Shows
The Innovation ConversationDiana Florescu - Founder & CEO @MFG | Media Capital Investor $30M+ Fund | Growth-Stage Consumer in the US đşđ¸ | Forbes 30U30 đď¸ Innotion Conversation: Growth, Resilience, and Media Capital â Insights with Diana FlorescuIn this episode of Innotion Conversation, host Ricardo Pascual speaks with Diana Florescu, founder of Media for Growth, about her journey from tech to media capital investment and supporting emerging consumer brands.They dive into:The cultural differences in business practices between the US and Europe.The challenges startups face when entering the US market.How a growth mindset differs between the US and UK.Why strategic adaptation is essential when expanding internationally.The evolving landscape of media capital investments.The resilience required for ent...2025-04-2435 min
Media Capital - How to raise and invest media capital effectivelyPremium Frozen Cocktails: Xin and Voltaire's journeyThereâs a reason strongly-spirited frozen cocktails didnât exist. XÄŤn and Voltaire was born to challenge the capabilities of alcohol and ice and push the boundaries of how cocktails can be savoured. We spoke to Grace, CEO & Founder about the story behind the brand and how they worked to allow the icy cold temperatures of sorbet to be maintained when adding the heat of an alcoholic cocktail mix. We had the pleasure of working with Grace as part of the MFG Fundraising Programme in 2023 and advising them on their first media capital fundraise. From Selfridges and Soho House...2024-03-2030 min
Media Capital - How to raise and invest media capital effectivelyTravel deals in 3 seconds with Tryp.com - Case studyIn this episode, I caught up with Andre, CEO and Co-Founder of Tryp. A super travel platform that makes multi-destination bookings easy. Andre is one of the eight founders who participated in the MFG Fundraising Programme in 2023 - a free programme for early-stage founders to raise capital solutions to fund marketing costs. We talked about how their media and fundraising strategy evolved since they left the programme, how Tryp is planning to capture market share from established players using clever advertising, and whatâs next for them.2024-03-2022 min
Media Capital - How to raise and invest media capital effectivelyGlobal Media Capital Funding 2023 in 10 ChartsItâs the start of a new year. This means drawing a line and analysing what happened in the media capital sector in 2023, and what founders and investors should expect in 2024.
Join us for this live debrief with Niko Marcel Waesche, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at GMPVC German Media Pool and Ian Whittaker, CEO at Liberty Sky Advisors, moderated by Diana Florescu, CEO & Founder at mediaforgrowth (MFG).
What We Will Cover:
đEvolution of media capital deals in the last five years
đHow growth-stage founders can take advantage of capital solutions such as media capital to fund marketing costs
đKey sectors and...2024-03-1944 min
Media Capital - How to raise and invest media capital effectivelyHow Startups and Media Companies Can Work TogetherAs media companies strive to succeed in the digital realm, they are progressively turning to the promising domain of start-ups and ventures. However, given the substantial resources required and considering that success hinges on both entrepreneurial spirit and solid backing, how can established businesses identify, invest in, and nurture the digital giants of the future? Featuring senior media leaders who have implemented various forms of corporate venturing to diversify revenue and increase market share, this panel discussion looks to identify the key challenges and trends impacting the media industry, explore the panelistsâ learnings and solutions, and ultimately discuss the vi...2024-01-1044 min
Innovators Can LaughLeaving a promising career at Microsoft for the uncertainty of launching a service based startup with Anastasia StaniloiuSend us a textWhy would a highly respected engineer at Microsoft who enjoys her job and the people she works with, go and launch a startup?For 5+ years, Anastasia Staniloiu worked as a technical engineer and consultant for Microsoft. And then in Jan-23, she co-launched Witanalytica - a company that provides analytics strategic consulting and architect data solutions.In this conversation we chat about why she left a promising career for the high risk of launching a startup, her favorite tools that any startup can use for...2023-11-2322 min
Media Capital - How to raise and invest media capital effectivelyLessons about PitPatâs Journey with ITV and UKTV from Andrew NowellAny founder will tell you that raising funds right now is tough. For consumer startups, it's even tougher. Do you cut down on marketing to save money? Or take another loan? And what's coming up next year?
Join us as we explore PitPatâs story đž. They amplified brand awareness and tripled their revenue by getting media capital from UKTV and ITV multiple times. Andrew Nowell, the CEO, and Co-Founder, will share some of the learnings from their first TV campaign with UKTV, working out media deals, and how he convinced their current investors to say yes to these...2023-11-0934 min
Media Capital - How to raise and invest media capital effectivelyThe changing face of advertising and how to concentrate your efforts on channels that work with ITV IgniteIn this episode, we sat down with Callum Taylor, Head of ITV AdVentures Ignite, ITVâs startup incubator supporting young brands to start their journey into TV. We talked about:
The changes impacting the media industry and how digital startups can turn challenges into opportunities.
