The Startup Saga Podcast

VC Explained: Funding, Equity & What VCs Really Look For - with Dr. Tanja Emmerling (HTGF)

In this episode of The Start-Up Saga, we explore venture capital, startup funding, and the realities of working with investors. Together with Dr. Tanja Emmerling, Partner at High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), we discuss what VCs really look for, the trade-offs between equity, control, and growth, and how financial integrity shapes decision-making as expectations rise. From fundraising strategy and valuation to managing investor relationships, this conversation offers a clear and grounded perspective for founders navigating Seed to Series A and thinking about how to scale with venture capital.

S1E5- Bootstrapping vs Venture Capital: Startup Funding, SaaS Growth & Financial Discipline | Pedro Henriques (Bridge In)

In this episode of The Start-Up Saga, we explore startup funding through the lens of bootstrapping and venture capital, and how each path shapes SaaS growth, pricing, hiring, and long-term decision-making. Together with Pedro Henriques, CEO of Bridge In, we discuss the realities of building without external funding, the trade-offs between control and capital, and why financial discipline plays a central role in reaching product–market fit and sustainable growth. If you are building a startup or thinking about how to fund and scale your company, this conversation offers a clear and grounded perspective.

The Startup Saga Podcast - S1E4 - Product-Market Fit: How to Build What the Market Actually Wants

Most startups don’t fail because they run out of money. They fail because they build something the market doesn’t truly want. In this episode of The Startup Saga, we explore one of the most defining stages in a founder’s journey: building the first product and discovering whether you are genuinely approaching Product-Market Fit. This is the phase of early prototypes, difficult trade-offs, conflicting customer feedback, and the constant tension between staying true to your vision and responding to market reality. Our guest is Dr. Swaminathan Subbiah — known simply as Subbiah — a seasoned technology executive with more than 30 years of experience scaling companies and leading product innovation. He has successfully led two major exits: • Zemax, sold for $400 million • Fluent, sold for $565 million He has also held senior leadership roles at Ansys, where he led global product strategy and operations across their simulation business. What makes this conversation powerful is not theory, but lived experience. Subbiah has repeatedly navigated the messy middle between idea and traction. He has defined MVPs under pressure, listened to early users without losing strategic clarity, and made bold pivots when the market demanded it. In this episode, we discuss: • What truly makes an MVP “viable” • The difference between building features and building value • Early signals that indicate you may be approaching Product-Market Fit • How to interpret customer feedback without overreacting • When to pivot — and when to hold steady • How experienced product leaders think about validation. Whether you are refining your first product, navigating early traction, or preparing for a funding round, this conversation offers grounded, practical insight from someone who has built and exited multiple technology companies. Free Founder Resource Library We created a free Resource Library connected to every episode of The Startup Saga. Inside you’ll find practical frameworks and tools shared by our guest speakers to support your own founder journey. You can access it here: https://www.resourcestorelations.com/the-startup-saga-resource-library-subscription [https://www.resourcestorelations.com/the-startup-saga-resource-library-subscription] The Startup Saga Podcast Hosted by Iulia Oprea, Founder Coach and CEO of Dragon Coaching House, and Nick Pearce, CEO of Alexander Daniels Global. The Startup Saga Podcast founding sponsors: www.alexanderdanielsglobal.com [http://www.alexanderdanielsglobal.com]  www.dragoncoachinghouse.com [http://www.dragoncoachinghouse.com]

The Startup Saga Podcast S1E3 - Finding the First Believers & Creating the Founding Team

