In Part 3, Léonie Weerakoon shares her clearest advice for the next generation: stay curious, ask questions, and give yourself permission to evolve.

Léonie talks about building resilience inside real-life constraints, why authenticity is a long-term advantage, and how to think about career decisions without treating them like permanent life sentences. Dan connects it to a powerful Gen Z insight: wealth means choice.

We cover:

• Curiosity as a strategy (not just a personality trait)

• Authenticity + consistency when you feel pressure to fit a mold

• Permission to change without shame

• Why “choice” is the new wealth

We’re releasing this conversation in three parts so you can bite-size it.

About founding_up: https://www.foundingup.com/

About Kinetik VC: https://kinetikvc.com/

Part 2 of 3 • Mentorship

What if mentorship isn’t one person… but a lifetime of elders, cultures, mistakes, and questions?

In Part 2, Léonie Weerakoon explains how her cultural upbringing and traditions from travels to storytelling shaped her view of learning, why most of her early “mentors” were men (and what that disconnect taught her), and how travel became her real teacher. She also talks about bad advice she was given—like hiding her non-linear background—and why that mindset doesn’t fit the next generation.

We cover:

• Sri Lankan culture, storytelling, and elders as mentorship

• Why Léonie never related to the “one mentor” model

• Learning from horrible bosses (what not to do)

• “The world as your mentor” and why it matters

• Why being “too many things” might be your an advantage

We’re releasing this conversation in three parts so you can bite-size it.

About founding_up: https://www.foundingup.com/

About Kinetik VC: https://kinetikvc.com/

Part 1 of 3 • The Map

Léonie Weerakoon grew up between continents—and it shows in how she thinks, builds, and moves.

In Part 1, Léonie shares her global upbringing (Austin, Vancouver, Luxembourg, Sri Lanka, New York), her early creative roots in fashion and design, and the unexpected academic detours that made her both an artist and a scientist. She also tells the origin story of how she ended up in the early days of Formula 1 in Austin, and why an operator mindset—paired with networking + curiosity—changed everything.

In this episode:

• Growing up with “four parents” and multiple home countries

• Creative roots: sewing machines, architecture, theater, design

• The education “cluster” that led to double majors

• Starting a company as a teenager

• The path into Formula 1 Austin

• We’re releasing this conversation in three parts so you can bite-size it.

  
  

  About founding_up: https://www.foundingup.com/

  About Kinetik VC: https://kinetikvc.com/