the talktank

The Bits & Bytes Series - Lisa Makarova Hosted by Jessica Ge Today we speak to our fellow beaver, Lisa Makarova. 🐻 Lisa is the head of LSE Generate’s GAP, a 12-week accelerator programme designed for early-stage startups to reach new heights. 🏔🏃‍♀️ Bringing insights from all over the world (Russia, Germany, America, and the UK to name a few), we hear from the woman who co-founded ZebraFarm,...

The Bits & Bytes Series - Glen Moriarty Hosted by Sia Sha Glen Moriarty is a clinical psychologist who founded 7 Cups after attending Y Combinator in 2013.🧠 7 Cups is a free website that connects those in emotional distress with trained volunteer listeners as well as professional therapists. 7 Cups has reached over 60 million people in 189 countries and collaborated with institutions such as...

The Beyond Profit Series - Matt Griffiths  Hosted by Elissa Chung  It is officially in with the old, out with the new! The fun new way to shop now is by kilo! 🛍🤑 Today’s guest is Matt Griffiths, founder of we are., the company on a mission to redefine fashion forever. 🤯There is a good chance you might have heard of we are., as they have been taking over the UK with their second-life fa...

The Bits & Bytes Series - Mehran Sahami Hosted by Sia Sha Mehran is the James and Ellenor Chesebrough Professor in the School of Engineering and Associate Chair for Education in the Computer Science department at Stanford. 🖥🤓 He is on the advisory board of various startups and prior he was a full-time Senior Research Scientist at Google. He has recently published his book “System Error: Where...

The Bits & Bytes Series - Alison Darcy Hosted by Sia Sha Woebot Health operates at the edge of technological innovation in digital therapeutics, providing an app in which individuals can have conversations with a sophisticated chatbot that uses artificial intelligence. 🧠🤖 The startup has roughly 70 employees and has recently raised $90m in its Series B round from prestigious investors such a...

The Bits & Bytes Series - Mike Quinn Hosted by Jessica Ge Today’s episode is all about purpose. Mike Quinn is the co-founder and CEO of Boost, with a mission to power growth for the 100 million underserved entrepreneurs in Africa's informal economy who are creating sustainable jobs and income for the future. 🏃🏿‍♂️ Prior to Boost, Mike was the co-founder and CEO of Zoona, one of Africa's earl...

The Bits & Bytes Series - Iris Ten Teije  Hosted by David Murugasu  Today on the show, we have Iris Ten Teije, co-founder and CEO of Koia.  Koia is an alternative investments platform that allows anyone, with just 50 dollars, to invest in their favourite luxury goods and collectables, from fine wine all the way to rare Pokemon cards. 🔥This is all made possible through fractiona...

The Bits & Bytes Series - Martin Schilling Hosted by Jessica Ge Most startups begin their journey treading through years of trial and error, but what if there was a way to fast track through it all? 🏃🏻‍♂️ Martin Schilling who is now the managing director of Techstars Berlin, received his doctorate from LSE, was the COO of N26 (a German mobile bank valued at $9 billion), was the Managing Dire...

Artistpreneurs Series - Samanah Duran Hosted by Elissa Chung This week we have a conversation with Samanah Duran - this Forbes 30 under 30 honouree is a British entrepreneur, TV personality and podcaster with a fierce emphasis on inspiring individuals to embrace their own identity and take pride in their individuality through BEYOUROWN 🔥 First known for the crafting of indulgent streetwear brand...

The Bits & Bytes Series - Adam French Hosted by Jessica Ge Graduating from LSE in 2007, Adam French isn’t your typical finance hardo. 💸 From directing commodities and derivatives at Goldman Sachs for seven years, you could say that Adam learned a thing or two about finance and entrepreneurship. Leading him to co-found the wealth management startup, Scalable Capital in 2015, where investing ha...

The Artistpreneurs Series - Isabella Burley Hosted by Alki Giavridis Today’s guest is Isabella Burley , the former Editor-in-Chief of the culture and fashion bible Dazed . The young creative has followed a path unlike any other, dropping out two months into her art degree, to pursue a career in the fast-moving world of fashion. She joined Dazed magazine at the age of 22 and became Editor-in-Chief...

The Bits & Bytes Series - Lars Rasmussen Hosted by Alki Giavridis Today’s guest is Lars Rasmussen, serial Entrepreneur and father of a product that many of us can’t live without - Google Maps. Lars created the mapping technology with his brother and sold it to Google before becoming Lead Engineer of the Google Maps team for six years. He then went on to join Facebook as its Director of Enginee...

