Fayl Tales

Carlos Santini grew up in rural Brazil where his mum saved up surgery money to buy him his first computer at 13. He spent his teenage years fixing computers for free at a local shop just to learn. At 23 he landed in Sydney with three months of cash, barely any English and drove chicken delivery trucks from Sydney to Canberra to survive.Carlos eventually built a consulting agency, got clients like Optus, then lost his business partner and started again from scratch on Upwork. At one point he was applying for 50 to 60 projects a week just to land one every two weeks.Then in 2012 he built U-Mobi, a QR code restaurant app that let people order and pay from their table. He and his cofounder raised close to $200,000, built a team of 12 developers in Vietnam, worked on it for a year and ran out of cash. The technology was too early. Nobody got it. Then COVID hit. And the QR code became the defining technology of most restaurants.One of the companies that won that space is now one of Assembly’s biggest clients.What talked about what he sees founders getting wrong and why the AI age is leading to less effective team communication.Subscribe to our newsletter for the coolest drops: https://substack.com/@fayltalesFollow us on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fayltales/Keep up to date with Loveth: https://au.linkedin.com/in/loveth-ochayi-a67491152Check out Assembly: https://assembly.cloud/**and if you’re reading this, pls pls pls pls subscribe to this channel#startuppodcast #founderstory #awspartner #buildinginpublic #australianstartupsFollow us on all platforms!Instagram ~ @fayltalesTiktok ~ @fayltales LinkedIn ~ @fayltales

Ride sharing.Do you assume that Uber invented ride sharing? Well you would be wrong (as I was). Sunil Paul and Homobiles were the pioneers.Joining me is Kush Patel, one of the most ruthless founders I know.We get into 👇:★ Sunil Paul, the man who invented ride sharing in 1997★ How Zimride went from a Zimbabwe-inspired carpooling app to becoming Lyft★ Why Uber started as a luxury black car service★ The $500 per driver signup bonus, the mass cancellation campaigns and Uber’s 14 company values ★ Sidecar raised $35 million. Lyft raised $1.2 billion. Uber raised $6.6 billion. ★ Travis Kalanick, the leaked video, the public apology and why the board made the right call removing himSubscribe to our newsletter for the coolest drops: https://substack.com/@fayltalesFollow us on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fayltales/Keep up to date with Loveth: https://au.linkedin.com/in/loveth-ochayi-a67491152Follow Kush: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kushpateltech/**and if you’re reading this, pls pls pls pls subscribe to this channelThis episode was prepared using the following sources:- Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber by Mike Isaac- The Upstarts by Brad Stone- Sunil Paul, “The Untold Story of Ridesharing” (Medium series)- Sunil Paul on Recode Decode with Kara Swisher- SC Innovations, Inc. v. Uber Technologies (N.D. Cal., 2018–2021)- The Verge, “This is Uber’s playbook for sabotaging Lyft” (2014)- Uber and Lyft S-1 filings (2019)DisclaimerThis episode is for educational and entertainment purposes only. All information presented is based on publicly available sources, court records and published reporting. Opinions expressed are those of the host and guest, and do not constitute legal, financial or professional advice. Fayl Tales makes no claim of affiliation with Uber, Lyft, Sidecar or any companies mentioned.#startuppodcast #faylsafe #uber #ridesharing #buildinginpublicFollow us on all platforms!Instagram ~ @fayltalesTiktok ~ @fayltales LinkedIn ~ @fayltales

Simon Crerar is the son of a fifth generation printer in Edinburgh. He got his first job at The Times of London in 1999 when they launched their very first website. Moved to Australia for love. Then became the founding editor of BuzzFeed Australia. He built it into a hundred person newsroom, won a Cannes Golden Lion, broke major political stories, hired Australia’s first Indigenous affairs reporters before the ABC did, and was making nearly $10 million in revenue.Then Facebook changed the algorithm. And in 2019 he was made redundant alongside 250 people globally.We get into 👇:★ The harsh realities of building in media ★ How Facebook’s algorithm change destroyed a business model that was working ★ Being made redundant with $10 million in revenue  ★ Co-founding PS Media with four founders to rebuild local news in Australia ★ Why founders spend too much time talking about themselves and not enough about the problemSubscribe to our newsletter for the coolest drops: https://substack.com/@fayltalesFollow us on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fayltales/Keep up to date with Loveth: https://au.linkedin.com/in/loveth-ochayi-a67491152Follow Simon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simoncrerar/**and if you’re reading this, pls pls pls pls hit follow!Follow us on all platforms!Instagram ~ @fayltalesTiktok ~ @fayltales LinkedIn ~ @fayltales

