Founders Unplugged

Founders Unplugged is a web series capturing long-form conversations with founders, entrepreneurs and investors from all over the world.

Founders Unplugged is a business podcast hosted by Greg McCallum, with 158 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Greg McCallum hosts Founders Unplugged, a business show with 158 episodes published.

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  Episode #95

  Nobody Talks About This Part of the Founder Journey w/ Shona Beats - Part Two

  Jul 23, 202556 minS3

  <p>Nobody Talks About This Part of the Founder Journey | Shona Beats on Identity, Burnout & What Comes Next</p><p><br></p><p>What happens after you step back? After the raise? After the exit? In Part Two of our conversation with Shona Beats — ex-Founding COO of Headspace and now a coach to high-growth founders — we explore the emotional cost of building a company… and what’s waiting on the other side.</p><p><br></p><p>We talk about identity loss, burnout, ego, and why even the most successful founders can feel totally unprepared when the hustle stops. If you’ve e...

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  Episode #94

  From Headspace to High-Growth Coaching: Shona Beats on Startup Chaos and Calm

  Jul 21, 202548 minS3

  <p>From Headspace to High-Growth Coaching: Shona Beats on Startup Chaos and Calm</p><p><br></p><p>In this episode of Founders Unplugged, we sit down with Shona Beats, ex-Founding COO of Headspace, to talk about what really happens behind the scenes of a rocketship startup — and what founders need but rarely get as they scale.</p><p><br></p><p>Shona shares her journey from working with Andy Puddicombe in the earliest days of Headspace to mentoring some of the world’s most ambitious founders today. We explore burnout, founder identity, operational chaos, and the psychological cost of hype...

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  Episode #93

  How Symvan Capital Scales Startups Without Losing the Human Touch

  Jul 16, 202531 minS3

  <p>What does founder-friendly VC look like in practice? In Part 2 of our conversation with Kealan Doyle and Michael Theodosiou from Symvan Capital, we explore how they scale their portfolio without sacrificing personal support — and why their long-term, lifecycle approach to venture capital is built for both performance and relationships.</p><p><br /></p><p>We dig into exit strategy, failure rates, the broken early-stage funding landscape, and why hands-on VCs are rare but essential.</p><p><br /></p><p>Plus:</p><p>💬 Why most founders fail at sales (and what to do about it)</p><p>🔁 How to avoid hiring t...

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  Episode #92

  Why Most VCs Don’t Actually Do Venture Capital | Symvan Capital on the State of Early-Stage Funding

  Jul 14, 20251h 20mS3

  <p>What does hands-on VC actually look like? In this episode of Founders Unplugged, Greg sits down with Kealan Doyle and Michael Theodosiou from Symvan Capital, one of the UK’s most disciplined early-stage venture capital firms.</p><p><br /></p><p>Kealan and Michael share what really goes into building a successful VC firm — from avoiding “spray and pray” investing to supporting founders through the toughest stages of growth.</p><p><br /></p><p>They talk founder-led sales, the broken pre-seed market, the myth of the ‘gut feel’ VC, and why too many funds look the part but don’t do the work...

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  Episode #91

  The Startup Hiring Mistakes That Cost You Your Best People w/ Alper Yurder - Part Two

  Jul 9, 202551 minS3

  Sponsored by FounderCatalyst<br>If you're raising capital in the UK, don’t do it without them.<br>🎯 Get 5% off their services → https://2ly.link/1zDIJ<br>The Truth About Startup Hiring: What Founders Get Wrong w/ Alper Yurder – Part Two<br>How do startups get hiring so wrong—so often?In Part Two of this brutally honest conversation, Alper Yurder (founder of Forte, ex-Flowla) returns to explore why early-stage hiring fails, when AI hurts more than it helps, and what founders can do to build real sales leadership—without burning bridges.<br>🎧 In this episode:Why AI can't replace human nuance in...

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