<![CDATA[European Business Stories]]>European Business Stories explores what it really takes to build and scale a business in Europe.

Hosted by Micha Busch, each episode features in-depth conversations with founders, operators, and business owners about the strategic decisions, operational bottlenecks, mistakes, challenges, and lessons that shaped their companies.

From bootstrapped businesses and family-owned companies to high-growth startups and industry leaders, the focus is always on the realities behind building something meaningful.

Real businesses. Real challenges. Real lessons.

]]>michabusch.comRiverside.fm (https://riverside.com)Fri, 18 Sep 2026 08:21:30 GMTSun, 07 Jun 2026 07:01:01 GMT60Micha Busch<p>European Business Stories explores what it really takes to build and scale a business in Europe.<br /></p><p>Hosted by Micha Busch, each episode features in-depth conversations with founders, operators, and business owners about the strategic decisions, operational bottlenecks, mistakes, challenges, and lessons that shaped their companies.<br /></p><p>From bootstrapped businesses and family-owned companies to high-growth startups and industry leaders, the focus is always on the realities behind building something meaningful.</p><p></p><p>Real businesses. Real challenges. Real lessons.</p>episodicMicha Buschmicha@bjjfightgear.comno<![CDATA[John Readman (ASK BOSCO / Modo25): Data, AI Hype, and the 4-Day Week]]>John Readman runs Modo25, a performance marketing agency, and ASK BOSCO, an AI data platform now live on the Shopify app store.

We talk about why nobody can honestly call themselves an AI expert yet, how he turned a customer into a board member, his skepticism on agentic commerce, and running a four-day week at full pay.

He also cycles from London to Sydney over 25 years, raising around £350,000 a year for charity.

]]>e0a056c4-9074-4681-bb1e-9419f3f7d179Tue, 04 Aug 2026 13:14:13 GMT<p>John Readman runs Modo25, a performance marketing agency, and ASK BOSCO, an AI data platform now live on the Shopify app store. </p><p></p><p>We talk about why nobody can honestly call themselves an AI expert yet, how he turned a customer into a board member, his skepticism on agentic commerce, and running a four-day week at full pay. </p><p></p><p>He also cycles from London to Sydney over 25 years, raising around £350,000 a year for charity.</p>no00:27:33John Readman (ASK BOSCO / Modo25): Data, AI Hype, and the 4-Day Weekfull<![CDATA[Martins Lasmanis (Supliful) — $18M Revenue in the CPG Industry]]>Martins Lasmanis sold his first company, Grafomap, in 2020 after bootstrapping it with a team of three. His second, Supliful, lets anyone launch a supplement, coffee, or skincare brand without holding stock or fronting the capital for it — and it's on track for $18M in net revenue this year.

Having built and raised capital in both Latvia and the US, Martins has a rare, first-hand view of what actually separates European founders from American ones — beyond the usual clichés. We talk through his exit, the gap he found in the CPG industry, why his fundraising has been harder than his growth, and why fear — not money — is the real constraint most founders face.

Interested in Supliful? Learn more here:
https://go.supliful.com/micha-busch

A European Business Stories production — real conversations with European founders.

]]>c1d2c7af-72a3-42a6-b206-a91beaf7a3e6Wed, 15 Jul 2026 12:22:24 GMT<p>Martins Lasmanis sold his first company, Grafomap, in 2020 after bootstrapping it with a team of three. His second, Supliful, lets anyone launch a supplement, coffee, or skincare brand without holding stock or fronting the capital for it — and it's on track for $18M in net revenue this year.<br /></p><p>Having built and raised capital in both Latvia and the US, Martins has a rare, first-hand view of what actually separates European founders from American ones — beyond the usual clichés. We talk through his exit, the gap he found in the CPG industry, why his fundraising has been harder than his growth, and why fear — not money — is the real constraint most founders face.<br /><br />Interested in Supliful? Learn more here: <br /><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://go.supliful.com/micha-busch" target="_blank">https://go.supliful.com/micha-busch</a><br /></p><p>A European Business Stories production — real conversations with European founders.</p>no00:39:04Martins Lasmanis (Supliful) — $18M Revenue in the CPG Industryfull<![CDATA[Franklin CEO: why strangers trusted him before his friends did]]>Nikolaj Bomann Mertz is the co-founder and CEO of Franklin — a Copenhagen fintech that handles card spend, receipt collection, and bookkeeping automation for e-commerce businesses.

Franklin recently closed a €1.6M seed round and is expanding across the Benelux, with the UK next on the roadmap. In this episode we skip the funding story and go straight to the operational reality.

