The Recursive Podcast The Recursive Media

For today’s episode, we talked with Karol Szubstarski, a venture investor at OTB Ventures.

With over a decade of experience in the realm of venture capital, Karol brings a blend of traditional and corporate VC expertise to the table. He spent five years as an Associate and Investment Analyst at Intel Capital, identifying opportunities across Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, to name a few.

In his current role at OTB Ventures, Karol spearheads investments in Series A opportunities, focusing on deep tech.

In this episodes, he shares about:

How personal experiences fuels his professional career
His transition to the VC world under the guidance of Marcin Hejka
The advantages and disadvantages of the Polish startup ecosystem

0:00 Trailer
1:33 Intro
2:25 Backpacking through Asia with two broken arms & other challenges
5:19 Karol’s adventure with the VC world and DeepTech
10:41 What are the skills a DeepTech investor should have?
12:09 Karol’s skills and learnings from Intel Capital and OTB Ventures
15:52 Perspective on the DeepTech ecosystem in CEE
21:27 Strengths of the Polish startup ecosystem
24:23 Challenges of European tech startups for scaling globally
27:42 How OTB Ventures assesses the investment opportunities
39:45 Striking the right risk vs advantage balance
42:19 Can CEE startups get money from US investors right from the start?
44:55 How to differentiate yourself as a VC fund?
47:17 Building the top team for OTB’s portfolio companies
51:24 The leap of faith in investment decisions
52:42 What’s needed to be a good VC investor?
55:05 The CEE VC ecosystem and the lack of private capital
57:45 How will the CEE startup ecosystem look in the future?
1:03:40 How is OTB Ventures adapting to the technological advancements
1:10:00 Outro

Our guest today is Bartosz Lipnicki, an entrepreneur, investor, and Managing Director at Endeavor Poland.

With a background in industrial engineering, Bartosz's career trajectory has evolved to encompass sales, business development, and entrepreneurship.

Bartosz is the Founder and Managing Partner at Alfabeat, a seed fund specializing in enterprise software companies from Central and Eastern Europe.

Beyond his professional endeavors, Bartosz is an avid marathon and tower runner.

In this episodes, he touches on:

☑️ How to escape the 'hamster wheel'
☑️ The skills of the future
☑️ The importance of collaboration within the ecosystem

00:00 - 01:42 Trailer
01:43 - 02:55 Intro
02:56 - 10:14 Running and personal development
10:15 - 15:42 Investor’s role and mentoring
15:43 - 17:24 Growth beyond the financial aspect
17:25 - 20:02 The right time for acquisition
20:03 - 26:00 Mitigating the risks in investing
26:03 - 30:22 The importance of networking
30:23 - 32:10 Lessons on mentorship
32:11 - 33:38 Getting off the “hamster wheel"
33:39 - 37:05 The purpose behind teaching
37:06 - 42:30 Valuable skills beyond formal education
42:31 - 52:27 Polish entrepreneurial ecosystem
52:28 - 55:05 The definition of success
55:06 - 01:01:39 Envisioning of the future of the Polish tech ecosystem
01:01:40 - 01:01:56 Outro

Our guest today is Krzysztof (Chris) Wrobel, the founder and CEO of Virbe AI, a startup incorporating a one-stop-shop solution to extend your team with AI-powered digital employees.

With passion and experience for the future of digital interaction, Chris founded Virbe AI, a Virtual Being creation suite, designed to transform Conversational AI and chatbots into interactive human-like avatars.

Chris is also involved in mentoring and guiding other companies in embracing emerging technologies.