Debunking the myths of offline media and why founders should diversify their marketing mix to amplify reach.
Key things startups need to get right for their first TV campaign.
The power of creatives and how to design TV ads that drive profitability.
Callum guided us through some fantastic graphics and insights, so we...2023-11-0856 min
Media Capital - How to raise and invest media capital effectivelyInfluencer Marketing is the new TV with Scott van der Berg
Influencer Capital is a new specialised fund compounding the influencers' media value via the startup ecosystem. In this episode, we discussed:
đ Scott's approach to structuring media for equity deals
đ The level of involvement influencers have in the evaluation process
đ Why this type of funding is gaining popularity
đ Where he sees the future opportunities for both himself and the influencer marketing equity model
#mediaforgrowth #mediacapital #mediaforequity #startups #raisingcapital #advertising #brandingtips #influencer #influencermarketing2023-10-0646 min
Media Capital - How to raise and invest media capital effectivelyIntroducing: Media CapitalIâm Diana Florescu and on my new show Media Capital Iâm talking with senior leaders at some of the worldâs largest media houses, and founders of new-age brands. Exploring the challenges they faced and the lessons they learned as they keep up with the fast-changing advertising landscape; and how partnering together may bring more value than if they were to do it on their own.
Media Capital is a new venture model where high-potential brands partner with established media companies to amplify reach, extend the operational runway and increase revenue. Airbnb, Uber, Coursera, and many i...2023-07-2500 min
Media Capital - How to raise and invest media capital effectivelyThe rise of media capital as a sustainable financing model for startups and media giantsMediaCapital was the talk of the town at Alpha Wolves this March in London. It's a venture model which has a real opportunity to plug the current funding (and advertising skill) startups gap. But how well is the model working?
We invited two category leaders:
what3words's Head of Growth Greg Turtle and Smule's VP of Partnerships and Customer Marketing Antoaneta Hristova.
Two media for equity fund managers: ITV's Sheena Amin and GMPVC's Niko Waesche and The Times Group's Brand Capital International Senior Brand Strategist Neha Kothari Ranavat.
We will discuss the lessons from raising...2023-05-0637 min
Media Capital - How to raise and invest media capital effectivelyManaging cash in uncertain times: Alternative funding options for Series A+ startupsFrom venture debt to revenue-based financing and service for equity, there are more and more options for founders to grow their businesses than venture capital.
At Alpha Wolves in London, we were joined by Neville Taraporewalla, President at Brand Capital International, Flavia Richardson, Chief Commercial Officer at Velocity Juice and Johny Clark, Marketing, Sales and BD at Consilience Ventures to talk about alternative funding options for Series A+ startups.
We discussed the following:
Guests' introduction
Question for Flavia: From your portfolio companies, where have you seen the biggest change in terms of stage of...2023-05-0640 min
Media Capital - How to raise and invest media capital effectivelyScaling a start-up in a âwinner takes allâ market using the power of advertising with Chris SheldrickDownload your free copy of the latest State of Global Media for Growth Report www.mediaforgrowth.co/stateofmediaforgrowth2022
Join Chris Sheldrick, CEO & Co-founder at what3words on a fireside chat with Diana Florescu, mediaforgrowth at Wolves Summit on how to gain a growth edge through partnering with media broadcasters. what3words is backed by ITV AdVentures and Channel4Ventures in the UK, GMPVC in Germany and most recently they raised 10m USD from The Times Group India Brand Capital International to scale their brand in India.
