I am excited to have Fadwa Ouardani, a business angel and VC investor at Leblon Capital, backing founders across the US and Europe.

In this interview, Fadwa Ouardani, a VC investor at Leblon Capital, shares her journey from operator to investor, her views on startup culture, the impact of AI, and advice for founders navigating the global landscape. Discover key traits of successful founders, the importance of company culture, and the future of venture capital.

Timestamps

03:40 Traits of Successful Founders

06:18 Building Strong Company Culture

09:38 Comparing European and American Founders

12:33 The Future of Innovation Globally

15:35 Navigating Founder and Investor Relationships

18:25 Challenges of High Valuations

21:18 Growth Frameworks in AI

24:21 The Role of IPOs in Venture Capital

27:07 Advice for Emerging Managers

Fadwa's Links

LDN/ X – https://www.linkedin.com/in/fadwa-ouardani/

Website – https://leblon-capital.com

My Links

Podcast: https://lifeselfmastery.com/itunes

Newsletter: https://partner-grow.beehiiv.com/subscribe

YouTube: youtube.com/lifeselfmastery

Twitter: https://twitter.com/rohitmal

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rohit857/

Course: https://www.udemy.com/course/outbound-sales-mastery/

I am thrilled to have Vincent Jong, the founder of DataMerge, a B2B data platform challenging ZoomInfo and Apollo with smarter enrichment waterfalls and transparent pricing and Meetbot which is an AI‑first scheduling platform. He also builds AI-first companies through Poolside Ventures and hosts SaaS on the Beach, an exclusive retreat for top SaaS founders.

In this interview, Vincent Jong, shares insights on building AI-first SaaS products, data enrichment, and startup strategies. Discover how he leverages AI to create cost-efficient, scalable solutions and his approach to building successful ventures without external funding.

Timestamps

00:00 Introduction to Vincent Jong and His Ventures

03:42 Vincent's Journey into Startups and Product Management

06:15 The Value of Company Data in Sales and Marketing

09:41 Understanding Enrichment Waterfalls in Data Providers

12:42 Transparent Pricing in Data Services

15:38 Building AI-First Companies Without Traditional Engineering Teams

18:42 The Role of AI in Marketing and Content Creation

26:35 Optimizing for AI Understanding

28:50 Profitability and Competitive Advantage

30:42 Building for Longevity and Growth

34:03 Intentional Decision-Making in Startups

39:36 Creating Meaningful Connections at SaaS on the Beach

Vincent's Links

LDN/ X – https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincentjong/

Website – https://www.poolside.ventures

My Links

Podcast: https://lifeselfmastery.com/itunes

Newsletter: https://partner-grow.beehiiv.com/subscribe

YouTube: youtube.com/lifeselfmastery

Twitter: https://twitter.com/rohitmal

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rohit857/

Course: https://www.udemy.com/course/outbound-sales-mastery/

I am thrilled to have Alex Shartsis, the founder and CEO of Skyp, a bootstrapped AI email platform powering personalized outbound for sales teams at leading companies.

In this episode, Alex Shartsis, founder and CEO of Skyp, shares insights on building a bootstrapped GTM software company, writing outbound that actually earns replies, and winning a crowded category against far better-funded rivals. Discover how one conference-outreach play packed an enterprise pipeline with 130 leads in a single quarter, why a $20M exit can beat a $20M raise, and what most people still get wrong about AI-generated cold email in 2026.

Timestamps

00:50 What a great sales team actually looks like

02:48 Why Alex bootstrapped Skyp instead of raising VC

07:42 The payback math: when a $20M outcome beats a $20M raise 10:32 Outbound in 2026 — personalization that works vs. slop

15:05 Do follow-up emails work? (why he ignores your first one)

18:02 Email + LinkedIn + phone: the multi-channel workflow

22:42 AI coding tools for non-technical founders & GTM leaders 27:54 Pricing: why Skip refuses credit-based pricing

33:51 Winning a crowded category against better-funded rivals 37:59 Personal brand & newsletter as a GTM engine

41:39 Rapid fire: favorite business book

43:08 What he'd do differently building Skyp

Alex's Links

LDN/ X – https://www.linkedin.com/in/shartsis/

Website – https://skyp.ai/

My Links

Podcast: https://lifeselfmastery.com/itunes

Newsletter: https://partner-grow.beehiiv.com/subscribe

YouTube: youtube.com/lifeselfmastery

Twitter: https://twitter.com/rohitmal

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rohit857/

Course: https://www.udemy.com/course/outbound-sales-mastery/

I am happy to have Mike Zisman, the founder and Executive Chairman of Golf Genius Software, the leading tournament management platform serving 11,000+ golf clubs across 62 countries

In this episode, Mike Zisman, founder of Golf Genius Software, shares insights on building a capital-efficient tech company, forming game-changing partnerships, and navigating today's exit landscape. Discover how a single USGA deal transformed the company's trajectory, why raising less capital can make a startup stronger, and what it really takes to build resilient remote teams that stick around.