Briella Brown started Your Closet at 17 with an $80,000 personal loan from her father. She was making $35,000 a month, dropped out of university, went on Shark Tank, asked for $80,000 for 20% equity and walked out with $80,000 for 40%. Then ran the business for eight years, sold it, started a jewellery company during COVID and exited that too.That next thing is Biolae. A perimenopause brand with Pip Edwards as a shareholder, a class 2B medical device in market after three years through the TGA, and a billboard campaign that put the word vagina on Sydney streets for the first time.We get into 👇:★ Going on Shark Tank at 20, giving away 40% equity and why she says it was worth it★ The nine month acquisition process that gave her sleepless nights until the very last signature★ Why she took a checkout job at David Jones after exiting two companies★ Why she's builing a perimenopause brand when she hasn't personally experienced it★ What Janine Allis told her about naivety that she still thinks about today***and if you're reading this, pls pls pls pls hit the follow buttonSubscribe to our newsletter for the coolest drops: https://substack.com/@fayltalesFollow us on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fayltales/Keep up to date with Loveth: https://au.linkedin.com/in/loveth-ochayi-a67491152Check out Biolae: https://www.biolae.com.au/Follow us on all platforms!Instagram ~ @fayltalesTiktok ~ @fayltales LinkedIn ~ @fayltales

Fayl Safe episode three, PayPal.Specifically, the guy who actually invented online payments and went bankrupt. The startup that began as a Palm Pilot IOU app and accidentally became the biggest payments company in the world. The moment Elon Musk got ousted as CEO while on his honeymoon in Sydney. And why a guy named Eric Jackson ignored his bosses, bet on eBay auction users, and changed everything.This one is one of the most interesting stories we've covered on Fayl Safe. And there are lessons in here that apply to every founder building.Welcome back to Fayl Safe, the series where we break down business history and startup concepts.We get into 👇: ★ David Chaum, the man who invented online payments in the 1980s, raised $10 million and went bankrupt ★ How PayPal started as software for Palm Pilot IOUs and pivoted into a payments company by accident ★ The employee who ignored his bosses, bet on eBay auction users and triggered explosive growth ★ Elon Musk getting ousted as CEO while on his honeymoon in Sydney via a no confidence vote ★ How PayPal invented CAPTCHA and the random micro deposit check to fight $10 million a month in fraud ★ Why being first to market is a tactic not a goal according to Peter Thiel Follow us on all platforms!Instagram ~ @fayltalesTiktok ~ @fayltales LinkedIn ~ @fayltales

Patrick Collins is a sixth time founder.He pivoted his last company three times, moved it to San Francisco, and then watched a co-founder burn through $7 million in under a year. He took over as CEO, cut the team from 40 to five, rebuilt it and sold it to the largest private marketing agency in the US. Then spent 13 years in Silicon Valley. Came back. Spent 10 years as a Chief Product Officer at Zip, Air Tasker and Secure Code Warrior.Then quit to do it all again.His youngest just turned 14. The timing works.Now he's building Dam Secure, a cybersecurity startup racing to secure the code that AI is writing faster than anyone can check. 11 months old. Customers. $6.1 million raised.We get into: ★ Six co-founders, no vesting schedules and $7 million gone in under a year ★ The difference between Australian and American leadership  ★ How to sell into the US market and why most Australians get it completely wrong ★ 700 AI agents that broke out of OpenAI and hacked into another company without anyone noticing ★ Why you can't build a startup on the side no matter how much you want to believe you can ★ Why AI is making software faster to write but not more secure Follow us on all platforms!Instagram ~ @fayltalesTiktok ~ @fayltales LinkedIn ~ @fayltales