If your startup is fundraising, this event is for...2023-03-2932 min
Media Capital - How to raise and invest media capital effectivelyHow to scale a media for equity fund the right way with Sheena AminITV is the UKâs 2nd largest TV broadcaster reaching 34.2m viewers a week (that's nearly 56% of all TV viewers). During the pandemic, the group saw an opportunity in backing direct-to-consumer startups and launched ITV AdVentures, a ÂŁ15m media for equity annual fund. Â
Sheena Amin joined TV in 2022 as Director of ITV AdVentures bringing a wealth of experience across both investing and TV/media. Â
She joined us live on Media Capital đď¸ on Thursday, March 2nd and we talked about:Â
đ her journey and how she started in the world of media,
đ her learnings from setting up a...2023-03-2345 min
Media Capital - How to raise and invest media capital effectivelyVenture capital, done differently with Manuel Lopo de CarvalhoDMG Ventures is not your typical consumer VC, nor a traditional âmedia for equityâ fund. Backed by Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT), dmg ventures invests typically 50% cash / 50% media-for-equity (with more flexibility for follow-ons). Basically making that cash investment work harder đŞđť
Together with Manuel, the CEO of dmg ventures, we touched on:
đ the story behind dmg venturesÂ
đ how he built the fund inside Daily Mail,Â
đ their investment thesis, andÂ
đ their approach to structuring investment deals (balancing đ° and đď¸)
With over fifteen years of experience across investing, operational management, and the wider Daily Mail group, Manuel launched...2023-03-0342 min
Media Capital - How to raise and invest media capital effectivelyBridging startupsâ advertising gap with skills and matched funding with Joe Hills and Connie ZehentmeierTV might be the most popular medium for equity deals, but outdoor and print media owners have also staked a claim. Joining me next on the Media Capital show are JCDecaux's Nurture team - Joe Hills and Connie (Constanze) Zehentmeier. Â Â
Nurture is JCDecauxâs specialised investment programme bridging startupsâ advertising and skills gap through match funding and expertise. Â Â
We will touch on the following and much more: Â
đHow did Nurture come about? Â
đHow does the programme work? Â
đWhat do you look for in a startup? Â
đJoeâs and Connieâs views on the...2023-02-1750 min
Media Capital - How to raise and invest media capital effectivelyEstablishing a New Venture Model - An Independent Media for Equity Fund with Niko Marcel Waesche and Aljoscha Kaplan, partners at German Media PoolThere are two types of media for equity players, one being leading media companies that leverage their own media directly into targeted investments.
The other model is independent media funds such as German Media Pool that aggregate media across a number of media groups and platforms to invest in growth companies.
In this first episode with Niko Marcel Waesche  and Aljoscha Kaplan we covered:
How German Media Pool came about
What do media publishers look for in a GP?
How to choose an appropriate fund size and LP composition
Structuring a media for equity d...2023-02-171h 03
Innovators Can LaughInnovating Medical Devices with AI while Overcoming Imposter SyndromeSend us a textI chat with DragoĹĄ Duse and Diana Andritchi, co-founders of medtech startup Synaptiq. Synaptiq creates software solutions based on AI for improving medical devices, with one tool using revolutionary software to separate cancerous tumors and organs at risk. Currently, they have seven customers in Romania and are projected to generate 400,000 euros in 2023.We discuss the importance of employee retention in comparison to other aspects of business such as client acquisition and investment deals. We also touch on the importance of being out of one's comfort z...2023-02-1621 min
The European VC#154 Diana Florescu, mediaforgrowth & Piyush Puri, Brand Capital InternationalToday we are happy to welcome Diana Florescu and Piyush Puri. Diana is the CEO and Founder of mediaforgrowth, a media for equity advisory firm, specialised in Series A to pre-IPO media capital fundraising. Piyush leads the Brand Capital International team in Silicon Valley as Vice President of BWI, the strategic investment arm of The Times Group â Indiaâs largest multimedia conglomerate.In this episode youâll learn:* How media for equity came to existence as a category of venture investing and why media companies are increasingly active in the space* The st...2023-02-1443 min
EUVC#154 Diana Florescu, mediaforgrowth & Piyush Puri, Brand Capital InternationalToday we are happy to welcome Diana Florescu and Piyush Puri. Diana is the CEO and Founder of mediaforgrowth, a media for equity advisory firm, specialised in Series A to pre-IPO media capital fundraising. Piyush leads the Brand Capital International team in Silicon Valley as Vice President of BWI, the strategic investment arm of The Times Group â Indiaâs largest multimedia conglomerate. In this episode youâll learn:- How media for equity came to existence as a category of venture investing and why media companies are increasingly active in the space- The...2023-02-1443 min
Innovators Can LaughExploring the Benefits of Media for Growth Funding with Diana FlorescuSend us a textDiana Florescu is the founder of Media Growth. In this episode we learn about Diana's journey as an entrepreneur and her current project Media for Growth which involves exchanging equity for media assets. Plus, hear about the survival rate among companies that have raised media for growth funding and the insightful conversation on valuing time and self-reflection.Show highlights:1:23 â what is the weirdest food you have ever tried living/traveling abroad?3:00 â do you prefer a window seat or an aisle seat...2023-02-0925 min
Media Capital - How to raise and invest media capital effectivelyEstablishing a New Venture Model - An Independent Media for Equity Fund with Niko Marcel Waesche and Aljoscha KaplanThere are two types of media for equity players, one being leading media companies that leverage their own media directly into targeted investments.Â
The other model is independent media funds such as German Media Pool that aggregate media across a number of media groups and platforms to invest in growth companies. Â
In this first episode with Niko Marcel Waesche  and Aljoscha Kaplan we covered:
How German Media Pool came aboutÂ
What do media publishers look for in a GP?Â
How to choose an appropriate fund size and LP composition Â
Structuring a media for equity deal...2023-01-291h 05
The World of PresentationsSales and Pitch Presentations Done Right with Diana FlorescuRomania-born entrepreneur Diana Florescu is the CEO of and powerhouse behind Media for Growth, the first global network that brings together the interests of startups, investors, and experienced media professionals. However, sheâs held various roles in the marketing and sales fields and has a ton of insights when it comes to pitch and investor decks, proposal presentations and delivery. We asked her to share some of them for The World of Presentations podcast.
