Baseline

A mobile app for individuals with bipolar disorder, offering an AI-powered chat for daily companionship, predictive insights from biometric data for better self-management, and personalized tools to empower friends and family in providing effective support.

Co-Founder

COA AI studio

We're revolutionizing business efficiency and customer engagement with our advanced AI solutions tailored for various industries. In just 4 weeks, we've helped multiple clients streamline their operations, cutting costs by up to 25% and reducing repetitive tasks by 16 hours a week. Our vision is to integrate intelligent, custom AI agents into businesses, enabling them to operate on autopilot while achieving better results and lower costs. With a passionate team of seasoned experts, we're poised to drive impactful change and innovation in your industry. Let's connect to discuss how we're leading the future of business automation and customer satisfaction with AI.

Partner

Techstars

Empower emerging entrepreneurs with the tools, insights, and strategies they need to succeed in the competitive world of technology startups. Leveraging my extensive experience in the tech industry, I offer personalized mentorship, helping young companies navigate the complexities of business development, tech innovation, and market strategies to turn their ambitious visions into successful realities.

Startup Mentor

Popup

When we started Popup back in October 2021, we knew we wanted to create something unique—a no-code platform that would give entrepreneurs and merchants more control over the customer journey. 

Our vision was to empower anyone, anywhere in the world, to build and run their online Popup Stores with ease and flexibility.

Raised 3.5m from Accel and Seedcamp to bring our vision forward.

Looking back at my time with Popup, it was an amazing journey filled with growth, learning, and collaboration.

Co-Founder and CMO

Viceroy Group

From September 2018 to November 2021, I was deeply involved in Viceroy Group, an exceptional e-commerce portfolio of 7 direct-to-consumer brands and an agency that builds brands for creators. Our ambitious mission was to become a billion-dollar company by positively impacting the lives of one billion people.

As a Co-Founder, I played a crucial role in shaping the vision and direction of our company. I firmly believed that our brands should represent more than just products; they should provide solutions and improve the lives and well-being of our customers. I was passionate about creating brands that not only met the needs of our customers but also contributed to making the world a better place.

Our motivation for starting Viceroy Group was rooted in the belief that businesses can and should drive positive change. We were dedicated to making a difference in areas like sustainability, charity, raising the minimum wage, education, and health. It was this passion for making a positive impact that propelled our company forward and fueled our success.

During my time at Viceroy Group, I had the privilege of working with an incredibly talented team of individuals who shared my vision for using e-commerce as a force for good. Together, we built brands that resonated with our customers and stayed true to our mission of changing lives.

Co-Founder and CMO (Exited)

Shopify Plus

I had the fantastic opportunity to work as an EMEA Strategic Merchant Success Manager at Shopify Plus, and I'd love to share a bit about my time there.

Based in the beautiful city of Galway, Ireland, I was responsible for managing a diverse portfolio of some of the biggest e-commerce brands in Europe and the Middle East. As an EMEA Strategic MSM, my role was to support and guide our clients through their e-commerce journey and help them reach new heights.

Working at Shopify Plus was an incredible experience that allowed me to connect with talented entrepreneurs and business owners from all over the region. I was able to learn from their successes and challenges, and in turn, provide them with the tools, strategies, and support they needed to grow and thrive.

During my time at Shopify Plus, I witnessed first-hand the power of e-commerce to transform businesses and create new opportunities. I was inspired by the stories of brands that started from scratch and grew to become household names, thanks to the power of Shopify's robust platform.

Being an EMEA Strategic MSM at Shopify Plus also taught me the importance of understanding the unique needs and preferences of different markets across Europe and the Middle East. I gained valuable insights into how to tailor e-commerce solutions to cater to diverse audiences and make a meaningful impact on their lives.

EMEA Strategic MSM

Church & Dwight Co., Inc.

From April 2008 to January 2013, I was based in Ireland and had the exciting challenge of coordinating and implementing marketing activities for the Viviscal brand in four different countries: the Netherlands, Italy, Portugal, and Spain. Each country had its unique market dynamics and consumer preferences, so I had to constantly adapt and fine-tune our marketing strategies to achieve the best possible results.

My role as an International Marketing Manager allowed me to travel extensively, immersing myself in the diverse cultures and business environments of these countries. I had the pleasure of collaborating with local teams, understanding their perspectives, and tailoring our marketing approach to resonate with the local audiences.

One of the key aspects of my role was recruiting PR agencies and negotiating deals with publishing companies for events, TV, and print ads. This required me to develop strong relationships with various stakeholders and ensure that our brand message was communicated effectively across all channels.

International Marketing Manager

Lumen

As a Brand Strategist at Lumen, I had the fantastic opportunity to work with the corporate and consumer identity division, helping to define brand guidelines, tone of voice, and identity for some of the biggest companies out there, including Ferrero, Alfa Romeo, AC Milan, and Smirnoff Vodka.

