The Reluctant Founder: A Tech Startup Story with Complyance
Richa Kaul never planned to be a founder, but when she spotted a gap in enterprise security compliance technology, everything changed. In this episode of Tech Startup Stories, the Complyance CEO shares how she raised funding like an American founder in the UK market, what it means to truly validate a product before scaling it, and why she waited three years before investing in marketing. From embedding herself in client processes to choosing investors based on people over prestige, Richa offers candid insights on building in a crowded cybersecurity space, navigating fundraising as a female founder, and why sometimes the best businesses start without a grand plan. If you've ever wondered whether to bootstrap or raise venture capital, how to stand out in competitive markets, or what it takes to walk the walk before talking the talk, this conversation delivers practical wisdom from someone who's living it.
Having the Energy for the Long Game: A Tech Startup Story with Adelan
“Having the Energy for the Long Game: A Tech Startup Story with Adelan” explores how Dr Michaela Kendall has led Adelan from fuel cell research to a scalable commercial business. The episode focuses on selecting the first market you can win, building a resilient supply chain, and standing up the first factory to hit price points that drive adoption. We discuss how to move from prototype economics to volume economics, how to frame customer value around total cost of ownership and reliability, and how to time demand generation so capacity can deliver. Dr Kendall shares funding realities for UK cleantech, the trade-offs between manufacturing in Britain and the United States, and the leadership habits that keep a deep tech company moving through long cycles. This conversation is practical for founders and operators in climate tech, energy, and industrial hardware who want clear guidance on turning science into repeatable value propositions, aligning operations and buyers to reduce unit cost, and scaling with financial discipline while staying close to the customer.