Entrepreneurial Roadmap: 21 Podcasts that Led the Way in 2021
“Always be learning”. This is the advice that many an entrepreneur has given over the years. Yet often, as a founder, you get little time to sit and study. Whatever stage of the entrepreneurial journey you’re at - be it rushing to your first pitch, travelling to a board meeting or on your way to celebrate an IPO - we’ve got you covered. Organized into categories such as ‘Leadership’, ‘Scaling’, ‘Company Culture’ and ‘Exits’, here is our list of the top 21 Partech portfolio podcasts from 2021, to help you learn on the go. 🎧
💸 Trending: Fintech
First and foremost, in the world of entrepreneurship, it
always pays to know your trends. What’s been hot this year? How will these
tendencies evolve, grow, or even fizzle out over the next 12 months? One area
that’s certainly seen impressive growth over the past year was Fintech. If
you’re looking to dive deeper into this particular
trend, here are three recommendations to get you going:
1. Philippe Gelis (Kantox) - La boite “tech” qui automatise la couverture du risque de change (FR)
Kantox offers Currency Management Automation software to corporates.
In this episode, CEO Philippe Gelis explains their “Dynamic Hedging” solution
that allows companies to capture growth opportunities that result from trading
in local currencies.
2. Robin Gregg (RoadSync) - Leaders in Payments Podcast (EN)
There are some niches in the fintech you may have never even
thought about. Roadsync is digitizing payments in the trucking industry, that
unlike consumer payments, are still vastly made in paper form or cash. Robin
Gregg expands upon the use cases of her startup, how she first got into the
world of payments, and the future of fintech.
Developing and selling a SaaS platform for SMBs, Agicap gives these businesses real-time visibility over their cash via a simple, intuitive interface. Co-Founder Sebastien tells us about the internationalization of this solution, and how treasury management is fast becoming the key to succeeding as an SME.
🎩 Leadership
Every great startup needs a great leader. Whether you’re a
founder who’s been there since the very first day, or a seasoned CEO brought in
much later, honing your leadership skills and adapting your style to a startups’
specific needs is key. To see just how different the role of CEO can look, check
out these podcasts:
1. Carl Wazen (Yoco) - Revolutionizing South Africa’s Digital Payments (EN)
Despite now leading Yoco, South Africa’s leading payments
platform for small businesses, Carl does not originally hail from the country,
but is in fact from Lebanon. In this episode, learn how he used this fresh
perspective to his advantage to truly “redesign the payments industry from
first principles”.
2. Oleg Rogynskyy (People.ai) - The Secret to Productivity Using AI (EN)
“How do you build better managers?” is the question Oleg tackles
in this episode. As CEO and Founder of People.ai, he is working to use patented
AI technology to transform business activity data such as emails, meetings, and
contacts, into recommendations that increase Sales, Marketing and Ops
performance, helping leaders to do just that: lead.
3. Alberto Rizzoli (V7) - SaaS Leadership Stories (EN)
In this podcast, Alberto Rizzoli, CEO and Co-Founder of V7, teaches us the valuable lesson that being a leader does not mean internalizing everything and tackling it all by yourself. He praises the value of leveraging services from other SaaS companies to delegate load and focus on your company’s core.
♥ Company culture
Founding values are easy to declare when your team is small.
But as your company grows and evolves, the working culture and values will
naturally shift. How can CEOs protect and also nurture this original culture,
all while adding to it as the startups’ values and goals change at the same
time? These podcasts focused on the subject will surely help you along the way.
1. Barnabas Birmacher (Bitrise) - Culture First... The Untold Story of Bitrise (EN)
Following the story of Bitrise right from the early days to product
reiteration and their latest $60M raise, in this episode, CEO and Founder of
the startup, Barnabas, teaches us how to expand without losing touch with your
founding values, and how to use feedback to constantly improve company culture.
2. Ryan Breslow (Bolt) - What I Know: Culture is Everything (EN)
Building one of the world’s hottest unicorn startups, Founder
Ryan Breslow says, “people have been the key to our growth so far.” Lauded for
their recent introduction of a 4-day work week, learn more in this podcast
about how Bolt came to be a true leader in establishing and constantly
improving company culture.
3. Alix de Sagazan (AB Tasty) - Les Français devraient être aussi optimistes que les Américains (FR)
As France fast catches up the UK and the US as a startup nation, Alix de Sagazan, Founder of AB Tasty, leader in AI-powered experimentation, gives us one piece of advice: Optimism is key to growth!
💪 Company Values
1. Phillipe de la Chanville (ManoMano) - Generation DIY: Creer un mastodonte et kiffer sa vie (FR)
When first creating ManoMano, its founders simply wanted to
create a business that worked, that paid their bills and still allowed them to
blossom professionally and personally. Yet when one tries to tackle a market
worth $200B, company values can quickly change. Learn how the founders tackled
this evolution in this episode.
