Leap Takers

Dr. Anjali Raja Beharelle (https://www.linkedin.com/in/anjali-raja-beharelle/) is the CSO (Chief Science Officer) and one of the founders of collabree.com (https://www.collabree.com/). Collabree is a Swiss eHealth / digital adherence start-up focusing on improving therapy compliance of chronically ill patients by applying behavioural economics principles. Collabree is helping patients to make lasting behavioral changes and stick to their therapy regimen by combining human engagement with scalable algorithms and using the most relevant gamification factors: fun, friends and feedback. Anjali is responsible for the clinical track and integrating insights from behavioral economics and neuroscience into the app. Before founding Collabree, Anjali worked as a neuroscientist. Her research focused on the neuro(chemical) and behavioral components of decision making between short-term and long-term rewards (e.g. should I have a candy bar or some broccoli) and how to optimize these decisions. We discuss: * How behavioral economics can help us to make long-lasting positive habit changes * Taking the leap from Academia into the world of startups * Why medication adherence is so important * Collabree's mission and future plans * Tips for forming habits Show notes: * 03:41 -- Intro of Anjali * 04:19 -- Why Anjali decided to leave academia and to join a startup * 05:38 -- Anjali's academic research focus and how it links to her role at Collabree * 08:55 -- How Anjali joined Collabree / found her co-founders * 10:45 -- What is Collabree's mission and what problem is the startup trying to solve * 15:52 -- Development status of Collabree * 17:18 -- More info about the Collabree app * 17:36 -- Deep dive into scientific results from behavioral economics and how it can help us to form healthier habits * 22:15 -- Pricing model of Collabree * 24:26 -- Broader focus of Collabree - healthy habits * 25:19 -- Deep dive into what habits are and habit formation from a scientific perspective * 31:11 -- Practical & actionable tips for forming positive habits * 34:49 -- Future plans for Collabree and status of fundraising * 37:04 -- Learnings from switching from academia to the world of startups * 40:43 -- Anjali's favorite book * 42:43 -- Role model of Anjali * 43:35 -- Advice to your younger self * 44:28 -- What courage means to Anjali * 45:09 -- How to find out more about Collabree Please follow me on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/leaptakerspodcast/), Twitter (https://twitter.com/TheRemoKyburz), and my Website (http://www.leaptakers.com/), where I post new episodes and share resources & tips for anyone interested in entrepreneurship in Europe. Sign-up for the mailing list to stay in the loop (https://www.leaptakers.com/subscribe)! If you're enjoying the podcast, the best way to support the show is by leaving a review on Apple Podcast (https://podcasts.apple.com/ch/podcast/the-leap-takers-podcast/id1468975811?l=en) or in your favorite podcast app. Special Guest: Anjali Raja Beharelle.

Hugo Amsellem [@HugoAmsellem (https://twitter.com/HugoAmsellem)] is a thought leader covering the world of the creator economy and writes the blog “Arm the Creators (https://armthecreators.substack.com/)”. The Creator Economy enables an entire generation to bypass traditional gatekeepers for the 1st time in history. Anyone can learn anything online, build something new and distribute it all over the world—without asking anyone's permission In 2013 he jumped the fence and joined The Family (https://www.thefamily.co/) as part of the founding team. The Family is one of the world's leading fellowship programs for founders. Twice a year, The Family selects 50 startups from around the world. In exchange for 5% equity, they provide everything you need to build a scalable business: advice, mindset, network & a world-class investor demo day.With the Family he backed hundreds of founders across Europe. Previously, he co-founded oocto (https://twitter.com/oocto?lang=en), a decentralized music label to help artists bypass the record labels and keep ownership of their projects. Hugo recently joined Jellysmack (https://www.jellysmack.com/), a “creator accelerator” to educate & empower the next generation of ambitious creators. We discuss: * Why the Creator economy will change everything * Lessons from startup failure * The origin story of The Family * Developments in the European startup ecosystem * Investing in creators and creator accelerators Show notes: * 03:09 -- Intro of Hugo * 05:31 -- Hugo Amsellem's path into entrepreneurship / disrupting the music business * 08:32 -- Learnings and reflections from startup failure * 13:00 -- Unit economics - Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) and Customer LifeTime Value (CLTV) * 15:30 -- Does risk mitigation in startups work? Should you start a startup? * 19:30 -- Ideas are worthless - true or not? * 20:39 -- The origin story of The Family and the startup ecosystem in Europe in the early 2010's * 27:51 -- Structure of The Family fellowship program * 31:52 -- Who should apply to The Family program * 33:26 -- Intro to the Creator Economy and why it matters * 38:43 -- Jellysmack - the accelerator for creators * 43:09 -- Investing in creators * 47:43 -- Hugo Amsellem's favorite book * 50:25 -- What courage means for Hugo * 53:32 -- Hugo Amsellem's contact details and outro Please follow me on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/leaptakerspodcast/), Twitter (https://twitter.com/TheRemoKyburz), and my Website (http://www.leaptakers.com/), where I post new episodes and share resources & tips for anyone interested in entrepreneurship in Europe. Sign-up for the mailing list to stay in the loop (https://www.leaptakers.com/subscribe)! If you're enjoying the podcast, the best way to support the show is by leaving a review on Apple Podcast (https://podcasts.apple.com/ch/podcast/the-leap-takers-podcast/id1468975811?l=en) or in your favorite podcast app. Special Guest: Hugo Amsellem.

Patrick Gobonya is one of the co-founders of Ovation eSports (https://ovation-esports.com/). Ovation was founded in Zurich / Switzerland in February 2020, and is the first sustainable eSports organization. Ovation is "a lit, young & dynamic pioneer which combines professionalism and fun in one team. A network platform of champs and eSports enthusiasts." Ovation accompanies and develops athletes on their journey to become leading eSports players. The company is committed to provide their athletes with support to protect their mental and physical well-being and offers an environment to master a successful future following a career in eSports. Ovation eSports AG is a Swiss team consisting of players from the DACH region and with partnerships all over Europe. Ovation is one of the fastest growing and up-and-coming esports teams in Europe and currently competes in the games of Fortnite (https://www.epicgames.com/fortnite/en-US/home) and Valorant (https://playvalorant.com/de-de/). In March 2021, Ovation announced that it has raised a seed round investment from billionaire twin brothers Maurice and Kyril Louis-Dreyfus (https://www.startupticker.ch/en/news/march-2021/swiss-esports-start-up-attracts-louis-dreyfus-twins-as-investors). We discuss: * The origin story of Ovation * Tips for starting an eSports team & scouting talent * Sustainability in eSports and gaming as a career track * Fundraising advice Show notes: * 02:23 -- Intro of Patrick Gobonya * 03:12 -- What is eSports and why is it relevant * 05:54 -- Ovation’s fundraise from Maurice und Kyril Louis-Dreyfus * 06:56 -- How the investment from the Dreyfus twins in Ovation came to be * 11:06 -- How Patrick for the first time got the idea to start his own company and the origin story of Ovation * 15:52 -- How Ovation came up with the name for its team * 17:16 -- How to start an eSports team, recruiting players, getting into the community * 19:50 -- How to scout talent in eSports * 22:18 -- Progress of ovation in 2020 * 24:55 -- Stats and further info about Ovation * 28:15 -- Revenue streams of Ovation and eSports teams - how the sponsorship model works * 31:48 -- What sustainability means in the context of eSports * 34:01 -- Patrick’s learnings from building an eSports brand * 35:22 -- Trends in the eSports space * 36:58 -- Patrick’s favorite game * 37:42 -- Patrick Gobonya’s advice to younger self * 38:22 -- Open browser tabs * 39:20 -- What courage means to Patrick Please follow me on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/leaptakerspodcast/), Twitter (https://twitter.com/TheRemoKyburz), and my Website (http://www.leaptakers.com/), where I post new episodes and share resources & tips for anyone interested in entrepreneurship in Europe. Sign-up for the mailing list to stay in the loop (https://www.leaptakers.com/subscribe)! If you're enjoying the podcast, the best way to support the show is by leaving a review on Apple Podcast (https://podcasts.apple.com/ch/podcast/the-leap-takers-podcast/id1468975811?l=en) or in your favorite podcast app. Special Guest: Patrick Gobonya.

