Where can I listen to this podcast?

This podcast is available on 4 platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. You can also use the RSS feed directly.

Does this podcast accept guests?

Yes, this podcast regularly features guests.

Venture Lab with Luis

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by Luis Druschke

5.0(2 reviews)

15 episodes

Updated Daily

Accepts GuestsHas SponsorsLocation 🇪🇺

Podcast Overview

The greatest opportunities are often hidden behind closed doors. This podcast opens them up. After seven years in a different industry, last year I developed a strange obsession with startups and venture capital. I consumed every podcast, video, and book I could find. And while entrepreneurship does not need another podcast, it desperately needs transparency, accessibility, and conversations that go beyond funding rounds and exits. Venture Lab tells the personal stories of Europe's most exceptional investors and most innovative founders.

Language

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Publishing Since

7/7/2025

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Recent Episodes

March 23, 2026

Inside Wonder Studio: Building the Y Combinator of Hollywood

Xavier grew up moving countries five times. That instability drilled into him one obsession: control your own destiny. That mission carried him from law school in Sydney, through three unicorns, Uber, Deliveroo, and Turo, to an encounter over rosé at the Cannes Film Festival.An Alice in Wonderland trailer created with AI was the lightning bolt that led him to co-found Wanda Studios, an AI-native studio for films and music videos. In under a year, he raised $15M from Atomico and LocalGlobe, worked with Lewis Capaldi, built a team across London, New York and LA, and assembled a four-pillar flywheel designed to democratize access to Hollywood-grade film production.In this episode, Xavier shares:- What three unicorn marketplaces taught him about quality supply and why it's the first thing a founder should obsess over- Why following your instinct can be the best way to make decisions - Why product-market fit matters more than hard work and how to find that signal - The one thing he'd challenge you to do this week if you're still waiting to start

March 5, 2026

From Poetry to Deep Tech: How Europe Builds the Next Tesla I Will Wells, Speedinvest

Will grew up in a family of shipbuilders, naturalists, and war heroes, a family legacy that, drilled into him one simple principle: have a go, do something that helps people. That mission carried him from a poetry degree to a hedge fund, through a cancer diagnosis at 29, to become a deep tech founder and then deep tech investor with one obsession: swing the bat on something that actually matters.Then at Lightspeed and Firstminute Capital, he worked with teams that invested in SpaceX, Anthropic, Wayve and Mistral before he became a partner at Speedinvest. In this episode, Will shares:<ul><li>Why being diagnosed with cancer at 29 was the pivot that forced him to swing the bat </li><li>What he learned about courage from Lightspeed's billion-dollar bet on Anthropic</li><li>Why the most interesting deep tech opportunities in Europe exist between the verticals of energy, space, and compute</li><li>Why Europe's next Tesla or SpaceX won't start in a lab, and why you need to raise $100M before you've solved the science</li><li>The founder profile that actually builds generational companies in 2026</li></ul>

February 19, 2026

How General Catalyst’s $43B Venture Strategy Actually Works I Zeynep Yavuz

Zeynep grew up in Turkey in an entrepreneurial family and from an early age absorbed their persistence, bias for action, and an understanding of what it really takes to build a business. That observation became her mission: not to start a company, but to be a partner to the founders. Her path to General Catalyst was not a straight line, investment banking, private equity at TA Associates, and a split-second decision to turn down a VC offer to go into operating instead. Today she is a Partner at one of the world's most influential venture firms, with $43 billion under management and early investments in Stripe, Airbnb, In this episode, Zeynep shares:- Why turning down a VC offer mid-career was the best decision she ever made- How General Catalyst backed Stripe across 14 rounds - Why AI's biggest opportunity isn't in software. It's in services industries that haven’t seen innovation - Margins from 12% to 40%: the AI rollup playbook transforming real estate & accounting, - The only superpower that matters in venture and why your 5-year career plan is already out of date

15 total episodes available

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Frequently asked questions

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What is Venture Lab with Luis?: The greatest opportunities are often hidden behind closed doors. This podcast opens them up.

After seven years in a different industry, last year I developed a strange obsession with startups and venture capital. I consumed every podcast, video, and book I could find. And while entrepreneurship does not need another podcast, it desperately needs transparency, accessibility, and conversations that go beyond funding rounds and exits.

Venture Lab tells the personal stories of Europe's most exceptional investors and most innovative founders.
How often does this podcast release new episodes?: This podcast updates daily.
Where can I listen to this podcast?: This podcast is available on 4 platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. You can also use the RSS feed directly.
Does this podcast accept guests?: Yes, this podcast regularly features guests.

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