Henry and Simon

Hi Everyone. Our weekly digest is out. In 15 minutes you’ll get the most interesting headlines on the startup and entrepreneur scene in Prague and internationally. In this episode, we cover Vocalls who raised over €371,000 and provides an automated assistant with artificial intelligence. We mention Czech startup Lafluence who received funds of €743,000 and focuses on connecting brands with influencers, Instagrammers, bloggers, YouTubers and other content creators. We covered Zynga who made a Turkish unicorn by buying Peak for $1.8B. We´ll speak about OurCrowd, a Jerusalem-based investment platform. And Simon´s favorite "Love to Hate" section features Paddy Cosgrave.

Hi Everyone. Our weekly digest is out. In 15 minutes you’ll get the most interesting headlines on the startup and entrepreneur scene in Prague and internationally. In this episode, we cover Anytime that is expanding to the Czech Republic. We mention Leadspicker, a Czech startup that works as an intelligent search engine for new start-ups. We covered Joe Rogan and his pivot to Spotify. We talk about Wolt´s new fundraising and HERTZ renting some trouble.

Hi Everyone. Our weekly digest is out. In 16 minutes you’ll get the most interesting headlines on the startup and entrepreneur scene in Prague and internationally. In this episode, we cover the new modular scooter from Bolt that is heading to the Czech Republic. We mention the Czech data startup Apify launching "Real Estate WatchDog". We covered Zoom, who bought a startup called Keybase. We present a new success story in the circular economy, Back Market, and also several innovative banking apps N26, Revolut, Chime, Monzo. Our last section is on "Famtech" and the London-based Peanut a social network for women. To close it off, "Love to Hate" presents the case for and against Gary Vaynerchuk.

Hi there home-lockups! The 7th episode of Weekly digest is out, today in less than 15 minutes you’ll get compressed news about the startup and entrepreneur scene in Prague and the rest of Europe!We spoke about the momentum Fintech companies are still experiencing, also SilverCloud, who develop around 30 different therapy programs and Google's, role in the travel value chain. We mentioned Resistant AI which focuses on detecting and preventing manipulation of artificial intelligence; we covered a new tool from Brno, which should ensure automation and control of translations in mobile applications "Localazy". We speak about BeRider and its remarkable initiative for healthcare workers. Finally our new section "Love to Hate" presents the case for and against Jason Calacanis.

Welcome to Henry and Simon, episode 8. We're a podcast talking to the most interesting entrepreneurs and creatives in Europe.Today we talk with Rudradeb "Ru" Mitra, the founder and CEO of Omdena a company that solves social problems with artificial intelligence through bottom-up collaboration.Omdena has been nominated for the BOLD AI Awards and has been a candidate for the 2020 Forbes AI 50 list. It was also recently highlighted on the NASDAQ billboard.On this podcast you will learn what projects across the world Omdena has been working on. How they build solid ethical AI solutions. How Rudradeb and OMDENA get people for these projects. How he incentivises them when normally the roles are not paid. How he finds talented people. And how he plots his next plans based on "what's the worst that can happen?"We hope you enjoy the podcast.

Hi there home-lockups! The 6th episode of Weekly digest is out, today in less than 15 minutes you’ll get compressed news about the startup and entrepreneur scene in Prague and the rest of Europe!We spoke about gender inequality in the startups' area, new players in the streaming services. We covered Liftago and its package delivery endeavor, Vitadio - your health coaching app. We mentioned a massive acquisition of Gopay, Zoom news, and in the end, we speak a little about new catchup, the Facebook Rooms.

Hi there home-lockups! The 5th episode of Weekly digest is out, today in less than 18 minutes you’ll get compressed news about the startup and entrepreneur scene in Prague and the rest of Europe!In this episode, we spoke about micromobility, Booster-board, Lime, Revolt, XTND, Airbnb, cybersecurity and much more...

