·E618

618: (Solo) What 5 World-Class Founders Taught Me This Year

Dec 30, 2025

11 mins

Episode Description

Every year I sit down with some of the world’s most fascinating founders — but this year’s interviews hit me harder than most. Reinvention, resilience, copycats, failure, loneliness after exits, scrappy launches, identity crises… these conversations changed the way I think about leadership and what it means to keep building when things get tough.

In this episode, I break down the five interviews that had the biggest personal impact on me — from Christina Karlsson losing Kikki K twice and rebuilding anyway, to Phoebe Gates earning credibility outside her last name, to Jake Kassan facing an identity crisis after selling MVMT, to Tori Gill launching a regulated sunscreen brand from scratch, to Amy Smilovic doubling down on community and originality when PrettyLittleThing copied her.

Here’s what you’ll take away: • Why failure is often the beginning of clarity — not the end • Why your credibility comes from what you build, not your background • The surprising emotional cost of a big exit (and what founders don’t talk about) • How scrappy execution beats credentials every time • Why copycats can steal your product but never your community or conviction

If you listen closely, these five interviews can act as a roadmap for 2026 — a reminder that resilience, originality, and belief matter more than luck, timing, or even resources.

This is a brand new solo series I’m testing, and I’d love your feedback. Email me directly at nathan@foundr.com — I read every reply. Hope you enjoy it.

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