Welcome to episode 14 of Beyond the Blend! Today Glenn has some big news and answers some questions that go along with it.  Alberts is opening a crowdfunding. Find out more on https://winwinner.be/alberts

Find out more about Alberts on https://www.alberts.be/ or via @albertsliving on all socials  

Find out more about Alberts' WinWinner campaign

In this episode, we invite Ronald Van Marlen on Beyond the Blend. Ronald is co-owner and general director at NaNa Bio.

Ronald is very outspoken and doesn’t hold back in this episode. He talks passionately about the importance of crossing borders and building bridges between the food producers and the companies that market it.

In the end he also had some very interesting advice for Alberts regarding food and supply chains.

We hope this podcast inspires you the way it inspires us.

Check out NaNa Bio

Connect with Ronald on LinkedIn

Learn more about Alberts on www.alberts.be

In this 12th episode, we welcome Jolien Schelstraete, Plant-Based leader & Marketing Manager at Alpro-Provamel BeLux.

Jolien is an inspiring marketeer who really embodies what it means to make a change through purposeful work.

Connect with Jolien Schelstraete via https://www.linkedin.com/in/jolien-schelstraete-19a7ab8/

You can find Alberts via www.alberts.be

Listen to this episode on Youtube via https://www.youtube.com/albertsliving

What do you think about this episode? Let us know in the comments!

This is a special episode, we welcome a Very Special Guest (yes, you’ll have to listen to find out who it is!) and we drop some big news. 

 We’re super excited to have closed an A-round! In this episode, we explain what and how long it took to close this funding round and who believed in us enough the fund our company’s future & ambitions. For the entrepreneurs listening: we share valuable tips based on our own experiences closing 5 funding rounds, so settle in, have a drink and take all the notes!  

Want to invest in Alberts? We’re opening a crowdlending campaign in October! Sign up for updates here: www.winwinner.be/alberts As always, leaving a review is much appreciated! Thanks for listening!

In this episode, we have Marie Martens, Founder at Twist Consulting, join us to talk about the flaws in the Belgian startup ecosystem.

In this episode of the Beyond the Blend podcast, we welcome Omar Mohout, former entrepreneur, thought leader on and advisor for start-ups and scale-ups, and current partner at Nova Reperta. 

Omar talks about his journey from entrepreneur to employee to researcher and teacher to working as partner for Nova Reperta. You will get valuable insights on why Omar would never go back to being an entrepreneur and on how Belgium and by elaboration also Europe compare to Silicon Valley and the USA as a whole in terms of funding. (Spoiler: according to Omar, Belgium is doing great in the health tech department!) 

We hope this episode will show you that having an entrepreneurial mindset does not require you to BE an entrepreneur. There are more ways than one to be involved in entrepreneurship and innovation. Choose the path that is right for you and you will be able to make an impact.

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Connect with Omar Mohout on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/omarmohout/

Learn more about Alberts: www.alberts.be 

Watch this episode on Youtube via www.youtube.com/albertsliving

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Have you tried the entrepreneurship road? What are your thoughts on changing careers from employee to entrepreneur or the other way around? Leave a comment below and you’re automatically entered for a chance to win a Beyond the Blend t-shirt!

In this episode, we welcome Daan Moreels, co-founder of Magnax, on the Beyond the Blend podcast.

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Read the press release about Magnax’s funding round here: https://www.magnax.com/press/fundinground

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What are your key takeaways from this episode? Let us know by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts!

In this episode, we welcome Glenn’s day-one mentor Bram Vanderborght, who is a professor at the University of Brussels and researcher at imec. 

Bram’s vision for robotics, the field he specializes in, is to make robots part of society and make them commercially interesting and intrinsically valuable for companies and other economic purposes. 

“We are like a company. We don’t sell products or services, we sell research to further society and the economy.” - Bram Vanderborght

What becomes very clear in this episode is how difficult it is to innovate. Funding is required to innovate. But it is incredibly hard to convince someone of an idea for which there is no concrete business case yet. And even when you have validated the idea, you again need funding to develop it into something that is commercially viable. Especially for hardware, as we also have experienced it over the years at Alberts, this is a slow process. This process could definitely become more efficient and when it does, economic and societal developments will progress at a faster, ‘more satisfying’ rate.  

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Watch this episode on Youtube via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WFfGyIO4uk

Connect with Bram via LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/bramvanderborght

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If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review below this video. What is your main takeaway? Do you have a topic you would like to see covered on Beyond the Blend? Let us know! You’re automatically entered to win our podcast merchandise when you do :)

“You can write a textbook on sales, but if you’re not overflowing with passion it’s not gonna happen.” - Cemal Ezel

In this inspiring episode, we welcome Cemal Ezel, Founder & CEO of Change Please, the fastest growing coffee company in the world today. Change Please is a social enterprise that gives jobs and purpose to the homeless so they are empowered to change their own life and become part of a tight community.

Glenn and Cemal talk about how they met through our common partner in the UK: SV365, and how both our companies are built on a vision beyond just making profit.

Cemal tells how he had to leave his dream job in sales in order to follow his vision, what learnings he could lean on from previous work experiences and how difficult and sobering the journey from founder to CEO was. 

“In the end it comes down to the passion you have for what you do. That’s what’ll keep you going.” - Cemal Ezel

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Learn more about Change Please via www.changeplease.org

You can find Alberts via www.alberts.be

Watch this episode on Youtube via https://youtu.be/NrynBeMx65c

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Feel free to leave a review on Apple Podcasts. We'd love to hear from you! We reward a reviewer every week with free merchandise. Maybe next week it'll be you? ;-)

In this episode, Régis Lemmens shares through personal stories and experiences how to approach sales as a startup and what pitfalls to avoid that most fresh founders learn about the hard way.

We discover that the best way to start selling as a startup is by not selling at all. We learn why finding a sponsor is a make or break aspect of closing any deal as a startup and why aiming for C-level manager is not necessarily the best way to go.

If you’ve always wondered what the best first sales hire is, then listen to this episode. We’re covering the four types and when to get them on board.

We’re stoked that Régis was able to make time on such short notice to join us and share so many golden nuggets of knowledge with us. We hope you find some actionable advice in this episode. If you do, let us know by leaving a review! We give away a free Beyond the Blend t—shirt each week to someone who left a nice comment about the podcast.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Connect with Régis Lemmens on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/regislemmens/

Find out more about Alberts on www.alberts.be

Follow us on social media via @albertsliving