2: Why this startup said no to the world's biggest mining company (and won)

David Press was down to his last $7,000 with payroll due when a critical enterprise deal saved Risk Talk from collapse. After years of grinding through COVID lockdowns and cancelled flights, he and co-founder Stuart Farquharson built a voice-first safety reporting tool that now serves three of the world's five largest mining companies.

David is the technical co-founder of Risk Talk, a platform that makes safety reporting accessible for frontline workers through voice technology to solve a problem they heard directly from workers: "Why can't I just talk about it instead of filling out these shit forms?" Risk Talk achieves 97% transcription accuracy even in the loudest industrial environments and has grown to serve companies with 60,000+ employees globally.

He explains:

• Why saying "no" to the world's biggest mining company over a feature request was their smartest product decision
• How their MVP mantra "would Frankie use it?" shaped every design choice
• Why they refuse to add "just one more question" - even if it costs them deals
• How a single TikTok post generated leads from $40B companies
• Being prepared to drive Uber with enterprise deals pending
• Why building i18n from day one enabled their international expansion