Founders and Builders

Satellites scan the Earth thousands of times every day, powering AI, defence, and disaster response. But there’s a critical problem that not many people know about, but that our modern world is hindered by.In this episode of Founders & Builders, I sit down with Michael Stanway and Joe Griffiths, founders of The Compression Company, who are solving one of the hardest problems in modern infrastructure: how to move massive amounts of satellite and sensor data efficiently.We cover:- The biggest opportunities in space tech right now- Their experience moving to San Francisco as first-time founders- The “watermelon through a straw” problem of satellite data- How they raised a $3.4M round in 10 daysChapters:00:00 - Intro01:40 - The biggest problem in space and Satellite technology06:10 - How we use satellite data every day 11:46 - Entrepreneur First: Finding your co-founder14:54 - The Residency: Live & work with other founders in San Francisco18:58 - Raising $3.4M in 10 days (how they did it)21:23 - Building a compression factory for all data types31:07 - Founder wisdom: Focus ONLY on solving the most important problem38:37 - The Compression Company are hiring (reach out to them)Topics covered:Satellite data • Space tech • Data compression • AI infrastructure • Defence tech • Climate monitoring • Startup fundraising • Deep tech👉 Subscribe for weekly conversations with founders building the infrastructure behind the next generation of technology.

If you’re thinking about starting a business in 2026, or you’ve had an idea sitting in the back of your mind that you haven’t acted on yet... this video is for you.Over the last six months, I’ve interviewed 30 founders and investors on the Founders & Builders podcast. Collectively, the companies they’ve built are worth over $110 billion... and after analysing those conversations, one clear pattern kept coming up.Every successful startup goes through the same five steps, and none of it is magic. You can totally do it too.In this episode, I’ll walk you through that playbook so you can see exactly where you are, and what actually matters at each stage:Chapters:00:00 - Why NOW is the time to start your business01:51 - Step 1: Finding your startup idea & co-founder06:30 - Step 2: Raising investment (and whether you should)09:34 - Step 3: Winning your first customers15:24 - Step 4: Scaling your company (adding fuel on the fire)19:41 - Step 5: Mastering your founder mindset23:09 - What's coming up in 2026Everything you’ll hear comes directly from founders who’ve built real companies, including the people behind Google Maps, Weights & Biases, Harvey AI, and investors from CRV, Hoxton Ventures, and B Capital.If you’ve ever felt late, behind, or unsure whether now is the right time — you’re not alone. And chances are, you’re probably earlier than you think.Don’t forget to subscribe 🔔 And after you've finished watching the video, get back to building ;)#startup #founder #venturecapital #technology #entrepreneur

Henrik Djurestal is the founder of Vorker.ai - a deep AI coworker built specifically for the smallest businesses: one to ten-person teams who need leverage, not headcount.
Fresh off raising a €700,000 pre-seed round, Henrik breaks down why deep AI agents will transform small business operations, and why the next entrepreneurial wave won’t be no-code, it will be AI co-workers running entire workflows end-to-end.
From automating admin and outreach to drafting contracts, generating designs and handling integrations across thousands of tools, Vorker is building the future of how tiny teams operate. Henrik also shares candid lessons from raising as a solo founder, the challenges of selling a horizontal AI product, and why traction beats pitch decks every time.
CHAPTERS:
00:18 – Introducing Vorker.ai and the €700k Pre-Seed Round
00:57 – What Vorker.ai Actually Does for 1–10 Person Businesses
01:39 – How Deep AI Agents Work Inside Vorker
02:26 – Using Off-the-Shelf Models vs Training Your Own
03:25 – The Future of AI Co-Workers for Small Businesses
05:14 – Real Tasks Vorker Can Automate Across a Business
06:50 – Hiring the Team and the Vorker “Secret Code” Challenge
09:06 – Lessons from Fundraising as a Solo Founder
11:29 – What Comes Next: Closed Beta, Open Beta and Seed Plans
A huge thank you to Henrik for joining us live at Slush - a brilliant conversation with a founder building in one of the most explosive new categories in AI.

#foundersandbuilders #henrikdjurestal #vorkerai #aicoworkers #startups #slush

Sam Sihvonen is the CEO of Solu - a precision genomics platform helping hospitals and institutions detect, prevent and control infections before they spread.What began as a diagnostics-focused tool has rapidly expanded across major verticals from food safety and agriculture to pharma, industrial bio and research. Sam and the team believe Solu can become a company that reshapes how we identify and stop infectious threats in the real world.From the economics of drug development, to the global risk of antibiotic resistance, Sam explains why the world urgently needs better tools - and why Solu is already making a measurable impact.Chapters:00:00 Intro01:12 Big verticals in genomics01:42 Why this could become a massive company02:25 The Slush talk with Enveda03:10 Why biotech execution is so hard04:05 Why no $1T biotech exists (yet)04:50 Drug development timelines + costs05:32 The antibiotic crisis06:21 What success looks like for Solu08:02 Early customers + real-world usage08:45 Advice to early-stage founders09:18 Raising the ceiling on your ambition10:02 How Slush drives bigger thinkingHuge thanks to Sam for making the time!#foundersandbuilders #samsihvonen #solu

Lars Rasmussen went from being a broke founder after the dot-com crash to co-founding Google Maps, one of the most important products on the modern internet.
Today, billions of people use Google Maps every day without thinking twice.In this episode,
Lars shares:
• How Google Maps accidentally went viral before launch and nearly overwhelmed Google’s infrastructure
• Why speed, not features, was the real unlock that changed everything• How a failed VC raise directly led to selling the company to Google
• What it was like building on the web before smartphones, APIs or modern tooling
• Why founders today have more leverage than ever, yet still feel late
• His shift from builder to ecosystem builder and why he’s now creating Panathenea, a major founder conference in Athens

Chapters:
01:30 - The Google Maps Story
07:36 - Larry Page Discussion
08:46 - How Widely Google Maps is Used
11:15 - Growth Challenges
15:28 - 10 Millions Users on Day One!
16:29 - Panathenea
28:00 - Advice To Young Founders

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👍 Why subscribe?If you build companies, invest in startups, or care about technology shaping the future, this channel is for you.
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#GoogleMaps #LarsRasmussen #Startups #Founders #TechHistory #Entrepreneurship