Working with such iconic brands was truly an exciting and rewarding experience. I got to dive deep into the essence of each brand, understanding their unique values, goals, and target audiences. My role was to help them develop a clear and consistent brand identity that would resonate with their customers and set them apart from the competition.

Collaborating with a diverse team of creatives and professionals at Lumen, we tackled various challenges and developed innovative solutions to elevate each brand's presence and impact. Being part of this multicultural environment allowed me to learn from my colleagues' different perspectives and broaden my own understanding of branding strategies and global markets.

Working in the vibrant city of Milan, the fashion and design capital of the world, was truly inspiring. The city's creative energy and dynamic atmosphere fueled my passion for branding and design and further enriched my professional growth.

Brand Strategist

Dad.
Breakdancer
Occasional Entrepreneur


80's kid moved to New York as a pro-breakdance. Escaped to Australia to avoid deportation and picked up gigs as a fire-dancer in a travelling circus.

Moved back to europe into the corporate world. Climbed up in a Fortune 500 company, overseeing teams in 7 countries. Made quick money and spent them faster. First burnout and depression hit. 

Music was the next chapter. Produced 4 albums, toured 10 countries. It was intense, it was a blur.

Then came the startups. Launched a few. Some crashed, others soared – one hit £12M in 8 months, another £16M in revenue in one year. 

Ventured into venture capital. Raised £3.5 million from the big players. 
Not all went as planned, but that’s the game of venture. 

Now? I’m using my experience to mentor startups while building and AI for the future for mental illness.

Matteo Grassi

Two weeks of airports, overpriced coffee, and name tags.
Dublin to San Diego, San Diego to  Düsseldorf.

Two different universes.
San Diego at BHT2025 was mostly AI talk everyone pitching the future with a technology that has not proven much so far.

Düsseldorf at Medica was hardware, sensors, and machines.
85,000 people building the physical side of care.

And somewhere between the two, I realized something:
this trip felt different because Hana was different.

Before I left, we’d already made the call.
We stopped trying to be a platform.
Stopped trying to “own” the patient.
We stripped everything down to what was actually working: the rails. 

The part everyone needs but no one wants to build.
Voice-first engagement.
Straight into any system.
Plug-and-play instead of “please adopt our beautiful product.”

And the minute we did that?
Every conversation on the road suddenly clicked.

No more “great product but…”
Just: “Can we plug this into what we already have?”

Yes. You can. That’s literally the point.
And while I was wandering between conference halls:

We integrated into 2 platforms with 100K users
We started powering 4 clinics across 3 continents
We moved fully onto our own model
We published research
We pre-filed a patent

Our pipeline basically doubled because now we fit anywhere.
This is what happens when you stop trying to be the show and start being the power outlet.

Everyone’s building the appliances.
Not many are  building the grid.
So we are.

If you’re building in healthcare and need the rails underneath the part that actually keeps patients connected let’s talk.

3X Founder | Building the Voice That Keeps Patients in Care | Psychologist | My mum says I am special

I've been building companies for twenty years.
There are two types of founders. 
Only one survives what's coming.

Ok lets start with type 1. Sprinters.
Raise big. Scale fast. Exit clean.
Everything optimized for velocity and valuation.
When markets cooperate, these founders become legends. Press tours. Conference keynotes. The works.
Then capital tightens.
Layoffs. Down rounds. Desperate pivots to stay alive.
I've watched this happen across sectors (healthcare, fintech, SaaS, you name it). The architecture was never designed for adversity. It was designed to sprint in good weather.

The second type builds different.
Driven by co-creation. They're building ecosystems where everyone plays a part customers, employees, partners. Wealth generation is distributed. Success is collective. They don't feel entitled to all the glory just because they initiated it.
They're asking: what needs to be true for this to exist in 50 years?
They grow slower initially. 
But they don't collapse when the founder leaves or funding freezes.

This is not a choosing your type Linkedin post. 
Which type are you etc etc
You can use Type 1 fuel to build Type 2 durability.
But you have to architect it from the beginning.

Before you raise serious money, decide what's non-negotiable. 
Actually write it down.
Because once you're in the fundraising machine those incentives rewrite your brain. The pressure to optimize for the next round doesn't ask permission.

I tell founders to run two scoreboards.
Metrics VCs understand (ARR, growth, unit economics).
And metrics that actually predict survival (employee wealth creation, leadership depth, operational resilience without you).

Most companies only track one.
Distribute wealth early. Not as retirement theater.
Employee ownership means nothing if you wait until Series D when dilution makes it symbolic.

In AI right now, I'm watching this split happen in real time.
Founders optimizing purely for exits are raising faster. 
Getting more press.

