago
Number of ListenersCategories
BusinessEntrepreneurship

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Artwork for Founders in Motion

Latest Episodes

Lee Lagdameo crossed over from the other side of the table to build one of the AI companies he used to back — and four months into Shikii Labs, he says most companies aren't AI-ready: their data is a mess, and raising less beats raising more.

Lee La... more

Arjun Agarwal is the founder and CEO of inaam, a flat-fee alternative to funds that take a percentage of your money. We talk about his family's fortune disappearing in South Africa, the watches that helped them survive, and the teenage crypto fund he... more

Rowan McNamee builds AI for lawyers that processes thousands of pages of case documents built so it can never make the final call. His first prototype had 300 ways to turn a transcript into a document. Lawyers used exactly one.

Rowan McNamee co-foun... more

Hayden Smith started Pearler with negative money, medical bills he couldn't pay, surgery coming up. The company he built tells everyday Australians to invest and then leave it alone. He's been running on patience since day one.

Hayden Smith is the c... more

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Recent Guests

Arjun Agarwal
Founder of Enarm / NAMM
Enarm / NAMM
Episode: Impact Investing at $10: The Fortune He Lost, The Fund He Built | Arjun Agarwal, inaam
Rowan McNamee
Co-founder of Mary Technology
Mary Technology
Episode: AI for Lawyers: 300 Features, They Used One | Rowan McNamee, Mary Technology
Hayden Smith
Co-founder and CTO of Pearler
Pearler
Episode: Passive Investing Australia: Get Rich Slow, The Fintech That Tells You to Trade Less | Hayden Smith, Pearler
Josh Foreman
Founder of Indebted
Indebted
Episode: $350M Fintech Founder Steps Down as CEO to Rebuild With AI | Josh Foreman, InDebted
Rakhesh Martyn
Founder of Hachiko Energy
Hachiko Energy
Episode: Battery Storage Founder: 8 Months of Rejection, One Term Sheet He Refused | Rakhesh Martyn, Hachiko Energy
Caroline Tran
Co-founder and CEO of Hello Clever
Hello Clever
Episode: $15M ARR Fintech Founder: I Found My First Customer on Facebook | Caroline Tran, Hello Clever
Will Bodewes
Co-founder and CEO of Phonely
Phonely
Episode: The D1 Athlete Who Built a $100M Voice AI Company | Will Bodewes, Phonely (YC S24)
Shakeel Lala
Co-founder of Marloo
Marloo
Episode: $40M FinTech Founder on Raising Millions Before He Had a Business Idea | Shakeel Lala, Marloo
Nathan Yun
Co-founder of Paire
Paire
Episode: He Turned Falling Socks into an Eight Figure Global Brand | Nathan Yun, Paire

Host

Thea Ngo
Host of Founders in Motion

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Talking Points

Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.

Impact Investing at $10: The Fortune He Lost, The Fund He Built | Arjun Agarwal, inaam
Q: Arj, so before the fund, the bank, the mission, there was a house in Johannesburg, and a kid watching how money worked in it. What was your relationship with money growing up?
Money was discussed openly as a tool to enable generational wealth; I learned early that money is a resource to be used to help others and to empower the family, not just to show status. This awareness shaped my view that money should be used with purpose and discipline.
He Built a Shopify App for MrBeast, Now It's Doing $2M ARR | Hamish McKay, Order Editing
Q: For someone just starting out, how should you think about testing different value propositions without losing a coherent story?
In the early stage, you should maximize exploration because no one knows you; test as many pitches as possible to discover the strongest, most compelling value that resonates with customers, then standardize around the winning narrative.
Why This YC Startup Just Raised $4M to Catch Fraud Before It Happen | Satya Tumati, Socratix AI (YC S25)
Q: How did you validate the problem with customers before building the product, and what tips would you give for effective customer interviews?
Focus on listening more than pitching. Let customers define the pain points, avoid assumptions, and validate what they actually need rather than what you think would be cool. Be flexible with priorities based on what customers value today and what will help them soon.
Why This YC Startup Just Raised $4M to Catch Fraud Before It Happen | Satya Tumati, Socratix AI (YC S25)
Q: What was the process like finding a co-founder through YC's co-founder matching, and how did you know you were aligned?
The alignment became clear as the two of us discovered complementary strengths—she had deep product/domain expertise while I brought engineering power—and it felt like a natural fit after a structured search and multiple conversations. We also used a thorough pre-partnership assessment to ensure our motivations and goals matched.
He's Building $600M Robots That Folds your Laundry | Jason Ma, Dyna Robotics
Q: What was the breakthrough about the 24-hour napkin test?
The test proved sustained, high-robustness performance over a full day, addressing a core barrier in robotics where long-duration, reliable operation had not been demonstrated at scale.

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Frequently Asked Questions About Founders in Motion

What is Founders in Motion about and what kind of topics does it cover?

Founders in Motion features unscripted conversations with early-stage founders who are still actively building their businesses. Episodes center on authentic, real-world challenges such as fundraising hurdles, early product-market fit, customer discovery hacks, and the pivots that can make or break momentum. A recurring thread across episodes is the emphasis on practical decision-making under uncertainty—covering fundraising wins and near-misses, multi-market expansions, and hands-on lessons from building in regulated or capital-constrained environments. The show tends to spotlight founders who blend technical or domain expertise with relentless execution, often sharing personal stories that illuminate resilience, storytelling in sales, and... more

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These podcasts share a similar audience with Founders in Motion:

1. All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg
2. OT: The Podcast

How many episodes of Founders in Motion are there?

Founders in Motion launched a year ago and published 39 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.

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What guests have appeared on Founders in Motion?

Recent guests on Founders in Motion include:

1. Arjun Agarwal
2. Rowan McNamee
3. Hayden Smith
4. Josh Foreman
5. Rakhesh Martyn
6. Caroline Tran
7. Will Bodewes
8. Shakeel Lala

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