The Enthusiast: Founders and VCs beyond the Valley

On this episode Pat sits down with Alexis Pantazis, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of European insurtech Hellas Direct to dive into the insurtech playbook, succeeding in smaller yet profitable markets in Southern and Eastern Europe, and how to go about vertical integration as a moat to build maximum value for consumers. To date Hellas has raised more than $85M from the likes of5G Ventures S.A | Phaistos Investment Fund,Portage ,ETF Partners - The Environmental Technologies Fund ,IFC - International Finance Corporation,EBRD,Convex Insurance andEndeavor Catalyst and since its founding has expanded to Romania and further grown their insurance offering through vertical integration.You will learn about- The Insurtech playbook on going direct to the customer but also through brokers- How to go about expansion from smaller markets and under penetrated segments that in aggregate have significant value creation potential - How Greece made their way out of the slump and are now one of the best performing and dynamic economies in EuropeYou can find Alexis on LinkedInhere.Want to stay up-to-date on latest episodes?Follow The Enthusiast wherever you are getting your podcasts and make sure to check out our newsletter on LinkedInhere to stay up to date on our latest episodes with founders and investors beyond the Valley.Follow Pat on LinkedInhere.

On this episode Pat sits down with Jimena Prado, Partner at Latin American VC firm Hi Ventures, which has backed the likes of Cornershop and Fintual. We explore Jimena's journey from one of the first female founders in Mexico to becoming an investor, how she thinks about navigating the current AI craze and where LatAm entrepreneurs can play at and capture value. Hi Ventures is one of the leading early stage funds in LatAm, having backed the likes of Cornershop (exited to Uber at 3Bn), Sequoia backed Fintual and Clau.com. Founded by Federico Antoni, it has raised more than US$170M over 4 vintages. We dive into: - How to filter through the AI noise and where LatAm entrepreneurs play in the space - Transitioning from founder to funder - How Hi Ventures has formulated their investment thesis around AI You can find Jimena on LinkedIn here. Want to stay up-to-date on latest episodes? Follow The Enthusiast wherever you are getting your podcasts and make sure to check out our newsletter on LinkedIn ⁠here⁠ to stay up to date on our latest episodes with founders and investors beyond the Valley. Follow Pat on LinkedIn ⁠here⁠.

On this episode Pat sits down with Izabel Gallera, Partner at Canary, one of the leading early stage VCs in Brazil. We dive into: - The evolution of the Brazilian VC ecosystem and Canary alongside it - How to get to conviction and structure your investment decision process at the seed stage - Professionalizing a VC firm through recycling capital, driving DPI and creating liquidity when possible You can find Bel on LinkedIn here. Want to stay up-to-date on latest episodes? Follow The Enthusiast wherever you are getting your podcasts and make sure to check out our newsletter on LinkedIn ⁠here⁠ to stay up to date on our latest episodes with founders and investors beyond the Valley. Follow Pat on LinkedIn ⁠here⁠.

On this episode Pat sits down with Christine Kenna, Managing Partner of Ignia, a pan-american VC firm that invests in early and Series-A stage tech businesses. You will learn about: Playing the Venture Game in emerging markets, how to think about liquidity The importance of building track record through multiple vintages Is the American style Venture model even applicable to LatAm? You can find Christine on LinkedIn here.

On this episode Pat sits down with Pavel Fedorov, Co-Founder of Philippines based challenger bank Salmon. We dive into scaling a neo-bank in emerging markets, product mix, customer profiles and how to ensure flawless executionYou will learn about The fintech opportunity in the Philippines  How Salmon targets the space and why they start with credit first How they think about go-to-market and their target customer profile You can find Pavel on LinkedIn here.Also check out his Personal Website and Blog here.

On this episode Pat sits down with Esteban Sosnik, Co-Founder and GP of Reach Capital, an edtech specialised VC firm based in Silicon Valley to talk about the evolution of the industry, how AI changes the game and what are the opportunities he sees in emerging marketsYou will learn aboutBuilding a sector-specific fundThe evolution of the edtech space and where we are headingThe right way to upsell into different age groups and how to deal with age related churn of your customersThe inflection...

On this episode Pat brings back Alex Lazarow, Managing Partner of Fluent Ventures to talk about where Fintech in emerging markets has been going and where we are heading. So much to unpack as they dive intoThe different tech waves in emerging markets and LatAm more specifically Embedded Finance and the potential that still remains to be unleashed Where B2C Fintech delivered on its promise to increase financial inclusion You can find Alex on LinkedIn here. Also make sure to chec...

On this episode Pat sits down with Coen Jonker, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of TymeBank to discuss their scale-up journey from South Africa into the Philippines building a true multi-country digital bank for emerging markets. You will learn about:Product road map when scaling a digital bank How to approach market expansion and identifying your next target market What financial inclusion truly means for Coen You can find Coen on LinkedIn here. Support the show

In a riveting conversation, Mikhail Lomtadze, CEO of Kaspi, shares insights on building a superapp that recently hit a $20Bn valuation on Nasdaq. He dives into the unique challenges of developing services in Kazakhstan and the power of customer-centricity in execution. Lomtadze emphasizes the significance of corporate culture in scaling operations and discusses how simplifying product development can enhance user engagement. He also highlights the benefits of fresh perspectives for innovation and the importance of prioritizing strategies in e-commerce.

On this episode Pat sits down with Erin Renzas, the former CMO of Checkout who today runs her own advisory firm EBB strategic to unpack how to unleash marketing performance at the growth stage, the right way to experiment on marketing spent and how to make sure that you nurture the upper funnelWhat you will learnSales is about generating revenue today vs. Marketing is about generating revenue tomorrow - How to strike that balance? What to watch out for when hiring for a CMOHow to communi...