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    <title>White Box Rodeo</title>
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    <description>Whitebox means you crack it open and look at the actual code, the internals, how the thing really runs. That's the podcast. We do whitebox testing on entrepreneurs, startups and VCs. Get past the pitch deck and into the real workings, the messy parts, the stuff nobody puts on LinkedIn. And the rodeo? Because building a company is a wild ride.</description>
    <copyright>© 2026 Robert Valentine, Kayvan Nikjou</copyright>
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    <pubDate>Mon, 26 Oct 2026 19:07:08 +0100</pubDate>
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      <title>White Box Rodeo</title>
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    <itunes:author>Robert Valentine, Kayvan Nikjou</itunes:author>
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    <itunes:summary>Whitebox means you crack it open and look at the actual code, the internals, how the thing really runs. That's the podcast. We do whitebox testing on entrepreneurs, startups and VCs. Get past the pitch deck and into the real workings, the messy parts, the stuff nobody puts on LinkedIn. And the rodeo? Because building a company is a wild ride.</itunes:summary>
    <itunes:subtitle>Whitebox means you crack it open and look at the actual code, the internals, how the thing really runs.</itunes:subtitle>
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      <itunes:name>Robert Valentine, Kayvan Nikjou</itunes:name>
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    <itunes:complete>No</itunes:complete>
    <itunes:explicit>No</itunes:explicit>
    <item>
      <title>Lars Rasmussen, Co-Creator of Google Maps | No VC Called Us Back</title>
      <itunes:episode>8</itunes:episode>
      <podcast:episode>8</podcast:episode>
      <itunes:title>Lars Rasmussen, Co-Creator of Google Maps | No VC Called Us Back</itunes:title>
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        <![CDATA[<p>Lars Rasmussen co-created Google Maps with his brother Jens. He talks with Robert Valentine and Kayvan Nikjou about the mapping startup no investor wanted, the question from Larry Page that changed the product and the three weeks in which the brothers rebuilt it for the browser.</p>
<p>The Rasmussens pitched a full-screen map you could drag around and no VC called back. Investors said people only need a map a few times a month. After a deal with a VC fell through, the brothers met Larry Page with maxed-out credit cards and no other options. Google hired them before it had time to buy their company, days before its IPO. Lars explains why Google Wave failed where Maps worked. He also says he should only build things he is bad at.</p>
<p>Today Lars is an angel investor in Athens. He was in Canva's first round and tells how its founders learned kite surfing to meet investors. A "Save Dave" sign later brought Canva its CTO. He also talks about Panathēnea, the startup festival he helps build in Athens.</p>
<p>New episodes every Monday and Friday. Recorded at HumanX, Amsterdam.</p>
<p><strong>Chapters</strong><br>0:00 Cold open<br>1:13 Meeting at HumanX<br>1:57 Panathēnea, the ancient festival of Athens<br>11:14 Why Athens and its startup scene<br>18:23 Where 2 Technologies and Jens's idea<br>23:38 No callbacks from any VC<br>24:48 "That's because your maps suck"<br>26:43 A spare bedroom in Sydney<br>27:39 Yahoo kills the deal<br>30:13 Start working for us on Monday<br>31:38 One of Google's best investments<br>32:49 Inside a VC's funnel<br>36:13 Meeting Larry Page<br>40:35 Three weeks to rebuild it in the browser<br>42:47 How big Google Maps became<br>48:42 Staying until Maps was number one<br>50:09 Google Wave<br>52:38 Only build what you are bad at<br>54:30 A first-round investor in Canva<br>57:36 Learn kite surfing to raise money<br>60:39 Save Dave<br>62:49 The 23-year-old CEO of Panathēnea</p>
<p>Corrections<br>12:02 During the 2015 capital controls the cash withdrawal limit in Greece was €60 per day.<br>45:29 Google's own mapping project was called Ground Truth.<br>48:48 Sebastian Thrun went on to lead the flying-car company Kitty Hawk.</p>
<p>White Box Rodeo is for information and entertainment only and is not investment advice. The hosts may hold interests in companies they discuss.</p>
<p>Watch the video: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXlJBzcNjHU">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXlJBzcNjHU</a><br>White Box Rodeo: <a href="https://whiteboxrodeo.com">https://whiteboxrodeo.com</a><br>Hosts: Robert Valentine and Kayvan Nikjou</p>]]>
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        <![CDATA[<p>Lars Rasmussen co-created Google Maps with his brother Jens. He talks with Robert Valentine and Kayvan Nikjou about the mapping startup no investor wanted, the question from Larry Page that changed the product and the three weeks in which the brothers rebuilt it for the browser.</p>
<p>The Rasmussens pitched a full-screen map you could drag around and no VC called back. Investors said people only need a map a few times a month. After a deal with a VC fell through, the brothers met Larry Page with maxed-out credit cards and no other options. Google hired them before it had time to buy their company, days before its IPO. Lars explains why Google Wave failed where Maps worked. He also says he should only build things he is bad at.</p>
<p>Today Lars is an angel investor in Athens. He was in Canva's first round and tells how its founders learned kite surfing to meet investors. A "Save Dave" sign later brought Canva its CTO. He also talks about Panathēnea, the startup festival he helps build in Athens.</p>
<p>New episodes every Monday and Friday. Recorded at HumanX, Amsterdam.</p>
<p><strong>Chapters</strong><br>0:00 Cold open<br>1:13 Meeting at HumanX<br>1:57 Panathēnea, the ancient festival of Athens<br>11:14 Why Athens and its startup scene<br>18:23 Where 2 Technologies and Jens's idea<br>23:38 No callbacks from any VC<br>24:48 "That's because your maps suck"<br>26:43 A spare bedroom in Sydney<br>27:39 Yahoo kills the deal<br>30:13 Start working for us on Monday<br>31:38 One of Google's best investments<br>32:49 Inside a VC's funnel<br>36:13 Meeting Larry Page<br>40:35 Three weeks to rebuild it in the browser<br>42:47 How big Google Maps became<br>48:42 Staying until Maps was number one<br>50:09 Google Wave<br>52:38 Only build what you are bad at<br>54:30 A first-round investor in Canva<br>57:36 Learn kite surfing to raise money<br>60:39 Save Dave<br>62:49 The 23-year-old CEO of Panathēnea</p>
<p>Corrections<br>12:02 During the 2015 capital controls the cash withdrawal limit in Greece was €60 per day.<br>45:29 Google's own mapping project was called Ground Truth.<br>48:48 Sebastian Thrun went on to lead the flying-car company Kitty Hawk.</p>
<p>White Box Rodeo is for information and entertainment only and is not investment advice. The hosts may hold interests in companies they discuss.</p>
<p>Watch the video: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXlJBzcNjHU">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXlJBzcNjHU</a><br>White Box Rodeo: <a href="https://whiteboxrodeo.com">https://whiteboxrodeo.com</a><br>Hosts: Robert Valentine and Kayvan Nikjou</p>]]>
      </content:encoded>
      <pubDate>Fri, 23 Oct 2026 20:00:00 +0200</pubDate>
      <author>Robert Valentine, Kayvan Nikjou</author>
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      <itunes:author>Robert Valentine, Kayvan Nikjou</itunes:author>
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      <itunes:duration>4042</itunes:duration>
      <itunes:summary>Lars Rasmussen co-created Google Maps with his brother Jens. He talks with Robert Valentine and Kayvan Nikjou about the mapping startup no investor wanted, the question from Larry Page that changed the product and the three weeks in which the brothers rebuilt it for the browser.</itunes:summary>
