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
194. “We Entrust Things to AI That We Never Would to Any Other Software - And It’s Wrong”: AI Security Expert Reveals the Risks Startups Are Facing & How to Protect Against Them w/ Peter Garraghan (Mindgard)
Peter Garraghan is the CEO and co-founder of Mindgard, a cybersecurity startup focused on protecting businesses from AI-driven threats. With a background as a professor of computer science and an int…
INSIGHT #12: “To Build a Multi-Million Dollar Company, You Cannot Rely on One Bet—You Need Successive Growth Loops” + The 70-20-10 Framework to Manage Stability, Expansion, and Innovation w/ Anastasija Oleinika (Fyul)
This is an insight from our previous conversation on building a multi billion dollar company and growth strategy:
- Companies cannot rely on just one big bet or hope to stumble upon successive growth lo…
193. A Founder Who Built Crypto Startup with 14M Users & Then Pleaded Guilty to Conspiracy Charges Reveals What You Should Know About Regulations, Methods to Achieve Early Growth & Why Crypto Founders Build Fewer Unicorns w/ Artur Schaback (Paxful)
Artur Schaback is the co-founder of Paxful, a peer-to-peer Bitcoin marketplace and one of the most well-known brands in the crypto industry. Having built Paxful into a major force in the crypto indus…
192. 5 Ways Trump Will Practically Affect Your Startup in Europe, Latest in AI Race, Fintechs Dominate European Top 20 Startups & Can the EU Catch Up with the US?
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 …
191. “Hard Problems Remain Hard Whether It’s War or Peacetime”: CEO Who Raised $4M Pre-Seed Shares His Learnings as a 2nd-Time Founder, Securing Government Grants & Thoughts on Recent UFO Sightings w/ Agris Kipurs
Agris Kipurs is the Co-Founder and CEO of Origin Robotics, a pioneering defense tech startup specializing in autonomous drone systems for precision strikes in challenging environments. The company re…
190. Podcaster-Turned-Founder Who Just Raised $12 Million Series A Explains Dos and Don’ts of Influencer Marketing, Why It Might Not Work for B2B, & How to Create a Culture That Makes Employees Tattoo Your Logo w/ Avery Schrader (Modash)
Avery Schrader is the founder and CEO of Modash, a leading influencer marketing platform that helps brands scale partnerships with content creators. With a background in building relationships and dr…
189. Ads, Analytics & AI. How Distractions Rob Us of Ability to Think Deeply, Challenges of Tracking Marketing ROI & Creating B2B Content Optimized for ChatGPT w/ Vlad Zhovtenko (RedTrack)
Vlad Zhovtenko is the founder and CEO of RedTrack, a leading ad tracking platform used by over 800 businesses to measure and optimize ad performance across 60,000 ad accounts worldwide. With deep exp…
188. Ragnar Sass: Unicorn Founder Who Turned His Attention to Helping Ukraine – Lessons Learned on the Ground, Military and Terrorist Drone Threats, and Why Defense Tech Needs Non-Technical Founders
Ragnar Sass is a serial entrepreneur, co-founder of the unicorn Pipedrive, and an active investor in the Baltic and Ukrainian tech scenes. Beyond his entrepreneurial success, Ragnar has emerged as a …
187. Martin Sokk (Lightyear) Explains How the Courage to Go Against Conventional Wisdom Led to 40 Consecutive Months of Growth and a Product with Virtually No Churn + Why Founders Should Always Be Raising
Martin Sokk is the Founder and CEO of Lightyear - the greatest investing app for stocks, bonds, ETFs, you name it. The company raised 25mUSD back in 2022 from such big name investors as Lightspeed ve…
INSIGHT #11: Learn Visual Storytelling Tips from a Man Who Broke Out of 9-to-5 Job to Become LinkedIn's Top Visual Influencer with 200K+ Followers
This is an insight from our previous conversation on making your visual presentations more powerful:
- Breaking down complex concepts into essential elements to make them easier to understand
- Avoiding cl…
186. Being a Startup CEO in Constant Crisis Mode, Why Founders Make the Best Salespeople, Balancing Values & Profit, Why Companies Should Take a Political Stance w/ Anna-Liisa Palatu (Woola)
Anna-Liisa Palatu is the co-founder and CEO of Woola, an Estonian startup transforming waste wool into sustainable packaging to replace plastic. Under her leadership, Woola has gained recognition acr…
INSIGHT #10: Silicon Valley Visionary Rahul Vohra Reveals His Method for Measuring Product-Market Fit That Helped Him Build an $825M Startup
This is an insight from our previous conversation on product-market fit:
- What is product-market fit and how do you know you have it?
