#28 Othman Benzoud

Exiting times at OmW! I am currently changing the format to in person conversations. As this requires a new skill-set to be learned and the guest-list to be changed, it results in fewer episodes at the current moment. I believe it brings quite a change in output quality though and I hope that also comes across. I would appreciate your feedback on this, either per PM or in the Episode Q&A (on Spotify only). Thank you for listening! -- Eric is a Software Engineer at Meta's Large Language Models (LLM) applications team and a part-time Electrical Engineering student at Stanford. In our conversation we talk about Eric's experience at Meta, product development and management approaches, startup successes factors, democratizing AI and current LLM based advances in education.

Diyala is the founder and head of Vento, the Venture Building Program/Startup-Accelerator of Exor Ventures in Italy. Listen to a conversation about founders, entrepreneurship and startups. We discuss Diyala’s learnings from recruiting and mentoring dozens of founders, her take on characteristics of successful venture entrepreneurs, her learnings on early stage entrepreneurship, what to look out for in your co-founders, reaching product-market fit and more. Are you ready to get your own hands dirty? Vento is currently recruiting their next batch of venture entrepreneurs to boost their success. Apply here until October 8th. If you want to get in touch with Diyala, to talk about Vento or to pitch your startup, you can reach out to her on LinkedIn.

Katrine is a recent Stanford MBA and MIT Computer Science alumna, and a former strategy consultant and product manager. We discuss Kat's blog Learn with Kat, the relevance of communication and group dynamics at work and Kat's experience with hiring processes as a product manager. Kat also gives her opinion on the difference in the culture of MIT vs. Stanford and lots of advice on product management. Enjoy! If you want to get in touch, you can reach out the Katrine here. —— LINKS MENTIONED: Stanford MBA Touchy Feely MBA Course —— Enjoying OmW? Then support the pod with a rating at the top! ——

Othman is a current Ed-Tech Founder and an alumni of Stanford’s MSc. in Education Data Science. We are talking about his time at Stanford, his data science work with the Moroccan Ministry of Education, as well as educational challenges in Morocco and around the world. —— LINKS MENTIONED Stanford MSc. in Education Data Science: ⁠https://ed.stanford.edu/eds⁠ Othman's work on student dropout prediction: https://ed.stanford.edu/eds/project/rescuing-moroccan-students-it-too-late-drop-out-early-warning-system-dews Khan Academie's AI Assistant: https://www.khanacademy.org/khan-labs —— Enjoying OmW? Then please leave a rating at the top! ——

Ohad is a successful founder and business angel based in San Diego, California. Since leaving Israel for the US in 2011 he has held roles at Google, Ezoic, Smith.ai and his own company Kahoona. This episode includes two core elements: Founding and Israel. Ohad starts off with giving insights into his own track record and his approach to entrepreneurship. We then talk about why Israel has more unicorn startups per capita than any other country and Ohad shares his insights into Israels shifting political landscape. We top it off with a discussion about successful company cultures, advice for founders on fundraising, Bootstrapping vs. VC funding, and early founding advice. Enjoy! Do you have questions about founding and investing? Get in touch with Ohad on LinkedIn. —— LINKS MENTIONED: Israels Universities are taking the lead on unicorns: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7080185869218840577/ Four Tribes of Israel Speech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ci5zZi5Zpb0 —— Enjoying OmW? Then please leave a rating at the top! ——

Lorenz is a journalist at the ORF, Austria’s largest journalistic organization, and a sports commentator. Additionally, he co-hosts the comedy podcast Erlesene Dummheiten which is currently in its third season. In this episode, we dive into Lorenz's daily routine in radio, his early 3 AM starts, the evolution of his podcast to a YouTube channel, sports commentating and how he gathers the will and energy to juggle all these roles. If you have questions for Lorenz or want to dive deeper into his insights, connect with him on LinkedIn. —— LINKS MENTIONED: ORF Richard Socher Alles Gesagt Mr Beast —— Enjoying OmW? Then please leave a rating at the top! —— JÜRGEN’S CURRENT BOOK LIST: Originals by Adam Grant: ⁠https://www.amazon.com/Originals-How-Non-Conformists-Move-World/dp/014312885X⁠ Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl: ⁠https://www.amazon.com/Mans-Search-Meaning-Viktor-Frankl-ebook/dp/B009U9S6FI⁠ A Simpler Life by The School of Life: ⁠https://www.amazon.com/Simpler-Life-greater-serenity-clarity/dp/1912891689

