22 Podcasts that stood out from the crowd in 2022!
December 23rd, 2022
Well, what a year it’s been! From funding rounds to lessons learned, it’s fair to say there hasn’t been a single uneventful day in the startup ecosystem over the last 365(ish) days. As a way of looking back at 2022, we’ve picked out 22 podcasts that’ll help you become experts or at least leave you with food for thought around the respective fields!
Atypical career paths.. Or not? 🏹
There's no one-size-fits-all answer for how to become a successful entrepreneur in the tech industry. In fact, that's one of the great things about entrepreneurs - their diversity and originality. Everyone has their own story to tell and their own route to success. Here are four of our favorite unexpected jumps into the startup world...
Michelle Kennedy (Peanut) on the Riding Unicorns Podcast
In February, our favorite Insta influencer and CEO of Peanut, Michelle Kennedy, was invited onto the Riding Unicorns podcast. Michelle completed her studies in law and worked as a solicitor upon graduating, before taking a dramatic career change and becoming a successful entrepreneur: she cofounded Peanut, the first online community to connect women throughout life stages. During the podcast, Michelle discusses her future hopes for Peanut – have a listen, and compare whether her predictions are working out one year on.
Femi Kuti (Reliance Health) on the Chini ya Maji podcast: Founder Series
“Many times we step away from giving stuff a try because we think that the fallout is going to be worse than it actually is”, said Femi Kuti, CEO and Co-Founder of Reliance Health. His career path certainly attests to this mentality, as he went from a doctor to an investment banker before ‘settling’ as an entrepreneur. His startup Reliance Health uses technology to make high-quality healthcare accessible and affordable in emerging markets, and already has over 200,000 enrollees since its inception in 2015. During the podcast, Femi explains the formation of his technology-driven health insurance company and his unconventional background.
Is there ever a good time to set up your startup? Anna was an Associate at Kearney when she and her university friend decided to team up and found Hoggo, a company health insurance platform. It goes to show that there’s never a good time to launch your startup, so do it before it’s too late!
Hiring and Growing Your Team🤝
With great power comes great responsibility, and this is especially pertinent to growing startups. In this section we’ll be looking at the hiring process of a growing team, and how to incorporate company culture into the hiring prerequisites.
Joko is on a mission to build the world’s first universal shopping app. Valentine Mandon is the People Operations Manager of the company, joining the company full-time after previously working there as an intern. In this French episode, she focuses on the topic of hiring, exploring the importance of company culture and how students can pinpoint the values of a company.
Bitrise’s very own Arpad Kun was featured on the Tech Talks Daily podcast. As their VP of Engineering and Infrastructure, Arpad discussed the rise of Bitrise and his own hiring story. The result is an engaging tale about how the leading mobile DevOps platform came to be!
Olivier Cauvin (Skello) on WeLoveDevs podcast: Marche avec ta clique
We move to French again as Skello’s CTO Olivier Cauvin appeared on the WeLoveDevs podcast. The podcast is dedicated to asking startup CTOs how they support developers during their careers. Along with this, they talked about how Skello’s recent hiring spree following its $47.3M funding round.
Success stories 🙏
Who doesn’t love a heartwarming success story? Let’s dig into how a passion or vision evolves into a successful and thriving business through hard work, determination, and innovation.
Alex Chesterman OBE (Cazoo) on Riding Unicorns podcast
Tech tycoon Alex Chesterman is well aware of what it means to be a successful entrepreneur. During the podcast he discussed his motivations as well as how his experience in the startup ecosystem helped him become a better investor.
Marnix Broer (Studocu) on The EdUp Experience Podcast: How to Study More Efficiently
This one’s for you students out there! In this episode, Studocu Co-Founder and CEO explained the concept of Studocu and how sharing information can be a method of studying more effectively. We also heard the iconic story about how the EdTech was created from the depths of university dorm rooms!
Fabrice Staad (Alan) on the Finscale podcast: Un “track” de 6 ans à couper le souffle
Alan has become something of a healthcare behemoth. Since being created in 2016, Alan has grown into 300,000 members, 15,000 company clients and a unicorn status. With host Solenne Niedercorn, Fabrice Staad, General Manager France, discussed the meteoric rise of Alan and how the youth of society have helped propagate it.