In episode 112 of the podcast series 356labs Founder, Boris, chats with Diana about everything business presentation-related: the traps of standardisation of pitch decks, the missed opportunities wh...2022-11-0432 min
Innovators Can LaughHow to move faster towards your Goals with Startup Mentor Stoyan YankovSend us a textImagine you are the main character of your own movie. But not just the main actor. Youâre also the producer and director of this movie. Close your eyes and visualize how you would tell this story.Will it be filled with adventure and suspense?Would your story be uplifting or depressing?Would your story have the power to change lives?This is the power that Stoyan Yankov instills in others. A master coach, speaker, and au...2022-11-0341 min
Innovators Can LaughHow an IT company finances a foundation with its profits with Blagovesta PugyovaSend us a textIs it possible for a charity to own a profitable software development company? Well it is. The Bulgarian foundation âGive a Bookâ owns 41% of the IT company Childish. It employs 30+ people and the company's focus is developing business and team-building web applications using the Python programming language.The model in which an IT company finances a foundation with its profits is so impressive for Bulgaria that Childish won an award from the Forbes Business Awards 2022 in the "Socially Responsible Company" category.Hea...2022-11-0234 min
Innovators Can LaughHow to transform any surface into Carbon neutral white board paints with Yasen RusevSend us a textImagine youâre working as a driver in Bulgaria and one of your clients is an international business owner. After four days of chauffeuring him around, he invites you to lunch. After two hours of dialogue, he invites you to come to Vienna for a year and learn their business. So, you could come back to Bulgaria and open and manage their business in Bulgaria.Sounds like a fairy tale right?Well, itâs not. At least not for Yasen Rusev, co-founder of Escreo. In t...2022-10-2739 min
Innovators Can LaughHow to skip the hospital visit and use your phone to detect anomalies related to oncology diseases with Georgi KadrevSend us a textImagine if you could skip the hospital visit and use your phone to detect anomalies related to vascular conditions and oncology diseases. Sounds futuristic? Well, Bulgarian startup founder Georgi Kadrev is making this a reality with Kelvin Health. Kelvin Health is a clinical decision support tool that utilizes a mobile thermal imaging camera that captures the heat of the body, segments the thermal image, and applies artificial intelligence to digitally assess your vascular condition. Itâs like having the superpowers of Predator in the pa...2022-10-2026 min
Emerging Europe Talks#54 #EETalks Sustainable Impact â Media for Growth with Diana FlorescuMedia for growth investments are receiving increasingly more recognition as powerful engines for sustainable growth.
Globally, there are today more than 30 specialised funds offering advertising and media services in exchange for equity. Over the last two decades, over 1,000 start-ups have raised media for growth funding including Zalando, AboutYou, Carwow, Pinterest, and Glovo.
Such investments play an important role in revenue diversification for media broadcasters, whilst start-ups benefit from customer growth, increased brand awareness, and guidance from media groups, all without having to spend cash.
