Rachel Crampton never dreamed of being an entrepreneur, but she built a B2C tech platform without raising a dollar from investors and while still working full-time.

In this episode of Founder Stories, host James Green sits down with Rachel, founder of Juurnee, a marketplace connecting long-haul travellers with companions who will fly cheaply or freely in exchange for helping out on the journey.

For senior professionals who have spotted a real problem in their industry but cannot afford to gamble their career on it, this is what de-risked entrepreneurship looks like.

00:00 - The viral Facebook post

02:30 — Meet Rachel: a flight with three kids under four that started a business

05:00 — Why incubators wouldn't work: the quit-your-job problem

08:00 — Finding DQventures and what changed

10:30 — Why B2C is hard, and how Rachel cleared that bar

12:15 — Why she chose revenue over raising money

14:30 — The pivot: from commission to lifetime subscriptions

16:30 — The Google Sheet MVP that taught her the business

20:00 — From manual service to real tech platform

22:30 — How a Channel 7 feature broke her Slack

26:30 — Choosing the right developer on a real budget (meet Toby at Blue Mongoose)

34:30 — The biggest learning: an MBA on steroids

36:30 — Would she do it all again?

37:30 — Outro and where to find more episodes

Find out more about Juurnee

Follow Rachel on LinkedIn

• Watch this episode on DQventures YouTube Channel
• Thinking about leaving your corporate job to start your own business? Apply to DQventures
• Follow James Green on LinkedIn
• Follow DQventures on LinkedIn

Rob Bryson left a 20-year career to build a recruitment agency in Asia. He still earns less than he did before he made the leap, and he still wouldn't change it for a second.

If you're a senior professional toying with the idea of going out on your own, this is the conversation you don't hear on startup podcasts.

In Episode 01 of Founder Stories, James Green, co-founder and General Partner at DQventures sits down with Rob Bryson, founder of WeNetwork. WeNetwork is a recruitment business now operating across seven countries in Asia Pacific and was DQventures first portfolio company. Rob spent over two decades in senior roles at Michael Page and Robert Walters, transforming Robert Walters' Indonesia business into a 50-person, multi-million dollar operation. Then, at the peak of his corporate career, he resigned.

This episode is for experienced corporate professionals — VPs, directors, country leads — who feel the pull of entrepreneurship but are worried about the risk. Rob and James cover the stuff most entrepreneurship podcasts skip: timing (it's never right), the financial reality of leaving a high salary, the risk to your family and your relationship and why 45-year-old founders outperform 25-year-olds.

Rob is candid about the moments he questioned the decision, the bad hires, the loneliness of running a service business, and what no one tells you before you resign. He's equally candid on why he'd do the same thing all over again and what his journey has taught him about what it really takes to build a multi-million dollar business.

0:00 — "I remember shaking when I resigned"
2:30 — For experienced professionals thinking about quitting corporate
4:00 — Why timing is never right to start a business
8:00 — The real financial risk of building a startup
12:00 — Why startups won't make you rich (and what will)
16:00 — Are you actually cut out for entrepreneurship?
21:00 — The risk to your family no one talks about
24:00 — Why experienced founders outperform young ones
28:00 — An honest review of working with DQventures

Find out more about WeNetwork

Follow Rob on LinkedIn

• Watch this episode on DQventures YouTube Channel
• Thinking about leaving your corporate job to start your own business? Apply to DQventures
• Follow James Green on LinkedIn
• Follow DQventures on LinkedIn