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He quit his job at a multi-billion dollar company with nothing but a half-formed idea, zero technical knowledge, and a conviction that privacy would matter. For almost a year, Bart Vandekerckhove tried to sell a product that didn't exist - without a CTO, without a prototype, and without anyone taking him seriously.
Then he built Raito into a real company and sold it back to the very place he left.
In this episode:
- Why Bart resigned during COVID with a mortgage, wife, and two kids
- Selling enterprise software for a year with no CTO and no product
- The chair-throwing moment that taught him everything about leadership
- How corporate politics secretly control your entire sales cycle
- His mother's advice about giving his wife equity (and why he regrets ignoring it)
- The motorcycle cliff metaphor that explains how founders self-sabotage
- Why "Plan B" relationships with competitors saved his exit
- Three pieces of advice for experienced professionals starting their first company
Chapters:
00:00 - Meet Bart: Data Governance Explained Simply
03:07 - What Data Governance Actually Means
07:19 - The Idea That Became Raito
10:51 - Starting a Company With Zero Technical Knowledge
14:22 - Almost a Year Without a CTO
17:40 - From Daydreamer to Founder
19:30 - Finding a Co-Founder Who's Your Opposite
21:12 - The Values That Kept Them Together
23:40 - Kind vs. Nice: A Founder's Distinction
25:29 - The Chair-Throwing Moment
28:54 - How Corporate Experience Helps (and Doesn't)
30:18 - Political Capital: The Hidden Sales Variable
36:19 - First Customers and the Drug of Closing Deals
37:21 - Fundraising: When to Raise and What to Know First
40:46 - The Three Mentors Who Shaped Everything
46:25 - Building to Exit vs. Selling Back to Collibra
49:32 - Networking as an Introvert
51:35 - Relationships, Family, and the Spillover
53:31 - Operating Under Uncertainty
56:33 - The Motorcycle Cliff: Where You Look Is Where You Go
1:01:23 - Advice for Experienced Professionals Starting a Company
1:04:16 - What the Next Five Years Hold
👇 CONNECT WITH BART VANDEKERCKHOVE
Bart Vandekerckhove ►https://www.linkedin.com/in/bartvandekerckhove/
Colibra ► https://www.collibra.com/
👇 CONNECT WITH SHAMIL
Shamil Malachiyev ► [www.linkedin.com/in/shamilmalachiyev](http://www.linkedin.com/in/shamilmalachiyev)
FluidLabs ► https://fluidlabs.com/
🎙 LISTEN to The Founder’s Code on
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/7v6YOQ77R1xzbOiiHsDawd
Apple - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-founder-s-code/id1797768317
🔔 Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE for more unfiltered conversations with the founders and engineers building the future of tech.
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