Arman Anatürk [@ArmanAnaturk (https://twitter.com/armananaturk)] is the founder and CEO of FoodHack (https://www.foodhack.global/). FoodHack is a community-driven platform that inspires, highlights and connects food entrepreneurs and innovators. With FoodHack Arman is is building the 21st century media / events company for the foodtech industry. The platform's offering includes a weekly food & food tech newsletter, ambassador run meet-ups, an annual FoodHack Summit, as well as a newly launched Food Discovery board (https://www.foodhack.global/discovery) (think of the “Product Hunt of Food”) where innovative food tech startups are featured. Arman’s goal with FoodHack is to make it easier for impact driven food founders to access the resources, network and knowledge they need to successfully launch and grow their Food (tech) business. The FoodHack newsletter has over 100+ editions sent and over 5k+ happy readers. Arman also hosts "The Secret Sauce (https://anchor.fm/foodhack)" Podcast, where he provides insights from food industry leaders. We discuss: * How Arman founded and grew a 21st century media company focused on food & technology * Cold outreach tips * Newest trends in the FoodTech space * Tools to run an emerging startup / platform * The origin story of FoodHack Show notes: * 02:33 -- Intro of Arman * 03:20 -- How Arman Anatürk got interested in startups and food tech * 07:04 -- Next steps after working for a coding school * 08:16 -- Cold outreach tips * 13:17 -- How Arman got his first client * 14:50 -- Description of FoodHack and its mission * 17:50 -- Sources of revenue for FoodHack / a 21st century media business * 20:13 -- The story of FoodHack and its different products * 23:51 -- Stats of FoodHack * 25:33 -- Arman’s favorite tools to run FoodHack / a media startup * 28:05 -- Tips to grow your newsletter * 30:31 -- Latest trends happening in the FoodTech space * 37:30 -- Book with the biggest impact for Arman * 37:54 -- Area in FoodTech that Arman is most excited about * 38:27 -- Lessons for other (aspiring) entrepreneurs * 40:44 -- What courage means for Arman Please follow me on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/leaptakerspodcast/), Twitter (https://twitter.com/TheRemoKyburz), and my Website (http://www.leaptakers.com/), where I post new episodes and share resources & tips for anyone interested in entrepreneurship in Europe. Sign-up for the mailing list to stay in the loop (https://www.leaptakers.com/subscribe)! If you're enjoying the podcast, the best way to support the show is by leaving a review on Apple Podcast (https://podcasts.apple.com/ch/podcast/the-leap-takers-podcast/id1468975811?l=en) or in your favorite podcast app. Special Guest: Arman Anatürk.

Job van der Voort (@Jobvo (https://twitter.com/Jobvo?s=20)) is the CEO and one of the founders of Remote.com (https://remote.com/). Remote makes it possible to employ anyone, anywhere in the world. Their mission is to simplify how companies employ the best talent globally and to help remote organizations do their best work. They offer services such as international payroll, benefits, taxes, and compliance for businesses big and small - so that they can hire anyone in the world - while outsourcing all the admin & legal work to Remote. Remote's vision is to become the "stripe for (remote) work". Remote is also among the fastest growing startups globally and is backed by some of the best venture capital investors in the world, such as Index Ventures (https://www.indexventures.com/), Sequoia (https://www.sequoiacap.com/), General Catalyst (https://www.generalcatalyst.com/), Two Sigma (https://twosigmaventures.com/), and many more very accomplished angel investors. Remote recently raised their Series A financing round (https://techcrunch.com/2020/11/10/remote-raises-35m-to-help-orgs-with-global-workforce-payroll-benefits-and-more/) of $35M. Before founding Remote, Job worked as neuroscientist, and he was one of the first engineers that joined GitLab (https://about.gitlab.com/). In his role as VP of product, Job was responsible for GitLab's product development and he helped grow the company from 5 to 450+ employees. Today GitLab is one of the largest distributed companies in the world. We discuss: * How Job entered the world of tech at GitLab * The advantages of remote work * Second order effects of remote work on the world * Best practices for working from home * The origin story of Remote.com * Tips for aspiring entrepreneurs and much more Show notes: * 00:50 -- Intro * 03:49 -- Personal intro from Job van der Voort * 06:59 -- How Job started as one of the first engineers at Gitlab * 07:37 -- Background to Gitlab - What is Gitlab? * 08:05 -- Job’s first touchpoints with working for a fully distributed / remote company * 10:07 -- Insights into Job’s role at Gitlab as VP of product * 11:37 -- Gitlab’s growth and scaling up * 12:40 -- Collaboration tools * 14:06 -- Advantages of remote work * 16:33 - The shift to remote-first from employers perspective * 17:56 -- Second order effects of shifting to remote work * 20:30 -- Best practices for remote work * 24:59 -- The origin story of Remote.com - How remote.com was started * 27:45 -- Introduction to what remote.com does * 30:35 -- Remote.com’s venture capital fundraise * 32:00 -- Customers of Remote.com * 33:23 -- Remote.com as stripe for remote work * 36:09 -- Job’s vision for remote.com in 5 years * 37:19 -- Job van der Voort’s advice for aspiring entrepreneurs and leaptakers * 40:39 -- Labor market and demand for remote roles * 42:36 -- Book that had biggest personal impact * 43:08 -- Job’s favorite remote collaboration tool * 44:42 -- Advice to younger self * 45:03 -- What courage means to Job Please follow me on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/leaptakerspodcast/), Twitter (https://twitter.com/TheRemoKyburz), and my Website (http://www.leaptakers.com/), where I post new episodes and share resources & tips for anyone interested in entrepreneurship in Europe. Sign-up for the mailing list to stay in the loop (https://www.leaptakers.com/subscribe)! If you're enjoying the podcast, the best way to support the show is by leaving a review on Apple Podcast (https://podcasts.apple.com/ch/podcast/the-leap-takers-podcast/id1468975811?l=en) or in your favorite podcast app. Special Guest: Job van der Voort.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Alina Bassi (@alinabassi1 (https://twitter.com/alinabassi1?lang=en)) is the founder and CEO of Kleiderly (https://www.kleiderly.com/). Originally from London, she founded Kleiderly in 2019 in Berlin with the goal of solving the problem of fashion industry waste. She has developed a patent-pending technology to recycle waste clothing into a new and sustainable material, diverting clothing waste away from landfills and incinerators. Her mission is to lower the carbon footprint of fashion and eliminate tons of CO2 emissions. Alina is a Google for Startups (https://startup.google.com/) Female Founder alumna and a member of the Forbes 30 under 30 class of 2020. In this episode you will learn about: * Kleiderly and how they are trying to solve the problem of fashion industry waste * The Berlin startup scene and accelerators * How to build up confidence as a founder * Supporting minority founders * And much more…! Show notes: * 01:45 -- Intro of Alina Bassi * 02:04 -- Alina’s background before she launched her own startup * 03:13 -- Gaining first startup experience at bio-bean * 04:28 -- How Alina found a startup to work for and gather relevant experience * 05:07 -- The origin story of Kleiderly * 08:04 -- Kleiderly’s value proposition * 09:48 -- The first steps of entrepreneurship. How do you start your own company * 13:19 -- Alina’s experience with Accelerator programs * 16:42 -- Current stage and facts about Kleiderly * 19:10 -- Lessons learnt from an early-stage startup * 23:27 -- Mistakes to avoid as a founder * 24:38 -- Tips and insights into the Berlin startup scene * 26:33 -- Initiatives that Alina is involved in to support minority founders * 30:17 -- Alina’s favorite book she would recommend to fellow startup founders * 30:50 -- Alina’s best personal investment * 31:25 -- Alina’s favorite SaaS tool to help her as a founder * 32:29 -- Advice to your younger self * 33:32 -- How to build up confidence as a founder * 34:45 -- What courage means to Alina Please follow me on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/leaptakerspodcast/), Twitter (https://twitter.com/TheRemoKyburz), and my Website (http://www.leaptakers.com/), where I post new episodes and share resources & tips for anyone interested in entrepreneurship in Europe. Sign-up for the mailing list to stay in the loop (https://www.leaptakers.com/subscribe)! If you're enjoying the podcast, the best way to support the show is by leaving a review on Apple Podcast (https://podcasts.apple.com/ch/podcast/the-leap-takers-podcast/id1468975811?l=en) or in your favorite podcast app. Special Guest: Alina Bassi.

