Leo Anthias

Buckle up for the great process of Leo Anthias, dude’s a straight-up tech rebel turned data science boss. He’s UK-based, but honestly, his story is one of those classic startup journeys with a twist. So, Leo jumped into the scene back in YC S13, that’s the same batch as some big names, which already shows he’s been in the game for a while and crushed it early on.

Now, here’s the crazy part, his background is totally different from most founders you meet. He studied Persian History and Modern American Drama at St Andrews. Like, what? Yeah, dude’s not a tech guy by degree, but that didn’t stop him. Instead, it probably gave him a different lens on storytelling, culture, and understanding people, skills that are actually gold in startups.

He started out working at places like The British Museum, Arbuthnot Securities, and Stonehaven Associates LLP. Not your typical startup hustle, right? But that’s where he learned discipline, strategy, and how to handle pressure. That’s huge because building a startup is basically a crash course in all of that.

Then, he co-founded NStack, which was one of his first rides into the startup world. Not much detail there, but what’s key is that he kept pushing. Later, he became CTO at Kivo, a YC S13-backed company that used Git to make document collaboration way easier. Yeah, you heard that right, using version control for docs. That’s some advanced thinking, turning a developer tool into a collaboration hack. It’s like he saw the bullshit in how teams work with docs and said, “Nah, let’s fix that.”

But the real breakout move? He founded Datapane, which is an open-source platform for data science publishing. Think of it like a way for data folks to share their work easily. This is where Leo’s process hits a new level, he’s not just building startups for the sake of it. He’s solving real problems, making data accessible and shareable, and that’s a big deal in today’s world of info overload.

What does this all say about him? First, he’s super motivated to build stuff that actually matters. He’s not afraid to jump into complex tech, even if his background isn’t pure CS. He’s disciplined, sharp on product strategy, and understands how to execute under pressure. Plus, he’s all about that community and open source, sharing knowledge, making tools better, and pushing the whole system forward.

Bottom line? Leo Anthias is that rare founder who’s part thinker, part builder, and all about having an effect. He’s proof that you don’t need to follow the traditional tech route to crush it, just a killer mind, some grit, and a passion for solving real problems. No Cap, he’s one to watch.