      <itunes:subtitle>Lars Rasmussen co-created Google Maps with his brother Jens. He talks with Robert Valentine and Kayvan Nikjou about the mapping startup no investor wanted, the question from Larry Page that changed the product and the three weeks in which the brothers reb</itunes:subtitle>
      <itunes:keywords></itunes:keywords>
      <itunes:explicit>Yes</itunes:explicit>
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    <item>
      <title>Nasrin Mostafazadeh, Co-Founder &amp; CEO of Verneek | Silicon Valley Hates Retail</title>
      <itunes:episode>7</itunes:episode>
      <podcast:episode>7</podcast:episode>
      <itunes:title>Nasrin Mostafazadeh, Co-Founder &amp; CEO of Verneek | Silicon Valley Hates Retail</itunes:title>
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      <description>
        <![CDATA[<p>Nasrin Mostafazadeh, co-founder and CEO of Verneek, talks with Robert Valentine and Kayvan Nikjou at HumanX in Amsterdam. She grew up in Tehran, went to a school for exceptionally talented students from the age of 11 and started working in AI at 14. She has worked on common sense reasoning for twenty years. She met her co-founder and husband Omid at a robotics competition in Bremen, when they were both still in high school.</p>
<p>Verneek builds AI for retailers and consumer brands, trained on their own data. Nasrin explains why she says Silicon Valley hates retail, how she and Omid built a New York company without making fundraising the news, and why Verneek chose Luxembourg for its first European office. She talks about hiring now that candidates use AI in interviews, and why she doubts she would have become an AI scientist had she grown up in the US.</p>
<p>She ends with what drives her. Few female founders get funded, and she wants to show that it can be done.</p>
<p>New episodes every Monday and Friday. Recorded at HumanX, Amsterdam.</p>
<p><strong>Chapters</strong><br>0:00 Cold open<br>0:31 Have you been in Amsterdam before?<br>3:08 Why so many Iranians lead in tech<br>4:14 Doing more with less in Iran<br>6:29 Working in AI at 14<br>8:29 Maryam Mirzakhani and the Fields Medal<br>11:30 Education, AI and cheating in interviews<br>14:34 Her first and last company<br>16:14 What Verneek does<br>19:10 Why retail ends up with overstock<br>21:46 From AI scientist to retail<br>23:48 Silicon Valley hates retail<br>25:47 The hype cycle and causal reasoning<br>27:52 Deep domain expert AI<br>32:05 A New York company<br>36:39 Profitable and coming to Luxembourg<br>40:42 Fundraising is not an achievement<br>43:40 Meeting Omid at a robotics competition<br>45:40 Women founders and what drives her</p>
<p>Corrections<br>39:52 Luxembourg's cross-border workers come from France, Belgium and Germany. The Netherlands does not border Luxembourg. The flags of Luxembourg and the Netherlands differ in the shade of blue, not the red.<br>Verneek announced plans for its Luxembourg office in September 2026. The office had not opened yet at the time of recording.<br>46:11 PitchBook puts the share of US venture capital raised by all-female founding teams at 2.1% in 2024 and 1.1% in 2025.</p>
<p>White Box Rodeo is for information and entertainment only and is not investment advice. The hosts may hold interests in companies they discuss.</p>
<p>Watch the video: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjmuhSbXifU">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjmuhSbXifU</a><br>White Box Rodeo: <a href="https://whiteboxrodeo.com">https://whiteboxrodeo.com</a><br>Hosts: Robert Valentine and Kayvan Nikjou</p>]]>
      </description>
      <content:encoded>
        <![CDATA[<p>Nasrin Mostafazadeh, co-founder and CEO of Verneek, talks with Robert Valentine and Kayvan Nikjou at HumanX in Amsterdam. She grew up in Tehran, went to a school for exceptionally talented students from the age of 11 and started working in AI at 14. She has worked on common sense reasoning for twenty years. She met her co-founder and husband Omid at a robotics competition in Bremen, when they were both still in high school.</p>
<p>Verneek builds AI for retailers and consumer brands, trained on their own data. Nasrin explains why she says Silicon Valley hates retail, how she and Omid built a New York company without making fundraising the news, and why Verneek chose Luxembourg for its first European office. She talks about hiring now that candidates use AI in interviews, and why she doubts she would have become an AI scientist had she grown up in the US.</p>
<p>She ends with what drives her. Few female founders get funded, and she wants to show that it can be done.</p>
<p>New episodes every Monday and Friday. Recorded at HumanX, Amsterdam.</p>
<p><strong>Chapters</strong><br>0:00 Cold open<br>0:31 Have you been in Amsterdam before?<br>3:08 Why so many Iranians lead in tech<br>4:14 Doing more with less in Iran<br>6:29 Working in AI at 14<br>8:29 Maryam Mirzakhani and the Fields Medal<br>11:30 Education, AI and cheating in interviews<br>14:34 Her first and last company<br>16:14 What Verneek does<br>19:10 Why retail ends up with overstock<br>21:46 From AI scientist to retail<br>23:48 Silicon Valley hates retail<br>25:47 The hype cycle and causal reasoning<br>27:52 Deep domain expert AI<br>32:05 A New York company<br>36:39 Profitable and coming to Luxembourg<br>40:42 Fundraising is not an achievement<br>43:40 Meeting Omid at a robotics competition<br>45:40 Women founders and what drives her</p>
<p>Corrections<br>39:52 Luxembourg's cross-border workers come from France, Belgium and Germany. The Netherlands does not border Luxembourg. The flags of Luxembourg and the Netherlands differ in the shade of blue, not the red.<br>Verneek announced plans for its Luxembourg office in September 2026. The office had not opened yet at the time of recording.<br>46:11 PitchBook puts the share of US venture capital raised by all-female founding teams at 2.1% in 2024 and 1.1% in 2025.</p>
<p>White Box Rodeo is for information and entertainment only and is not investment advice. The hosts may hold interests in companies they discuss.</p>
<p>Watch the video: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjmuhSbXifU">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjmuhSbXifU</a><br>White Box Rodeo: <a href="https://whiteboxrodeo.com">https://whiteboxrodeo.com</a><br>Hosts: Robert Valentine and Kayvan Nikjou</p>]]>
      </content:encoded>
      <pubDate>Mon, 19 Oct 2026 21:23:06 +0200</pubDate>
      <author>Robert Valentine, Kayvan Nikjou</author>
      <enclosure url="https://media.transistor.fm/c26ff578/b10a7a98.mp3" length="47498380" type="audio/mpeg"/>
      <itunes:author>Robert Valentine, Kayvan Nikjou</itunes:author>
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      <itunes:duration>2963</itunes:duration>
      <itunes:summary>Nasrin Mostafazadeh, co-founder and CEO of Verneek, talks with Robert Valentine and Kayvan Nikjou at HumanX in Amsterdam. She grew up in Tehran, went to a school for exceptionally talented students from the age of 11 and started working in AI at 14. She has worked on common sense reasoning for twenty years. She met her co-founder and husband Omid at a robotics competition in Bremen, when they were both still in high school.</itunes:summary>
      <itunes:subtitle>Nasrin Mostafazadeh, co-founder and CEO of Verneek, talks with Robert Valentine and Kayvan Nikjou at HumanX in Amsterdam. She grew up in Tehran, went to a school for exceptionally talented students from the age of 11 and started working in AI at 14. She h</itunes:subtitle>
      <itunes:keywords></itunes:keywords>
      <itunes:explicit>Yes</itunes:explicit>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Parag Parekh, Chief Digital Officer of Ingka Group (IKEA) | We Were Very Late to Digital</title>
      <itunes:episode>6</itunes:episode>
      <podcast:episode>6</podcast:episode>
      <itunes:title>Parag Parekh, Chief Digital Officer of Ingka Group (IKEA) | We Were Very Late to Digital</itunes:title>
      <itunes:episodeType>full</itunes:episodeType>
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      <link>https://share.transistor.fm/s/7d65d433</link>
