The Recursive Podcast

The Recursive Media

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Entrepreneurship

The Recursive podcast is your weekly wander inside the minds of innovation leaders across SouthEast Europe. Each week our hosts cozy up with a digital economy champion and dive deep into their life philosophy, values, leadership style, and personal development. Join us for inspirational stories on how to grow, learn and think big.

Jun 6

Is Your Hiring Strategy Holding Your Ambitions Back? ft. Deel

Is Your Hiring Strategy Holding Your Ambitions Back? In this episode of The Recursive Podcast, we dive deep into the evolving talent landscape of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) with Ivan Valev, Sales Manager for CEE & the Baltics at Deel. Deel is a global payroll and HR giant that has scaled from a small tool to a $7 billion powerhouse, helping over 40,000 companies navigate the complexities of hiring and paying talent across 150 countries. Ivan, a SaaS veteran and GTM expert, shares his unique perspective on how CEE has transitioned from a "low-cost destination" to a premiere hub for world-class technical skills and the next generation of global unicorns. We discuss: 🎙️ How the region moved from being an offshore destination to an established ecosystem home to over 50 unicorns and 12,000 startups. 🎙️ Why shoving compliance under the rug is a business-killer and how to avoid the legal traps of international hiring. 🎙️ Deel’s latest hiring data and the emergence of entirely new roles that didn't exist two years ago. 🎙️ How founders can test new markets in days rather than months, and why speed is the ultimate currency for snagging top-tier talent. 🎙️ Moving away from "boring" admin and Excel spreadsheets to focus on culture, leadership, and human-centric growth. ✨ This episode is a must-watch for startup and SME founders, HR leaders, and anyone looking to scale a distributed team without the regulatory headaches. 🔔 Subscribe to The Recursive for more stories at the intersection of tech, society, and the CEE startup ecosystem. This episode was shot in Vienna, during CEE Forum 2026. Big thanks to wexelerate for hosting us in their hub! Make sure to check their website to learn more about other events they host and the community they are building 👉 https://wexelerate.com/ Connect with Ivan & Deel: Website: https://www.deel.com/Ivan Valev on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ivanvalev/Deel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/deel/

39 min
Jun 2

Europe Has MIT-Level Talent. So Why Are We Losing It? | The Recursive Roundtable

Is Central and Eastern Europe becoming the next global cybersecurity hub, or are we still exporting our best talent abroad? In this episode of The Recursive Roundtable, recorded in Vienna and hosted by Elevator Ventures, we bring together leading voices from the cybersecurity ecosystem to discuss Europe's biggest opportunities and challenges in cybersecurity, AI, digital identity, talent retention, venture capital, and digital sovereignty. Our guests explore whether Europe can compete with the US in building global cybersecurity champions, how AI is transforming both cyber defense and cyber attacks, and why keeping top technical talent in Europe may be one of the most important strategic challenges of the decade. We also dive into: ☑️ The cybersecurity talent advantage in Central & Eastern Europe ☑️ Brain drain and the race for top engineers ☑️ Why European startups struggle with Series A and Series B funding ☑️ AI-powered cyber attacks and autonomous defense systems ☑️ Europe's dependence on foreign cloud and security providers ☑️ Digital sovereignty and the future of European cybersecurity ☑️ Scaling cybersecurity companies from Prague, Vienna, and beyond Featuring: Maximilian Schausberger, Managing Director (Elevator Ventures) Petr Dvorak, Founder & CEO (Wultra) Rene Heinzl, CTO (CyberTrap) 💡 Key takeaway: Europe has world-class technical talent and cybersecurity expertise. The question is whether it can create the capital, ecosystem, and strategic vision needed to keep that talent, build global leaders, and secure its digital future. 👇 What do you think? Can Europe become a global cybersecurity leader, or will talent and innovation continue to flow elsewhere? Share your thoughts in the comments. 👉 Watch the full conversation and join the discussion. 🎧 Like and subscribe for more episodes of The Recursive Podcast. Chapters: 00:00 Europe's Cybersecurity Wake-Up Call 02:00 Can Europe Become a Cybersecurity Superpower? 06:00 The Brain Drain Crisis 08:55 Why Europe Struggles to Scale 13:20 Cybersecurity Cannot Be Outsourced 16:25 The Global Demand for European Cybersecurity 19:08 AI Is Already Attacking 23:42 The Startup Trust Problem 30:30 Why Cybersecurity Is So Hard 31:52 What If AI Was Smarter Than Your Team? 33:22 Quantum Computing Changes Everything 40:40 Europe's Opportunity to Lead

43 min
May 16

Inside the Future of AI in Banking with DSK Bank

In this episode of The Recursive Podcast, we dive into one of the hottest topics in tech right now — AI in banking. Our host Dilyana Haralanova speaks with Valentin Stepanovich, Head of Machine Learning Platform at DSK Bank, about where he leads ML and AI innovation initiatives. They explore how generative AI is transforming customer service, fraud prevention, software engineering, and financial operations inside modern banks, and more. 💡 How AI Is Transforming Customer Service in Banking: Why banks are replacing traditional rule-based chatbots with AI assistants, how customer interactions are becoming more natural, and why Valentine believes customer service will be the biggest area AI fundamentally changes. 💡 The Real Risks of AI in Finance: From AI-generated fraud and identity theft to GDPR, security layers, hallucinations, and the EU AI Act — the conversation unpacks the biggest challenges banks face when deploying generative AI safely. 💡 Why AI Isn’t Replacing Jobs (Yet): Valentin shares why AI is changing the nature of work rather than eliminating jobs, how engineers are adapting to AI-assisted development, and the surprising rise of candidates using AI live during job interviews.