Tobias Gunzenhauser (@TobGunzenhauser (https://twitter.com/TobGunzenhauser)) is the CEO and one of the three co-founders of yamo (https://www.yamo.bio/en-ch/). yamo is Europe's first digital native vertical brand that produces fresh organic baby and children food. The company launched in 2017 in Switzerland with their first product of baby purees. In the meantime, yamo is also sold in "Coop (https://www.coop.ch/en/)", one of Switzerland's largest retailers. All of yamo’s products are 100% organic, natural and free from additives. They developed every recipe together with dozens of helpful moms, dads, their little ones, nutritionists and pediatricians. In the summer of 2020, yamo raised a €10M Series A. You will hear the fascinating origin story of yamo, tips around production & manufacturing, how to find a good production partner, advice on online stores, and much more! Show notes: * 02:15 -- Introduction of Tobias * 02:43 -- The origin story of yamo. How the founders came up with the idea for a baby food company * 07:45 -- Starting a company on the side vs. quitting and going all in * 11:53 -- How yamo started producing their first product * 15:39 -- The benefits of a production partner vs. producing yourself * 16:55 -- How to find a good production partner * 19:42 -- How yamo solved the problem of high minimum orders combined with limited capital to manufacture their product * 20:57 -- yamo’s approach to distribution and setting up their online store * 24:41 -- The state of the eCommerce infrastructure & online store integrations in Switzerland * 26:15 -- Overview of yamo’s product offering and their newest innovative product * 30:36 -- Tobias’ key learnings from starting yamo * 33:09 -- How to test your D2C business idea * 35:01 -- Tobias’ favorite book * 35:37 -- Another favorite D2C product of Tobias * 36:01 -- Advice to your younger self * 36:58 -- What courage means to Tobias * 38:01 -- Info about yamo Please follow me on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/leaptakerspodcast/), Twitter (https://twitter.com/TheRemoKyburz), and my Website (http://www.leaptakers.com/), where I post new episodes and share resources & tips for anyone interested in entrepreneurship in Europe. Sign-up for the mailing list to stay in the loop (https://www.leaptakers.com/subscribe)! If you're enjoying the podcast, the best way to support the show is by leaving a review on Apple Podcast (https://podcasts.apple.com/ch/podcast/the-leap-takers-podcast/id1468975811?l=en) or in your favorite podcast app. Special Guest: Tobias Gunzenhauser.

Heidi Lindvall (@HeidiLindvall (https://twitter.com/HeidiLindvall)) is one of the founders and a general partner at Pale Blue Dot (https://www.paleblue.vc/). Pale Blue Dot is a seed stage ClimateTech VC investing in reducing and reversing the effects of climate change and preparing for a new world. They invest tickets of €200k - €2M, in pre-seed and seed-stage companies based in Europe and US. Heidi Lindvall previously co-founded Storygami, an online video company that increases viewers engagement & helped monetize content. She also founded CODOC, an award winning video production company. She has a background in Media and Human Rights and has studied for two degrees in the field in London. In this episode you hear how Heidi made her way from being a documentary filmmaker into the world of Venture Capital (VC). We also discuss her learnings from being an entrepreneur and what areas in ClimateTech she is most excited about to help save the planet. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did. Show notes: * 01:48 -- Introduction of Heidi Lindvall * 02:21 -- Description of Pale Blue Dot and the goal of the VC fund * 04:26 -- How Heidi got in touch with the world of startups & tech * 07:16 -- Documentary movies created by Heidi Lindvall * 07:54 -- How Storygami - a online video SaaS product - was born * 10:20 -- What is the right moment for a startup to start looking for investors * 11:33 -- From Storygami to joining accelerators, becoming an investor, and the origin story of Pale Blue Dot VC * 19:15 -- What is ClimateTech and in what areas does Pale Blue Dot invest in * 22:35 -- Investment target & fund characteristics of Pale Blue Dot * 23:50 -- Public investments of Pale Blue Dot VC * 24:41 -- The role of regulation in the ClimateTech sector * 26:27 -- Learnings from raising a VC fund in Europe * 29:35 -- Heidi’s advice and tips for (aspiring) entrepreneurs * 32:03 -- Book that had a big personal impact on Heidi’s life * 33:07 -- Resources for people interested in the climate & tech space * 34:17 -- Heidi’s most worthwhile investment * 35:24 -- Advice to your younger self * 36:10 -- What courage means to Heidi Please follow me on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/leaptakerspodcast/), Twitter (https://twitter.com/TheRemoKyburz), and my Website (http://www.leaptakers.com/), where I post new episodes and share resources & tips for anyone interested in entrepreneurship in Europe. Sign-up for the mailing list to stay in the loop (https://www.leaptakers.com/subscribe)! If you're enjoying the podcast, the best way to support the show is by leaving a review on Apple Podcast (https://podcasts.apple.com/ch/podcast/the-leap-takers-podcast/id1468975811?l=en) or in your favorite podcast app. Special Guest: Heidi Lindvall.

Anne-Laure Le Cunff (@anthilemoon (https://twitter.com/anthilemoon)) is the Founder of Ness Labs (https://nesslabs.com/), an award-winning productivity & learning community and venture studio building products that focus on mindful productivity, wellness, creativity, and culture. She is an ex-Googler, MSc of Applied Neuroscience candidate at King's College, member of the Society for Neuroscience, and certified Mental Health First Aider accredited by the Royal Society for Public Health. Her work has been featured in WIRED, Forbes, FT, Rolling Stone, and more. Every week, she sends a newsletter to thousands of mindful makers with practical content at the intersection of neuroscience and entrepreneurship. She is half-French, half-Algerian. Anne-Laure was born in Paris, sold French wine in New York, studied in Tokyo, worked at Google in San Francisco, and started her company Ness Labs in London. In this episode you will hear the origin story of Ness Labs, we discuss fascinating topics such as the concept of time anxiety, and you hear Anne-Laure’s advice for anyone that wants to start & grow a content community. I found this episode incredibly interesting and I hope you enjoy it as well. Show notes: * 01:54 -- Intro of Anne-Laure Le Cunff * 02:42 -- Anne-Laure’s personal background and travels * 04:49: -- How Anne-Laure became interested in the human mind and neuroscience * 07:12 -- Ness Labs: What is it and who is it for * 11:18 -- The origin story of Ness Labs. How Anne-Laure Le Cunff built a learning platform for mindful productivity * 14:34 -- Lessons learned from a previous startup failure * 18:41 -- Tips on growing your audience and community * 20:43 -- Working with the garage door open * 22:03 -- Positive highlight of Ness Lab’s journey so far * 23:28 -- Ness Labs as a remote-first company * 26:13 -- Time Anxiety. What is it and how do we best counteract it? * 31:22 -- Top recommended articles on Ness Labs * 32:12 -- Key learnings from starting an online learning community * 34:19 -- Ness Lab’s newest product * 35:37 -- Anne-Laure Le Cunff’s favorite book * 35:55 -- Anne-Laure's best personal investment * 37:08 -- Anne-Laure’s advice to her younger self * 38:17 -- What courage means to Anne-Laure Please follow me on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/leaptakerspodcast/), Twitter (https://twitter.com/TheRemoKyburz), and my Website (http://www.leaptakers.com/), where I post new episodes, share interesting articles I found, and blog occasionally about cool startups! Sign-up for the mailing list to stay in the loop (https://www.leaptakers.com/subscribe)! If you're enjoying the podcast, the best way to support the show is by leaving a review on Apple Podcast (https://podcasts.apple.com/ch/podcast/the-leap-takers-podcast/id1468975811?l=en) or in your favorite podcast app. Special Guest: Anne-Laure Le Cunff.

