Our next guest is passionate about building companies and developing marketing strategies. But he’s also experienced in building communities. Svetoslav Dimov is the co-founder and CEO of DEV.BG , the biggest IT community in Bulgaria. DEV.BG is also a leading tech job board and one of the main organizers of tech events in the country. Helping IT professionals not only to find opportunities, but also to exchange ideas, knowledge, and experience. In his conversation with Georgi Nenov, Svetoslav Dim...
Jun 28, 2022•50 min•Ep 12•Transcript available on Metacast Our next guest started her career in journalism. But switched career paths from media to property management and entrepreneurship. Galia Jordanova is the co-founder of a tech company that tries to reinvent the way people buy and manage properties. Gaida.AI deploys technology to simplify the process of buying and managing your property and save people money on mortgages. In her conversation with Georgi Nenov, Galia shares why change is a big word in her life - not only personally, but also becaus...
Jun 21, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Ep 12•Transcript available on Metacast Our next guest is an engineer by profession and a community builder by calling. Dimitris Dimosiaris is the co-founder of Founderhood . A platform for tech startup founders in their early stages to support and connect them with all the stakeholders in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Prior to this, Dimitris co-founded ThinkBiz Hellas and Mindspace. Two of the largest NGOs in the field of entrepreneurship and innovation within Greek universities. Dimitris was also an executive at the global communit...
Jun 14, 2022•54 min•Ep 11•Transcript available on Metacast Our next guest is a bold dreamer. When Martin Vechev graduated in Computer Science from Cambridge university he dreamt of creating a world-class research center in his homeland Bulgaria. Today, his dream is a reality. Martin Vechev is the architect of The Institute for Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence and Technology (INSAIT) in Sofia. The deep tech institute was created in collaboration with two of the world's leading tech universities, Zurich and Lausanne. It is supported by tech giant...
Jun 07, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Ep 10•Transcript available on Metacast Hello from Athens, The Recursive community! Our next guest combines several unique talents: legal background with business acumen and people’s skills. Athina Polina Dova is the co-founder of Owiwi . A digital tool that combines psychological research with game design to help companies recruit the best talent. Athina Polina is the Vice-President of the International Union of Professional Trainers. She also serves on the board of directors of the first creative industries cluster in Greece Coralli...
May 31, 2022•54 min•Ep 8•Transcript available on Metacast Our next guest is a business development professional who got fascinated with the world of crypto. Jordan Stoev is the Head of Crypto & Trading, Skrill & NETELLER at Paysafe Group , one of the biggest IT employers in Bulgaria. In the last five years, he gained extensive experience in investing, valuations, analysis, advisory, and solutioning in crypto. With a background in business analysis and finance, Jordan is constantly trying to improve, learn and grow. In the episode he also talks ...
May 24, 2022•1 hr 11 min•Ep 7•Transcript available on Metacast Hello from Athens, The Recursive community! Our next guest describes herself as a Civil Engineer by degree and an innovation enthusiast by nature. Niki Karali is the co-founder of Mantis Business Innovation . A company that provides growth strategies, innovation programs, and startup scouting. Together with an innovation management software to digitize the whole process. Niki is also an active startup ecosystem builder. She has helped in the organization of the StartupNow Forum, the largest star...
May 17, 2022•47 min•Ep 6•Transcript available on Metacast The Recursive podcast is filming from sunny Athens this week. Our first guest has a rich entrepreneurial journey despite her young age. Stefi Vasilopoulou started her first business when she was just 21 years old. Since then she has juggled many roles. Entrepreneur. Consultant. Angel investor. Mentor. Community builder. Most recently Stefi co-founded Hellenides , a career network that supports women in Greece. Hellenides provides female professionals with tools and trainings to thrive. She’s als...
May 10, 2022•53 min•Ep 5•Transcript available on Metacast Our next guest is a computer engineer who dropped his PHD to create an online platform to ignite kids in Bulgaria to learn. Darin Madzharov created Ucha.se a decade ago. His edtech platform offers video lessons and tests for all grades in the public school system in Bulgaria. Over time Ucha.se turned into a tool for the teachers to inspire kids to study. Now, more than 60% of the schools in the country have a subscription to the platform. In 2020 Madhzarov created an international version of the...
May 03, 2022•57 min•Ep 4•Transcript available on Metacast Our next guest created his first company when he was just 28 years old. Radoslav Georgiev is the co-founder and CTO of the Bulgarian-born OKR management software Gtmhub . OKR stands for objective and key results methodology for goal setting in business. Together with his co-founders, Rado is part of the so-called Telerik mafia. A term coined for the entrepreneurs who came out of one of the most successful Bulgarian IT companies ever. Rado started his journey there as a programmer and grew up to ...
