Episodes
Ondrej is a Head of Sparring CZ Office, helps startups in early stages and VC funds, and aims to explain legal terms in human language. Enjoy the newest episode with our host Kate Syslova about the origin of Sparring name, functional ESOPs, Angel Investors, or IPOs. And guess Ondrej's favorite food.
Published 11/20/24
Ory Weihs, an Israeli living in Prague, Ory is an experienced founder turned investor. He is the founder of XLMedia PLC & Team Odeon, an early investor in companies such as Mews, Medorion, 4Trans, Legly, Scaut, Bridgify, EverBlue Labs, CzechFounders VC and more. Ory is an avid supporter of the startup community and leads several philanthropic activities, in the newest episode by Andrew Gray.
Published 11/07/24
Published 11/07/24
The first guest of our new co-host Andrew Gray is a serial impact and climate tech founder and investor, Ryan Grant Little!Ryan's work focuses on removing animals from the supply chain and reducing climate impact. At the age of 20, he founded the charity Canada Helps, which has facilitated more than $3B of donations to Canadian charities over 25 years.  He has had two very different entrepreneurial journeys which have both resulted in successful exits, and is a prolific climate investor. Most...
Published 09/26/24
Tématem dalšího plzeňského BIC Beatu byl DeepTech. Jan Romportl, CEO plzeňského startupu Elin.ai, popularizátorka AI Sara Polak a Petr Ulvr, zakladatel českého deep tech fondu Tensor Ventures si povídali o české deep tech scéně. Vzniká v Česku dost kvalitních deep tech startupů? Jak jsou podporovány a co jde dělat lépe? Jak pomoci DeepTech startupům? Je zde dostatek DeepTech investorů? To a mnohé víc v následující diskuzi, která je záznamem živého eventu v Plzni, díky inkubátoru BIC.
Published 09/24/24
The Fall of the Year will be fully packed with Startup Events and we can't wait! With the upcoming highlist event for investors ENGAGED Conference by DEPO Ventures, let us revisit the discussion we had last year with Jan Krahulik and Marvin Liao from Diaspora Ventures.  We discussed CEE startups still aspiring for the “big fish in a small pond” award, why Marvin thinks VCs didn’t learn a thing or what are the unsexy verticals VCs overlook. Hosted by our Katerina Syslova.
Published 09/17/24
Hostem této epizody je Jaro Horváth, který je ředitelem oddělení Strategie, Change Management, Research & Development v Raiffeisenbank. Kromě toho, že občas zamíří vypomáhat na pobočku banky, tak se také (kromě rodiny) věnuje cyklistice, běhu a turistice. Je náruživý čtenář a jako informační jídlo považuje "písmenkovou polévku". Chytré, že? Stejně jako celá epizoda. Dobrou chuť!
Published 09/13/24
In short; Tereza is a SuperWoman. Adding a few more words; Tereza was the first member of People Operations at productboard, and helped to scale this tech Unicorn from 24 employees up to 140 in a year and a half. Then helped PortComps in a leading European VC Fund Credo Ventures, was Head of People in Deepnote, and now in Attio in London. Besides building a love brand from productboard, Tereza co-founded DisruptHR Prague, mentors in the FemmePalette, co-founded Hirin-On-Ramp, loves horses...
Published 09/13/24
Don’t judge other people’s style too quickly, and maybe don’t fuss so much over coffee beans either ☕. Fashion and gastro are all about riding the trends just right—without bending too much or selling out. Thea gave us a peek into how Elle navigates between fleeting hypes and lasting trends, balancing the brand’s path in a world where everyone praises sustainability 🌱, yet fast fashion still dominates. Can we enjoy the hype without losing sight of its impact? Lukáš shared how he’s taken...
Published 09/03/24
Tento díl našeho podcastu bude speciální, jedná o záznam z našeho eventu #Startup Cinema: Cooking The Books with Wirecard, kde jsme nejen hledali recept na úspěch, ale také se pídili po tom, jak nedopadnout jako německý FinTech gigant. Do panelu přijali pozvání Honza Husták z Hustakomunkejšn (který nám podal úhel pohledu PRisty), Stefan Surina z Eldison (úhel pohledu právníka), Michal Šmída ex-Twisto (úhel pohledu Foundera), Marika Kvietková z Deloitte (úhel pohledu auditora) a v neposlední...
Published 08/19/24
Proč se právní kanceláře jmenují po svých zakladatelích, zatímco VC fondy jsou většinou “Lorem-Ipsun Ventures”? Co dělají právníci v investorském hrnci a jak se kuchtík stane partnerem v Havel & Partners? Jaká je skutečná návratnost fondů?  A není peníze někdy lepší dát do raději do spořáku? Jak rozparcelovat svůj startupový koláč , abych neodradil další investory?  O tom všem a také o tom, kdy AI nahradí @Jarda Baier v našem Startup Kitchen podcastu
Published 07/31/24
What on Earth are diggers doing in the startup community? "Baby, can you drive my Bobcat?"  We cannot wait to try their full-electric, cell-operated, game-like machinery!  Will Bobcat be like your next GTA car?  Is it still possible for Bobcat to end up like Nokia or Tesla?  What was their "innovator's dilemma"? BTW, you wanna play with diggers most innovatively?  Bobcat is the way!  Tune in to find out more!
Published 07/23/24
What's the role of advisors in the startup industry? How to find those really relevant? How to convince the All-Star Advisor that you are the one? And how to make the best of it? This and much more in this week's newest episode with Huyn Park, former Head of Global Offering Management at NOKIA, United Nations Startup Advisor and University of Cambridge and Stanford University Mentor who now serves as a startup advisor globally. And thanks Pavol Cobirka for making this happen!
