CEOInterviews.AI
Start App
Try: AI strategy tariffs earnings guidance layoffs interest rates growth

Michele Romanow

Former CEO & Co-Founder, Clearco

Search every verified Michele Romanow interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Michele Romanow appeared on the podcast *Between Two Brunettes* on May 24, 2026, after a full day of filming *Dragons' Den*. She discussed Clearco's mission to make entrepreneurship accessible by automating access to capital using data from digital platforms, noting that the company has grown to face global competitors. Romanow also commented on the venture capital market, stating that fewer exits have occurred because companies stay private longer, and predicted that many software companies will fail. During the interview, Romanow offered several opinions on entrepreneurship. She argued that the common advice "do not quit" is "terrible advice" and that founders need to know when to move on to their next iteration. She described Canada as having "100% tall poppy syndrome," where successful people are torn down rather than celebrated. Romanow also emphasized that a business's repeat customer rate is the most reliable metric, and cautioned that raising more capital can reduce a founder's control over their company's destiny.

Recent appearances

Verified interview transcripts

Notable quotes

“I think the VC market is in a really interesting place... there has been way less exits because a lot of companies have stayed private for a lot longer... There is now going to be a lot of dead software companies in a lot of these companies right now. And so that space is going to shift a little bit there.”

“We have 100% tall poppy syndrome in this country. It's like as soon as someone gets too successful, we just put all of our resources into not celebrating them, not cheering them on about trying to tear them down. Oh, you're the tallest poppy. We should snip you down.”

“The more money you raise, the more money you spend. And building something that at its core is capital efficient... owning a bigger percentage of a medium outcome can be completely life-changing. Whereas, if you're owning 10% of your company... you control a lot less of your destiny the more capital you raise.”

“There's a company with, I don't know, half a billion dollars of revenue that's now trading at basically a one times multiple, whereas a couple years ago you were seeing SaaS companies trade at like 10 times forward because people saw SaaS revenue is so stable.”

“At Clearco, I know women historically get 2% of venture capital dollars. More than half of our founders were women, and that's just because we use data to look at how their business was performing; women go bankrupt far fewer times and generally make more money.”

“The single best investor you can have is your customers' money. The ideal business for most founders is when you can hold 100% of the equity yourself and your customers are funding your growth.”

The summary and quote tags on this profile are produced with AI assistance from verified, first-person interview transcripts, then checked by our team to confirm the speaker's identity and the accuracy of every quote. See how we verify →