Innovantage Podcast

Is AI fixing hiring or breaking human connection?
Why do the best candidates never apply to job ads?
And what really happens inside a startup during its first 9 months?

Juris Zalāns — Co-founder at Talenme, HR Tech strategist, and digital transformation expert shares unfiltered insights from building a referral-driven hiring platform and navigating the fast-changing world of talent acquisition. From startup realities and fundraising to the future of HR tech, this episode explores how technology, trust, and human networks are reshaping recruitment.

What you’ll learn from this episode:
➡️Why passive candidates dominate today’s job market — and how companies actually reach them
➡️The real role of AI in recruitment
➡️How referrals, reputation, and human networks may outperform traditional hiring funnels
➡️The shift toward project work, gig models, and changing career expectations across generations
➡️Practical lessons from scaling an early-stage HR tech startup while balancing product, clients, and fundraising

🎧 Listen Now

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/19M3HKc1pbeTkYcOeOkJc0?si=aab60a9ec2864ba2 

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/pl/podcast/innovantage-podcast/id1749330437 

 

Watch us on YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/@InnovantagePodcast

 

Follow for More Insightful Episodes

Innovantage Podcast:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/innovantage-podcast/ 

Sigli:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/sigli/     

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/sigli.gang 

TikTok: @innovantage / @sigliofficial 

If you are building a startup, this episode might save you from expensive mistakes. In this new Innovantage Podcast episode, we talk with Thijs Verheul, Co-founder of United Wardrobe, acquired by Vinted. Thijs is now an Angel Investor and author of Thrift to Triumph. We focus on execution: how to build the right team, launch fast, find distribution, manage burn, and make decisions when the runway is shrinking.

What you will learn:

➡️How to structure a founding team with complementary strengths

➡️Why launching early beats waiting for “perfect”

➡️A community growth strategy that created liquidity fast

➡️What happens when you scale headcount before product-market fit

➡️How to cut costs without killing momentum

➡️How angel investors think about teams, traction, and risk

 

Connect with Our Guest
Thijs Verheul – https://www.linkedin.com/in/thijs-verheul-b777504b/  
Check out the book Thrift to Triumph: The story of United Wardrobe  
Connect with Max (Host)
Max Golikov – https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxim-golikov/   

 

🎧 Listen Now

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/19M3HKc1pbeTkYcOeOkJc0?si=aab60a9ec2864ba2 

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/pl/podcast/innovantage-podcast/id1749330437 

 

Watch us on YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/@InnovantagePodcast

 

Follow for More Insightful Episodes

Innovantage Podcast:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/innovantage-podcast/ 

Sigli:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/sigli/     

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/sigli.gang 

TikTok: @innovantage / @sigliofficial 

Building a startup is a series of tests you don’t see coming until you fail one. In this episode, Max sits down with Povilas Žinys, Director of Plug and Play tech center in the Baltics, working with startups from Pre-Seed to Series B and helping founders prepare for the realities of venture-scale growth. They unpack what separates scalable companies from “busy” startups that never break through — the 2026 landscape founders are walking into, how investors filter opportunities, and what it really takes to go global from Lithuania and the Baltics.

What you’ll hear in this conversation:

➡️ What startup accelerators actually do for founders

➡️ The toughest startup challenges founders face in 2026

➡️ Why investors back teams before ideas

➡️ The thinking behind the “90% fail” reality

➡️ Older founders and the edge experience can create

➡️ Unfair advantage that’s real, not branding

➡️ What’s missing in Lithuania’s startup ecosystem

➡️ Going global faster and avoiding common traps

 

Connect with Our Guest

Povilas Žinys – https://www.linkedin.com/in/povilaszinys/

Connect with Max (Host)

Max Golikov – https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxim-golikov/ 

 

🎧 Listen Now

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/19M3HKc1pbeTkYcOeOkJc0?si=aab60a9ec2864ba2 

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/pl/podcast/innovantage-podcast/id1749330437 

 

Watch us on YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/@InnovantagePodcast

 

Follow for More Insightful Episodes

Innovantage Podcast:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/innovantage-podcast/ 

Sigli:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/sigli/     

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/sigli.gang 

TikTok: @innovantage / @sigliofficial 

What if creativity isn’t about “expressing yourself”, but about understanding yourself?
In this episode, Max sits down with Fredrik Härén, the Creativity Explorer who has spent decades traveling the world to understand how humans create — and the truth he’s uncovered will challenge everything you assume about creativity.

This episode goes straight into the uncomfortable, the surprising, and the transformative parts of creativity most people never talk about.