In this episodes, he touches on:

How he started his entrepreneurial journey by accident;
What can a Virtual Being do for a business and why we need this technology;
The balance between innovation and ethical implications in VR/AR;

TIME STAMPS

0:00 Trailer
1:53 Intro
2:40 Chris’s entrepreneurial journey from hospitality to engineering
10:00 The skills one need to have in a startup
15:33 How Virbe started and what’s the story behind?
21:22 The business model of AI solutions
24:41 The EU AI Act and its impact
25:54 How to explain a new technology to investors
31:38 Virtual being vs chatbots
36:42 How is metaverse fitting in Virbe’s business?
39:33 Will AI steal our jobs?
47:27 What big problem is Virbe solving
53:04 Outro

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

Our guest for this episode has a big, bold ambition to make digital identity services the cornerstone of all economic and social activities of people around the world.

Konstantin Bezuhanov is co-founder and CEO of Evrotrust Technologies, the company that aims to solve the challenges associated with secure digital identification. 

Evrotrust's products are adopted by over 1.3 million users across 58 countries. The company has attracted partnerships with industry giants like Mastercard and leading banks such as Unicredit Bulbank, and KBC, and it has been recently recognized by governments and the European Commission.

In this episode, we learn more about the complexities of identity in the digital age, but also what it takes to solve meaningful problems. 

Konstantin also shares: 


How it is to build a global identity system transcending national borders and work with strict entities like banks or government;  


Views on mission-driven entrepreneurship how a strong sense of purpose guides decision-making and success metrics;


How the future would look if digital identity seamlessly integrates into daily life;


The importance of data protection and compliance in Evrotrust’s solution;



TIME STAMPS

00:00 Trailer 

0:56 Introduction 

1:47 Moving from the comfort zone to entrepreneurship and what it takes 

4:41 Konstantin’s endeavors in London and why he lived there 

10:08 Why Konstantin moved back to Bulgaria 

11:03 Why execution matters more than the idea 

13:00 Evrotrust’s story and how the founding team was formed 

20:42 Choosing the best market and end users for Evrotrust 

24:00 The most difficult problem in the space of digital identity 

28:58 The mission and vision of Evrostrust 

36:08 Early adopters for digital identity solutions 

38:05 Konstantin’s many hats and switching them 

44:39 Finding success as a founder and in life 

47:30 The future of digital identity 

55:43 Outro

Our guest today is Radoslav Gaydarski, co-founder of CleverPine, a company that has made significant strides in the tech industry since its inception during the pandemic. Prior to this position, he was the co-founder and CEO of Upnetix, offering client-tailored software solutions, which was acquired by Scalefocus. 



With a deep background in software development and a passion for entrepreneurship, Gaydarski shares his journey from tinkering with computers in his youth to leading a company that has seen substantial growth and has recently partnered with Lufthansa Technik to innovate within the aviation sector.



In this discussion, you will discover Radoslav’s approach to leadership style,but also CleverPine's way of delivering exceptional value to its clients. 



On top of that, he touches on: 




How their company cultivates a positive and productive workplace culture;
The importance of surrounding oneself with the right team;
Learning from past challenges, and how these principles have guided his strategies for talent development and company growth; 



TIME STAMPS: 



00:00 Trailer 

01:47 Introduction

03:27 Why Radoslav Moved to the US and Back to Bulgaria

08:11 Choosing Entrepreneurship and What Does It Take

13:25 Radoslav’s Failures and What He Took Out of It

20:00 What Is a Lifestyle Company

20:33 Upnetix’s Acquisition and the Learnings Learned

23:20 Cleverpine and Lufthansa Technik’s Partnership and What Is ViTech

39:06 The Importance of Studying the Client’s Industry and How Cleverpine Does That

42:41 How a Lifestyle Company Works and Why It Doesn’t Care About Metrics

51:59 CleverPine’s Working from the Office Culture 

54:59 Team Structures and How to Deliver Quality Projects on Time 

1:01:17 Developing Yourself as a Leader and Self-Reflection

1:04:58 CleverPine’s Flans for the Future 

1:10:20 CleverPine Ventures and Supporting New Businesses 

1:16:30 The Happiness Culture and How Can a Leader Foster This 

1:21:40 Outro