The Pursuit of Scrappiness
Whether you are building a business, running a team or just starting out in your career we are here to bring you scrappy and actionable insights to help you become more productive.
- Update frequency
- every 6 days
- Average duration
- 44 minutes
- Episodes
- 226
- Years Active
- 2021 - 2025
208. Bootstrapped, Profitable (€2.2M) & Paying Dividends: How HackMotion Turned a Niche Golf Gadget Into a Global Hardware Business w/ Atis Hermanis
Atis Hermanis is the co-founder of HackMotion. With a Ph.D. in electronics, sensor systems, and signal processing, Atis brings a research background to the company’s wrist-worn tech for golf swing an…
207. From Managing Partner to Startup CEO: Mariana Hagström (Avokaado) on Automating Legal Workflows, Building AI That Replaces Repetition (Not Humans) & Why Corporate Professionals Must Learn to Trust AI
Mariana Hagström is the Founder and CEO of Avokaado. Based in Estonia, Avokaado’s cloud-based contract lifecycle management (CLM) platform automates drafting, oversight and workflows. With over €2M r…
206. Turning Mixed LEGO Bricks Into a VC-Backed AI Startup: €1.5M Raised, Benefits of Iterative Fundraising, Real-World Complexity of Building Hardware & a New Frontier in Circular Tech w/ Ilya Malkin (Sort A Brick)
Ilya Malkin is the co-founder of Sort-A-Brick, a Vilnius-based startup that raised over €1 million in pre-seed funding at the end of 2024. Sort-A-Brick leverages AI-powered computer vision to analyze…
205. AI Startup Founded in 2024 Raises €15M Seed Round, Signs 7-Figure Deals With No Outbound Sales & Aims to Lead the Next AI Breakthrough Beyond LLMs Into Physics and Industrial Simulations w/ Miks Mikelsons & Dennis Just (Emmi AI)
Dennis Just and Miks Mikelsons are the co-founders of Emmi AI, a deep-tech startup revolutionizing industrial engineering through cutting-edge AI simulation technology. Based in Austria and founded i…
How Revolut Hacked Growth With No Budget: Guerrilla Tactics, Partnerships, and Product-Led Virality (INSIGHT #18)
This is an insight from our previous conversation on growth hacking and building Revolut customer acquisition early on:
- You can grow fast without budget by trading value with the right partners.
- Puttin…
Influencer Marketing 101 for Startups: “If It Works in Your Industry, Your Competitors Are Already Beating You to Death With It” & “If You’re So Small That You Need Every Creator to Deliver Super High Return, Then Don’t Do It.” (INSIGHT #17)
This is an insight from our previous conversation on how to work with influencer marketing:
- When you should and shouldn’t start influencer marketing.
- Why a portfolio approach to creators mirrors ventur…
204. Mintos CEO Martins Sulte on How to Handle Market Volatility as a Retail Investor & Fintech Founder. Practical Tools To Increase AI-Efficiency Today. Why Retail Investors Are Spoiled For Choice & Why You Shouldn’t Start Investing With Trumpcoin
Martins Sulte is the co-founder and CEO of Mintos, the largest investment platform of its kind in Europe, with over 700 million euros in assets under administration and more than half a million users…
203. Monthly Tech Brief: Wise Founders Outrank Ed Sheeran on UK Rich List, €100K Salaries in Lithuania’s Startups, Crypto Founders Getting Kidnapped, Slack and ChatGPT Can Be Used Against You in Court & Klarna Rehires Humans in AI Reality Check
Welcome to the Pursuit of Scrappiness Tech Brief. A monthly discussion on topics we find relevant to highlight, discuss and share with you to help you become a scrappier and better version of yoursel…
202. Tax Expert Reveals How Startups Can Take Advantage of Tax Opportunities, Where the Baltics Rank in Competitiveness Globally & How to Use Niche Content to Build Your Personal Brand w/ Janis Taukacs (Sorainen)
Janis Taukacs is a seasoned tax advisor and partner at Sorainen law firm, where he leads the tax and customs practice. He has nearly 30 years of experience across the Baltics and internationally. Kno…
201. Sales Expert with $2Bn in Deals Signed Reveals Why People Fear Sales, Why Good Writing Is Critical, How to Do Founder-Led Sales, Common Mistakes, How to Build a Sales Process in a Startup, and the Impact of AI w/ Zoltan Vardy (Launch Code)
Zoltan Vardy is a seasoned sales strategist, startup mentor, and now also a published author whose career spans over 30 years, more than $2 billion in closed deals and more than 200 startups assisted…
INSIGHT #16: VC Reveals The Inside Pressure Of Hitting 3X Return Benchmarks And Having To Wait 6–8 Years To Know Whether The Fund Succeeded (And Most Don’t)
This is an insight from our previous conversation on the intricacies of VC business:
- Winners in VC portfolios usually take 6–8 years to emerge—sometimes longer.
