Shows
The High-EQ Founder With Renita KalhornHard Lessons Learned From Bootstrapping Three Startups, Why Purple Ocean Strategy Beats Blue Ocean Disruption and The Surprising Self-Sabotage Trap That Came With Success, With Melissa KwanThere's a lot of hype around disruption and building a "blue ocean" business:Where you create new, uncontested market space rather than competing head-to-head in existing markets.But here’s a reality check: 90% of startups fail and 42% of those fail because they create something nobody wants.Meanwhile, savvy startups are looking for a "purple ocean" — taking proven ideas and applying them to specific verticals.On the latest episode of The High-EQ Founder, I spoke with Melissa Kwan, serial entrepreneur and CEO of eWebinar, who did exactly this by applying existing webinar tech...2025-07-0236 min
The High-EQ Founder With Renita KalhornTurning Environmental Impact Into Bottom-Line Wins, Navigating The Bleeding Edge Of Innovation, And Building Relationships That Trump Luck, With Nadine CinoDid you know companies 'lose' 10-15% of their physical assets every year? That's thousands of chairs, computers, mobile devices and specialized equipment that just get moved around or disappear. So what happens? Operations managers end up buying replacements for stuff they already have. No wonder the asset tracking market is on track to hit $55.1 billion by 2026.On the latest episode of The High-EQ Founder, I sat down with Nadine Cino, CEO and co-founder of TygaSmart, which specializes in sustainable moving, storage and asset tracking solutions.Nadine and I covered a lot...2025-05-0223 min
The High-EQ Founder With Renita KalhornTackling Food Waste In the $72B Cruise Industry, Overcoming the Odds of an “Incurable” Health Condition and The Mindset That Helps Him Consistently Create His Own Luck, With Robert E. BuchananEver been on a cruise? If not, no doubt you know someone who has.Because the global cruise industry is big business and growing steadily: There are about 323 cruise ships out there right now, and each one is serving over 20,000 meals a day.That's a ton of food on board these floating cities. And with all that food comes a serious question: how do you manage the supply chain and minimize waste?On the latest episode of The High-EQ Founder, I sat down with Robert Buchanan, the CEO and co-founder of Adhere Gear...2025-03-2132 min
The High-EQ Founder With Renita KalhornHelping Deep Tech Startups Survive "Death Valley," The Painful Lesson He Learned From Overconfidence and the Unexpected Benefits of Bootstrapping a Biotech Startup, With Diogo DutraMost of the news you hear about startups is about how much VC funding they raised.But what if VC rejection is exactly what your startup needs to succeed?That’s what happened to one of the biotech startups launched by CAOS Focado, a venture builder that helps deep tech founders survive the brutal early days of building a business.In the latest episode of The High-EQ Founder, I dive into the backstory with Diogo Dutra, serial entrepreneur and co-founder of Caos Focado.He shares:▶️ How he navigated the strate...2025-01-2926 min
The High-EQ Founder With Renita KalhornThe top five EQ skills you need to win in 2025 [Audio Newsletter]The next cohort of The High-EQ Founder will be starting soon. If you’re ready to level up your leadership skills, sign up for the waitlist here. Want to find out your Founder EQ? Take the 3-minute assessment here (it’s free). Get full access to The High-EQ Founder by Renita Kalhorn at renitakalhorn.substack.com/subscribe2025-01-0905 min
The High-EQ Founder With Renita KalhornStuck in overthinking? This one word changes everything. [Audio Newsletter]The audio version of The High-EQ Founder newsletter. Get full access to The High-EQ Founder by Renita Kalhorn at renitakalhorn.substack.com/subscribe2024-12-1603 min
The High-EQ Founder With Renita KalhornPivoting From Industrial Service to Impact Startup, Leading The Fight Against Microplastic Pollution and Investing in Scientific Research (When The Big Industry Players Wouldn’t), With Declan McAdamsHere’s something you probably didn’t know:Nearly 2 million tons of microplastic end up in our oceans every year. Not from bottles or bags—from paint.Think about it: Every massive structure in the ocean—oil rigs, wind turbines, bridges—needs regular repainting to prevent rust.When workers blast off the old paint, guess where it goes? Straight into the water. And those tiny paint particles are actually one of the biggest sources of ocean microplastic pollution.Norwegian startup Pinovo wants to change that. They’ve designed a sort of vacuum that...2024-11-1227 min
The High-EQ Founder With Renita KalhornLosing Three Co-Founders in the First 12 Months, The Mistake He Made Following The Silicon Valley Playbook and How He Turned Being Sued Into A Competitive AdvantageToday, I'm speaking with San Kim, CEO and founder of Swing, the largest shared micromobility operator in Asia - and that’s saying a lot because Asia is one of the world's largest shared micromobility markets, expected to reach nearly $24 billion by 2031.We talked about:* How he went from having three co-founders to being a solo founder in the first 12 months .* How being sued by a competitor and not being able to raise capital actually turned into a competitive advantage.* The huge relief he felt in letting go of Asian cultural ex...2024-10-1727 min
