The Venture

Razvan Paraschiv
  • 0.0 (0)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated Biweekly

The stories behind the greatest companies in the world, with their founders.

Episodes

  1. 1h ago

    How The Gstaad Guy Built a Luxury Empire Bullying Billionaires

    The Gstaad Guy walks us through the journey of turning a joke into a business empire, from viral videos to luxury brand collaborations worth millions. From secretly building a following while working at Apple, to launching Poubel and landing partnerships with Loro Piana, Audemars Piguet, and Bentley. (00:00:00) Intro (00:01:09) How The Gstaad Guy started as a private joke (00:04:18) What real luxury actually feels like (00:05:53) Turning a viral idea into a business (00:07:24) Living a secret double life at Apple (00:08:17) What happened when Apple colleagues found out (00:10:34) Knowing when it was time to quit Apple (00:12:12) Handling resistance from family and friends (00:14:12) Building the brand before experiencing Gstaad (00:16:27) Why staying niche became an advantage (00:19:04) Why a 60-second video takes 30 hours (00:21:03) The fine dining philosophy behind his content (00:22:19) How he attracts luxury brand collaborations (00:25:06) Why he rejects extreme hustle culture (00:26:31) Getting Loro Piana to take a chance on him (00:28:12) The experiment that proved his commercial value (00:29:29) Becoming a consultant instead of just an influencer (00:31:47) How he sold 1,000 pairs of shoes in six hours (00:33:10) Creating a Bentley with The Gstaad Guy (00:35:36) Moving from the what to the why (00:36:38) The business he started for the wrong reasons (00:38:26) Finding a business aligned with who he really is (00:41:27) Launching the bracelet business and breaking even (00:42:54) Building a luxury retail distribution strategy (00:44:21) Where his businesses actually make money (00:45:36) Managing multiple businesses at once (00:46:45) How he hires people as a creator (00:48:03) Why The Gstaad Guy finally broke character (00:50:17) Why podcasting is his least profitable business (00:53:10) What wealthy people taught him about success (00:55:23) Does he actually want to become a billionaire? (00:57:06) What is on his vision board now (00:58:45) Choosing mentors who actually understand you (01:01:14) What it really takes to win The Venture by Razvan Paraschiv Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theventureshow/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theventure LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/razvanpb/ X: https://x.com/razvanparaschiv Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033TtpChxNEQr6CMO5c1up?si=bbe7a26f246c4206 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-venture/id6800411217 The Gstaad Guy https://www.instagram.com/gstaadguy/ https://www.instagram.com/GstaadGuyPodcast/ https://www.instagram.com/poubel/ https://www.tiktok.com/@gstaadguy https://www.tiktok.com/@gstaadguypodcast https://www.tiktok.com/@poubelofficial https://poubel.com/

    How The Gstaad Guy Built a Luxury Empire Bullying Billionaires

  2. 6d ago

    How I Built a $100 Million Coffee Company (WatchHouse Founder)

    Roland Horne is the founder of WatchHouse, the man who accidentally opened a coffee shop and turned it into a $100 million empire. He ends up opening a café alone after a planned business partnership falls apart. He rejects the industry standard of "minimum viable product" and builds instead what he calls a "minimum lovable" one, refusing to launch anything that isn't genuinely loved. Today WatchHouse operates across the UK, US, and Middle East, and is valued at over $100 million. (00:00:00) The $100M headline and setting the record straight (00:01:16) From fish tanks to a coffee shop by accident (00:06:35) Cafe entrepreneur, not coffee entrepreneur (00:09:38) Building an authentic brand from a 200-year-old building (00:13:37) Hiring someone else to run day one (00:17:02) The minimum lovable product (00:21:24) Turning down £2 million (00:23:48) Raising capital just before Covid hit (00:26:30) Buying a dying chain and building the roastery (00:32:34) Racing the grave: mortality and urgency (00:37:33) Why crowdfunding beat a traditional VC raise (00:41:16) A second raise and the leap to New York (00:49:10) Running the business like an operating system (00:56:36) Watch House by the numbers and the franchise pivot (01:03:04) Blue Bottle, the Bezos rumor, and what it takes to win The Venture by Razvan Paraschiv Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theventureshow/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theventure LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/razvanpb/ X: https://x.com/razvanparaschiv Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033TtpChxNEQr6CMO5c1up?si=bbe7a26f246c4206 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-venture/id6800411217 Roland Horne https://www.instagram.com/rolandhorne/ https://www.instagram.com/watchhouse/

    How I Built a $100 Million Coffee Company (WatchHouse Founder)

  3. Sep 5

    Blue Collar Billionaire: "I Made $1 Billion Once I Understood This About Business"

    Sir Richard Harpin is the founder of HomeServe, and a man who turned a failing plumbing business into a $5.5 billion global empire. At 28, he watches his startup collapse in six months, and bailiffs show up at his door on Christmas morning. He redesigns the entire model and sells plumbing insurance under trusted water company brand names. Today HomeServe operates across ten countries and was acquired by Brookfield in 2023 for $5.5 billion. (00:00:00) Losing everything before the breakthrough (00:01:10) The entrepreneurial spark (00:03:51) The teenage mail-order business (00:05:41) From P&G to the plumbing idea (00:08:03) Why the first business model failed (00:12:44) The last £10,000 pivot (00:15:15) The affinity marketing model (00:18:20) Why founders need coaches and mentors (00:20:05) Turning regulation into growth (00:23:43) Taking HomeServe international (00:29:21) Hire your replacement (00:38:25) The mentor who fixed America (00:45:12) Jim Collins and the not-to-do list (00:51:10) De-risking before disaster (00:53:00) The crisis that nearly broke HomeServe (00:54:43) Why big acquisitions fail (00:58:35) Negotiating the $5.5 billion sale (01:03:05) The nine steps to build a billion-dollar business (01:11:40) What it takes to win in business The Venture by Razvan Paraschiv Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theventure/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theventure LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/razvanpb/ X: https://x.com/razvanparaschiv Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033TtpChxNEQr6CMO5c1up?si=bbe7a26f246c4206 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-venture/id6800411217 Sir Richard Harpin https://www.instagram.com/richard_harpin/ https://newsletter.richardharpin.com

