When there’s a will there’s a (better) way to build - a podcast with Alex Chisnall

People join Antler for many different reasons, but all come in with a common goal, "I want to build". In an era powered by the internet when successes all look the same, the initial steps of early-stage startups are one of it's most inspiring parts. Podcaster, Alex Chisnall sat down with 5 Antler entrepreneurs from Amsterdam on their motivations and entrepreneurial journeys in the latest episode of his "Screw it, just do it" podcast.

Portrait of Yingzhao Zhu

Yingzhao Zhu

Former Senior Associate

When there’s a will there’s a (better) way to build - a podcast with Alex Chisnall

Who were these entrepreneurs before they came to where they are today? What drove them to start from scratch? The why and how behind founder motivations is what makes startup culture and founder stories so inspiring. Besides the "can do" spirit, the founders identified certain things that mattered to them to commit to entrepreneurship and to participate in the Antler program throughout the podcast.

The vision

For some founders, joining a startup is no longer enough. "I'm here to build something from scratch,” said Piet Hein van Dam, founder of a precision nutrition company, Clear.

As a scaleup veteran, Piet Hein wanted to really get his hands dirty with creating and building Clear from the ground up, which is running at rocket speed on helping people identify their most suitable diets and healthy lifestyles.

For Navid Arkadanian, co-founder & CEO of Fusedbone, the vision came on a large global scale. "I joined Antler to build something that has global impact", mentioned Navid in the podcast. Building on research findings first found by Fusedbone co-founder Shayan Maydan Shahi, Fusedbone aims to become a key player in the future of prosthesis implants around the world. The vision was inherited from day 1 at Antler and is only being fostered more and more as the company progress.

Image of Piet Hein van Dam, CEO of Clear

Piet Hein van Dam, CEO of Clear

The alignment

Nobody is alone in this world. There are always people who are working towards the same goal - just not together. When they meet, they will click. At Antler, the aim is to supply a platform for like-minded people to meet and work together, and according to their founders, it really works.

"We had a shared passion to build something in healthcare and we found each other at Antler." says Mira Gleisberg and Vitalii Vorkov, co-founders of RespiQ.

Who says a trained gymnast/consultant cannot partner up with a mechanical engineer and work on BioTech? The device is now being tested and will be launched formally in 2021.

Mattrvest, a smart platform helping people to finance and invest sustainably, is another example of finding the crucial alignment between co-founders and stick to it. "I cannot think of anything else that can provide such a global help and network (to find a co-founder and expand) than Antler," mentioned by Mayur and Diane, co-founders of Mattrvest, who met at Antler Singapore and incorporated the business in Belgium. They met their tech co-founder Diego in the program, who really brought the product to life. Mattrvest is bringing sustainable finance to youth around the world.

The holistic support

"It's very difficult to find a co-founder, I need initial capital (to build my startup), and I also need guidance to hone it right. At Antler, I got all these things I needed." Says Tudor Mihailescu, co-founder & CEO of SpeechifAI, a word-of-mouth marketing platform.

Giving up research and a set roadmap to chase his entrepreneurial dream might seem to be dim ideas back then, but things changed when he joined Antler in Amsterdam, where he was given capital and time to concentrate on the core of his idea. Now working on SpeechifAI, he and his co-founder, Valentin Kassarnig are working hard towards building a brand that truly connects people and communities, and spread information sustainably.

It's really hard not to feel the contagious power from the founders when they described their journey, their product, and their ambitions when listening to the podcast - you can feel that they are embracing the risks and working hard to make things happen.

We cannot predict the future, but we can create the future as long as we take the first steps. There will always be people out there who are working hard on their dreams, mapping out customer journeys, and wanting to create goodness for all. We would like to applaud all of our founders and future founders, for their courage to really "screw it, just do it" when the right opportunity is at hand...

Group of people pose for photo with hands in the air with Antler the next wave of tech at conference

"Screw it, just do it" is the #1 Entrepreneurship podcast on Apple Store that brings 20% inspiration and 80% education from entrepreneurs to entrepreneurs. If you would like to learn more about the startups created in the Antler Amsterdam program, visit us here.

Listen to the full podcast:

via iTunes ➡️ https://lnkd.in/ewyvGQB

via Spotify ➡️ https://spoti.fi/2RFn4Xo

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