Beginner's Mind
Blueprints for Builders and Investors
Hosted by Christian Soschner
From pre-seed to post-IPO, every company—especially in deep tech, biotech, AI, and climate tech—lives or dies by the frameworks it follows.
On Beginner’s Mind, Christian Soschner uncovers the leadership principles behind the world’s most impactful companies—through deep-dive interviews, strategic book reviews, and patterns drawn from history’s greatest business, military, and political minds.
With over 250 interviews, panels, and livestreams, the show ranks in the Top 10% globally—and is recognized as the #1 deep tech podcast.
With 35+ years across M&A, company building, board roles, business schools, ultrarunning, and martial arts, Christian brings a rare lens:
What it really takes to turn breakthrough science into business—how to grow it, lead it, and shape the world around it.
🎙 Expect each episode to deliver:
- Founder & Investor Blueprints: How breakthrough technologies scale from lab to IPO
- Historical & Biographical Frameworks: Timeless playbooks from the world's great builders
- Leadership & Communication Mastery: Tools to inspire, persuade, and lead at scale
Whether you're building the next biotech success, investing in AI, or leading a climate tech company through hypergrowth—this podcast gives you the edge.
Listen in. Apply what matters. Build companies that last.
📬 Join the newsletter & community: https://lsg2g.substack.com/
Episodes
218 episodes
EP 174: Wanwipa Siriwatwechakul | Funding the Next Industrial Era
Most people still treat climate solutions as a cost.Wanwipa Siriwatwechakul argues that this is exactly why so many leaders miss the real opportunity.The next indus...
EP 173: Bret Kugelmass | The West Bet on the Wrong Energy Future
Power demand is rising faster than the systems meant to support it.AI, electrification, and industry all need stable energy, but the dominant story sold to the public was far simpler than reality. In this episode, Bret Kugelmass ex...
#172 - Fast Forward Thinking: Why Most Investments Fail — And How Elite VCs Think Differently
Most investors think they’re rational.Most founders think they’re disciplined.Most boards think they’re strategic.They’re usually wrong.In this episode, we unpack Fast Forward Th...
EP 171 - Björn Cochlovius: Why Brilliant Biotech Breaks at Manufacturing
Most biotech breakthroughs don’t fail in the lab.They fail when science meets manufacturing reality.And by the time this bottleneck appears, tens of millions are already sunk.This episode examines the most under-discussed failure...
EP 170 - Jim Pulcrano: Why Most Venture Capital Fails And What Europe Still Gets Wrong
Nine out of ten startups fail, yet Europe keeps funding them the same way.Governments replace judgment with bureaucracy, capital replaces experience, and failure is misunderstood instead of learned from.This conversation exposes ...
EP 169 - Why New Year’s Goals Fail by February - Even for Disciplined People
Most goals don’t fail because of laziness or lack of ambition.They fail quietly — buried under daily noise, competing priorities, and forgotten intentions.By March, even the most meaningful goals have slipped down the list… replac...
EP 168 - Alasdair Milton: The Innovation Inflection Point: Why 70% of Cures Never Reach Patients
Breakthrough science has never been stronger — yet patients still miss life-saving therapies.Despite decades of innovation, most precision medicines fail at the last mile of healthcare delivery.The problem isn’t discovery. It’s ho...
#167: Pattern Breakers — 7 Laws Behind Category-Defining Companies
Most founders obsess over ideas.Breakthrough companies obsess over inflections, conviction, and structure.This episode unpacks Pattern Breakers by
SPARK20 – 156: Janos Pasztor | The Climate Diplomat Who Refuses to Give Up on Humanity
The world has grown quiet about climate change. Too quiet.We scroll past floods, fires, droughts… and move on with our day.As if the problem solved itself.As if we’ve earned the luxury to look away.
EP 166 - Karl Nehammer: Why Europe Fails to Scale – And How the EIB Plans to Fix It
Europe leads the world in discovery — yet too often, its breakthroughs never become global companies.Billions in research funding turn into patents, not products.While others build empires from ideas, Europe risks becoming the wor...
EP 165 – Jason Foster: 153 Rejections Later — What Every Founder Must Learn About Resilience
Most founders dream of raising millions. Few survive the 153 “no’s” it takes to get there.Behind every biotech breakthrough lies exhaustion — late-night calls, failed rounds, and investors who walk away at the finish line.What sep...
