Mark MacLeod has seen it all—14 years as CFO at companies like Shopify and FreshBooks, founding partner at Real Ventures, ran a boutique investment bank that sold over $1B in companies, and now coaches CEOs of venture-backed startups while hosting The Startup CEO Show.

In this wide-ranging conversation, Mark shares hard-earned insights from his journey through the startup world, reveals what he's learned from coaching 100+ CEOs and interviewing 80+ more, and explains why the traditional Silicon Valley hustle narrative is actually destroying companies.

Mark's Newsletter: markmacleod.me

Limitless Community: limitless.ceo

The Startup CEO Show: podcast.markmacleod.me

Amar sits down with fellow serial entrepreneur, George Babu, founder and CEO of Aire Labs, as he shares his remarkable journey from working at BlackBerry during its $90 billion peak, to pioneering AI-powered robotics at Kindred, to now tackling the climate crisis with innovative software solutions.

Learn more about Mantle: ⁠⁠⁠withmantle.com

Cato Pastoll, co-founder and CEO of Loop, joins Amit to share his journey building a modern global banking platform for Canadian founders doing business across borders.In this episode, Cato discusses the challenges of pivoting from a lending company to a comprehensive banking solution, the importance of living in your customers' shoes, and practical advice on hiring, retention, and fundraising for early-stage founders.

Learn more about Mantle: ⁠⁠withmantle.com

Steven Trieu, CFO at 8090 Solutions, joins Amit to share his practical advice for early-stage founders navigating compensation, cap tables, and their first rounds of funding from a CFO's perspective.

Learn more about Mantle: ⁠withmantle.com

In this episode, Willful's CEO and co-founder, Erin Bury, joins Mantle's co-founder, Amit Jethani, to share how she turned a personal story into one of Canada’s leading online estate planning startups. Erin opens up about the realities of scaling a mission-driven startup, managing growth, and the behind-the-scenes challenges of equity, governance, and operations.

From early product decisions to empowering teams and working with investors, Erin breaks down what every founder should know about building a company built to last.

Learn more about Mantle: ⁠withmantle.com

From ringing up groceries at Food Basics in Toronto to leading one of the fastest-growing startups in Silicon Valley, Nilam Ganenthiran’s journey is a masterclass in humility, intuition, and leadership.In this in-depth conversation with Amar Varma (Co-founder, Mantle), Nilam opens up about his path from cashier to President of Instacart, where he helped scale the company from a single city to a $39 billion private valuation. He shares the highs and lows of startup growth — including moments of imposter syndrome, a pivotal board meeting that forced Instacart to focus on profitability, and the enduring lesson that “you can’t punt building a real business forever.”

Learn more about Mantle: withmantle.com