The StartUp to ScaleUp Game Plan

Arthur Nobel is a Principal at Knight Capital, having previously worked at Rocket Internet & co-founded Flexpat where he went through both the startup hype and the trough of disillusionment!

Arthur wrote the best-selling book “Leaders of Growth” and hosts the Leaders of Growth Podcast.

We explored why:

• The concept of a single product-market fit needs to be re-configured as a continuous journey of multiple product-market fits

For more insights into Knight Capital head over to https://www.knight.capital/

And for guidance on recruiting exceptional leaders for B2B SaaS scale-ups, check out https://alpinasearch.com/

Nicola Ebmeyer is the co-founder at Gain.Pro - a 3 year old European SaaS fintech looking to become the Bloomberg of the private finance market!

Gain.Pro already has a stellar list of loyal clients like Bain, Mckinsey, 3i and BCG - their ARR has consistently grown at well over 100% YoY and they've delivered exceptional NRR & NPS 

Nicola explained how Gain.Pro was established from the get-go with a clear understanding of unit economics & a clear path towards profitability.

We also explored:

• how a large consultancy like McKinsey provides an excellent career foundation for wannabe entrepreneurs

For more Gain.Pro insights check out https://www.gain.pro/ & for guidance on recruiting leadership talent for European B2B SaaS scale-ups head over to https://alpinasearch.com/

Dr Shay David is the CEO at retrain.ai – a startup developing the world’s leading AI talent intelligence platform to unlock talent insights and optimize the hiring, retention, & upskilling of their employees.

Shay’s previous venture was Kaltura which he took from inception to $100m+ in revenue – Kaltura ipo’d in 2021.

Shay discussed:

• why he wanted to build a software venture to address a global societal problem

For more insights into retrain.ai head over to https://www.retrain.ai/ and for advice on hiring exceptional leadership talent for SaaS scale-ups check out https://alpinasearch.com/

Oliver Edholm is a teenage entrepreneur shaking up the world of AI & ecommerce!

Oliver launched the ecommerce SaaS startup "Depict"  - funded by Northzone & EQT - after a spell at Klarna

Depict uses AI to deliver Amazon-quality product recommendations for any e-commerce store enabling small & medium-sized retailers to compete on a level playing field with their largest competitors.

Oliver explains how he:

• dropped out of school after having his worldview transformed by Nick Bostrom's book “Super Intelligence” 

He outlined some key Y Combinator learnings including aim for 100% clarity - even if you're only 80% accurate - in all your communications

And he explained how meditation can "change the operating system of your mind" - could meditation be a tool that would help other entrepreneurs handle their scale-up challenges more effectively?

For more insights into Depict check out https://depict.ai/

And for advice on hiring exceptional leadership talent to scale your B2B SaaS venture, head over to https://alpinasearch.com/

Neta Meidav is the CEO of Vault Platform. In 2017, inspired by the #MeToo movement and her own experiences with harassment, Neta left her job as a climate adviser to found Vault.

Vault is a Series A scale-up pioneering TrustTech - a new category of ethics-enabling workplace technology helping companies address compliance, risk, and HR challenges.

Neta explained how Vault helps with a range of work issues - including ethics, bullying, racism & sexual harassment. By giving people a voice, "you help them to speak up...you automatically create a more diverse environment".

We discussed the challenges of being a female tech entrepreneur in a male-dominated sector - studies have shown that female founders face different funding criteria & are actually asked different questions by VCs!

We explored the founder's privilege of surrounding themselves with great minds & wonderful human beings - and experiencing how "the magic happens" when exceptional people get together.

Neta also explained why she believes hybrid working is an inferior model - hence Vault, due to the pandemic, has switched from WFO to WFH  - and we discussed how companies can ensure the magic still happens when teams are working remotely.

For more insights into Vault check out https://vaultplatform.com/

And for advice on hiring global leadership talent for B2B SaaS startups & scale-ups, head over to https://alpinasearch.com/

Jan Andriessen & Mick Mackaay are Partners at HenQ - a Dutch-based VC investing in European B2B software startups addressing "unexplored problems" & "defining their own markets".

We explored HenQ's refreshing approach to VC investing. For example, HenQ:

• are dismissive of the metrics that VCs & startups typically obsess over - who gives a damn about TAM?!

Judith Dada is a General Partner at La Famiglia -  a European VC investing in early stage digital disruptors like buynomics and y42.

We explored a wide-range of topics including:

• “Learning the craft of VC” is more important than a business school education

For more information on La Famiglia check out  https://lafamiglia.vc/ & for advice on hiring leadership talent at software ventures head over to https://alpinasearch.com/

Eva-Valerie Gfrerer is the founding CEO at MorphAIs - the pioneer in AI-driven VC investment.

MorphAIs uses a data and technology driven approach to reduce human error & bias & make investments more accurate, transparent and inclusive.

For more insights into Morphais head over to https://morphais.com/

And for guidance on recruiting world class leaders for B2B startups & scaleups, check out https://alpinasearch.com/

Niels Brochner is a co-founder at Contractbook who provide document & contract automation to 150,000 users across more than 100 countries.

Niels discussed:

• How to create a culture where people actually want to come to work – where they’ll have the best 5 years of their working life!

For more insights into Contractbook check out https://contractbook.com/ & head over to https://alpinasearch.com/ for advice on recruiting exceptional start-up & scale-up leaders

Henry Alty, Investment Director at Gresham House Ventures, invests in process & workflow automation software, digital transformation, & scale-ups looking to improve the use of data & analytics

We explored:

• the opportunity to build profitable, sustainable, scale-ups - "camels" - that many investors overlook in their search for unicorns

why founders should take extensive references & really dig into the approach & track record of prospective investors - just as they should do when hiring senior talent

why companies who embrace ESG criteria are well-positioned for the challenges of the next decade

For more insights into Gresham House Ventures check out https://greshamhouseventures.com/

And for guidance on recruiting leadership talent for growth ventures, head over to https://alpinasearch.com/