FRAMES OF TECH: the podcast uncovering the real growth stories behind Europe’s (and beyond) most interesting startups, scale-ups. Too many tech podcasts focus on hype, valuations, or the same five big names. This show is different. Host Giorgio Ponticelli sits down with founders, operators and investors to explore: How great tech companies are really built.
The culture, strategy, and people that drive growth Lessons from scaling, hiring, and leading teams across markets.
Honest stories of challenges, growth and leadership.
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🌐 Learn more: framesoftech.com
The Realities of Startup Execution with Ben Leaver | Treatwell | Turnarounds | Boards | Frames Of Tech
Most investors dream of backing the next unicorn, but a select few decide to leave the boardroom and build one themselves. In this episode of Frames of Tech, host Giorgio Ponticelli sits down with Ben Leaver to discuss his career shift from capital allocator to an accountable startup executive.
Ben shares his candid journey of seeking out the "real action" and the difficult lessons he learned when he finally made the jump.
In this episode, we cover:
The Illusion of Transferable Skills: Why the hard skills of investing don't always apply to operations, and why soft skills like curiosity and work ethic became Ben's anchor when he joined Treatwell (formerly Wahanda).
Planning vs Executing: The stark difference in pressure between modeling a business plan and the stress of executing it as an operator to ensure the company makes payroll.
The Festicket Turnaround: Ben’s raw recount of stepping in as CEO, and managing the personal and professional stress of trying to save the business.
Hustle Culture & Balance: An honest take on the "996" work trend, the impossibility of perfect work-life balance, and why prescribing grueling hours indefinitely only leads to burnout.
Transforming Legal Tech: How Ben's current role at Legl is helping law firms digitize compliance, streamline KYC (Know Your Customer) onboarding, and improve cash flow.
6 Feb 2026
How Mixcloud Solved Music Copyright & The "Instagramification" of DJ Culture | Nico Perez cofounder
In this episode of Frames of Tech, host Giorgio Ponticelli sits down with Nico Perez, co-founder of Mixcloud, to discuss how the platform became the only safe haven for long-form DJ mixes in a world of copyright takedowns.
Nico breaks down the immense complexity of music licensing—from distinguishing between sound recordings and publishing rights to navigating international jurisdictions - and how Mixcloud spent years negotiating with major labels to solve it. We also dive deep into the startup journey, moving from bootstrapping in an industrial warehouse to raising capital and surviving the COVID-19 pandemic.
Finally, Nico shares his controversial take on the "Instagramification" of club culture, the impact of TikTok on attention spans, and why AI will never replace the human connection in music curation.
Topics Discussed:
- Why big platforms like Instagram and Twitch struggle with music copyright.
-The difference between "master" rights and "publishing" rights.
- Leadership lessons: Delegating design work and making tough decisions during the pandemic.
- The "Zombie" dancefloor: How phones are killing the club vibe.
- Why Mixcloud focuses on community vs "single-player mode".
22 Jan 2026
Adrian Blair, CEO of Trustpilot | Building Trust in the Age of AI
Adrian Blair, CEO of Trustpilot and former leader at Google, Spotify, and Just Eat, joins Frames of Tech to discuss why trust is the currency of modern business. From fighting fake reviews with AI to scaling global teams and managing culture across continents - this episode dives into leadership, authenticity, and how Trustpilot is shaping the future of trusted commerce online.
8 Jan 2026
How to Turn Legal Into a Competitive Advantage | Jeffrey Eneberi | Frames Of Tech
Most tech founders treat legal as a "blocker" or a necessary evil - a department that says "no" and slows down growth. But what if legal was actually your secret weapon for scaling faster?
In this episode of Frames of Tech, Giorgio Ponticelli sits down with Jeff Eneberi, a veteran legal leader who has navigated over 80 deals and scaled international teams. Jeff flips the script on traditional legal advice and introduces his CEDRIC Framework - a must-know blueprint for any early-stage founder.
In this episode, we dive into:
- The First Mistake: Why the most critical legal agreement isn't with a customer, but between the founders.