Gonzalo (@gonsanchezs (https://twitter.com/gonsanchezs?lang=en)) runs and writes Seedtable (https://www.seedtable.com/), one of the leading newsletters focused on European tech. Seedtable is read by tens of thousands every week, and his work has been featured in Wired (https://www.wired.com/) and Sifted (https://sifted.eu/). Gonzalo's writing always provides unique perspectives of developments in technology in Europe and its impact on society. Seedtable is one of my all-time favorite newsletters and I'm super excited that Gonzalo decided to come on the LeapTakers Podcast. In addition to Seedtable, Gonzalo is Head of Growth at Jobbatical (https://jobbatical.com/), an Estonian Relocation Service for Tech companies, and he is mentoring startups. His previous experience includes having founded two startups, being a Content Specialist at Piktochart (https://piktochart.com/), growing EVELO (https://www.evelo.com/) from $1.2m to $4m as Director of Marketing, and helping to bring The Martec (https://www.themartec.com/) from 2,000 to 50,000 monthly visitors. Gonz likes to read and to fly. He speaks 4 languages and lifts heavy things, plus he seems to be into the occasional burger or ramen. In today’s episode we talk about practical tips for remote work and working from home, how Gonzalo started Seedtable, what makes a successful newsletter & advice on how to grow your own content, the impact of Covid-19 on various startup sectors, and more. Please follow me on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/leaptakerspodcast/), Twitter (https://twitter.com/TheRemoKyburz), and my Website (http://www.leaptakers.com/), where I post new episodes, share interesting articles I found, and blog occasionally about cool startups! Sign-up for the mailing list to stay in the loop (https://www.leaptakers.com/subscribe)! Show notes: * 01:53: Who is Gonzalo & introduction * 04:52: Is a certain personality type required to be able to work remotely? * 06:25: Tips & tricks for remote work * 10:08: Gonzalo's favorite city to work from remotely * 12:22: How did Gonzalo become interested in technology and entrepreneurship? * 15:40: How does website flipping work * 16:53: Learnings from his experience as a founder & failed startups * 19:11: How to pick and find your co-founder * 22:21: The beginnings of Seedtable * 24:09: How Seedtable got traction * 27:18: Tips to produce good content and to grow your audience * 30:19: How to separate a job and a side project * 33:30: Key facts about Seedtable * 36:32: Gonzalo's predictions for 2020 and the impact of COVID-19 * 39:18: Discussion of startup sectors that are positively or negatively affected by COVID-19 * 44:20: Gonzalo's understanding of courage * 45:14: Wrap-up Remo's Favorite Quote of the Month: “Discipline equals freedom” - Jocko Willink If you're enjoying the podcast, the best way to support the show is by leaving a review on Apple Podcast (https://podcasts.apple.com/ch/podcast/the-leap-takers-podcast/id1468975811?l=en) or in your favorite podcast app. Special Guest: Gonzalo Sanchez.

Christian (@chrjantzen (https://twitter.com/chrjantzen)) is the founder of Futuristic.vc (http://futuristic.vc/), a micro-fund investing in Nordic pre-seed companies. He made his first investment at age fourteen when he bought shares in his favorite football club. He later started his first company, a real estate company, in 2011, which he grew while studying at university. Following his masters degree in Finance from Aarhus University , he co-founded another startup “Reunited Esports", which was a player-owned Esports organisation with teams competing in Overwatch (https://playoverwatch.com/) and Rocket League (https://www.rocketleague.com/). In 2017 he founded Futuristic VC, an early-stage VC fund investing initial capital into the next generation of Nordic founders. He has invested in +20 companies across the entire region and helped founders secure follow-on funding from some of the strongest investors in Europe. If you’re interested in starting your own company while studying / after graduating, or if you’re interested in the world of Micro VC’s, I’m sure you will find this episode very interesting and valuable. We talk about Christian’s path to starting Futuristic VC, his experience from starting an eSports company, fundraising advice, his best investment, and more! Please follow me on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/leaptakerspodcast/), Twitter (https://twitter.com/TheRemoKyburz), and my Website (http://www.leaptakers.com/), where I post new episodes, share interesting articles I found, and blog occasionally about cool startups! Sign-up for the mailing list to stay in the loop (https://www.leaptakers.com/subscribe)! Quote: “He who jumps into the void owes no explanation to those who stand and watch.” - Jean-Luc Godard Show notes: * 02:43: Who is Christian & Intro * 03:46: How Christian became fascinated with company and startup investing * 06:40: Christians favorite football club * 07:18: How Christian got into startups * 10:01: Christians first experience as a founder * 12:20: Christians startup company “REUNITED e-sports” * 15:23: Christians approach to find an e-sports team and collaborate with them * 16:42: Business model of an e-sports company * 17:56: Christians decision to start a VC fund and the origin story of Futuristic * 21:13: Fundraising and LP base of Futuristic VC * 24:46: Overview of Futuristic VC * 28:05: How Futuristic VC built up its deal flow and identifies startups to invest in * 32:44: Learnings for startup investors * 34:59: Learnings for startup founders * 37:34: Best Investment of Christian Jantzen * 38:52: What does courage mean to Christian * 39:58: Wrap-up If you're enjoying the podcast, the best way to support the show is by leaving a review on Apple Podcast (https://podcasts.apple.com/ch/podcast/the-leap-takers-podcast/id1468975811?l=en) or in your favorite podcast app. Special Guest: Christian Jantzen.

Mathias (@ockenrock (https://twitter.com/ockenrock)) eats and breathes marketplaces. He is a partner at Speedinvest (https://speedinvest.com/), one of Europe’s leading Venture Capital funds. The fund has it’s headquarters in Vienna, Austria and just recently raised its latest fund of €190m. Mathias runs Speedinvest x, a focus fund investing into network effects and marketplaces. Previously he was a General Manager for the German market at Uniplaces (https://www.uniplaces.com/), an international marketplace for student accommodation. Before that, Mathias built out the marketplace-practice at Berlin-based Point Nine Capital (http://www.pointninecap.com/), an early stage fund focusing on SaaS and marketplaces, where he was a Principal for 4 years. Previously, Mathias led the M&A-department of Ricardo Group (https://www.ricardo.ch/), then a subsidiary of South African Naspers, that operates several online marketplace, classifieds and auction businesses across Europe. Earlier, he started his career as an Investment Manager at Mountain Partners (https://mountain.partners/) in Zurich where he lead early stage investments in companies such as Lieferando (https://www.lieferando.de/) or reBuy (https://www.rebuy.de/). Mathias holds a German-French double-diploma from European School of Business Reutlingen and Neoma Business School Reims. Knowing Germany’s capital city like the back of his hand, Mathias now leads Speedinvest's Berlin office as a Partner at Speedinvest x. Please follow me on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/leaptakerspodcast/), Twitter (https://twitter.com/TheRemoKyburz), and my Website (http://www.leaptakers.com/), where I post new episodes, share interesting articles I found, and blog occasionally about cool startups! Sign-up for the mailing list to stay in the loop (https://www.leaptakers.com/subscribe)! Show notes: * 03:08 -- Who is Mathias Ockenfels * 04:40 -- How Mathias got interested in the Venture Capital industry and how he landed his first job in VC * 08:44 -- Tips for getting a job in Venture Capital * 13:56 -- What are the most important skills and abilities to work in VC * 16:30 -- Mathias’ path from Analyst to Partner at a VC firm * 22:27 -- Intro to Speedinvest and what kind of companies Mathias is interested in and is investing in * 25:51 -- Key investment criteria to get an investment from Mathias / Speedinvest * 28:48 -- Books and Resources for (aspiring) entrepreneurs and VCs * 31:55 -- Mathias’ best financial and personal investment * 33:28 -- Advice to younger self / someone starting out their career * 35:23 -- Mathias’ favorite books and movies * 37:23 -- What does courage mean to Mathias If you're enjoying the podcast, the best way to support the show is by leaving a review on Apple Podcast (https://podcasts.apple.com/ch/podcast/the-leap-takers-podcast/id1468975811?l=en) or in your favorite podcast app. Special Guest: Mathias Ockenfels.