How do you convince an e-commerce merchant to hand over their ad budget to a fintech they've never heard of? Why were Nikolaj's own friends the hardest people to sign up? And what does expanding from Denmark into the Netherlands actually teach you that you couldn't have learned any other way?

We also talk about ambition — why Nikolaj thinks European founders think too small, what hiring for a "chip on the shoulder" looks like in practice, and the one piece of advice he keeps giving to early-stage founders: get comfortable repeating yourself.

Franklin: hifranklinapp.com
Nikolaj on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/nikolajbomannmertz

]]>3c8855fc-91ed-4b9c-ba5f-4babc16e0858Fri, 03 Jul 2026 14:45:18 GMT<p>Nikolaj Bomann Mertz is the co-founder and CEO of Franklin — a Copenhagen fintech that handles card spend, receipt collection, and bookkeeping automation for e-commerce businesses. <br /><br />Franklin recently closed a €1.6M seed round and is expanding across the Benelux, with the UK next on the roadmap. In this episode we skip the funding story and go straight to the operational reality. <br /><br />How do you convince an e-commerce merchant to hand over their ad budget to a fintech they've never heard of? Why were Nikolaj's own friends the hardest people to sign up? And what does expanding from Denmark into the Netherlands actually teach you that you couldn't have learned any other way? <br /><br />We also talk about ambition — why Nikolaj thinks European founders think too small, what hiring for a "chip on the shoulder" looks like in practice, and the one piece of advice he keeps giving to early-stage founders: get comfortable repeating yourself. <br /><br />Franklin: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="http://hifranklinapp.com" target="_blank">hifranklinapp.com</a> <br />Nikolaj on LinkedIn: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="http://linkedin.com/in/nikolajbomannmertz" target="_blank">linkedin.com/in/nikolajbomannmertz</a></p>no00:31:18Franklin CEO: why strangers trusted him before his friends didfull<![CDATA[Casper Bakker (Picqer) — building a software company without the chaos]]>What does it actually look like to build a market-leading software business with a small team, no bloated meetings, and a culture of calm?

Casper Bakker is the co-founder of Picqer, one of the Netherlands' leading warehouse management platforms. Over 14 years, he and co-founder Steven have grown Picqer into the go-to solution for e-commerce businesses that want to run a professional warehouse without expensive consultants or enterprise complexity.

But what sets Casper apart isn't just the product — it's how he builds. Picqer operates as a "calm company": async-first, light on meetings, high on autonomy, and obsessively focused on doing only the work that actually matters.

In this conversation, Casper walks us through where that philosophy came from, how it functions day-to-day, and what it demands of the people who work there. We talk about strategy without OKR bloat, hiring with extreme patience, first-principles decision-making, and why slow is sometimes fast.

We also get personal: Casper shares the moments when things weren't calm, how he learned to identify and lean into his own strengths, and what he'd tell a founder who feels like they're permanently in crisis mode.

Topics covered:
• How Picqer found its niche in e-commerce warehousing
• The calm company philosophy — what it is and how it works in practice
• Async communication, Basecamp, and ShapeUp for product development
• Strategy with a one-pager instead of complex OKR frameworks
• Hiring slowly and the qualities they look for beyond pure expertise
• Casper's superpowers: spotting what's wrong and making things simpler
• Advice for founders who can't get out of firefighting mode
• Picqer's next step: European expansion

European Business Stories brings you long-form conversations with European founders about the real operational challenges of building a business — without the hustle culture noise.

]]>c7495e48-3b8d-4233-a016-a77cd10b2335Fri, 26 Jun 2026 14:21:28 GMT<p>What does it actually look like to build a market-leading software business with a small team, no bloated meetings, and a culture of calm?<br /><br />Casper Bakker is the co-founder of Picqer, one of the Netherlands' leading warehouse management platforms. Over 14 years, he and co-founder Steven have grown Picqer into the go-to solution for e-commerce businesses that want to run a professional warehouse without expensive consultants or enterprise complexity.<br /><br />But what sets Casper apart isn't just the product — it's how he builds. Picqer operates as a "calm company": async-first, light on meetings, high on autonomy, and obsessively focused on doing only the work that actually matters.<br /><br />In this conversation, Casper walks us through where that philosophy came from, how it functions day-to-day, and what it demands of the people who work there. We talk about strategy without OKR bloat, hiring with extreme patience, first-principles decision-making, and why slow is sometimes fast.<br /><br />We also get personal: Casper shares the moments when things weren't calm, how he learned to identify and lean into his own strengths, and what he'd tell a founder who feels like they're permanently in crisis mode.<br /><br />Topics covered:<br />• How Picqer found its niche in e-commerce warehousing<br />• The calm company philosophy — what it is and how it works in practice<br />• Async communication, Basecamp, and ShapeUp for product development<br />• Strategy with a one-pager instead of complex OKR frameworks<br />• Hiring slowly and the qualities they look for beyond pure expertise<br />• Casper's superpowers: spotting what's wrong and making things simpler<br />• Advice for founders who can't get out of firefighting mode<br />• Picqer's next step: European expansion<br /><br />European Business Stories brings you long-form conversations with European founders about the real operational challenges of building a business — without the hustle culture noise.</p>no00:37:07Casper Bakker (Picqer) — building a software company without the chaosfull<![CDATA[He Built and Sold 2 Companies — Then Got Bored and Did It Again | Jan de Jong]]>At 22, Jan de Jong left the Netherlands for Croatia to write his university thesis — and stayed for good. Twenty years later, he's built and exited two companies (a 400-person call center and an email marketing business), become one of the leading voices behind Croatia's digital nomad movement, and now runs Team Adria, connecting Dutch companies with remote talent across the Adriatic.

