John Rush uses an AI agent inside Discord to manage tasks, track feedback, and even support his co-makers – helping him run 24 startups with zero employees.
🎧 Catch the full episode to learn how automation is changing the way founders build and scale.
Winning Friends is powered by e-Residency of Estonia, where entrepreneurs go to do business 100% digitally, from anywhere in the world.
Whilst most founders consider headcount a measure of success, John Rush measures freedom. From a forest near Istanbul, he runs 24 profitable startups without a single employee, using AI tools, automation, and lean partnerships.
Known as the most automated entrepreneur on Earth, John reveals how he makes it work:
⚡ validate ideas through stories before writing code
🤖 use prompts and “don’ts” to build with AI
📈 scale marketing through automation and personal brand
🌍 design for freedom instead of headcount
Discover his story on Winning Friends and share it with your network today.
Winning Friends is powered by e-Residency of Estonia, where founders around the world launch, run, and scale companies 100% digitally.
Scammers are already using AI to their advantage – but what if we could flip the script?
In Episode 4 of Winning Friends, Cecilie Fjellhøy – founder of LoveSaid and known from The Tinder Swindler and Love Con Revenge on Netflix – shares how AI could become a powerful force for good:
🔍 Helping financial institutions spot when a customer might be getting scammed
📱 Answering calls on your behalf, wasting fraudsters’ time and flagging suspicious activity
🗣️ Giving victims a safe, non-judgmental space to seek help
From practical steps you can take today to bold visions of the future, this conversation is packed with insights for entrepreneurs and business leaders who want to stay one step ahead of fraud.
🎧 Watch the full episode today!
🎙️ Winning Friends is the podcast where community meets smart business thinking – powered by e-Residency of Estonia.
👉 For global entrepreneurs, this topic hits close to home. Programmes like e-Residency of Estonia are showing how digital identities, secure authentication, and trusted e-signatures can help businesses thrive online – while staying protected in the world’s most digital country.
Not every business opportunity is what it seems. Fraud advisor Cecilie Fjellhøy shares three simple but powerful tips every entrepreneur should know before entering a business partnership:
❓ Ask the uncomfortable questions – friction fights fraud
⭐️ Get third-person verification from a trusted source
⏳ Take your time: don’t be rushed into a decision
Cecilie's trailblazing anti-fraud movement is exactly the kind of innovative, forward-thinking business that e-Residency is designed to support. When not advising companies and large institutions, Cecilie is a speaker to audiences around the globe, an NGO founder, a co-author of a book on fraud, and a host of Love Con Revenge on Netflix.
Don’t miss the full episode with Cecilie!
Winning Friends is your monthly podcast where community meets smart business thinking. Powered by e-Residency of Estonia.
Cecilie Fjellhøy knows the cost of not listening to her gut. She became a fraud advisor, NGO founder, and co-author after her experience of being defrauded – a story she shared in The Tinder Swindler, a Netflix documentary. A guest with plenty to share with the Estonian e-Residency community.
As part of her advocacy work and our conversation, she shares the red flags of a scammer:
🏃 Pressure to rush through important decisions (like signing a contract)
📋 Making unverified claims (either of identity or experience)
🔍 That feeling in your gut – if something feels off, your body will tell you
For more of Cecilie’s story and tips on preventing fraud in your business, watch Episode 4 of Winning Friends.
🎙️ Winning Friends is our monthly podcast for real stories of how connections and strategic moves build global businesses. Powered by e-Residency of Estonia.
Cecilie Fjellhøy is a fraud advisor who uses her personal experience to teach founders and organisations how to avoid scams. Since sharing her story in a documentary, The Tinder Swindler, she’s founded an NGO, co-authored a book on the topic, and launched a new Netflix show. Now she’s stopping by our e-Residency “cafe” to share her insights with the e-Residency community.
Learn from her in Episode 4 of Winning Friends – out now 👉 Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube!
🎙️Winning Friends is your podcast for real stories of how friendly intros and smart moves build businesses. Powered by e-Residency of Estonia.
You may recognise Cecilie Fjellhøy from the global hit documentary The Tinder Swindler. That recognition is fueling her efforts as an advocate for fraud awareness and prevention.
She’s used her drive for justice to co-author a book and host a new @Netflix series, Love Con Revenge. With her professional background in UX design, she’s also helping large-scale institutions with how to design fraud-preventing friction and thinking about AI as a fraud-prevention tool.
Cecilie joined us to talk about her personal story and to share how founders can protect themselves in their business relationships, starting with...
🙋Verifying any individuals you plan to do business with
⏸️ Creating friction to build in pauses around major decisions
💡Trusting yourself when something doesn’t feel right
👀 Catch the full episode to hear more of Cecilie’s story and to learn fraud prevention tips for your personal and business relationships.
Winning Friends is a monthly podcast for real stories of how connections and strategic moves build global businesses. Powered by e-Residency of Estonia.
Jeff Pan, co-founder and CEO of Belli, knows conferences CAN bring value to a business. But that requires planning and effort – just showing up won’t cut it. His favourite conference hacks?
🔹 Build your list of must-meets
🔹 Host a side event (Bonus: Get it sponsored.)
🔹 Set up meetings ahead of time (Not enough meetings? Skip it!)
