The Scale Podcast

The art, the science, and the business of startups!

The Scale Podcast: the art, the science and the business of startups, is aimed at founders, builders and operators of startups.

Lack of mentorship and advisory is one of the main reasons many high potential founders and startups fail to take flight. We feature national and global experts in building, operating and funding of startups to provide founders and operators access to cutting-edge, relevant and actionable information in startup building, operating, scaling and fundraising. Our guests include global VCs with multi-unicorn portfolios, Canadian, US and global founders with hundreds of millions raised, corporate VCs from Fortune500 companies, super-angels from Silicon Valley, family offices from US, EU, Middle-East, and South-East Asia, plus sovereign funds from around the globe.


Latest Episode

Episode 5 - Aaron Chin
Vancouver
Organika

Content
02:23 Power of listening ๐Ÿ‘‚๐ŸŽฏ
05:16 Balance between set structures and nimbleness ๐Ÿชœ ๐Ÿชข
06:26 Of best laid plans ๐Ÿ“๐Ÿšข
08:53 Global knowledge driven innovation ๐ŸŒŽ๐Ÿš€
15:45 Trends and trendlines๐Ÿ”ฎ๐Ÿ“ˆ
21:15 The magic pill is already here?๐Ÿ’Š๐Ÿฆ„
25:10 What you need to know before launching a consumer brand๐Ÿ‘ธ๐Ÿผ๐Ÿงšโ€โ™€๏ธ


Past Episodes

Episode 1 - Boris Wertz
Vancouver
Version One VC

Content
02:44 Opportunity cost of chasing the wrong idea for too long โฐโŒ›๏ธ
07:50 Moving fast and breaking things but being mindful of one-way doors ๐Ÿท๐Ÿšช
10:10 Pivot or not to pivot ๐Ÿ“Œ๐Ÿข
16:08 How to pick a good team/founder to invest in ๐Ÿฅท๐Ÿ‘‘
18:05 AI game โ€“ why incumbents rule ๐Ÿงถ๐Ÿชข
24:47 What makes a winning founder ๐Ÿ†๐ŸŽฏ
30:54 How many co-founders is too many co-founders ๐Ÿ‘ซ๐Ÿ”


Episode 2 - Jason Smith
Vancouver
Klue

Content
2:10 How to decide what to build โ“๐ŸŒŽ
6:08 That fine line between bullish and bullshit ๐Ÿƒ ๐Ÿ‚
8:16 Lightening strikes vs. the great grind โšก๏ธ๐Ÿข
10:32 Can I iterate with you? ๐ŸŽŸ๏ธ๐ŸŽญ
14:18 Founder conviction โ€“ the master key ๐Ÿ”‘๐Ÿงต
16:54 Two paths to raising a 100 million dollar round ๐Ÿฅท๐Ÿšด
18:55 Key ingredient of a successful VC conversation - many dots to make a line ๐Ÿงถ๐ŸŽฏ
21:58 Only the paranoid survive ๐Ÿฆ ๐Ÿฆ•


Episode 3 - Michael Lints
Doha
Golden Gate VC


Content
04:34 Product technology driven vs. business model innovation startups ๐Ÿช†๐Ÿ”†
11:11 What will change our world more - AI or Ozempic ๐Ÿค–๐Ÿ’Š
13:39 Sticking to investment thesis vs. following market trends ๐Ÿ“š๐Ÿ“ˆ
15:50 Importance of having a investment thesis ๐ŸŒŽ๐Ÿ‹๏ธโ€โ™‚๏ธ
17:11 Founder X factor โ€“ does it matter ๐Ÿ‘ผ๐Ÿชฌ
18:20 Founder as a magnet ๐Ÿงฒ ๐Ÿงญ
22:32 Investability of solo founders vs. teams ๐Ÿ’ฐ๐Ÿ‘ซ


Episode 4 - Alexander Vaselek
Frankfurt
CIMEDO

Content
02:33 Survival of the fittest - AI Goliaths & Davids ๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿฃ
07:01 How much AI is too much AI? ๐Ÿค–๐Ÿ‘ฉโ€๐Ÿญ
08:24 Derisking investing in a risky climate ๐Ÿฅ…๐Ÿ’ฐ
11:58 Best way to get investor feedback ๐ŸŽฏ๐Ÿ“ข
15:21 The smell of trust ๐Ÿ‘ƒ๐Ÿ’ก
16:36 Do you punch back? ๐ŸฅŠ๐Ÿ•Š๏ธ
23:22 Power of human connection โœ‹๐Ÿฉ