Diana Florescu, CEO of mediaforgrowth, a global network of...2022-10-1828 min
Innovators Can LaughHow to help restaurants reduce food waste by selling surplus through the Foodobox mobile appSend us a textWhat do you do when you have a surplus of food? Do you just throw it out or is there a sustainable solution? Well today weâre chatting with Jane Dimitrova, a fascinating entrepreneur from Bulgaria who is helping tackle that problem by developing the first mobile app in Bulgaria to tackle food waste - Foodobox. Jane has a fascinating background having worked in Italy and Argentina, and also interned at P&G. According to her, people in Bulgaria are often quite skeptical about in...2022-10-1322 min
Innovators Can LaughMarc Schillinger: Digitalizing Account ReceivablesSend us a textRemember when those guys who had slicked back hair and carried a bat paid you a visit about a debt you owed? You know debt collectors.Well times have changed and March Schillinger, founder of eCollect is transforming the way debt collection and account receivables takes place. eCollect is a fully digitalised receivables management FinTech startup with best-in-class AI and machine learning technology. Theyâre currently operating in several European countries, provide services for more than 13 languages, and are approaching 10 million in ARR. This is a very fun co...2022-09-2930 min
Innovators Can LaughFrom Boston Consulting Group to Creating Bulgariaâs First Kidsâ Subscription ServiceSend us a textI chatted with Boryana Levterova, co-founder of Infinity Toy Box. Infinity Toy Box is the first subscription service for kids where you can rent games, toys, and books. Prior to launching her startup, Boryana was working as a consultant for the Boston Consulting Group in Chicago. We dive into how she came up with Infinity Toy Box during maternity leave, what challenges theyâve faced because of Covid, and some of her life experiences. Time Stamps:0:35 â Eric tries to speak Bulgarian...2022-09-2220 min
Innovators Can LaughCombining financial services, data-driven insights, and travel APIs to help people afford global travel with Alejandra FernandezSend us a textI chatted with French startup founder Alejandra Fernandez of Flywallet. Flywallet is an all-in-one digital wallet and flight aggregation tool that makes it easy for users to save monthly for future travel. But the platform does more than that. It keeps track of flights within your budget, and can help offset travel related carbon emissions when you book a flight. Alejandra is from the Dominican Republic, but relocated to France after being accepted into Station F.In this conversation we learn:What is the average...2022-09-1518 min
Innovators Can LaughPowering the AI Industry with Humans in the Loop Workforce with Iva GumnishkaSend us a textI knew very little about the field of AI data annotation until I chatted with Iva Gumnishka, co-founder of Humans in the Loop. Humans in the loop is a social enterprise that provides ethical human in the loop workforce solutions to power the AI industry. Â Many companies that advertise their products as AI-driven are not entirely AI-driven. Some of them have real people working in the background to answer or do things machines are not capable of.If youâre interested in AI and wan...2022-09-0823 min
Innovators Can LaughOn a Mission To Be The Global Leader in the Refurbished Market for Tech Products with Reynold SimonnetSend us a textImagine youâre in England and walk into a vegan restaurant. While looking at the menu, you notice that each dish shows its carbon footprint. Youâre thinking about ordering a hamburger, but see that the beef burgerâs carbon emissions are a whopping 3 kilos! Or, ten times the amount of the vegan alternative. Would you still order the beef burger?This episode isnât about going vegan, but rather, the rapid and high consumption of electronics and one manâs journey to simplify the supply chain of secondhand...2022-09-0133 min
Innovators Can LaughHow Branding and Design Can Create a Deep Emotional Connection with Lucie Baratte.Send us a textCan branding and design create a deep emotional connection with an audience?Well according to Lucie Baratte, designer and co-founder of Logology, the answer is yes. Logology is a website where in 10 minutes, you can get a logo that you love all based on a brand discovery questionnaire to help figure out what you need. If youâre wanting to get a better understanding of how powerful a brand identity can be, this is the episode for you! Links:Do you...2022-08-2541 min
Innovators Can LaughAna Bibikova on how Introverts can be perfect sales people, experiencing burnout, and being a digital nomad.Send us a textâIntroverts can be perfect sales people and better marketers, but the problem is that we get overwhelmed when socializing, but not because we canât read social queues. But that we read too much of them.â This is from my conversation with Ana Bibikova, startup consultant and aspiring founder.If youâre on Twitter and in the startup community, chances are, you know Ana. But if you donât, sheâs an entrepreneur, digital nomad, and has captured the attention of other introverts. If youâre an introvert or just want t...2022-08-1852 min
Innovators Can LaughAndrius Rimkunas on a smart, wireless, GPS-powered alarm system, Lithuanian state television, hitting rock bottom, and moreSend us a textThis is a rebroadcast of one of our most popular episodes - a chat with Andrius Rimkunas. Andrius is co-founder and Business Developer at Monimoto - a super easy to use anti-theft GPS tracker for motorcycles. Andrius entrepreneurial journey is quite remarkable as he has a background in IT, radio, marketing, and project management. He describes himself as a bit of a crazy person (and after you hear some of his entrepreneurial pursuits, youâll understand why). If youâre interested in hearing a story...2022-08-1134 min