The High-EQ Founder With Renita KalhornDemocratizing Real Estate for the 99%, How To Take On Financial Regulators (and Win) and The Military Mantra That Makes Him Resilient, With Gary WoodheadProperty development has long been a lucrative vehicle for investment.But it’s an exclusive club, traditionally accessible only to institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals.As a hobbyist investor in Bitcoin with a 27-year career in construction operations, Gary Woodhead saw an opportunity with potential for huge societal impact.What if working-class people – nurses, taxi drivers, teachers – were the financiers and beneficiaries of real estate development? he wondered.So together with co-founders Joey Jones and Matthew Couch, Gary launched CurveBlock, leveraging digital securities to democratize property investment.In the latest...2024-09-2732 min
The High-EQ Founder With Renita KalhornRevolutionizing Farming for Millions of Smallholder Farmers, Why He Decided to Bootstrap Rather Than Take VC Funding and How A Generosity Mindset Led To Meeting Former President ObamaJehiel Oliver is changing the lives of smallholder farmers in 18 countries.It started 10 years ago in Sub-Saharan Africa, where 60% of crops are plowed by hand.That means there’s a 90% gap between what Africa’s smallholder farmers could be producing and what they’re actually producing.But what if, Jehiel thought, you could connect Africa’s small-scale farmers with tractor owners — in the same way rideshare apps connect riders with drivers?He founded Hello Tractor to connect small-scale farmers with tractor owners to do just that.In the latest episode of...2024-09-1226 min
The High-EQ Founder With Renita KalhornBuilding One of Europe’s Best-Funded Quantum Computing Start-ups, Optimizing For Both People and Technical Leadership and How A Major Setback Can Accelerate Growth, With Kuan Yen Tan of IQMKuan Yen Tan has a high tolerance for risk.Back in 2017, he was working as a senior research scientist at Microsoft and quantum computing was barely attracting VC attention. But, despite having a young, growing family, Kuan took a big leap of faith:He left Microsoft to be CTO and co-founder of IQM Quantum Computers.Fast forward to today:Global investment in quantum computing has grown to $55+ billion and its practical potential is much closer to being realized.And IQM has raised well over €200M, building a diverse team of nearly 300 people representing 48 nationalities company in its mi...2024-08-3030 min
The High-EQ Founder With Renita KalhornWhy PhD Students Make Great Founders, How To Get The Best Out of Your Board and Turning An Unexpected Rejection Into Something Much Better, With Riam KansoEurope is often cited for its world-class scientific talent and research universities.And yet, so much potential for innovation remains untapped due to IP ownership rules that can make spinout companies un-investable and hard to scale.Riam Kanso, Ph.D, wants to change that.As founder and CEO of venture program Conception X, she's on a mission to accelerate the commercialization of scientific breakthroughs by helping Ph.D students launch start-ups — without having to drop out of school.To date, they've worked with 360 PhD teams from 50+ universities who...2024-03-2620 min
The High-EQ Founder With Renita KalhornBuilding an AI Coach To Democratize Leadership Training, How To Avoid the Pitfalls of Groupthink and The Tiny Actions That Increase Your Luck Surface Area, With Darja GutnickPeople don’t quit bad jobs, they quit bad bosses, goes the saying.And yet, a majority of managers — nearly 6 out of 10 according to one CareerBuilder study — are expected to build and grow high-performance teams without any formal management training.Darja Gutnick, psychologist gone rogue, wants to change that.As CEO and co-founder of leadership coaching app bunch.ai, she’s on a mission to help new generations of leaders get customized access to the leadership resources and support they need, when they need it.In the latest e...2024-03-0731 min
The High-EQ Founder With Renita KalhornMaking Space Innovation Easier And Less Expensive, The Key to an Amicable Co-Founder Break-Up and Learning to Trust Your Gut, With Bianca Cefalo"When we talk to end users, they are so emotional about the fact that this is my job and I really want to make this happen but I can't because the status quo is just making my life miserable. And so it's a mindset shift, more than a technology shift." These are the words of Bianca Cefalo, the CEO and cofounder of SpaceDOTS, who’s working to accelerate innovation in space by reducing the development time of new materials, from years to months. In this conversation, we discuss:The painful childhood lesson she learned from...2024-02-2632 min
The High-EQ Founder With Renita KalhornHow Navy SEALs Show Vulnerability Without Looking Weak, the Dangers of Authority Bias, How The Osama Bin Laden Mission Almost Didn't Happen (and The Key To Its Success), With Dave CooperI often say founders are like the Navy SEALs of business: They're both leading small, agile teams, in stealth mode, through uncertainty and chaos. And because the stakes are high, their success relies on a culture of psychological safety and trust. Retired Navy SEAL Dave Cooper built some of the best teams in the Navy SEALs — he's the one who oversaw the training for SEAL Team Six in preparing for the mission to capture Osama Bin Laden. He says: "Psychological safety is not something we can just order. It's something that emerges from a group of peop...2024-02-1045 min
