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Off to the Valley

Off to the Valley

By: Prateek Panda
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About this listen

Off to the Valley is a podcast that brings to light incredible stories of those who left the familiarity of home for new horizons. Inspired by Silicon Valley culture, it really extends to a global community of individuals who've dared to step outside their comfort zones.© 2025 Prateek Panda Economics Leadership Management & Leadership
Episodes
  • From Zero Network to Full Pipeline – How Nida Ateeq Grew Her B2B Brand
    Jul 3 2025

    In this episode of Off to the Valley, I sit down with Nida Ateeq, founder and CMO of Anagar Media, a marketing agency that helps B2B companies transition from brand confusion to pipeline clarity.


    Nida shares her journey of moving from India to Canada, launching a business in a new country, and landing her first clients through trust, community, and personal branding. She unpacks how she built a thriving referral engine, her top AI tools for scaling B2B marketing, and the mindset shifts required to grow without burning out.


    You’ll hear practical insights on:

    • Starting a business as an immigrant founder
    • Building a strong network from scratch
    • Why personal branding is a business growth strategy
    • Leveraging AI to increase marketing efficiency
    • Long-game thinking when it comes to sales and community


    Whether you’re a founder, freelancer, or marketer, this episode will leave you with playbooks you can start using today.

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    36 mins
  • Nino Melikidze on Starting Over When Nobody Knows Your Name
    Jun 18 2025

    What happens after the visa gets approved?


    In this episode of Off To The Valley, I sit down with Nino Melikidze, co-founder and CEO of Immitracker, to talk about the invisible side of immigration, the identity shifts, career resets, and emotional weight that don’t make it onto official paperwork.


    Nino shares what it felt like to start over in Canada, how long it really takes to feel at home, and why she created a product that helps thousands of immigrants navigate that transition.


    We talk about:

    ✔ Moving between countries and cultures

    ✔ Building Immitracker from personal experience

    ✔ The emotional math behind product-market fit

    ✔ B2C vs B2B as a solo founder

    ✔ What she’d do differently if she started today


    This is an episode for anyone who’s ever had to start from scratch and wants to build something meaningful in the process.

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    35 mins
  • Toni Hopponen on Why Listening to Customers Can Kill Your Product!
    Jun 4 2025

    What do you do when customers ask for the wrong things?


    Toni Hopponen, founder of LandingRabbit and previously Flockler (acquired in 2023), joins Off To The Valley to unpack what 13 years of bootstrapped SaaS taught him.


    From building a self-serve product without a sales team to decoding landing pages that actually convert, Toni shares real, hard-earned lessons about customer interviews, product intuition, and why founder-led growth has its limits.


    We also talk:

    • His move from Finland to the UK to chase a global SaaS vision
    • Why most landing pages fail in under a minute
    • What makes a problem truly worth solving
    • Why listening to customers too literally can backfire
    • How he validated and built LandingRabbit after Flockler’s exit

    It’s a masterclass in staying lean, staying curious, and building for real people.


    Tune in if you’re thinking about bootstrapping, validating an idea, or designing a product customers will actually pay for.

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    31 mins
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