Today's guest is Thiago Da Costa, a serial entrepreneur with multiple exits and decades of experience building deeply technical companies. His latest venture, Datagrid AI is an enterprise agentic solution that connects data and automates workflows across tools, files, and systems,

Thiago brings a rare combination of technical depth, founder instinct, and hard-earned perspective on what it really takes to start, scale, and survive as an entrepreneur. We talk candidly about the realities of founder-led growth, why most early hires fail, how scaling actually works in practice, and why instinct—tempered by experience—often matters more than advice.

We also dig into the employee side of the equation: how to evaluate a founder before joining a startup, what questions really matter in interviews, and why effort, ownership, and clarity are the ultimate differentiators in today’s market.

Contact Dino at: dino@al4ep.com

Websites:

al4ep.com

datagrid.ai

Additional Guest Links:

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/thiagocosta2

Corporate LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/datagrid-ai/

Authentic Leadership For Everyday People / Dino Cattaneo

Dino on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dinocattaneo

Podcast Instagram – @al4edp

Podcast Twitter – @al4edp

Podcast Facebook: facebook.com/al4edp

Music

Susan Cattaneo: susancattaneo.bandcamp.com