Founders building actual infrastructure the kind of clients trust across years, not quarters they're moving quieter but deeper.

The question isn't which type is "better."
The question is: which game are you actually playing?
And which game do you want the world to start rewarding?

Because I think we're at an inflection point.
The companies that win the next decade won't be the ones that scaled fastest.
They'll be the ones that built something worth keeping.

What type of founder do you think gets funded more easily?
And what type do you think should?

RadHash

Go from MVP to Enterprise with the Full-stack Software Builder You Own—Not Rent✨

Startups are shipping faster than ever on AI-assisted, low/no-code scaffolding—then paying a massive “rebuild tax” at scale. Modernization projects routinely cost ~$1.5M and fail at alarming rates, while tech debt diverts 10–20% of new-product budgets and can equal 20–40% of the tech estate’s value. RadHash offers a self-hosted, AI-native foundation that ships ~95% of the repetitive stack and lets builders customize the last 5%, eliminating rebuilds and making scale the default.

Scratchware

Scratch is a Portable Payments Layer (PPL) a single, low-code integration to accept, orchestrate, automate and generate revenue from a growing stack of agnostic payment apps. #BuiltFromScratch

Papr.cloud

Design and publish content to the Azure cloud without code or templates with snap together apps and web elements that make it easy to create beautiful websites, build, run and expand your entire agency from a single portal.

BOODLE

Data-as-an-Asset™ plugin - A personal data tool to connect, collect, secure, and turn data into a valuable personal asset for individuals to own and profit from their personal data.

Boodle®

DI⚡OS Kernel

RAD Framework and Distributed OS for the rapid development and deployment of event-driven, data-first distributed cloud-native solutions.  - A 23D.io solution.

DI⚡OS

Lorde & Lincoln

Identity is Influence : Be More Than a Brand 

LOLIN is a full-service digital media and identity management firm. Helping companies become more than a brand, shape their identity. #ditchbranding

LOLIN & Co.

23D.io

Rapid Application Development Company building and supporting cloud-native solutions, distributed data-first infrastructure, and event-driven architecture for Azure.

23D.io - A Rapid Application Development Company

HarmoniWorx

Offering a steady lens on innovation, tech accountability, and how to scale with integrity in complex spaces.

Strategic Technology Advisor 2025-2026

full://stack.founder/Building=The_Startupverse&role=CEO=true&company=RadHash

👋🏻 Hi, I’m Astor. I stumbled into my purpose back in the early 2000s at a startup that didn’t make it. What stuck wasn’t the failure — it was the obsession with building. Twenty-three years later, that fire is still burning.

Over the last two decades, I’ve shipped hundreds of tools and helped create $6B in market value. Now I’m tackling the most important build of my career: giving non-technical humans the ability to create their own software using simple, intuitive interfaces.

We’ve done the heavy lifting — built the tech, rallied the community, and lined up 200+ founders across 35 countries and 30 industries. Together, they’ve signed $53M in LOIs — not just startups, but established businesses generating revenue and ready to build custom software that meets their unique needs.

We’re raising to fund 21–36 months of operations, bridging to EBITA-positive milestones with projected 68% net profit margins around month 24.

Want to see why this is the best time in history to invest in foundational AI-powered infrastructure?
Book a one-on-one with me and my team.

Lorde Astor West

Today I invested two hours on a call with an individual I admire greatly. I've studied his book, read his writings, and been a fan of his work in data, AI, and our shared love of fractal development methodologies. 

We were on the phone discussing a potential partnership 

↠  His AI tools
↠  Our Modular infrastructure. 

We shared our products and jumped into the code. 

When I shared our repo the mood changed instantly. 

Rapt - He said 

"I've reviewed repos for fortune 100 companies and I've never seen anything this clean and well designed - just from looking at it. I know what it does; this is something special" 

Next week we announce a partnership that will change the way the world looks at AI software automation. 

We're eliminating 

↠ Systems that hide what they are really doing 
↠ Messy code with fragmented features 
↠ Simple changes that break things
↠ Inefficiency and unintended costs

More to come!

Making AI Software Automation Predictable 🔮 Full Stack Operator @ RadHash

I sat quietly while he looked over the term sheet. "I wouldn't take this deal"  he said pushing the paper across the table. And, that was all. 

He was one of the biggest investors, builders, real estate owners in the state of Arizona. And when he talked, you didn't ask for explanations - you listened.

I didn't take the deal. 

The deal - $300k convertible note with predatory terms
and - the first investor we had met with. 

It felt surreal
I'd been told "you'll never raise"
You're a nobody
Yet here was a term sheet
All we had to do was sign 
and the money would be wired to our account that day. 

But the deal was bad

At the time
I didn't know why. 
I was green
I knew very little 
I was vulnerable
still learning

What I did know
Someone who knew better said don't do it. 