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        <![CDATA[<p>Parag Parekh, Chief Digital Officer of Ingka Group, the largest IKEA franchisee, talks with Robert Valentine and Kayvan Nikjou at HumanX in Amsterdam. An engineer from Mumbai, he wrote software at Honeywell, joined GE's IT leadership program and worked at Adidas before IKEA came calling. He says a small screw made the decision easy: IKEA mailed it to his home in Germany, two weeks after he asked for it in a store. During the first question someone brings in the bag he left in an Uber.</p>
<p>Parag explains how IKEA is organised, from Inter IKEA as the franchisor to Ingka as its biggest franchisee, and why the restaurants matter. He admits IKEA was very late to digital: it was so successful in its stores that it missed how smartphones changed the way people shop. With AI it does not want to be late again. IKEA will not use customer data to manipulate people or AI to monitor its employees, and it wants to move its coworkers from being anxious to being curious.</p>
<p>He compares the work cultures of GE, Adidas and Sweden, where everyone is in it together but it is not always clear who is accountable. He furnished his new apartment in India almost entirely with IKEA, and his mother-in-law's kitchen too.</p>
<p>New episodes every Monday and Friday. Recorded at HumanX, Amsterdam.</p>
<p><strong>Chapters</strong><br>0:00 Cold open<br>1:02 We just want to know you as a person<br>1:23 What if IKEA stopped existing?<br>4:15 Growing up without IKEA and the missing screw<br>7:22 From engineer to GE and Adidas<br>9:39 Why so many Indians lead global companies<br>11:45 How IKEA is structured<br>16:00 Småland and 80 years of retail firsts<br>17:38 IKEA's restaurant business<br>18:33 Democratic design<br>20:30 Investing in lower prices<br>22:20 Margins and the cost of delivery<br>25:52 Smaller stores in city centres<br>27:15 Very late to digital<br>30:54 Who is IKEA's competitor?<br>32:07 AI and interior design for everyone<br>34:44 What IKEA will not do with AI<br>36:07 From anxious to curious<br>39:21 Ingka Centres and Ingka Investments<br>41:36 GE, Adidas and Swedish culture<br>44:24 IKEA in his own home</p>
<p>White Box Rodeo is for information and entertainment only and is not investment advice. The hosts may hold interests in companies they discuss.</p>
<p>Watch the video: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1LZzgezimk">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1LZzgezimk</a><br>White Box Rodeo: <a href="https://whiteboxrodeo.com">https://whiteboxrodeo.com</a><br>Hosts: Robert Valentine and Kayvan Nikjou</p>]]>
      </description>
      <content:encoded>
        <![CDATA[<p>Parag Parekh, Chief Digital Officer of Ingka Group, the largest IKEA franchisee, talks with Robert Valentine and Kayvan Nikjou at HumanX in Amsterdam. An engineer from Mumbai, he wrote software at Honeywell, joined GE's IT leadership program and worked at Adidas before IKEA came calling. He says a small screw made the decision easy: IKEA mailed it to his home in Germany, two weeks after he asked for it in a store. During the first question someone brings in the bag he left in an Uber.</p>
<p>Parag explains how IKEA is organised, from Inter IKEA as the franchisor to Ingka as its biggest franchisee, and why the restaurants matter. He admits IKEA was very late to digital: it was so successful in its stores that it missed how smartphones changed the way people shop. With AI it does not want to be late again. IKEA will not use customer data to manipulate people or AI to monitor its employees, and it wants to move its coworkers from being anxious to being curious.</p>
<p>He compares the work cultures of GE, Adidas and Sweden, where everyone is in it together but it is not always clear who is accountable. He furnished his new apartment in India almost entirely with IKEA, and his mother-in-law's kitchen too.</p>
<p>New episodes every Monday and Friday. Recorded at HumanX, Amsterdam.</p>
<p><strong>Chapters</strong><br>0:00 Cold open<br>1:02 We just want to know you as a person<br>1:23 What if IKEA stopped existing?<br>4:15 Growing up without IKEA and the missing screw<br>7:22 From engineer to GE and Adidas<br>9:39 Why so many Indians lead global companies<br>11:45 How IKEA is structured<br>16:00 Småland and 80 years of retail firsts<br>17:38 IKEA's restaurant business<br>18:33 Democratic design<br>20:30 Investing in lower prices<br>22:20 Margins and the cost of delivery<br>25:52 Smaller stores in city centres<br>27:15 Very late to digital<br>30:54 Who is IKEA's competitor?<br>32:07 AI and interior design for everyone<br>34:44 What IKEA will not do with AI<br>36:07 From anxious to curious<br>39:21 Ingka Centres and Ingka Investments<br>41:36 GE, Adidas and Swedish culture<br>44:24 IKEA in his own home</p>
<p>White Box Rodeo is for information and entertainment only and is not investment advice. The hosts may hold interests in companies they discuss.</p>
<p>Watch the video: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1LZzgezimk">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1LZzgezimk</a><br>White Box Rodeo: <a href="https://whiteboxrodeo.com">https://whiteboxrodeo.com</a><br>Hosts: Robert Valentine and Kayvan Nikjou</p>]]>
      </content:encoded>
      <pubDate>Fri, 16 Oct 2026 20:00:00 +0200</pubDate>
      <author>Robert Valentine, Kayvan Nikjou</author>
      <enclosure url="https://media.transistor.fm/7d65d433/4ff2cb93.mp3" length="44734547" type="audio/mpeg"/>
      <itunes:author>Robert Valentine, Kayvan Nikjou</itunes:author>
      <itunes:image href="https://img.transistorcdn.com/fJYRQEdGlN4_waKOBpIkMhzexk15oaAZGdbIJYA9Ypc/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:1400/h:1400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9lMzJk/ZjQ0NjYxYzNmMThi/NDAyZmI2OWEyZWY1/YjQzOC5qcGc.jpg"/>
      <itunes:duration>2791</itunes:duration>
      <itunes:summary>Parag Parekh, Chief Digital Officer of Ingka Group, the largest IKEA franchisee, talks with Robert Valentine and Kayvan Nikjou at HumanX in Amsterdam. An engineer from Mumbai, he wrote software at Honeywell, joined GE's IT leadership program and worked at Adidas before IKEA came calling. He says a small screw made the decision easy: IKEA mailed it to his home in Germany, two weeks after he asked for it in a store. During the first question someone brings in the bag he left in an Uber.</itunes:summary>
      <itunes:subtitle>Parag Parekh, Chief Digital Officer of Ingka Group, the largest IKEA franchisee, talks with Robert Valentine and Kayvan Nikjou at HumanX in Amsterdam. An engineer from Mumbai, he wrote software at Honeywell, joined GE's IT leadership program and worked at</itunes:subtitle>
      <itunes:keywords></itunes:keywords>
      <itunes:explicit>Yes</itunes:explicit>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Robin Wauters, Co-Founder of Tech.eu | Obsessed With Solving a Problem</title>
      <itunes:episode>5</itunes:episode>
      <podcast:episode>5</podcast:episode>
      <itunes:title>Robin Wauters, Co-Founder of Tech.eu | Obsessed With Solving a Problem</itunes:title>
      <itunes:episodeType>full</itunes:episodeType>
      <guid isPermaLink="false">b01b09e7-9e9a-4903-8a98-2bcc3f7f6205</guid>
      <link>https://share.transistor.fm/s/e029a2ee</link>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[<p>Robin Wauters, co-founder of Tech.eu, talks with Robert Valentine and Kayvan Nikjou at HumanX in Amsterdam. Robin wrote for TechCrunch and was European editor of The Next Web before he started Tech.eu in 2013 to cover the European tech scene. He sold the company to Webrazzi in 2021 and left in 2024. Today he helps manage Syndicate One, a Belgian seed fund that invests in Belgian founders wherever they are.</p>
<p>Robin says most growth capital still comes from outside Europe and that Europe missed the boat on social networks, semiconductors and hardware. He is one of the people behind EU-INC, a campaign for one company standard that founders could use across the EU. If he were dictator of Belgium, he would first guarantee for fifty years that founders and investors only pay tax on their shares when they sell them.</p>