Hi there home-lockups! The 4th episode of Weekly digest is out, today in less than 15 minutes you’ll get compressed news about the startup and entrepreneur scene in Prague and the rest of Europe!Czech/Berlin news: We spoke about an application called eRouška, which comes from COVID19CZ FB group, the new remote coaching / mentoring service called CoachHub from Berlin that also operates in Czech. We mentioned super-affordable glasses from a Czech company called DOT Glasses that improves the vision for hundreds of thousands of people in third world countries and was recently funded by Tilia Impact Ventures and Nation 1.The good, the bad and the ugly of European and international start-ups and tech. The good: ESCALAR an initiative by the European Commission and EIF to put €300M into European Scale ups with a benefit of €1.2B as VCs and other investors will put in the rest. This is to deal with the challenges scale ups have in the EU versus other regions/countries. (Source: tech.eu)Sextech boom. Reported by Sifted.eu → Pornhub have seen a 13.7% increase in their traffic and Emjoy has seen a 160% increase in downloads but a lot of that has been for self compassion and Bodies/Boundaries instead of erotic stories and guided masturbation. FERLY has also seen organic downloads up 65% (Source: Sifted.eu) The bad: SLUSH, a mainstay of European tech conferences has been cancelled even though the event is in November. This is obviously Covid-19 driven. Mika Huttunen says they will pursue their mission of helping founders in new ways. The ugly: In the US more jobs have been lost in 3 weeks than in 18 months during the “Great Recession” of 2007-2009. A study showed that in start-up land 204 start-ups have laid off a staggering 16,229 people during the period. Robin from tech.eu reports that European startup investment fell from €6Billion in January to €2Billion in March a fairly awful drop…THE EXTRA: Please read “Prepare for the ultimate gaslighting” - it’s free on Medium and talks about how we will be targeted like never before so we can reduce the pain of being stuck at home, brands will try and sell us stuff to feel better. The author calls this time the “The Great Pause” and urges people to use this time to really reflect on their lives. (while acknowledging the obvious tragedy that Covid-19 creates). https://forge.medium.com/prepare-for-the-ultimate-gaslighting-6a8ce3f0a0e0

Welcome to Henry and Simon episode 7. We're a podcast talking to the most interesting entrepreneurs, and creatives in Prague. Today we talk with Artur Sychov the founder of the VR world Somnium Space.We learned about the origin of Somnium Space and the potential of VR social media, blockchains and alternative currencies. Enjoy the podcast. 

Hi there home-lockups! The 3nd episode of Weekly digest is out, today in less than 10 minutes you’ll get compressed news about the startup and entrepreneur scene in Prague and the rest of Europe!Czech news: We spoke about GoOut and its NIC 2020 initiative. We covered the new Mealio.cz, the meal delivery aggregator that helps you to order from multiple delivery services under one roof. We mentioned ulekare.cz and their fantastic way to get your medical consultation remotely without visiting a hospital. International headlines:You'll find numerous apps that have been repurposed and launched to support initiatives against the spread of Covid19, such as telemedicine apps, and a birth control system repurposed to track coronavirus symptoms.https://sifted.eu/articles/startup-initiatives-coronavirus/ We discuss Collibra's monster financing round and the German start-up package that will help young businesses through this crisis. https://tech.eu/brief/these-were-the-10-biggest-european-tech-stories-this-week-3-april-2020/ Softbank drop their tender for $3B for WeWork citing antitrust issues and Covid19.

Hello, there home-lockups! The 2nd episode of Weekly digest, the less than 15 min long format with compressed news about the startup and entrepreneur scene in Prague and Europe is out!Czech newsThis time we speak about the outcomes of the survey among Czech venture capital investors done by economic journal E15 in cooperation with the emerging StartupBox and the Startup Report. We mentioned great initiative, the StartupConnect that has been recently founded by Martin Rozhon, Petr Ocasek and other volunteers who want to connect investors and startups looking for fundings in Q2. We were talking about the Zoom and its incredible growth. We mentioned a week old idea that arose in COVID19CZ FB group, Tomas's Cupr new project Nakupbezpecne.cz International newsFrance will help startups with short term financing, early tax refunds and “certain guarantees on cash flow” Source: Venture Beat and tech.eu https://twitter.com/arnocast/status/1242783609733464069 Are VCs open for business? Fred Destin @fdestin shares his views highlighting additional macro and firm risk (market sizes) and need for VCs to refinance in uncertain markets...https://medium.com/@fdestin/confused-are-vcs-open-for-business-c31b3ff4169a - Lilium electric jet and on-demand flight service raise over a quarter of a billion dollars, Cazoo, online car sales raise £100M. Source: http://www.tech.eu Brandwatch.com are offering a free dashboard to monitor the buzz around Covid-19, check it out at https://www.brandwatch.com/cv19-resources/Headspace the wellness platform made popular for its online mediation course is making it free for a period of time for anyone with an NHS email to support these frontline staff with the very difficult mental load they are facing. https://help.headspace.com/hc/en-us/articles/360044971154-Headspace-for-the-NHSKudos for how Czech people have handled the need for masks and special praise for Petr Ludwig https://www.petrludwig.cz/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoDwXwZXsDI&feature=youtu.be 