Vedika Jain (@vedikaja_in (https://twitter.com/vedikaja_in)) is an investor and Chief of staff at Weekend Fund (https://weekend.fund/), an early stage venture capital fund that is backing your next favorite thing. Previously she worked for high profile startups like Stripe (https://stripe.com/) and True Layer (https://truelayer.com/). Weekend Fund was started in 2017 by Ryan Hoover (https://ryanhoover.me/), the founder of Product Hunt (https://www.producthunt.com/) (an amazing site to discover new products. Product Hunt was acquired in 2016 by AngelList (https://angel.co)). While Ryan and Vedika invest broadly, they are particularly excited about distributed/remote working, audio/voice technology, and tools for creators/makers. The fund invests in early stage startups with check sizes ranging from $75K to $200K. Limited partners of the fund include high profile venture capitalists Marc Andreessen, Chris Dixon, Ben Rubin, Chris Sacca, Hunter Walk, Kevin Rose, Garry Tan, and others. Vedika has a really interesting background story and approach how she made her way into "the wonderful world of venture capital". In this episode you will hear about her tactics how she got into VC and general career advice for picking the right companies & startups to work for. In addition, you will learn more about Weekend Fund, Vedika’s favorite books & blogs, and much more! Please follow me on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/leaptakerspodcast/), Twitter (https://twitter.com/TheRemoKyburz), and my Website (http://www.leaptakers.com/), where I post new episodes, share interesting articles I found, and blog occasionally about cool startups! Sign-up for the mailing list to stay in the loop (https://www.leaptakers.com/subscribe)! Show notes: * 03:48 -- Who is Vedika & Intro * 04:55 -- How Vedika became fascinated with technology and startup investing * 07:08 -- How Vedika joined two fast growing tech startups - Stripe and True Layer * 09:45 -- Vedika’s lessons learnt for picking your first jobs / companies * 13:00 -- Writing personal investment memos and how to "hustle" your way into Venture Capital * 18:05 -- Vedika’s investment areas and future trends * 20:57 -- How Vedika met Ryan Hoover and joined Weekend Fund * 22:35 -- Starting your own fund vs. joining an existing VC * 25:16 -- Introduction to Weekend Fund * 28:16 -- Favorite books and resources for aspiring VCs * 30:41 -- Vedika’s favorite non-entrepreneurship related books * 32:07 -- Most worthwhile investment of Vedika If you're enjoying the podcast, the best way to support the show is by leaving a review on Apple Podcast (https://podcasts.apple.com/ch/podcast/the-leap-takers-podcast/id1468975811?l=en) or in your favorite podcast app. Special Guest: Vedika Jain.

Sebastian Wahl and Carl-Philipp von Polheim are the founders of mybacs (https://mybacs.com/). Mybacs is a direct-to-consumer (D2C), research driven, biotechnology company for gut-health products based in Zug (Switzerland) and Munich (Germany). Their goal is to revolutionize the healthcare market around the human microbiome and thus make a decisive contribution to the health and daily well-being of everyday customers. Mybacs is specialized on the development of innovative and high-dose synbiotic dietary supplements They have two types of products - a Travel and Daily well-being probiotic product. Sebastian holds a Master's degree with distinction in Pharmacy from ETH Zurich (https://ethz.ch/en/studies/prospective-masters-degree-students/masters-degree-programmes/masters-degree-programmes-natural-sciences-and-mathematics/master-pharmaceutical-sciences.html). Carl-Philipp studied business administration and holds a Master of Science in Management from ESCP Europe (https://www.escpeurope.eu/). In this episode we talk about the origin story of mybacs, how to start manufacturing a physical product, the emerging direct-to-consumer industry, tools and resources to start your own D2C company, VC fundraising tips, the benefits of probiotics, their key learnings for other aspiring founders, and more. Please follow me on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/leaptakerspodcast/), Twitter (https://twitter.com/TheRemoKyburz), and my Website (http://www.leaptakers.com/), where I post new episodes, share cool stuff & interesting articles I found, and blog occasionally! Sign-up for the mailing list to stay in the loop (https://www.leaptakers.com/subscribe)! Show notes: 02:54 -- Introduction of Sebastian, Carl-Philipp, and mybacs 04:02 -- Exploring the origin story of mybacs 06:12 -- Previous work experience before founding mybacs 07:23 -- Thoughts and considerations before taking the leap 08:53 -- Awareness of probiotics and the effect of the human microbiome on well-being in Europe vs. US 10:08 -- Geographies that mybacs operates in 10:22 -- How to manufacture a physical product as a startup 11:53 -- Tips for planning your supply chain 12:34 -- Timing from idea to shipping the first product 13:15 -- Thoughts about assembling the right team in the D2C space 14:40 -- How to incentivize experienced people & experts to join your startup? 15:17 -- Raising outside capital and thoughts about raising money from VCs 16:56 -- How to find a great Venture Capital investor 18:37 -- The advantages of the D2C market and business model 21:45 -- How to ship a product? 23:24 -- Helpful resources, tools, and books to start your own company 24:36 -- The future vision of mybacs 27:28 -- Understanding the mybacs travelers product 27:51 -- Favorite knowledge resources 29:32 -- Hobbies to take your mind off the startup life 30:12 -- Key learnings from starting a company. What would you do differently? 31:07 -- Career advice for ambitious future “leap takers” 32:16 -- What does courage mean to you? If you're enjoying the podcast, the best way to support the show is by leaving a review on Apple Podcast (https://podcasts.apple.com/ch/podcast/the-leap-takers-podcast/id1468975811?l=en) or in your favorite podcast app. Special Guests: Carl-Philipp von Polheim and Sebastian Wahl.

Holger Seim (@hlgrsm (https://twitter.com/hlgrsm?s=20)) is the founder and CEO of Blinkist (https://www.blinkist.com/). Blinkist is a book summary app that lets you get the key insights from 3'000+ bestselling non-fiction books that cover leadership, history, psychology and more in 15 minute summaries in text or audio format. Blinkist has over 11million users globally and the book-summarising startup has won positive reviews from the likes of Forbes (“This may be the greatest app you download in 2018”) and The New York Times. In this episode we talk about how Holger and his co-founders came up with the idea for Blinkist, how they took the leap and started the company, his advice for aspiring entrepreneurs on how to find your perfect co-founder / first employees, the most important marketing channels for startups, as well as the importance of designing a unique corporate culture (such as the one of Blinkist), and much more.. Please follow me on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/leaptakerspodcast/), Twitter (https://twitter.com/TheRemoKyburz), and my Website (http://www.leaptakers.com/), where I post new episodes, share cool stuff & interesting articles I found, and blog occasionally! Sign-up for the mailing list to stay in the loop (https://www.leaptakers.com/subscribe)! Show notes: 03:13 -- Who is Holger 04:40 -- Startup idea generation and how the concept of Blinkist was born 09:01 -- How Holger and his co-founders took the leap and started Blinkist 09:50 -- Pursuing a startup idea full time vs. side hustle 10:59 -- Initial financing choices at Blinkist 12:36 -- Characteristics of a great startup founding team 18:12 -- How to find your perfect co-founder outside of your personal network (e.g. technical co-founder) 20:30 -- Blinkist’s company culture and why Holger places immense value on culture 24:42 -- The Blinkist operating system 27:07 -- Tips on maintaining a corporate culture while you grow as a startup 29:16 -- How Blinkist grew to the first 1000 clients and discussion of marketing strategies 32:46 -- Alternative marketing channels leveraged by Blinkist 34:41 -- Holger’s book recommendations for new startup founders 37:31 -- General book recommendations of the Blinkist founder 39:14 -- Holger’s best investment 40:42 -- Hobbies and habits to decompress from the startup life 41:40 -- Favorite travel location 43:09 -- Advice for university graduates about to start their career 46:23 -- What does courage mean to Holger Resources mentioned: * Blinkist (https://www.blinkist.com/en) * Wunderlist (https://www.wunderlist.com/) * Holacracy (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holacracy) * Outbrain (https://www.outbrain.com/) * Revcontent (https://www.revcontent.com/) * Facebook Advertising (https://www.facebook.com/business/ads) * Taboola (https://www.taboola.com) * The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers - Ben Horowitz (https://amzn.to/2KwRSW2) * The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever - Michael Bungay Stanier (https://amzn.to/2CPBDPo) * Trillion Dollar Coach: The Leadership Playbook of Silicon Valley's Bill Campbell - Eric Schmidt (https://amzn.to/2qZXQro) * Who - The A-Method of Hiring - Geoff Smart (https://amzn.to/35di9Ai) * Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind - Yuval Noah Harari (https://amzn.to/2XoEaJJ) * Ready Player One: A Novel - Ernest Cline (https://amzn.to/2NUAYTd) * Dune - Frank Herbert (https://amzn.to/2OmPEtf) If you're enjoying the podcast, the best way to support the show is by leaving a review on Apple Podcast (https://podcasts.apple.com/ch/podcast/the-leap-takers-podcast/id1468975811?l=en) or in your favorite podcast app. Special Guest: Holger Seim.