    Blue Collar Billionaire: "I Made $1 Billion Once I Understood This About Business"

  4. Aug 29

    How I Turned My Passion Into a $10M/Year Lifestyle Business (Alex Ikonn)

    Alex Ikonn is the founder of Luxy Hair and the 5-Minute Journal, and a man who went from selling flowers on the street at 11 to building two 8-figure brands from scratch. At 26, he gets fired from his bank job for running a side hustle, and moves back into his mother's house. He launches Luxy Hair on a $10,000 credit card, and within three years builds one of the biggest hair channels on YouTube. When his wife falls into severe depression, he starts writing down one thing he's grateful for every morning, and turns that habit into a journal. Today the 5-Minute Journal has sold over 2 million copies across 165 countries, and Intelligent Change — the company behind it — is on a mission to help 1% of the global population. (00:00:00) From selling flowers to eight-figure brands (00:01:02) Learning business at 11 years old (00:04:28) Getting fired and choosing entrepreneurship (00:06:31) The Four Hour Workweek and his first business (00:09:07) Why product businesses create more freedom (00:10:31) Building Luxy Hair from a customer problem (00:14:28) Growing millions in revenue through YouTube (00:17:05) When money and freedom still feel empty (00:20:03) What it means to be a life founder (00:23:02) Why knowledge without action changes nothing (00:25:17) Building a business that can be sold (00:33:00) Aligning business with your life mission (00:35:04) How the Five Minute Journal was created (00:46:27) Why founder-led companies perform better (00:48:10) Human prompting in the age of AI (00:51:02) Getting products into major retailers (00:55:42) Investing, founder traits and business lessons The Venture by Razvan Paraschiv Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theventure TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theventure LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/razvanpb/ X: https://x.com/razvanparaschiv Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033TtpChxNEQr6CMO5c1up?si=bbe7a26f246c4206 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-venture/id6800411217 Alex Ikonn https://www.instagram.com/alexikonn/?hl=en https://www.intelligentchange.com/

    How I Turned My Passion Into a $10M/Year Lifestyle Business (Alex Ikonn)

  5. Aug 15

    How I Turned $50,000 Into a $300M Business | Oakberry Açaí Founder (Georgios Frangulis)

    Georgios Frangulis is the founder of Oakberry, the world's largest açaí chain, and a man who opened his first store the same month he came out of cancer surgery. At 26, he took $50,000 from a life insurance policy he had called to cancel and opened a 60-square-foot kiosk in a São Paulo mall two weeks before Christmas. Within three years he had hundreds of locations across Brazil. Today Oakberry has over 1,100 locations across 50 countries, opens a new store every two days, and does over $300 million a year in revenue. (00:00:00) Intro (00:01:15) How Georgios discovered the OAKBERRY opportunity (00:03:53) Why the original US launch failed (00:06:14) Finding the first 60-square-foot location (00:07:41) Engineering the business for franchising (00:09:50) The meaning behind the OAKBERRY name (00:13:26) Funding the first store after cancer (00:16:14) Staying positive when failure feels inevitable (00:18:21) How to build a scalable franchise model (00:22:06) Who should become a franchisee (00:25:00) Expanding into international markets (00:26:50) The no-kitchen operating advantage (00:28:20) Why German-speaking locations perform best (00:31:20) Building a lifestyle brand before a food brand (00:33:14) From a missed meeting to the Super Bowl (00:38:08) Why Formula 1 made commercial sense (00:43:44) OAKBERRY's revenue and growth numbers (00:45:06) Choosing the right international partners (00:47:33) Expanding into consumer packaged goods (00:50:39) Vertical integration and stronger margins (00:51:59) Why OAKBERRY buys franchises back (00:54:40) Hiring leaders who are better than the founder (00:56:31) Could OAKBERRY become a public company? (00:59:52) Georgios on work-life balance (01:01:11) Racing, cars, and unfinished ambitions (01:03:27) Buying a professional football club (01:05:25) First million and biggest founder mistake (01:06:16) The advice Georgios would give his younger self The Venture by Razvan Paraschiv Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theventure TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theventure X: https://x.com/razvanparaschiv LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/razvanpb/ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033TtpChxNEQr6CMO5c1up?si=887a734ceb11408a Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-venture/id6800411217 Georgios Frangulis https://www.instagram.com/georgiosfrangulis/ https://www.oakberry.com/

    How I Turned $50,000 Into a $300M Business | Oakberry Açaí Founder (Georgios Frangulis)

  6. Aug 11

    Welcome to The Venture Podcast

    Welcome to The Venture Podcast The Stories of The World’s Greatest Companies, with Their Founder Hosted by Razvan Paraschiv Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theventure TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theventure X: https://x.com/razvanparaschiv LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/razvanpb/

    Welcome to The Venture Podcast

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About

The stories behind the greatest companies in the world, with their founders.

Information

  • Creator
    Razvan Paraschiv
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    6
  • Rating
    Explicit