This is my archive
News & Blog
24 January 2024
AI, AI, AI: what’s coming up in 2024 "The only constant in life is change" - even though uttered 26 centuries ago, this statement seems to become increasingly true with each passing year. In 2023, in the world of tech, this "constant change" was primarily associated with the tools and use of generative artificial intelligence. Will it be similar in 2024? What other trends have a chance to emerge amidst the AI revolution? 1 March 2023
Founders Talks: Great products result from hard work and the ability to iterate quickly. How Sentryc helps fight online product piracy and what it takes to become a founder of a tech startup According to a study by the EUIPO and the OECD, the volume of international trade in counterfeit and pirated products amounts to USD 464 billion. In the EU, 5.8% of all imports from third countries are now estimated to be counterfeit and pirated goods, worth up to EUR 119 billion. Product piracy also causes people to lose jobs, has severe consequences for the environment, and is linked to exploitation of human labour or children. - It's incredible that our software can help in all those areas, making the world a slightly better place. - says Nicole Hofmann, CEO of Sentryc. 8 November 2022
Founders Talks: Venture Building? The most interesting job in the world! From a ringtone website to two organisations with portfolios of dozens of technological projects built from scratch: Arek Seńko, Managing Partner of Tar Heel Capital Pathfinder and CEO of Red Sky, talks about the profession of serial entrepreneur and how this experience allows him to support ambitious founders in turning their visions and plans into reality. 3 October 2022
Founders Talks: Market validation is a key stage in creating a start-up. Why is Selmo.io winning the hearts of Facebook sellers? Have you ever come across the concept of "live commerce"? Livestream shopping is a hit sales channel in many countries around the world and its popularity is on the rise, also in Poland. The seller presents selected products during a "live" broadcast, and customers declare their willingness to purchase in the broadcast’s comment section or via a direct message. Simple? Not for sellers who drown in hundreds of messy orders. Selmo is a start-up that addresses the needs of these sellers by helping to automate live sales. How its founders came up with this idea and how they validated it, what plans they have for the future, as well as where you can meet future co-founders - these are the things we talk about with Kuba Karyś and Filip Szczepanik. 8 August 2022
Leadership? Do not confuse with management! What is leadership in a start-up all about? According to data published by Failory*, up to 90% of start-ups on the market fail. How come? The culprits are numerous: from unsuccessful ideas, ineffective marketing activities and lack of financing to a poorly selected team. However, many of these mistakes can be easily avoided at early stages of development by giving the reins to a founder with well-developed leadership skills. But what exactly is leadership? Is it different from "ordinary" management? How did the transformation on the USS Santa Fe submarine change the view of leadership models? 11 July 2022
Founders Talks: To build a company, you need an element of madness Over 3500 customers from dozens of countries, a large appetite for further development, a successful IPO on NewConnect and plans for a swift move to the main market of the Warsaw Stock Exchange – Woodpecker.co is not slowing down. How was the idea to build the company born? What does Woodpecker have in common... with an app for personal trainers? And why should we not let ourselves be discouraged by failures, but should draw conclusions and aim high instead? Today we talk to Matt Tarczyński, founder and CEO of Woodpecker. 30 May 2022
11 (un)obvious mistakes in managing a start-up. Part II In the previous part of the article, we've described the first five mistakes that founders often make at various stages of building a start-up. These include developing products that do not respond to the needs of users or prove to be over-engineered; not verifying assumptions with the market; lack of skills in multithreading in management; lacking a bird's eye view and not demonstrating a high level of competence. Today, we present additional six slip-ups that occur in many start-up stories. 9 May 2022
Founders Talks: Science and venture building – a match made in heaven. How NaturalAntibody is changing the pharmaceutical market NaturalAntibody has been on the market for just over a year, and word has it that it can revolutionise the drug manufacturing process. Konrad Krawczyk, a scientist at the University of Oxford and co-founder of NaturalAntibody, talks about how this bioinformatics startup came about, why building a business alone is a big challenge for a scientist and how the fund's competences can help bring academic concepts to life.