Learn

• What did it actually take to build enough trust with the USGA to replace their entire tournament management system?
• Michael targets 20% EBITDA margin and reinvest the rest - how did he land on that number specifically
• Michael runs acquired brands as separate brands rather than folding them in. What's the actual criteria for when to keep a brand alive versus absorb it?
• What's your favourite business book ->innovator's dilemma
• What's your favourite business tool ->gmail
• If you could go back, what would you do differently ->understand how a golf course operates

Timestamps

00:00 From MIT Professor to Software Entrepreneur

03:04 Leaving Academia: The Leap Into Building Companies

06:13 The Birth of Golf Genius and Its Early Struggles

09:08 Why Trust and Relationships Win Deals

12:12 The USGA Partnership That Changed Everything

15:13 Raising Less: The Case for Capital Efficiency

18:21 Employee Ownership and Building a Real Culture

21:09 Remote Teams and the Retention Playbook

24:05 Where AI Actually Fits in Business Today

27:05 The Future of Programming and Productivity

28:25 The Brutal Job Market Facing New Graduates

32:16 Why Interpersonal Skills Still Beat Technical Ones

34:19 The Golf Industry's Shifting Strategies

36:24 Reading Market Dynamics and Growth Levers

39:52 Exit Strategies in Today's Market

41:55 How Company Ownership and Investment Are Evolving

43:56 The Future of Venture Capital and Private Equity

49:13 Resilience: The Entrepreneur's Real Edge

Mike's Links

LDN/ X – https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-zisman-51528/

Website – https://golfgenius.com/

My Links

Podcast: https://lifeselfmastery.com/itunes

Newsletter: https://partner-grow.beehiiv.com/subscribe

YouTube: youtube.com/lifeselfmastery

Twitter: https://twitter.com/rohitmal

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rohit857/

Course: https://www.udemy.com/course/outbound-sales-mastery/

I am thrilled to have Ron Levin, Managing Partner at Alumni Ventures Seed Fund and co-founder of Perk, formerly TravelPerk, which scaled to a $2.7 billion valuation. He has backed 1,600+ companies and written Higher Purpose Venture Capital.

In this episode, Ron Levin, Managing Partner at Alumni Ventures and co-founder of TravelPerk, shares insights on venture capital, startup fundraising, and the future of AI. Discover how founders can decode a VC pass, what a real moat looks like for AI companies, and why social impact and strong returns aren't mutually exclusive.

Timestamps

00:26 From McKinsey to Booking.com to Co-Founding TravelPerk

02:53 Building TravelPerk: The First 12 Months and Manual Grind

05:48 Crossing the Table: What Founders Get Wrong

08:11 The Alumni Ventures Model: Co-Investing Alongside Top VCs

09:44 Decoding a VC Pass: When It's Really About the Team

13:18 Securing a Lead Investor Without Social Proof

16:13 What's Moving the Needle: AI-First Investing Now

17:44 The AI Wrapper Trap and What a Real Moat Looks Like

20:08 Why SaaS Metrics Don't Map to AI Companies

21:49 Who Wins the AI Model War

23:42 The Anthropic IPO and AI Valuations

26:06 Higher Purpose Venture Capital: Returns Meet Social Impact

29:30 IPOs, Secondaries, and Staying Private Longer

31:48 Should VCs Ignore Price for Generational Companies?

33:50 Structuring a Seed Raise With No Warm Network

Ron's Links

LDN/ X – https://www.linkedin.com/in/levinron/

Website – https://www.av.vc/

My Links

Podcast: https://lifeselfmastery.com/itunes

Newsletter: https://partner-grow.beehiiv.com/subscribe

YouTube: youtube.com/lifeselfmastery

Twitter: https://twitter.com/rohitmal

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rohit857/

Course: https://www.udemy.com/course/outbound-sales-mastery/

I am thrilled to have Mike Ryan, CEO of Bullet Point Network, who was earlier Partner at Goldman Sachs, Global Co-Head of Equities, investment committee at Harvard's endowment.

In this episode, Mike Ryan, CEO of Bullet Point Network and former Goldman Sachs Partner and Global Co-Head of Equities, shares insights on AI in investing, disciplined capital allocation, and building a startup late in a storied career. Discover why quality control is the real battleground in AI, how the "AI + 1" model keeps humans in the loop, what decades on Harvard's investment committee taught him about betting on people, and why return on capital still matters most in an age of sky-high private valuations.

