Productivity Mastery

In the times of #WFH, why is company culture so critical? David Bizer is the Founder and CEO of Talent Fountain, a boutique consulting firm focused on talent acquisition, talent management, and startup culture. His experience originates at the very epicenter of web technology, starting his career at Netscape working with Marc Andreessen and the team which essentially launched the internet to the masses. David was the first recruiter at Google in Europe, building out the organization from 100 to over 5000 employees in 7 years. Since 2010, he has collaborated with over 100 emerging startups throughout Europe to scale their human capital. P.S. Welcome to the first episode of Season 2! After the first 50 Coffee & Productivity episodes and special episodes + PERFORM Panels on Season 1, we are bringing you a new line-up of exciting A-level guests. It's going to be great! Stay tuned!

Meet Corey Morris, an American-born, Denmark-based ultrarunner, who moonlights as the Chief Marketing Officer of Unity Studios. Since 2015, his love for running has pushed him to explore new physical and mental limits - all in the pursuit of his annual running goals. From the outrageous idea of running 52 half marathons in 52 weeks to a grueling 100K on a 5K loop, his meticulous research, planning and "get sh*t done" mentality has enabled him to pursue the extraordinary while balancing the roles of husband, dad, business leader, and friend. Tune in!

This time, the topic is #MentalToughness. Meet the great line-up of this episode's panelists: Luis Villa Del Campo is an expert in designing human experiences, creating innovative services, and helping to transform the organization's culture and processes. During the last 10 years, Luis has worked in Strategy & Design in Fjord and Accenture. Over the years, he has set up service offerings, methods, and tools and built and managed well-respected design teams able to work in complex and critical business environments. Andrew Tarvin, the Humor Engineer whose TEDx talk has been watched by more than 7 million people. Andrew is a former engineer in Procter & Gamble, and since transferring to humor engineering, he has been teaching humor to more than 35 000 people in more than 20 countries. Cristobal Alonso, an experienced serial entrepreneur (3x CEO), serial early-stage investor (150+ investments), and global executive (leading teams and projects up to 500 people). Cristobal leads as CEO, “el Patron” of Startup Wise Guys. He holds an MBA from INSEAD and is serving as Spain's INSEAD Alumni Association President and President of INSEAD Global Entrepreneurship Club. Tune in!

In this very special episode from The Leaders Who Care podcast, Stoyan Yankov, Co-Founder of The Leaders Who Care and Productivity Coach, interviews David Allen - Productivity Guru and Creator of the "GTD" methodology. One of the world’s most influential thinkers on productivity, David’s 35 years experience as a management consultant and executive coach have earned him worldwide recognition. His bestselling book, the groundbreaking “Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity”, has sold millions and been published in thirty languages; and the “GTD” methodology it describes has become a global phenomenon, being taught by training companies in more than 90 countries. David, his company, and his partners are dedicated to teaching people how to stay relaxed and productive in our fast-paced world. Tune in!

This time, the topic is Robust Communication! I am excited for moderating another panel with a great line-up, including: Daniel Ackermann, the CEO of Degordian - an independent digital production & marketing agency based in Zagreb Daniel co-founded back in 2009. Today, it’s one of the largest digital marketing agencies in the region. Daniel considers employee satisfaction to be the cornerstone of every successful enterprise, which is why he is so proud of being recognized as a five-time “Best Employer” in Croatia. Daniel also co-founded two sister companies, Mediatoolkit and Bornfight. Together with Degordian, the group now manages over 200 employees. Kaidi Ruusalepp, the founder and CEO of Funderbeam - the global funding and trading platform of private companies. Funderbeam enables companies to raise funds and investors to invest with liquidity, also list existing shares, employee shares and investments of private companies. Platform has investors from 134 countries and is awarded as the Best European Fintech startup in 2017. Kaidi is a former CEO of Nasdaq Tallinn Stock Exchange and of the Central Securities Depository, co-founder of Estonian Service Industry Association, and a former member of Startup Europe Advisory Board at European Commission. Cristobal Alonso, an experienced serial entrepreneur (3x CEO), serial early-stage investor (150+ investments), and global executive (leading teams and projects up to 500 people). Cristobal leads as CEO, “el Patron” of Startup Wise Guys. He holds an MBA from INSEAD and is serving as Spain's INSEAD Alumni Association President and President of INSEAD Global Entrepreneurship Club. Tune in!