<p>As an investor Robin looks for founders who are “so obsessed with solving that problem that that's all they think about.” Syndicate One invested early in Aikido, a cybersecurity company that has since become a unicorn. Robin wants his children to stay curious and thinks all children should learn basic business thinking from elementary school to university. He gives Robert and Kayvan advice for their new podcast: “So just keep at it. Like, don't stop.”</p>
<p>New episodes every Monday and Friday. Recorded at HumanX, Amsterdam.</p>
<p><strong>Chapters</strong><br>0:00 Cold open<br>0:49 Jürgen Ingels and SuperNova<br>1:24 How Kayvan met Robin<br>3:51 Welcome to HumanX and bike thieves<br>5:28 Tech.eu and how tech media changed<br>7:43 Ambitious founders, exits and the EIC<br>12:28 Why the US has more capital<br>14:40 Delaware, Spotify and taxing paper gains<br>18:46 Estonia and smarter regulation<br>21:44 EU Inc explained<br>25:00 If Robin ruled Belgium<br>27:05 Europe in the AI race<br>28:57 Angel investing and Aikido<br>32:20 From journalist to investor at Syndicate One<br>36:01 A new generation building in Europe<br>39:37 Cosmic Aerospace and electric flight<br>40:45 What should kids learn?<br>43:45 Education and the lonely founder<br>47:01 Profits, exits and what investors bring<br>49:59 Why does Belgium exist?<br>54:14 White Box Rodeo and Robin's advice for the podcast</p>
<p>Correction: at 14:09 Robert says none of ASML's machines go to Europe. ASML does deliver machines in Europe, for example to Intel's chip plant in Ireland. In 2025, €529 million of ASML's €32.7 billion in net sales came from customers in the Netherlands and the rest of EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa).</p>
<p>Correction: at 34:33 Kayvan calls Jack Clark, the Anthropic co-founder who started out as a tech journalist, Jason Clark.</p>
<p>Correction: at 47:45 Robin says Amazon hasn't made a profit for more than a decade. Amazon made its first full-year profit in 2003 and has been profitable in most years since. In 2025 its net income was $77.7 billion.</p>
<p>White Box Rodeo is for information and entertainment only and is not investment advice. The hosts may hold interests in companies they discuss.</p>
<p>Watch the video: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCmmlLMuCak">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCmmlLMuCak</a><br>White Box Rodeo: <a href="https://whiteboxrodeo.com">https://whiteboxrodeo.com</a><br>Hosts: Robert Valentine and Kayvan Nikjou</p>]]>
      </description>
      <content:encoded>
        <![CDATA[<p>Robin Wauters, co-founder of Tech.eu, talks with Robert Valentine and Kayvan Nikjou at HumanX in Amsterdam. Robin wrote for TechCrunch and was European editor of The Next Web before he started Tech.eu in 2013 to cover the European tech scene. He sold the company to Webrazzi in 2021 and left in 2024. Today he helps manage Syndicate One, a Belgian seed fund that invests in Belgian founders wherever they are.</p>
<p>Robin says most growth capital still comes from outside Europe and that Europe missed the boat on social networks, semiconductors and hardware. He is one of the people behind EU-INC, a campaign for one company standard that founders could use across the EU. If he were dictator of Belgium, he would first guarantee for fifty years that founders and investors only pay tax on their shares when they sell them.</p>
<p>As an investor Robin looks for founders who are “so obsessed with solving that problem that that's all they think about.” Syndicate One invested early in Aikido, a cybersecurity company that has since become a unicorn. Robin wants his children to stay curious and thinks all children should learn basic business thinking from elementary school to university. He gives Robert and Kayvan advice for their new podcast: “So just keep at it. Like, don't stop.”</p>
<p>New episodes every Monday and Friday. Recorded at HumanX, Amsterdam.</p>
<p><strong>Chapters</strong><br>0:00 Cold open<br>0:49 Jürgen Ingels and SuperNova<br>1:24 How Kayvan met Robin<br>3:51 Welcome to HumanX and bike thieves<br>5:28 Tech.eu and how tech media changed<br>7:43 Ambitious founders, exits and the EIC<br>12:28 Why the US has more capital<br>14:40 Delaware, Spotify and taxing paper gains<br>18:46 Estonia and smarter regulation<br>21:44 EU Inc explained<br>25:00 If Robin ruled Belgium<br>27:05 Europe in the AI race<br>28:57 Angel investing and Aikido<br>32:20 From journalist to investor at Syndicate One<br>36:01 A new generation building in Europe<br>39:37 Cosmic Aerospace and electric flight<br>40:45 What should kids learn?<br>43:45 Education and the lonely founder<br>47:01 Profits, exits and what investors bring<br>49:59 Why does Belgium exist?<br>54:14 White Box Rodeo and Robin's advice for the podcast</p>
<p>Correction: at 14:09 Robert says none of ASML's machines go to Europe. ASML does deliver machines in Europe, for example to Intel's chip plant in Ireland. In 2025, €529 million of ASML's €32.7 billion in net sales came from customers in the Netherlands and the rest of EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa).</p>
<p>Correction: at 34:33 Kayvan calls Jack Clark, the Anthropic co-founder who started out as a tech journalist, Jason Clark.</p>
<p>Correction: at 47:45 Robin says Amazon hasn't made a profit for more than a decade. Amazon made its first full-year profit in 2003 and has been profitable in most years since. In 2025 its net income was $77.7 billion.</p>
<p>White Box Rodeo is for information and entertainment only and is not investment advice. The hosts may hold interests in companies they discuss.</p>
<p>Watch the video: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCmmlLMuCak">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCmmlLMuCak</a><br>White Box Rodeo: <a href="https://whiteboxrodeo.com">https://whiteboxrodeo.com</a><br>Hosts: Robert Valentine and Kayvan Nikjou</p>]]>
      </content:encoded>
      <pubDate>Mon, 12 Oct 2026 20:00:00 +0200</pubDate>
      <author>Robert Valentine, Kayvan Nikjou</author>
      <enclosure url="https://media.transistor.fm/e029a2ee/ae11549f.mp3" length="55360039" type="audio/mpeg"/>
      <itunes:author>Robert Valentine, Kayvan Nikjou</itunes:author>
      <itunes:image href="https://img.transistorcdn.com/hUNPlFh4_ehm34FDzegXozyKeS6T8CBzqjuAgOEUlcw/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:1400/h:1400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS8xMzI4/N2QzMGRjYWU2M2I0/NGU1ZDY5ODFmZDg4/MDUzMC5qcGc.jpg"/>
      <itunes:duration>3457</itunes:duration>
      <itunes:summary>Robin Wauters, co-founder of Tech.eu, talks with Robert Valentine and Kayvan Nikjou at HumanX in Amsterdam. Robin wrote for TechCrunch and was European editor of The Next Web before he started Tech.eu in 2013 to cover the European tech scene. He sold the company to Webrazzi in 2021 and left in 2024. Today he helps manage Syndicate One, a Belgian seed fund that invests in Belgian founders wherever they are.</itunes:summary>
      <itunes:subtitle>Robin Wauters, co-founder of Tech.eu, talks with Robert Valentine and Kayvan Nikjou at HumanX in Amsterdam. Robin wrote for TechCrunch and was European editor of The Next Web before he started Tech.eu in 2013 to cover the European tech scene. He sold the </itunes:subtitle>
      <itunes:keywords></itunes:keywords>
      <itunes:explicit>Yes</itunes:explicit>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Fabian Hedin, Co-Founder &amp; CTO of Lovable | Billionaire on a Bike</title>
      <itunes:episode>4</itunes:episode>
      <podcast:episode>4</podcast:episode>
      <itunes:title>Fabian Hedin, Co-Founder &amp; CTO of Lovable | Billionaire on a Bike</itunes:title>
      <itunes:episodeType>full</itunes:episodeType>
      <guid isPermaLink="false">1d50bb6c-ce85-4452-b564-00189cfbfca8</guid>
