The StartUp to ScaleUp Game Plan

Latest Episodes:

Mental health is not enough - founders need mental strength to succeed! Nov 03, 2023

Show notes

Dan Bowyer is a Partner at SuperSeed Ventures a VC fund investing in technical founders who love business automation.

Dan has a radically different background to your typical VC - his career spans modelling, performing in a boy band & presenting kids TV shows before switching over to tech, entrepreneurship and eventually VC.

Dan’s passionate about startups innovating and changing the world – he believes that startups can help tackle many societal problems.

We discussed:

Dan's atypical journey to becoming a VC
Venture capital's role as a brutal mechanism designed to make money from outliers
Why we must bring more women into positions of power in tech, in venture capital and in politics
Why successful founders need to progress beyond mental health & develop exceptional mental strength

For more insights into SuperSeed check out https://www.superseed.com/ & for head over to https://alpinasearch.com/ for guidance on recruiting exceptional senior talent for software ventures

Will Your Business Be Alive in ’25? Oct 31, 2023

Show notes

Jamie Akhtar is the Founder & CEO at Cybersmart, a cybersecurity scale-up, funded by VCs including Oxx & British Patient Capital, dedicated to helping SME's safeguard their data.

We explored:

“Alive in 25” – the whatever-it-takes playbook to ensure your software venture will survive the next 2 years
Healthy work-life boundaries & the importance of regular wellbeing practises like qigong
Why Jamie reduced his leadership team from 5 to 2, the emotional strain of that decision, & the 16 step process Jamie followed to ensure he effectively communicated that decision to the entire organisation

For more Cybersmart insights check out https://cybersmart.com/ & for advice on recruiting senior executives for B2B software startups & scale-ups head over to https://alpinasearch.com/

Why do 70% of sales reps miss their targets? Oct 25, 2023

Show notes

Guy Rubin is the CEO & Founder of Ebsta, the Revenue Intelligence Platform for Salesforce & Hubspot customers. Ebsta helps high-performing business development teams engage with more target accounts, helps sales teams close deals faster, & helps customer success teams retain happier customers.

We explored why:

70% of sales reps are missing their targets
the deviation between the top reps & everyone else is wider than it's ever been
Ebsta has made "more pivots than hot dinners"!
prospective entrepreneurs must pay careful attention to their choice of co-founders
markets & competitors will overtake you if you base your business on selling features instead of real products

For more revenue intelligence insights check out https://www.ebsta.com/ & for advice on hiring leaders for B2B Saas ventures check out https://alpinasearch.com/

Data-obsessed VC maintaining peak performance: Magnus Karnehm Oct 17, 2023

Show notes

Magnus Karnehm is a Principal at Left Lane Capital – Magnus heads up their European office

We explored Left Lane's unique approach to venture capital – running their fund like a sales team with each investor speaking to 25+ companies a week giving them exposure to off the beaten track sectors as well as the hot and trendy sectors.

We discussed the traits of startups that scale efficiently from $1m to $10m ARR - in particular data obsession

We also discussed the mistakes that can hinder a Saas venture's trajectory - e.g. moving upmarket too early

With great candour & humility, Magnus opened up on his journey of self exploration since embarking on the Hoffman Institute process after his father passed away last year.

We discussed how important it is for a VC to maintain peak personal performance as their decisions - and the support they provide to their portfolio companies - are so impactful.

For more insights into Left Lane Capital check out https://www.leftlane.com/ and for advice on hiring leadership talent for software ventures head over to https://alpinasearch.com/

More information on the Hoffman Institute process can be found at https://www.hoffmaninstitute.co.uk/

Ensuring AI is truly serving humanity’s best interest Sep 25, 2023

Show notes

Maarten Stolk is the CEO & co-founder at Deeploy - a Dutch startup helping businesses build explainable and responsible AI

We discussed:

Why people fear losing control of their AI models
Challenges with AI model compliance - especially in heavily regulated industries
Why companies always run into problems with their AI deployments!
Key learnings for startups looking to sell & deploy enterprise-class software
How to ensure everyone in your team is aligned on the same mission

For more insights into Deeploy, head over to https://www.deeploy.ml/ & for guidance on recruiting impactful leaders for software startups & scaleups head over to https://alpinasearch.com/

“I wake up most days just wishing someone would tell me what to do” Aug 09, 2023

Show notes

Ed Keelan is a Partner at Octopus Ventures focused on B2B SaaS. As well as identifying & nurturing disruptive SaaS startups, Ed's actively involved in various initiatives addressing D&I topics - including neurodiversity - within the VC sector.

