Techtalk

This episode of Techtalk features Tamar Raz, CEO at Hadasit Medical Research Services & Development, the technology transfer company of Hadassah University Hospitals in Jerusalem, and a Technology Transfer Expert with nearly 20 years of experience leading business transactions and management in the biotech and life sciences sector. Tamar is also the Director of KAHR-medical Ltd. and she serves as the chairperson of Hadasit Bio Holdings, a public holding company allowing public participation in the promising field of biotechnology.

This conversation covers Tamar’s point of view about the technology transfer in Israel and her remarkable experience as an expert and entrepreneur who brings medical innovations from the laboratory to the market.

Tamar starts with an historical overview of the technology transfer sector in Israel and continues by giving us precious insights about the technology transfer infrastructure, steps, phases and key departments. We discuss not only the basics of technology transfer, but also more advanced industry activities like the incubation or acceleration programmes, that can not exist without the infrastructure described before.

IBM Alpha Zone - the first accelerator that IBM built in the world, located in Israel - is a great example.

Moreover, Tamar shares lessons about how a technology transfer center like Hadasit can become financially sustainable and the importance of a flexible business model that means long-term investment and short-term activities that bring revenues.

“We worked in Hadassah, in the last 4 or 5 years, to enlarge the innovation ecosystem of Hadassah. So, we want to bring companies to work with us not only based on our IP, but also based on their IP, on their ideas. Because we believe that connecting the physicians and professors of Hadasa to the industry and to the start-up companies, we create a cycle of innovation at Hadassah that will bring us more work and will bring us more revenues. But also we create better inventors that will think about the new ideas all the time”, Tamar explains.

Tune in to find Tamar’s favorite Hadasit success story and:

🌐 Historic overview of how Israel became such a great example of technology transfer (04:30)

Follow Tamar Raz on:

🌐 Hadasit Website - https://www.hadasit.org.il/team/tamar-raz-phd/

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In this episode, meet Peter Cowley - serial entrepreneur and angel investor, board member of the Global Business Angel Network (GBAN) and President Emeritus of the European Business Angel Network (EBAN) - as he walks us through the lessons he learned while founding and running 14 businesses in technology, property and publishing, over the last 40+ years, and while building a portfolio of 76 angel investments over the last decade - 11 positive exits (one of which at 107X, paying back all invested cash), 14 failures, 51 still living.

Peter explains his investment criteria (The Team and the CAC CLV Ratio, The Product and The Finances) and talks about the importance of trust and chemistry not only between investors, but also between investors and the investees. He also describes what a good relationship between founders looks like and points out the reasons why investors leave.

In addition, Peter gives us his honest point of view about the advantages and disadvantages of university spin-outs, the implications of not having enough financial knowledge as an entrepreneur or about his energy and drive resources, that help him push his limits and do so many things in life.

“I really enjoy learning. And particularly, I enjoy spending time with people of all sorts of age or younger. The Millennials, I just absorb so much from them”, Peter says.

Listen to this episode to learn more about:

🌐 How did he get to his investment criteria and why are they so important for him? (04:45)

Follow Peter Cowley on his:

🌐 Website - https://www.petercowley.org

You are invited to read Peter Cowley’s:

🌐 A letter to my 29 year old self - https://www.petercowley.org/a-letter-to-my-29-year-old-self

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This episode of Techtalk features Jan Smejkal, better known as #YourChinaGuy, who resides in Shenzhen and is the founder of YCG, a boutique cross-border business expansion firm working with a selected group of companies to supercharge their operational and business development capabilities in China. Jan is a venture partner at Black Panther Capital (BPC), founded by established and influential family offices around the world. And he is also Entrepreneur-In-Residence (EIR) at Stacks Accelerator, which is investing in outstanding startup teams building on the Stacks Blockchain. Nevertheless, Jan is the one who scaled Startup Grind (the world's largest startup community) in Asia.

