Elevating CEE Potential & the Future of Venture Capital with Borys Musielak - Ep.97

Our next guest is an engineer turned entrepreneur turned investor. Borys Musielak is a founding partner at Polish SMOK Ventures, having a particular focus on software development tools, game development, and artificial intelligence. In 2007, he founded OSnews.pl, a pioneering news site covering tech, marketing, and business. He also co-founded Filmaster, a platform providing personalized analytics solutions, acquired by Silicon Valley-based Samba TV in 2015. His contributions to the ecosystem extend to mentoring early-stage startups across various platforms and accelerators in the CEE region. He talks about: Focus and motivation when starting a venture; How to elevate the CEE potential; The future of venture capital; And more! TIMESTAMPS 0:00 - 1:42 Teaser 1:42 - 3:33 Intro 3:34 - 12:28 Perks in being a VC with engineering and entrepreneurial background 12:29 - 15:19 The path on establishing your first venture 15:21 - 17:10 Focusing on one thing as a founder 17:11 - 21:24 Satisfaction as a VC investor 21:25 - 26:55 The art of being wrong 26:56 - 30:59 Lessons on fundraising 31:00 - 33:46 What is the secret of success in venture capital? 33:47 - 48:28 Potential across the CEE region 48:29 - 52:13 Thought on sales and marketing 52:14 - 54:09 Are founders couchable? 54:10 - 1:01:48 Working with youngsters 1:01:49 - 1:05:38 Hypothesis for the future & outro