Alisée (@aliseedt (https://twitter.com/aliseedt?lang=en)) is one of the founders of Seedstars, a global group of companies with a mission to impact people's lives in emerging markets through technology and entrepreneurship. The groups' activities cover over 85 cities with emerging startup ecosystems through a variety of activities, such as hosting one of the world’s largest startup competition “Seedstars World”, organizing training and acceleration programs, offering physical hubs called Seedspace, and doing venture capital investments & company building activities. Alisée is a board member of the School of Management of Fribourg and a member of the Swiss National Innovation Council. She was nominated Social Entrepreneur Forbes 30 under 30, Innovation Fellow of Wired UK, 50: Europe’s most influential women in the startup and venture capital space and the 29 Powerful Women by Refinery29. Born in France, she has spent most of her life abroad, from growing up in Singapore, California, and France to studying and working in Italy and Switzerland and finally accomplishing humanitarian missions in Brazil and Cambodia. As of today, she has traveled in 50+ countries. Please follow me on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/leaptakerspodcast/), Twitter (https://twitter.com/TheRemoKyburz), and my Website (http://www.leaptakers.com/), where I post new episodes, share cool stuff & interesting articles I found, and blog occasionally! Sign-up for the mailing list to stay in the loop (https://www.leaptakers.com/subscribe)! Show notes: 02:15 -- Introduction "Who is Alisée" 03:50 -- How and why Alisée joined Seedstars / helped to start the company 06:42 -- The early days of Seedstars - Traveling the world and setting up Startup competitions globally 07:40 -- How Alisée approached the decision to take the leap and quit her job at L’oreal to start Seedstars 09:41 -- How to make a decision between corporate job or startup life 13:46 -- How to overcome the chicken & egg problem in entrepreneurship 15:55 -- Alisée’s favorite moments along Seedstars journey and within her time as an entrepreneur 18:01 -- Seedstars today: How the business look like. Raising Series A VC funds for specific regions - e.g. Africa 20:19 -- How startups can become part of Seedstars and general advice for fellow entrepreneurs 23:47 -- Favorite books 25:48 -- Advice to younger self 26:07 -- Routine / Hobby of Alisée to get her mind off work 27:01 -- What does courage mean to Alisée Resources mentioned: * Principles: Life and Work - Ray Dalio (https://amzn.to/2B4amI8) * The Human Network: How Your Social Position Determines Your Power, Beliefs, and Behaviors - Matthew O. Jackson (https://amzn.to/2IFmcg7) * Seedstars (https://www.seedstars.com/) * Seedstars World - Startup Competition (https://www.seedstarsworld.com/) * Advice to younger self: "Just chill" * Tip for aspiring entrepreneurs: - "Surround yourself with people that support you and give you honest advice & feedback (informal mentors)" - "Figure out what life you don’t want and be sure what specific value-add you can bring." If you're enjoying the podcast, the best way to support the show is by leaving a review on Apple Podcast (https://podcasts.apple.com/ch/podcast/the-leap-takers-podcast/id1468975811?l=en) or in your favorite podcast app. Special Guest: Alisée de Tonnac.

Andri Silberschmidt (@andrisilbi (https://twitter.com/andrisilbi_)) is a 25 years old rising star here in Switzerland. He is a food entrepreneur, equity investor, and politician. At the age of fifteen, he began his banking education and is now responsible at Swisscanto Invest for the management of all quantitative equity funds investing in developing countries. In the summer of 2017, Andri and some of his friends founded kaisin. , a Poké Bowl restaurant and catering chain. He has been politically active since 2011 and became president of the "Jungfreisinnige Partei" of Switzerland in 2016. Recently he was elected to the Parliament of the City of Zurich for the FDP and is now on the list of the FDP Canton of Zurich for the National Council elections in October 2019. Please follow me on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/remokyburz/), Twitter (https://twitter.com/TheRemoKyburz), and my Website (http://www.leaptakers.com/), where I post new episodes, share cool stuff & interesting articles I found, and blog occasionally! Show notes: 02:14 -- Who is Andri Silberschmidt 03:14 -- How Andri started his career and got into entrepreneurship by starting a Poké Bowl restaurant 05:40 -- Opening a restaurant business without outside capital 06:53 -- How Andri started kaisin. & pitched his idea 10:10 -- Andri’s note taking app 10:34 -- Recommended resources & books for starting a business 11:44 -- Expansion plans of kaisin. 13:26 -- How kaisin. launched and promoted their store with little resources 16:04 -- How Andri balances his time and energy between all the different commitments. Why sleep is so important. 20:12 -- Andri’s involvement with “TeamStartup” to foster entrepreneurship in Switzerland 23:23 -- Challenges of entrepreneurship in Switzerland 28:02 -- Andri’s learnings from his startup experience 31:54 -- Book recommendations 35:11 -- Andri’s best investment 37:29 -- Andri’s “hobby” 39:03 -- Andri’s personal advisory board 41:37 -- Andri’s message to the world - "Respect, Create, Enjoy" 44:24 -- What does courage mean to Andri? Resources mentioned: * Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity - David Allen (https://amzn.to/2nVZWYa) * Andri’s high productivity habits: 1. Getting enough sleep (7.5h), 2. No alcohol during the week, 3. Working out regularly * Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams - Walker PhD, Matthew (https://amzn.to/2oGzrWv) * Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life - Nassim Nicholas Taleb (https://amzn.to/2pnTGZr) * TeamStartup (https://www.team-start-up.ch/) * Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead - Sheryl Sandberg (https://amzn.to/2nYSD1I) * The Constitution of Liberty - F. A. Hayek (https://amzn.to/2nV0nlv) * Kaisin. (https://www.kaisin.ch/) * FDP (https://www.fdp.ch/willkommen/) * Grünliberale (https://grunliberale.ch/) If you're enjoying the podcast, the best way to support the show is by leaving a review on Apple Podcast (https://podcasts.apple.com/ch/podcast/the-leap-takers-podcast/id1468975811?l=en) or in your favorite podcast app. Special Guest: Andri Silberschmidt.

Andreas Schwarzinger (@a_schwarzinger (https://twitter.com/a_schwarzinger)) is the founder and managing partner of uniboard (https://www.uniboard.ch/startseite/) AG, one of Switzerland’s largest student platforms with over 72k users. Andreas is one of the most down-to-earth people I know and with his work at Uniboard helped thousands of students to successfully pass their degrees. His motto is "Studying together is better"! In our conversation we talk about how Andreas and his co-founder Malte grew uniboard to its current size, community building, winning customers, favorite movies, smelling car waxes and other fun stuff. Please follow me on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/remokyburz/), Twitter (https://twitter.com/TheRemoKyburz), and my Website (http://www.leaptakers.com/), where I post new episodes, share cool stuff & interesting articles I found, and blog occasionally! Show notes: 02:59 -- Who is Andreas 04:13 -- How the uniboard.ch got started 06:53 -- How Andreas made the decision to run uniboard full-time 09:06 -- Growth of Uniboard in Switzerland 10:38 -- Startup vs. Traditional career in Management consulting 15:22 -- Lessons from community building and marketing 19:05 -- Thoughts about monetization of a platform 22:25 -- Challenges and learnings from switching from a student organization to a startup 24:23 -- General challenges of the startup world and how to overcome them (focus on product & focus on sales) 29:08 -- Tips for Selling, building trust, and winning customers 34:04 -- Future goals of Uniboard 35:58 -- Andreas’ favorite book or story 38:20 -- Unique interesting hobbies of Andreas 40:44 -- Personal advisory board 43:45 -- Advice to younger self / listeners in their early 20s/30s 46:35 -- Unjustified fears of entrepreneurship 48:05 -- What does courage mean for Andreas Resources mentioned: * Uniboard.ch (https://www.uniboard.ch) * Avengers Endgame (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4154796/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1) * Waxfinder.com * Top Gun (Viper) (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092099/?ref_=tt_ch) * Will Smith (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Smith) * Kevin Feige (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Feige) If you're enjoying the podcast, the best way to support the show is by leaving a review on iTunes (https://podcasts.apple.com/ch/podcast/the-leap-takers-podcast/id1468975811?l=en) or in your favorite podcast app. Special Guest: Andreas Schwarzinger.

