Episodes - We Built It Because We Had To - Tech Founder Backstories

Jul 30, 2026 41:13 S1E28

From Government CISO to AI-Native Security Founder (Robert Wood)

Founder stories, tech, startups, entrepreneurship, business, business growth AI and machine learning Cybersecurity Career transitions

His hardest problem wasn't hackers — it was a 500-person security organization whose specialist teams couldn't speak the same language.In this episode of We Built It Because We Had To, …

May 19, 2026 22:21 S1E11

Laid Off by the DoE — Then He Built an AI Startup | David Blumenthal

Founder stories, tech, startups, entrepreneurship, business, business growth AI and machine learning Career transitions

When the U.S. Department of Education was dismantled, David Blumenthal lost his 13-year career as an education researcher in a single March 2025 Zoom call. Three weeks later, his daughter …

May 04, 2026 18:08 S1E5

From Coca-Cola & Unilever to an AI Startup at 60 (Stan Sthanunathan)

Founder stories, tech, startups, entrepreneurship, business, business growth AI and machine learning Career transitions

Stan is a rare kind of founder. He spent decades at the highest levels of enterprise consumer insights, including a long senior tenure at Unilever and significant work at Coca-Cola, …

All Episodes

From Government CISO to AI-Native Security Founder (Robert Wood)

Laid Off by the DoE — Then He Built an AI Startup | David Blumenthal

From Coca-Cola & Unilever to an AI Startup at 60 (Stan Sthanunathan)