We discussed:

What do VCs really care about when evaluating startups & entrepreneurs?
Why many SaaS businesses that raised money during the VC bubble need to refocus on unit economics and "Swiss army knife" talent
The importance of all types of diversity, including neurodiversity, in VC - Ed, who himself is dyslexic, is involved in several D&I initiatives
The struggles faced by “the forgotten 90%” in VC portfolios - one CEO told Ed “I wake up most days just wishing someone would tell me what to do” - and a few crucial steps overwhelmed CEOs can take to address their challenges

For more insights into Octopus Ventures head over to https://octopusventures.com/ & for advice on recruiting exceptional leaders for startups & scale-ups check out https://alpinasearch.com/

Thinking big - aiming to change the world! Sep 30, 2022

Show notes

William Tunstall-Pedoe's claims to fame include, in his first startup, Evi – which he sold to Amazon - creating the AI technology that now powers Alexa in 100s of millions of devices globally, coding the AI software behind the anagrams in the Da Vinci Code, and calculating that April 11th 1954 was the most boring day in history!

William’s latest venture – Unlikely AI – who’ve recently raised a $20m seed round led by Amadeus & Octopus - is his most ambitious venture yet & could radically change the future of software & AI development

We explored:

why does the world need a contrarian approach to AI?
thinking big - aiming to change the world
creating magical products that delight customers
codifying the company's culture
mentoring & investing in dozens of startups

For more insights into Unlikely AI head over to https://unlikely.ai/ & for advice on recruiting exceptional leaders for startups & scale-ups check out https://alpinasearch.com/

Blockchain: game-changing technology or marketing hype? Sep 26, 2022

Show notes

Ambre Soubiran is the CEO at Kaiko – a cryptocurrency market data provider who in June ‘22 raised a $55m Series B led by Eight Roads. Kaiko aims to become the Bloomberg of the blockchain & cryptocurrency worlds!

We explored:

Why Ambre gave up a successful banking career to build a blockchain startup
How blockchain data services will empower decision-makers across many industries
Why being too early can become a competitive advantage in a data-centric market
Why successful entrepreneurs should obsess less about fundraising- it's not how about raising money, it's how you spend it!
How to ensure a diverse international culture from Day 1
How Ambre handled closing a Series B & giving birth to her baby on the same evening!

For more insights into Kaiko head over to https://www.kaiko.com/ & for advice on hiring leaders for B2B SaaS scale-up heads over to https://alpinasearch.com/

Building a European SaaS unicorn Sep 08, 2022

Show notes

Bastian Karweg is the Group CEO at Echobot & Leadfeeder – these 2 saas ventures were recently acquired & merged by Great Hill Partners to create a ground-breaking sales intelligence & go-to-market platform & appointed Zoominfo's former CEO, Derek Schoettle, as their Chairman.

We explored:

the strategic thinking & ambition behind the Echobot & Leadfeeder "arranged marriage"
the opportunity to combine PLG with sales-led growth in an impactful go-to-market strategy
key challenges & opportunities of unifying the 2 brands & the platforms
the "unfair advantage" of having Zoominfo's former CEO as your Chairman!
how to build a culture of trust throughout your business
the ways in which the pandemic has super-accelerated digital adoption in Europe

For more insights into Echobot & Leadfeeder check out https://www.echobot.com/ & https://www.leadfeeder.com/

And for advice on recruiting exceptional leadership talent for B2B Saas scale-ups check out https://alpinasearch.com/

The future of software & the future of work! Aug 22, 2022

Show notes

Tariq Rauf is the Founder & CEO at Qatalog - backed by $18.5 million in funding from VCs like Atomico, Mosaic & Salesforce Ventures - whose digital work hub enables organisations to scale fast with transparency, automated knowledge flow, & tightly aligned teams & projects.

We explored:

How Tariq started coding when he was 6, built his 1st software business when he was 12, developed software for major corporations throughout his teenage years & then chose to re-train as an architect!
How architects learn to anticipate, & accommodate in their designs, rapid growth in user numbers unlike software designers who typically fail to plan for this
The "productivity paradox" - why are productivity tools destroying productivity?
Why Covid has, by accident, enabled us to find the ideal working environment for knowledge workers
Will the latest generation of employees ever embrace 9-5 working practices & daily commutes?

For more insights into Qatalog check out https://qatalog.com/ & for guidance on recruiting exceptional leaders for B2B software scale-ups head over to https://alpinasearch.com/

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