The Scale Lab

In this episode, Joe Wilson and Constantijn van Oranje are closing season 3 of the Scale Lab podcast by dressing their learnings from past episodes. Constantijn is also explaining more about his role as Special envoy and his expectations for the future of Techleap.

In this episode, Constantijn van Oranje and Joe Wilson talked to Ross Mason, the founder of MuleSoft a breakthrough company, unlocking systems and data with integration, driving productivity and efficiency with automation, and creating engaging digital experiences. A highly inspiring episode where we discover how Ross Mason took MuleSoft to the next level by being mentored by the right persons and built a strong team around him to take MuleSoft to the next level.

In this episode, we went through the experience of Mette Lykke as a co-founder at Endomondo. From sport to food, how did she made the transition and build up a thriving team to accelerate the adoption of Too Good To Go among partners and customers. An inspiring story and a deep dive into the hypergrowth of the company fighting against food waste. Too Good To Go is the app that lets you rescue unsold food at your favourite spots from an untimely fate. Use the app to explore shops and restaurants in your local area and save surprise bags of surplus food from going to waste at a great price.

Constantijn van Oranje and Joe Wilson welcomed Andrey Khusid, founder and CEO at Miro, at the studio of The Scale Lab podcast. In this episode, we get to know how Andrey came up with the idea of bringing sticky notes online, how he handled hyper growth and how the pandemic impacted the business. Listen now to this insightful episode.

In this special episode we are focusing on the capital topic. We invited around the table two remarkable investors Reshma Sohoni, founding partner at Seedcamp & Pieter Kemps, partner at Sequoia. In this episode we are diving into 3 phases: discovery, conviction and working together. In this 30-minutes episode, we want to give you a bit more of insights on the thoughts process of an investor and understand a bit better how an investor is approaching funding but also how they are being approached by founders. Hosted by Joe Wilson (entrepreneur in residence) and Evelien de Vries (Capital expert at Techleap), listen to this special episode and don't forget to rate The Scale Lab podcast. Enjoy listening! 

Hosts Constantijn van Oranje and Joe Wilson had the incredible honor to welcome Changpeng Zhao (who goes by CZ) to the Scale Lab studio! In this episode, CZ tells us all about the beginnings and the decisions that lead to the incredible success of the company. An exclusive interview we had the chance to organize on a very last minute while CZ was in Amsterdam for business.

Changpeng Zhao, known as CZ, is the CEO and Founder of Binance, the leading blockchain ecosystem behind the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. Raised and educated in Canada, CZ started his career at Bloomberg Tradebook where he developed futures trading software for Wall Street. He then founded Fusion Systems which built high-frequency systems for brokers.

We kick-off the season #3 of The Scale Lab with a very special guest - Reid Hoffman. He joined us online from the US to tell us more about his journey as an entrepreneur and as an investor. A rich conversation, where Constantijn van Oranje and Joe Wilson asked specific questions to understand Reid’s perspective on the current situation. Listen now to this exclusive interview.

Reid is an accomplished entrepreneur, executive, and investor, Reid Hoffman has played an integral role in building many of today’s leading consumer technology businesses, including LinkedIn and PayPal. He possesses a unique understanding of consumer behavior and the dynamics of viral businesses, as well as deep experience in driving companies from the earliest stages through periods of explosive, “blitzscale” growth. Ranging from LinkedIn to PayPal, from Airbnb to Convoy to Facebook, he invests in businesses with network effects and collaborates on building their product ecosystems.

We wrap up season #2 of The Scale Lab with a special guest - Dinko Valerio, scientist-turned-entrepreneur; co-founder of Leyden Labs & ProQR Therapeutics; founder of Crucell; and startup mentor. In this episode, we discover the secrets of building a successful biotech venture and securing funding within the health sector. To all the healthtech founders out there - tune in for a highly valuable discussion full of founder learnings and advice.

In episode #21 of The Scale Lab podcast, we welcome Maxim Romain, the co-founder of Amsterdam-founded micro-mobility startup Dott. In his chat with Constantijn and Joe, Maxim shares his journey as a founder and his biggest learnings.

In episode #20 of The Scale Lab, Constantijn & Joe meet Thomas Plantenga - CEO of Vinted, who shares his exciting entrepreneurial journey before he joined the company as well as sheds light on the key strategic decisions he made as a consultant that placed Vinted back on the global tech scene. 

In episode 19 of The Scale Lab podcast, we welcome a special guest. One who can be rightly considered a legend within the Dutch tech ecosystem. With more than 30 years of entrepreneurial experience, Corinne Vigreux, founder and CMO of TomTom, joins Constantijn and Joe to share the scaling journey of TomTom as well as the business learnings she has gained throughout the years.

In this episode, our hosts Constantijn van Oranje & Joe Wilson meet Job van der Voort, CEO of Remote at the podcast studio. Job takes us through his journey from a neuroscientist to a CEO & co-founder of Remote - a global HR solution for distributed teams. Listen in to the podcast to learn the secrets of hyperscaling as well as what it takes to build & finance a successful product from the ground up.

In this episode, we talk with Gillian - former CEO & chairwoman of Booking.com - about the company’s scaling story: from its early growth stages to its first billion in revenue. Tune in for some key entrepreneurial lessons from Gillian on making the right strategic decisions at the right growth phases.

In this episode of The Scale Lab, we unravel the entrepreneurial story of Yorick Naeff, CEO at BUX. Listen in to learn why owning every single critical part in the value chain will give you a competitive edge, why it's the investors' job to keep pushing the management team & why Yorick thinks Dutch entrepreneurs are not aggressive enough.

In this episode of The Scale Lab, our hosts - Constantijn and Joe - welcome Sid Sijbrandij, CEO and co-founder of GitLab, at the studio. Among the highlights of the discussion: Sid shares his entrepreneurial journey from being a submarine engineer to becoming the CEO & co-founder of GitLab; he discusses the importance of strong company values in a remote work environment, and how transparency plays a crucial role in the company's competitiveness.

In this episode, Pieter van der Does - CEO & founder of Adyen, shares his founder journey - from selling BiBit to founding Adyen - one of the few Dutch fintech unicorns, with a market value of more than €60B. He talks about the company’s hiring strategy, their approach to raising investment, and what makes Adyen unique in the payments industry. 

In this episode of The Scale Lab, we deconstruct the entrepreneurial journey of Ali Niknam - the founder & CEO of bunq. Together with Ali and our hosts - Constantijn and Joe - we go back in time to the roots of bunq and Ali’s beginnings as a founder. We further discuss the bunq culture and the company's plans for the future. Listen in to find out how bunq managed to raise $228 million and reach a $1.9 billion valuation. 

In this episode of The Scale Lab, we deconstruct the entrepreneurial journey of Derek Roos - the co-founder & CEO of Mendix. Our hosts - Joe & Constantijn - try to identify the factors that made Mendix a pioneer in the app dev industry. We discuss with Derek the topics of raising funding, building an egoless 'tribe' culture, and establishing the right growth moment for conquering new markets. Listen in to learn about Derek's most successful decisions he's made throughout his founder career. 

In this episode of The Scale Lab, we deconstruct the entrepreneurial journey of Robert Vis - the founder & CEO of MessageBird. Together with our hosts - Joe & Constantijn - we will follow Robert’s exciting path as a founder. We will dive into the origins of MessageBird, while our guest will be sharing all his learnings about raising funding, building a sustainable company culture, and thinking globally from day one. Listen in to find out what Silicon Valley has taught Robert and which warning red flags he raises for the Dutch tech ecosystem.

In this episode, Joëlle Frijters - cofounder of Improve Digital - uncovers the important moments of her entrepreneurial journey: from bootstrapping until €80 million in revenue to selling 85% shares of Improve Digital to Swisscom in 2016. Joëlle further outlines the challenges & opportunities she faced as a female entrepreneur: raising first VC funding, attracting unconventional talent, and discovering the right market to expand to.

In this episode, Marleen Vogelaar — founder of Ziel & co-founder of Shapeways — explains how her experience with Shapeways defined her strategic approach when launching the on-demand manufacturing platform Ziel. She breaks down her journey towards finding the right product-market fit, opting for steward-ownership, hiring pivotal talent that expedited the scaling process, and securing VC funding in the US.

In this episode, Chris Hall - founder of Bynder - shares his expert view on what it takes to build a successful SaaS company. Chris explains why perfect product-market fit is not always a necessity for your product to take off and pinpoints the elements that determined Bynder's long-term success. Listen now to hear valuable tips & tricks on scaling a SaaS company beyond Dutch borders.

In this episode, Mark de Lange - founder of Ace & Tate - is sharing the stories behind the brand that revolutionised the eyewear industry in Europe. He is explaining how branding was crucial for the expansion of Ace & Tate and what the biggest challenges were on his entrepreneurial journey. Mark reveals his management style and how he is working with his team to offer his customers high quality, thoughtfully designed glasses at a fair price.