⚡ How this Start-Up is Rewriting Entertainment Consumption Entirely

Morning Innovators ⚡ In less than 5 minutes, we’ll cover…

🥳 The best funding opportunities, events and jobs in the Start-Up world this week
📰 This week’s biggest news stories in the Start-Up world
📺 How has this Start-Up rewriting entertainment consumption entirely
😡 How angry customers can show everyone how good your business is
🗣 A tool that turns your website into a voice powered sales agent

✨ Last weeks most clicked link was this link taking you through to apply for the Onstage Summer 2025 Demo Day to pitch to 300+ of the biggest VCs in the world.

Happy hustling,

Rich

🎤 Opportunities + Events

🚀 Founders Fund have just raised a new $4.6bn fund to back early stage companies with ambitious Founders looking to change the world, you can see the team and get in touch accordingly here!

🧐 Kevin Jiang is looking to write 8 x $500k cheques into Pre-Seed companies solving massive, painful problems - find out more here!

🧠 James Roycroft-Davis is looking to write 10 cheques of up to $250k into companies in Behavioural health, wellness, brain health and mental performance - find out more here!

⭐️ Christine Lu Hong is looking to invest $220k into 10 Pre-Seed companies through TechStars, see more here!

We now have a community of thousands of Start-Ups and Founders, here are the hottest Start-Up job opportunities from the Innovators Uncensored community on our very own Start-Ups Job Board!

💼 Start-Up Jobs

👷 Head of Engineering, Patchstack
🧑‍💻 Software Engineer, Convergence AI
☎️ Intern, Lawgic

📈 Revolut reports £1bn in profits as it plots UK banking service rollout. Sifted

🤥 Columbia student suspended over interview cheating tool raises $3.5m to ‘cheat on everything’. TechCrunch

💰 19 US FinTechs have raised over $50m in 2025 so far. TechCrunch

🌐 Three Quarters of UK firms report increase in online fraud. UKTN

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This isn’t the first time Hector Hughes and the Unplugged team have made it to our marketing hacks section, and you can guarantee it won’t be the last! Unplugged provides log cabins in remote locations and takes your phone from you for an extended period to help you ‘Unplug’.

Everybody reads reviews, especially the more spicy ones - Hector and the team know this and take full advantage of it. By crafting these fake DMs from customers, they’re able to cause up a stir on socials as people read these hilarious outcomes. Even if you were to read it and believe it was real, the message is crafted in a way that actually highlights how good the service is, despite the negative outcome for the fake clients.

How can you use funny reviews to spark attention for your business on socials?

Each week we highlight our favourite tools - either something we’ve been using in our businesses, or tools that our innovator community have recommended.

Omakase.ai Voice turns your website into a Voice-Powered Sales Agent that talks, listens, and recommends while your customers browse. 8,000+ agents created. Just drop your URL to start for free!

RecDek: Rewriting the Rules of What to Watch

RecDek is solving a problem every viewer knows too well: what to watch next. Created by Founder Ed Rigg, RecDek is a social recommendation platform for entertainment. Rather than relying on impersonal algorithms, it puts discovery into the hands of real people, friends, peers, and tastemakers, across every streaming platform. In the long term, RecDek has ambitions far beyond content discovery, aiming to empower fans to finance and own the shows they want to see through a Web3-enabled model.

From Indie Screens to Global Streams

RecDek began by embedding itself in the heart of the film world - major international film festivals. Ed started rolling out the platform by hosting events for creatives, naming the initiative RecDek House. These events weren’t just about networking; they were labs for testing and improving the app with a highly relevant audience. Filmmakers and critics became early users, giving RecDek a foundation rooted in authenticity and creative insight. The mission? To elevate indie voices and democratise recommendations, pushing back against studio marketing muscle and algorithm-led platforms.

A Solo Mission Backed by Smart Minds

While Ed is a solo founder, he’s surrounded himself with a strong support network. A top-class CTO handles the technical side, while exited Founder-advisors from the US have provided invaluable strategic input. Though going it alone can be overwhelming, Ed finds value in learning each part of the business, whether it be building a five-year P&L or navigating investor calls. As he puts it, “the obstacle is the way.” Every challenge becomes a catalyst for growth.

Film Festivals and First Fans

RecDek's early users came through highly targeted, in-person outreach. By hosting events at major film festivals, Ed positioned RecDek directly in front of heavy-content consumers - the kind of users who shape the viewing habits of others. Attendees accessed the invites through the app itself, creating a loop of engagement. These events not only grew the user base but also generated revenue via sponsorships. RecDek House became more than a marketing play, it became a growing community with real value.

Scaling: Tech First, Hype Later

Now on the cusp of broader growth, Ed is preparing to scale. The plan? Focus first on refining the product to meet the expectations of a social app, then push forward with influencer-led marketing. This methodical approach is designed to boost retention and ensure that growth isn’t just fast, but sustainable.

Lean, Focused, and Resourceful

RecDek has been built with scrappy determination. In 2023, Ed raised $200,000 from angel investors, friends, and family. From there, he kept burn low by securing sponsorship for events and bootstrapping wherever possible. Most recently, RecDek introduced a $10/month subscription to RecDek House - a new revenue stream that's already gaining traction.

When Capital is Scarce, Creativity Matters

Fundraising has been one of Ed’s toughest hurdles. But the challenge pushed him to prioritise revenue early and find creative ways to fund the company’s growth. Every rejection became a lesson, and every no was added to his journey, not deleted from it. Staying close to the product and speaking to users kept the mission alive even in lean times.

Hard-Earned Wisdom and Unshakable Belief

Ed’s biggest lessons so far? Be impatient. Take breaks. Stay close to your product. Talk to your users. Embrace not knowing the answers. Expect 99% of people to say no - and keep going anyway. He advises other founders to bring everyone along for the ride, even those who initially pass. “Add investors to your updates, even if they say no. They might say yes later.”

Most importantly, Ed never saw RecDek as just a business. It’s a mission. A platform built to help people discover better stories and give indie creators a real shot at being seen.

Next week I’ll be highlighting another awesome Start-Up, as well as sharing all the usuals including funding opportunities, Start-Up news, plus plenty of awesome tips, tricks and tools.

P.S. Connect with me on LinkedIn…