The Startup Saga Podcast Season 1 explores the inner journey of building a company. Hosted by Iulia Oprea, Gestalt Therapist, Founder Coach and CEO of Dragon Coaching House and Nick Pearce, CEO of Alexander Daniels Global this series goes beyond the headlines to explore the raw, unfiltered realities of building a tech company from the ground up. In today’s episode, we’re diving into one of the most defining — and often underestimated — stages of building a company: finding the first believers and creating the founding team. This is the moment where everything is still fragile, where there’s little proof, limited resources, and a whole lot riding on trust, alignment, and shared belief. To help us unpack this, I’m joined by someone I’ve known for a long time — and someone we genuinely admire — Markus Seibold. Markus is the co-founder and CEO of MakerVerse, a digital manufacturing platform that connects procurement and engineering teams with a trusted global supply base, making on-demand industrial parts easier to quote, source, and deliver. Before founding MakerVerse, Markus spent more than a decade at Siemens Energy, where he built and led one of the most advanced additive manufacturing programs in the world, overseeing the serial production of high-end industrial components using cutting-edge 3D printing technologies. What makes Markus’s story particularly relevant for this episode is that he’s lived both worlds — building deep expertise inside a global organisation, and then stepping out to create something entirely new, where the success of the venture depended on assembling the right people, earning early trust, and convincing others to believe in a vision before there was much to show. Markus brings a rare combination of deep technical understanding, operational leadership, and a grounded, human approach to building teams. Whether he’s talking about co-founder alignment, early hires, or winning the confidence of first customers and partners, his insights are shaped by real experience — not theory. So if you’re a founder thinking about who to build with, how to earn belief early on, or how to turn a strong vision into collective momentum, there’s a lot to take from this conversation. Before we jump in, we prepared something you might find valuable. We created a free library of resources related to every episode in the Startup Saga founder journey. These resources are created by our guest speakers and they will offer you practical support in your journey. Make sure you subscribe to the resource library! Let’s jump in! Subscribe here: https://www.resourcestorelations.com/the-startup-saga-resource-library-subscription [https://www.resourcestorelations.com/the-startup-saga-resource-library-subscription] The Startup Saga Podcast founding sponsors: www.alexanderdanielsglobal.com [http://www.alexanderdanielsglobal.com] www.dragoncoachinghouse.com [http://www.dragoncoachinghouse.com] About our guest speaker: Markus Seibold: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markus-seibold/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/markus-seibold/] Special thanks for post-production: @szkubi.sznex Molnar Csaba

The Startup Saga Podcast - S1E1 - The courage to start before you're ready

The Startup Saga Podcast Season 1 explores the inner journey of building a company. Hosted by Iulia Oprea, Gestalt Therapist, Founder Coach and CEO of Dragon Coaching House and Nick Pearce, CEO of Alexander Daniels Global this series goes beyond the headlines to explore the raw, unfiltered realities of building a tech company from the ground up. Each of the 12 episodes dissects a crucial challenge faced by founders, offering practical advice, strategic frameworks, and inspiring, candid stories from those who have walked the path. Whether you're an aspiring founder, an early-stage entrepreneur, an investor, or simply curious about the engine room of innovation, "The Start-Up Saga" provides an invaluable roadmap to turning an idea into a lasting legacy. If you’re scaling a business while growing into the person who can lead it, this podcast will sit well with you. Real stories from real founders, sharing real advice. The Startup Saga Podcast founding sponsors: www.dragoncoachinghouse.com [http://www.dragoncoachinghouse.com] www.alexanderdanielsglobal.com [http://www.alexanderdanielsglobal.com] About our guest speaker: Read Stefano Bernardi’s book here: https://steberna.gumroad.com/l/book [https://steberna.gumroad.com/l/book]  Follow him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stebernardi/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/stebernardi/] Follow & read more on Substack: https://stefanobernardi88.substack.com/ [https://stefanobernardi88.substack.com/] Subscribe to our free Resource Library: Make sure to subscribe to the free Startup Saga Resource Library! We created a free library of resources related to every episode in the Startup Saga founder journey. These resources are created by our guest speakers and they will offer you practical support in your journey. Subscribe here: https://www.resourcestorelations.com/the-startup-saga-resource-library-subscription Special thanks for editing, sound engineering and post-production: dr.vet. Philipp Scholz