This week, I’m welcoming back Ollie Walsh, formerly the co-founder and CEO of Pipit Global, and now, the President of Qenta, following Qenta’s recent acquisition of Pipit. This is Ollie’s appearance on MoneyNeverSleeps, making him the all-time guest record holder on the show.

This conversation is a special one. Not only has Ollie been building something purpose-driven and globally relevant for over a decade, but I’ve also had the privilege of sitting on Pipit’s board since 2019 and seeing the full journey from the inside.

In this episode, we dive into the first public conversation about Pipit’s acquisition by Qenta. US-based Qenta is rethinking how money moves around the world, blending fintech, blockchain, and impact into one powerful payments platform.

In this episode, Ollie and I get into the weeds on what it really takes to build a startup with social impact at its core, what it feels like to finally get a deal across the line after years of trying, and how it all unfolds when you're leading with purpose rather than flash.

We also get into:

• The “rollercoaster on fire” of startup life

• What makes a startup acquirable, especially in emerging markets

• Why leading with social impact turned out to be Pipit’s greatest strength

• Lessons learned the hard way: cap tables, crowdfunding, and mental resilience

• Ollie’s unexpected deep dive into Daoism and Tai Chi, and how it shaped his founder mindset

This one’s packed with honest reflections, tactical insights, and a rare look inside the real M&A journey from a founder who lived every second of it.

If you're building with purpose, fundraising under pressure, or just trying to stay centered through it all, this one’s for you.

Connect with Ollie Walsh and Qenta:

Ollie Walsh: LinkedIn

Qenta: LinkedIn | Website⁠

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Connect with Pete Townsend and MoneyNeverSleeps:

Pete Townsend: X/Twitter | LinkedIn

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This week, I had the absolute pleasure of sitting down with Fergal McGovern, founder and CEO of VisibleThread, for one of the most enlightening founder chats I’ve had in a while.

Fergal’s been building for decades—starting with enterprise systems in the '90s, then launching and selling his first startup SteelTrace, and eventually pivoting VisibleThread through the 2008 crash into a trusted platform serving global leaders like Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Comcast, and government agencies across the U.S., Canada, and Australia.

What I loved about this conversation is how practical and honest Fergal is—especially when it comes to the real story behind fundraising. He’s been through the early seed round, the post-pivot rebuild, and the tough decision to fuel growth with debt instead of chasing a VC path that didn’t quite fit.

In this episode, we get into:

- Why 50% growth year-over-year is solid—but not VC-sexy

- What makes a startup truly “VC-eligible” (and what doesn’t)

-How Fergal built a repeatable sales playbook before hiring reps—and why that mattered more than headcount

- The thinking behind VisibleThread’s expansion into a second product—basically Grammarly for secure, regulated environments

- Why GenAI and agents aren’t always the right tool—and when logic still wins

- And yes, how designing gardens relates to building great UX

If you’re a founder figuring out your funding path—or just trying to scale without losing your mind—this one’s for you.

Resources:

The Hard Thing About Hard Things, Ben Horowitz

Episode 170 of the Full Ratchet podcast: Craig Wortmann - Sales Mastery & Storytelling at Scaling Startups

Connect with Fergal McGovern and VisibleThread:

Fergal McGovern: LinkedIn

VisibleThread: LinkedIn | Website⁠

Leave a review and subscribe on

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

MoneyNeverSleeps (website)

Email us: info@norioventures.com

Connect with Pete Townsend and MoneyNeverSleeps:

Pete Townsend: X/Twitter | LinkedIn

MoneyNeverSleeps: X/Twitter | LinkedIn | Newsletter

This week, I sat down with Yev Broshevan, co-founder and Chief Business Development Officer at Hacken, a leading blockchain security firm focused on making Web3 a safer, more trustworthy place for everyone. Even better? Yev’s birthday is the same day this episode drops - happy birthday, Yev!

Yev’s story goes way back to her early days as a cybersecurity engineer in Ukraine, where weak institutions and a hacker’s curiosity led her deep into the world of Bitcoin back in 2014. Since then, she and her Hacken co-founders have been building a mission-driven business around ethical hacking—using a mindset of creativity and values to secure everything from smart contracts to crypto exchanges.

In this episode, we get into:

• Why the hacker mindset isn’t just about code, it’s a way of living—and solving problems

• How HackenProof, their bug bounty platform, now has over 45,000 ethical hackers keeping Web3 projects secure

• Why smart contract audits are just one layer—operational security and key management matter just as much

• How AI is reshaping both sides of the security equation: as a powerful ally and a new threat vector

• Why Yev’s now channeling her hacker brain into biohacking—optimizing health and performance like it’s just another system to tune

We also talk about Hacken’s move into the US, how the security landscape has evolved since the early days of crypto, and what the industry still needs to get right to earn back trust.

From Web2 to Web3 to Human 2.0, this one’s got layers.

Connect with Yev Broshevan and Hacken:

Yev Broshevan: X/Twitter | LinkedIn

Hacken: X/Twitter | LinkedIn | Website⁠

Leave a review and subscribe on

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

MoneyNeverSleeps (website)

Email us: info@norioventures.com

Connect with Pete Townsend and MoneyNeverSleeps:

Pete Townsend: X/Twitter | LinkedIn

MoneyNeverSleeps: X/Twitter | LinkedIn | Newsletter