In this interview, Jan talks about the beginning of his new life and entrepreneurial journey in China, back in 2018. And also about how he manages to facilitate the next generation's cross-border success in China by going much deeper than the past generations of entrepreneurs and by truly trying to understand the culture, in order to play a long-term game and to build sustainable entrepreneurial bridges.

“If you have that comprehensive approach - the next generation approach - that you want to understand the culture, you want to meet a lot of people, you want to build your network locally, not just in your specific area, but you want to go broad,” Jan says. “Those are the things that can save you eventually.”

Listen to this episode to find more about Jan’s point of view over the following topics:

🌐 How did he get to China and build his #YourChinaGuy brand? (04:30)

Connect with Jan Smejkal on his:

Website - https://yourchinaguy.co

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Marius Istrate was Chief People Officer at UiPath between 2017-2020, setting up and running the company’s people and talent function during its rapid growth from 100 to 3,000 employees across the globe, and from 4 to more than 50 offices worldwide. Prior to his role at UiPach, he was the CEO of SkillValue, and today he is advising and investing in tech startups that wish to go global, while partnering with venture capital firms to help accelerate their portfolio's growth.

This is a conversation to listen from the beginning to the end, because you will discover some great insights not only about the hyper-growth of UiPath, but also from my guest’s experience as an investor, growth adviser, tech business angel and venture partner at 3VC.

Marius brings incredible passion and expertise in explaining why it is so important for leaders to be not only culture fit and eager to learn, but also capable of bringing something extra to the table, not just of fitting into the mold of a company. And you will find out why lack of ambition, being risk-averse, not being able to articulate a vision about the future, or not thinking at marketing as a critical function are some of the reasons that can make it difficult, or even impossible for a start-up to scale or expand internationally.

Moreover, Marius describes how the UiPath success was considered an inspiration and why it brought a higher level of energy, a positive vibe. However, he points out that the next success story does not have to be a UiPath or a new unicorn, and he recommends us to adjust our lens to what a great company really is in order to see more success stories.

Curious to see where the next disruption will happen?

Tune in to discover his point of view about this topic and to learn more about:

🌐 Key areas of development he is proud of having build as a Chief People Officer at UiPath (03:30)

Follow Marius Istrate on:

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/marius-istrate-b8ab0566/

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Xenia Muntean is the CEO and Co-Founder of Planable, a content review and marketing collaboration platform used by over 5,000 teams behind brands such as Hyundai, Christian Louboutin, Viber and United Nations. Prior to launching Planable, at 20 y.o., she built a digital marketing agency and led social for clients such as Coca-Cola.

Xenia joins Ștefan Koritar in a friendly and honest discussion about content marketing and building Planable, a platform that allows agencies and social media marketers to collaborate with their clients.

She offers us deep insights on Planable’s early days in Cluj-Napoca, on the fact that getting customers, building a team and the co-founders relationship were the main challenges encountered prior to the first founding round, on Planable’s main functions and functionalities, and on how saying “No” and risking to lose customers was a major decision in developing Planable as a product. Xenia also gives us a glimpse into the Planable’s future and her life outside of being a tech entrepreneur and a start-up founder.

Xenia Muntean has been nominated on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list and she spoke on the Innovation Stage at Cannes Lions in 2018. She graduated Tim Draper's startup academy in Silicon Valley and she took Planable through the Techstars London accelerator in 2017.

She is also a writer, as she published a book – "The Manifesto on Content Marketing Teams", and the podcast host of "People of Marketing".

Having her on the Techtalk podcast was inspiring. That is why this episode is also a call to action to all the Techtalk listeners who are invited to send us names of women that are building great things in business and in the tech community, in order to have them as a guest, because we believe that a greater number of women in business would change the game for the better.

Tune in to learn more about:

🌐 The top 3 challenges Xenia had encountered before the first founding round (03:00)

Follow Xenia Muntean on:

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/xeniamuntean/

Listen to this podcast episode and SUBSCRIBE! in order not to miss any new one!

