EUROPE BUILDS by BORRN

Europe’s startup ecosystem is no longer just an underdog story. Europe builds and it builds well. This is a podcast dedicated to diving deep into the real stories behind its startups. Each episode tackles, among others, topics like scaling challenges, funding disparities, diverse entrepreneurial culture, and the art of storytelling—through candid conversations with those who live these realities every day. Visionary founders across the continent.

EUROPE BUILDS by BORRN is a business podcast hosted by BORRN, with 27 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

BORRN hosts EUROPE BUILDS by BORRN, a business show with 27 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

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  Episode #13

  What Europe’s next generation of founders is building right now

  Jul 4, 202537 minS2

  <p>With Chris Mantolas, Elena Papadonikolaki and Eilon Grouper</p><p>What happens when the next generation of European entrepreneurs steps up? And how do they turn personal obsession into scalable ventures?</p><p>In this special season finale, we sit down with three of Europe’s emerging founders — each building in wildly different arenas, but united by clarity of vision and ambition to reshape their industries.</p><p>🛥️ Christos Mantolas is the co-founder of Seago, a platform rethinking mobility across the Greek islands with private boat transfers and luxury yachting experiences.</p><p>🧿 Elena Papadonikolaki is the founder of Boutique Set...

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  Episode #12

  How to lead with product intuition—not just data

  Jun 20, 202522 minS2

  <p>With Renia Rigopoulou</p><p>How do you ‘Orphimize’ the music world? And why does a top product leader ban the phrase data-driven?</p><p>In this episode we sit down with Renia Rigopoulou, Group Product Manager at Orfium—the Greek-born scale-up that helps labels and publishers detect, claim, and monetize music across YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and other UGC platforms. Renia walks us through a decade of building products at eBay, Deliveroo, InstaShop, and Blueground, and discussed why she prefers data-informed to data-driven decision-making and how “be the user” became her golden rule (including engineers fixing bugs in greasy kitchens...

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  Episode #11

  How to invest in outliers, not consensus

  Jun 13, 202519 minS2

  <p>With Alex Vamvakas</p><p>What makes a founder worth betting on? Why should deep tech be the next big focus for European VCs?</p><p>In this episode, we speak with Alex Vamvacas, founding partner of Evercurious VC—a new early-stage venture capital firm focused on commercializing deep scientific research across Europe. With a background that spans CERN, medical device startups, and asset management in Zurich, Alex shares what led him back to Greece to co-launch Evercurious. We talk about how to identify conviction-led founders, why real problems require real technology, and what makes an “investor-ready” startup. </p><p>Plus...

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  Episode #10

  How Native Teams is rethinking global work

  Jun 6, 202521 minS2

  <p>What does it take to build a borderless company from the Balkans? And how do you design a startup culture that people actually want to stay in?</p><p>In this episode of Europe Builds, we talk to Jack Thorogood, founder and CEO of Native Teams, a fast-growing fintech platform simplifying payments, employment, and compliance for global professionals. With roots in North Macedonia and a footprint spanning 85+ countries, Native Teams is tackling remote work infrastructure with a bold cultural ethos and an employee-first mindset.</p><p>We explore how a personal problem became a scalable business idea, why building...

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  Episode #9

  How Headway Inc bootstrapped its way to 150 million users

  May 30, 202522 minS2

  <p>With Oleks Yaroshenko </p><p>How do you scale an edtech startup into a company with 150 million users worldwide, without taking outside funding? And what’s it like building it from wartime Ukraine? In this episode, we sit down with Oleks Yaroshenko, Chief of Staff at Headway Inc, the company behind one of the world’s most popular lifelong learning apps. Previously known as Headway, the company officially evolved into Headway Inc, marking its transformation into a full-scale consumer tech platform. Oleks shares how the team navigated competition, used A/B testing as a superpower, and built resilience through necessity...

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