Innovators Can LaughDr. Monika Paule on Biotech, Gene Editing Solutions, Running Two Startups, and Being an Academia ProfessorSend us a textThis is a rebroadcast of one of our most popular episodes - a conversation with Dr. Monika Paule. Dr. Paule is a High-tech company founder of two innovative startups and is an Associated Professor & Technology Transfer expert in Academia. When not acting as the CEO at CasZyme, a company which aims to to develop innovative applications in the field of CRISPR based Molecular Tools, sheâs building EdTech company âPaulai Techâ which is aimed at STEM Education. Join us as we discuss what life is like running two startups, jugging family life, being...2022-08-0417 min
Innovators Can LaughHashtags are like keywords - two weeks after MVP we had 300 customersSend us a textHey ICL fans. Today weâre chatting with Loic Alix-Brown, co-founder of Flick. Flick is an all-in-one Instagram scheduling, hashtag, and analytics tool. The journey of Flick is quite interesting as the initial MVP was created in two weeks and 2 weeks later they had 200 paying customers. If you think that is impressive, wait till you hear what the platform can do from a hashtag standpoint.If youâre wanting to elevate your online presence especially with the use of hashtags, this is the episode for you. Letâs dive i...2022-07-2827 min
Innovators Can LaughFrom creating the Uber for service professionals to growing HypefurySend us a textHey ICL fans. Today weâre chatting with Yannick Veys, co-founder of Hypefury. Hypefury is a powerful scheduling tool for social media, particularly Twitter. But before Yannick began growing Hypefury, he co-created a Dutch startup that was the Uber for service professionals and sold it. He also has successfully created multiple websites that bring in streams of Adsense income from Google.If youâre wanting to elevate your marketing skills especially when it comes to marketing a startup, this is the episode for you. Letâs dive in....2022-07-2119 min
Innovators Can LaughHow to become a better Salesperson through Social Selling with Laura ErdemSend us a textLetâs talk about social selling, specifically on LinkedIn with Laura Erdem from dreamdata.io. Laura is an Account Executive / B2B marketing influencer who grew her LinkedIn followers by 400% last year through social selling. And it all started with her sharing a customer story on a LinkedIn post. Well, someone by the name of Chris Walker commented on that post and it went viral. In that one particular week, their web traffic jumped 200%.Realizing this, Laura has made a steady effort in posting valuable content which has gr...2022-07-1321 min
Innovators Can LaughOvercoming barriers to get into a VC with Tzvete DonchevaSend us a textI chatted with Tzvete Doncheva, International Investor Relations for VC firm PropTech1. PropTech1 targets founders who are building innovative businesses in the real estate industry. Tzveteâs path to VC is a little different than most. Her career first started in media before breaking into VC. During our chat, we discuss barriers one has to overcome to get into a VC and why female founders historically get less funding than males.If youâre interested in learning more about VCs, this episode is for you. Letâs dive in!2022-07-0624 min
Innovators Can LaughIs my Chihuahua allowed? Avvinue - the First Pet Travel Booking EngineSend us a textI chatted with Nicole Caba, the founder of Avvinue â the first pet travel booking engine. Thatâs right, a booking website for pet travel. With so many pet owners worldwide and each airline having its own set of restrictions when it comes to traveling with pets, Avvinue is bound for takeoff!If youâre a pet owner or just want to hear an interesting story about a wonderful idea that was hidden in plain sight, this is the episode for you! Show highlights:2022-06-2923 min
Innovators Can LaughThe Easy No Code Web Scraping ToolSend us a textI chat with Indiehacker Robert Balazsi who has built a no-code web scraping tool that has really taken off since he started building in public. Robert and I dive into juggling work and indiehacking, the importance of being your own customer, and leveraging building in public.If youâre trying to juggle work and building something on the side, then this episode is for you.Show highlights:Â 0:35 â where to find a delicious Hungarian desert1:40 â an unusual food Ro...2022-06-2227 min
Innovators Can LaughPersonalized Approach to Employee Benefits with MELPSend us a textI chatted with Vidmantas Ĺ iugĹždinis who is a very talented serial entrepreneur, investor, and lecturer. In a previous role as CEO of Lemon Fitness club, he grew a health company from 8 clubs in Lithuania to more than 30 clubs in 3 Baltic countries. Now he is creating MELP - a personalized employee benefits platform that provides a wide variety of choices for employees.In this chat, we learn about his obsession with the number 7, the weird thing he does for his morning routine (99.5% of us wouldnât even consider doin...2022-06-1527 min
Innovators Can LaughThe digital memory album for you and your familySend us a textI chatted with bootstrap founders Daniel and Markus from Storyark. Storyark is a digital memory album for you and your family. It allows you to securely store photos, videos, audio, and text and share them with your family and close friends.They got this idea at Oktoberfest and, as you probably guessed, are also dads with small kids.In this chat, we learn about how they are bootstrapping their startup, how Storyark is different than other apps in the market, and also fun stuff...2022-06-0829 min
