The Pursuit of Scrappiness

Dana Sydorenko is the CEO and Founder of GameTree, a social network to bring together like-minded gamers and reduce toxicity in the gaming space. Leveraging her unique background as a former frontline medic in the Ukrainian army and an avid gamer, Dana has made significant strides in both the military supply sector and the gaming community.  On this episode we talk about: From serving as a frontli...

Tuomo Laine is the Co-founder and Managing director of Twice Commerce. He brings his expertise in digital service design and his commitment to the circular economy to the ecommerce tech industry.  Having taught at Aalto University and being a part of the Unreasonable Fellows, Tuomo is dedicated to making e-commerce both more sustainable and lucrative by leveraging circular economy principles. On t...

Aurimas Bakas and Andrius Minkevicius are the co-founders of CyberUpgrade. They have a proven track record in the tech industry, having built and successfully exited banking core software company Paysolut to global fintech giant SumUp and now they are embarking on their latest venture.  CyberUpgrade focuses on enhancing cybersecurity for B2B, especially SMEs and fintech companies, underscoring the...

Marko Kaseleht is the Co-founder and CEO of SensusQ. He successfully transitioned from an illustrious career in the Estonian Defense Forces to leading innovation in defense tech. With six combat tours under his belt, Marko's expertise now boosts NATO's defense capabilities as well as Ukraine's, through advanced intelligence management software. On this episode we talk about: Transit...

Sampo Hietanen is the founder and CEO of MaaS Global. A civil engineer turned entrepreneur he is recognised as the father of 'Mobility as a Service' concept.  MaaS Global, runs and operates the award winning Whim app that offers comprehensive and all-encompassing mobility service to people in such cities as Helsinki, Vienna and Tokyo. Expect to learn: - How much private vehicles are bein...

Fabio Bin and Erika De Santi are the co-founders of WeRoad. They are redefining group travel for millennials by blending unique travel experiences with local culture and social opportunities. Since its inception in 2017, WeRoad has garnered attention for its innovative approach, recently securing significant Series B funding. Their journey, from a bootstrapped venture to a thriving marketplace for...

As promised during some of the previous episodes, we went to Tartu for sTARTUp Day 2024 and brought back a recording of a fireside chat with Kaarel Kotkas. Kaarel is the founder and CEO of Veriff, one of the more recent Estonian unicorns that raised a 100m$ series C in early 2022 to hit the billion valuation mark. The 2 years that have followed have been very challenging and we sat down with Kaare...

Dainis Kruze is the CEO and Co-Founder of Aerones. With a deep passion for innovation, he and his co-founder Janis Putrams started Aerones in 2015. Originating from university projects, their ambition and hard work evolved into a robust company, now boasting over 120 employees catering to markets across Europe, North America, and Latin America. They raised $30M Series-A in 2023. On this episode we...

Kalev Kaarna is a Mentor at Creative Destruction Lab and recently became ex-VC at Superangel where for the past 5 years Kalev operated as an investor and startups coach two in one.  Kalev has specialized in propelling early-stage software and deep-tech startups to significant growth, with a keen focus on AI/ML, robotics, logistics, mobility, and SaaS B2B sectors. His prowess in guiding startups th...

Märt Lume is a co-founder of Futuclass, a VR startup aimed at enhancing the educational experience for high school students, particularly in STEM subjects like chemistry and physics. Additionally, Märt serves as the chairman of the board for the Estonian AR-VR Association. His expertise extends into the investment realm as well, being a member of the management board at Ludus Holdings, an early-st...

Priit Salumaa is a serial entrepreneur based in the vibrant tech city of Tartu. He is the CEO and founder of Better Medicine, a company focused on building AI solutions to battle cancer. His entrepreneurial journey began with the founding of a software development company called Mooncascade in 2009, during the aftermath of the global economic crisis. In addition to his business ventures, Priit has...

Dear Listeners! As 2023 comes to a close, we're taking a moment to reflect on the year that was, obviously with an emphasis on the tech world.  In this special year-end episode, we're going to take you through the biggest stories and developments in the tech and startup sectors, not just globally, but with a special focus on the Baltic countries - Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia.  We&apos...