2022 Top Trends 🚀
What’s hot in 2022? We’re now seeing increased attention on Greentech investments as the climate crisis intensifies, and we've finally been able to look back at the pandemic and see how it changed the startup ecosystem forever.
Mariana Cogan (People.ai) on the Enterprise Talk podcast: CMO at People.ai
What were this year’s new trends for marketers? That’s the question marketing guru Mariana tackled on the Enterprise Talk podcast, as she talked about the growing post-pandemic importance of marketing. She also looked at how companies can drive their GTM strategy while aligning sales and marketing outcomes!
While we're no longer portfolio pals, Ecovadis has gone from strength to strength this year. Green investments have grown massively this year, with Ecovadis raising $500M just a month ago! In this podcast, Peter Spiller, Partner and Head of EMEA Sustainability at McKinsey, discussed with Fergal Byrne the importance of decarbonizing companies.
Germany Focus 🔍
Sprechen Sie Deutsch? As an international VC, we think it’s crucial to avoid focusing purely on English and French, and so we bring to you our top podcasts from our European neighbors.
On this episode, Upvest’s Co-Founder and CEO gave an update on the state of the German Fintech market. He speaks from personal experience as Upvest announced a $42M funding round in June, one of the largest deals in the German market. Upvest is a B2B Investment-API, and one of the few European fintechs which owns all BaFin licenses.
Zolar provides clients with affordable solar systems for their properties! Although Greentech has been the talk of the town in 2022, it’s often difficult for average households to make their habits more environmentally friendly. That's where Zolar comes in: the company helps you contribute to climate protection while being 80% less in danger of rising energy prices thanks to its solar panels!
And now let’s hear from one of Partech’s own! Moritz is an Associate in the Seed team and was interviewed on the Startup Insider Podcast to talk about the recent closing of the fourth Seed fund.
Get to know your VC! 💰
But enough about the startups, let’s talk about the VCs! In this section we take you through Partech's smartest and brightest and the podcasts they featured on. This is the perfect way to get to know the Partech team!
Tidjane Deme on the iamtheCODE Podcast: Investing in African Entrepreneurs to Advance the #SDGs
In this podcast episode, Tidjane discussed the sustainable development goals as well as the African Tech ecosystem, which is the most profitable region in the world. He also went beyond his work life as he discussed fatherhood and what he learnt from the pandemic.
Reza Malekzadeh on the Exitroots Podcast: Hors Série Venture Capital
Switching to French now, as Reza discusses the differences between the US and France in terms of company culture, business ethos, and the markets. Focusing on exits, he looked at the role played by the investor in startup exits.
Sabrine Chahrour on the Invest in the Future Africa Podcast: Women’s Month Special #BreakTheBias
Although important strides are being made to reduce the gender inequality of the VC business, it is no secret that men dominate the sector. Here Sabrine discussed how to start a career in VC as a woman, her thesis for finding opportunities to fund companies and how to eliminate the bias when assessing founders.
Romain Lavault on the Exitroots Podcast: Hors Série Venture Capital
In this episode, Romain talks all things Partech! He discusses his role as Seed investor, his entrepreneurial background and the current fundraising market.
Boris is something of a startup specialist. Having experienced the life of a founder, he transitioned into the VC world, demonstrating a keen eye for unicorn spotting. He particularly focuses on Sorare and Jellysmack, and how the former went from struggling to find investors to a valuation of over $4Bn.
BONUS: Alumni and Exits 👋
It’s always bittersweet to see a company leave our portfolio; though we’re sad to stop working with them, we’re also proud to see how far they’ve come and excited to see where they go in the future.
Raphael Maunier (Volterra) on the Exitroots podcast: Rachat de Volterra par F5 Networks
All the way back in January, former Volterra CTO and Co-Founder Raphael spoke about the company’s acquisition by F5 Networks. Volterra was a French Cybersecurity company specialized in large-scale DDoS protection.
Foxintelligence was founded in 2016 to enable digital brands to measure precisely and accurately their online market shares. After being acquired by NielsenIQ, Founder and CEO Edouard talked about the company’s story along with the exiting process.
Although Pennylane is still in our portfolio, in this podcast Arthur recalls the successful exit of his first startup, PriceMatch. Listen to hear Arthur’s top advice for aspiring entrepreneurs!
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