Double Cheque: Recent Episodes
Double Cheque
In depth conversations with founders and investors about every part of the startup journey from raising money to getting your first customers.
Ludovica De Pieri is the Founder and CEO at Reveal My Food. Reveal My Food is a an eating out app, tailored to users’ unique food requirements. They integrate with restaurants’ kitchens and use smart AI technology to match ingredients with all allergies and intolerances, giving you a full list of restaurants and dishes catering to your needs.
In this episode we discuss:
- The importance of knowing what you eat
- How food affects us
- Investment journey
Aimée-Louise Carton is the Co-Founder of KeepAppy. KeepAppy is a social enterprise and a mobile phone app that is a “gym for your mental health”. Also KeepAppy helps to make mental health more accessible and consults business on that matter.
Trigger warning for suicide and mental health issues.
In this episode we discuss:
- The story behind KeepAppy
- Mental health at the workplace
- Social enterprises
Amna Akhtar is the Co-Founder of GirlDreamer. GirlDreamer is a non-profit organisation that supports the personal and professional agency of young women of colour to tackle social inequality.
In this episode we discuss:
- Following your instincts in creating your business
- “Boarders Without Borders” programme
- Social start-ups - pros and cons
Sho Sugihara is the Co-Founder & CEO at Pave. Pave helps improve your credit score by tracking and making your bills on time, giving personalised actions and sharing your credit utilisation and payment history with credit bureaus.
In this episode we discuss:
- Checking your biases
- How to improve your credit score
- What it takes to do a re-brand
Majed Chaaraoui is the CEO of Insurami. Insurami's Deposit Guarantees provide a market standard alternative to cash deposits in commercial real estate leases.
In this episode we discuss:
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Majed’s experience in the Entrepreneur First
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The views on proptech industry
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Majed’s interest in NFT
Tomide Adesanmi is the CEO of CircuitMind. Circuit Mind cuts the time and cost of designing new circuit boards for electronics engineers with software that rapidly produces circuit board designs.
In this episode we discuss:
- How Tomide found his co-founder Basilio Gentile at a venture builder
- The challenge of building an MVP for a technically complex problem
- Tomide’s insights on raising from investors after securing $1.9 million to date
Imtiaz Shams is the founder and partner of Post Urban Ventures, a UK-based AI and deep tech venture builder that create science based technology companies. He is also the CEO of Flox, a technology company using AI to transform the chicken farming industry.
In this episode we discuss:
- How Imtiaz manages his time and attention over multiple ventures
- What Imitiaz looks for in founders as an investor and judge
- Imtiaz’s relationship with faith and why he set up a charity to help people who left religion behind
Anna Dominic is the founder of fashion brand Ganor Dominic, producing unique footwear and accessories worn by the likes of Lady Gaga and Nicole Sherzinger.
In this episode we discuss:
- How Anna built and grew a successful fashion brand with her sister
- Her decision to step back from the brand and what she’s planning next
- Anna’s creative influences including sculptors, designers, and photographers
Chris Mjelde is the CEO of Verdn, a SaaS startup that helps e-commerce stores go sustainable. He previously co-founded Atlas sunglasses, a sustainable eyewear brand.
In this episode we discuss:
- The Verdn story so far, including finding customers, raising funding and more
- Chris’s take on the sustainability sector and how it’s developing
- How Chris thinks about building a great team and the lessons he’s learned so far
Owen Thompson Dredge is the CEO of London Stock Photography and Photo Guru a global resource of Post Production and support services for real estate photographers and realtors.
In this episode we discuss:
- How Owen found his niche in the real estate market
- How smartphones and photosharing apps have changed the photography industry
- Owen’s experience managing a remote first team with 75 full time staff spread all over the world
Sally Johnson and Sam Beavis are the founders of Wolf Escape Rooms, a company that creates interactive escape room experiences. They previously co-founded media business Sandboxx, producing high quality animation for some of the world's largest brands.
In this episode we discuss:
- Sam & Sally’s secrets for a good co-founding partnership
- Dealing with the challenge of doing creative work & managing others as a business scales
- Sally and Sam’s insight into the world of escape rooms and what they’re looking to create