      <link>https://share.transistor.fm/s/8987e487</link>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[<p>Fabian Hedin, co-founder and CTO of Lovable, talks with Robert Valentine and Kayvan Nikjou at HumanX in Amsterdam. With Lovable, people who cannot code build websites and apps by describing what they want in plain text. Lovable launched under that name in November 2024 and says it passed $100 million in annual recurring revenue eight months later. In August 2026 it raised $400 million at a valuation of $13.3 billion. Fabian is 27 and in October 2026 Forbes estimated his net worth at $3.1 billion. He says most of it is paper money. He still rides his bike to the office every day.</p>
<p>Fabian tells how Lovable grew out of GPT Engineer, a side project of his co-founder Anton Osika. He explains why two earlier launches failed, why the company stayed in Stockholm when people in San Francisco told the founders to move there, how Lovable picks an AI model for each request and how it makes money with credits. About the SaaSpocalypse he says: “If your moat is the code that you have written and only the code, then yes, you're in trouble.”</p>
<p>Before the interview Robert and Kayvan look back on HumanX and announce a series of at least six conversations from the conference.</p>
<p>New episode every Friday. Recorded at HumanX, Amsterdam.</p>
<p><strong>Chapters</strong><br>0:00 Cold open<br>0:31 Robert and Kayvan at HumanX<br>1:26 Six guests and series on events and cities<br>2:43 Change makers, Europe and Amsterdam<br>5:02 The interview: Fabian's first time in Amsterdam<br>6:53 What Lovable is and a Saturday morning walk<br>9:42 Software for the 99%<br>12:12 The first prototype and building Lovable with Lovable<br>15:36 A waitlist, two failed launches and the first round<br>20:05 Why Lovable stayed in Stockholm<br>24:05 The first hire, the name and the .com<br>28:13 The third launch and building for everyone<br>31:32 How Lovable picks an AI model<br>33:52 From $1M to $100M ARR and how credits work<br>37:08 Paper money and day zero<br>41:48 The SaaSpocalypse and the big AI models<br>47:00 Next: running your business on Lovable<br>49:15 Why so many startups come from Stockholm<br>52:59 FIRE and democratizing AI</p>
<p>Correction: at 28:04 Kayvan says someone bought google.com and sold it back to Google. In September 2015 Sanmay Ved bought google.com for $12 through Google Domains. Google cancelled the order after about a minute and later paid him a reward.</p>
<p>White Box Rodeo is for information and entertainment only and is not investment advice. The hosts may hold interests in companies they discuss.</p>
<p>Watch the video: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QGmPOWW9Tg">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QGmPOWW9Tg</a><br>White Box Rodeo: <a href="https://whiteboxrodeo.com">https://whiteboxrodeo.com</a><br>Hosts: Robert Valentine and Kayvan Nikjou</p>]]>
      </description>
      <content:encoded>
        <![CDATA[<p>Fabian Hedin, co-founder and CTO of Lovable, talks with Robert Valentine and Kayvan Nikjou at HumanX in Amsterdam. With Lovable, people who cannot code build websites and apps by describing what they want in plain text. Lovable launched under that name in November 2024 and says it passed $100 million in annual recurring revenue eight months later. In August 2026 it raised $400 million at a valuation of $13.3 billion. Fabian is 27 and in October 2026 Forbes estimated his net worth at $3.1 billion. He says most of it is paper money. He still rides his bike to the office every day.</p>
<p>Fabian tells how Lovable grew out of GPT Engineer, a side project of his co-founder Anton Osika. He explains why two earlier launches failed, why the company stayed in Stockholm when people in San Francisco told the founders to move there, how Lovable picks an AI model for each request and how it makes money with credits. About the SaaSpocalypse he says: “If your moat is the code that you have written and only the code, then yes, you're in trouble.”</p>
<p>Before the interview Robert and Kayvan look back on HumanX and announce a series of at least six conversations from the conference.</p>
<p>New episode every Friday. Recorded at HumanX, Amsterdam.</p>
<p><strong>Chapters</strong><br>0:00 Cold open<br>0:31 Robert and Kayvan at HumanX<br>1:26 Six guests and series on events and cities<br>2:43 Change makers, Europe and Amsterdam<br>5:02 The interview: Fabian's first time in Amsterdam<br>6:53 What Lovable is and a Saturday morning walk<br>9:42 Software for the 99%<br>12:12 The first prototype and building Lovable with Lovable<br>15:36 A waitlist, two failed launches and the first round<br>20:05 Why Lovable stayed in Stockholm<br>24:05 The first hire, the name and the .com<br>28:13 The third launch and building for everyone<br>31:32 How Lovable picks an AI model<br>33:52 From $1M to $100M ARR and how credits work<br>37:08 Paper money and day zero<br>41:48 The SaaSpocalypse and the big AI models<br>47:00 Next: running your business on Lovable<br>49:15 Why so many startups come from Stockholm<br>52:59 FIRE and democratizing AI</p>
<p>Correction: at 28:04 Kayvan says someone bought google.com and sold it back to Google. In September 2015 Sanmay Ved bought google.com for $12 through Google Domains. Google cancelled the order after about a minute and later paid him a reward.</p>
<p>White Box Rodeo is for information and entertainment only and is not investment advice. The hosts may hold interests in companies they discuss.</p>
<p>Watch the video: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QGmPOWW9Tg">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QGmPOWW9Tg</a><br>White Box Rodeo: <a href="https://whiteboxrodeo.com">https://whiteboxrodeo.com</a><br>Hosts: Robert Valentine and Kayvan Nikjou</p>]]>
      </content:encoded>
      <pubDate>Fri, 09 Oct 2026 20:00:00 +0200</pubDate>
      <author>Robert Valentine, Kayvan Nikjou</author>
      <enclosure url="https://media.transistor.fm/8987e487/e1970f4e.mp3" length="52858790" type="audio/mpeg"/>
      <itunes:author>Robert Valentine, Kayvan Nikjou</itunes:author>
      <itunes:image href="https://img.transistorcdn.com/n47Z03IVvS6tgTnFe0jvg0E0MwsrbWdMwetLpJRnk_8/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:1400/h:1400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS80ZWU4/N2JmYjk3YTcwMzIy/ZTdiOTAwYTM3MTJm/MDFkMy5qcGc.jpg"/>
      <itunes:duration>3299</itunes:duration>
      <itunes:summary>“I'm still riding my bike to the office every day,” says Fabian Hedin. He co-founded Lovable in Stockholm, a tool that in his words lets anyone create software and create companies. Forbes estimates his net worth at 3.1 billion dollars. He is 27.</itunes:summary>
      <itunes:subtitle>“I'm still riding my bike to the office every day,” says Fabian Hedin. He co-founded Lovable in Stockholm, a tool that in his words lets anyone create software and create companies. Forbes estimates his net worth at 3.1 billion dollars. He is 27.</itunes:subtitle>
      <itunes:keywords></itunes:keywords>
      <itunes:explicit>Yes</itunes:explicit>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Jürgen Ingels, Founding Partner of Smartfin | Being an Entrepreneur Is a Sh*t Life</title>
      <itunes:episode>3</itunes:episode>
      <podcast:episode>3</podcast:episode>
      <itunes:title>Jürgen Ingels, Founding Partner of Smartfin | Being an Entrepreneur Is a Sh*t Life</itunes:title>
      <itunes:episodeType>full</itunes:episodeType>
      <guid isPermaLink="false">9e204187-7008-414f-b327-13a979b92113</guid>
      <link>https://share.transistor.fm/s/afdbfd5d</link>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[<p>“It's a sh*t life. Being an entrepreneur is a sh*t life,” says Jürgen Ingels. He co-founded the payments company Clear2Pay, which FIS bought in 2014, and afterwards people told him he had been lucky. He wanted to show he could do it again and set up the fund Smartfin, where he is founding partner and chairman. He also runs SuperNova, the technology festival in Antwerp that brought Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey and Arnold Schwarzenegger to Belgium. His book Start, Grow, Sell collects fifty lessons for entrepreneurs.</p>
