The Scale Lab podcast

Deconstructing the scaling journey of iconic companies through the personal journeys and decisions made by their founders and leaders.

Listen now to the success stories of the leading Dutch tech founders

What is The Scale Lab?

The Scale Lab is an original Techleap.nl podcast on how to scale up your company beyond the Netherlands by deconstructing the entrepreneurial journeys of the leading founders from our ecosystem. Available on Spotify, Anchor, Apple Podcasts.

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Episodes

Discussion with Reid Hoffman, co-founder at LinkedIn and partner at Greylock

We kick-off the season #3 of The Scale Lab with a very special guest - Reid Hoffman. He joined us online from the US to tell us more about his journey as an entrepreneur and as an investor. A rich conversation, where Constantijn van Oranje and Joe Wilson asked specific questions to understand Reid’s perspective on the current situation. Listen now to this exclusive interview.

How Jitse Groen built Takeaway.com to become a leading food delivery player

In this episode, Jitse Groen - founder & CEO of Takeaway.com - shares his path to becoming an entrepreneur. He reflects on the specifics of the Dutch mindset of entrepreneurship as well as elaborates on the strategy behind the company’s aggressive acquisition and active market expansion.

How Pieter van der Does made Adyen one of Europe’s largest fintech unicorns

In this episode, Pieter van der Does - CEO & founder of Adyen, shares his founder journey - from selling BiBit to founding Adyen - one of the few Dutch fintech unicorns, with a market value of more than €60B.

How Robert Vis elevated MessageBird to over $3 billion valuation

In this episode of The Scale Lab, we deconstruct the entrepreneurial journey of Robert Vis - the founder & CEO of MessageBird.

The success story of Booking.com: Gillian Tans, former CEO & chairwoman on the critical decisions that propelled the company’s scaling

In this episode, we talk with Gillian - former CEO & chairwoman of Booking.com - about the company’s scaling story: from its early growth stages to its first billion in revenue.

The scaling journey of a tech legend: How Corinne Vigreux made TomTom a leading global brand

In episode 19 of The Scale Lab podcast, we welcome a special guest. One who can be rightly considered a legend within the Dutch tech ecosystem.

Michiel Muller on Picnic's data-driven disruption of the supermarket industry

In this episode, Michiel Muller — founder and CEO of Picnic — takes us through his entrepreneurial learnings and shares his vision for the future of Picnic and the online supermarket industry.

How Vinted became a global fashion marketplace with Thomas Plantenga (CEO of Vinted)

In episode #20 of The Scale Lab, Constantijn & Joe meet Thomas Plantenga - CEO of Vinted, who shares his exciting entrepreneurial journey as well as sheds light on the key strategic decisions he made as a consultant that placed Vinted back on the global tech scene.

How Taco Carlier revolutionised the biking industry with VanMoof

In this episode, Taco Carlier — founder and CEO of VanMoof, shares how he and his brother Ties redefined the e-bike market in the Netherlands and around the world.

How Yorick Naeff transformed the investing experience of new generations with BUX

In this episode of The Scale Lab, we unravel the entrepreneurial story of Yorick Naeff, CEO at BUX.

How Mark de Lange is disrupting the eyewear industry with Ace & Tate

In this episode, Mark de Lange - founder of Ace & Tate - is sharing the stories behind the brand that revolutionised the eyewear industry in Europe.

How Manon van Essen upscaled her homemade vegan pizza into the Magioni brand

In this episode, Manon van Essen - founder of Magioni - is revealing the ugly truth of what it takes to be an ambitious entrepreneur.

How Chris Hall shaped Bynder's success on the global arena as a SaaS company

In this episode, Chris Hall - founder of Bynder - shares his expert view on what it takes to build a successful SaaS company.

How Marleen Vogelaar successfully scaled Ziel & Shapeways to the US

In this episode, Marleen Vogelaar — founder of Ziel & co-founder of Shapeways — explains how her experience with Shapeways defined her strategic approach when launching the on-demand manufacturing platform Ziel.

How Joelle Frijters brought transparency into the advertising space with Improve Digital

In this episode, Joëlle Frijters - cofounder of Improve Digital - uncovers the important moments of her entrepreneurial journey: from bootstrapping until €80 million in revenue to selling 85% shares of Improve Digital to Swisscom in 2016.

How Derek Roos shook up the enterprise application space with Mendix

In this episode of The Scale Lab, we deconstruct the entrepreneurial journey of Derek Roos - the co-founder & CEO of Mendix.

Constantijn van Oranje and Joe Wilson introducing The Scale Lab

In this introduction episode, our hosts Constantijn van Oranje & Joe Wilson discuss the opportunities & hurdles of scaling a tech startup in the Netherlands.

How Ali Niknam changed the world of banking with bunq

In this episode of The Scale Lab, we deconstruct the entrepreneurial journey of Ali Niknam - the founder & CEO of bunq.

Special 2021 wrap-up & lessons learned with Constantijn van Oranje & Joe Wilson

In this episode, Constantijn and Joe are looking back at all their core learnings from all the amazing discussions they had with our 12 guests throughout season #1 of The Scale Lab.

From a submarine engineer to a successful CEO - How Sid Sijbrandij redefined the world of SaaS with GitLab

In this episode of The Scale Lab, our hosts - Constantijn and Joe - welcome Sid Sijbrandij, CEO and co-founder of GitLab, at the studio.

Shaping the future of global employment and reinventing the culture of scaling with Job van der Voort, CEO of Remote

In this episode, our hosts Constantijn van Oranje & Joe Wilson meet Job van der Voort, CEO of Remote at the podcast studio.

How Maxim Romain transformed the shared micro-mobility industry with Dott

In episode #21 of The Scale Lab podcast, we welcome Maxim Romain, the co-founder of Amsterdam-founded micro-mobility startup Dott.

How Rob van den Heuvel built Europe's #1 shipping platform with Sendcloud

In this episode of The Scale Lab, Constantijn & Joe meet CEO of Sendcloud - Rob van den Heuvel.

Our hosts

Constantijn van Oranje

Constantijn van Oranje leads Techleap.nl, the accelerator for the tech ecosystem in the Netherlands. As Special Envoy he is on a mission to turn The Netherlands into a unicorn nation. He is currently also Director Digital Technology & Macro Strategy at Macro Advisory Partners in London and New York and Edge Fellow at Deloitte Centre for the Edge.

Joe Wilson

Joe is the founder of Risenu, a Netherlands-based company focused on investing and ensuring startup companies succeed and give back while they profit. Joe’s experience varies from running startups to managing billion-dollar businesses on the world stage. This brings a unique view on both strategy and hardcore tactical results.

Our latest blog releases

All podcast learnings in a short yet comprehensive interview format

No time to listen to the whole podcast? Scan through our blog interviews with The Scale Lab guests!

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