Founded & Grounded

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hybr: Rejected by Her University. Rejected by Every Landlord. Now Hannah Wants 60% of the Student Housing Market.

S6 E10 • Jul 6, 2026 • 102 mins

Nobody would give Hannah a room. So Hannah decided to control who gets one. Protect your family with life insurance from Ethos. Get up to $3 million in coverage in as little as 10 minutes at https://ethos.com/founded. Application times may vary. Rates may vary. "I cold called all of the landlords I'd ever met at Bristol and got horribly rejected by most. Definitely cried a lot in the first few weeks." Rejected by the University of Bristol on her predicted grades, she proved them wrong, got in, got a first, then skipped the consulting grad schemes to fix the thing every student complains about: finding a house. Fast forward, hybr has raised a £3.24M seed round and is building the one-stop rental platform for the UK's 3 million students, first-time renters drowning in jargon, deprioritised by agents, and at risk of exploitation.

Key Points

Rejection is the R&D. Every landlord "no" became a rewritten pitch and a rebuttal, until the yeses came. Persistence isn't gritting your teeth; it's a feedback loop. Validate by selling, not by building in silence.
Focus is a system, not a feeling. Two company objectives per quarter, one North Star metric. If a project doesn't ladder into them, it doesn't get worked on, however shiny.
Build sustainably from day one. Validate on the smallest possible scale with minimal tech investment, prove the problem and market are big enough, and design for profitability early; it de-risks everything that comes after. And it applies to you too: Hannah calls out the sleep-under-the-desk myth. Sprints are real; burnout kills businesses.

Speakers

Hannah Chappatte

Guest • 39%

Becky Sage

Host • 38%

Ollie Collard

Host • 23%

Chapters

0:00	Intro, hosts, and Hannah Chappatte’s early struggles
1:09	Meet Hannah Chappatte and hybr's mission
1:32	The student housing market problem
3:15	Hannah explains the broken student housing market and hybr's role
6:11	From concept to early revenue
8:26	Cold calling, rejection, and resilience
9:52	Hannah’s background and entrepreneurial journey
12:33	Internal battles, learning from failure, and solo founder transition
16:28	Value proposition for students and landlords
19:37	Competitive landscape and hybr's unique approach
21:06	Fundraising journey, advice, and investor details
23:24	From pre-seed to seed round and objectives
24:44	Fundraising challenges as a female founder
25:37	Navigating the startup ecosystem as a female founder
26:56	Sponsor: Ethos Life Insurance
28:16	The power of being underestimated and getting heard
34:47	Overcoming rejection and building resilience
38:36	Mental hygiene and founder wellbeing
43:25	Favorite failures and lessons learned
47:24	Gen Z vs Millennials in the housing market
48:31	Helping students onto the property ladder
50:53	Optimism, support systems, and sacrifices
54:48	Balancing remote work, office presence, and avoiding hustle culture
58:28	Bad VC advice and getting back to basics
1:07:15	Running a business sustainably and avoiding burnout
1:14:02	Critique of hustle culture and sustainable work habits
1:15:56	The Grainer Growth Model and evolving through business challenges
1:17:00	Reflections on investment and alternative funding
1:20:35	Hannah’s vision for hybr and the rental market
1:23:07	What drives Hannah and hybr success metrics
1:25:53	Advice for early-stage founders

Transcript

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