Prepare to rethink everything:
➡️ Why Westerners misunderstand creativity
➡️ The Bhutan idea that destroys the “expression” myth
➡️ Why “creative anxiety” might not even be real
➡️ The Icelandic insult that explains modern innovation
➡️ Why your company should stop thinking in demographics
➡️ How global travel rewires your creative brain
➡️ Why AI is NOT a threat to creators — it’s the biggest upgrade ever
➡️ How curiosity separates innovators from followers
➡️ The emotional high of having an idea — and why we crave it

If you’re tired of shallow creativity advice, this is the episode that finally goes deeper. 

 

Connect with Our Guest

Fredrik Haren – https://www.linkedin.com/in/fredrikharen/  

Website –  https://www.fredrikharen.com/ 

Connect with Max (Host)

Max Golikov –  https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxim-golikov/  

 

🎧 Listen Now

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/19M3HKc1pbeTkYcOeOkJc0?si=aab60a9ec2864ba2 

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/pl/podcast/innovantage-podcast/id1749330437 

 

Watch us on YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/@InnovantagePodcast

 

Follow for More Insightful Episodes

Innovantage Podcast:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/innovantage-podcast/ 

Sigli:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/sigli/     

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/sigli.gang 

TikTok: @innovantage / @sigliofficial 

 

In this episode of The Innovantage Podcast, Max sits down with Jerome Cloetens, Co-founder & CEO at Palau, Sustainability Tech Entrepreneur, to unpack what it really takes to build and scale a startup in today’s AI-driven world. From bootstrapping with almost no runway to signing major enterprise clients, Jerome shares the hard realities, clever strategies, and mindset shifts that kept his company alive and growing even when a regulation change nearly wiped them out overnight.

Explore the psychology of fundraising vs. bootstrapping, the power of community-driven product development, and why enterprise sales are both the hardest challenge and the biggest moat for early-stage startups. 

What you’ll learn:

➡️ How startup founders survive between building product and raising funds.
➡️ Why bootstrapping creates discipline and when to switch to venture capital.
➡️ How Palau signed 20+ enterprise clients and built a 750-member expert community.
➡️ Why AI enables small teams to outperform big competitors.
➡️ The reality of enterprise sales cycles and how to shorten them.
➡️ What to do when regulation changes destroy your assumptions overnight.
➡️ Why transparency and non-financial data will reshape global decision-making.
➡️ How AI agents are already transforming real-world workflows.

 

Connect with Our Guest

Jerome Cloetens –https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeromecloetens/  

Connect with Max (Host)

Max Golikov –  https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxim-golikov/  

 

🎧 Listen Now

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/19M3HKc1pbeTkYcOeOkJc0?si=aab60a9ec2864ba2 

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/pl/podcast/innovantage-podcast/id1749330437 

 

Follow for More Insightful Episodes

Innovantage Podcast:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/innovantage-podcast/ 

Sigli:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/sigli/     

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/sigli.gang 

TikTok: @innovantage / @sigliofficial 

What happens when technology outpaces democracy? In this episode, Max sits down with Mathieu Michel — Belgian politician, State Secretary for Digitalization, and advocate for digital identity, trust, and responsibility in the online world. He has played a leading role in shaping Europe’s digital identity standards and initiatives such as eIDAS 2.0 and the Declaration of Leuven, with a strong focus on protecting democracy, empowering citizens, and building a safer digital future. Together, they explore the tension between freedom, responsibility, and innovation. From the AI Act to digital identity, they tackle the hard questions: Can regulation protect democracy without killing progress? Is anonymity a right — or a risk?

What you’ll learn:

➡️ Why Europe’s AI Act took five years — and what that means for innovation.

➡️ How digital identity standards like EIDAS aim to rebuild trust online.

➡️ The three levels of identity: anonymous, pseudonymous, and verified.

➡️ How responsible identity can combat fake news and online harassment.

➡️ Why trust is the foundation for innovation and new business models.

➡️ The role of startups in shaping Europe’s digital future.

➡️ Why education and digital literacy are critical for democracy in the age of AI.

➡️ How regulation can unleash technological progress.

➡️ Why Europe’s values could become its competitive advantage in tech.

