Scaling Europe

Sebastian Johnson
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Every week Seb Johnson sits down with 5 of Europe's best builders and investors to talk about what's going on in European Tech. Prior guests include the founders of Lovable, Cleo, Voi an Zilch, as well as top VCs from 20VC, Index, Balderton and Creandum.

  1. 3 DAYS AGO

    Stefan Bader: CEO on Cello on automating growth and GTM

    Stefan Bader is a the co-founder and CEO of Cello, a tech company focused on user-led growth through referral-based marketing for B2B software companies. He is also running the GTM10 awards - an awards programme for the best GTM operators. Check it out here: https://thegtm10.com/ The Scaling Europe show is presented by Deel - check them out here:] https://get.deel.com/ruynb7o4lfjkAlso by:Mishcon: https://www.mishcon.com/pop-ups/scaling-europeChargebee: https://www.chargebee.com/events/beelieve/london/2026SurrealDB: https://surrealdb.com/Airwallex: https://www.airwallex.com/uk?utm_source=other&utm_medium=partner_referral&utm_campaign=v01_emea_multi_ib_dg_prtmk_mofu_scalingeurope

    22 min

  2. 21 APR

    Dan Westgarth, Chief Operating Officer at Deel: From Revolut to Deel: inside two hypergrowth companies

    Deel has grown into one of the fastest scaling SaaS companies globally, building a fully remote organisation of over 7,000 people and reaching more than $1 billion in annual revenue. Dan Westgarth, COO at Deel, shares how he went from customer support at Revolut to leading operations at Deel, and why scaling a company at that speed comes down to constant reinvention, high talent density and a culture built on accountability rather than location. The Scaling Europe show is presented by Deel - check them out here: https://get.deel.com/ruynb7o4lfjk Sponsors: SurrealDB: The multi-model database for AI agents. Check them out here: https://surrealdb.com/ Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction 0:37 - From Revolut to Deel 2:37 - Why join early and back founders 4:20 - Deel’s growth and scale today 5:30 - Reinventing the COO role as the company grows 6:39 - What the role looks like day-to-day 7:30 - Hiring, culture and what makes a great operator 10:10 - Scaling a fully remote company 12:33 - Remote culture and accountability 12:38 - Views on the current market and AI 14:47 - The Revolut mafia and operator networks 15:51 - Staying at Deel and future plans 16:42 - AI adoption inside Deel

    18 min

  3. 20 APR

    Harvey Hodd, founder at Rivan: Rivan raised a £25 million Series A

    Rivan has just raised a £25 million Series A to scale its synthetic fuel technology, after building and operating the UK’s largest synthetic natural gas plant in under a year. Harvey Hodd, Founder at Rivan, shares how the company built and proved its first plant and is now focused on scaling manufacturing to bring synthetic fuels into the grid at costs that compete with fossil fuels. The Scaling Europe show is presented by Deel - check them out here: https://get.deel.com/ruynb7o4lfjk Sponsors: SurrealDB: The multi-model database for AI agents. Check them out here: https://surrealdb.com/ Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction 0:22 - £25m Series A announcement 0:52 - From hypothesis to working plant 2:11 - What Rivan is building 4:38 - Customer demand and commercial model 6:06 - Energy markets and European context 8:54 - Competing with fossil fuels 10:10 - Building fast in hardware 12:45 - Scaling manufacturing and new facility 14:08 - Deployment timelines 16:12 - Fundraising and investors 17:56 - Challenges and execution 19:02 - Building hardware vs software

    21 min

  4. 17 APR

    Roxanne Varza, Director at Station F: Station F became a launchpad for Europe’s top startups

    Station F has become one of the defining institutions in French tech, housing 1,000 early-stage startups in Paris and launching F/ai, a new AI programme bringing together major labs, top funds and a sharper focus on commercial acceleration. Roxanne Varza, Director at Station F, shares how Station F grew alongside the rise of the French ecosystem and why the focus is now shifting toward helping strong AI teams move faster on the commercial side by connecting them with the right partners, investors and buyers. The Scaling Europe show is presented by Deel - check them out here: https://get.deel.com/ruynb7o4lfjk Sponsors: SurrealDB: The multi-model database for AI agents. Check them out here: https://surrealdb.com/ Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction 0:19 - Why Roxanne moved to France 1:38 - What Station F is today 2:24 - Station F’s impact on French tech 6:02 - What FAI is and why it launched 7:48 - How founders were selected 10:12 - Why Deal Day matters 16:05 - Why Paris is producing more major AI companies 20:27 - Sovereignty and buying European tech 23:13 - France’s growing defence tech ecosystem

