The Recursive Podcast

Our next guest is a computer engineer who dropped his PHD to create an online platform to ignite kids in Bulgaria to learn. Darin Madzharov created Ucha.se a decade ago. His edtech platform offers video lessons and tests for all grades in the public school system in Bulgaria. Over time Ucha.se turned into a tool for the teachers to inspire kids to study. Now, more than 60% of the schools in the co...

Our next guest created his first company when he was just 28 years old. Radoslav Georgiev is the co-founder and CTO of the Bulgarian-born OKR management software Gtmhub . OKR stands for objective and key results methodology for goal setting in business. Together with his co-founders, Rado is part of the so-called Telerik mafia. A term coined for the entrepreneurs who came out of one of the most su...

Our next guest is an engineer by calling and an entrepreneur by accident, as he puts it himself. Kosta Jordanov is the co-founder of FITE, a global pay-per-view platform for combat sports events . With more than 5000 streamed events and over 10 million users, FITE became the top-grossing app in the world across all categories. In 2021, the streaming platform was acquired by the US-founded TrillerN...

The Recursive podcast is back for Season 4 and it welcomes one of the founding fathers of the Bulgarian tech ecosystem. Vassil Terziev is the biggest angel investor in Bulgaria. He’s also among the most active ones in the whole region. He’s a partner at the early-stage fund Eleven Ventures . Vassil Terziev is the co-founder of one of Bulgaria’s most successful tech companies, Telerik. The company’...

To wrap up a season of awesome conversations, we invite you to take a peek at the playbooks for building great products of some of the most exciting companies from the SEE region. From the fundamentals of value creation to having the audacity to shape the world around them in a positive way, these entrepreneurs talk about how they have learned: To process negative feedback; To ask their customers...

Our next guest wears many hats. Hristo Hristov is a serial entrepreneur involved in the development of digital media in Bulgaria. He is an angel investor and a partner in the VC fund Eleven Ventures . He is also a mentor to startups in the entrepreneurial network Endeavor. Currently, Hristo is the CEO of the private equity company HR Capital and of Darik radio . In this episode, he reflects how hi...

Our next guest is one of the few engineers to have walked on the red carpet in Hollywood. Peter Mitev is the co-founder of t he software company Chaos . And owner of Oscar and Emmy awards for technological achievements . The company offers technology for rendering and 3D visualizations known worldwide. It has applications in design, architecture and entertainment among others. In the beginning of...

Our guest today is one of the most experienced product managers in the Bulgarian tech-scene. Her name is Mariya Rashkovska and she is the head of product management of the Bulgarian Adtech company PubGalaxy . Last year, PubGalaxy was acquired by the Dutch scaleup Azerion . Prior to joining PubGalaxy, Mariya held management positions at companies such as Telerik and Financial Times. She is also the...

Our next guest has always believed in the idea that space is closer than we think. Raycho Raychev is the co-founder of one of the fastest growing space tech companies in Europe - EnduroSat . EnduroSat builds nanosatellites and it offers shared satellite missions that give nations, companies, and even universities access to space . Raycho Raychev has also created a leadership and space education pr...

Next, on The Recursive podcast we welcome an experienced engineer and a pioneer in the computer software industry in Bulgaria. Boris Simandoff currently serves as the VP of Tech Innovations at Via, the on-demand transit tech company , born in the US. He’s also the General Manager of their engineering team in Bulgaria. He has more than 20 years of experience in the field of software design, code op...

Our next guest found entrepreneurship driven by her mission to help people and create something meaningful. While looking for a clinical trial for her sister diagnosed with a medical condition that lacked traditional treatment, Maya Zlatanova saw the need for a platform that helps patients look for alternative treatment. This is how FindMeCure was born. The company is now bringing research closer...

Next on The Recursive podcast we welcome one of the most prominent executives and pioneers in the IT industry in Bulgaria. Ivaylo Slavov is a citizen of the world. Having a long and successful corporate career in Germany, he came back to Bulgaria more than 15 years ago to help set up the first nearshore IT operations for American giants like HP. 10 years ago he started his own company BULPROS and...

Next on The Recursive podcast, we welcome a female entrepreneur who is passionate about business change, automation and the circular economy. Adina Huma is the co-founder of a Bucharest-based platform that offers sustainable packaging solutions for e-Commerce players called R-Create . Adina and her co-founder Linda Vasilescu aim to help online retailers reduce waste, lower costs, and attract custo...