Planable (https://planable.io/) is a platform that allows agencies and social media marketers to collaborate with their clients. Planable created a tool that speeds up the way social media campaigns are managed and it makes planning, visualizing and approving social media posts easy and fun.

The tool works like a live mock-up of the social feed, giving a familiar feel to both clients and social media managers. You can add posts, visualize them and how the social media feed will look, invite teammates and clients to collaborate in real time, receive quick feedback right where the posts are and get the posts approved. With Planable the approval workflow is simple and fast. Planable empowers agencies to manage all their clients and social media pages in one single epicenter.

Special Guest: Xenia Muntean.

Bogdan is an entrepreneur with 13 years of experience in tech. 3 years ago he co-founded and became the CEO of Bright Spaces, the end-to-end digital leasing solution for commercial properties. Bright Spaces was one of the 5 startups participating in the 2020 PiLabs accelerator and already has important clients in Romania and the UK.

*In this episode you can learn more about: *

Listen to the podcast on your favorite podcast platform:

Spotify: https://bit.ly/BogdanSpotify

Special Guest: Bogdan Nicoara.

For the past 10 years, Andrei has been a digital marketer and designer, freelancer, and at last he claimed the role of an entrepreneur. He developed projects and managed teams for clients all over the world and today he is building a startup called BRUNCH.

Brunch is a software-as-a-service web app targeting digital experts building and optimizing live websites. In short, it saves you time and money if you are going through the feedback loop nightmare when you’re building a new website or upgrading a live one.

Special Guest: Andrei Stoica.

Links:

• Seedblink Crowdfunding Campaign
• Brunch
• Andrei on Linkedin

Michael Chaffe is the CEO of Wolves Summit. He spent a decade working up to 250m under the Ocean as a Saturation Diver in the Oil & Gas industry, before entering the European VC industry in 2017.

Initially assisting UK-based startups in closing their funding rounds, he went on to acquire Central & Eastern Europe’s flagship innovation conference, Wolves Summit in 2019. Together with a rapidly expanding team, he is leveraging the summit to build valuable bridges between the CEE innovation ecosystem and global partners & investors.

Special Guest: Michael Chaffe.

Links:

• Distributed by Romania-Insider.com
• Wolves Summit

David Timis is a keynote speaker focused on the impact that AI will have on the future of work. He has Master’s Degrees in Business Administration and Management and Public Policy, and work experience in the private, public and NGO sectors.

He has guest lectured at renowned universities, such as Cambridge University in the UK and the College of Europe, and delivered presentations for a diverse range of clients, including Google, the European Commission, and AIESEC.

David has been recognised as an Influential Leader by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, and included on the Forbes 30 Under 30 List in Romania for his continuous work to promote education and digital skills.

If you are interested in the future of work and skills then you shouldn’t skip this conversation:

Enjoy my talk with David!

Max is an entrepreneur turned investor, based in Sofia, Bulgaria. After co-founding and exiting an online legal services company in The Netherlands, Max was on the founding team of Eleven Startup Accelerator in Bulgaria, after which he turned to angel and private investments by co-founding an angel investment syndicate, called Teres Angels and he also pioneered several leading ecosystem initiatives like EIR Tribe, TRACTIONCamp, and SummitSummit. Currently he is a managing partner at Vitosha Venture Partners. He mentors with Seedcamp, LAUNCHub, Happy Farm, and other accelerators, and is passionate about expanding the regional entrepreneurship ecosystem in the CEE.

Max started his career at the European Commission and worked in the publishing sector before launching his first venture. Raised in Russia, USA, Latin America, and Netherlands, and currently residing in Bulgaria, Max is fluent in six languages, loves to blog about start-ups, and is frequently found in art and creative circles.

Max holds a Masters degree in International and European law from the University of Groningen (Netherlands) and also attended Universita di Bologna (Italy) and University of Wisconsin-Madison (United States).

Get ready for a conversation full of insights:

Enjoy my talk with Max :)