 

Connect with Our Guest Mathieu Michel – https://www.linkedin.com/in/mathieumichelbe/

Connect with Max (Host) Max Golikov - https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxim-golikov/

Listen Now Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/19M3HKc1pbeTkYcOeOkJc0?si=aab60a9ec2864ba2

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/pl/podcast/innovantage-podcast/id1749330437 

Follow for More Insightful Episodes Innovantage Podcast: https://www.linkedin.com/company/innovantage-podcast/

Sigli: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sigli/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sigli.gang

TikTok: @innovantage / @sigliofficial 

In this episode of The Innovantage Podcast, host Max sits down with Gytenis Galkis, Partner at Superhero Capital and venture capitalist with over a decade of experience investing across the Baltic and Nordic startup scenes. From evaluating 600 startups a year to spotting the elusive “founder–market fit,” Gytenis shares what really separates great founders from good ones — and why luck, timing, and conviction all matter more than most entrepreneurs think.

Together, they unpack how investors think, what makes a founder credible, and why being 40 might actually be your startup’s superpower. From poker-table analogies to billion-dollar lessons from Tesla, Uber, and OpenAI, this conversation reveals the human side of venture capital — where judgment, belief, and storytelling shape the future as much as data does.

What you’ll learn:
➡️ How VCs filter and evaluate 600 startups per year.
➡️ The real difference between product-market fit and founder-market fit.
➡️ Why founders around 40 years old statistically succeed more often.
➡️ How investors test “fit” before there’s traction or revenue.
➡️ What makes a non-consensus investment worth the risk.
➡️ Why venture capital is more like poker than spreadsheets.
➡️ How to impress investors with the right risk-reward profile.
➡️ The role of luck, timing, and preparedness in startup success.
➡️ Why some bets fail — and what investors learn from them.
➡️ How to turn deep market insight into a winning pitch.
➡️ The current and future potential of the Baltic startup ecosystem.
➡️ Why even in an age of AI, the future of investing — and entrepreneurship — is still human.

 

Tune in for a candid, insight-packed discussion on startups, risk, and the mindset behind every bold idea that just might make it big. 

 

Connect with Our Guest

Gytenis Galkis – https://www.linkedin.com/in/gytenis/   

Connect with Max (Host)

Max Golikov –  https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxim-golikov/

 

🎧 Listen Now

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/19M3HKc... 

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/pl/podcast...

 

Follow for More Insightful Episodes

Innovantage Podcast:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/innovantage-podcast/

Sigli:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/sigli/posts/?feedView=all 

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/sigli.gang

TikTok: @innovantage / @sigliofficial

In this episode of The Innovantage Podcast, host Max sits down with Dennis van Bregt, Head of Data Analytics & AI at allnex, a global leader in materials science. With over 30 years of experience in data, analytics, and AI, Dennis has witnessed the evolution of data from dusty spreadsheets to intelligent, self-learning systems, and shares how mastering “data literacy” is the key to thriving in the AI era.

Together, they explore how data-driven thinking is transforming organizations, why most companies still misuse AI, and how to build a workforce ready for a future powered by automation, analytics, and ethics. From the EU AI Act to data governance, unstructured data, and even VR-powered training, this conversation dives deep into the future of work – where humans and machines truly collaborate.

What you’ll learn:

➡️Why “data, data, data” is still 80% of the job even after 30 years of innovation.
➡️ How AI is changing the game for unstructured data like PDFs, meetings, and transcripts.
➡️ Why true data literacy could save your company from AI chaos.
➡️ How the EU AI Act and GDPR are reshaping responsible innovation.
➡️ Why Dennis built a private, company-safe version of ChatGPT  and what it teaches about data security.
➡️ The surprising link between storytelling and successful tech adoption.
➡️ How to teach AI and data skills to everyone from factory workers to executives.
➡️ The creative side of analytics: why dashboards are the new art form.
➡️ What the workplace of 2040 might look like (hint: AR glasses, smart assistants, and shorter workweeks).
➡️ Why AI won’t replace humans, but those who use AI will replace those who don’t.
➡️ How bias, polarization, and misinformation threaten AI’s potential and what we can do about it.
➡️ Why Dennis still believes the future of AI is bright if we stay curious, critical, and human. 

 

Connect with Our Guest

Dennis van Bregt – https://www.linkedin.com/in/dennis-van-bregt-2a868b1/   

Website –  https://www.van-bregt.com/

Connect with Max (Host)

Max Golikov –  https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxim-golikov/

 

🎧 Listen Now

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/19M3HKc... 

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/pl/podcast...

 

Follow for More Insightful Episodes

Innovantage Podcast:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/innovantage-podcast/

Sigli:  https://www.linkedin.com/company/sigli/posts/?feedView=all 

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/sigli.gang

TikTok: @innovantage / @sigliofficial