Many people want to be their own boss. After all, nothing beats the flexibility of creating your own schedule and not being accountable to anyone. Many people therefore start a startup. But how do you start a startup? And what are the challenges? Jasper Wognum therefore speaks in this podcast with Rune Theill, the co-founder and CEO of RockStart.

Rune is the co-founder and CEO of Rockstart, Europe's largest early stage investor and accelerator. Rockstart invests in early stage startups and provides access to capital, community and expertise by connecting founders with investors, mentors, partners and corporates.

Before founding Rockstart, Rune launched a number of startups, one that failed pre-market and one that was later sold to a competitor. During the podcast, Rune explains why RockStart was set up, how the organization supports startups and how the startup ecosystem has evolved in recent years. He also explains what a startup accelerator program looks like, what challenges most startups face and how they can find investors.

We are increasingly seeing Artifial Intelligence and Machine Learning being applied to address the world's most pressing challenges. Think about challenges like world hunger, the climate problem and health research. In this episode, Jasper Wognum speaks with Buster Franken, founder and CEO of FruitPunch AI.

FruitPunch AI is building a global community of experts who want to solve societal problems with data and artificial intelligence. By combining and mobilizing all this knowledge, FruitPunch AI is able to solve societal challenges.

During the podcast, Buster explains what FruitPunch AI does, why he started it and how he finds specialists who want to participate at the societal challenges they organize. He also talks about a project that combines human tissue with AI for health research.

Even in 2022, women are still very underrepresented in the tech industry. This is unfortunate, because more diversity ensures that organizations solve problems better, are more innovative and more creative. This is because different employees have different ideas. When organizations hire people who do things differently, they also gain different insights. Jasper Wognum speaks in this episode with Oliviana Bailey, the ambassador for Women in AI Netherlands.

Women in AI (WAI) is a non-profit organization working on inclusive AI. They are community driven and encourage empowerment, knowledge and active collaboration through education, research, events and blogs. At Women in AI, they empower women and minorities to become AI & Data experts, innovators and leaders.

During the podcast, Oliviana talks about her career at Rockstart and Hyperion Lab and how she became an ambassador for WAI. She also explains what WAI does, why it is important, how to build a community and how to set up an AI program as an accelerator.

In this episode of the Automagic podcast Jasper Wognum, co-founder and CEO of BrainCreators, talks to Lars Crama, an independent advisor, investor, changemaker and a hands-on strategist. Lars is involved in several innovative ecosystems where established companies, entrepreneurs, knowledge institutions and start-ups and scale-ups come together.

During the podcast Lars explains what entrepreneurs should look for when they search for investors and want to grow fast. In addition, Lars and Jasper talk about the different start- and scale-up ecosystems in the Netherlands. During the conversation, Lars explains that only a few Dutch start-ups grow into scale-ups. To change this he believes it is important that the various ecosystems in the Netherlands work more together to make an impact on a global scale.

Lars also talks about the Upstream Festival that he organizes in Rotterdam. During this festival start-ups, scale-ups, investors, corporates, policy makers and students come together to make a positive impact on the world.

In this episode, Jasper Wognum, co-founder and CEO of BrainCreators, meets with Marie-José van den Boomgaard, Liaison Manager Startups & Scaleups at KPN.

Marie-José has been closing deals with startups for years. This keeps KPN in the loop on the latest innovations and allows startups to move faster. When startups and corporates work together, new business models can be developed, products and services can be brought to the market faster and innovation can be accelerated. Startups and corporates can open worlds for each other, but they also must be open to each other.

During the podcast, Marie-José explains why KPN has set up this unique program and tells about her experiences. In addition, she gives tips on how corporates can collaborate best with startups.

In this episode, Jasper Wognum, co-founder and CEO of BrainCreators speaks with Willem Drost, businessman and initiator of various trade missions for start-ups and scale-ups.

Drost worked in the United States for thirty years, thirteen of them in Silicon Valley. During this period he always visited the tech fair CES. He noticed that there were never any Dutch tech start-ups at the fair. In 2016, he decides to organize a Dutch trade mission to CES and there appears to be a lot of interest in this. He even managed to secure funding from the Ministry of Economic Affairs (EZK). A few years later he meets Jasper who is participating in the trade mission and they have been speaking to each other regularly ever since.

In this episode, Jasper Wognum, co-founder and CEO of BrainCreators speaks with Camiel Verschoor, co-founder and CEO of Birds.ai.

Birds.AI is a provider of machine learning based solutions. The Amsterdam-based company started with a specific focus on the inspection of wind turbines and solar panels. Nowadays Camiel and his team offer their knowledge and experience on a project basis. Jasper and Camiel have been following each other for years as AI entrepreneurs and often end up in similar situations. 

During the podcast Camiel explains why he started Birds.ai, he tells about his experiences as an entrepreneur and how AI is playing a role in the automation market. 

In this episode, Jasper Wognum speaks with Jarno Duursma, a well-known technology expert, writer, trendwatcher and speaker on various technological topics such as: blockchain, metaverse en Artificial Intelligence. He is sketching the landscape of digital trends in an inspiring, clear and energetic way. Jarno looks to the future through the lens of digital technology. With optimism and an appropriate critical eye. He investigates the impact of technological developments on companies and society. Without losing sight of reality and the human aspect. 

During the podcast Jarno talks about his work and his experiences as a speaker. He also gives practical tips on how to start writing a book and how you can best prepare yourself for a presentation.

What happens when you use AI software to summarize the entire oeuvre of a master painter in one canvas? In this episode Jasper Wognum talks to artist Jeroen van der Most, who manages to create art with the help of AI models. 

During the podcast Jeroen talks about his work and his search for a new balance between technology and creativity. Discover what technology he applies and which role AI plays in the art world.

In this episode Jasper Wognum talks with Eddy Willems, a well-known speaker about cybersecurity and Security Evangelist at G DATA CyberDefense. He gives lectures and presentations worldwide to a very broad audience, from children to experts. He is also the author of several books on cybercrime and is regularly interviewed by leading media outlets to give his opinion on security issues.  

During the talk, Eddy will discuss the current threat landscape and explain how security companies and cybercriminals are using Artificial Intelligence (AI). In addition, he also explains how the security industry will use AI in the future. Is it the holy grail to prevent cybercrime or not?