The High-EQ Founder With Renita KalhornTackling Overfishing With Deep Tech Precision, the Importance of Transparency in Building a Team That Has Your Back, and Why They Collaborate With Com..."I mean, it was beautiful, with loads of nuances and touches to make it user-friendly but we should have built an MVP way quicker. We should have just gotten a box, shoved some LED lights in it, built 10 of them, put them in a net [and asked potential users], does this work for you?”This — the pitfalls of spending too much money and time over-designing their first product — was one of the first lessons Dan Watson learned when launching precision fishing start-up SafetyNet Technologies.He’s my latest guest on The High-EQ Founder podcast...2023-12-1840 min
The High-EQ Founder With Renita KalhornUsing the Power of Intuition and Intentionality To Take The Right Risks, Make Tough Decisions and Create Your Own Luck, With Sophie Cahen"Pure efficiency is fragile. Redundancy is robustness," says Sophie Cahen, CEO and founder of medtech start-up Ganymed Robotics. In this conversation, she shares how:a controversial decision paid off in market feedback she balances data and intuition in decision-makinghaving a bias for action can work against youGanymed has made the most of "good" and "bad" luckFollow Sophie on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophiecahen/Sign up for The High-EQ Founder newsletter: https://www.renitakalhorn.com/newsletter/ Follow me on...2023-11-1142 min
The High-EQ Founder With Renita KalhornEngineering Serendipity to Two Exits and €140M In Funding, the Cash Management Lesson Learned From a €12M Mistake, and Why He Stepped Down As CEO Two ..."Identifying brilliant people and finding worthy problems to solve together."This is the mantra of Håvard Lillebo, a serial founder of deep tech start-ups in clean energy, robotics and nanotechnology. In this conversation, we discuss:the life-changing lesson he learned from his father when he was 18 years oldwhy he gave up the CEO role, two months after founding his second startupthe €12 million mistake that taught him the difference between optimism and wishful thinkingthe strategies he puts in place to increase his luck, find deep tech...2023-10-0931 min
Dive In by OCEANOVATIONEP 7 - Renita KalhornIn today's episode of OCEANOVATION Dive In podcast, we have the pleasure of hosting Renita Kalhorn - Executive and Deep Tech Leadership Coach and speaker at our OCEANOVATION Festival.Want to avoid common mistakes when building your startup team and avoid investor rejection? Then you'll want to listen to Renita's insights, including:⚖ Committed vs. attached: how do dedicate the right time and effort to your venture but not burn your wings? 🚨 What is the common mistake that most of the business leaders or founders do when building their team? 💪 Importance of EQ vs. business plan: why deep...2023-04-0333 min
DECODING AQ - Adaptability For The Future Of Work With Ross ThornleyDecoding AQ with Ross Thornley Feat. Renita Kalhorn - Mental training for maverick leaders and the secrets from a decade of working with Navy SEALsRenita is an executive coach who’s worked with 1,200+ high-performers in 40+ countries, from Fortune 500 executives to Inc 5000 entrepreneurs. Tapping 10+ years of working with future Navy SEALs, she specializes in helping deep-tech founders level up as leaders so they can build fiercely loyal A-teams and scale their company.Host Ross Thornley and Renita discuss her evolution into coaching, balancing physical and mental sides of work. Finding ways to simulate mental challenges, leadership concepts and making uncomfortable situations feel familiar. The pair also talk about communication skills, the power of group models and give advice on making your life more...2020-12-1553 min
Teams at Work by BUNCHEpisode 7: Navigating uncertainty like a Navy SEALMy co-founder Anthony and I sat down with Renita Kalhorn who has been coaching leaders for the last 14 years. She's a mental trainer for the Navy Seals RDAC, has an MBA from INSEAD, and mentors startup founders and corporate executives alike. We talked about the new leadership landscape, the VUCA world we're living in, and what it takes to succeed in this environment - so you won't become anyone's bad boss story.In this podcast episode, you will learn how to:Overcome volatility by making things concreteCounter uncertainty with daily rituals2020-06-2841 min
Clarity in ConversationsHow "Yes, but..." can kill a conversationOne of the most frustrating things in conversations when you are enthusiastic about something. You do a proposal, and the other person says: “Yes, but…” and then shares his own ideas. It feels like your idea was rejected. In a polite and friendly way, but still… rejected.
In this episode I speak with Renita Kalhorn. Renita is an executive coach, working with leaders and their teams to perform on top of their game. She is based in New York and Paris and works with top-level companies to strengthen their leadership. She also works with Special Ops and Navy SEAL candidates, strength...2020-01-0500 min