The Bits & Bytes Series - Elsa Bernadotte Hosted by Tina Soh Today’s guest is Elsa Bernadotte, co-founder of Karma, a food waste app that operates as a marketplace enabling retailers to sell unsold food at a discount direct to consumers. Karma’s mission is to eliminate food waste, and in process has been rated as one of the top 100 hottest startups in Europe by Wired. Elsa has featured on the...

The Artistpreneurs Series - Mica Tenenbaum and Matthew Lewin Hosted by Jessica Ge Hop in a time machine ⏰ and travel to a simultaneous past and future through the nostalgic, spacey pop sound of Magdalena Bay. 👽🎵 The young Miami-raised pair who boast 4.9 million streams on their biggest song, Killshot, are single-handedly reinventing a genre from their humble LA apartment. Transforming the way w...

The Artistpreneurs Series - Penny Martin Hosted by Esther de Jongh Today’s guest is Penny Martin, Editor in Chief of The Gentlewoman, a biannual women’s magazine with style, character and purpose. Penny originally started her career in academia with a background in art history and museum studies, but the world of curating soon swept her away. Fast forward to 2009, when she was approached to co-cre...

The Beyond Profit Series - Torsten Schreiber Hosted by Julian Kirschner This week we are excited to introduce Torsten Schreiber, serial social entrepreneur and climate activist. In 2014, he co-founded Africa GreenTec, the company that brings sustainable green energy to rural areas in Africa, creating opportunities for businesses to flourish while reducing the need for Diesel power plants. Torsten...

The Bits & Bytes Series - Jamie Crummie Hosted by Tina Soh This week we take you on board to fight food waste with us. You will listen to the story of Jamie Crummie, entrepreneur, waste warrior and industry leader, who empowers others to make the world a better place. 💫 Jamie Crummie is the co-founder of Too Good To Go, the world’s leading marketplace for surplus food. The free app connects f...

The Artistpreneurs Series - Ben Beal Hosted by Jessica Ge Featured on every lo-fi study playlist you jam to, when you think 22-year-old NYC rapper, you don’t envision the laid-back, jazzy lo-fi hip hop artist Ben Beal. Ben Beal, who boasts 65 million worldwide listeners and a viral TikTok hit on his song Smile, lived your typical college life but always had a deep-rooted passion for music. 🎵🎤 If...

The Bits & Bytes Series - Lola Lafia Hosted by Alki Giavridis Today's guest is the extraordinary Lola Lafia, who studies Computer Science and Architecture at Columbia but took a year off from university to co-found Schefs. ✨ Schefs is a mission-driven platform that invites university students from all around the world to lead and join themed conversations on diverse topics, from astrophy...

The Women of LSE Series - Nassia Matsa Hosted by Alki Giavridis Today’s episode is part of our ‘Women of LSE’ mini-series, a collaboration with the LSE SU Women in Business Society dedicated to the insights of women alumnae who are making waves in their respective fields 🦸‍♀️💥 This week we celebrate Nassia Matsa, a London-based journalist/model with published work in the Financial Times, WIRED,...

The Bits & Bytes Series - Jiawei Li Hosted by Jessica Ge During a global pandemic, the world lives in uncertainty. Today’s guest addresses this uncertainty through her London based company. Jiawei Li, a graduated PhD medicine student from UCL, is the founder and CEO of Tuli Health. 🏥💜 A digital health platform catered to serving global citizens. 🌎 Hear Jiawei’s fascinating story of dropping...

The Artistpreneurs Series - Steve Dool Hosted by Tina Soh This episode’s guest is Steve Dool, Head of Brand Partnerships at Depop - a social shopping marketplace with over one third of all 16 to 24 year olds as members in the UK, and 26 million users in 147 countries worldwide. 👖👗👚Depop empowers young creatives to sell thrifted, secondhand and sustainable fashion. Not only this, but Steve has w...

The Unwrapped Series - Ben Judah Hosted by Rafae Qazi Are you interested in journalism? Do you actively follow political news and always have an opinion on current events? 🧐 Then you need to check out this week’s special episode! We talked to Ben Judah, author, journalist and Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council. Ben Judah’s writing has been featured in the New York Times, The Eveni...

The Artistpreneurs Series - Roderick van der Lee Hosted by Esther de Jongh Today’s guest is Roderick van der Lee, one of the founders of UNSEEN Amsterdam, a contemporary photography fair praised by the Guardian - amongst many others - as “ the best loved of them all, known both for it's intimacy and strong curatorial agenda.” After curating for other international fairs he is back this year to dir...

The Women of LSE Series - Shereen Abdulla Hosted by Nicholas Tan Today’s episode is part of our new ‘Women of LSE’ mini-series, a collaboration with the LSE SU Women in Business Society dedicated to the insights of women alumnae who are making waves in their respective fields 🦸‍♀️💥 Our guest today has diverse experience, from raising unicorns, to working in banking and consulting, and exploring...