blew €1.5M then built a $1.2B fund ~ Oliver Holle

blew €1.5M then built a $1.2B fund ~ Oliver Holle

Hey Crew!  Oliver Holle founded his first company as a PhD student at Columbia in the late 1990s. Raised money. Opened four offices. Hired 20 people. And nearly went personally bankrupt for two and a half years with three small kids, no salary, and personal debt of €1.5 million. He eventually sold to VeriSign, moved to Silicon Valley, came back to Vienna, and built SpeedInvest. Europe's largest seed stage fund. Now managing over $1.2 billion in assets. This one is full of hard earned wisdom from someone who has been on both sides of the table and paid dearly for every lesson he learned. We get into 👇: ★ Dropping out of a Columbia PhD to build a startup nobody understood ★ Raising money, blowing it, and nearly going personally bankrupt for two and a half years ★ How threatening to walk away flipped the power dynamic and got him back 100% of his company ★ Why he passed on Bitpanda and ElevenLabs and what that cost him ★ What actually separates founders who make it from those who don't ★ Why the AI revolution feels bigger than the internet and mobile combined Follow us on all platforms! Instagram ~ @fayltales Tiktok ~ @fayltales  LinkedIn ~ @fayltales

d2c is dead. here's what killed it ~ solo ep

★ Do you have a random question or need advice? Pop it into the chat or send them to me!! I get to meet and interview some amazing founders and investors globally, so I'll have it included in an upcoming episode :) ★ Hey Crew! It's just me today. No guest. Just a proper deep dive into one of the biggest shifts in consumer business happening right now. Direct to consumer had its moment. Gymshark. Casper. Allbirds. Peloton. The playbook worked until it didn't. Now in 2026 the rules have completely changed. And I'm going through exactly why, with real case studies and real numbers. I get into 👇: ★ Why D2C worked between 2012 and 2021 and what broke it ★ Gymshark, Peloton, Allbirds, Casper and Nike, what worked and what didn't ★ Rhode, Feastables, Chamberlain Coffee and Unwell, the new playbook ★ Why Nike couldn't make D2C only work and what that means for everyone else ★ My thesis on what it actually takes to succeed in consumer in 2026 ★ Why retail isn't a failure, it's leverage Let's keep the crew together 🤝 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fayltales/ 🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fayltales 💼 LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/loveth-ochayi-a67491152 On the move? 🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/64449Kq2PDzlkVyCjlN5U8 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/fayl-tales/id1797274868 Follow us on all platforms! Instagram ~ @fayltales Tiktok ~ @fayltales  LinkedIn ~ @fayltales

go all the way or don't start ~ Daniel Lord-Doyle

Hey Crew!  Daniel Lord-Doyle started in telemarketing. Taught himself to code on YouTube. Built a laser hair removal e-commerce company during COVID by accident among many other things. And then co-founded Mary Technology, an AI legal tech startup that just opened offices in New York and San Francisco. Half engineer, half salesperson. He thinks that combination is the whole game. And he has a lot to say about what it actually takes to build in one of the hardest industries to sell into. We get into 👇:  ★ Teaching himself to code on YouTube after missing out on equity at his first company  ★ The laser hair removal e-commerce business that took off during COVID  ★ How Mary Technology went from a red button on a website to AI handling the biggest bottleneck in law  ★ Why legal tech is actually not that hard to sell into right now  ★ The BATNA mistake that nearly sank them  ★ New York, San Francisco, and why 550,000 US law firms was the only answer Let's keep the crew together 🤝  📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fayltales/ [https://www.instagram.com/fayltales/]  🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fayltales [https://www.tiktok.com/@fayltales]  💼 LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/loveth-ochayi-a67491152 [https://au.linkedin.com/in/loveth-ochayi-a67491152] On the move?  🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/64449Kq2PDzlkVyCjlN5U8 [https://open.spotify.com/show/64449Kq2PDzlkVyCjlN5U8]  Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/fayl-tales/id1797274868 [https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/fayl-tales/id1797274868] + anywhere you stream Follow us on all platforms! Instagram ~ @fayltales Tiktok ~ @fayltales  LinkedIn ~ @fayltales

poverty line to APAC hype man ~ Dickie Currer-Ganguli

Hey crew,  Dickie Currer-Ganguli grew up on the poverty line in Yorkshire with a single mum, joined the army at 20, became a criminal defense and asylum lawyer at 23, moved to Australia at 26, and then found himself picking fruits and milking cows at 27 thinking, what the hell has happened here? Now he's running Hype Man Media and APAC Innovation Hub, and recently spent 16 days on a train across India with 600 young entrepreneurs, and is about to move to Mumbai. We cover: - Growing up on the poverty line with a single mum and how that shaped everything - Joining the army at 20, becoming a lawyer at 23, and fruit picking in Melbourne at 27 - How a nickname on LinkedIn turned into a media and storytelling business - Why the most success he's ever had came when he was the most vulnerable - 16 days on a train across India, four hours sleep a night, and coming off it a shell of a human - Why 99% of Australian founders look to the US when 5 billion people live next door Let's keep the crew together 🤝 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fayltales/ 🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fayltales 💼 LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/loveth-ochayi-a67491152 On the move? 🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/64449Kq2PDzlkVyCjlN5U8 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/fayl-tales/id1797274868 Follow us on all platforms! Instagram ~ @fayltales Tiktok ~ @fayltales  LinkedIn ~ @fayltales

80 cents, 10 years, one decision~ Trang Nova

Hey Crew! Trang Nova stepped on a snail during a morning run and it triggered a quarter life crisis that changed everything. The career. The relationship. The country. Even her name. She went from unhappy physio to checking her bank account at a petrol station and finding 80 cents. From a 10 year relationship to a one way ticket to Bali. From not speaking English as a kid to coaching people how to find their voice on stage. This one goes everywhere. Let's keep the crew together 🤝  📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fayltales/ [https://www.instagram.com/fayltales/]  🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fayltales [https://www.tiktok.com/@fayltales]  💼 LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/loveth-ochayi-a67491152 [https://au.linkedin.com/in/loveth-ochayi-a67491152] On the move? 🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/64449Kq2PDzlkVyCjlN5U8 [https://open.spotify.com/show/64449Kq2PDzlkVyCjlN5U8]  Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/fayl-tales/id1797274868 [https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/fayl-tales/id1797274868] #startuppodcast #founderstory #careerchange #pivoting #femalefounder Follow us on all platforms! Instagram ~ @fayltales Tiktok ~ @fayltales  LinkedIn ~ @fayltales