by Goanna Capital
Success doesn't start with a headline. It starts with a first win. Very First Win takes you inside the exact moment top founders, investors, and operators realized they could actually make it. Each episode unpacks the deal, decision, or breakthrough that changed everything, and what that moment taught them. Hosted by Rob Hilmer of Goanna Capital, with guests spanning founders, investors, and industry leaders shaping what comes next. New episodes weekly.
Language
🇺🇲
Publishing Since
4/23/2026
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June 25, 2026
<p>Chaz Englander has built and sold two companies before most people figure out what they want to do. First was Fat Llama, a peer-to-peer rental marketplace that got into YC and sold for $45M. Then a last mile grocery delivery business he started three months before COVID that sold to GoPuff. Now he's building Model ML, a workflow automation platform for finance that raised $100M in its first year.</p><p><br></p><p>In this episode, Chaz talks about doing 30 pitches a day in Canary Wharf for a £5K check, getting the YC acceptance call mid-Uber ride while sitting next to the driver, physically tracking down a stolen drone to save his first company, and what he means when he says perseverance has to be earned, not blind.</p><p><br></p><p>What we cover:</p><p><br></p><p>Why he started pitching strangers in Canary Wharf with no money and no tractionThe Uber ride where Aaron Harris called to say YC was inChasing a drone across London at 22 years old thinking the company was done"Getting into character" as a founder and what that actually means</p><p><br></p><p>Why he and his brother started a third company after two successful exits</p><p><br></p><p>Follow Chaz: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chazenglander/</p><p><br></p><p>Follow Robert Hilmer: https://linkedin.com/in/roberthilmer/</p><p><br></p><p>Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0cTzEJW3juIZEBnyswNl9c</p><p><br></p><p>Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/very-first-win/id1896315027</p><p><br></p><p>Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@GoannaCapital</p>
June 18, 2026
<p>Andrew Parker is the founder and CEO of Papa, the companion care platform pairing older adults with vetted "pals" who help with rides, tech, paperwork, and the thing nobody puts on a care plan: loneliness.</p><p>In this episode, Andrew tells Rob about the moment that changed everything. He almost deleted the YC interview email at 5am, fished it out of his trash, and walked into a room where he was convinced everyone was smarter than him. Papa went on to become one of the hottest companies in its YC batch.</p><p>We get into the bet that built the company (cutting bathing and toileting to scale companion care nationally), getting Medicare to cover a service that didn't exist five years ago, and why Andrew thinks you have to be a little irrational to build anything real.</p><p>What we cover:</p><p>The deleted YC email and the drive home convinced he'd lost</p><p>Why he leaned into the two things he's great at and ignored the other 98%</p><p>Building the "Uber of caregiving" by rethinking the rules</p><p>Getting Medicare Advantage to cover companion care</p><p>Being comfortable in the abyss and "absorbing" when things go against you</p><p>Very First Win is hosted by Rob Hilmer, founder of Goanna Capital, and explores the early, defining moments behind the people building the future.</p><p>Listen everywhere:</p><p>Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0cTzEJW3juIZEBnyswNl9c</p><p>Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/very-first-win/id1896315027</p><p>YouTube: @GoannaCapital</p><p>Rob Hilmer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roberthilmer/</p><p>Andrew Parker: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-parker-30904417/</p>
June 11, 2026
<p>What happens when the internet's "Queen of Shitty Robots" decides she wants to build something that outlasts the joke?</p><p>In this episode of Very First Win, Rob Hilmer sits down with inventor, YouTuber, and founder Simone Giertz. She built a following of nearly 3 million on YouTube, first as the self-proclaimed "Queen of Shitty Robots" with creations like an alarm clock that slaps you awake and a helmet that brushes your teeth, then with more ambitious and genuinely useful inventions. Now she's doing the hard thing: building Yetch Studio, a real product company that sells her designs to people who have no idea who she is.</p><p>Simone's very first win isn't an IPO or a viral hit. It's the moment a stranger recognized her brand without recognizing her, proof that the business she spent years building can finally stand on its own.</p><p>We get into:</p><p>Why "shitty robots" was the perfect spear to go narrow and deep</p><p>The brittleness of personality-based influencer businesses</p><p>How to build a product company that's supported by you but not dependent on you</p><p>Why every project should fit in a single headline (or a looping GIF with no audio)</p><p>Land and expand: finding the one thing only you can do</p><p><br></p><p>Listen to Very First Win:</p><p>Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/very-first-win/id1896315027</p><p>YouTube: @GoannaCapital</p><p>Connect:</p><p>Robert Hilmer: https://linkedin.com/in/roberthilmer/</p>
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Success doesn't start with a headline. It starts with a first win.
Very First Win takes you inside the exact moment top founders, investors, and operators realized they could actually make it. Each episode unpacks the deal, decision, or breakthrough that changed everything, and what that moment taught them.
Hosted by Rob Hilmer of Goanna Capital, with guests spanning founders, investors, and industry leaders shaping what comes next.
New episodes weekly.
This podcast updates daily.
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