Elvis Nava is a researcher-turned-founder building Mimic Robotics, a company developing general-purpose robot hands powered by imitation learning. After completing his PhD at ETH Zurich, Elvis realized the only way to scale his research was by turning it into a company. Today, Mimic is pioneering a new kind of robotics—flexible, AI-native, and already proving itself in real-world industrial use cases.
In this episode we talk about:
• Why some research only works outside the lab
• How to build hardware that adapts—rather than hard-codes—the task
• What it takes to raise a $16M seed round in Europe
• How hackathons and ecosystem building accelerate deeptech
A conversation about research taste, the myth of perfection, and what happens when you build both the model and the machine.
For more behind-the-scenes from Elvis - including takeaways on fundraising and team-building - subscribe to our newsletter at followthegradient.io.
Fabienne Doerig is a former CFO and COO turned advisor, with 15+ years of experience helping companies - from pre-seed startups to public enterprises - scale their finance and ops. She’s led through hypergrowth, driven restructuring, and now helps founders automate the operational backbone of their business using AI.
In this episode we talk about:
• Why clarity, not code, is the first step in automation
• How to build a 13-week cash forecast that updates daily
• When to build, buy, or copy automation tools
• What founders get wrong about scaling their back office
A conversation about the hidden power of finance operations, the messy reality of AI adoption, and why the biggest wins often come from the most “boring” use cases.
For more insights from Fabienne—including practical examples that didn’t make it into the episode—check out our newsletter at followthegradient.io.
Noa Perry Reifer is the Chief People Officer at Neko Health, where she’s helped scale the team from 100 to over 500 in just five months. Before that, she spent nearly a decade helping build the culture and people systems at On, one of Europe’s most iconic consumer brands.
In this episode we talk about:
• Why culture is the most misunderstood scaling tool
• How to build orgs that are bold, fast—and still deeply human
• Why AI-native hiring needs both automation and judgment
• What founders get wrong about org design in hypergrowth
A conversation about leadership in the AI era, building cultural glue across wildly different teams, and how to design companies that don't just move fast—but move with meaning.
For more insights from Noa - including examples that didn’t make it into the episode - check out our newsletter at followthegradient.io
What do robots, risk, and resilience have in common? In this episode, Roman Hölzl, founder and CEO of RobCo, shares how he went from elite freestyle skier to building one of Europe’s most capital-efficient robotics startups.
We get into what it takes to sell robots to people who don't want to buy robots, how to say no to average and build a Champions League culture, and move hardware at software speed – all while staying sane under extreme pressure.
And yes, we unpack that one night in 2012 that still shapes how Roman leads today.
🟢 And before you go, subscribe to our free newsletter at followthegradient.io. Twice a week, we break down startup and tech news, share exclusive insights from our podcast guests, highlight top job openings from European startups, and provide food for thought you won’t find anywhere else. 🟡
Christian Woese was one of Yokoy’s first employees and the architect behind its entire customer success organization. His philosophy is to transform post-sales from a support function into a strategic growth engine — connecting sales, marketing, and product around one goal: delivering real customer value.
In this episode, we talk about:
A conversation about building sustainable growth through retention, turning clients into advocates, and staying sane while scaling fast.
For more insights from Christian that didn’t make it into the episode, check out our newsletter at followthegradient.io
Andreas Klinger calls himself a technical founder turned investor turned lobbyist. He was CTO at Product Hunt, helped build AngelList and OnDeck, and now runs Prototype Capital, a solo GP fund backing ambitious founders.
Andreas is also the co-initiator of EU Inc, the proposal for a true pan-European legal entity that could finally allow startups to scale across Europe without the friction of 27 national company regimes.
In this episode we talk about:
A conversation about fixing the system, raising ambition, and building sovereign European giants, while staying sane along the way.
For additional insights Andreas shared that did not make it into the episode, check out our newsletter at followthegradient.io/p/andreas-klinger-podcast.
In this episode, Nicole Büttner - investor, entrepreneur, and political leader - shares why Europe has all the ingredients for AI leadership, but still struggles to scale its breakthroughs into global companies.
From navigating corporate partnerships without falling into “POC limbo” to reframing courage as a core leadership trait, Nicole breaks down the mindset shifts and structural changes founders need to succeed. She also shares candid reflections on the weight of responsibility leaders carry and how to sustain energy in the long run.
You’ll learn:
Nicole’s insights are a playbook for founders who want to build enduring, globally relevant companies out of Europe.
Get bonus insights from Nicole that didn’t make it into the episode at followthegradient.io.
