Startup Insider The Relentless Drive Behind 1,000+ Startups: Founder DNA – with Investor Edward Lando
What drives some founders to keep building—no matter the cost?
In this episode of the Founder DNA series, host Petter Made sits down with Edward Lando, prolific angel investor and founder, to explore the mindset behind unstoppable entrepreneurs.
Edward shares insights from over 1,000 early-stage investments and discusses what truly sets great founders apart—from curiosity and deep self-reflection to an almost irrational drive for impact. The episode dives into the psychology of founders, touching on motivation, the fine line between charisma and charlatanism, and how top investors develop a feel for extraordinary talent.
Additional highlights:
- Why resilience often stems from early life challenges
- The investor’s perspective: betting on the person, not the idea
- Red flags vs. founder superpowers—intuition vs. data
- How obsessive problem-solving fuels founder momentum
- Building startups in a post-no-code world: what's changing?
A candid conversation about founder intensity, emotional patterns, and what it takes to thrive in the high-stakes startup arena.
Edward has a background in business and entrepreneurship, having studied at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He made his first investments while still at university and has since co-founded multiple companies, including Goody, Atom Finance, Zamp, Link Money, and Palazzo. As co-founder of Pareto Holdings, a Miami-based venture studio, he actively supports founders in building companies from the ground up—often shaping product, team, and strategy hands-on.
To date, Edward has invested in over 1,000 startups globally, including more than 25 unicorns such as Ramp, Mercury, Misfits Market, Modern Treasury, and Truebill. Known for his strong founder intuition and bias for action, Edward is one of the most active angel investors in the world. His approach centers on backing extraordinary individuals early and helping them scale with speed, focus, and resilience. LinkedIn
Pareto Holdings is a venture studio and investment firm co-founded by Edward Lando and Jon Oringer (founder of Shutterstock). Based in Miami, Pareto builds and backs early-stage companies across diverse sectors, with a strong emphasis on product speed, founder quality, and long-term vision. The studio not only invests capital but also co-founds ventures, helping shape everything from ideation and product development to go-to-market execution. LinkedIn
Petter Made is a fintech pioneer with over 25 years of experience. He co-founded SumUp, a global company valued at €8.5B, serving over 4 million SMBs across 36 countries. Then, as CPTO at Drooms, he led the development of the world’s fastest virtual data room, scaling the business to nine figures. Petter’s earlier career saw him in leadership roles at Inatec Payment AG, Ongame Networks, and Chinsay AB. LinkedIn
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