The Enthusiast: Founders and VCs beyond the Valley – Details, episodes & analysis

On this episode Pat sits down with Michael Lints, Partner at leading South East Asian VC firm Golden Gate to dive into their expansion into MENA, his move to Qatar, why now and how he sees the two regions complementing each other in terms of ecosystem maturity, VC and LP landscape. 

You will learn about:

• Doing business in MENA
• Cross pollination opportunities between the two regions
• Liquidity and exit opportunities and t he importance of Secondaries in SEA 

You can find Michael 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 LinkedIn⁠here⁠ 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 Mihai Faur, CIO of UiPath to discuss his 10 year journey with the company from a small startup in Romania to the global automations company it is today. 

We dive into the IPO readiness piece, how as a Chief Accounting Officer he set the company on the path for IPO following Daniel Dines' vision in 2019 to bring the company public in 2 years. 

You will learn about

• What does it take to get a company from startup mode to IPO ready 
• How to get to operational predictability 
• The role AI will play in UiPath’s 2nd act merging AI and Automations 

You can find Mihai 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 LinkedIn⁠here⁠ 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 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

On this episode Pat sits down with Mikhail Lomtadze, CEO of superapp Kaspi. We dive into the origin story of the business, its humble beginnings in Kazakhstan to going public on Nasdaq earlier this year at a whopping $20Bn market cap.

You will learn about - How to successully execute the superapp strategy - How to go about product priosiation and not losing focus - Why customer centricity is the key to everything

- The importance of culture in scaling your business

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 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...

On this episode Pat sits down with the one and only Ralf Wenzel, Founder & CEO of JOKR. We dive into his entrepreneurial journey from growing up in East Germany to his first entrepreneurial stint with Jamba, conquering Asia with Foodpanda and subsequently embarking onto LatAm with grocery delivery platform Jokr. You will learn aboutWhy Founders and Artists are more alike than you would thinkHow to unlock value in grocery delivery in emerging marketsIt is all about integrating the val...

On this episode Pat sits down with Ali Karabey, co-founder of Türkiye's first institutional VC 212 to dive into building the fund, making the first bets, getting conviction and ultimately turning 212 into a platform of funds that invests beyond its country's borders. On this episode you will learn about:Building a fund from scratch Playing the platform game right without losing focus The Türkiye opportunity and its remarkable roster of talentYou can find Ali on LinkedIn here. S...

On this episode Pat sits down with Hamdi Tabbaa, Co-Founder and CEO of leading MENA edtech Abwaab. We dive into his journey moving from expansion at Uber to building a thriving edtech in the region, expansion into other markets and upselling opportunities. You will learn about:The edtech landscape in MENAExpanding into other geos with a highly localised productFundraising in a challenging industry and regional context You can find Hamdi on LinkedIn here. Support the show

On this episode Pat sits down with Dave Nangle, Managing Partner of VEF, a leading VC firm that invests in emerging markets fintech from Latin America to Asia. Dave is a true emerging markets warrior from day one having spent 10 years in Russia in the early 2000s when Tinkoff was getting off the ground and Dave smelled blood, he didn't let go of looking for the future Tinkoff's all across the globe. Fast forward 10 years later VEF has amassed an amazing portfolio of companies including ...