Kish Modi had a rule with friends and family once he was out of intensive care and began his treatment for leukaemia: no crying when they came to visit.

His mum , a 157cm (5' 2") powerhouse, laid down the law to everyone who came to visit Kish in hospital.

"She's like, no tears, zero emotion, rational conversation only positive thoughts only. No one's allowed to cry in front of Kish," he recalls of his life and death battle with blood cancer on Startup 360 this week.

Kish, now in remission after 18 months of brutal treatment, including a bone marrow transplant, is preparing to launch a new startup, Hey Buddy, with longtime collaborator Stevan Premutico (me&u, Dimmi).

Cohosts Majella Campbell and Simon Thomsen were left in awe of Kish sharing his story.

His career moved from management consulting to startups with HelloFresh, me&u and now Hey Buddy, an AI concept for hospitality that's still in stealth mode.

Kish talked about what drives him and how he sees the world after facing a life-threatening illness, his passions and love for his partner, Paul, in a moving conversation about founder life and the fight for life.

Majella and Simon discuss this week's news, including ASX-listed Scalare Partners acquiring Tank Stream Labs, Elon Musk's Grok going generative Nazi, and Linkby's $23 million Series B raise.

Their guest for 10x, the rapid-fire questions, this week is Jack Rathie, cofounder of DDLoop.

The AI-based legal due diligence platform helps lawyers make sure all bases are covered when doing a deal and when Jack shared the story of how they pulled up the details for StrongRoom.AI when it imploded, revealing a range of tells that flagged problems, Simon's mind was blown.
A science fiction fan, Jack also shared three books he recommends sci-fi fans should read.

Startup 360 is more founder fund than founder mode. It’s all about finding out what makes people tick and staying human.

This episode of Startup 360 is supported by Vanta helping startups unlock market opportunities through automated compliance.

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