AI, AI, AI: what’s coming up in 2024 "The only constant in life is change" - even though uttered 26 centuries ago, this statement seems to become increasingly true with each passing year. In 2023, in the world of tech, this "constant change" was primarily associated with the tools and use of generative artificial intelligence. Will it be similar in 2024? What other trends have a chance to emerge amidst the AI revolution? 1 March 2023
Founders Talks: Great products result from hard work and the ability to iterate quickly. How Sentryc helps fight online product piracy and what it takes to become a founder of a tech startup According to a study by the EUIPO and the OECD, the volume of international trade in counterfeit and pirated products amounts to USD 464 billion. In the EU, 5.8% of all imports from third countries are now estimated to be counterfeit and pirated goods, worth up to EUR 119 billion. Product piracy also causes people to lose jobs, has severe consequences for the environment, and is linked to exploitation of human labour or children. - It's incredible that our software can help in all those areas, making the world a slightly better place. - says Nicole Hofmann, CEO of Sentryc. 8 November 2022
Founders Talks: Venture Building? The most interesting job in the world! From a ringtone website to two organisations with portfolios of dozens of technological projects built from scratch: Arek Seńko, Managing Partner of Tar Heel Capital Pathfinder and CEO of Red Sky, talks about the profession of serial entrepreneur and how this experience allows him to support ambitious founders in turning their visions and plans into reality. 3 October 2022
Founders Talks: Market validation is a key stage in creating a start-up. Why is Selmo.io winning the hearts of Facebook sellers? Have you ever come across the concept of "live commerce"? Livestream shopping is a hit sales channel in many countries around the world and its popularity is on the rise, also in Poland. The seller presents selected products during a "live" broadcast, and customers declare their willingness to purchase in the broadcast’s comment section or via a direct message. Simple? Not for sellers who drown in hundreds of messy orders. Selmo is a start-up that addresses the needs of these sellers by helping to automate live sales. How its founders came up with this idea and how they validated it, what plans they have for the future, as well as where you can meet future co-founders - these are the things we talk about with Kuba Karyś and Filip Szczepanik. 8 August 2022
Leadership? Do not confuse with management! What is leadership in a start-up all about? According to data published by Failory*, up to 90% of start-ups on the market fail. How come? The culprits are numerous: from unsuccessful ideas, ineffective marketing activities and lack of financing to a poorly selected team. However, many of these mistakes can be easily avoided at early stages of development by giving the reins to a founder with well-developed leadership skills. But what exactly is leadership? Is it different from "ordinary" management? How did the transformation on the USS Santa Fe submarine change the view of leadership models? 11 July 2022
Founders Talks: To build a company, you need an element of madness Over 3500 customers from dozens of countries, a large appetite for further development, a successful IPO on NewConnect and plans for a swift move to the main market of the Warsaw Stock Exchange – Woodpecker.co is not slowing down. How was the idea to build the company born? What does Woodpecker have in common... with an app for personal trainers? And why should we not let ourselves be discouraged by failures, but should draw conclusions and aim high instead? Today we talk to Matt Tarczyński, founder and CEO of Woodpecker. 30 May 2022
11 (un)obvious mistakes in managing a start-up. Part II In the previous part of the article, we've described the first five mistakes that founders often make at various stages of building a start-up. These include developing products that do not respond to the needs of users or prove to be over-engineered; not verifying assumptions with the market; lack of skills in multithreading in management; lacking a bird's eye view and not demonstrating a high level of competence. Today, we present additional six slip-ups that occur in many start-up stories. 9 May 2022
Founders Talks: Science and venture building – a match made in heaven. How NaturalAntibody is changing the pharmaceutical market NaturalAntibody has been on the market for just over a year, and word has it that it can revolutionise the drug manufacturing process. Konrad Krawczyk, a scientist at the University of Oxford and co-founder of NaturalAntibody, talks about how this bioinformatics startup came about, why building a business alone is a big challenge for a scientist and how the fund's competences can help bring academic concepts to life.