Startup Blueprint

🤖 We're talking all things Robotics and AI with VCs Joseph Krause and Brannon Jones from AlleyCorp! Dive into the future of technology as we discuss how hardware can keep up with software, why most people are missing the point of driverless cars, what future human augmentation will look like, and whether all-out scaling of AI models at the expense of efficiency is the right approach. 🧐 We an...

💡 Join us on the Startup Blueprint Podcast as we delve into the inspiring journey of Jane, the founder of Ops Lab. Explore the reasons behind why Jane jumped ship from a startup to start her business, discover her secret sauce, and gain insights into the psychology of successful founders. 🔗 Connect with Jane: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jane-davydiuk-b85046168/ 🔗 Connect with James: https://www...

🌱 Join Nadav Steinmetz, Founder & CEO of Climate First accelerator and Nomea climate tech fund, as he delves into the world of Climate Tech and the future of climate investing. Discover insights into why climate tech is gaining traction, how to identify promising startups, the role of batteries in the green revolution, and more! 🔗 Connect with Nadav: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nadav-steinme...

Olu Taiwo is founder and CEO of Solideon, which 3D prints for the space industry! 3D printing allows for AI-optimised design, speedy iteration, and limitless personalisation 💪 Olu's vision is to be the "AWS of manufacturing" by upending the historically slow-moving and capital-intensive industry. Olu has great stories about how he got his first startup funding, his lessons from the...

Stuart Pearce is an award winning sales trainer from the UK. From the words of his own website “Stuart has spent over 20 years training and coaching people and is currently the UK Enterprise Awards 'Sales Trainer of the Year'. He has trained people and teams across the globe from Hong Kong to Manchester and everywhere in between.” 🌍 His wealth of experience in sales leads him to drop tons...

Dr Ben Miles is a physicist, entrepreneur, startup investor and educational YouTuber (with over 100k subs) 🧬 **Key highlights of our convo: how scientists can be entrepreneurs, the downsides of too much technological progress, the eternal promise of nuclear fusion, how VCs should pivot into Deep Tech, and how to find your life's purpose! Ben's YouTube:  @DrBenMiles  Spin Up Science: https...

Raja Skogland drops top advice on - how to build your network from nothing, how to conduct customer interviews, how to sell your company's vision, fundraising strategies, and what "pre-totyping" is. Raja broke free from the corporate lifestyle as an ex-private banker in Switzerland to become a founder & VC investor 💰 A big personality with an online presence to match, she curren...

Rajeshwar is passionate climate advocate and entrepreneur, having founded green streaming service Zero-Carbon, battery research company High-LES, and climate community 42hacks. 🌱 He offers top insights into how we can reverse the current climate crisis. In episode 55 we cover - his climate startups, why different geographies need different climate solutions, localized & tailored climate solut...

Steve Bookbinder joins us from New York on this episode! Steve is a multi-book selling author with decades of experience in sales! He has done OVER 5000 workshops. He unleashes a unique perspective on sales. 👀 Steve starts with the view that sales is a social process - knowing more people in a business and having deep rapport with prospects is a sure fire way to win champions of your product. 🏆...

Amos is Founder & CEO of Dovetail Finance - empowering the financial sector to invest in net zero by modelling the impact of climate change on every company. 🌱 Amos' fascinating background is in financial crime journalism, before working at Peter Thiel's Palantir Technologies, teaching himself to code, and taking an eye-opening trip to America 🇺🇸 We then discuss: how he founded his st...

Petra joins Suraj on this episode. Petra started her journey at leading sales roles at enterprises such as IBM, and Microsoft where she was a Corporate Sales Manager and Sales Director. She is also on the board of a Managers Association for Young Managers of Slovenia. But most importantly she has recently started her own Sales Coaching business working with a range of startups. 🎯 Petra talks to u...

Umesh Sharma joins Suraj this episode. Umesh has a history in sales starting in some of India’s startups in the early 2000s working himself up to a wealth of experience in sales and moving to enterprise sales. He has led sales teams all over India. 🇮🇳 Umesh drops his knowledge on what it takes to run a startup sales team and target customers with varying perspectives such as aiming an early stage...

