Hi, I'm Thea.

I invest in early-stage founders for a living, which mostly means I spend my days asking nosy questions, and trying to figure out which weird ideas are about to become inevitable.

Founders In Motion is the show I started because the LinkedIn highlight reel was driving me a little crazy. Nobody talks about the year of nothing, the co-founder breakup, the term sheet you walked away from, the customer who said “I just wouldn't come to work tomorrow.” I was so curious of the messy middle, so I went and got it.

32 episodes deep, I've talked to founders building non-alcoholic beer ($50M+ valued), AI robotics ($120M raised), YC companies, chili oil empires (150 stores, Gordon Ramsay's seal of approval), and the next frontier dating apps (seed closed in 4 days). The only thing they have in common: they were still in the thick of it when we hit record.

Things I'm into: cold founder DMs, niche verticals, anyone building the next big thing. If you're early and a little obsessed, I'd love to meet you. I'm best found on LinkedIn these days.

How these pages are made

Every page on this site comes from a real conversation. Episodes are single-guest interviews, recorded unscripted, with the full transcript published on the episode page. The transcripts and the answers on the question pages are built with the help of AI, so some sections might be slightly off. If something looks wrong, tell Thea on LinkedIn.

What you'll find in the archive

• Customer discovery, done in real life. Shakeel Lala ran 800 conversations before his first Marloo feature. Satya Tumati spent months inside risk teams at financial institutions.
• Pre-seed and seed fundraising mechanics. Celeste Amadon closed in 8 days at 21. Nam Nguyen closed $4M in 48 hours after four YC rejections. Nate Spiteri wrote nearly 1,000 cold emails.
• Pivots, rebuilds, and recoveries. Robert Huynh shut down Nook at $20M valuation and 50K users.
• What product-market fit feels like before it's clear. Andy Miller hand-delivered cans wrapped in newspaper for two years. Jevon Le Roux heard "I just wouldn't come to work tomorrow" and knew.
• Never heard before APAC perspectives. Stephen Turban built an 8-figure education business from Ho Chi Minh City. Nhi Nguyen built MaiMoney for a market Western investors couldn't read.

How to use this site

Browse all episodes — every transcript is searchable; click any guest for full show notes, key claims, chapters, and quotes.

Ask a question — type any founder question on the homepage. The search runs across every transcript and takes you to the exact moment a founder answered it.

Browse the founder questions — quick answers to the questions founders ask before they raise, before they pivot, and before they hire. Each one cites the specific founders and episodes behind the answer.