Founder Friday
Founder Friday
Leveraging entrepreneurship as a tool for social mobility.
That's the mission behind Canopy Community and the Founder Friday podcast.
We believe talent is everywhere, but opportunity isn't.
Too many people never start a business because they never see someone like themselves become a founder. They assume entrepreneurship belongs to people with different backgrounds, different education, different connections or different resources.
We're here to change that.
In each episode, host Stewart Noakes sits down with founders from around the world to uncover the stories that rarely make the headlines. Together they explore the uncertainty, resilience, failures, breakthroughs and defining moments that shape entrepreneurial journeys.
These aren't polished success stories.
They're honest conversations about building something from nothing.
Our hope is simple.
One story at a time, we want every listener to discover someone they can relate to and think:
"If they can do it, maybe I can too."
Because there isn't one route into entrepreneurship.
- Founders come from cities and villages.
- From universities and factories.
- From boardrooms and bedrooms.
- From privilege and from adversity.
Some are parents. Some are students. Some are immigrants. Some start at 18, others at 68.
Every journey is different, yet has similarities regardless of the origin.
Every story matters.
Every conversation helps widen the picture of what a founder looks like.
Whether you're exploring your first idea, validating an MVP, finding customers, raising investment or simply wondering whether entrepreneurship could be part of your future, Founder Friday offers practical insights and authentic stories from people who are actively building.
Produced by Canopy Community, one of Europe's leading startup communities, Founder Friday is part of a bigger mission:
To leverage entrepreneurship as a tool for social mobility by making founders more visible, more relatable and more accessible to the next generation.
Because changing one life doesn't always start with funding.
Sometimes it starts with a story.
And perhaps the next story you hear will be the one that changes yours.
🎙️ Follow Founder Friday for new episodes as they drop.
🌱 Learn more about Canopy Community: https://www.canopy.community/
👋 Connect with Stewart Noakes: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stewartnoakes/
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Founder Friday
These founders created a VR experience that calms people in just seven minutes
This episode is only available to subscribers.
Founder Friday by Canopy Community +
Get access to our entire back catalogueKatie and Zilla are revolutionising mental health support through innovative virtual reality experiences that help people calm down in just seven minutes while developing vital coping skills.
• Both founders met while working on a Doctor Who VR project for the BBC that received an Emmy nomination
• Their complementary skills create a strong partnership: Zilla as a super-connector with extensive networks and Katie as a strategic problem-solver
• They identified a gap where 30 years of VR mental health research wasn't making it from laboratories into practical applications
• Their approach combines creating compelling content with practical implementation strategies for schools, libraries and universities
• The experiences are meticulously designed to be enjoyable and effective, co-created with medical and healthcare students
• User experience is paramount – they focus on making people comfortable and allowing technology to "melt away"
• Their extensive career experience gives them advantages in understanding what they know, their limitations, and when to seek help
• Testing at Glastonbury festival provided valuable feedback and reinforced their mission to bring joy to mental health support
Try our VR experiences for yourself and discover how we're transforming mental health support through technology that people genuinely enjoy using.
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Canopy Community
The place for founders, start ups and entrepreneurs. For more episodes, or to access coaching, events, advice, networks, education and more, visit…
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