Cutalks By Cutec

This week on CUTalks we are talking to Joe Schorge, the founder and managing partner of Isomer Capital, one of Europe’s leading Fund-of-Funds based in London UK. Isomer has a broad portfolio underlying more than 1,300 companies from start-ups to unicorns and including 6 IPOs, such as Darktrace, Deliveroo and Acast. Having worked as LP, GP, Angel Investor and Technology Operations Executive in the US and Europe over the last 25 years - Joe holds an impressive career trajectory in VC and private investing with distinguished accomplishments. In this episode, we spoke about Joe’s experience of founding Isomer, his path to VC and impact of working in VC, digital finance, Crypto Fund-of-Funds as well as some of the new additions of start-ups in Isomer’s portfolio. To find out more about CUTEC, visit www.cutec.io/ This podcast was produced by Carl Homer, Cambridge TV.

This week on CUTalks, we are speaking to Ashleigh Ainsley, the Co-Founder of Colorintech - a non-profit organisation that seeks to increase diversity in tech. Colorintech works with some of the largest tech companies in the world - including Facebook, Microsoft and Tik Tok. Ashleigh started his career working in strategy at the London start-up Qubit, Google, corporate KPMG and then the Founders Forum group. In this episode, we spoke about Ashleigh’s experience of founding a company, the best and most challenging aspects from working to a large company to then being a start-up founder, as well as the mission of Colorintech to tackle the lack of diversity in the tech industry. To find out more about CUTEC, visit www.cutec.io/ This podcast was produced by Carl Homer, Cambridge TV.

This week on CUTalks, we are speaking to Prof. Anthony Finkelstein, former Chief Scientific Adviser for National Security to the UK Government and current President of City, University of London. We spoke about the threats to Britain’s national security, the spread of mis- and disinformation on social media, technological revolutions which are changing our society including Artificial General Intelligence as well as Anthony’s experience working in the Government. To find out more about CUTEC, visit www.cutec.io/ This podcast was produced by Carl Homer, Cambridge TV.

This week on CUTalks, we are speaking to Dr. Katalin Kariko, a biochemist who specializes in mRNA research. Katalin’s ground-breaking technology has saved millions of lives during the pandemic as her research formed the basis of the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines. We spoke about the COVID-19 pandemic, mRNA vaccine safety and hesitations around vaccination as well as some of the entrepreneurial ventures that Katalin had embarked on. To find out more about CUTEC, visit www.cutec.io/ This podcast was produced by Carl Homer, Cambridge TV.

This week on CUTalks we are talking to Pierre Fautrel, one of the co-founders of Obvious AI. Pierre has a background in cultural entrepreneurship and has a master’s in digital communication from Lyon Business School. Obvious use AI to create novel artworks in a range of different styles and sell them as NFTs online. We spoke about the technology behind their algorithm as well as covering topics such as the public perception of AI-created art. Pierre also shared how he met his co-founders and their plans for Obvious. To find out more about CUTEC, visit www.cutec.io/ This podcast was produced by Carl Homer, Cambridge TV.

This week on CUTalks, we are speaking to Vanessa Marcié who is an expert on leadership and humour and a guest lecturer at the Cambrige Judge Business School and HEC Paris amongst others. She holds a PhD in Management and Marketing Communications from the Univeristy of Côte d’Azur and an MBA from the Cambridge Judge Business School. We spoke about how leading with humour can be an effective leadership style and what steps we can personally take to utilise it more. To find out more about CUTEC, visit www.cutec.io/ This podcast was produced by Carl Homer, Cambridge TV.

This week on CUTalks, we are speaking to Denis Kaminskiy who is the co-founder and strategy director of the Cambridge-based digital transformation firm Arcus Global. Denis holds an MBA from the University of Cambridge and has previously held roles at Cadbury and Rolls-Royce. We spoke about how he got into Govtech, the work Arcus does for the UK government and how the UK government is doing at adopting technology.

This week on CUTalks, we are speaking to Taavi Kotka, an entrepreneur and the first CIO of the Estonian government. He started his career as a programmer and became the CEO of Webmedia (now Nortal), the region's largest software company before working with the governmentand is now back in the private sector, helping start-ups develop and consulting on digital transformation. We spoke about the process of the digital transformation of Estonia, the challenges faced during it and how other countries might follow suit. This podcast was produced by Carl Homer, Cambridge TV.

This week on CUTalks, we are speaking to Adam Medros who is the ex-President and CEO of edX, a non-profit online course provider. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and has previously held roles at TripAdvisor and Amazon. We spoke about the impact of COVID-19 on online learning, the advantages of modular education, and the future of online learning amongst other things. Adam also shared his advice for startup founders running EdTech companies.

This week on CUTalks, we are speaking to Jonny Clifford who is the General Manager at Entrepreneur First London, a company that invests in potential entrepreneurs pre-idea and helps them to find co-founders. Jonny has previously been a teacher as well as worked within sales at Show My Homework, an Edtech startup. We spoke about how EF identifies talent and what the programme entails. Amongst other things, Jonny also touched on how to know if founding a company is for you and gave his advice to early-stage founders.