Stefano Bernardi (@stefanobernardi (https://twitter.com/stefanobernardi)) is an active italian angel investor on AngelList (https://angel.co/) and at “Mission and Market (https://m14t.com/)”, a silicon valley startup founder of a Y Combinator alumni (Kickpay (https://kickpay.com/)), and employee nr. 1 of Betable (https://corp.betable.com/) (backed by Greylock, Founders Fund). More recently he is also a part of Atomico (https://www.atomico.com/)'s angel programme, where he focuses exclusively on investing in "planet+" companies, with teams that are trying to save the planet from the imminent climate crisis. Furthermore, he is strongly involved in the crypto community as the executive director of AragonProject (https://aragon.org/), as well as an author for the popular token economy (http://weekly.tokeneconomy.co/) newsletter. Stefano Bernardi was born in 1986, and after spending a few years in San Francisco, now resides with his wife and son in a small town in the italian alps. Please follow me on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/remokyburz/), Twitter (https://twitter.com/TheRemoKyburz), and my Website (http://www.leaptakers.com/), where I post new episodes, share cool stuff & interesting articles I found, and blog occasionally! Show notes: 02:52 -- Who is Stefano 03:55 -- Moving from Italy to San Francisco and entering the silicon valley startup ecosystem 07:16 -- Advice on how to get a job in a silicon valley startup 09:16 -- How Stefano met the Collison brothers - founders of $22.5bn fintech startup Stripe 11:10 -- What it’s like to work in a tech startup in San Francisco 13:50 -- Stefano’s move to start his own company 14:55 -- Tips for fundraising from VCs and angels & entering Y Combinator 17:00 -- Advice for applying to Y Combinator’s accelerator program 20:03 -- Why Stefano left San Francisco and returned to Europe 21:28 -- Aragon - description of the project and how it can help other startups 26:46 -- Favorite knowledge resources of Stefano 29:55 -- Most worthwhile investments 30:40 -- Advice to younger self 31:35 -- Unusual hobbies 32:45 -- What does courage mean to Stefano Resources mentioned: * Sam Altman (http://blog.samaltman.com/) * Y Combinator (https://www.ycombinator.com/) * Aragon (https://aragon.org/) * Collison brothers (Patrick (https://patrickcollison.com/) & John (http://www.johncollison.ie/)) * Stripe (https://stripe.com) * Kickpay (https://kickpay.com/) * Mission and Market (https://m14t.com/) * Atomico (https://www.atomico.com) * Token Economy (http://weekly.tokeneconomy.co/) * Elixir (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1608193373/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=leaptakers-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1608193373&linkId=d73ab4338aeaa183f73b6e8c98211aec) If you're enjoying the podcast, the best way to support the show is by leaving a review on iTunes (https://podcasts.apple.com/ch/podcast/the-leap-takers-podcast/id1468975811?l=en) or in your favorite podcast app. Special Guest: Stefano Bernardi.

Nilson Kufus (@NilsonKufus) is one of the co-founders of Nomoko, a technology company that is building photorealistic 3D models of entire cities. Their technology enables applications for various industries like self-driving cars, gaming, or urban planning. Nilson obtained a degree in Liberal Arts & Sciences from the University College Maastricht and is also a former Swiss figure skating champion. Please follow me on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/remokyburz/), Twitter (https://twitter.com/TheRemoKyburz), and my Website (http://www.leaptakers.com/), where I post new episodes, share cool stuff & interesting articles I found, blog occasionally, and provide glimpses into my life! Show notes: 02:24 -- Who is Nilson Kufus 05:23 -- How Nilson got into starting his own venture 09:49 -- How moving out and living abroad helps you develop critical skills for entrepreneurship 11:22 -- What is Nomoko and how they want to enable the 4th industrial revolution 14:33 -- Idea finding and first steps as a company 18:40 -- Financing of Nomoko 19:44 -- How Nilson dealt with manufacturing hardware needed to enable their core data product 25:17 -- Manufacturing in-house vs. outsourcing 26:42 -- Most exciting use cases of the Nomoko mirror world 28:37 -- Current status of development - which cities already have a digital twin 33:00 -- Key takeaways from 4 years of entrepreneurship 38:48 -- Nilson’s favorite knowledge resources 41:25 -- Nilson’s advice to his younger-self 41:00 -- What does courage mean to Nilson Resources mentioned: * University of Maastricht (https://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/) * Nomoko (http://nomoko.world/) * A16z podcast (https://a16z.com/podcasts/) * Nomoko podcast (http://podcast.nomoko.world/) * LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com) If you're enjoying the podcast, the best way to support the show is by leaving a review on iTunes (https://podcasts.apple.com/ch/podcast/the-leap-takers-podcast/id1468975811?l=en) or your favorite podcast app. Special Guest: Nilson Kufus.

David Lu (@davidjlu (https://twitter.com/davidjlu_)) is an up & coming venture capitalist based in Sydney and Singapore, who is constantly traveling the world on the hunt for great investments. He is a Partner @256 Ventures, a global cryptocurrency VC fund, investing in a portfolio of diversified digital assets. Previously, David founded Australia’s first student VC called, Textbook ventures. He also regularly writes academic papers around the topics of entrepreneurial ecosystems, startup roadmaps and early-stage fundraising. Forbes wrote an article about David with the title “Why Being A Young Investment Partner Isn't Always A Good Thing”. Please follow me on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/remokyburz/), Twitter (https://twitter.com/TheRemoKyburz), and my Website (http://www.leaptakers.com/), where I post new episodes, share cool stuff & interesting articles I found, blog occasionally, and provide glimpses into my life! Show notes: 02:50 -- How David got into Venture Capital 07:32 -- Resources for getting started with learning about Venture Capital & deciding what knowledge is relevant for your portfolio companies 11:45 -- David’s story of how he got started with Australia’s first student VC fund - Textbook Ventures. + How one of his successful investments led him to crypto. 16:20 -- David’s learnings from starting a Venture business (“Think in default scenarios”) 19:25 -- How do you react to things not going well when you grow your business + How creativity and thinking about the purpose of their fund helped Textbook Ventures to pivot 25:40 -- Riskiness of startup investing and how seed & pre-seed investing is the best way to build a relationship with promising founders 28:40 -- How VC is all about the people and how you make them feel 30:10 -- David’s investment criteria 33:14 -- David’s best investment to date 35:02 -- Unusual hobbies of David 36:43 -- Favorite books 38:05 -- Personal advisory board 40:18 -- Advice to younger self & anyone Resources mentioned: * Venture Deals - Brad Feld (https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/1119259754/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=remokyburz-21&creative=6742&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1119259754&linkId=f156d3fae5625913988a1a50c4370f77) * Harry Stebbings - The Twenty Minute VC (http://www.thetwentyminutevc.com/) * Fred Wilson Blog - USV (https://avc.com/) * Elad Gil Blog (http://blog.eladgil.com/) * The Lean Startup - Eric Ries (https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/1524762407/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=remokyburz-21&creative=6742&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1524762407&linkId=f3f66389207f24a5fbb5a4de00cd74dc) * Finite and Infinite Games - James Carse (https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/1476731713/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=remokyburz-21&creative=6742&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1476731713&linkId=a0bd8306716a2057091da59af48516cc) * 256 Ventures (https://www.256.ventures/) * Textbook Ventures (https://textbook.ventures/) * Virgil Capital (https://www.virgilcap.com/) If you're enjoying the podcast, the best way to support the show is by leaving a review on iTunes (https://podcasts.apple.com/ch/podcast/the-leap-takers-podcast/id1468975811?l=en) or your favorite podcast app. Special Guest: David Lu.