How to automate the world? You need Robotics 🤖 Abe Murray, General Partner at AlleyCorp Robotics, invests in early-stage companies that are making all our lives easier and propelling humanity forward 🌍 We lift the lid on robotics, covering: Abe's background working on a fishing boat, his time at Google, his approach to life, his purpose & passions, his lesson from Paul Graham, his love f...

What is the Future of Clean Energy? 🌱 Marcus Clover is a venture capitalist and hydrogen engineer, co-founder of Energy Revolution Ventures (ERV). He and his team invest in green technology startups powering the energy revolution, centred around electrochemistry - including hydrogen, energy storage, carbon capture, and advanced materials. These DeepTech solutions will drive breakthroughs in clean...

Ever wondered how to become better at finding and qualifying leads? What the key metrics you should be measuring and analysing when assessing your sales performance? And generally how to boost your revenue by building a more robust sales pipeline? Look no further! This Sales Series episode is a run-through of the life and work of a senior SDR (Sales Development Representative) with Ryan Lundberg f...

Green Hydrogen = hydrogen made from renewable resources ♻️ Why isn't green hydrogen everywhere? Because making green hydrogen is still expensive 💰  Koji Muto is CEO of Ki Hydrogen, who are slashing the cost of making green hydrogen dramatically by reducing the energy needed by up to 75%. Listen in to hear how exactly they achieve this remarkable and innovative feat 👉 Koji & James discuss...

Sandeep Shekhar is a sales coach at Sprinto with over 18 years of experience in sales. His passion and understanding of structuring conversations help his students all throughout the pipeline. Sandeep talks to Suraj about various nuanced conversational techniques to structure questions and handle objections. A discussion around positioning during various parts of the sales pipeline from setting th...

Denis is Founder of Space Ambition and a DeepTech investor at I2BF Global Ventures, focussing on startups digitally transforming boring and unsexy industries. 🤖  Denis also does a huge amount of work around the wider startup consultancy arena, looking to inspire the next generation of DeepTech founders and VCs 🚀  His space origin story: while working in banking, he was approached to invest in an...

LaSean Smith has worked at Amazon, Microsoft, is currently a private investor & operator, and loves to produce movies - in his own words, he likes to taste the "buffet of life". LaSean breaks down: the lesson we can learn from comedians, how to get constant startup ideas, how to validate these ideas, the 3 ways to approach being a founder, the indicators of entrepreneurial success, t...

How can we change the world for the better? 🌍 Dr. Micol Chiesa Churchill and Dr. Chris de Koning recently launched Planet Positive Lab - a climate accelerator building world-leading climate startups in the Oxford ecosystem! James sits down with the two heads of Planet Positive Lab, discussing: what skills the two guests each bring to the accelerator, what a good climate accelerator looks like, th...

Jeremy Barr is a founder mentor, providing leadership advice to entrepreneurs with a unique and detailed approach. Jeremy has extensive experience as a software developer, was a chief technology officer, and is now CEO of his coaching platform Rocket Mindset as well being a VC.  Jeremy went from "super nerd" to "super social" through deliberate processes and actions - allowing...

Leading the charge of next-gen composite materials manufacturing is Russ Vorobev, founder of Composite Vision. Russ has a PhD in Mechanics & Mathematics with a lifelong passion for DeepTech and composite materials engineering, and excels at making complex subjects easy to understand. His company turbo-charges non-destructive testing (NDT) of composites in aerospace by leveraging AI algorithms....

How do I build a Military startup?  Max Werner used his 7 years' experience in the German military to identify the missing pieces and launch his startup - high-tech drones for first man replacement on military operations. Max's story from the military to entrepreneur to consultant, some misconceptions about the military, how he launched hisnext-gen military drones startup, military drones...

The manufacturing sector has some catching up to do. To make full use of the shop floor, physical infrastructure and digital solutions (including the likes of AI and computer vision) must integrate seamlessly with one another - there's no simple existing solution for this. Alex Krüger is looking to change this as co-founder and COO of United Manufacturing Hub - who are putting the most powerfu...

Karl Swanepoel launched his first online business at 15 and is now founder of Revolancer, a freelance marketplace that lets you pay for services with your expertise rather than your money. Karl’s been a freelancer since he was a kid, making money from home part time as a student with no experience - his journey started when he tried to launch a YouTube channel at age 12. We talk: how to make money...