In this episode, Jake Bornstein — executive coach to founders and co-founder of Studio Medis — shares how personal growth and leadership frameworks can unlock scale when startups hit the limits of chaos.
From reframing coaching as a billion-dollar investment to building minimum viable structures that keep teams aligned, Jake breaks down what every founder needs to know to stop being the bottleneck.
You’ll learn:
Jake’s insights are a playbook for founders who want to scale not just their companies, but themselves.
Get bonus insights from Jake that didn’t make it into the episode at followthegradient.io.
In this episode, Simone Rüschenberg - finance leader behind Gorillas, SoundCloud, and TIER - shares how she helped scale some of Europe’s fastest-growing startups by building finance teams that actually enable growth.
From ditching Excel at the right moment to avoiding ERP nightmares, Simone breaks down what every founder and CFO needs to know to stay sane while scaling.
You’ll learn:
How to scale your finance function across Series A, B, and C
Why the first three finance hires are absolutely pivotal
How to avoid painful financial cleanups (and investor panic)
What it means to lead with strategy - not just spreadsheets
Simone’s story is a playbook for modern finance leaders navigating speed, scale, and change.
Get bonus insights from Simone that didn’t make it into the episode at followthegradient.io.
In this episode, Victoria Ransom, founder of Wildfire (acquired by Google) and Prisma, shares the scrappy, principled, and deeply human approach that shaped her startup journey - from asparagus farming in rural New Zealand to building and selling a high-growth tech company.
Victoria opens up about how she scaled Wildfire from a humble tool to 400 employees, maintained a strong culture during hypergrowth, and navigated an acquisition without losing the soul of the company. She also shares the realities of co-founding with her husband and raising three kids while running startups — without burning out or burning bridges.
You’ll learn
How to scale without diluting culture or values
Why scrappiness can be a superpower in startup execution
How to navigate acquisitions while keeping your team engaged
What it takes to co-found a company with your life partner
Victoria’s story is proof that you don’t need a Silicon Valley pedigree to build something world-class — just grit, clarity, and a whole lot of heart.
Get bonus insights from Victoria that didn’t make it into the episode at followthegradient.io.
In this episode, David Oort Alonso, co-founder of Bloom and Y Combinator alum, breaks down what it really takes to get into YC as a European founder. After six applications, multiple pivots, and finally raising $3.4M in just five days, David shares the lessons that helped him and his team stand out to investors and YC partners.
You’ll learn:
How to know when to pivot versus push through
Why YC cares more about markets than tech—and how to frame yours
How to run a lightning-fast fundraising process that builds FOMO
How to use demos, storytelling, and urgency to win investors without a deck
Why team chemistry and resilience matter as much as the idea
Sign up for exclusive insights from David that didn’t make it into the episode at followthegradient.io.
In this episode, Rob Snyder, founder of Waffle and Reframe and Harvard Innovation Labs Fellow, shares his no-nonsense approach to finding product-market fit for early-stage B2B startups. After spending two years in what he calls the "pain cave" without traction, Rob developed four key frameworks that have helped founders grow from zero to over one million in annual recurring revenue.
You’ll learn
Rob's approach is grounded in experience and focused on results. If you're navigating early-stage growth, this episode offers clear, actionable advice.
Sign up for exclusive insights from Rob that didn’t make it into the episode at followthegradient.io.
As part of our most-listened replays this holiday season, we’re bringing back one of the standout episodes of Follow the Gradient.
In this replay, Ruth Barnett—former Comms Lead at Sequoia Capital and ex-journalist—breaks down how startup founders can sharpen their storytelling, build reputation, and handle crisis communication like a pro.
You’ll learn:
How to craft a narrative that resonates with investors, customers, and your team
What most founders get wrong about PR (and how to fix it)
Why reputation is everything—and how to protect it
Crisis communication 101: be ready before it hits
How technical founders can learn to lead with the “why”
Christina Stahl, co-founder of AMELI Zurich, shares how she bootstrapped a premium handbag brand to over 50'000 sales across 60 countries. She explains how to test demand fast, grow with limited resources, and avoid early-stage mistakes.
Key takeaways:
🟢 And before you go, subscribe to our free newsletter at followthegradient.io. Twice a week, we break down startup and tech news, share exclusive insights from our podcast guests, highlight top job openings from European startups, and provide food for thought you won’t find anywhere else. 🟡
From Klarna to Brite Payments, Lena Hackelöer has built fintechs that thrive across 27 markets—without blowing the budget. In this episode, she shares battle-tested strategies for international expansion, hiring senior talent at the right moment, and balancing growth with financial discipline. Whether you're entering a new market or navigating leadership hires, Lena breaks down what actually works—and what doesn't.
