Ep 23 - Aleksandrina Ikonomova - Exited Founder & Angel Investor

In this episode of the Founders & Funding Podcast, Philip speaks with Aleksandrina Ikonomova, exited founder, startup mentor and angel investor.

Aleksandrina brings a rare combination of perspectives to the conversation, she has built and exited her own companies, works with VC portfolio startups on turning around underperformance, and invests her own capital into early stage founders. She shares what she really looks for when investing, why the best founders are defined by their relationship with the problem they are solving, and what it actually takes to survive the emotional and operational demands of building a startup. They also discuss when fundraising makes sense and when it doesn't, why being coachable is not always the compliment people think it is, and what ruthless execution really looks like in practice.