Entrepreneurial Realities

We are joined this week by Julien Weissenberg. Julien is Zurich based and the founder of Deep Tech Experts. He is also playing an active role with leading organisations such as the World Economic Forum and Inno-Suisse. More importantly, he is working with many Swiss leading VCs and Innovation Agencies as the expert they call to assess the quality of the technology of AI startups they want to invest in. ... So he is really someone you want to be asked to meet.

Do join me in my fascinating conversation with Niclas Molinder. I met Niclas at the 2024 DLD Munich Conference where he gave a remarquable presentation of creation of music using AI tools. In addition to his activities as a musician (he has worked with Abba, Miley Cyrus and Lady Gaga ..), Niclas is also a founder of SessionStudio and has launched CLIP to help creators manage their Intellectual Property. Together, we discuss on his career but also on how AI is impacting the music industry.

Please join us in our discussion with Bernhard Neumann. Bernhard is a dear friend and a brand strategist whose recent work focuses on the concept of personal branding. We discuss why this really matters and particularly for younger entrepreneurs and is part of their journey.

For this end of year 2023, Antoine Leboyer receives Leon Merkel, Founder and CEO of Bumpee. Leon is one of the rare entrepreneurs who have already sold their startups. This is a rare experience. Do hear our discussion on the lessons of this great adventure.

Please join us for our end of year podcast, a conversation with Valentin Schelhaas, CEO of Zentor on ... Happiness. Valentin and I were guests at the first conference on Mental Health and Entrepreneurship where he gave a revealing presentation. I reached out to him so that we could discuss it in the context of Entrepreneurship to understand if and how entrepreneurs can also be as good on their ventures as to their happiness.

Do join my colleague Nic Knapp in our interview with Bernhard Horst, head of the BMW Startup Garage, as we discuss on multiple topics, where innovation in the automotive industry will come from, Startups around the world and how to engage with his organisation. Please note that we had a few seconds where we were disconnected (around 8:30 ...) but all the rest of the conversation is perfectly audible.

Welcome to a very Special Episode: Harvard Business School Professor Andy Wu⁠ and Antoine Leboyer step back from the events of the last days with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman being fired and joining, along with a likely high number of OpenAI employees and discuss on a big variety of topics: Non profit and for profit board, what this means for the industry, what this means for Microsoft, ...

Andy Wu is Harvard Business School Professor of Strategy with a focus on new technologies. He also is the holder of multiple patents so in other words, he really has a grasp of strategy and technology. Join us as we discuss the implications of AI for Businesses, new business models, who are going to be the winners in the new world and what AI startups should take into account ...

For the 50th Episode of the series, we do not have a guest. This podcast is the audio of a conference I did at the Global Tech Shapers on Mental Health and Entrepreneurship. It is a "first person testimony" of my personal journey as a founder and the mental health struggles I had to face: I was diagnosed with PTSD. My objective is to describe what happened to me but beyond this, also give hints on how to cope with this problem. At TUM , I meet many remarquable young founders who are under huge stress. This is very common to many of them. And this episode and all what we do at the Venture Lab is for them.

Join us today for a conversation with Pr Noam Wasserman, Dean of the Yeshiva University, former Professor of Entrepreneurship at the Harvard Business School and writer of The founder's Dilemnas. Pr Wasserman has done an extensive and regular studies of thousands of startups in IT and Life Science. He takes us through some of the key choices founders face at the very beginning of their startup journeys, from ownership and control to roles and responsibilities and why these are among the biggest challenges founders face. Join us as we uncover the wisdom and expertise of Professor Wasserman, offering practical advice for aspiring founders, students, and startup enthusiasts alike. Whether you're at the inception of your entrepreneurial dream or seeking to scale your existing venture, this conversation promises to shed light on the intricate web of decisions that can make or break a startup.