Farouk Ismail, Co-founder of Slice, joins us to discuss the journey from bootstrapping his startup to raising a massive $7.5 million seed round. Farouk shares candid insights on the highs and lows of entrepreneurship, the importance of risk management, and invaluable lessons learned from navigating a global pandemic. Tune in for actionable advice and inspiration for aspiring founders.

Links

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Sponsors Slice: https://www.slicegroup.co/

Zed Law: https://www.zed.law/

Timestamps 00:00 Trailer

00:41 Welcome to the Studio: Catching Up with an Old Friend

01:20 The Journey of Slice: From Inception to Public Recognition

04:21 Bootstrapping Slice: The Early Days and MVP

06:37 Slice 07:25 Surviving COVID: A Hail Mary Expansion to the US

19:50 Balancing Risk and Reward: Lessons from the Journey

24:44 Balancing Aggression and Building a Good Company

25:00 Embracing Risk and Reward

25:51 The Story of SoftBank's Masayoshi Son

27:11 The Importance of High Conviction Portfolios

27:50 Going All In: The Entrepreneur's Journey

29:00 Zed Law

29:35 Raising Capital: The 17.5 Million Seed Round

31:30 Finding the Right Investors

36:09 Evolving as a Founder and CEO

40:50 Instilling Company Culture and Principles

46:56 Recommended Resources for Founders

48:56 Podcast Wrap-Up and Final Thoughts

About us

We tell the raw stories of the world’s tech leaders, by asking the vulnerable questions that no one else does. Guests have included former Prime Ministers, unicorn tech founders and the world’s top investors. Join us for these interviews and get a real behind the scenes look into 25 year old best friends building the company of their dreams.