- The 3x return benchmark is extremely dif…
200th Episode Q&A: What Does It Mean to Be Scrappy, Most Impressive Learnings in 4 Years, Beliefs We Held That Are No Longer True, Tips to Stay Focused & Motivated
Welcome to the 200th episode of the Pursuit of Scrappiness podcast! We celebrate this major milestone by flipping the script. Having interviewed top founders, VCs, and operators across Europe and be…
INSIGHT #15: Ragnar Sass Explains How Founders Can Make Real Impact on the Security of Europe by Leveraging Their Startup Experience (Technical Expertise Not Required)
This is an insight from our previous conversation with Ragnar Sass on helping Ukraine and Europe win:
- Why the Baltics are uniquely positioned to lead in defense tech.
- Defense sector sales cycles vs. Sa…
71% of Exit Funding in 2024 Came from Secondaries: Learn How It Works, When Your Startup Is Ready, and How to Negotiate the Best Terms w/ Rando Rannus (Siena Secondary Fund). Ep 199
Rando Rannus is a general partner at Siena Secondary Fund, the first and only dedicated secondary VC fund in the Baltics. With a unique background as both a company founder and operator—having built …
198. Europe Strikes Back, Biggest Fundraising Announcements in March, Elon Controls 60% of World’s Satellites, Alibaba Joins AI Race, xAI Buys X
Welcome to a new type of episode of the Pursuit of Scrappiness podcast. A monthly analysis of topics we find relevant to highlight, discuss and share with you to help you become a scrappier and bette…
800M Downloads, $100M Revenue: How a Bootstrapped Lithuanian Game Studio Won Big — Lessons in Gamification, A/B Testing & Standing Out in Hyper-Competitive Market w/ Ada Mockute Jaime (Nordcurrent). Ep 197
Ada Mockutė Jaime is the Chief Marketing Officer at Nordcurrent, the largest game developer and publisher from the Baltics. With over 800 million game downloads worldwide and a portfolio of hit mobil…
INSIGHT #14: Listen to This If You Want to Accelerate Your Career in Tech & Startups: How StartSchool Aims to Bring Free World-Class Coding Education to the Most Ambitious New Founders
This is an insight from our previous conversation on jumpstarting your tech career by joining Startschool:
- Apply by March 31st, 2025
- Get world class training for free
- Project based, peer-to-peer learnin…
196. Marija Rucevska on How the New Outlast Fund Aims to Bridge the Funding Gap, What Kind of Founders Early-Stage Investors Are Looking to Back, and Why You Don’t Need Unicorn Potential to Attract Investors
Marija Rucevska is the founding partner of Outlast Fund, a newly launched venture capital firm focused on early-stage investments in the Baltics and Nordics. With over a decade of experience in the s…
INSIGHT #13: What’s Different in the Mindset of a Second-Time Founder, the Importance of Cofounder Fit, and Why You Shouldn’t Fear Entering an Unknown Industry
This is an insight from our previous conversation on starting a new company as a second-time founder:
- The mindset of a repeat founder differs substantially from first-time founder - more ambition
- Apply…
195. Is JD Vance Right About Free Speech in Europe, Is It Safe to Use DeepSeek for Your Startup, Biggest Fundraising Announcements, Do We Need DOGE, Upcoming VC Apocalypse & Yes, AI Is Fueling Layoffs
Welcome to a new type of episode of the Pursuit of Scrappiness podcast. A monthly discussion format on topics we find relevant to highlight, discuss and share with you to help you become a scrappier …