    42 min

  5. 16 APR

    Sarah Fleischer & Ksenija Milicevic Neumann, Co-founders at tozero: Building Europe’s first battery recycling plant

    tozero is building Europe’s first industrial battery recycling demonstration plant, taking lithium-ion battery recycling from research to a live facility running in the real world. Sarah Fleischer and Ksenija Milicevic Neumann, Co-founders at tozero, share how the team built and launched the plant from scratch, now processing end-of-life batteries into critical materials like lithium and graphite, and using it to prove the process continuously as they push toward scaling full industrial plants across Europe. The Scaling Europe show is presented by Deel - check them out here: https://get.deel.com/ruynb7o4lfjk Sponsors: SurrealDB: The multi-model database for AI agents. Check them out here: https://surrealdb.com/ Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction 0:32 - Launching the demo plant 1:40 - From idea to building the plant 3:12 - Why battery recycling now 5:22 - What the plant produces 6:49 - Proving the process at scale 7:55 - Scaling beyond the demo plant 9:44 - Pilots and customers 12:21 - Market demand and supply chains 13:08 - Rapid prototyping approach 14:35 - Scaling to future plants 18:20 - Hiring and building the team

    21 min

  6. 15 APR

    Constantin Schröder, Co-founder at Arbio: How Arbio built an AI-enabled rollup machine for holiday rentals

    Arbio is acquiring holiday home portfolios across Europe and using AI to turn highly manual property managers into much more scalable businesses. Constantin Schröder, Co-founder at Arbio, shares how the company has completed 30 acquisitions so far and is using AI to automate pricing, guest communication and operations, turning property management into a far more scalable, software-like model, with tens of thousands of operators across Europe still to consolidate. The Scaling Europe show is presented by Deel - check them out here: https://get.deel.com/ruynb7o4lfjk Sponsors: SurrealDB: The multi-model database for AI agents. Check them out here: https://surrealdb.com/ Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction 0:19 - What Arbio is building 1:42 - Finding and acquiring property managers 2:45 - The first acquisition 5:05 - Using AI in property management 8:06 - Scaling operations with AI 9:32 - Investor interest and market shift 12:49 - Building in Berlin 14:21 - Growth ambitions 16:19 - Selling the vision to sellers 18:24 - The AI acquisition space 19:58 - Organic growth vs acquisitions

    21 min

  7. 14 APR

    Roei Samuel, CEO at Connectd: Connectd is one of the fastest growing companies in Europe with 17m ARR

    Connectd has grown to 17m ARR, building a cross-border network of senior talent and enabling companies to access specialised expertise on a flexible basis. Roei Samuel, CEO at Connectd, says the shift to fractional work is accelerating as companies rethink how they hire, increasingly relying on flexible, high-skill operators to support and augment teams, driven by strong UK–US growth and network effects. The Scaling Europe show is presented by Deel - check them out here: https://get.deel.com/ruynb7o4lfjk Sponsors: SurrealDB: The multi-model database for AI agents. Check them out here: https://surrealdb.com/ Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction 1:22 - What Connectd is building 1:50 - Growth to ~17m ARR 3:37 - Cross-border network effects 6:00 - Why fractional work is accelerating 9:25 - First exit and lessons learned 11:01 - Founder mindset and performance 18:11 - Scaling Connectd 20:04 - AI and shift in hiring 21:53 - How companies will operate in the future

    23 min

  8. 14 APR

    Dan Lifshits & Ilia Drozdov, Co-founders of Dwelly: Entering the London market.

    Dwelly is acquiring traditional lettings and real estate agencies across the UK and integrating them into an AI-enabled platform to automate workflows and scale them more efficiently. Dan Lifshits and Ilia Drozdov, Co-founders of Dwelly, talk about Dwelly entering the London market, which represents around 40% of the UK rental market, marking a major step in scaling their model and consolidating the largest part of the market. The Scaling Europe show is presented by Deel - check them out here: https://get.deel.com/ruynb7o4lfjk Sponsors: SurrealDB: The multi-model database for AI agents. Check them out here: https://surrealdb.com/ Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction 0:28 - Entering the London market 0:58 - What Dwelly acquires and why 1:21 - Why London and why now 3:24 - The first acquisition and moving to Hull 5:42 - Why AI-driven consolidation is getting attention 9:40 - The first priority after an acquisition 11:00 - Building culture across acquisitions 13:27 - London and UK expansion 19:19 - Building an AI-native company 23:09 - How Dwelly deploys capital and operates

    25 min
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About

Every week Seb Johnson sits down with 5 of Europe's best builders and investors to talk about what's going on in European Tech. Prior guests include the founders of Lovable, Cleo, Voi an Zilch, as well as top VCs from 20VC, Index, Balderton and Creandum.

Information

  • Creator
    Sebastian Johnson
  • Years Active
    2k
  • Episodes
    186
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Sebastian Johnson
  • Show Website
    Scaling Europe

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