Voice of FinTech®

Our guest host, Sara Palmbush, talks to Eva Schram, a Dutch journalist based in San Francisco, about what made Silicon Valley successful, which features Europe should replicate, and which it should avoid when building a successful start-up ecosystem.

Show Notes

In this episode, our guest host Sara Palmbush, American Public Relations and Content Specialist living in the Netherlands, interviews Eva Schram, one of the new book's co-authors, ‘The Secret of Silicon Valley.’ Schram is a Dutch journalist based in San Francisco. Her focus is on start-up culture, tech and innovation. She writes for international media, including the Dutch magazines De Groene Amsterdammer, OneWorld and SamSam and the (Flemish) press agency IPS.

Her co-author, Wibe Wagemans, is a US-based Dutch serial entrepreneur. He started his tech career at Nokia. Since 2006 he has been running and advising startups in Silicon Valley, where he built brands such as Angry Birds and Big Fish. His teams have won the Golden Lion in Cannes and dozens of other awards. He is the founding chairman of the board of Huuuge Games Inc.

Here is what Sara asked Eva:

  • What brought you to the Valley?
  • Why did you decide to co-write this book?
  • What are the key reasons for tech startup success in the Valley? 
  • Tell me how these compare with the Netherlands? 
  • Using the learnings you gained from writing this book, how do you see the current economic/political climate affecting innovation and access to capital worldwide?
  • Can you speak to the importance and nature of networking in the Valley? 
  • What can Stanford University teach the Dutch and other European countries about innovation?
  • Can you speak to some of the most important ‘lessons from the Valley’ for European entrepreneurs? 
  • Any other points from the book you want to share?

Listeners can use the code FRIENDSandSHERPAS to get half off the Dutch or English e-book versions: https://www.botuitgevers.nl/product/het-geheim-van-silicon-valley/

What is Voice of FinTech®?

Aiming to inspire entrepreneurs around the world to launch their new ventures. Connect FinTech enthusiasts with start-ups, incubators, accelerators, investors and incumbents.