The First Rung

By The First Rung

A podcast🎙️ & online community 🤝 brought to you by Kiran & Justus about getting into early-stage alternative careers 💼. Get on your career ladder!... more

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FAQs about The First Rung:

How many episodes does The First Rung have?

The podcast currently has 15 episodes available.

The First Rung episodes:

October 20, 2021Why you should define your fears instead of your goals? - Artjem Weissbeck
Guest: Artjem Weissbeck (https://www.linkedin.com/in/addy/)
Key Recommendation: Fear Setting (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5J6jAC6XxAI)
Jobs @Charles (https://charles.jobs.personio.de/)
Charles helps brands to pioneer Conversational Commerce by integrating shop systems (Spryker, Spopify, etc.), chat apps (WhatsApp, Instagram Direct, Facebook Messenger, etc.) & bots in one intuitive design.
Follow us: https://twitter.com/thefirstrungpod
...more
29min
July 06, 2021Why is it worth being held at gunpoint twice? - Clemens Raemy
In this episode, we spoke to Clemens Raemy who is one of the most ambitious founders we’ve had on the show to date. He has an incredible entrepreneurial drive, highlighted by both his academic and professional career. We learned more about the Harvard MBA track, how the grind of financial services can ignite a passion to solve problems, and what it took to launch SaferTaxi and take over the South American taxi market. Clemens is now launching Kenbi in Germany in the healthcare space, to find out more about how to nail a role in the rapidly expanding team listen now!
Follow us: https://twitter.com/thefirstrungpod
More info and resources here: https://bit.ly/TheFirstRungNotion
Guest: Clemens Raemy

Twitter: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clemensraemy/

Job Shout Out: Get a job at his newest venture Kenbi!
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36min
March 04, 2021Dr Richard Schwenke on Validation, Acquisitions and Risk
Welcome to the first episode of Season 2! In this episode of The First Rung Justus & Kiran speak with Dr Richard Schwenke who has had a super diverse career so far: Engineering Bachelor in Germany - Master at MIT - 4 years at McKinsey + PhD - then Founded the ecommerce startup Contorion & sold it for a 9 figure sum - Now he is building a team around his newest startup Priceloop
Richard has a lot of experience across technology and scaling teams, throughout our conversation we discussed his struggle with universities to complete education with bureaucracy, what working at McKinsey was like/ how it shaped his entrepreneurial ventures and what it is like to sell your first company.

Importantly we also got to learn more about Richard’s newest venture Priceloop and how he hopes to change the way companies price online with data.
So as always, sit back, relax and enjoy!
Follow us: https://twitter.com/thefirstrungpod
More info and resources here: https://bit.ly/TheFirstRungNotion
Guest Details: Dr Richard Schwenke

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-s-5a1962a/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/priceloopai
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47min
December 30, 2020How to work and learn in a (post) COVID world? - Joerg Rheinboldt
In this Christmas special episode of The First Rung Justus & Kiran speak with Joerg who is a seasoned serial entrepreneur, investor and author - Joerg sold his first business to Ebay in 1999 only 3 years after finishing university, since then Joerg has had a truly diverse and adventurous career bouncing between starting his own foundations to now leading the early stage VC: APX backed by Axel Springer and Porsche in Berlin.
Joerg has a lot of experience across technology sectors, but to mix it up this episode we dove into the topic of the future of work to better understand his perspective on how this will shape the coming years of education, careers and technology.
Throughout our conversation we discussed the future of hiring with AI, Upskilling and Reskilling and why remote work might stick around after covid. This episode was an absolute pleasure to record and close off 2020. So as always, sit back, relax and enjoy!
Follow us: https://twitter.com/thefirstrungpod
More info and resources here: https://bit.ly/TheFirstRungNotion
Guest Details: Joerg Rheinboldt

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rheinboldt/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/joerg

Medium: https://joerg.medium.com/
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40min
August 19, 2020 Why should you do a PhD? - Victoria Sanchez Zini
Episode 10 Description - Why you should do a PhD ? - Victoria Sanchez Zini

In this episode of The First Rung Justus & Kiran connect with Victoria who is currently working across an truly agnostic health fund at Earlybird VC. Victoria was born in Argentina, grew up in Spain before moving to the UK before university - she fell in love with engineering problem solving and strived to better understand her field of chemical/ biological engineering which ignited her passion enough to dedicate her first rung to a PhD at Princeton University.
Victoria’s whirlwind journey was so inspiring, throughout her time at university she took strategic roles in both early and late stage titans of industry includingGlobal Pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca and Merrimack Pharmaceuticals just after their IPO. After completing her studies she was inspired to work on more enterprising ventures in Biopharma management consulting and Oxford Universities Innovation Team. Now Victoria spends her time across Europe finding and supporting technical talent solving the world's most pressing health problems.

Throughout our conversation we discussed the role and complexities of a career in academia, how to leverage management consulting to opermise your learning and how health tech has been impacted by coronavirus.
This was such an inspiring episode, so as always, sit back, relax and enjoy!