31 min
Apr 27

It’s Never Too Early to Think About Your Exit | The Recursive Roundtable

Is the “Genius Founder” Myth Hurting Your Startup? In this episode of the Recursive Roundtable, we pull back the curtain on the real founder’s journey — from the grueling early days of fundraising to the high-stakes world of multi-million dollar exits. We are joined by three industry experts who see the lifecycle of a company from every angle: Gergana Stoichkova, a VC expert and fundraising advisor; Stan Andreev, an M&A specialist with a background at Citibank in New York and London; and Teodor Antonio, a narrative strategist who helps founders shape their public presence. Together, they debunk common misconceptions about "startup freedom," explain why your exit strategy should start on Day 1, and reveal why "chaos mastery" is the most important skill a CEO can have. 💡 What we discuss: The Biggest Startup Myths: Why building a great product doesn't guarantee distribution, and why the "lone wolf" founder narrative is a recipe for failure.The Reality of Selling Your Company: Stan explains why an exit is never "easy," how to align co-founder incentives early, and why a declining business is almost impossible to sell.Fundraising as a Relationship, Not an Outsource: Gergana breaks down why you can’t hire someone to raise capital for you and what VCs are actually looking for beyond a perfect pitch deck.Narrative as Infrastructure: Theodor explores how to use major milestones (like funding rounds) for customer acquisition rather than just vanity PR, and why public speaking is a learnable craft.Red Flags for Investors: How to tell when a founder’s confidence has turned into arrogance and when social media "vanity metrics" are masking a lack of real growth.🏆 This episode is essential viewing for early-stage founders, entrepreneurs planning their next exit, and anyone looking to understand the bridge between building a product and building a legacy. 🔔 Subscribe to The Recursive for more stories at the intersection of tech, society, and startup ecosystems.

46 min
Apr 10

AI Isn’t Ruining Creativity... Bad Taste Is! | The Recursive Roundtable

In this episode of The Recursive Round Table, we explore how AI is reshaping music, filmmaking, and advertising workflows. This isn’t a hype conversation. It’s a real look at what actually works, what doesn’t, and why most people are still getting it wrong. Composer and sound artist Emilian Gatsov – Elbi, advertiser and Director of Innovation at OM Group Konstantin Yankov, and film director and video producer Andrey Andonov share their perspectives from across disciplines. We talk about the shift from control to experimentation, why randomness can be a creative advantage, and how AI acts more like a collaborator than a replacement. One key idea stands out: the quality of output is directly tied to the quality of input. They discussed: ☑️ How AI changed creative workflows️☑️ Do you need experience to create with AI?☑️ Using AI as an enabler (not a replacement)☑️ AI in film production☑️ AI in advertising☑️ Real examples of using AI in projects☑️ Transparency, copyright & ethics☑️ Creative jobs, skills & the future of creation

53 min
Mar 17

99% of People Communicate Wrong And Here Is Why | The Recursive Roundtable

💬 What makes someone a great communicator? Is it talent… or a skill that can be trained? In this episode of the Recursive Roundtable, we explore the art of communication from multiple perspectives — recruitment, HR, filmmaking, storytelling, and coaching. Joining the host Teodora Atanasova on this topic are Boryana Borisova (Director of Talent Acquisition @ Delasport; ICF Certified Coach), Konstantin Kunev (Interim CEO @ Future Unicorns Accelerator), and Andrey Andonov, (Video Producer & Storyteller @ The Recursive). Together they discuss: • Why communication starts and ends every human interaction • How vulnerability and storytelling build real connections • The relationship between personal development and career growth • Why many people avoid training communication skills • The difference between personal branding and reputation • How great communicators manage energy, presence, and adaptability One idea from the conversation: “If you become transparent and expose your vulnerability, it’s one of the most powerful ways to connect with people.”

1h 7m
Mar 7

A Founder’s Guide to Building Trust With Investors: The Afranga Story

What does it really take to build a successful fintech company in Europe? In this episode of The Recursive Podcast, we sit down with Svetlin Sabev, Bulgarian fintech entrepreneur and founder & CEO of Afranga, a regulated lending marketplace that connects investors with growing European businesses. Svetlin shares the lessons from building multiple fintech companies. He talks about the importance of: - hiring the right people; - choosing the right co-founder; - navigating regulation, scaling platforms, and raising investor trust. He also discusses the future of fintech, the European startup ecosystem, and why founders should stop hiding their ideas and start sharing them. 🔔 Subscribe for more startup and tech conversations.

35 min
Feb 13

Do VCs Secretly Care About Being Popular?

Last week Dilan Sisu, VC (e2vc) and Etien Yovchev, Co-founder (The Recursive) met in Sofia and decided to film a conversation that turned into a thoughtful discussion about the role of media and influence in venture capital.The discussion jumped from whether VCs secretly care about popularity (and why visibility can be a strategic asset, not vanity) to where the next unicorn founder is more likely to appear: through an AI recommendation 🤖 or at a small, well-curated party 🍸.🎙️ They also explored whether age really matters for founders, whether early-stage teams should invest more in founder personal brands or company brands, when media relations should become a priority for startups, and why more investors are launching podcasts.And then the question every investor quietly wrestles with: how do you distinguish strong founder conviction from pure delusion?Running through all of this is a broader theme: visibility, social influence in venture capital, how VC brands are built, and how meaningful relationships actually form — both online and offline.

29 min

The Recursive podcast is your weekly wander inside the minds of innovation leaders across SouthEast Europe. Each week our hosts cozy up with a digital economy champion and dive deep into their life philosophy, values, leadership style, and personal development. Join us for inspirational stories on how to grow, learn and think big.

Creator

The Recursive Media
Years Active

2021 - 2026
Episodes

136
Rating

Explicit
Copyright

© The Recursive Media
Show Website

The Recursive Podcast