<p>In the third episode of White Box Rodeo, Robert Valentine and Kayvan Nikjou start in the studio with what stayed with them after meeting Jürgen: how calm and genuine he came across, trauma as a driver for founders and why a good company may need only a small team in the age of AI. Robert explains why some of his questions in the interview appear as cards on screen: his microphone did not work during the recording. After that comes the interview, in which Kayvan and Robert talk with Jürgen about SuperNova, his companies and what he has learned as a founder and investor.</p>
<p>Jürgen explains how SuperNova got Obama to Belgium through contacts in the US and how Oprah read his book on her plane and later invited him to her podcast. He talks about working every Saturday morning, about work-life balance in the first ten years of a career and about what he calls mushroom companies: small teams that grow fast. He also covers whether Europe can compete with China and the US, his space collection and the new space and defence fund at Smartfin. He tells the story of his chocolate shops in Stockholm and why they closed. The episode ends with what he has learned about happiness.</p>
<p>New episode every Friday. Recorded at Berghaus, Amsterdam (studio) and at Jürgen's office in Flanders (interview).</p>
<p><strong>Chapters</strong><br>0:00 Cold open<br>0:31 Who is Jürgen Ingels?<br>3:12 The missing cable and Robert's mic<br>4:31 AI, small teams and SuperNova<br>6:58 The interview: a week of SuperNova<br>8:25 How SuperNova got Obama<br>13:33 SuperNova's bar, investors and a prize in Cannes<br>16:43 Human capital and mushroom companies<br>21:58 Charlie Duke, Oprah and her podcast<br>27:35 Interviewing Oprah and Obama on stage<br>31:33 Saturday mornings and work-life balance<br>36:41 Creativity, robots and Europe's heritage<br>39:42 Can Europe compete with China and the US?<br>44:56 Does university still matter?<br>48:06 Musk, Jobs and what drives top founders<br>51:19 Deliverect and how he spots winners<br>56:16 Clear2Pay, "you got lucky" and Smartfin<br>1:00:04 Being an entrepreneur is a sh*t life<br>1:01:34 Why he stays in Belgium<br>1:03:47 His father, Apollo and a space museum<br>1:08:44 Space, defence and the road to Mars<br>1:15:18 Chocolate in Stockholm and other companies<br>1:24:24 Longevity, Celtic salt and Eat Move Sleep<br>1:30:30 Living longer and what happiness is</p>
<p>Correction: at 1:24 Kayvan says Clear2Pay was sold for 400 million euros. FIS paid approximately €375 million for all shares of Clear2Pay in 2014.<br>Correction: at 15:35 Kayvan links the prize for the SuperNova opening film to the Cannes Film Festival. The opening film of SuperNova 2025 won a Silver Dolphin in the Event Promotion category at the Cannes Corporate Media &amp; TV Awards, a separate festival for corporate films, in September 2025.<br>Correction: at 22:12 Jürgen places Charlie Duke on Apollo 17. Duke walked on the moon as lunar module pilot of Apollo 16 in April 1972 and was the backup lunar module pilot for Apollo 17.</p>
<p>White Box Rodeo is for information and entertainment only and is not investment advice. The hosts may hold interests in companies they discuss.</p>
<p>Watch the video: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaAUljLQewQ">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaAUljLQewQ</a><br>White Box Rodeo: <a href="https://whiteboxrodeo.com">https://whiteboxrodeo.com</a><br>Hosts: Robert Valentine and Kayvan Nikjou</p>]]>
      </description>
      <content:encoded>
        <![CDATA[<p>“It's a sh*t life. Being an entrepreneur is a sh*t life,” says Jürgen Ingels. He co-founded the payments company Clear2Pay, which FIS bought in 2014, and afterwards people told him he had been lucky. He wanted to show he could do it again and set up the fund Smartfin, where he is founding partner and chairman. He also runs SuperNova, the technology festival in Antwerp that brought Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey and Arnold Schwarzenegger to Belgium. His book Start, Grow, Sell collects fifty lessons for entrepreneurs.</p>
<p>In the third episode of White Box Rodeo, Robert Valentine and Kayvan Nikjou start in the studio with what stayed with them after meeting Jürgen: how calm and genuine he came across, trauma as a driver for founders and why a good company may need only a small team in the age of AI. Robert explains why some of his questions in the interview appear as cards on screen: his microphone did not work during the recording. After that comes the interview, in which Kayvan and Robert talk with Jürgen about SuperNova, his companies and what he has learned as a founder and investor.</p>
<p>Jürgen explains how SuperNova got Obama to Belgium through contacts in the US and how Oprah read his book on her plane and later invited him to her podcast. He talks about working every Saturday morning, about work-life balance in the first ten years of a career and about what he calls mushroom companies: small teams that grow fast. He also covers whether Europe can compete with China and the US, his space collection and the new space and defence fund at Smartfin. He tells the story of his chocolate shops in Stockholm and why they closed. The episode ends with what he has learned about happiness.</p>
<p>New episode every Friday. Recorded at Berghaus, Amsterdam (studio) and at Jürgen's office in Flanders (interview).</p>
<p><strong>Chapters</strong><br>0:00 Cold open<br>0:31 Who is Jürgen Ingels?<br>3:12 The missing cable and Robert's mic<br>4:31 AI, small teams and SuperNova<br>6:58 The interview: a week of SuperNova<br>8:25 How SuperNova got Obama<br>13:33 SuperNova's bar, investors and a prize in Cannes<br>16:43 Human capital and mushroom companies<br>21:58 Charlie Duke, Oprah and her podcast<br>27:35 Interviewing Oprah and Obama on stage<br>31:33 Saturday mornings and work-life balance<br>36:41 Creativity, robots and Europe's heritage<br>39:42 Can Europe compete with China and the US?<br>44:56 Does university still matter?<br>48:06 Musk, Jobs and what drives top founders<br>51:19 Deliverect and how he spots winners<br>56:16 Clear2Pay, "you got lucky" and Smartfin<br>1:00:04 Being an entrepreneur is a sh*t life<br>1:01:34 Why he stays in Belgium<br>1:03:47 His father, Apollo and a space museum<br>1:08:44 Space, defence and the road to Mars<br>1:15:18 Chocolate in Stockholm and other companies<br>1:24:24 Longevity, Celtic salt and Eat Move Sleep<br>1:30:30 Living longer and what happiness is</p>
<p>Correction: at 1:24 Kayvan says Clear2Pay was sold for 400 million euros. FIS paid approximately €375 million for all shares of Clear2Pay in 2014.<br>Correction: at 15:35 Kayvan links the prize for the SuperNova opening film to the Cannes Film Festival. The opening film of SuperNova 2025 won a Silver Dolphin in the Event Promotion category at the Cannes Corporate Media &amp; TV Awards, a separate festival for corporate films, in September 2025.<br>Correction: at 22:12 Jürgen places Charlie Duke on Apollo 17. Duke walked on the moon as lunar module pilot of Apollo 16 in April 1972 and was the backup lunar module pilot for Apollo 17.</p>
<p>White Box Rodeo is for information and entertainment only and is not investment advice. The hosts may hold interests in companies they discuss.</p>
<p>Watch the video: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaAUljLQewQ">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaAUljLQewQ</a><br>White Box Rodeo: <a href="https://whiteboxrodeo.com">https://whiteboxrodeo.com</a><br>Hosts: Robert Valentine and Kayvan Nikjou</p>]]>
      </content:encoded>
      <pubDate>Mon, 05 Oct 2026 20:00:00 +0200</pubDate>
      <author>Robert Valentine, Kayvan Nikjou</author>
      <enclosure url="https://media.transistor.fm/afdbfd5d/e52cf3b1.mp3" length="90496355" type="audio/mpeg"/>
      <itunes:author>Robert Valentine, Kayvan Nikjou</itunes:author>