Michael is the current CEO of Silana, a robotic startup with the goal to automate the fashion industry. Listen to the journey of Silana, the state of the art of clothing manufacturing, fast-fashion, the new EU legislation and pollution. —— Enjoying OmW? Then please leave a rating at the top! —— JÜRGEN’S CURRENT BOOK LIST: Originals by Adam Grant: ⁠https://www.amazon.com/Originals-How-Non-Conformists-Move-World/dp/014312885X⁠ Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl: ⁠https://www.amazon.com/Mans-Search-Meaning-Viktor-Frankl-ebook/dp/B009U9S6FI⁠ A Simpler Life by The School of Life: ⁠https://www.amazon.com/Simpler-Life-greater-serenity-clarity/dp/1912891689

Alex and I met after she gave a keynote about Quantum Computing, at age 17 at the We Are Developer conference. Besides public speaking, Alex is pursuing her MSc. in Drug Development & Regulatory Affairs, and explores the tiny universe around us. Listen to an energizing conversation about her fascination with the sciences, a new perspective on mathematics, a definition of "bad science" and science communication. Further, we dive into adventures, anxiety and how to handle mental challenges in life. —— Enjoying OmW? Then please leave a rating at the top! —— LINKS MENTIONED: Learn math with 3 Blue 1 Brown: https://www.youtube.com/c/3blue1brown The Andrew Huberman Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/79CkJF3UJTHFV8Dse3Oy0P Originals Nobel laureate Table: https://marcellus.in/blogs/marcellus-non-conformism-underpins-original-thought/ —— JÜRGEN’S CURRENT BOOK LIST: Originals by Adam Grant: https://www.amazon.com/Originals-How-Non-Conformists-Move-World/dp/014312885X Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl: https://www.amazon.com/Mans-Search-Meaning-Viktor-Frankl-ebook/dp/B009U9S6FI A Simpler Life by The School of Life: https://www.amazon.com/Simpler-Life-greater-serenity-clarity/dp/1912891689

Sam is a fundraising manager for Save the Children and an incoming volunteer at the Peace Corps in Lesotho. We talk about Save the Children and the not-for-profit sector, Lesotho and the Peace Corps and have fun, sharing traveling stories and safety tips. If you have questions for Sam, get in touch on instagram (sgaspar.jpg) —— Enjoying OmW? Then please leave us a rating at the top! —— JÜRGEN’S CURRENT BOOK LIST: << As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. >> Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity ⁠DE⁠/US⁠ Originals by Adam Grant: ⁠DE/⁠US

Nico is a Senior Analyst at the Venture Capital firm FoodLabs, an Early Stage VC investor and venture studio for food, sustainability and health. We kick it off lightly with how Nico got to work at FoodLabs, what the company does and what his typical day looks like. In the second half of the podcast Nico answers all the questions I had about VCs and how they think: What do VCs look for in their founder-teams? Which documents should founders have ready before getting in touch? How do VCs finance themselves and what is the difference between Pre-Seed, Seed and Series A etc.? We close with a discussion about Alternative Financing and Bootstrapping. Do you have questions about FoodLabs, VCs or early stage financing? Nico is happy to answer any questions you might have on LinkedIn. Just make sure to include a message: ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolaus-norden/⁠⁠⁠ NOTE: Unfortunately, after minute 38 the podcasting platform stopped recording my audio and video. This resulted in the loss of a segment of mine, talking about the venture builder I participated in (tbc in a different episode). I had to cut a bit of the middle segment, and the audio later on is from a backup and not as crisp. I hope you still enjoy it! —— Enjoying OmW? Then please leave us a rating at the top! —— JÜRGEN’S CURRENT BOOK LIST: << As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. >> Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity DE/US⁠ Originals by Adam Grant: ⁠DE/US