(Un)Founded: Season Three
Magic 8 Ball with Melissa and Micaela
(Un)Founded is back with a third season and we are shaking things up...literally.
In Magic 8 Ball with Melissa and Micaela, Melissa Withers and Micaela Kamp talk shop about their work in the field with hundreds of early stage companies. In a series of quick fire convos they dig into the messy reality of biz building in a world where expectations about everything shift faster than ever. If by the end of the episode they can’t figure it out, then a little shake of the Magic 8 ball will do the trick.
(Un)Founded: Magic 8 Ball with Melissa and Micaela is available as both a podcast and as a video series.
Scroll down for videos or jump to Apple Podcast or Spotify for the audio-only podcast.
S3E1: WTF, 2024?
2024 was a wild ride. Packed with surprises, challenges, and more than a few moments where we had to ask, ‘Did that really just happen?’ In this episode, we look back on the big themes of 2024—the moments that shaped us, the lessons that surprised us, and how it might set the stage for a stronger, more intentional 2025.
Listen on Apple Podcast or Spotify or watch below.
S3E2: Pretzel Problems: What Happens When Founders Get Tied Up in Knots?
Whether it's marshaling the resources to start or securing cash to fuel growth, funding a business is hard, messy, and less fun than it looks on TV. The complexity isn’t just in finding money. It’s navigating all that comes with it. The costs, consequences, and contortions of taking on outside capital can leave even the best founders tied up in knots. In this episode, we unpack how these “pretzel problems” get made and the consequences that come with them.
Listen on Apple Podcast or Spotify or watch below.
S3E3: What’s Radical Transparency and Why Should You Care?
Being transparent about challenges isn’t a sign of weakness; it’s actually one of the boldest moves you can make as a leader. And when you invite your team, advisors, and even your peers into the messy middle of things, you’ll unlock trust, collaboration, and growth that not only feels real, but is sustainable. In this episode, we talk about radical transparency: What does it look like in practice? How can it strengthen teams and culture? And where does it get tricky?
Listen on Apple Podcast or Spotify or watch below.
S3E4: Should We Die on This Hill?
There are many hills in entrepreneurship…but very few of them are worth dying on. From the glorification of burnout to the “never quit” mentality, toxic narratives have deeply embedded themselves in startup culture at the expense of founders' mental health. Today, we are talking about how entrepreneurial machismo is literally killing us.
Content Warning: Discussion of self-harm, suicide, or suicidal thoughts. Please take care while listening.
Listen on Apple Podcast or Spotify or watch below.
S3E5: Why is No One Talking about Inflation?
Bitching about inflation was something that only boomers used to do. But that’s changed over the last few years. While we hear a lot about inflation and its impact on consumers, we rarely talk about its impact on early stage companies. In this episode, we dive into the impact of inflation and how it’s changed almost everything about business building.
Listen on Apple Podcast or Spotify or watch below.
S3E6: Does Authenticity Matter in the Age of AI?
The emergence of AI everywhere is driving a surge in demand for authenticity. In this episode, we take a closer look at how the burden of authenticity has increased, and in some very challenging and expensive ways for early stage companies.
Listen on Apple Podcast or Spotify or watch below.
Want to catch up on previous seasons? Check them out here:
More about Melissa Withers
RevUp Capital Managing Partner Melissa Withers is a bullish advocate for innovating the ways in which new companies are funded and supported. Beyond building new economic models for early stage investing, Melissa is also committed to directing more entrepreneurial funding to those underserved and overlooked by traditional VC.
More about Micaela Kamp
RevUp Capital Director of Platform Micaela Kamp is an accomplished growth marketer and content architect with 8+ years of experience helping early stage companies share their stories. Over the years, she has used her ability to question everything and a belief in storytelling to build strong foundations for scalable growth for founders.
Special shout out to our Editor - Rebecca Lawrence. You Rock!
More About RevUp Capital
RevUp Capital invests in B2B and B2C companies that are revenue-driven and ready to double down on growth. We deploy cash and capacity to help companies grow from $1-3M to $10-30M, quickly and efficiently, using a revenue-based model. Companies enter our portfolio with $500K-$3M in revenue, a strong growth rate, and a team that’s ready to scale. Our typical investment range is $300K-$500K.
We invest into a company's market-facing activity using a cash and capacity model. We pair our cash investment with dedicated support from the RevUp Growth Platform: a powerful resource to build a data-driven growth engine, delivered by people who get the work done. Rather than take equity, companies return investment through a small percentage of revenue over time. More at www.revupfund.com