Hello, there home-lockups! We´re introducing a new less than 15 min long Weekly digest format with compressed news about the startup and entrepreneur scene in Prague and Europe.You will learn about the incredible Dodo initiative for volunteers who can help with food and medical delivery in Prague. How Czech restaurant owners call out for government intervention. We mention Blabu, the new startup for improving English conversation skills from your home. We’ll talk about Sequoia and their advice to startups, the government measures across Europe, the grants, favorable loans. How startups in the middle of “competitive A rounds” are now sitting with zero. And about some major incubators are facing the reality that committed money is not committed.

Welcome to Henry and Simon episode 6. We're a podcast talking to the most interesting entrepreneurs, and creatives in Prague. Today we talk with Linda and Tomas founders of Snuggs, makers of reusable menstrual underwear.We covered a lot of ground, as Linda and Tomas how they worked with universities to define and produce a truly innovative and fashionable product, how they met and decided to work together and why they believe they can grow the business outside of the Czech Republic. Enjoy the podcast. 

He's a well-known figure in fashionable Letna having started one of the first specialty coffee places in the area. He also for the continual art exhibitions at the cafe and now dance evenings. We covered a lot of ground in the conversation and learned how he handles his multiple commercial interests, the role of luck in his business journey, how he doesn't know much about coffee but works with people that do and much more...

We talk to entrepreneur Simon Payne. Simon is Czech and was the technical co-founder of Leadpages, a fast-growing US start-up helping companies set up super productive websites. He left some years ago and shared how he got involved with his co-founders and the mad intense journey it can be to create a business.We learn:How careful to be in choosing your co-founders, and how it can be more important than marriage.The founder team balance - tech, marketing, other.Work / Life balance, and is it real in start-ups?Why get funding?How Kung-Fu camp in Philipines started a chain of events that brought him into contact with his co-founder.The book Founder's Dilemma and how it helped his negotiation skills.How he built systems to make his iPhone obsolete, his own analog framework -- he recommends the "Digital Minimalism".About enjoying the journey.Keeping productive in technology as you get older.Thinking about what you should NOT be doing.

We had a lovely chat and he didn’t hold back in explaining the ins and outs of the business. We learned why Luke became a comedian and how he supports other up and comers. He told us how an agent helped him to get his start and how difficult it can be to entertain people whose first language isn’t English. He shared how challenging it is to do comedy full time and the associated financial insecurities. Finally, he told us how he decides on what jokes are too offensive and of course how to handle hecklers. Enjoy the podcast and don't forget to subscribe

Welcome to Henry and Simon, episode 8. We're a podcast talking to the most interesting entrepreneurs and creatives in Europe.Christoph is a Berlin-based pitch doctor, pitch coach, and startup comedian. We've learned valuable ideas on how companies can better shape their message and avoid some of the most common pitfalls. Check this out if you want to improve your startup presentation, or if you wish to get a better idea of how startups work. 

Today's podcast is with Alzbeta Trojanova. She's a Gaming journalist and presenter, with a huge following on Facebook and Instagram. She's also a very occasional cosplayer who spends her time between Prague & Warsaw. She spoke to us for an hour about her career in gaming, talked about her future projects and interest in Korean series on Netflix.You will learn how Alzbeta by the age of 17 (!) started writing reviews for GameStar magazine. How surreal it can feel to promote products on her socials? What she thinks about getting an agent? How cosplay can be a creative pastime and a good business. How tricky it was to switch her socials from Czech to English. How Patreon could fit your revenue strategy and as well as not completely relying on them. And finally what would Alzbeta recommend to new content creators?Enjoy the podcast.

Today we're speaking with Andy Fell, who created a tea-house -and-more called "A Maze in Tchaiovna" in Prague. This is also a bar with intimate rooms, secret doors and a theatre which is filled with dramatic performances, comedy and improv. Andy's son Frederik was sick on the day of our chat but he kindly let us interview him at home, with a delightful contribution from Freddy for the first 20 minutes. We got the low down on why he created this in Prague, the real challenges he faced and a very important explainer on the future Olympic sport of sock wrestling. You will also hear:- How his brothers opened a tea house in Glasgow and inspired him to start his own - What is unique about Andy and A Maze in Tchaiovna- How his business predictions were different to reality- Why doesn't he have security cameras in his place?- What is Sock wrestling?- and We will learn about a secret plan for an A-maze-ing Hostel!