Welcome to this new episode of Explore! 😎 Thank you for tuning in - I receive a lot of encouragement on LinkedIn and I wanted to let you know that the best way to send me some love is to follow this podcast and give it 5 stars. It will allow others to discover it. 🙏 Thank you to OpenVC for support this podcast. 🤝 What is OpenVC? It’s a free fundraising platform used by 10,000 founders and 5,000 investors (VCs, angels, family offices). The platform provides features such as a fundraising CRM, AI pitch deck analytics and open rate tracking. Through the premium membership, you can raise 5 times faster. With the code: "EXPLORE” you can upgrade to OpenVC Premium and get a 20% discount. 📈🔥 In this episode I sit down with Paul Barnes-Hoggett, a repeat fintech founder and multiple times CTO that became a startup mentor. Paul shares his journey, from his early days studying architecture to his role at Adobe and his ventures into entrepreneurship. He discusses his transition from technology to starting a meal kit service, the journey of developing Alice Financial, and his recent mentorship roles. Paul provides insights on building and scaling startups, understanding product-market fit, the CTO's role in fundraising and how to approach product partnerships. 🚀 If you’re an entrepreneur, listen to this to increase your chances of raising money. 📈 Have a great episode!  Listen on 🟢Spotify. Listen on 🟣Apple Podcast. Learn more about Explore: ⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Newsletter⁠⁠.  Learn more about ⁠⁠⁠Paul. Timestamps:  00:00 Introduction 01:35 Paul's Early Career and Education 03:44 Transition to Freelancing 06:58 Joining Adobe and Key Learnings 11:16 First Entrepreneurial Venture: Meal Kit Subscription 18:05 Founding Alice Financial 25:30 Role of CTO in Fundraising 32:54 Life After Daylight 34:41 Advice for Startup Founders 41:45 Conclusion and Farewell This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit explorepodcast.substack.com