- The CEDRIC Framework: A simple 6-step checklist for Contracts, Email, Data, Risk, IP, and Competition.
- Energy Givers vs. Energy Sappers: How to build a legal team that enables speed instead of killing momentum.
- When to Hire In-House: The math behind moving away from hourly law firm rates.
- The Future of Legal Tech: How AI is currently being used to speed up document review and productivity.
18 Dec 2025
Luca Carlucci | BizAway | How resilience shaped the company | The role of AI in travel | Leadership
When the travel industry collapsed in 2020, most companies stopped. BizAway accelerated.
In this episode of Frames of Tech, Giorgio Ponticelli sits down with Luca Carlucci, Co-founder and CEO of BizAway, to unpack what it really takes to lead through crisis, scale from Southern Europe, and build a durable company without losing the human core.
We talk about why conviction matters more than consensus, how governance shapes decision-making in hard moments, and why business travel is still fundamentally about human relationships - even in an AI-driven world.
In this episode:
▪ Why BizAway grew during the worst year in travel history
▪ Making contrarian decisions without gambling the company
▪ Culture under pressure and distributed ownership
▪ Expanding across Europe and the Middle East: beyond product-market fit
▪ AI as an amplifier of human expertise, not a replacement
▪ What makes a business truly defensible in the age of LLMs
▪ Leadership, responsibility, and sustainable ambition
This conversation is for founders, operators, and investors navigating uncertainty - and building for the long term.
🎙️ Frames of Tech
Host: Giorgio Ponticelli
Guest: Luca Carlucci, CEO & Co-founder, BizAway
4 Dec 2025
Marnix Broer | The story of Studocu | Why Students can’t trust LLMs | FRAMES OF TECH005
Marnix Broer is the Co-founder and Chairman of Studocu, the global platform that makes study resources accessible to every student.
In this episode, Marnix shares how Studocu began in a Dutch dorm room, scaled to millions of users worldwide, and why students still trust each other more than AI.
We discuss culture, leadership, perfectionism, hiring mistakes, and how EdTech continues to matter in the era of LLMs.
You’ll learn:
- How Studocu began and scaled from Delft to the world
- The key role of culture, fun, and trust in building a startup
- Why students still need Studocu in the era of ChatGPT
- What “when in doubt, there’s no doubt” means for hiring
- How perfectionism can hurt founders outside of work
- Why university is still essential, and what should change
20 Nov 2025
Lopo Champalimaud: How Treatwell built Trust & Ownership at Scale
What happens when you build a company on trust instead of control?
Lopo Champalimaud, founder and former CEO of Treatwell, shares how empowering people to lead - not just follow - turned a chaotic startup into Europe’s leading beauty booking platform.
In this episode of Frames of Tech, host Giorgio Ponticelli explores Treatwell’s evolution from early pivots to hyper-growth, how “Hire captains, not soldiers” became a leadership philosophy, and why ownership culture still matters more than ever.
Lopo also reflects on his move from operator to investor at V3 Ventures, what he looks for in founders, and why autonomy, trust, and clarity of purpose define the best teams.
📌 Topics covered:
- Treatwell’s early pivots and the chaos of startup life
- The turning point: building software to scale the marketplace
- Trust, disintermediation, and redefining partnerships
- “Hire adults, treat them like adults” – a culture of ownership
- The human side of leadership and why autonomy beats hierarchy
- Lessons from scaling, exiting, and backing new founders
🎧 Watch on Youtube, search for "Frames of Tech".
📺 Subscribe for more real stories of growth, culture, and leadership.
6 Nov 2025
Roland Butler: TheFuture of Product Management | AI | Soft Skills-Stakeholder Trust | FramesOfTech 3
Giorgio Ponticelli sits down with Roland Butler, Head of Product, Content Solutions at Zalando and former product leader at Just Eat, Bookatable, The Fork and VavaCars. Roland shares his candid perspective on how AI is reshaping product management, why relationships matter more than frameworks, and what it really takes to thrive as a product leader today.
Roland explains how to balance top-down ambition with bottom-up feedback, why too many tasks kill prioritization, and why communication is the most underrated product skill.