- Measuring product-market fit
- Methodology for continuous work with pro…
185. Raising $45M from a16z & Lightspeed for a 14-Month-Old Startup to Protect Child Privacy Online w/ Kieran Donovan (k-ID)
Kieran Donovan is the Founder and CEO of k-ID, a company dedicated to protecting children and teens online. Earlier this year the company raised a 45mUSD Series A round led by A16Z and Lightspeed Ven…
184. How to Apply the 80/20 Rule in Your Daily Life, What Role Education Plays for Startup Founders, and How to Use AI to Enhance Your Brain vs. Just Outsourcing All Your Intelligence to It w/ Mathias Eklof (Pareto Business School)
Mathias Eklof is a Swedish impact entrepreneur and investor with Hype Ventures. He has remained steadfast in supporting Ukrainian founders as war continues raging on in Ukraine. Since his last appear…
183. Investor in Ukrainian Startups Reveals How Mobilization Affects Tech Talent & How War Has Turned Ukraine into Future Defense Tech Powerhouse w/ Mathias Eklof
Mathias Eklof is a Swedish impact entrepreneur and investor with Hype Ventures. He has remained steadfast in supporting Ukrainian founders as war continues raging on in Ukraine. Since his last appear…
INSIGHT #9: WSJ Bestselling Author Reveals How Denial Keeps You from Recognizing Uncomfortable Truths About Yourself & How to Fix It
This is an insight from our previous conversation on dealing with self-delusion and self-awareness:
- Defense mechanisms like denial keep people from recognizing uncomfortable truths about themselves
- The…
182. VC Reveals Practical Tips for Fundraising and Managing Investor Relations in the Current Climate, Why Distribution Beats Product, and When You Should Think About ESG w/ Uve Poom (Tenity)
Uve Poom is the Head of Operations at Tenity Tallinn - one of the 6 hubs in Tenity's international ecosystem. Tenity is a global fintech accelerator and VC. In addition to advising startups in Tenity…
INSIGHT #8: TikTok Expert with 1 Billion Views Explains Why Follower Count Is NOT a Good Metric for Success and What to Use Instead + What Makes Top Social Media Creators Successful
This is an insight from our previous conversation on focusing on what differentiates successful content creators:
- Focusing on quality/engagement of the audience not the size
- Finding your X-factor and t…
181. Atomico Partner Andreas Helbig on How AI Affects Your Attractiveness to VCs, Are We Entering an Era of Billion-Dollar Fundraising & Why European Tech Should Stop Underestimating Itself
Andreas Helbig is a partner at Atomico, one of Europe’s leading venture capital firms, focusing on B2B SaaS, vertical SaaS, and B2B marketplaces. With extensive experience in the tech and investment …
INSIGHT #7: Why Understanding FOMU (Fear of Messing Up) Is Critical for Selling to Enterprise Clients + Why 'Demo, Sell, Build' Is the Right Approach to Product For Most Startups
This is an insight from our previous conversation on focusing on the key principles of successful B2B sales:
- How to Apply "Sell, Demo, Build" philosophy
- Increase FOMO, reduce FOMU (Fear of Messing Up)
- D…