2. Nicolas Julia (Sorare) - 45 Minutes With... Tech 45 (EN)
One of Europe’s hottest startups is the subject of this podcast.
How has a fantasy football and NFT startup attracted the attention of some of
the biggest names in football, such as Antoine Griezmann and Gerard Piqué? Has
this fame changed their original values?
3. Charles Gorinthin (Alan) - L’importance des valeurs dans un projet tech qui veut frapper fort (FR)
Health insurance startup Alan was founded 5 years ago. 150k members, 350 employees and a €125M raise later, the original values they founded with are still at the heart of the company, says Co-Founder Charles. “These values need to strike deeply.”
💰 Fundraising
1. Jason Du Preez (Privitar) - Tech Talks Daily, Privitar $150M investment milestone (EN)
Organizations worldwide are able to use sensitive data to gain
valuable insights and support data-driven decisions thanks to Privitar. Headquartered
in London, but with bases in Boston, Singapore and Warsaw, how did such a
global company whittle down their fundraising options and succeed in raising
$150M?
2. Marnix Broer (StuDocu) - Raising $50M to create a note-sharing network for students (EN)
Dutch businessman Marnix Broer has grown his startup from a
parttime challenge at college, to a European success, raising $50M recently. He
gives us his top tips on how to secure capital from the very best of investors,
without seeming too desperate!
3. Benjamin Gaignault (Ornikar) - Generation DIY: L’auto-ecole qui a leve 100 millions (FR)
Founder of Ornikar, the revolutionary online driving school marketplace, Benjamin, describes the process of fundraising as “having to trudge through the sh*tstorm” in this podcast. But this doesn’t have to be the case! With his advice, we learn how the company came to raise €100M from the most prestigious of investors.
🚀 Scaling
From idea, to startup, to scale-up, it’s a bit of a rollercoaster! Growing a business brings all sorts of questions not only for the company itself but for its employees and partners. How do I cope with tackling multiple countries and the various challenges they present? How do I make sure I grow as an entrepreneur, but without biting off more than I can chew? These three podcasts discuss scaling and how to get the most out of it.
1. Lucien Besse (Shippeo) - From Supply Chain Visibility to Supply Chain Automation (EN)
Supply Chain Visibility looked very different back in 2014 when
Shippeo was first founded. Co-Founder and COO Lucien Besse details in this
episode every step the company has gone through, from its very first wins, to the
tremendous growth the company has witness in the last few years, and how they
kept their cool through it all!
2. Arthur Waller (Pennylane) - Les Samourais du Business (EN)
From a first €4M raise to being one of France’s
soon-icorns, Pennylane has come a long way. In this podcast, serial
entrepreneur Arthur Waller shares with us how he operated his very first MVP,
and how he gradually scaled it while keeping his ambitions high.
3. Keji Mustapha (Partech) - How the best founders learn to scale themselves as their company scales (EN)
Bonus round here with our very own Keji Mustapha, Global Director of Brand and Community at Partech. One thing she emphasizes in this episode is the need for founder to know when to delegate, be self-aware and work with a coach, as well as scale themselves as their company scales. If you’re in need of some down-to-earth tips: this is where you’ll find them.
👋 Alumni
Although ‘exiting’ a company may seem like the ‘end’ – it’s
often just the beginning! The process itself can take a very long time. Here
are three inspiring stories from Partech alumni portfolio companies.
1. Hugues Le Bret (NiCKEL) - La rencontre entre buralistes et FinTech (FR)
From the very beginnings of fintech to the acquisition of his
company NiCKEL by French bank BNP Paribas, Founder Hugues le Bret takes us on a
whistle stop tour of his startup journey. What motivated BNP to acquire such a
company? Find out more in this episode.
2. Laurent Jolie (Lalilo) - Rachat de Lalilo par le groupe américain renaissance (FR)
EdTech is a constantly evolving yet extremely important sector, and its Lalilo’s job to harness the power of this sector to end illiteracy. Acquired by Renaissance in 2021, Founder Laurent Jolie explains on the Exitroots podcast how buyer and startup first came into contact, and how they will continue to deliver powerful learning solutions together.
3. Clémentine Lalande (Once) - Rachat de Once par Dating Group (FR)
Despite the impact Covid-19 has had on the dating industry, Clémentine Lalande’s app continues to succeed in an extremely competitive market – and was even acquired by DatingGroup in early 2021! In this episode she explains the particularities that made the app stand out and become so desirable to acquirers.
We hope you enjoy our selection! Congrats to every one of our founders that had the opportunity to speak on a podcast this year and thank you for taking the time to diffuse some of your wisdom. If you come across a podcast you think could be valuable for entrepreneurs, share it with us at: media@partechpartners.com.