The Founders Playbook
Real Stories. Real People. Not from Silicon Valley.
Hosted by Neil Marshall, Development Director at ChangeSchool
Forget the Silicon Valley playbook. This podcast features founders building world-changing deep tech companies right here in the UK – navigating different capital markets, different ecosystems, and different rules. Honest, in-depth conversations with the entrepreneurs proving that breakthrough innovation happens everywhere.
Drawn from over 10 years of working with entrepreneurs around the world, ChangeSchool goes beyond the headlines to explore the real challenges of building a venture outside the Valley.
Latest Episode Spotlight
The Signal in the Noise: Building Cancer Diagnostics for the People Who Get Left Out
Kevin Saruni Tipatet
Vibra SpeX
Early detection of cancer saves lives, but the tests that catch it are often invasive, expensive and out of reach for the people who need them most. Kevin Saruni Tipatet is trying to change that. His company, VibraSpex, is developing a laser-based technology, powered by machine learning, that reads the subtle signals of early cancer in biofluids like blood.
This episode follows Kevin from a childhood in Kenya, through a bioengineering education in Germany, to a cancer pathology lab in Scotland where the problem became personal. He is honest about the parts founders rarely discuss: the trade-off between publishing a paper and protecting your IP, the family member who told him he was crazy, and the slow, liturgical grind of grant funding.
It is a grounded conversation about building medtech the hard way, and why the questions you ask matter more than the speed of your answers. Essential listening for any academic weighing up the leap from research to company.
Listen to the Episodes
Real words from real journeys - outside Silicon Valley
"Space is an area really for everyone and that's something I do want people to know, to understand. Anyone can have a future, anyone can have a career in space and do meaningful change."
Sara Alao, Founder of Stars Edge
"We really want to get the best out of each battery. Make every battery count is what I say."
Mahfuz Kamal, CEO RecoVolt
When we put our minds to it, we can actually make a big difference."
Lucy Hughes, Founder & COO MarinaTex
"We're challenging the 200-year-old needle-based technology with a novel, painless, and self-administered solution that can save lives and reduce health inequalities globally."
Henry Dunne, Founder Microneedle Solutions (MNS)
