HappyPorch Radio

How Upkept turned a workforce development insight into a growing repair business, building its own software as it figures out how to scale on its own terms. In this HappyPorch Radio episode, co-founders Robin Atkinson and Cash Acrey talk to Barry about skilled trades, coding with AI, and centralised repair.

What your kitchen bin isn't telling you, yet. Orbisk CEO Anastasia Dellis talks to Barry O'Kane about the camera and scale quietly watching every discard in a commercial kitchen, and why the real work starts once that data reaches the chef, the CFO and the sustainability team, each in a form they can actually use.

Secondsense founder Chris Lucas built his first prototype at Harvard, and a single TikTok crashed it overnight. On HappyPorch Radio, he tells Barry O'Kane why AI has made software cheap, leaving data and expertise as tech's real moat.  We discuss how craft, sustainability and ambition still shape what gets built.

Dsposal's Tom Passmore joins HappyPorch Radio on a decade of UK waste data, the shift from 'where did it go' to 'why did it change', and why the technology is the easy bit. The real bottleneck is getting people to ask better questions of the data they already have, and then actually do something with the answers.

Kolekt's founder spent a fortnight riding with informal waste collectors before writing a line of code. The technology that followed, an app, then an offline payment platform, was shaped entirely by what he learned on those rides. A story about why context has to come before the tech, and what happens when it does.

From Dutch hospitals to buyers in Syria, Green Pulse is building something rare: a circular business where commercial and sustainable genuinely reinforce each other. This conversation covers trust, purposeful AI, aligned incentives, and an uncomfortable truth about medical equipment donation.

Come explore a journey that many software teams will recognise: the challenging transition from building internal tools to creating commercial products. You'll get valuable lessons about embracing uncertainty, learning from users, and the surprising ways business pivots can unlock new opportunities.

How do you make circular rental feel as good as buying new? How can tech best enable that? These are the essential questions we explored in a frank, insightful conversation with Büsra Zanner of Wearr, an event oriented premium clothing rental company out of Germany, serving across the EU. 

Discover how technology and smart partnerships are enabling Cirkel Supply's elegant circular rental solution for casual skiers to frictionlessly get their gear, and the benefits accrued to brands and businesses along the way. 

Our conversation with Andrew Rough, CEO of Advanced Clothing Solutions, a leading light in the circular fashion sector, proved to be a brilliant example of how thoughtful technology strategy can make all the difference in enabling circular businesses to scale.