The Recursive podcast is back from winter break. Our next guest is an entrepreneur who is keen on technology and AI as much as he enjoys talking about philosophy and leadership. Ciprian Borodescu is the co-founder of MorphL, a start-up that developed an artificial intelligence-based solution to help online stores increase sales, and optimize their product metrics. His startup was acquired by the F...

2021 has been a spectacular year for our next guest. Hristo Borisov is the co-founder and CEO of the Bulgarian fintech startup Payhawk, which raised a 20M dollars Series A in the first half of the year, followed by a historic for the Bulgarian ecosystem 112M dollars Series B in November. The startup which helps SMEs manage their expenses has ambitious plans for expansion in the US, Europe, and the...

Our next guest has been an entrepreneur even before he knew what that meant. He earned his first money as a teenager, drawing graffiti for small businesses in Bucharest. Bogdan Nicoara is currently the co-founder of Bright Spaces, an end-to-end digital leasing platform for commercial real estate. Born in Romania in 2019, the startup is aiming to become a global tech disruptor in real estate. With...

Next stop for The Recursive podcast - Bucharest. It is where we meet serial entrepreneur and angel investor Gregoire Vigroux . The Frenchman who fell in love in Romania, set up all his businesses there, and made his goal to show everybody all the opportunities that the country presents. As a hyperactive person who likes to be challenged every day, Gregoire is born with an entrepreneurial mindset....

Next, on The Recursive podcast we welcome seasoned entrepreneur Ilia Krastev . As the CEO of A Data Pro , he’s managing a diverse portfolio of companies in the data and information economy -  the business news provider for Southeast Europe SeeNews , the media monitoring company Perceptica , the business platform for renewable energy - Renewables Now , and the scientific unit, based on AI solu...

Our next guest on The Recursive podcast is an illustrator and designer turned entrepreneur Gergana Stancheva. She and her co-founder Angela Ivanova found a way to say goodbye to plastic in the packaging industry. Together they created LAM’ON in 2017 - а startup producing biodegradable laminating film for print and packaging. Several years later they are ready to launch officially and sell their pr...

Our next guest is a seasoned French businessman whose entrepreneurial journey is deeply intertwined with the fast development of the Bulgarian post-communist economy. Xavier Marcenac first came to Bulgaria in the early 90s, as the country was opening up for foreign investors. After several years of managing companies in Europe, in the early 2000s he came back to start one of the first BPO companie...

In Bucharest again, we meet the co-founder of established software company QUALITANCE and most recently the AI-assisted platform for digital transformation FLOWX.AI Ioan Iacob. FLOWX.AI has just raised $8.5 million in a seed round , led by PortfoLion , with Day One Capital and SeedBlink also participating in the round. In this conversation with Ioan for The Recursive podcast, you will learn: How a...

Next on The Recursive podcast, we welcome seasoned entrepreneur and investor turned political candidate Daniel Lorer. His journey in the business world has been versatile and rich. Starting as a coder, turned into a sales executive, who then turned into а startup founder with a couple of successful exits. After years of living between Tel Aviv, Paris, Brussels, and Zurich, he came back to Bulgaria...

On the next stop in Bucharest, The Recursive podcast welcomes Ilinca Paun . She is a person who knows the price of taking big risks to chase the freedom and the excitement of the unknown. At the top of the corporate ladder as the manager of Colliers in Romania, she quit her job as an expert in the real estate business to become an explorer. She co-founded The Entrepreneurship Academy and became a...

The next guest of the Bucharest edition of The Recursive podcast is a person who anticipates future trends and helps people and organizations see the opportunities in them. Ciprian Stanescu is the co-founder of Social Innovation Solutions , an organization that assists leaders in creating sustainable tech, entrepreneurial & policy solutions. With a background in political science and economics...

Season 2 of The Recursive podcast kicks off in Bucharest. We first meet XENIA MUNTEAN, the co-founder, and CEO of the marketing collaboration platform Planable . She considers herself “an accidental entrepreneur”, even though she started her first business when she was just 20 years old. Today, the platform she and her co-founders built to help marketing teams collaborate better is used by over 5,...