EP 164 - Kat Kozyrytska: AI in Pharma Is a Yesterday Problem – Why Ethical Frameworks Can’t Wait
Imagine waking up to find your company’s most valuable IP leaked—not by hackers, but by the very AI tools you trusted.This isn’t a distant scenario; it’s happening inside pharma and biotech right now.And the cost isn’t just financial—it...
#163: The NVIDIA Way — 7 Scaling Lessons from Jensen Huang’s Playbook
Most founders obsess over products. Jensen Huang built a $3 trillion company by obsessing over inevitabilities. This episode unpacks The NVIDIA Way by
Marc Penkala | Why Being Wrong is the Secret to Venture Success (SPARK20 – 139)
How do you succeed in a business where being wrong is the norm?Marc Penkala has lived both sides of the table: as an entrepreneur who built, sold, and failed with companies—a...
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EP 162 - Alex Oppenheimer: The Secret Investors Use Before Writing the First Check
Here’s the harsh truth: If your business model can’t survive a spreadsheet, it won’t survive the market.Every year, ambitious founders pour months into product, pitch, and brand—yet the single biggest reason startups die isn’t funding, i...
EP 161 - Enis Hulli: VC Secrets Exposed: Why Only US-Based Startups Dominate (and How to Beat the Odds)
Why do Europe’s brightest founders still feel forced to leave for Silicon Valley—no matter how much money or talent we pour into the region? Every year, ambitious startups across Europe and CEE struggle to scale—not for lack of ideas, ...
EP 160 - Vadim Fedotov: Elevate Your Wellbeing: How Data-Driven Choices Create Peak Performance
Still trying to optimize your health with guesswork and generic advice?Most people settle for “one-size-fits-all” supplements and hope for the best-missing out on the breakthroughs that only real data and personalization can offer.In a ...
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Angeli Möller | Building the Future of Health with Precision, Vision, and Heart (SPARK20 – 142)
How do you lead at the cutting edge of health, data, and AI—while staying deeply human?Angeli Möller has led global data science teams across pharma giants, co-founded one o...
#159: No Rules Rules — 7 Culture Principles That Made Netflix Unstoppable
Most founders add layers to gain control. Reed Hastings built an empire by removing them. This episode unpacks No Rules Rules—the leadership playbook behind Netflix’s rise from a...
EP 158 - Rafael Rosengarten: Why 90% of Cancer Drugs Fail — and the Radical AI Fix You’ve Never Heard Of
Most cancer drugs fail. Not because the science is wrong—because we’re solving the wrong problems.The cost? Over $2 billion per failure. And for the patient waiting on a miracle—there’s no second chance.Behin...
EP 157 - Fabrizio Conicella: Why Europe Keeps Losing the Next Breakthroughs in Medicine
Europe has the science. The talent. The breakthroughs.But when an idea feels too uncertain, our systems shut it down before it has a chance to breathe.And with every safe bet… we quietly lose the next cure, the next Car-T, ...
EP 156 - Janos Pasztor: The Most Controversial Fix for Climate Change
What if the only way to save the planet... is to cool it? Not figuratively—literally. Because the heatwaves, floods, and fires you’ve seen so far? They’re just the beginning.🌍 Emissions keep rising. Global coopera...
#155: Ray Dalio’s Playbook — 7 Principles for Building Scalable, Resilient Companies
What if your business ran like a well-designed machine—one that could evolve, self-correct, and outperform your competition over decades?In this episode, I unpack Principles by Ray Dalio
Suzanne Heywood | From Shipwreck to Boardroom Leadership (SPARK20 - 133)
What does it take to turn extreme adversity into extraordinary leadership? Suzanne Heywood’s life reads like a novel—shipwrecked at seven, isolated at sea for a decade, forging her fathe...
EP 154 - Kristina Levan: Why Life-Saving Therapies Aren’t Reaching Patients—And How to Fix It
ATMPs, gene therapies, and cancer breakthroughs are here—but outdated regulations, high costs, and logistical bottlenecks are blocking access. What needs to change for hospitals to deliver these cures to patients who need them most?💡 ...