In this episode, Jan explains why he sells his companies right when they start running smoothly and "boring" him, what Western European entrepreneurs get wrong about doing business in the Balkans, how he spots gaps between markets to find his next opportunity, and why he's not worried about AI replacing jobs — even while running a staffing agency.

A conversation about knowing your strengths as a founder, the discomfort of starting over, and building a life and business outside the country you grew up in.

European Business Stories — real conversations with European founders about how their businesses actually work.

]]>3324085a-ee9c-4fd8-b577-be46bcc3720bFri, 19 Jun 2026 07:53:58 GMT<p>At 22, Jan de Jong left the Netherlands for Croatia to write his university thesis — and stayed for good. Twenty years later, he's built and exited two companies (a 400-person call center and an email marketing business), become one of the leading voices behind Croatia's digital nomad movement, and now runs Team Adria, connecting Dutch companies with remote talent across the Adriatic.</p><p></p><p>In this episode, Jan explains why he sells his companies right when they start running smoothly and "boring" him, what Western European entrepreneurs get wrong about doing business in the Balkans, how he spots gaps between markets to find his next opportunity, and why he's not worried about AI replacing jobs — even while running a staffing agency.</p><p></p><p>A conversation about knowing your strengths as a founder, the discomfort of starting over, and building a life and business outside the country you grew up in.</p><p></p><p>European Business Stories — real conversations with European founders about how their businesses actually work.</p>no00:33:16He Built and Sold 2 Companies — Then Got Bored and Did It Again | Jan de Jongfull<![CDATA[Jan Behrens — Why He Left Mercedes-Benz to Build a Padel Business From Scratch]]>Jan Behrens spent ten years at Mercedes-Benz. He came in through the management trainee program, built a strong track record, and had every reason to stay.

Then he left to start a padel business in Germany.

In this episode, Jan talks honestly about the decision-making process that led him to walk away from corporate life, what the first months of building a company from scratch actually look like, and how he is thinking about growing Padel Dudes from a single court into something bigger.

He also reflects on what a decade at one of the world's most recognizable companies taught him — and how those skills translate in ways he didn't expect when you're suddenly responsible for everything yourself.

A grounded, honest conversation about the early stage of entrepreneurship — before the success story is written.

Guest: Jan Behrens, Co-founder of Padel Dudes
Follow Jan: LinkedIn
Learn more: Padel Dudes


European Business Stories features long-form conversations with founders and operators across Europe about what it really takes to build and scale a business here.

]]>b37f1fad-46e8-43d8-8149-3006c9dd360cThu, 11 Jun 2026 14:44:51 GMT<p>Jan Behrens spent ten years at Mercedes-Benz. He came in through the management trainee program, built a strong track record, and had every reason to stay.</p><p></p><p>Then he left to start a padel business in Germany.</p><p></p><p>In this episode, Jan talks honestly about the decision-making process that led him to walk away from corporate life, what the first months of building a company from scratch actually look like, and how he is thinking about growing Padel Dudes from a single court into something bigger.</p><p></p><p>He also reflects on what a decade at one of the world's most recognizable companies taught him — and how those skills translate in ways he didn't expect when you're suddenly responsible for everything yourself.</p><p></p><p>A grounded, honest conversation about the early stage of entrepreneurship — before the success story is written.</p><p></p><hr /><p>Guest: Jan Behrens, Co-founder of Padel Dudes <br />Follow Jan: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jan-behrens-a16597124/" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a><br />Learn more: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://padeldudes.de/" target="_blank">Padel Dudes</a></p><p><br />European Business Stories features long-form conversations with founders and operators across Europe about what it really takes to build and scale a business here.</p>no00:36:3811Jan Behrens — Why He Left Mercedes-Benz to Build a Padel Business From Scratchfull