Most brands pitch supermarkets with a deck. These two showed up on a camel.Michael McRae was meant to be a lawyer. Instead he ended up selling beer across Tokyo, Singapore and Vietnam with his mate Tom. One morning, Tom was putting on moisturiser, he tried it and said "holy shit".They googled how to make moisturiser. Hired a contract chemist. Kept their day jobs. Set milestones. Hit them. Quit. And built Two Dudes into a men's skincare brand now stocked in 2,500 stores across Australia and New Zealand.Along the way they  hosted a fake funeral for their old packaging, got Tom to skydive into a Chemist Warehouse, made moisturiser for ball sacks and ended up on national TV in Budgie Smugglers to get the attention of supermarket buyers.And it worked.We get into 👇:★ How a girlfriend's skincare routine became the bones of a global brand★ Why they kept their day jobs for six months and the milestones they set before quitting★ The 50 guy trial group where one dude rubbed face wash in without rinsing it off★ Why they market like a craft beer company and what the camel stunt actually achieved★ The fake funeral that made customers think the brand had folded★ Why raising too much money is one of the most dangerous things a founder can doFollow us on all platforms!Instagram ~ @fayltalesTiktok ~ @fayltales LinkedIn ~ @fayltales

Byron McCaughey spent 15 years in Europe working in sports sponsorship, Formula One and advertising. Did an MBA at Imperial College London. Built a fintech startup with his co-founder Henry. Raised £80,000 from 50 MBA classmates. Tried to crowdfund half a million pounds. Fell six figures short of the target. Then COVID hit. And they folded.What happened next?Byron became a psychologist. Specifically for founders. Because when he went looking for support after the business collapsed, he found that therapists didn't get what it meant to run a company, and business coaches lacked depth. So he spent five years studying and built Sublime Studios to fill the gap.88% of founders report mental health challenges. And sadly this probably doesn't surprise you.★Annnddd we just launched our newsletter! Our first edition is pretty slick: https://fayltales.substack.com/p/the-math-of-starting-late?r=7cmxs1Follow Byron: https://byronmccaughey.com/#startuppodcast #founderstory #founderwellbeing #foundermentalhealth #buildinginpublicFollow us on all platforms!Instagram ~ @fayltalesTiktok ~ @fayltales LinkedIn ~ @fayltales

Welcome back to fayl safe, the series where I break down startup concepts and history.Episode two. Social media.Specifically why Friendster turned down a $30 million offer from Google, why MySpace sold for $580 million in two years and then got offloaded for $35 million, and how a 19 year old Harvard student ended up winning.There are lessons in here that still apply to every founder building.We get into 👇:★ Six Degrees, the first ever social network launched in 1997 and why it failed before anyone knew it existed★ Friendster, the $30 million Google offer that got rejected, and what happened next★ Why Friendster's tech couldn't handle its own growth and what technical debt means★ MySpace, 75 million users, Calvin Harris getting his big break, and a $580 million exit in two years★ How Facebook won by being elitist, exclusive and growing slowly on purpose★ Why being first to market is not always an advantage and what the fast follower gets rightp.s. please leave a comment if you're reading this and let me know your thoughts!p.p.s subscribe (thank you very much)Chapters:0:00 the teaser1:51 six degrees, the og social network nobody remembers6:05 friendster turned down google for $30 million13:59 myspace watched friendster die 18:35 rupert murdoch paid $580 million for myspace23:23 zuckerberg launches the facebook from his dorm room30:30 reid hoffman buys the six degrees patent 39:30 friendster finds a second life in asia 47:26 what news corp did to myspace52:30 why friendster changed everything #startuppodcast #faylsafe #startuphistory #socialmedia #buildinginpublicFollow us on all platforms!Instagram ~ @fayltalesTiktok ~ @fayltales LinkedIn ~ @fayltales

im O'Sullivan got expelled from his fancy Melbourne private school at 16 for shoplifting on a ski trip. He never went to university. Instead he spent his early twenties throwing parties in Vietnam, bribing police with $20 USD.He never went to university. He did spend his early twenties throwing parties in Vietnam, bribing police with $20 USD, and making coffees at his family cafe in Essendon.And then he went to Korea and found liquid gold in the form of pear juice.Bae Juice is now in four and a half thousand stores across Australia. They raised a million dollars from a LinkedIn message. Spent two years in New York and ran out of cash. And now they're doing $2-3 million in revenue spending basically nothing on marketing.The story of how they got there is genuinely wild.We get into 👇:★ The birth of the 'i can do anything' mentality in Vietnam★ The trip to Korea that changed everything★ Starting Bae Juice with $5,000 and getting a crucial yes from someone who didn't speak English★ Getting into Woolworths, Coles and Costco with zero FMCG experience★ New York, running out of cash and coming home#startuppodcast #founderstory #fmcgstartup #buildinginpublic #australianstartupsFollow us on all platforms!Instagram ~ @fayltalesTiktok ~ @fayltales LinkedIn ~ @fayltales