Leap Forward

David Rusenko

David Rusenko interviews the founders of companies like Airbnb, Y Combinator, and Twitch, alongside the people who first believed in them. A mom. An early boss. A college roommate. Together, they reveal the intimate, unpolished stories of how successful companies actually get built, and why it rarely looks the way you might expect.

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Leap Forward

Episodes (3)

Today Mercury: Immad Akhund & His Mom
Today Y Combinator: Jessica Livingston & Paul Graham
Thu Mar 5th Season 1 Trailer

Leap Forward

Mar 25, 2026
42¼ minutes
58 MB

After more than a decade of mixed success with tech startups, Immad Akhund decided to try something even harder: starting a bank. Today, Mercury is valued at $3.5 billion and serves thousands of startups. But the road to get there was long and rocky. Immad shares how moving from Pakistan to the U.K. left him struggling to belong, how a string of failures nearly led him to leave entrepreneurship altogether, and what kept pulling him back. We also hear from the person who believed in him - really believed in him - long before anyone else: his...

Leap Forward

Mercury: Immad Akhund & His Mom

David Rusenko

00:00 -42:15