      <itunes:image href="https://img.transistorcdn.com/VMv0H7Cglc6M1FLJ4zFk6QKTYSx7Ng2DL_KtUOW5mkA/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:1400/h:1400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS85Y2Jj/NmRhY2M3MTAzNmQ4/Y2I5OGJkYjY5NDcw/ZjU0OS5qcGc.jpg"/>
      <itunes:duration>5653</itunes:duration>
      <itunes:summary>“It's a sh*t life. Being an entrepreneur is a sh*t life,” says Jürgen Ingels. He co-founded the payments company Clear2Pay, which FIS bought in 2014, and afterwards people told him he had been lucky. He wanted to show he could do it again and set up the fund Smartfin, where he is founding partner and chairman. He also runs SuperNova, the technology festival in Antwerp that brought Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey and Arnold Schwarzenegger to Belgium. His book Start, Grow, Sell collects fifty lessons </itunes:summary>
      <itunes:subtitle>“It's a sh*t life. Being an entrepreneur is a sh*t life,” says Jürgen Ingels. He co-founded the payments company Clear2Pay, which FIS bought in 2014, and afterwards people told him he had been lucky. He wanted to show he could do it again and set up the f</itunes:subtitle>
      <itunes:keywords></itunes:keywords>
      <itunes:explicit>Yes</itunes:explicit>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Mo Gawdat, Former Chief Business Officer of Google X | Challenging Mo Gawdat</title>
      <itunes:episode>2</itunes:episode>
      <podcast:episode>2</podcast:episode>
      <itunes:title>Mo Gawdat, Former Chief Business Officer of Google X | Challenging Mo Gawdat</itunes:title>
      <itunes:episodeType>full</itunes:episodeType>
      <guid isPermaLink="false">3f4cf172-3697-45e8-a708-a1fb875b74aa</guid>
      <link>https://share.transistor.fm/s/659524da</link>
      <description>
        <![CDATA[<p>The episode of history where humanity was the apex intelligence is about to end. That is how Mo Gawdat, former Chief Business Officer of Google X and author of Scary Smart, sees it. Kayvan interviewed him on stage at the Love Tomorrow Summit in front of thousands of people, with one plan: challenge him instead of agreeing with him.</p>
<p>In the second episode of White Box Rodeo, Robert Valentine and Kayvan Nikjou talk about how that interview came about, from journalism school and Forbes to two hours backstage with Mo. Then the full conversation from the Love Tomorrow stage: AI as the ultimate equalizer, America and China in the AI race, where Europe stands, what our children should still learn, and questions from the audience.</p>
<p>Back in the studio we go through what Mo told Kayvan off camera, AI and warfare, DeepSeek and intellectual property, and his ten-year timeframe.</p>
<p>Interview footage: Love Tomorrow Summit 2026, used with permission of Love Tomorrow. New episode every Friday. Recorded at Berghaus, Amsterdam.</p>
<p><strong>Chapters</strong><br>0:00 Cold open<br>0:27 Kayvan's interview with Mo Gawdat<br>2:55 Tomorrowland and the Love Tomorrow Summit<br>6:27 From journalism school to Forbes<br>14:03 Invited to challenge Mo Gawdat<br>15:02 Two hours backstage with Mo<br>17:22 Friend or opponent on stage<br>19:58 The Love Tomorrow interview<br>21:44 The viking chant<br>24:48 Who is Mo Gawdat?<br>33:08 The end of humans as the apex intelligence<br>34:14 America, China and the AI race<br>38:33 Where is Europe?<br>39:12 AI as the ultimate equalizer<br>42:14 What should our children study?<br>45:41 Memorising, boredom and a disagreement<br>50:31 Questions from the audience<br>1:02:26 Two questions at the end of a life<br>1:03:10 Back in the studio<br>1:09:35 What Mo said off camera<br>1:13:26 AI, warfare, China and Europe<br>1:16:11 America's role<br>1:17:18 DeepSeek and intellectual property<br>1:18:48 Ten years<br>1:19:50 Next: Jürgen Ingels</p>
<p>Correction: at 1:11:10 Robert mentions a US Air Force simulation in which an AI drone turned against its operator. The US Air Force has said no such simulation took place, and the colonel who described it later called it a hypothetical thought experiment.</p>
<p>White Box Rodeo is for information and entertainment only and is not investment advice. The hosts may hold interests in companies they discuss.</p>
<p>Watch the video: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PEh9t2kSu0">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PEh9t2kSu0</a><br>White Box Rodeo: <a href="https://whiteboxrodeo.com">https://whiteboxrodeo.com</a><br>Hosts: Robert Valentine and Kayvan Nikjou</p>]]>
      </description>
      <content:encoded>
        <![CDATA[<p>The episode of history where humanity was the apex intelligence is about to end. That is how Mo Gawdat, former Chief Business Officer of Google X and author of Scary Smart, sees it. Kayvan interviewed him on stage at the Love Tomorrow Summit in front of thousands of people, with one plan: challenge him instead of agreeing with him.</p>
<p>In the second episode of White Box Rodeo, Robert Valentine and Kayvan Nikjou talk about how that interview came about, from journalism school and Forbes to two hours backstage with Mo. Then the full conversation from the Love Tomorrow stage: AI as the ultimate equalizer, America and China in the AI race, where Europe stands, what our children should still learn, and questions from the audience.</p>
<p>Back in the studio we go through what Mo told Kayvan off camera, AI and warfare, DeepSeek and intellectual property, and his ten-year timeframe.</p>
<p>Interview footage: Love Tomorrow Summit 2026, used with permission of Love Tomorrow. New episode every Friday. Recorded at Berghaus, Amsterdam.</p>
<p><strong>Chapters</strong><br>0:00 Cold open<br>0:27 Kayvan's interview with Mo Gawdat<br>2:55 Tomorrowland and the Love Tomorrow Summit<br>6:27 From journalism school to Forbes<br>14:03 Invited to challenge Mo Gawdat<br>15:02 Two hours backstage with Mo<br>17:22 Friend or opponent on stage<br>19:58 The Love Tomorrow interview<br>21:44 The viking chant<br>24:48 Who is Mo Gawdat?<br>33:08 The end of humans as the apex intelligence<br>34:14 America, China and the AI race<br>38:33 Where is Europe?<br>39:12 AI as the ultimate equalizer<br>42:14 What should our children study?<br>45:41 Memorising, boredom and a disagreement<br>50:31 Questions from the audience<br>1:02:26 Two questions at the end of a life<br>1:03:10 Back in the studio<br>1:09:35 What Mo said off camera<br>1:13:26 AI, warfare, China and Europe<br>1:16:11 America's role<br>1:17:18 DeepSeek and intellectual property<br>1:18:48 Ten years<br>1:19:50 Next: Jürgen Ingels</p>
<p>Correction: at 1:11:10 Robert mentions a US Air Force simulation in which an AI drone turned against its operator. The US Air Force has said no such simulation took place, and the colonel who described it later called it a hypothetical thought experiment.</p>
<p>White Box Rodeo is for information and entertainment only and is not investment advice. The hosts may hold interests in companies they discuss.</p>
<p>Watch the video: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PEh9t2kSu0">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PEh9t2kSu0</a><br>White Box Rodeo: <a href="https://whiteboxrodeo.com">https://whiteboxrodeo.com</a><br>Hosts: Robert Valentine and Kayvan Nikjou</p>]]>
      </content:encoded>
      <pubDate>Fri, 25 Sep 2026 10:00:00 +0200</pubDate>
      <author>Robert Valentine, Kayvan Nikjou</author>
      <enclosure url="https://media.transistor.fm/659524da/ad96d28e.mp3" length="79508120" type="audio/mpeg"/>
      <itunes:author>Robert Valentine, Kayvan Nikjou</itunes:author>
      <itunes:image href="https://img.transistorcdn.com/s0KDtSB-d7A0Hu809Te6N9zauyreO8wj8Kg3PeIWW8A/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:1400/h:1400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9lMTc5/MjMwOWQ3MDJhZmJj/OGZmODUyMDdiY2Fj/YzMwMi5qcGc.jpg"/>
      <itunes:duration>4968</itunes:duration>
      <itunes:summary>The episode of history where humanity was the apex intelligence is about to end. That is how Mo Gawdat, former Chief Business Officer of Google X and author of Scary Smart, sees it. Kayvan interviewed him on stage at the Love Tomorrow Summit in front of thousands of people, with one plan: challenge him instead of agreeing with him.</itunes:summary>