Apr 19, 2022•56 min•Ep 3•Transcript available on Metacast Our next guest is an engineer by calling and an entrepreneur by accident, as he puts it himself. Kosta Jordanov is the co-founder of FITE, a global pay-per-view platform for combat sports events . With more than 5000 streamed events and over 10 million users, FITE became the top-grossing app in the world across all categories. In 2021, the streaming platform was acquired by the US-founded TrillerNet , which counts celebrities like Metallica, Snoop Dogg, Lil Wayne and Pitbull among its investors....
Apr 12, 2022•56 min•Ep 2•Transcript available on Metacast The Recursive podcast is back for Season 4 and it welcomes one of the founding fathers of the Bulgarian tech ecosystem. Vassil Terziev is the biggest angel investor in Bulgaria. He’s also among the most active ones in the whole region. He’s a partner at the early-stage fund Eleven Ventures . Vassil Terziev is the co-founder of one of Bulgaria’s most successful tech companies, Telerik. The company’s sale to Progress in 2014 is still the largest for Bulgaria to this date. More than 40 companies we...
Apr 05, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Ep 1•Transcript available on Metacast To wrap up a season of awesome conversations, we invite you to take a peek at the playbooks for building great products of some of the most exciting companies from the SEE region. From the fundamentals of value creation to having the audacity to shape the world around them in a positive way, these entrepreneurs talk about how they have learned: To process negative feedback; To ask their customers the right questions; To innovate by anticipating what’s next for the market; To pair up the right ta...
Mar 15, 2022•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast Our next guest wears many hats. Hristo Hristov is a serial entrepreneur involved in the development of digital media in Bulgaria. He is an angel investor and a partner in the VC fund Eleven Ventures . He is also a mentor to startups in the entrepreneurial network Endeavor. Currently, Hristo is the CEO of the private equity company HR Capital and of Darik radio . In this episode, he reflects how his experience in journalism prepared him for the entrepreneurial journey ahead and gives us a glimpse...
Mar 08, 2022•58 min•Ep 11•Transcript available on Metacast Our next guest is one of the few engineers to have walked on the red carpet in Hollywood. Peter Mitev is the co-founder of t he software company Chaos . And owner of Oscar and Emmy awards for technological achievements . The company offers technology for rendering and 3D visualizations known worldwide. It has applications in design, architecture and entertainment among others. In the beginning of 2022 Chaos announced a merger with the German Enscape to begin the next chapter of their global expa...
Mar 01, 2022•58 min•Ep 10•Transcript available on Metacast Our guest today is one of the most experienced product managers in the Bulgarian tech-scene. Her name is Mariya Rashkovska and she is the head of product management of the Bulgarian Adtech company PubGalaxy . Last year, PubGalaxy was acquired by the Dutch scaleup Azerion . Prior to joining PubGalaxy, Mariya held management positions at companies such as Telerik and Financial Times. She is also the co-founder of Product Tank-Sofia and a consultant who helps IT companies build successful products....
Feb 22, 2022•51 min•Ep 7•Transcript available on Metacast Our next guest has always believed in the idea that space is closer than we think. Raycho Raychev is the co-founder of one of the fastest growing space tech companies in Europe - EnduroSat . EnduroSat builds nanosatellites and it offers shared satellite missions that give nations, companies, and even universities access to space . Raycho Raychev has also created a leadership and space education program in Bulgaria called “Space Challenges' '. That is where he met the people to first join him on ...
Feb 15, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Ep 8•Transcript available on Metacast Next, on The Recursive podcast we welcome an experienced engineer and a pioneer in the computer software industry in Bulgaria. Boris Simandoff currently serves as the VP of Tech Innovations at Via, the on-demand transit tech company , born in the US. He’s also the General Manager of their engineering team in Bulgaria. He has more than 20 years of experience in the field of software design, code optimization, and distributed network systems. In his conversation with Georgi Nenov, Boris Simandoff ...
Feb 08, 2022•51 min•Ep 7•Transcript available on Metacast Our next guest found entrepreneurship driven by her mission to help people and create something meaningful. While looking for a clinical trial for her sister diagnosed with a medical condition that lacked traditional treatment, Maya Zlatanova saw the need for a platform that helps patients look for alternative treatment. This is how FindMeCure was born. The company is now bringing research closer to patients by developing tools for patients and providing analytics to the healthcare industry. Or ...
Feb 01, 2022•53 min•Ep 6•Transcript available on Metacast Next on The Recursive podcast we welcome one of the most prominent executives and pioneers in the IT industry in Bulgaria. Ivaylo Slavov is a citizen of the world. Having a long and successful corporate career in Germany, he came back to Bulgaria more than 15 years ago to help set up the first nearshore IT operations for American giants like HP. 10 years ago he started his own company BULPROS and quickly turned it into one of the fastest-growing IT companies in Central Europe. Last year BULPROS ...