Published 07/15/24
We discussed how to build a Global accelerator fund for passionate B2B founders, and how to distinguish the good from the empty and bloated or why is everything Startup Wise Guys related in Red Color? Enjoy our newest episode with a leading worldwide startup Accelerator and its Boss. Who likes to eat fabada.
Published 07/01/24
Třetí plzeňský BIC Beat přivedl na jedno místo inspirativní VC investory a zkušené foundery, kteří za sebou mají několik investičních kol. Z Depo Ventures dorazila Kateryna Kovalenko, Tensor Ventures reprezentoval Ondřej Lipold, BIC Plzeň (a také Socialbakers) Lukáš Maixner a Delta Green David Brožík. A vše moderoval náš Tom Cironis. Co v panelu zaznělo: Jak funguje Venture Capital, co od něj očekávat a kdy jej využít? Podle čeho si investor vybírá a jak nastavuje valuaci? Jak získat...
Published 06/27/24
Continuing our Estonian Journey! This time with the youngest MP Hana Lahe from Riigikogu who's already making a big impact! She helped to make gay marriage legal or is fighting the climate crisis (which is a tough job in Estonia, as it has a deep-rooted car-loving culture, even though there is free public transportation for residents) and much more! And now we present you our newest videocast, with Hana, directly from Heldeke Bar in Tallinn, Estonia.
Published 06/07/24
Linda is an Associate at Karma Ventures, supporting the team with c-suite and board recruitment, market research, and a strong international executive network. She came to the studio on a scooter eventhough there is -1°C and it's snowing outside. Linda Võeras has wet hair and a huge smile. She shakes the snow off and is ready to shoot in 30 seconds, explaining how education can also be deep tech and how advancing defense should be called "innovating peace." 🛡️ Then she hits the sauna....
Published 05/07/24
Ilavska Vuillermoz Capital – now say it three times quickly in a row! Let's think about a bottle of gin becoming a unicorn – together with Alain Wildanger & Laurent Hengesch & OTTO. From pre-seed to series C/D – ain't the same league; it ain't even the same sport! Or is it?Why are grandmas important?What can Luxembourg VC bring to Czech and CEE startups?Why does a VC firm own half of the volcano?How is fundraising in the Czech Republic going?All that in the latest...
Published 03/14/24
The panel discussion titled „How to build a company culture while moving the company forward quickly“ took place, exploring strategies for establishing a robust company culture amidst rapid growth. Lucie Brešová, SVP Groupon Operations, and Marek Vašíček, CTO, co-founder of FTMO and Vratislav Kalenda, Frontman / CEO and Co-founder of Applifting participated in the panel discussion moderated by Filip Mikschik, Founder & CEO of StartupJobs, and Barbora Kebzová, Brand & Marketing...
Published 02/29/24
Karolina Mrozkova, General Partner at Credo Ventures, & our latest master chef in the Startup Kitchen Talk!From fashion runways to startup runways and airport runways, Karolina’s Trans-Atlantic journey is a hell of a flight. Why is “Respectible Fighting” crucial in the VC fund? From White Star Capital -> Credo Ventures; Does the European modesty work better than American-boosted culture? Is the principle of “survival of the fittest” more pronounced in the modeling industry or the...
Published 02/06/24
Harvey Ma, Ex Rocket Internet, now founder at Aedge Ventures and Managing Partner at BlackStorm Consulting with experiences from Silicon Valley, Taiwan, and Mainland China. And sneakerhead. What should be the 1st step when scaling to APAC? How deep should the founder study the complexity of loucal soup & entaglend relationships and historical grudges? Would Rocket Internet’ ctrl-c & ctrl-v startup model work today? What businesses stand a chance in Mainland China? Is it tech? What...
Published 01/16/24
🧗‍♀️ How many VCs do you know are mountain climbers? And how many of them are competitive weightlifters? 🏋‍♀️🌋 Last question: How many of them studied volcanology?Sounds improbable? 🙌 Then meet our next precious guest; Zoë Reich from Octopus Ventures in London! She's an experienced VC investor, successfully exited her own startup (hint crypto market), did research on the Science, Research and Innovation Department at the British Government and now manages a 50M EUR fund focused on...
Published 11/02/23
Why should guinea pigs be careful around Marvin and Jan?Are CEE startups still aspiring for the “big fish in a small pond” award?How does the rolling fund roll out?Why does Marvin think VCs didn’t learn a thing? What mistakes do they repeat like guinea piggies in a wheel?What are the unsexy verticals VCs overlook?Are Jan or Marvin Assholes? Listen to the latest episode with Marvin Liao from Diaspora Ventures and Jan Krahulik from Depo Ventures hosted by our Katerina Syslova.
Published 11/02/23
Grandma asks why her kitchen robot isn’t an AI: and Matous Kostlivy, director of AI Hub, and Jan Cizmar, founder of an AI startup, answer. What is the difference between this and the previous meta and crypto hypes? Is there an AI winter coming...ever?Do we need Erupean ChatGPT? Or has that ship already sailed? Why is state support crucial? Isn’t private money enough? How does Technologicka inkubace works with startups? Was longboarding ever really cool? What will the festival Dny AI...
Published 10/11/23
Tento díl našeho podcastu bude speciální, jedná o záznam z našeho eventu #Startup Cinema s podtitulem Theranos: Blood, Money and Ego, kde jsme nejen hledali recept na úspěch, ale také se pídili po tom, proč se tolik lidí Theranos polívkou otrávilo. Do panelu přijali pozvání Honza Husták z Hustakomunkejšn (který nám podal úhel pohledu PRisty), Ondřej Zemek ze Sparring Legal (úhel pohledu právníka), Petr Štěpánek z Macromo (úhel pohledu Foundera) a v neposlední řadě také Jana Dusheke ze Seed...
Published 08/31/23