
Ep262: Spandana Palaypu | Founder & CEO, ZoEasy
Spandana is the Founder & CEO of ZoEasy, an award-winning social enterprise in the MENA Region that focuses on educating and matching migrant blue-collar job seekers to the right employment opportunities using ethical and transparent hiring. She is also the Vice Curator of Global Shapers Dubai, World Economic Forum, where she helps lead the Hub in relation to the WEF's key pillars and has also contributed to many of the hub's education and employment initiatives. Spandana is a Forbes 30 Under 30 Awardee, Expo 2020, and Credit Suisse's Lead 2030 Winner, Speaker, and Ambassador at One Young World and an Enterprise for Peace Scholar with the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
20 Jan 202124min

Ep261: Nuri Golan | Co-Founder and CEO, Sosivio
Nuri Golan is a serial entrepreneur and Angel investor. Nuri was the CEO and Co-Founder of the GPS technology startup EXO Technologies which he sold to Lear Corporation, a Fortune 150 company. At Lear, Nuri became the Managing Director of Lear Innovation Ventures, the corporate venture arm of Lear. Currently, Nuri is the CEO of Sosivio, a next-gen observability platform for Cloud Native environments. Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, Nuri served 6 years in the Israeli Navy Seals as a combat officer and also managed the unit's advanced R&D team. Nuri has a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering and an MBA from the Technion in Israel.
19 Jan 202124min

Ep260: Orlie (Dahan) Gruper | Executive Director, EcoMotion
Orlie began her path in the industry through her time in the Air Force, where she was recruited to operate a private aviation fleet, then moved on to complete her BA in Business Management at IDC. She became the first female entrepreneur in the community she leads today by founding Blitz Motors, a two-wheeled electric vehicle company. Orlie is the current acting Executive Director at EcoMotion and is the founder of Women in Mobility, a community that aims to grow the number of women in the field by sharing challenges and opportunities while acquiring new tools for professional growth.
18 Jan 202121min

Ep259: Ivan Jakovljevic | Chief Development Officer, STV
Ivan is the Chief Development Officer at STV, largest venture capital fund in the Middle East and North Africa region with more than $500M in assets under management. At STV, Ivan is leading portfolio support and value creation, helping STV portfolio companies address key challenges to scale, such as talent, marketing & growth, business development and strategy. Before joining STV, Ivan was Regional Lead for new markets at Google MENA and Principal at Booz & Company, consultants. Ivan holds a Masters in Logistics and Transport Engineering from Belgrade University and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.
17 Jan 202117min

Ep258: Tamir Plachinsky | Founder and CEO, Griiip
After founding the first Formula SAE team in Israel (2011), I spent 6 months in Italy working at Dallara - the world's best race car manufacturer. Returning to Israel (2012), I decided to establish a company that will focus on making Motorsport more accessible and affordable, using new technologies and solutions yet to be implemented in the industry. We started by addressing the needs of the driver and developed the G1- a race car that combines extreme performance with affordability, but our true success was uncovering the larger opportunity for smart-connected racecars and a comprehensive data solution for the racing and automotive industries.
16 Jan 202122min

Ep257: Jennifer Richard | Principal, Bonfire Ventures
Jennifer Richard is a Principal at Bonfire Ventures. Prior to Bonfire, Jen sourced and executed seed-stage investments at Vitalize VC and Cross Culture Ventures. Before beginning her career in venture, Jen was a founding member of three venture-backed startups and saw two of them through successful acquisitions. She has been responsible for building e-commerce platforms from the ground up and has scaled online commerce to reach over 30 countries worldwide. She has a BA from Emory University and an MBA from UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.
15 Jan 202123min

Ep256: Francis Pedraza | Chief Executive Officer, Invisible Technologies
Francis leads a team of 300 people and has raised $6M in capital to build Invisible, a disruptive work-automation company that provides custom operations support to scaling businesses. Previously, Francis raised $2.6M from top investors to build Everest, a social network based on “what you do” not “who you know.” He worked briefly in consulting and at Google after studying history at Cornell. People who’ve worked with Francis say his strategy comes from “clear, deep thinking,” that he excels at “building models, communicating vision, and motivating his team.” Most importantly he’s refreshingly honest about success, failures, and his learnings along the way. By the time he dies, he hopes to have read all the Penguin classics.
14 Jan 202125min

Ep255: Carine Carmy | Co-Founder and CEO, Origin
Carine Carmy is Co-Founder and CEO at Origin, a physical therapy designed for women and mothers. With over 40M women experiencing incredibly common but overlooked health issues from pelvic pain to postpartum recovery, Origin is clinically proven to have life-changing results, helping women build strength and avoid countless unnecessary surgeries. Prior to Origin, Carine has spent her career as a go-to-market leader in healthcare and technology, including at Amino, Shapeways, MarketspaceNext, and Monitor Group. Carine is an advisor to businesses and nonprofits focused on diversity and economic equality, and when she's not in front of a computer, you can find Carine hiking, biking, running, dancing, and generally moving at fast speeds.
13 Jan 202123min