Kaan Eren is a Principal at 500 Startups Emerging Europe as part of the global 500 Startups organization. The team in Europe has recently raised its second fund and is boasting several unicorns among its investments.  Kaan concentrates on the Eastern and Central European regions, with a particular focus on the Baltics. Before his current role at 500 Startups, Kaan had a successful career in invest...

Natalie Byrne is a brand strategist focusing on helping CEOs, celebrities, and brands build a more sustainable world. She also leads Blank Space, an impact strategy firm working with Fortune 500 companies and leaders dedicated to positive change. Natalie has held high profile roles at Dermalogica and Unilever and has been a White House delegate under President Obama speaking on topics of sustainab...

Janis Ozolins is an illustrator known for his compelling visual content on LinkedIn and Twitter. He has built a 200K following on these platforms, showcasing his unique ability to visualize and simplify complex life and business concepts.  His work, which often addresses themes like productivity, procrastination, and overcoming perfectionism, resonates with a wide audience. Janis's skills hav...

Kenneth Berger is an executive coach with a rich background in the tech industry. With experience as a founder himself as well as an early hire at Slack, Kenneth has firsthand knowledge of the challenges and opportunities in fast-growing tech companies.  He now uses his insights to help tech leaders and teams, including those at Typeform and Dribble, navigate business growth and personal developme...

Martins Lasmanis is the co-founder of Supliful - a platform that allows you to start your vitamin and supplement dropshipping business in minutes. He is a serial entrepreneur having co-founded and exited his previous company. Martins also spent almost 10 years as a VC having seen the business also from the investor side. In this episode we talk about: Starting a company after exiting a previous on...

Taavi Lindmaa is the Founder of Linkedin Daily Growth. Not only is he a Linkedin expert, but also a solo-preneur, a digital nomad and was employee #10 at Veriff, the digital ID unicorn out of Estonia. In this episode we talk about: What it means to be a solopreneur Sales strategies from Veriff early days How can digital nomad lifestyle work for you Leveraging Linkedin as a personal branding tool E...

Tanel Erm is the Head of Microsoft Development Centre Estonia  and has been with Microsoft/Skype for nearly 20 years. He has held various roles in Engineering as well as Management. Tanel has worked through both the Ebay and the Microsoft acquisitions of Skype and has an exclusive perspective on the much discussed Skype story. In this episode we talk about: Tanel’s early journey with Skype Acquisi...

Daniel Yubi is the Founder and CEO of Fintech startup Payable, a UK based treasury management startup that raised $6M at the end of the last year. He is a seasoned Fintech veteran having tenured in companies such as Checkout and Curve.  In this episode we talk about: The role of Product Manager in large Fintech companies What does it mean to be a Product minded founder What strategies work best fo...

Duncan Clark is the Canva Europe Lead and the CEO of Flourish, a leading data storytelling tool that Canva acquired in 2021. Before founding Flourish, Duncan was a data journalist at the Guardian and a commissioning editor at Penguin and Profile. He is the co-author of “The Burning Question, a data-driven take on climate change”. In this episode we talk about: How Flourish was created The acquisit...

Andreas Flodström is the CEO and Co-founder of Beetroot, a Swedish-Ukrainian IT company that strives for sustainable software development and is also running a network of IT Academy schools in 17 Ukrainian cities. Andreas has been named the entrepreneur of the year in Sweden in 2018. He is also a contributor to Forbes magazine. In this episode we talk about: How to manage remote teams during econo...

Rainer Sternfeld and Shinichi Nikkuni are two of the Partners at NordicNinja VC. NordicNinja have recently announced a new 200mEUR fund which aims to support founders who are focusing on important global issues, primarily in the sectors of climate tech, deep tech, and the digital society. This development is a part of their continued efforts to contribute positively towards reducing the global car...

Kristina Mand-Lakhiani is the co-founder of Mindvalley, a life transformation platform with a following of 20 million, as well as a writer, speaker, mother and philanthropist. She is one of the most successful businesswomen in Estonia and has set her mission to help people heal their most important relationship in life - the relationship with self. To achieve this, Kristina has recently released h...

Ilona Bernotaite is the Chief People Officer and Co-Found program ambassador at Kilo Health and is now tasked to hire 12 CEOs per year to run one of the Kilo Health growing number of portfolio businesses. Ilona has been with Kilo Health for the past few years and prior to that built a successful career at EY Talent, Learning and Development practice.  In this episode we talk about: Hiring 12 CEOs...