You'll learn:
- How AI is changing the product role without replacing it
- Why stakeholder trust and over-communication beat any tool or process
- The balance between customer pain points and internal priorities
- Why junior PMs need both soft and hard skills to succeed
- The leadership principles that remain timeless across startups, scale-ups, and corporates
Plus, Roland reveals his most practical advice for aspiring product managers: learn to work with others, adapt your communication, and not being afraid to take risks.
If you are a Founder, Product Manager, or Operator navigating the impact of AI, this episode of Frames Of Tech is essential listening.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro & welcome
01:05 Will AI replace product managers? Myths vs. reality
07:03 Balancing top-down ambition with bottom-up feedback
11:20 Why companies lose sight of customer pain points
13:20 Backlogs, prioritization & building stakeholder trust
18:00 Defending product decisions & over-communicating
20:30 No-meeting culture vs. real relationship building
23:20 Where AI really helps (and where it wastes time)
29:30 Leadership principles that never change
31:20 Startups vs. corporates: what truly makes the difference
35:20 Advice for aspiring product leaders: skills that matter
13 Oct 2025
How AI is changing Consultancy | Founder vs Manager mode | Driving Cultural Change | Rik Van der Woerdt, CEO of ADC
Rik van der Woerdt, Founder & CEO of Amsterdam Data Collective, joins Giorgio Ponticelli on Frames of Tech to discuss the future of AI consulting, building a purpose-driven company culture, and why adopting AI is about more than hype.
You’ll learn:
- How Rik built Amsterdam Data Collective into a leading AI consultancy
- What founders must learn when moving from founder to manager mode
- The impact of private equity on culture and growth
- Why collective culture outperforms traditional partner models in consulting
- Where AI is hype vs. where it’s already driving real results
- How to recruit and develop AI talent
- Why transitions fail and how leaders can get them right
- The real role of consultants in the AI era
- What advice students need for the AI-driven economy
- Why languages and culture still matter in a world of instant translation
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⏱️ Chapters
00:00 Intro & welcome
01:10 Rik’s background & founding Amsterdam Data Collective
01:54 Why start in data & AI back in 2017
04:50 Private equity acquisition, impact on culture & leadership
07:51 Founder mode vs. Manager mode
11:43 The Collective model vs. Partner model in consulting
14:25 Adapting culture & ownership for the new generation
17:19 Trends in AI adoption across industries
22:37 AI Hype vs Real Benefit
27:27 Will AI replace consultants?
29:45 Recruiting & developing AI talent
33:19 AI Implementation and Change vs Transition
38:09 Advice for students preparing for an AI future
40:34 The value of languages & culture in global business
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Watch the full video on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/@Frames-Of-Tech
29 Sept 2025
How JUST EAT Scaled up and attracted top talent | Why the Founder myth is dangerous | Klaus Nyengaard
In this episode, Klaus Nyengaard dives into the untold story of how Just Eat scaled from a 30-person Danish startup into a European tech leader. Klaus explains the big insight that changed everything, why ambition sets the direction, and how painful cultural transformation became unavoidable.
We discuss how to hire truly world-class talent, why most CEOs set the wrong benchmark, and what it means to build a team of "Entreprofessionals". Klaus also challenges 996 work culture, argues why ownership beats hours, and dispels the founder myth - showing why partnerships, not egos, build lasting companies.
Finally, Klaus shares his view on diversity, why culture is defined by what leaders do (not what they write), and the most timeless advice for every founder: know yourself.
24 Sept 2025
Frames Of Tech with Giorgio Ponticelli - Launch Trailer
Tired of tech podcasts that sound the same?
Frames of Tech is here to change that.
🎙️ What to expect:
Real growth stories, not recycled headlines
Culture, strategy, and people behind the business
A sharp focus on Europe’s tech ecosystem
Lessons from founders, operators, and investors building companies that last
This trailer sets the stage for what’s to come. First episode drops next week.
👉 Subscribe now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube so you don’t miss it.
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/@Frames-Of-Tech
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