Jan 25, 2022•44 min•Ep 5•Transcript available on Metacast Next on The Recursive podcast, we welcome a female entrepreneur who is passionate about business change, automation and the circular economy. Adina Huma is the co-founder of a Bucharest-based platform that offers sustainable packaging solutions for e-Commerce players called R-Create . Adina and her co-founder Linda Vasilescu aim to help online retailers reduce waste, lower costs, and attract customers with a green policy. She’s also a seasoned consultant and project manager, And guided the digit...
Jan 18, 2022•55 min•Ep 3•Transcript available on Metacast The Recursive podcast is back from winter break. Our next guest is an entrepreneur who is keen on technology and AI as much as he enjoys talking about philosophy and leadership. Ciprian Borodescu is the co-founder of MorphL, a start-up that developed an artificial intelligence-based solution to help online stores increase sales, and optimize their product metrics. His startup was acquired by the French company Algolia before they even managed to raise a seed round. Ciprian now serves as the Head...
Jan 11, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Ep 2•Transcript available on Metacast 2021 has been a spectacular year for our next guest. Hristo Borisov is the co-founder and CEO of the Bulgarian fintech startup Payhawk, which raised a 20M dollars Series A in the first half of the year, followed by a historic for the Bulgarian ecosystem 112M dollars Series B in November. The startup which helps SMEs manage their expenses has ambitious plans for expansion in the US, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. Before becoming an entrepreneur, Hristo Borissov was a software engineer and a produc...
Dec 21, 2021•54 min•Ep 1•Transcript available on Metacast Our next guest has been an entrepreneur even before he knew what that meant. He earned his first money as a teenager, drawing graffiti for small businesses in Bucharest. Bogdan Nicoara is currently the co-founder of Bright Spaces, an end-to-end digital leasing platform for commercial real estate. Born in Romania in 2019, the startup is aiming to become a global tech disruptor in real estate. With a background in software development and digital marketing, Bogdan loves starting new projects and f...
Dec 14, 2021•59 min•Ep 10•Transcript available on Metacast Next stop for The Recursive podcast - Bucharest. It is where we meet serial entrepreneur and angel investor Gregoire Vigroux . The Frenchman who fell in love in Romania, set up all his businesses there, and made his goal to show everybody all the opportunities that the country presents. As a hyperactive person who likes to be challenged every day, Gregoire is born with an entrepreneurial mindset. He has co-founded and invested in more than 25 businesses across Eastern Europe and has had 4 exits ...
Dec 07, 2021•1 hr 11 min•Ep 9•Transcript available on Metacast Next, on The Recursive podcast we welcome seasoned entrepreneur Ilia Krastev . As the CEO of A Data Pro , he’s managing a diverse portfolio of companies in the data and information economy - the business news provider for Southeast Europe SeeNews , the media monitoring company Perceptica , the business platform for renewable energy - Renewables Now , and the scientific unit, based on AI solutions Identrics . Ilia Krastev is also the chairman of the Association for Innovation, Business Exce...
Nov 30, 2021•59 min•Ep 8•Transcript available on Metacast Our next guest on The Recursive podcast is an illustrator and designer turned entrepreneur Gergana Stancheva. She and her co-founder Angela Ivanova found a way to say goodbye to plastic in the packaging industry. Together they created LAM’ON in 2017 - а startup producing biodegradable laminating film for print and packaging. Several years later they are ready to launch officially and sell their products in Europe. They are focused on building up their production and distribution lines here in Bu...
Nov 23, 2021•44 min•Ep 7•Transcript available on Metacast Our next guest is a seasoned French businessman whose entrepreneurial journey is deeply intertwined with the fast development of the Bulgarian post-communist economy. Xavier Marcenac first came to Bulgaria in the early 90s, as the country was opening up for foreign investors. After several years of managing companies in Europe, in the early 2000s he came back to start one of the first BPO companies in the country. A sector, which later became one of the fastest-growing branches of the Bulgarian ...
Nov 16, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Ep 6•Transcript available on Metacast In Bucharest again, we meet the co-founder of established software company QUALITANCE and most recently the AI-assisted platform for digital transformation FLOWX.AI Ioan Iacob. FLOWX.AI has just raised $8.5 million in a seed round , led by PortfoLion , with Day One Capital and SeedBlink also participating in the round. In this conversation with Ioan for The Recursive podcast, you will learn: How a Romanian engineer in Silicon Valley, overlooked because of his accent, beat the odds and changed th...
Nov 09, 2021•57 min•Ep 5•Transcript available on Metacast Next on The Recursive podcast, we welcome seasoned entrepreneur and investor turned political candidate Daniel Lorer. His journey in the business world has been versatile and rich. Starting as a coder, turned into a sales executive, who then turned into а startup founder with a couple of successful exits. After years of living between Tel Aviv, Paris, Brussels, and Zurich, he came back to Bulgaria and entered the venture capital world with Sofia-based BrightCap Ventures. Now, Lorer is at a turni...
Nov 02, 2021•39 min•Ep 4•Transcript available on Metacast 
