EF Co founder and CEO Matt Clifford interviews EF Hong Kong General Manager Lavina Tien exploring her background and the Hong Kong startup ecosystem. In this episode they discuss:

- Lavina’s background and why she was excited by EF’s mission

- The Hong Kong startup ecosystem and the opportunities in the area

- Ef’s partnership with HAX, the world’s leading early stage hardware investor

This was a great conversation with some great insight into Lavina’s story and the Hong Kong ecosystem.

Joe White is an entrepreneur and the CFO and General Partner at Entrepreneur First.In this episode Joe and I discuss:

- The early days of Moonfruit and the UK startup scene

- How Joe helped steer the company through the dot com bubble

- What startups should look for in a VC

We also get into Joe’s advice for dealing with the ups and downs of the startup journey based on his own experience as a founder and with the companies he’s advised and invested in.

Sai Ranganathan is the Co-Founder of SensorFlow, a company making buildings energy efficient at zero upfront cost. In this episode we discuss:

- Why he left Goldman Sachs to start a company with EF

- How Sai has learned to filter advice from third parties

- The key hiring lesson Sai learned the hard way that has made a huge difference to growing his team

This was a great conversation packed full of useful insights whether you’re interested in IoT or looking for advice to grow your business.

Chris Mairs is an entrepreneur, Angel Investor and Venture Partner at EF. In this episode we discuss:

- The lessons he learned from building MetaSwitch, including a visit from Microsoft Founder Bill Gates

- The red flags that turn him off a co-founding team as an angel investor

- How EF’s Companies have evolved since he got involved on the first cohort

We also get into the tech trends Chris is most excited about, his perspective on AI and blockchain and how he’s overcome the challenges he’s faced.

Today’s conversation is a special one to celebrate the opening of EF Bangalore and in it, EF CEO Matt Clifford interviews EF Bangalore General Manager Esha Tiwary, exploring:

- Esha’s background and why she was so excited by EF’s mission

- The Indian startup ecosystem and the opportunities in Bangalore

- The comparative advantages of the different startup ecosystems that EF is involved in and the global community it’s building

Tom Pocock is the Co-Founder of Credit Mint, a company that’s decentralising corporate lending by using a public blockchain as the shared ledger for corporate debt. In this episode we discuss:

- Why Tom left the finance industry to start a crypto business

- The current state of the crypto space and future predictions

- Tom’s lessons on raising money after fundraising

So if you’re curious about what it takes to start a blockchain business or the future of finance this episode has you covered.

Rohit Jha is the Co-Founder of Transcelestial a company developing a laser communication solution to replace existing wireless communication technology.

In the next decade 3 billion people and 50 billion devices will come online – but the global infrastructure we have in place at the moment isn’t sufficient to provide the required speed and flexibility to manage our needs as a planet. 

And that’s where Transcelestial comes in – they’re developing the fastest, long-distance, point-to-point wireless communication network possible.

This will be delivered as a space data network for terrestrial and satellite applications, which will use lasers to transfer data at up to 1000x faster than what’s currently available.

Rohit met his co-founder Danesh on the first day of EFSG1 and since then the two have never looked back, going on to raise a seed round that included Y Combinator’s Michael Seibel and Wavemaker Partners. 

Rohit earned a degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from NTU and worked in the RBS FX Electronic Markets Team on low-latency communications and highly scalable software systems before joining EF to start a company.

In this episode Rohit and I discuss: 

- His fascination with space and how his upbringing influenced his choice to become an entrepreneur

- How Rohit met his Co-Founder Danesh on day one of the first EF cohort in Singapore

- How Transcelestial built their first prototype after a brainwave in a pub before Investor Committee

Rohit and his co-founder Danesh are building the definition of a globally ambitious company and it was great to dig into some of the stories behind the startup as well as getting an insight into the future of communications technology.

Rohit Jha is the Co-Founder of Transcelestial a company developing a laser communication solution to replace existing wireless communication technology. In this episode we discuss:

- How Rohit’s upbringing influenced his choice to become an entrepreneur

- How Rohit met his Co-Founder Danesh on day one of EFSG1

- How Transcelestial built their first prototype after a brainwave in a pub

You'll get insights into the stories behind the startup and the future of communications technology.

Nadav Rosenberg is a General Partner and the Head of Commercial at EF. He was previously on the founding team of Groupon UK and led Israeli startup Taboola’s expansion in Europe and Australia. In this episode we discuss:

- The key strategies that founders can apply to sell more effectively

- What Nadav looks for in founding teams

- The future of cryptocurrencies

Nadav has great stories to share and you’ll leave the conversation with insights into selling, investing, cryptocurrencies and much more.

Jesse Shemen is the CEO and Co-Founder of Papercup, a company that auto-translates the voice track on videos into the world’s languages. In this episode Jesse and I discuss:

- How he developed the technical knowledge that underpins Papercup

- Jesse’s pitching advice as one of the standout performers at Demo Day

- Jesse’s key lessons from raising his first round