In the fast-moving world of startups, it’s easy to focus on ideas, growth, and the hustle- sometimes forgetting the people behind it all. At Founders500, we’re proud to be part of a community of creative founders who are not only building businesses but shaping a more inclusive and supportive startup ecosystem. Our Founder Spotlight is designed to go beyond the pitch decks and products, giving you a chance to get to know the humans behind the ventures- their journeys, challenges, and perspectives. By sharing these stories, we aim to strengthen connections, spark new ideas, and remind every founder in our community that they’re not building alone. Read the mini interview below!
A bit about Madalina:
My entrepreneurial journey began in the classroom, while delivering lectures to MSc Data Science students, where I witnessed a critical gap in education delivery. Students struggled to find employment despite completing rigorous academic programmes because companies demand industry-specific skills that rigid curricula fail to provide. Academic institutions prioritise theoretical knowledge over practical application, leaving graduates unprepared for real-world challenges.
This educational crisis resonated deeply with my personal experience as a neurodivergent learner who had struggled through traditional educational systems until discovering personalised study techniques that transformed my learning approach.
Recognising that different learners require different methods, I founded HiveMind with a mission to make education efficient, personalised, and responsive to how people actually learn – especially in our rapidly digitalising world where time is precious and adaptability is essential.
What do you do today- and what’s the story of how you got here?
I am the founder of HiveMind, building an AI-enabled knowledge system with a flagship role-specific onboarding module. In short, we help organisations turn learning and knowledge-sharing into something that actually scales (without the chaos).
The story starts in a university classroom. While teaching MSc Data Science students, I kept seeing the same painful pattern. Brilliant people finishing tough programmes, then struggling to land roles because the curriculum was rigorous… but not role-ready. That gap between “what we teach” and “what the world actually needs” stuck with me.
I’ve been building HiveMind to make learning efficient, personalised, and applied; the kind that turns onboarding and training from “tick-box content” into something people actually use on the job. Our mission is to support confident learning, open collaboration, and better everyday decision-making. So new hires get clarity on Day 1, and organisations can scale knowledge without relying on “the one person who knows everything.”
What problem do you help solve, and why does it matter to you personally?
I help teams fix knowledge chaos: onboarding that’s slow and generic, information scattered everywhere, and “the real way we do things” living in someone’s head.
It matters to me personally because, as a neurodivergent learner, I’ve felt how painful one-size-fits-all learning can be and how powerful it is when learning finally fits you.
What was the moment you knew you had to build this (even before you knew how?)
I wish I could say it was one crystal-clear moment, but the truth is the doubt lingered for ages. I kept asking myself if I was really “supposed” to be doing this.
What made it stick was that I couldn’t unsee what I’d witnessed while teaching: brilliant students finishing intense programmes and still struggling to land roles because the leap from learning to real work wasn’t supported. The clarity didn’t arrive all at once, it arrived through repetition. And eventually I realised that if it keeps pulling at you, it’s probably yours to build.
What is the biggest lesson you learned in your first year of building?
Biggest lesson from year one: clarity beats complexity every single time. The real unlock was getting ruthless about staying close to users early, narrowing in on one genuinely painful problem, and designing for adoption rather than features because if it doesn’t fit into someone’s real workflow, it simply won’t stick.
What is a mistake you made that taught you something that you still use today?
One mistake I made early on was trying to “finish” the solution before I’d really earned it from the problem. We spent too much time polishing what we thought people needed, instead of pressure-testing the messy reality of their day-to-day. The lesson that stuck (and still use constantly) is to treat assumptions like liabilities, and now we build in smaller slices, get feedback fast, and let real user behaviour, instead of our enthusiasm, decide what deserves to exist. It’s less glamorous than building the whole masterpiece in one go, but it’s the difference between “nice idea” and “people actually use this.”
What is one decision or change that had the biggest impact on your growth?
Instead of trying to solve everything at once, we started by diagnosing a team’s real onboarding/knowledge pain points, implementing a role-specific onboarding journeys that people can use immediately, and then improving it through regular feedback loops and analytics. This change made our work clearer, faster to adopt, and much easier to articulate.
What is something people think is the reason you succeeded, but the real reason is different?
Having mentors who consistently challenged our direction (“What problem are you solving this week?”, “What proof do you have?”, “What would you cut if you had to?”) pushed us to stay human-centred, avoid building for ego, and take a consultancy-led approach. In other words, the growth came from being held accountable to clarity, adoption, and outcomes.
When things get hard, what keeps you going?
When things get hard, it’s the small wins that keep me going. The message from someone saying “this finally makes sense,” the moment a workflow clicks, or a tiny piece of feedback that proves we’re building something genuinely useful. I’ve learned to treat progress like a series of small proofs.
What is one belief or mindset shift that made everything easier (or clearer)?
The mindset shift that made everything easier was moving from “I need to have it all figured out” to “How do we solve this?”. It took me out of perfection mode and into problem-solving mode
Is there anything or anyone who has inspired you that has shaped your journey?
Many people have inspired me along the way, but Simon Sinek stands out. His books, especially the simple idea of starting with “why”, have been a steady reminder to stay anchored in purpose while everything else is still evolving and being figured out.
What did you enjoy the most about the Founders500 event?
Real founders sharing the highs, the messy bits, and what they wish they’d known earlier. I also loved the community energy: a safe, welcoming room where people asked thoughtful questions, swapped notes, and you could leave with both fresh perspective and meaningful connections.
What advice would you give someone who is one chapter behind you?
Build the right support group early. Surround yourself with people who have done it before and will challenge your thinking, not just cheer you on. The journey gets a lot lighter (and clearer) when you have people around you who can spot blind spots, share patterns, and remind you what’s normal when it feels chaotic.
Thank you to all of our wonderful speakers for taking part in our Speaker Spotlight!
You can watch Madalina’s session here.