Timestamps

00:36 — Allocating capital at Harvard's endowment vs. running a trading desk at Goldman

02:21 — The moment he decided to leave Goldman and Harvard to build a company

04:12 — "AI + 1": where the system stops and human judgment starts

07:01 — Selling AI into skeptical investment teams — the sales cycle and quality control

09:15 — Turning a geopolitical/macro signal into an investable thesis vs. a narrative

12:28 — From the token subsidy era to the token shortage era

14:54 — Where AI creates real leverage in the deal lifecycle — and where it's hype

17:40 — Patterns from the dot-com and subprime cycles; are we in a bubble?

21:43 — Why companies stay private longer, secondaries, and the IPO question

25:08 — Creativity, persuasion, judgment, and the death of apprenticeship learning

27:59 — The operator problems Goldman and Harvard never prepared him for

30:26 — GTM motion: who the first buyer is inside an investment firm

32:12 — McKinsey's 12M-jobs projection and whether firms are ready

34:53 — Value vs. growth investing at high valuations

Mike's Links

LDN/ X – https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-ryan-bpn/

Website – https://bpnai.com/

My Links

Podcast: https://lifeselfmastery.com/itunes

Newsletter: https://partner-grow.beehiiv.com/subscribe

YouTube: youtube.com/lifeselfmastery

Twitter: https://twitter.com/rohitmal

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rohit857/

Course: https://www.udemy.com/course/outbound-sales-mastery/

I am thrilled to have Tal Kirschenbaum, co-founder and CEO of Ledge. He's not building software that tracks the month-end close. He's building AI agents that that tracks the month-end close.

In this episode, Tal Kirschenbaum, CEO of Ledge, shares insights on AI in finance, startup growth, and go-to-market strategies. Discover how AI is transforming accounting, the importance of deterministic models, and lessons from building a successful AI company.

Timestamps

01:12 Understanding Corporate M&A and its Relevance to Startups

02:42 Insights from Corporate M&A Experience and Building Ledge

03:28 Origin of Ledge: Market Gap in Finance Operations

04:56 The Build vs. Buy Dilemma in AI Solutions

09:01 The Importance of Consistency in AI for Finance

11:03 Sales Strategies: Founder-Led and Multi-Channel Outreach

13:51 Leveraging Social Media and Content for Pipeline Growth

14:55 Balancing Founder Involvement in Sales and Scaling

16:54 Managing Distributed Teams Across Time Zones

18:45 Early Hiring Challenges and Lessons Learned

24:52 AI's Impact on Jobs in Finance and Future Outlook

27:53 AI Investment Mistakes and Market Trends

29:58 Global AI Race: US vs. China

31:04 Effective Go-to-Market Tactics for AI Startups

33:50 Staying Productive and Avoiding Burnout

Tal's Links

LDN/ X – https://www.linkedin.com/in/tal-k/

Website – https://ledge.co/

My Links

Podcast: https://lifeselfmastery.com/itunes

Newsletter: https://partner-grow.beehiiv.com/subscribe

YouTube: youtube.com/lifeselfmastery

Twitter: https://twitter.com/rohitmal

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rohit857/

Course: https://www.udemy.com/course/outbound-sales-mastery/

I am happy to have Sudhir Syal, President at Orios Venture Partners. Sudhir spent fifteen years on both sides of the table. He covered India's earliest startups as a journalist, then went and grew three of them himself across Indonesia, UAE, SGP, and India.

In this episode, Sudhir Syal, President at ORIOS Venture Partners, shares insights from his 15+ years of startup and investment experience across India, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. He discussed startup scaling, international expansion, GTM strategies, and the future of AI and tech in emerging markets.

Timestamps

00:00 The Journey from Journalism to Entrepreneurship

02:58 Scaling Startups: Insights from Founders

06:08 Market Expansion Strategies: Lessons from BookMyShow

09:09 Navigating Market Entry: India vs. US

12:10 Building Stratify: A Go-To-Market Enabler

15:19 Transferable GTM Playbooks Across Industries

18:13 Pitching to VCs: What Founders Get Wrong

20:37 The Rise of First-Time Fund Managers in India

21:17 Evaluating Go-To-Market Strategies

24:01 The Role of Capital in GTM Success

26:34 Navigating the Fractional Resource Landscape

27:52 The Future of Sales in an AI-Driven World

30:30 Preparing for the Job Market in an AI Era

32:30 Expanding Indian Brands into the UAE Market

33:52 Emerging Industries in the UAE

36:19 The Resilience of the UAE Startup Ecosystem

38:28 Metrics that Matter: Operators vs. VCs

40:33 Reflections on Career Decisions and Tools

Sudhir's Links

LDN/ X – https://www.linkedin.com/in/sudhirsyal/

Website – https://www.oriosvp.com/

My Links

Podcast: https://lifeselfmastery.com/itunes

Newsletter: https://partner-grow.beehiiv.com/subscribe

YouTube: youtube.com/lifeselfmastery

Twitter: https://twitter.com/rohitmal

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rohit857/

Course: https://www.udemy.com/course/outbound-sales-mastery/