Innovators Can LaughBootstrap Startup LessonsSend us a textArvid Kahl is a seasoned pro when it comes to bootstrapping startups. He created Feedback Panda and one year later grew it to $55,000 MRR. He then sold it two years later for an amount of money that was life changing. He then launched Bootstrapped Founder where he writes about Bootstrapping, startups, engineering and mental health. Heâs also written a couple of guides, one of which is Zero to Sold that is meant to guide software engineers who want to become entrepreneurs.Arvid and I discuss:...2022-06-0156 min
Innovators Can LaughThe all-in-one pack to build and ship Saas products fastSend us a textNico Botha has witnessed a lot of companies waste time and money to design and build their MVP. So, he created a SaaS boilerplate to help startups save time and money as the most important parts of the application are already done for a fraction of the cost. In this conversation Nico and I discuss: All the integrations that Shipsaas starter kit includesthe mistakes he made when launching his product (including the pricing he listed on ProductHunt)The fun projects (in...2022-05-2524 min
Innovators Can LaughFullfunnel.io - smart marketing for B2B companies with complex sales cyclesSend us a textAndrei Zinkevich is a Pro when it comes to Full funnel marketing strategies for B2B companies. Andrei started his career as an Area Sales Manager for Kimberly Clark before switching to marketing and working as a CMO and B2B marketing consultant with 50+ B2B Companies across Europe and North America.He now consults growing B2B companies that have long and complex sales cycles.Andrei and I discuss:the thing that companies should stop and start doing when it...2022-05-1838 min
Innovators Can LaughBrand design for your Startup in 5 minutesSend us a textCan you imagine receiving tons of referrals from people who never even bought from you? Thatâs right. 9 out of 10 people who recommend you, never even bought from you. How can this be? Well this is the life of Dagobert Renouf, co-Founder of logology.co.In this conversation, we discuss:How Logology went from $2,250 in 5 months to $17,500 in 7 monthsHow Dagobert strategically uses Twitter to build his community (he went from less than 100 followers to more than 20,000 in just a fe...2022-05-1134 min
Innovators Can Laugh$20,000 in 7 days, leaving a career as a Lawyer to launch a startupSend us a textCan you imagine walking away from a lucrative job that pays six figures right out of University, and launching a startup? Well, thatâs what Arnaud Belinga did. After studying for 7 years to become a Tax Lawyer, he decided to devote himself full time to do what he loves â being an entrepreneur. And his startup, Breakcold which uses AI to improve and streamline cold email marketing, is on fire!In this conversation, we discuss:how Breakcold uses AI t...2022-05-0426 min
Innovators Can LaughFinding early adopters, the main mistake most startups make and planning your social media content with Ovi NegreanSend us a textHey ICL fans. Today weâre talking about finding your first early adopters and the common mistakes startups make when starting out with Ovi Negrean, founder of SocialBee. SocialBee is a platform that helps SMBs get more customers through social media and is used by over 25,000 companies. It makes it very easy to plan your social media content across Insta, Tik Tok, LinkedIn and other social platforms. Ovi is also a startup advisor and mentor at the Founder Institute based out of Frankfurt and Ro...2022-04-2735 min
Productivity MasteryNavigating Career Changes by Following Your Inner Compass: Productivity Mastery #104 with Diana Alice FlorescuFor episode #104 of Productivity Mastery, we welcomed Diana Alice Florescu, a serial entrepreneur with an intriguing quantity of experience. We talked about Navigating Career Changes by Following Your Inner Compass, so this episode is perfect for those who have just graduated and currently stand at the crossroads. Diana shared a lot of enlightening lessons, including:
đĄÂ How to understand your passions,
đĄÂ Preparing yourself for the entrepreneurâs journey,
đĄÂ Finding a job after you graduate,
đĄÂ How to overcome social pressure for success, and much more!
Diana Florescu is a serial entrepreneur. She is a founding...2022-04-231h 03
Innovators Can LaughTop Startup in Europe for E-commerce: OptiMonkSend us a textIn this episode weâre talking about conversion optimization, specifically for Ecommerce brands with Csaba Zajdo. Csaba is the founder of OptiMonk, a top startup in Europe for E-commerce, and Shoprenter. Shoprenter is like the Shopify for Hungary. More than 65,000 merchants worldwide use Shoprenter to power their online retail stores. And as for Optimonk, more than 20,000 brands are using it and it has more than 400 5-star ratings on Shopify. Csaba is also the founder of Innonic which is a startup studio in Hungary whose goa...2022-04-2035 min
Innovators Can LaughEngaging with Remote Fans through UGC with Tom Vecsernyes from SeyuSend us a textIn todayâs episode, Iâm joined with Tom Vechy, founder of Seyu. Tomâs career entailed working as a Marketing Director for FC Junior Sport before taking the leap to launch Seyu which allows fans around the world, through a moderated channel, to post their photos on to the LED boards and other screens in the stadiums on matchdays, and share them instantly on social media in branded frames.What we discuss:the challenges he believes sports clubs will face in the next 10 yearsthe hurdles he had to overcome since...2022-04-1341 min