Estefanía Tapias (@este_tapias) is a researcher on the topic of the future of cities and entrepreneur that was listed on Forbes reputable 30 under 30 list. She is from Colombia but has been living in Switzerland for the past few years, where she co-founded WeSpace. WeSpace is a community, co-workspace and digital platform inspired by women in Zurich, where she invited me to to record this interview. She obtained her Ph.D. at ETH Zurich and worked as a researcher and lecturer on the topic of smart Cities in Zurich and Singapore (Future Cities Laboratory). We’ll talk about how Estefania took the leap from her academic career to found a co-working space, the mindset to to start your own venture, how she got featured in the Forbes 30 under 30, tools for website design, and much more. Please follow me on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/remokyburz/), Twitter (https://twitter.com/TheRemoKyburz), and my Website (http://www.leaptakers.com/), where I post new episodes, share cool stuff & interesting articles I found, blog occasionally, and provide glimpses into my life! Show notes: 03:21 -- How Estefania became fascinated with the topic of smart cities 04:32 -- Cooling Singapore project 05:22 -- The state of research in the field of climate change & cities 08:10 -- Advice on picking the right area of business or research to pursue 09:33 -- How Estefania decided what opportunity to pursue after finishing her PhD 11:50 -- How WeSpace got started and the purpose behind it. The future of targeted co-working spaces (like WeSpace which is a community and workspace inspired by women) 16:14 -- How to launch a capital-intensive business like a co-working space 17:53 -- Promoting your business initially 19:38 -- Initiatives that foster entrepreneurship among women & advantages of mixed founding teams 21:20 -- The mindset to make the jump to starting your own venture 23:40 -- The target group of WeSpace 24:25 -- Estefania’s favorite knowledge resources 26:13 -- Favorite books 27:56 -- How Estefania got featured on the Forbes 30 under 30 32:30 -- Estefania’s hobbies 33:40 -- Tools for Website design 35:15 -- Advice to your younger self - “Don’t take yourself too serious” 36:20 -- Estefania’s personal advisory board 37:40 -- Unjustified fears 38:30 -- What does courage mean to Estefania Resources mentioned: * “The three most harmful addictions are heroin, carbohydrates, and a monthly salary.” - Nassim Nicholas Taleb (https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/612389-the-three-most-harmful-addictions-are-heroin-carbohydrates-and-a) * Nuzzel (https://nuzzel.com/): Twitter news summary * Zero to one - Peter Thiel (https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/0753555204/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=remokyburz-21&creative=6742&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0753555204&linkId=1d64cb33999441e4ece687cad662a31d) * Traction - Gabriel Weinberg (https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/0241242533/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=remokyburz-21&creative=6742&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0241242533&linkId=c51fb91b90c8b18ab82b60fdad724835) * Wix.com (https://www.wix.com/) * WeSpace (https://www.wearewespace.com/) * Helen Clark (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Clark) If you're enjoying the podcast, the best way to support the show is by leaving a review on iTunes (https://podcasts.apple.com/ch/podcast/the-leap-takers-podcast/id1468975811?l=en) or your favorite podcast app. Special Guest: Estefanía Tapias.

Pascal Kaufmann (@PascalKaufmann) is a neuroscientist-turned-entrepreneur, who founded Starmind - one of Europe’s leading artificial intelligence technology companies - and Mindfire - a foundation created to incentivize collaboration in AI research. Inc magazine mentioned Pascal in the same sentence with no other than Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking. In this episode we’ll talk about how Pascal became fascinated with artificial intelligence research, some of the experiments he worked on, what advice he has for aspiring entrepreneurs, and unique insights into Starmind. Please follow me on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/remokyburz/), Twitter (https://twitter.com/TheRemoKyburz), and my Website (http://www.leaptakers.com/), where I post new episodes, share cool stuff & interesting articles I found, blog occasionally, and provide glimpses into my life! Show notes: 02:38 -- How Pascal got interested in the topic of artificial intelligence 05:00 -- Scientific experiments connecting brains to machines 06:30 -- Why Pascal decided to found an AI company - Starmind 08:20 -- The general state of AI & where we are at 10:15 -- Resources to get started with a career in AI 12:30 -- Tips for aspiring entrepreneurs / mistakes to avoid 14:20 -- Insights into Starmind 15:40 -- Favorite books & movies 17:30 -- Pascal’s personal advisory board / mentors 19:10 -- Hobbies & habits to take your mind-off your startup 20:00 -- Advice to fellow entrepreneurs & future leaptakers 22:50 -- Closing thoughts - Switzerland as a hotspot for AI companies Resources mentioned: * The story of Prometheus (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prometheus) * Archimedean spiral (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archimedean_spiral) * Starmind (https://www.starmind.ai/) * Mindfire (https://mindfire.global/) * Captain future (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0122336/) * Friedrich Nietzsche (https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/0140441182/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=remokyburz-21&creative=6742&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0140441182&linkId=dad75174fa804d5486ec32de5fb53cb2) If you're enjoying the podcast, the best way to support the show is by leaving a review on iTunes (https://podcasts.apple.com/ch/podcast/the-leap-takers-podcast/id1468975811?l=en) or your favorite podcast app. Special Guest: Pascal Kaufmann.

Daniel Naeff is the founder of Oakura, a platform where curated startups and vetted experts engage to create next generation businesses. We’ll get into what this actually means in the episode. He also served as the COO of Teralytics, one of Switzerland’s leading data analytics startups. He is also on the board of directors of the ETH Alumni - one of the world’s top 10 universities. We’ll take about bootstrapping vs. funding your company via venture capital, how to make smarter decisions as a founder, hiring the best team, favorite books, and much more. Please follow me on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/remokyburz/), Twitter (https://twitter.com/TheRemoKyburz), and my Website (http://www.leaptakers.com/), where I post new episodes, share cool stuff & interesting articles I found, blog occasionally, and provide glimpses into my life! Show notes: 01:52 -- How and why Daniel got into entrepreneurship 07:50 -- Daniel’s time at MIT and how he got there 09:22 -- Recommendations and reasons for studying abroad 11:02 -- Diamond Heels - Daniel’s first startup 15:30 -- Teralytics and Daniel’s role 17:45 -- What is the right type of funding for your startup & how Venture Capital (VC) is broken 22:30 -- Why Daniel left Teralytics & next steps 24:20 -- Using insights to help out the next generation of startups 26:40 -- How Oakura started - Using blockchain technology to disrupt the traditional VC model 29:19 -- How to decide if you should continue or stop your current project - “Think in different scenarios” 30:20 -- Leveraging Essentialist thinking and the concept of “sunk costs” to help making important life decisions 33:20 -- Tips on hiring and assembling the best team 36:34 - Should you start a company with your friends or not? 40:00 -- What does Oakura mean 41:50 -- What’s the purpose of Oakura and how it could revolutionize the venture industry 49:20 -- How Oakura is tokenizing startup equity 51:18 -- Daniel’s favorite books 53:30 -- Unique hobbies and how to distract your mind from the daily entrepreneurial work 55:48 -- Thought experiments 58:25 -- Advice to your younger self / university students 1:00:00 -- Closing thoughts Resources mentioned: * ETH Juniors (https://www.ethjuniors.ch/) * “We don’t make movies to make money, we make money to make more movies.” - Walt Disney * The Power of Habit - Charles Duhigg (https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/1847946240/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=remokyburz-21&creative=6742&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1847946240&linkId=d1c6acda5b98f635f48c308e50843ced) * The 48 laws of power - Robert Greene (https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/1861972784/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=remokyburz-21&creative=6742&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1861972784&linkId=bddf084403d59214f009786143bece92) * Sapiens - Yuval Noah Harari (https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/0099590085/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=remokyburz-21&creative=6742&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0099590085&linkId=df19cc57da6347828e93c1aa351577bd) If you're enjoying the podcast, the best way to support the show is by leaving a review on iTunes (https://podcasts.apple.com/ch/podcast/the-leap-takers-podcast/id1468975811?l=en) or your favorite podcast app. Special Guest: Daniel Naeff.

Short introductory episode where Remo (@TheRemoKyburz) is introducing the podcast and what led him to start the LeapTakers podcast. In short: In each episode I’m interviewing unique founders, shapers, and makers that work on building the future, as well as other fascinating personalities that push boundaries in various areas, such as investing, traveling, gaming, exploring new foods, and much more. In addition to being a source of knowledge & entertainment, I want to inspire people like you with this podcast to start your own endeavour and essentially become a Leap Taker. You’ll learn: * What this podcast is about and who is it for * Remo’s background & why he started the podcast * My unique hobbies Please follow me on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/remokyburz/), Twitter (https://twitter.com/TheRemoKyburz), and my Website (http://www.leaptakers.com/), where I post new episodes, share cool stuff & interesting articles I found, blog occasionally, and provide glimpses into my life!