      <itunes:subtitle>The episode of history where humanity was the apex intelligence is about to end. That is how Mo Gawdat, former Chief Business Officer of Google X and author of Scary Smart, sees it. Kayvan interviewed him on stage at the Love Tomorrow Summit in front of t</itunes:subtitle>
      <itunes:keywords></itunes:keywords>
      <itunes:explicit>Yes</itunes:explicit>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Attention Beats Capital</title>
      <itunes:episode>1</itunes:episode>
      <podcast:episode>1</podcast:episode>
      <itunes:title>Attention Beats Capital</itunes:title>
      <itunes:episodeType>full</itunes:episodeType>
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      <description>
        <![CDATA[<p>Attention beats capital. In Europe the money is there but the attention is not, and the founders who work that out get ahead of the ones still waiting for a grant.</p>
<p>In the first episode of White Box Rodeo, Robert Valentine and Kayvan Nikjou crack open European entrepreneurship. Why a €50,000 grant takes six months and a consultant. Why Dutch founders stay off camera while American CEOs turn into cult leaders. Why Stockholm punches above its weight and what Scott Galloway's line about making money in America and spending it in Europe is worth once you actually build here.</p>
<p>Then the money. Revenue per employee from OnlyFans to OpenAI, how Nvidia turned its staff into millionaires, founders with immigrant roots from Brin to Musk and why the people who get rich think in ten-year cycles. A friend of Kayvan's lived on ramen for two years to get there.</p>
<p>And late in the episode, Miro. Valued at $17.5 billion in 2022, sold to Bending Spoons on 10 September at an enterprise value of $1.36 billion. Kayvan got the news from the founders the day before we recorded, so we work through who actually gets paid.</p>
<p>New episode every Friday. Recorded at Berghaus, Amsterdam.</p>
<p><strong>Chapters</strong><br>0:00 Cold open<br>0:32 Why we're starting White Box Rodeo<br>6:24 The €50,000 grant that takes six months<br>7:46 Make money in America, spend it in Europe (Scott Galloway)<br>8:45 Tier-one cities, from London to Stockholm<br>11:28 Why Dutch founders stay camera-shy<br>15:24 Attention beats capital<br>23:29 Finland vs Sweden: the distribution gap<br>26:06 Revenue per employee, from OnlyFans to OpenAI<br>27:20 How Nvidia made its staff millionaires<br>30:55 Cult CEOs and the ASML boss nobody knows<br>37:56 Founders with immigrant roots, from Brin to Musk<br>41:46 Miro: 15 years, $17.5B, sold to Bending Spoons<br>46:02 The SaaS apocalypse theory<br>52:24 Who gets paid: founders, staff and VCs<br>1:00:06 Think in ten-year cycles</p>
<p>Sources<br>Bending Spoons agrees to acquire Miro (10 Sep 2026): <a href="https://investors.bendingspoons.com/newsroom/bending-spoons-agrees-to-acquire-miro">https://investors.bendingspoons.com/newsroom/bending-spoons-agrees-to-acquire-miro</a><br>Miro valued at $17.5B after $400M Series C (TechCrunch, 5 Jan 2022): <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2022/01/05/visual-collaboration-company-miro-valued-at-17-5b-following-400m-in-new-funding/">https://techcrunch.com/2022/01/05/visual-collaboration-company-miro-valued-at-17-5b-following-400m-in-new-funding/</a></p>
<p>White Box Rodeo is for information and entertainment only and is not investment advice. The hosts may hold interests in companies they discuss.</p>
<p>Watch the video: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c0-cDMooOs">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c0-cDMooOs</a><br>White Box Rodeo: <a href="https://whiteboxrodeo.com">https://whiteboxrodeo.com</a><br>Hosts: Robert Valentine and Kayvan Nikjou</p>]]>
      </description>
      <content:encoded>
        <![CDATA[<p>Attention beats capital. In Europe the money is there but the attention is not, and the founders who work that out get ahead of the ones still waiting for a grant.</p>
<p>In the first episode of White Box Rodeo, Robert Valentine and Kayvan Nikjou crack open European entrepreneurship. Why a €50,000 grant takes six months and a consultant. Why Dutch founders stay off camera while American CEOs turn into cult leaders. Why Stockholm punches above its weight and what Scott Galloway's line about making money in America and spending it in Europe is worth once you actually build here.</p>
<p>Then the money. Revenue per employee from OnlyFans to OpenAI, how Nvidia turned its staff into millionaires, founders with immigrant roots from Brin to Musk and why the people who get rich think in ten-year cycles. A friend of Kayvan's lived on ramen for two years to get there.</p>
<p>And late in the episode, Miro. Valued at $17.5 billion in 2022, sold to Bending Spoons on 10 September at an enterprise value of $1.36 billion. Kayvan got the news from the founders the day before we recorded, so we work through who actually gets paid.</p>
<p>New episode every Friday. Recorded at Berghaus, Amsterdam.</p>
<p><strong>Chapters</strong><br>0:00 Cold open<br>0:32 Why we're starting White Box Rodeo<br>6:24 The €50,000 grant that takes six months<br>7:46 Make money in America, spend it in Europe (Scott Galloway)<br>8:45 Tier-one cities, from London to Stockholm<br>11:28 Why Dutch founders stay camera-shy<br>15:24 Attention beats capital<br>23:29 Finland vs Sweden: the distribution gap<br>26:06 Revenue per employee, from OnlyFans to OpenAI<br>27:20 How Nvidia made its staff millionaires<br>30:55 Cult CEOs and the ASML boss nobody knows<br>37:56 Founders with immigrant roots, from Brin to Musk<br>41:46 Miro: 15 years, $17.5B, sold to Bending Spoons<br>46:02 The SaaS apocalypse theory<br>52:24 Who gets paid: founders, staff and VCs<br>1:00:06 Think in ten-year cycles</p>
<p>Sources<br>Bending Spoons agrees to acquire Miro (10 Sep 2026): <a href="https://investors.bendingspoons.com/newsroom/bending-spoons-agrees-to-acquire-miro">https://investors.bendingspoons.com/newsroom/bending-spoons-agrees-to-acquire-miro</a><br>Miro valued at $17.5B after $400M Series C (TechCrunch, 5 Jan 2022): <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2022/01/05/visual-collaboration-company-miro-valued-at-17-5b-following-400m-in-new-funding/">https://techcrunch.com/2022/01/05/visual-collaboration-company-miro-valued-at-17-5b-following-400m-in-new-funding/</a></p>
<p>White Box Rodeo is for information and entertainment only and is not investment advice. The hosts may hold interests in companies they discuss.</p>
<p>Watch the video: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c0-cDMooOs">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c0-cDMooOs</a><br>White Box Rodeo: <a href="https://whiteboxrodeo.com">https://whiteboxrodeo.com</a><br>Hosts: Robert Valentine and Kayvan Nikjou</p>]]>
      </content:encoded>
      <pubDate>Fri, 18 Sep 2026 10:00:00 +0200</pubDate>
      <author>Robert Valentine, Kayvan Nikjou</author>
      <enclosure url="https://media.transistor.fm/a4efb0d9/14ffb45f.mp3" length="59921671" type="audio/mpeg"/>
      <itunes:author>Robert Valentine, Kayvan Nikjou</itunes:author>
      <itunes:image href="https://img.transistorcdn.com/qXMFn-uMt22Mlbqmbue1yomdFmO8Ktsws0rThtopHRk/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:1400/h:1400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9jNzY4/NDRhYmRlZDYxNjlj/ZTZhNGZhZmVjNGQ3/NGQ3Yy5qcGc.jpg"/>
      <itunes:duration>3743</itunes:duration>
      <itunes:summary>Attention beats capital. In Europe the money is there but the attention is not, and the founders who work that out get ahead of the ones still waiting for a grant.</itunes:summary>
      <itunes:subtitle>Attention beats capital. In Europe the money is there but the attention is not, and the founders who work that out get ahead of the ones still waiting for a grant.</itunes:subtitle>
      <itunes:keywords></itunes:keywords>
      <itunes:explicit>Yes</itunes:explicit>
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