This time, the topic is #OptimalEnergy Meet our great line-up: Chris Robins - Chief Customer Officer (and CEO) of Tele2 in Estonia. Chris is a passionate leader of values-based challenger organizations, with a particular focus on customer-centricity, communication and psychology. Chris has lived and worked in 7 countries across North America and Europe, and have covered 13 countries in the scope of the roles of a CMO, CCO, CEO and EIEIO. Radha Patel - an international health expert, yoga teacher since the age of 16, and founder of TOGA. TOGA programs combine the holistic benefits of yoga with the body sculpting and invigorating benefits of modern gym workouts. It uses the underpinning values of Ayurveda, and it brings together the best of East and West to create the health of both body and mind. Viktoriya Vasilenko - founder and CEO of Knowledge Gate Group based in Copenhagen, Denmark. The company provides a platform-based solution that connects companies to experts for micro-consultations. They work primarily within the life science sector, having received significant investments from the Danish government. Tune in!

Lydia Hurlbut is CEO and co-founder of Hurlbut Visuals, a company dedicated to providing exceptional, personalized education and mentoring to filmmakers around the world. She has been in a business partnership with her husband Shane Hurlbut, ASC, since 2009, creating content for their online publication, Hurlbut Academy. In 2014, Lydia created Shane’s Inner Circle, a membership community committed to boosting film expertise and productivity with courses on lighting, lensing, composition, theory, storytelling with emotion, and leadership. This diverse online educational platform expanded in 2019 to the Hurlbut Academy, designed for rapid career growth, leveraged learning, and networking. While Lydia has a master’s degree in forensic nursing from the University of Virginia, her career path evolved from pediatric nursing, forensic science, life coaching to strategic marketing. She is passionate about wellness and techniques for optimizing health. Tune in and hear us talk about managing energy while building a successful business!

Listen to another exciting #PERFORM Panel Discussion powered by ThePerformBook.com This time, the topic is #FocusAndExecution. I am excited about moderating another panel with a great line-up, including: Hovhannes Avoyan, the founder & CEO of PicsArt, the world’s largest creative platform and social editing app with 150 million monthly active creators. The company is backed by Sequoia Capital, Insight Venture Partners, DCM and Siguler Guff and employs more than 500 people. Avoyan brings more than 25 years of experience in computer programming and global business management. Prior to PicsArt, Avoyan founded five other startups, all of which had successful acquisitions by global companies including Lycos, Bertelsmann, GFI, Teamviewer, and Helpsystems. Cristobal Alonso, an experienced serial entrepreneur (3x CEO), serial early-stage investor (150+ investments), and global executive (leading teams and projects up to 500 people). Cristobal leads as CEO, “el Patron” of Startup Wise Guys. He holds an MBA from INSEAD and is serving as Spain's INSEAD Alumni Association President and President of INSEAD Global Entrepreneurship Club. Vytautas Noreika, the co-founder & COO of ZITICITY - a solution for any business that needs to deliver items to its customers on the same-day or even the same hour. ZITCITY delivers food, parcels, flowers, documents - anything in the same city. The company currently operates in Paris, Tallinn, Vilnius, Kaunas, and Klaipeda. Tune in!

#PERFORM Panel Discussion powered by ThePerformBook.com This time, topic #3 is Roles & Responsibilities! The panel: Cristobal Alonso, an experienced serial entrepreneur (3x CEO), serial early-stage investor (150+ investments), and global executive (leading teams and projects up to 500 people). Cristobal leads as CEO, “el Patron” of Startup Wise Guys. He holds an MBA from INSEAD and is serving as Spain's INSEAD Alumni Association President and President of INSEAD Global Entrepreneurship Club. Viktoriya Blazheva, an FVP in a leading bank, responsible for its communications strategy, events management, corporate culture, brand management, online communications, sustainability and CSR strategy, sponsorship, and donations, executive, internal and external communications. Tim Hall - a serial entrepreneur who co-founded Simporter to solve the problem of product launch failures in the FMCG industry, by using AI to automate consumer research with big data. He started/exited two companies before Simporter, and earlier progressed to senior levels at F-500 corporations. Tim knows the capital markets, having raised +$60M in equity rounds and +$100M in junior/senior debt for prior startups. He has a 30-year track record of organizing and inspiring teams, ensuring milestones are reached, commercializing new innovations, and M&A. Tune in!

Meet Patrick Collins - Founder of Prospect Labs, a LinkedIn lead Generation software and the Head of Growth at Startup Wise Guys, Europes largest B2B accelerator. Tune in to hear us talk about the business growth and best practices to accelerate a startup!