The First Customer – Bootstrapped, Burned Out, and Building Back Smarter with Keilian & Prags

In this episode, I was lucky enough to interview Keilian Knudsen and Prags Mugunthan, co-founders of Pangea.ai.  Keilian and Prags explored their journey from university roommates in Scotland to building a global tech talent platform. Keilian described how growing up in Switzerland with an American mother and Norwegian father gave him a multicultural view of the world and a drive to create something of his own. Prags shared how moving from Sri Lanka to Norway at a young age gave him access to education and opportunity, which shaped his path toward entrepreneurship. Their first ventures included a sandblasting startup and a digital memory bank, both of which failed but pushed them to solve the problem they encountered firsthand—how hard it was to find and hire reliable software developers. That problem led to the birth of Digital Knights, a service-based business that eventually became Pangea. Keilian and Prags candidly shared about the tough early days, including running out of money, borrowing from friends and family, and nearly walking away from it all. What kept them going was their shared vision and complementary strengths. They also emphasized the importance of building repeatable systems and processes, especially after realizing that excessive hustle without structure could limit their growth. Discover how missed hires, borrowed savings, and unwavering conviction led Keilian and Prags to build Pangea in this episode of The First Customer! Guest Info: Pangea.ai https://www.pangea.ai Keilian Knudsen"s LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/keilian/ Prags Mugunthan"s LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/pragsm/ Connect with Jay on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayaigner/ The First Customer Youtube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@thefirstcustomerpodcast The First Customer podcast website https://www.firstcustomerpodcast.com Follow The First Customer on LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-first-customer-podcast/