Welcome to Big Bets on Cheap Chairs. The podcast where we talk to dealmakers from art, sport, music, and science who find outliers early. How do they spot the next big thing? How does it compare to early stage investing? We're NAP VC, and this is where we draw the parallels.
www.bigbetsoncheapchairs.com
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Kiertan Saujani, Rajasthan Royals: How to build a squad in a live auction
Big Bets on Cheap Chairs goes international. We sat down with Kiertan Saujani, General Manager Cricket at the Rajasthan Royals, on the pitch of the Royals' home stadium in Jaipur, one day after they won one of the final matches of IPL 2026.
In India, cricket reaches into almost every living room. Kiertan walks us through the game behind the game: scouting raw talent alongside seasoned players, balancing batters and bowlers, and staying within the cap on overseas players, all while knowing a player relationship lasts three years at most. And after all that homework, the pick is still decided in a live auction, with every other franchise bidding against you.
Big Bets on Cheap Chairs is the podcast by NAP where we talk to dealmakers from art, sport, music, and science who find outliers early. A mirror to venture capital, from beyond our own startup bubble.
Guest: Kiertan Saujani, General Manager Cricket, Rajasthan Royals
Hosts: Mey Cezairli, NAP
Website: https://bigbetsoncheapchairs.com
Substack: https://naplog.substack.com
NAP: https://nap.vc
8 Sept 2026
NAP VC: JOĆLLE ROMBA ā FROM SOTHEBY'S TO DOROTHEUM, THE ART SPECIALIST WHO BUILT A 200-WORK COLLECTION ON EYES, NOT EARS
For the next episode of Big Bets on Cheap Chairs, our host Mey sits down with Joƫlle Romba, one of the most respected figures in the German art market. An art historian by training, Joƫlle ran Sotheby's Berlin office and is now Senior Specialist for modern and contemporary art at Dorotheum. She curates the Ulla and Heiner Pietzsch Collection and, together with her husband Eric, has built a collection of over 200 contemporary works through their ROCCA Foundation, opening their Berlin home as an exhibition space.
Her rule is simple: "Collect with your eyes, not with your ears." Buy conviction, not consensus. She bought Wolfgang Tillmans at the very start of his career, long before the market caught up, and her biggest regret isn't a miss, it's not buying more when everyone else was still looking away. That is the same asymmetric bet early-stage investors make every day: unproven talent, no comparables, judgment against the market.
Listen for insights on how the art world prices talent before there's a track record, what a specialist actually looks at in an artist's early work, and when to trust your eye over the crowd.
Check out JoĆ«lle ā¬ļø
Collector story: https://www.collectorsagenda.com/en/collector-stories/joelle-romba
Romba Fine Arts: http://www.rombafinearts.de
17 Jun 2026
NAP VC: Cedric Marechal, after publishing WoW, COD and Diablo, on the two legs of gaming
Cedric Marechal is Founder and CEO of New Tales, a Paris-based game publisher and developer founded by industry veterans. With nearly three decades in gaming, Cedric has shaped some of the biggest franchises in the industry, from World of Warcraft and Diablo to Call of Duty at Blizzard, and oversaw major international operations as Senior Vice President at Activision Blizzard.
In this episode, Fabian sits down with Cedric to explore how game publishers pick the right developers, how they evaluate creative vision under pressure, and what makes a partnership between publisher and studio actually work.
The parallels are striking: a game publisher betting on a creative team, absorbing risk when the build looks broken, is making the same kind of bet venture capitalists make on founders. A publisher's job is to hold the line and let the team ship.
The core insight: You need two legs to move. Content, the product. Publishing, the distribution. We're living a publishing renaissance because the best games need both. Sound familiar to how we think about founding teams and investor support?
Listen for insights on talent picking in gaming, what separates winners from flops in the creative industries, and what venture capital can learn from how games get made.
Check out Cedric ā¬ļø
LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/cedric-marechal-b65716/)
New Tales (https://www.newtales.com)
27 May 2026
NAP VC: Marko PeÅ”iÄ, the ex-pro who scaled FC Bayern Basketball to ā¬48m revenue and the EuroLeague
For the second episode of Big Bets on Cheap Chairs, our host Fabian sits down with Marko PeÅ”iÄ, one of the most respected executives in European basketball. Born in Sarajevo and shaped by his father, the legendary coach Svetislav PeÅ”iÄ, Marko built a playing career across Berlin, Greece, and Italy, winning six German League titles with ALBA Berlin and representing Germany on the international stage - including a silver medal at EuroBasket 2005 and a bronze at the 2002 FIBA World Championship.
But it's the second act that makes his story resonate with this series. After his playing career, Marko studied sports marketing and management, then spent 14 years at FC Bayern Munich Basketball - first as Sports Director, later as General Manager - building the program into a Bundesliga champion and a fixture in the EuroLeague. Along the way, he closed 200+ player deals - which makes him the perfect guest for our show to draw the parallels to early-stage investing.
Check out Marko ā¬ļø
Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/pesic7/)
LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/marko-pesic-3627451b4/)
www.bigbetsoncheapchairs.com
24 Apr 2026
NAP VC: Javier de la Fuente, the man behind platin rap star Luciano, 030 Management, and investor in Loco Chicken
For the very first episode of big bets on cheap chairs, our host Mey is sitting down with Javier de la Fuente, one of the sharpest talent scouts in Germany. He spotted award winning rap artist Luciano early on YouTube and worked with him ever since. Since then he has taken that instinct to the Icon League and Angel investing in companies like Loco Chicken - exactly the cross-disciplinary eye this series is all about.
One parallel we saw is, in music, artists are protected like long-range creative capital: managers absorb the life admin, the logistics, the label politics, so the artist can focus on the work.
Check out Javier ā¬ļø
ā Instagramā (https://www.instagram.com/javier_de_la_fuente/)
ā LinkedInā (https://www.linkedin.com/in/javier-de-la-fuente-2904491ba/)
ā 030Managementā (https://www.instagram.com/030mgmt/)
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