This week on CUTalks, we are speaking to Niklas Hebborn who is a partner at Freigeist Capital, a German deep tech VC firm based in Bonn. He holds a degree in business administration and has a background in consulting and private equity. We spoke about how he got into VC, how Freigeist Capital choose which companies to invest in and support them, and the outlook for the European tech ecosystem. To find out more about CUTEC, visit https://www.cutec.io/ Here is the link to the survey - https://forms.gle/8sBVj2WNNUjCmJZ58 This podcast was produced by Carl Homer, Cambridge TV.

This week on CUTalks we are speaking to Mark Shmulevich, the Senior VP at TAIGER - an AI software company in Singapore. He is also the founding director of the Zimin Institutes in Israel which helps commercialise promising research with the potential to generate solutions to pressing problems in the world. Additionally, he has been the Deputy Minister of IT in Russia. We spoke about his experiences in the government and the private sector, his work to help the commercialisation of high-impact research and briefly about how AI and deep tech applications may develop in the future. To find out more about CUTEC, visit https://www.cutec.io/

This week on CUTalks, we are speaking to Sir Menelas Pangalos, the VP of BioPharmaceuticals R&D at AstraZeneca. He holds a PhD in neuroscience from UCL and has previously worked at Wyeth and Pfizer. We spoke about the importance of collaboration with academia, how AstraZeneca’s drug development success rate has increased in recent years and how they make sure medicines are accessible to all. To find out more about CUTEC, visit https://www.cutec.io/

This week on CUTalks, we are speaking to Jeremy O’Hanlon, a Cambridge alumnus, who has worked as a corporate attorney in the life sciences and tech industries. He’s also held roles in business and corporate development in the life sciences as he currently does at Gilead Sciences in California. We spoke about M&A deals he’s worked on at Gilead, the skillset required in M&A and his insights from working with VCs. To find out more about CUTEC, visit https://www.cutec.io/

This week on CUTalks, we are speaking to Richard Lucas, a business and social entrepreneur as well as an early-stage investor. He has also been heavily involved in teaching entrepreneurship and fostering entrepreneurial communities via CAMentrepreneurs and other initiatives such as TedXKazimierz. We spoke about how Richard approaches investing, entrepreneurship education and mentorship. He also shared his perspective on how the environment one finds themselves in can fuel entrepreneurship. To find out more about CUTEC, visit https://www.cutec.io/ This podcast was produced by Carl Homer, Cambridge TV.

This week on CUTalks, we are speaking to Christopher Kong who is the co-founder and Head of Business development at Better Nature, a tempeh-focussed food-tech company. Chris holds a masters degree in biochemistry from the University of Oxford. We spoke about the story behind Better Nature and challenges he and his co-founder had to face to build the company. Chris also shared how Better Nature has prioritised sustainability in business decisions and his thoughts on the long-term outlook for the alternative meat industry. To find out more about CUTEC, visit https://www.cutec.io/

This week on CUTalks, we are speaking to Dr. Kai-fu Lee who is the Chairman and CEO of Sinovation Ventures, a leading Chinese technology venture capital firm. He was also the founder of Microsoft Research Asia and the president of Google China as well as authoring the bestseller ‘AI Superpowers’. Kai-fu shared his journey into AI and gave an overview of the entrepreneurial landscape in China. He then went on to give insights into how governments can support AI, how humans can adapt as AI adopts certain tasks and how AI can revolutionise education. To find out more about CUTEC, visit https://www.cutec.io/ This podcast was produced by Carl Homer, Cambridge TV.

This week on CUTalks, we are talking to Nigel Lambe. Nigel is the CEO of the Sussex Innovation Centre. He has also been an investor and/or co-founder in several food and drink start-ups including Small Batch Coffee Company and Brighton Gin most recently. Prior to this he worked in areas such as sales and supply chain management at various companies. Nigel told us about how he transitioned from working in the corporate world to working within start-ups and the challenges he overcame. He also shared the ways in which his current company, Sussex Innovation, helps support start-ups and university spin-offs alike. Lastly, he gave tips for current and aspiring founders based on his experiences over the years. To find out more about CUTEC, visit https://www.cutec.io/ This podcast was produced by Carl Homer, Cambridge TV.

This week on CUTalks, we are talking to Kate Hamer and Louis Saha, co-founders of AxisStars - a business which connects sports and entertainment stars with select partners via a mobile app. Louis is a former professional footballer and played for Fulham, Everton and Manchester United amongst others, whilst Kate has vast experience in the marketing world and has her own marketing and digital consulting company. We discussed how Louis and Kate met and how they were each able to utilise their previous experiences when it came to building the platform. They also shared lessons they’ve learnt along the way and the impact of mentors on their careers. To find out more about CUTEC, visit https://www.cutec.io/ This podcast was produced by Carl Homer, Cambridge TV.

This week on CUTalks we are talking to Jonny Everett, co-founder of The Chat Shop and current Programme Manger and Entrepreneur in Residence at Entrepreneur First. Jonny told us about the advisory work he does with startups via Entrepreneurship First and shared his candid experiences with mental health as a founder. He also gave advice on how founders can achieve greater balance in their lives and on how to cope with mental health struggles they may encounter. To find out more about CUTEC, visit https://www.cutec.io/ This podcast was produced by Carl Homer, Cambridge TV.