Winning Friends is real talk from real founders – designed for digital entrepreneurs building sustainable businesses from anywhere in the world. Powered by e-Residency of Estonia.
Catch the full episode, out now.
There are lucky breaks, and there’s luck you make happen. Jeff Pan, co-founder and CEO of Belli, knows that when SpaceX came calling, it was a combination of both.
Watch the full episode to hear more things Jeff has made happen as an entrepreneur AND corporate employee.
Winning Friends is powered by e-Residency of Estonia, where entrepreneurs go to do business – 100% digitally, from anywhere in the world.
That’s how Jeff Pan, co-founder and CEO of Belli, uses Upwork – and spent 1M doing so.
🎧 Watch the full episode for more business hacks
Winning Friends is powered by e-Residency of Estonia, where entrepreneurs go to do business – 100% digitally, from anywhere in the world.
Jeff Pan, co-founder and CEO of Belli, optimises for frequency of failure – the more wrong approaches you cross off quickly, the faster you’ll find the right ones.
Winning Friends is powered by e-Residency of Estonia, where entrepreneurs go to do business – 100% digitally, from anywhere in the world.
🎦 Watch the full episode now!
Get real tips on how to grow your network and business 👉 https://www.winningfriendspodcast.com/
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Fear of failure stops many people from trying… just about anything. Entrepreneurs can’t afford that. Instead, Jeff Pan, co-founder and CEO of Belli, suggests optimising for failure – failing often and quickly to figure out what actually works.
Jeff was an early entrepreneur who then made his way into globally known giants like Booking, McKinsey, and SpaceX. On this episode, he shares what those experiences taught him (sometimes through failure) – including the hacks entrepreneurs can use to:
💎 hone in on their niche
🤝 hire talent
🌟 execute through their values
Watch and share with your friends today!
Winning Friends is powered by e-Residency of Estonia, where entrepreneurs go to do business – 100% digitally, from anywhere in the world.
Your CV might get you in the door, but it won’t get you the job. Maarja Pärt helped to scale YOLO Group from 10 people to 1000 – and was part of the interviews for most of those hires.
She saw how the attitude and energy a person displayed in the first few minutes were usually a great guide on whether they’d fit into the startup-culture mindset of the company.
Get more scaling advice in the full episode (out now).
Winning Friends is powered by e-Residency of Estonia, where entrepreneurs go to do business – 100% digitally, from anywhere in the world.
Maarja Pärt became YOLO Group’s COO in her mid-20s and quickly got used to being outside her comfort zone. Moments of self-doubt are your chances to grow – especially if you can share them with someone you trust.
Winning Friends is powered by e-Residency of Estonia, where entrepreneurs go to do business – 100% digitally, from anywhere in the world.
In Maarja Pärt’s experience leading YOLO Group, a great team is made up of balanced strengths. So forget the male vs. female debate and focus on filling your leadership team with people’s individual strengths that make your company a success.
Winning Friends is powered by e-Residency of Estonia, where entrepreneurs go to do business – 100% digitally, from anywhere in the world.
Maarja Pärt of YOLO Group doesn’t believe there’s a magic recipe, but thinks finding the right partner makes a difference.
Winning Friends is powered by e-Residency of Estonia, where entrepreneurs go to do business – 100% digitally, from anywhere in the world.
🎧 Hit play on episode 2 with Maarja today!
Maarja Pärt of YOLO Group knows what it’s like to start a career in customer success – helping the people whose feedback really matters – and taking what she learned to scale once her title had “Chief” in front of it.
Winning Friends is a new monthly podcast where community meets smart business thinking.
Winning Friends is powered by e-Residency of Estonia, where entrepreneurs go to do business – 100% digitally, from anywhere in the world.
Watch the full episode now!
Headline: Her business partner ran with all their money, so she built a billion-dollar empire
Description: Get real tips on how to grow your network and business 👉 https://www.winningfriendspodcast.com/
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Maarja Pärt might drink flat whites, but she’s spilling the tea on what it’s really like to grow a company from 10 to 1000 people – that’s after a toxic partner leaves the company in financial stress.
Logan and Dylan take a deep dive with Maarja on her 10 years at YOLO Group that have aligned with massive growth for the company and her own rise from a role in customer success straight to the C-suite.
Maarja shares her lived-and-learned experiences of:
- bouncing back from near failure
- building a team from scratch (on a budget)
- planning in fast-paced, highly-regulated markets
- making imposter syndrome your friend
Friends don’t let friends miss an episode – listen and share today.
Winning Friends is powered by e-Residency of Estonia, where entrepreneurs go to do business – 100% digitally, from anywhere in the world.
Avery Schrader, Modash founder, thinks you should find ways to do more of what you love. (AI could help, but maybe not how you think.)
Listen to the full episode of Winning Friends – out now!
Winning Friends is powered by e-Residency of Estonia, where entrepreneurs go to do business – 100% digitally, from anywhere in the world.
⚖️ On the brand side, it’s all about balance.
To succeed, companies take the pressure off performance and focus on driving content that gets their audience to connect the brand to the problem they're facing.
Expect more insight and honest conversations from global founders on Winning Friends – our new podcast where community meets smart business thinking.
🎧 Listen to the full episode today.
Winning Friends is powered by e-Residency of Estonia, where entrepreneurs go to do business – 100% digitally, from anywhere in the world.