Build to Last

Growing up, Dhira Vidhea loved to read and write. She’d devour John Green’s books as a teenager, and eventually wrote her own book titled “The Boy Who Broke In My Window” at age 13. “I always wanted to be an author,” she says. “That was my dream.” But publishing manuscript wasn’t as easy as she first anticipated: None of the literary agents she sent her book to wanted to work with her.From one challenge, a business opportunity arose. Dhira went on to start TinLit, which first started as Indonesia’s Wattpad-like online writing platform, and later evolved to connect the platform’s top authors to traditional publishers. Through TinLit, she’s created a community of over 10,000 active users and realized the dreams of so many independent writers. On the Build to Last podcast, she and Ethan discuss how the publishing industry is evolving, the latest book trends, and the importance of being “delulu” to achieve your dreams.

One of Europe’s notable private equity success stories started in New York.Meet Keith Breslauer: native to Washington Heights, NYC and now the managing director of Patron Capital, a London-based private equity firm specializing in real estate and property that he founded in 1999. Patron represents leading U.S. and European institutions, endowments, pension funds and family offices, with approximately €5 billion in assets under management.Today's conventional wisdom views America as the Holy Land of opportunity, while Europe—a region with low VC budgets, tight regulations, and poor outlook for youth employment—fails to match expectations. So why did Keith, an American, build a business in London?He calls it work arbitrage: "There’s fat chickens walking around, and I can shoot ‘em,” he says. For Keith, less competition in the region means more advantage for people willing to hustle.What are some of his secrets to success? Energy and positivity. Filming this episode on a gloomy London afternoon, Keith remained upbeat, saying “I’m a perpetual optimist.”On the Build to Last podcast, Keith discusses with Ethan some key takeaways from his decades spanning career (which actually began at Lehman Brothers!). He also shares why balance is important and some advice on how young people can find opportunities in a competitive market, as well as the key lesson from Patron’s best investments: opportunity hides in uncertainty.

For founder and technologist Daniel Mika, the idea of building the future is as ordinary as the everyday. No surprise, then, that his first foray into the world of artificial intelligence started long before GPT and Grok were en vogue: In 2018, Daniel became co-founded GetDressed, an computer vision-powered fashion stylist, (at the time of launch, he was only 17).Daniel’s work in the startup world continues today, though his exact role has pivoted slightly. Rather than building startups of his own, he’s actively at the forefront of the scene all together. He’s an angel investor in several stealth startups and a partner at the MBA Fund, a VC fund investing in students, dropouts, and alumni founders from UPenn, Harvard, and Stanford. He also helps pre-seed founders find high-quality off-shore engineers in Poland with his new company, Descope, and he’s also a computer vision researcher at UPenn’s GRASP Lab.On the Build to Last podcast with Ethan, Daniel shares his journey from founder to investor, his expert opinion on recent AI developments, and the importance of actively reaching out to people we can learn from.

While many bright minds have their sights set on Silicon Valley, founder Earl Valencia’s vision is set elsewhere: emerging markets, regions like Southeast Asia or Africa where the population is young, where standard national GDP growth is between 5-10%, and where there’s “ so much opportunity still to make change,” he says. Plentina, Earl’s last venture, did exactly that. He raised $5 million for the buy-now-pay later startup servicing emerging markets, and exited successfully in 2024. Before his work as a startup founder, he’s worked at places like Bridgewater Associates, Charles Scwab, and Cisco. The lessons from all these experiences come together in his latest book, Startup Mindsets (Random House SEA). On the Build to Last podcast, Earl shares with Ethan how—and why—he built a career around emerging markets and what it takes to succeed in a region where the only way is up. You can find Earl on LinkedIn, or purchase his book here.

For Kirk McKinney, the idea for starting a business “was an accident.” One a bicycle trip to the dump in his hometown of Westwood, MA led to the business concept for Junk Teens, a youth-led junk removal business he founded at age 15. Five years after their launch, Junk Teens is now making over $1.3 million in annual revenue, and Kirk has been featured in places like the Boston Globe, CBS News, and Entrepreneur Magazine. On the Build to Last podcast, Kirk shares his junk-to-riches story. He also talks about his long-term vision for Junk Teens, the values that propel his business forward, and (as a student at Babson College) the dilemmas and challenges of a student-entrepreneur. Find Junk Teens on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram.