The Startup Blender

Hosted by Ucha Vekua

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Latest episode

Sep 2026

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About the show

The Startup Blender podcast is a platform that shines the light to exceptional individuals working in the startup field, and gives them an opportunity to share their stories and inspire others. Founders, VCs, tech journalists, copywriters, software engineers – everyone from the beautiful world of tech is welcome to tell us about their everyday lives, challenges, and stories behind their successful careers. The goal is to share experiences and talk about the different aspects of startup life. This project is brought to you by Startup Adventures. Executive producer: Ucha Vekua

Listen to episodes

60 recent

September 13, 2026Episode 7249 min

Turning Builders Into Successful Founders. Meet Gytenis From Lithuania. #72

Welcome to the Startup Blender Podcast! Our today's guest, Gytenis Galkis, is a Partner and VC at Superhero Capital, which is a seed-stage VC backing software-driven startups across the New Nordics – Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. In this episode, we spoke about the key skills and characteristics that builders need to work on to become successful founders, ideal time to approach VC, and building startups in Europe. Enjoy & let us know what you think!

June 8, 2026Episode 7150 min

Founder x VC Face-off: Finding the Common Ground. Latitude59 Special Episode. Meet Kaspar & Maria. #71

Welcome to the Startup Blender Podcast! This is a special episode directly from the Podcast Stage of Latitude59. We sat down one founder and one VC and asked them their points of view on different stages of building a startup – fundraising, hiring, growth, etc. Guests: Kaspar Tiri, the Founder of ReadyPlayerMe. Maria Piotrowska, the Senior Associate at VentureFriends. Enjoy & let us know what you think!

June 1, 2026Episode 7034 min

Getting Companies Achieve Operational Excellence. Meet Gero From Trinode Systems. #70

Welcome to the Startup Blender Podcast! Our today's guests is Gero Mekk, the co-founder of Trinode Systems. Trinode Systems is part of Time2Scale accelerator, which is a nine-month international scale-up program designed for ambitious technology ventures from Finland, Estonia, and Latvia. Enjoy & let us know what you think!

June 1, 2026Episode 6934 min

Turning Calls Into Business Opportunities. Meet Rafi and Johannes From Qallio. #69

Welcome to the Startup Blender Podcast! Our today's guests are Rafi Mohammad and Johannes Gontrum, the founders of Qallio. Qallio is part of Time2Scale accelerator, which is a nine-month international scale-up program designed for ambitious technology ventures from Finland, Estonia, and Latvia. Enjoy & let us know what you think!

May 25, 2026Episode 6844 min

Giving Companies Their Time 2 Scale. Meet Hira and Jelena From the Estonian Business School. #68

Welcome to the Startup Blender Podcast! Our today's guests are Hira Wajahat Malik and Jelena Žovnikova, the program managers of the Time2Scale program. It is a nine-month international scale-up program designed for ambitious technology ventures from Finland, Estonia, and Latvia. The program supports companies with existing market traction in expanding internationally and achieving sustainable growth.Participation is free for selected companies. Check out more details here , and apply here . Enjoy & let us know what you think!

May 11, 2026Episode 6734 min

Building Valencia’s Entrepreneurial Powerhouse for Weekend. Meet Oki From the Netherlands. #67

Welcome to the Startup Blender Podcast! Our today's guest, Oki Alexander, is the lead organizer of the Startup Weekend Valencia – place where participants can think, work, and build like a startup within a weekend. In this episode, we spoke about the entrepreneurial vibes in Valencia, main objectives of this event, and the overall impact that different types of startup activities have on the whole local community. Enjoy & let us know what you think!

April 21, 2026Episode 6633 min

Amplifying the Voice of Builders With HackEurope – Meet Geoffrey Duan From the US. #66

Welcome to the Startup Blender Podcast! Our today's guest, Geoffrey, is the main organizer and a creative force behind HackEurope – the Europe’s largest student hackathon that took place in Dublin, Paris, and Stockholm at the same time. In this episode, we spoke about his motivation behind orchestrating this event, the craziest ideas developed there, and the biggest challenges behind putting together Hack Europe. Enjoy & let us know what you think!

December 23, 2025Episode 6514 min

Providing Platform for Builders to Shine – Meet Ignas From Lithuania. #65

Welcome to the Startup Blender Podcast! Our today's guest, Ignas Genevičius, is the co-founder of Basedspace which is a community of early-stage founders, offering not only a workspace but an environment designed for learning, collaboration, and growth. In this episode, we spoke about their founding story, future objectives, and discussed some of the coolest ideas that are being built from their hacker space. Enjoy & let us know what you think!

November 27, 2025Episode 6439 min

Spreading Startup Vibes Worldwide in a Matter of a Weekend – Meet Franck From France. #64

Welcome to the Startup Blender Podcast! Our today's guest, Franck Nouyrigat, is the co-founder of Startup Weekend event series, which gives wanna be entrepreneurs the first taste of startup life. In this episode, we spoke about his startup journey, early days of Startup Weekend, and drew parallels between old ways to build companies vs new with AI developments. Enjoy & let us know what you think!

September 22, 2025Episode 647 min

Inspiring the Next Generation of Entrepreneurs in Estonia at Techstars Startup Weekend Tallinn. Bonus Episode

Welcome to the Startup Blender podcast! Today we are discussing all about the process and outcomes of organizing the very first Techstars Startup Weekend Hackathon in Tallinn. 👉 Check out the full article: https://medium.com/startup-adventures-international/techstars-startup-weekend-tallinn-went-boom-fc11c3d2b055 👉 Check out the video overview on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqjaFTWGmE8 👉 Follow us to register to the next hackathon: https://luma.com/startupadventures Let us know what you think!