You’ll learn:
How to break into new markets with no local team
Why vertical-first selling beats regional scaling (until it doesn’t)
What founders get wrong about hiring senior leaders
When to prioritize profitability vs. growth
How to stay lean without limiting ambition
Lena’s approach to building a capital-efficient, scalable business is a must-hear for any founder aiming to do more with less—and stay sane doing it.
🟢 And before you go, subscribe to our free newsletter at followthegradient.io. Twice a week, we break down startup and tech news, share exclusive insights from our podcast guests, highlight top job openings from European startups, and provide food for thought you won’t find anywhere else. 🟡
What actually kills startups? It’s rarely the competition. It’s self-inflicted.
Jake Bornstein has coached over 150 founders and execs through hypergrowth, brutal pivots, messy exits, and all the personal chaos behind it. Before that, he worked directly with Ray Dalio at Bridgewater, until a total health collapse forced him to rethink everything.
In this episode, Jake gets brutally honest about why most startups die by suicide, not murder. We dig into how founders sabotage themselves, what a truly great coach actually does (and doesn’t do), and why you can’t outsource the hard clarity work that scaling demands.
🟢 And before you go, subscribe to our free newsletter at followthegradient.io. Twice a week, we break down startup and tech news, share exclusive insights from our podcast guests, highlight top job openings from European startups, and provide food for thought you won’t find anywhere else. 🟡
Most founders wait until Series A to clean up their cap table. Stef did the opposite - and spent $70K upfront just to get the foundations right.
As co-founder of Cradle, he built a biotech company for global scale from day one: navigating European legal complexity, validating science in skeptical labs, and paying early customers out of pocket to prove it worked.
In this episode, we get into:
Why Cradle paid its first two customers—and how that unlocked top-tier pharma clients
How to structure your company early to avoid massive headaches later
Why European startup culture struggles with ambition—and what needs to change
How to hire ML talent in Europe when OpenAI is knocking on the same doors
🟢 And before you go, subscribe to our free newsletter at followthegradient.io. Twice a week, we break down startup and tech news, share exclusive insights from our podcast guests, highlight top job openings from European startups, and provide food for thought you won’t find anywhere else. 🟡
As co-founder and CEO of GuestReady, Alex hit a wall during COVID: a crumbling travel industry, a vanished funding round, and 140 salaries he couldn’t pay. What saved him wasn’t a new strategy - but an ancient one: Stoicism.
In this episode, we get into:
• How “focus on what you can control” became a survival strategy• Why transparency builds trust in the worst of times• What it takes to lead when your startup becomes a rollercoaster• How detaching self-worth from business outcomes protects founders
🟢 And before you go, subscribe to our free newsletter at followthegradient.io. Twice a week, we break down startup and tech news, share exclusive insights from our podcast guests, highlight top job openings from European startups, and provide food for thought you won’t find anywhere else. 🟡
As co-founder of VEED, Sabba Keynejad spent years building without funding, optimising for what users actually searched for, and scaling through obsessive customer focus—not pitch decks.
In this episode, we get into:
• Why getting rejected by YC twice in a weekend became fuel for growth
• How to build for what users search for (not what they say they want)
• What makes SEO and YouTube a powerful GTM engine—if you’re scrappy
• How loving your users more than your investors changes your roadmap
🟢 And before you go, subscribe to our free newsletter at followthegradient.io. Twice a week, we break down startup and tech news, share exclusive insights from our podcast guests, highlight top job openings from European startups, and provide food for thought you won’t find anywhere else. 🟡
Founders chase success at all costs. But what happens when the cost is too high?
For Adrian Locher, that cost was everything. As a serial entrepreneur, he built multiple startups, scaled across continents, and took 120+ flights in a year. At the peak of his career, his personal life collapsed. He missed the birth of his son. His marriage ended. He lost himself in the relentless pursuit of success.
This conversation isn’t just about burnout. It’s about what happens next– and how to build a life that works.
Key insights Adrian shares:
This episode is for every founder who’s felt the pressure to sacrifice everything for success.
🟢 And before you go, subscribe to our free newsletter at followthegradient.io. Twice a week, we break down startup and tech news, share exclusive insights from our podcast guests, highlight top job openings from European startups, and provide food for thought you won’t find anywhere else. 🟡