It hurt 

The sting of walking away was brutal
That capital would have changed everything
It would take another 10 months to close our first deal.

The moral

Raising funds is a learning curve in and of itself. 
One mistake can cost you everything
All investors are not created equal
Money changes everything

Advice

Find someone who knows better
Ask for help reviewing the deal

Don't sign anything
Without a lawyer

Go touch grass! Adopt a spicy photobombing dog!

I don't know who needs to hear this but if your system isn't ready for automation, it's not ready for AI.

I talk about RadHash every day — but for all the new investors joining us, here’s the quick re-intro:

RAD is our Rapid Application Development layer: a modular framework and distributed I/O system for building scalable AI/cloud-native software.
 It’s legible for AI and simple for humans.

Hash is the aiOS on top: tools to prompt, drag, drop, deploy, and distribute feature-rich software that’s fully composable and easy to evolve.

Why this matters:
The startup ecosystem is a $3.5T global machine.
1 in 3 startups builds software — and most of those fail not because of “bad ideas,” or “no PMF,” but because their systems can’t scale, pivot, or carry load.

The real killer is what I call The Invisible Cliff.
Every startup hits a point where they have to rebuild or die.

Two camps emerge:
Rebuild and pray they can keep scaling while keeping investors calm.
Refuse to rebuild — cobble systems together, add humans as glue, and raise until they burn out.

RadHash removes the cliff entirely.

With modularity and composability, even a non-technical founder — let’s call him Chuck — can build a feature, release it, test it, and pluck it out if it flops.

No engineers. 
No rebuilds. 
No dead features living forever inside the codebase.

Anyone who’s built software knows the pain: slow updates, expensive maintenance, and a graveyard of features no one uses.

That’s the cycle that kills 90% of startups.

RadHash breaks it.

Many times - most times the Investor I am speaking with has not reviewed my deck. This is what I do first to ensure we are aligned and I protect both mine and the investors time.

Before every pitch I start with a few qualifying questions to make sure we are aligned. 


1. Are you currently writing checks. 
Because we are actively raising its important we know if you're actively deploying. 

2. When was your last deal / stage
Ensures they are aligned with the stage we are at and they are actively deploying funds. 


3. What was the deal amount
Ensure the check size, conviction level, and capabilities are aligned with our strategy and GTM opportunities.

No harm no foul if you're an investor who is keeping a keen eye out  and if that's the case then we suggest follow us for future opportunities.

A few facts before we get into the thick of the pitch

↠We are post product but pre-seed
We've invested our own funds to build and test the core components of the product, build a community, and board Lead Operators. 

↠We are raising to bridge on-ramping with compounding micro-fees. 

That means that for the first 25 months we are subsidizing our operations with your investment dollars while we on-ramp customers and get them generating revenue on their new software. 

Last I go over the basics of the deal

Deal Terms
We are raising $5M SAFE
With a 17M USD Cap
10% discount

If you're not familiar with SAFE 
SAFE is an acronym for Simple Agreement for Future Equity

Basically this means

“When we do our next real fundraising round ++ the one with an actual valuation ++ you’ll get your shares then, and you’ll get them at a better price than new investors.”

That “better price” comes from one of two things:

1. The valuation cap

For instance:
If your next round is valued at $20M, but their SAFE cap was $10M?
They convert at $10M ↠ making their dollars buy more of the company.

Or

2. The Discount

A percentage price reduction.

So...
If the discount is 20%, they pay 20% less per share than new investors.
They get whichever deal is better for them at conversion.

I just got off a call with a gentleman whose Angel group did not "Do SAFE" When I asked him why he explained that once they did invest on SAFE and got wiped out when a VC came in on the priced round. 

This can absolutely happen but it has nothing to do with the SAFE and everything to do with Cap Table Hygiene. It is perfectly normal for an investor to ask to look at the Cap Table - And the Cap table should exist in your Data room or through a SaaS Cap Table service like Carta.

Founders - It's important to ensure you're aligned with your investor from the beginning. 

The time and effort it takes to source investors and for investors to source deals is extraordinary. Getting the details of a deal out of the way first ensures you have a live buyer and your investor is aligned with your deal.

Failory’s 2024–2025 unicorn database lists over 300 unicorns founded solo.
If this were truly a liability, the outcomes wouldn’t look like this. #FounderSolo

Open article: The Myth of the “Perfect” Founding Team: Why Solo Founders Are the Silent Backbone of Startup Success by RadHash • 5 min read

The Myth of the “Perfect” Founding Team: Why Solo Founders Are the Silent Backbone of Startup Success

Me: OMG this cheese stinks - smell it
[puts under husband's nose]
Husband: Gagging hacking sound
Me: Isn't it disgusting - it is so good
Husband: Its wafting [gagging sound]

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