Most founder stories sound impressive on LinkedIn.

But after interviewing dozens of entrepreneurs, Maria Despa, co-founder of Ideas Chat, discovered that the most memorable stories are usually the most human ones.

In this short conversation, we talk about:

📹 What founder interviews and wedding films have in common

😊 Why business success and happiness aren't the same thing

📖 The "Book of Joy" she uses to capture life's best moments

👨‍👧 The founder's child who unexpectedly made her emotional during an interview

💬 Why "How are you really?" is a question we should ask more often

It's a quick conversation about success, friendship, family, and the stories that matter long after the cameras stop rolling.

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Most people join communities hoping to meet the right people.

But according to Andra Ghibutiu, they stay for a different reason:

They feel like they belong.

In this short conversation, we talk about:

🤝 Why the best communities create safety before opportunity

🧠 The danger of becoming a "know-it-all"

👂 Why listening might be the most underrated business skill

🚀 What makes today's generation of Romanian entrepreneurs different

📚 The books that have shaped her thinking

⏰ Why friends think she has unlimited energy (hint: it may involve waking up at 5AM)

It's a quick conversation about curiosity, growth, and why the strongest connections usually happen when we stop trying to impress people and start genuinely listening to them.

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Lawyer.

Bar owner.

Student.

New parent.

Adriana Spataru somehow manages to be all four at the same time.

In this short conversation, we talk about:

🍸 Why she left the legal world to help build a bar (@cameralirica)

🇸🇪 The recycling habit she brought home from living in Stockholm

👶 How becoming a parent changed her definition of success

💭 Why she's stopped chasing perfection and started focusing on doing her best in the moment

💃 And why her advice for almost everyone is surprisingly simple: dance more and spend more time with people you love

It's a quick conversation about reinvention, authenticity, and figuring out what actually matters as life gets busier.

Connect with Eric

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This episode starts with honey extraction technology for beekeepers… and somehow ends with running laps inside Dubai airport to avoid breaking a 1,000-day running streak 😄

My guest is Daniel Deaconu — founder of The Simplifier and one of the smartest B2B LinkedIn strategists I know in Romania.

We talk about:

🍯 helping launch a Kickstarter campaign that generated $48K in 2 days
🏃 why he ran inside an airport while security watched suspiciously
📈 the biggest mistake founders make on LinkedIn
💰 why neither of us buys useless stuff
👨‍👩‍👧 why success matters less than people think
🏖️ and why Daniel’s partner compares professional achievements to sandcastles

Connect with Eric

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After 14 years in the corporate world at Amazon and Honeywell, Roxana Jianu traded meetings and spreadsheets for padel courts and community building. In this episode, we talk about what happens when your career no longer energizes you — and how one sport unexpectedly changed the direction of her life.

Roxana shares the story behind building Padelmania, why people may show up for padel but stay for the friendships, and why she believes offline activities and community are becoming essential for happiness and longevity.

We also get into the important topics: her teenage crush on Nick Carter from the Backstreet Boys, packaging toys at age 16, emotionally attached teddy bears, and why introverts at parties are usually the most interesting people in the room.

This is a conversation about reinvention, connection, and why sometimes the best things in life start with simply showing up.

Connect with Roxana on Instagram

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What happens when 25 people in Bucharest buy tickets to something that isn’t networking… isn’t dating… and isn’t dinner?

In this episode, I break down the very first paid 3rd Space Bucharest event — what worked, what surprised me, what flopped (yes, the QR code), and why shared learning and small group conversations changed the energy of the room.

From breakfast icebreakers to mini TED-style talks about Cuba, Mexico, and entrepreneurship… to an unexpected karaoke finale — this is the behind-the-scenes story of building intentional connection in a city that doesn’t always make it easy.

If you’ve ever wondered what it takes to create real connection among strangers in Bucharest, this one’s for you.

Interested in joining a 3rd Space Bucharest event?

Get on our waitlist at https://forms.gle/HQApbV4cHzAKDXUB7

Most adults have two places in their lives:
Home.Work.

And that’s the problem.

Somewhere along the way, we lost our third place—the space where people gather just to connect, talk, learn, and feel human again.

In this episode, I’m announcing the launch of 3rd Space Bucharest and sharing why I believe in-person connection matters more than ever—especially in a world obsessed with screens, swipes, and Slack messages.

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https://3rdspacebucharest.substack.com

Get on the waitlist for the next 3rd Space event in Bucharest: https://forms.gle/HQApbV4cHzAKDXUB7

I used to think social media was just “networking” — Twitter, LinkedIn, Bumble — all ways to connect, build opportunities, maybe even meet someone new. And sure, they worked… I booked podcast guests, grew my network, even got my agency off the ground through them. But here’s the truth: they also hijacked my attention, stole time from my kids, and gave me anxiety I didn’t even know I had.

In this episode, I break down how I realized I was addicted to the dopamine loops of these apps, why I quit, and the practical steps I took to reclaim my focus, my peace, and my real-life connections.

If you’ve ever found yourself checking your phone 20 times an hour, refreshing for likes or swipes, this one’s for you.

Sometimes the stuff you think will make you happy—a fancy watch, a new promotion—ends up collecting dust. But the wild, “you’re not qualified” ideas? Those are the ones that change you. In this episode, I share how chasing a crazy hunch with fitness trackers led to the most fulfilling project of my life—and why I’m now tackling something even bigger: loneliness.

What happens when you sign up to have dinner with five total strangers? In this episode, I share my experience with Timeleft, from the great conversations that turned into real friendships… to the guy who wouldn’t shut up, the plastic surgeon who revealed men are secretly getting butt lifts, and the German cat-sitter who hacked his way into living in 30 countries. It’s awkward, hilarious, and surprisingly life-changing.