Innovators Can LaughAnalyzing the Quality of a Social Shopper with Michel Henns, CRO at NeticleSend us a textââIn this episode, Iâm joined with Michel Henns, CRO at Neticle. Michel is an authoritative voice in the field of social shopping insights and over the years has gathered and analyzed social shopping insights for many companies in Europe.What we discussed:the proportion of revenue and by channel that is attributed to social mediathe difference in demographics among social shoppers by channelthe quality of a social shopper versus one who came in from another channelhis re...2022-04-0622 min
Innovators Can LaughNightmoon â the turnkey solution for beautiful playgrounds all over the worldSend us a textIn our last episode of season 2, Lithuania, I chat with Aiste Aliukoniene, co-founder of Nightmoon which is a leisure and amusement consultancy specializing in the developing leisure spaces, playgrounds, and amusements parks from idea to turnkey all over the world. We discuss her fascination with amusement parks, how she saw the opportunity to form Nightmoon, and the toughest part about completing a project.Subscribe and leave a rating to stay updated with the latest startup founders in Europe.Reach your ideal target audience with B2BPodPros: https://www.b2...2022-03-3029 min
Innovators Can LaughCreating the first real estate crowdfunding and investments platform in LithuaniaSend us a textHistorically EU crowdfunding platforms lagged behind other regions in the world making it difficult for start-ups and other small innovative companies to access initial seed funding. But that is going to change since a single set of rules will cover the whole EU. And to capitalize on this change in Lithuania and abroad is Viktorija Cijunskyte, founder and CEO of Profitus. It wasnât that long ago when Viktorija jumped into the real estate profession and placed flyers on doors looking to promote her services. While everyone said that wouldnât work...2022-03-2329 min
Innovators Can LaughBringing the aging population back into the workforce â in a meaningful waySend us a textRetirement can be a scary thing. Without a sense of purpose, no real daily duties to attend to, and perhaps feeling unwanted, depression can sink in along with a host of other mental and health problems.Irma (Irma) Lukoseviciene is looking to change that. Her platform, Gen4Gen, (currently in Beta), is a consumer-to-consumer 2-sides digital marketplace that matches supply and demand for all manner of services that Seniors can participate in. Ranging from basic household support to remote higher-end services. Based upon user profiling, Gen4Gen uses a machine learning...2022-03-1631 min
Innovators Can LaughMaking Tech a basic skill along with reading, writing and mathSend us a textThe tech industry is heavily saturated by men, but that doesnât matter to Monika Katkute, founder and CEO at Teachers Lead Tech. In the beginning Monika had created a successful and highly sought-after kids after school club. But she knew that in order to scale the club, it wasnât more bodies needed, but technology. Rewarded with a grant from Google, sheâs built a system that empowers teachers to help build their skills and teach tech to primary schools aged children in Lithuania and abroad. Join me as I chat wi...2022-03-0932 min
Innovators Can LaughOne of the ten Lithuanian-based startup to watch in 2022 â MembySend us a textHelping to make high quality education be accessible to virtually any student, despite their demographics or economic background, Eimantas Bekeza is on a mission. From Physics to Ecommerce to online learning, Eimantas is on an incredible journey. Join us as he shares the lessons he learned in the unsuccessful launch of his first business and what struggles heâs had to overcome since launching Memby. Subscribe and leave a rating to stay updated with the latest startup founders in Europe.Reach your ideal target audience with B2BPodPros: https://www...2022-03-0226 min
Innovators Can LaughThe open data platform helping companies manage risksSend us a textDr. Gerda JurkonienÄ has been actively involved in the establishment of the Credit Bureau in Lithuania and development of data infrastructure to help businesses better understand the behavior of their customers. Now she has co-created an open data platform that integrates open data, credit bureau functionalities as well as credit scores and insights, thus enabling companies to increase sales and manage risks.Dr. Gerda is also an accounting and financial analysis lecturer at Vilnius University.Subscribe and leave a rating to stay updated with the latest startup founders in E...2022-02-2326 min
Innovators Can LaughOn a Mission to Disrupt the US Advertising industry with Tadas CekaviciusSend us a textFrom selling life insurance policies at the age of 18 to being the country manager for Bolt in Lithuania, Tadas Cekavicius had held many different roles. His latest role is co-launching Realthy â a real estate referral platform for realtors while also serving as CEO of Fullreach.io which serves as an advertising consultant agency for US based clients.Subscribe and leave a rating to stay updated with the latest startup founders in Europe.Reach your ideal target audience with B2BPodPros: https://www.b2bpodpros.comConnect with Er...2022-02-1630 min
Innovators Can LaughInstead of a Degree, Graduates at Turing College get a JobSend us a textLukas Kaminskis created his first coding bootcamp at 16 years old. At 22, he became a lecturer in software engineering at ISM international university. Now, Lukas is taking EdTech to a new level with the launch of Turing College where students receive a job upon graduation.Subscribe and leave a rating to stay updated with the latest startup founders in Europe.Reach your ideal target audience with B2BPodPros: https://www.b2bpodpros.comConnect with Eric on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericmelchor/...2022-02-0930 min