Guest Details: Victoria Sanchez Zini PhD
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/victoriasanchezzini/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/drsanchezzini
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30min
August 05, 2020Why mental health is your super power?
In this episode of The First Rung Justus & Kiran catchup with Meg Zeenat Wamithi, a revolutionary young leader and powerful advocate for the importance of tackling mental health, especially among young people. At present, Meg is working on many projects as always, she is the Founder and CEO of My Mind Matters Too, innovation hub for mental wellbeing research for young adults (16 to 25-year-olds) across the UK. Meg has had a diverse and rich series of first rung journeys - from the Civil Service Fast Track Scheme to Think Tank Policy Research and Innovation Strategy Consultancy. Above all Meg is committed to ensuring that young people's voices are heard, but most importantly that they matter too.
Throughout our conversation we discussed the challenges of tackling mental health, working with and finding mentorship, and how to align your projects with your career experience. If you’re interested in learning more about mental health, mentorship, policy writing, or politics this will be a perfect episode for you.

TW: in this episode, we do discuss some honest and vulnerable moments of Meg’s journey, there is a reference to suicidal thoughts and self-harm, however, we want to acknowledge our guest whole experienced, not just their successes but hardships too - if you feel like this might affect you feel free to listen to another one of our episodes, and possibly reach out to organisations like https://www.mymindmatterstoo.com/ and https://www.mind.org.uk/
This was such an energetic episode, I think you should take some: get up, go for a walk and enjoy this episode!
Guest Details: Meg Zeenat Wamithi

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meg-zeenat-wamithi-46781513b/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/meg_wamithi

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/megzeenatwamithi/
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36min
July 29, 2020Why you can learn to code outside of the classroom?? - Catherine Tranfield
In this episode of The First Rung Justus & Kiran speak with Catherine, the guest with the most diverse career experience so far on the show. At present, Catherine is working for Credit Suisse as a software apprentice - but we barely even got to talk about this! Cathine decided not to go to university and is a strong believer in a self-development style education. She has participated in industry-leading technical training courses including Code First Girls, Capital Enterprise’s Machine Learning Training and Makers Academy.

Catherine has delved into the worlds of publishing with Penguin Random House, Broadcasting at the BBC, Financial Services with Bloomberg and most recently Venture Capital with Included VC. We discussed the joys and struggle of writing books, why everyone should consider not going to university and the role diversity and inclusion should play in our technology platforms of the future. If you’re interested in alternative education, crypto, writing and VC this will be a perfect episode for you.
This was such an energetic episode, I think we have to mix it up: get up, go for a walk and enjoy this episode!
Guest Details: Catherine Tranfield

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherinetranfield/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CatTranfield

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cattranfield/
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35min
July 15, 2020 Why you should get the CEO of Apple to tweet about you?? - Joseph Mambwe
In this episode of The First Rung Justus & Kiran speak with Joseph, an impressive technologist, podcaster, entrepreneur and gym goer. Joseph was born in Zambia, grew up in Botswana, studied in Cambridge and now lives in Manchester where he founded and launched the GymStreak fitness platform.
It was delightful to speak with Joseph about his entrepreneurial journey most recently about how his company has reacted to COVID, found opportunity in their markets and capitalised in these bleak times. We also discussed the power of Hackathons, Africa’s emerging tech markets and how to pull off a Facebook style growth hack to access university emails for an app. If you’re interested in coding, the entrepreneurial experience or gyms then this will be a perfect episode for you.
As always, sit back, relax and enjoy!
Guest Details: Joseph Mambwe
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joseph-mambwe-5319954a/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MrMambwe
Community Page: https://bit.ly/TheFirstRungNotion
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35min
June 30, 2020Why should you start a petting zoo?? - Daniel Kyne
In this episode of The First Rung Justus & Kiran speak with Daniel Kyne based in Dublin. Daniel has recently launched his own business full time, Opinion X, where he is supporting government agencies and organizations in better understanding their constituents and communities with data. Daniel has had a rollercoaster journey so far, from representing Ireland at social impact startup competitions to securing globally renowned technologists for one of the largest European entrepreneurship conferences. We discussed the power of young passionate individuals, how startup weekends can shape a career and what it takes to land a role in Unilever. If you’re interested in cuddly animals, FMCG, social impact, or tech entrepreneurship this will be a perfect episode for you.
As always, sit back, relax and enjoy!
Guest Details: Daniel Kyne

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielkyne/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Daniel_Kyne
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Community Page: https://bit.ly/TheFirstRungNotion
Twitter: https://twitter.com/thefirstrungpod
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thefirstrungpodcast/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefirstrungpod/
...more
31min
June 17, 2020 Why does creating a humanitarian impact matter?? - Coralie Lolliot
In this episode of The First Rung Justus & Kiran speak with Coralie, based in Paris, where she is currently working with UNESCO on projects surrounding education, equality and the impact of COVID-19 on the African continent. Coralie has had a super exciting early-career surrounded in work with NGOs, academic studies at world-renowned institutions across three continents, and spearheading initiatives to support and empower youth communities. We discussed the twists and turns of her journey to date, including stories of how Coralie financed her higher education at Oxford, landed an internship in the UN and has been kicking down barriers everywhere she goes. If you’re interested in social impact, humanitarian work and philanthropy this will be a perfect episode for you.
As always, sit back, relax and enjoy!
Follow us: https://twitter.com/thefirstrungpod
More info and resources here: https://bit.ly/TheFirstRungNotion
Guest Details: Coralie Lolliot
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/coralie-lolliot/
...more
41min

FAQs about The First Rung:

How many episodes does The First Rung have?

The podcast currently has 15 episodes available.