Scouting for Growth

Monica Eaton: Resilient Strategies & Ethical Leadership

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Monica Eaton, who embodies resilience and strategic foresight.
This conversation covers: origin stories and multifaceted skills, tackling ecommerce pitfalls, business strategies and ethical practices, and predicting the future and human capital.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Part of being an entrepreneur is deciding who you want to be and who you want to affect, and it becomes a journey of constant trial and error, but the dots never connect in the way you anticipate. My vision with Chargebacks911 was to be the next eBay, and I failed my way to success in international business.
I became an expert at chargebacks, not because I loved it, but because it was unavoidable. I started getting calls from the merchant providers that we did business with, even the ones that closed down my account because I had too many chargebacks. They asked me for advice on the challenges they were facing. So, I set up a website to consult.
I believe in exposing people from all walks of life to technology, whether they like it or not. I had no interest in computer programming at school. But one of the high schools I attended didn’t offer any arts subjects, so I was forced to take 2 computer programming courses. I found I had an aptitude for it, and I fell in love with it.
Any problem you’re solving in business is a combination of reorganising what currently is, creating an environment that encourages looking outside the box, and figuring out the formula for success.
BEST MOMENTS‘It was either lose my business or figure out what the source of the problem was and solve it.’‘It feels good to be on the other side and rant at someone about the problems you’re having, but it feels even better to actually help someone.’‘Solving problems is a form of art, it’s creative.’‘With technology, the impossible is possible; it just takes a little bit longer.’
ABOUT THE GUESTMonica Eaton, a successful entrepreneur since her teenage years, exited her first business before turning 20. This marked the beginning of a multifaceted career, and she is now a key leader in transformative business initiatives. In 2011, she founded Chargebacks911 to address a market gap, and it has since evolved into a high-impact solution for online merchants. Today, Chargebacks911 is an industry frontrunner, known for delivering accountable outcomes. Monica also launched Fi911, providing tech-centric solutions for chargebacks and merchant lifecycle management, aligning with her vision for a seamless and scalable payments industry.
ABOUT THE HOST
Sabine VanderLinden is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur and the CEO of Alchemy Crew Ventures. She leads venture-client labs that help Fortune 500 companies adopt and scale cutting-edge technologies from global tech ventures. A builder of accelerators, investor, and co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, Sabine is known for asking the uncomfortable questions—about AI governance, risk, and trust. On Scouting for Growth, she decodes how real growth happens—where capital, collaboration, and courage meet.
If this episode sparked your thinking, follow Sabine VanderLinden on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram for more insights.
And if you’re interested in sponsoring the podcast, reach out to the team at hello@alchemycrew.ventures

Terence Bennett: Cracking The Cybersecurity Code

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Terence Bennett, CEO of DreamFactory Software, who brings with him a decade's worth of insights into cybersecurity, adversarial simulations, and API advancements. He's a veteran, both in serving his country and in protecting digital domains.
Today, we're delving deep into Terence's illustrious career, the current cyber threat landscape, and the role of emerging technologies in shaping our digital future.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
If you spend enough time with computers I think you just figure out there’s a whole other world in this application of computing and technology.
I spent a lot of time in hacking forums online in the early 2000s, through that I got into early web development and learning the different ways to use the internet in ways it wasn’t intended.
10 years later I came back around to cybersecurity as a professional.
BEST MOMENTS‘RedTeaming is about simulating an adversary as they go about the process of trying to get into a network, computer, or facility.’‘As cybersecurity, as a field, has matured you’ll find very specific signatures to different kinds of attackers in the way the actually go about doing that.’‘The challenges are, first and foremost, having enough people with the right skills to actually build APIs. Public facing APIs account for 14% of the total number of APIs that teams are buildings, and in some cases they account for 50-75% of a company’s revenue.’‘Ransomware attacks are the 800lb gorilla in the room when it comes to threats… as we see organisations accelerating through digitisation/monetisation strategies, they’re connecting more and more data and systems that used to be offline and you can’t avoid that.’
ABOUT THE GUESTTerence Bennett is the CEO of DreamFactory Software, a leader in API code automation based in Northern California. He has over 10 years of experience in cybersecurity, REST APIs, operations, and leadership. Previously, Bennett was the COO of Integrate.io and a member of Google's offensive security "RedTeam". 
At Google, he helped craft realistic cybersecurity exercises to test the company's defences. He has deep expertise in cybersecurity, penetration testing, and adversarial simulation. Bennett served in the U.S. Navy for over 8 years as a Naval Intelligence Officer and Surface Warfare Officer. 
He was deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and worked at the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS). He is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) and holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics from the U.S. Naval Academy and a Master's degree from the U.S. Naval War College. 
Bennett is passionate about giving back through public service. He serves on the Board of Directors for the American Red Cross - Northern California Coastal Region and on the Board of Advisors for Shields & Stripes, which assists veterans with PTSD. As a leader in API automation, Bennett frequently speaks on how code automation is changing software development. He aims to simplify complex integration challenges and help companies go to market faster.
ABOUT THE HOST
Sabine VanderLinden is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur and the CEO of Alchemy Crew Ventures. She leads venture-client labs that help Fortune 500 companies adopt and scale cutting-edge technologies from global tech ventures. A builder of accelerators, investor, and co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, Sabine is known for asking the uncomfortable questions—about AI governance, risk, and trust. On Scouting for Growth, she decodes how real growth happens—where capital, collaboration, and courage meet.
If this episode sparked your thinking, follow Sabine VanderLinden on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram for more insights.
And if you’re interested in sponsoring the podcast, reach out to the team at hello@alchemycrew.ventures

Roi Agababa: Novidea, The Platform For The Insurance Distributor

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Roi Agababa, CEO of Novidea. From brokers and agents to MGAs and corporate risk management operations. Novidea is setting new standards in how insurance professionals leverage technology for growth, efficiency, and compliance.
On this episode, the pair digs deep into the workings of Novidea's platform to look at how it navigates the maze of challenges that insurance professionals encounter daily, what role it plays in enhancing the distribution journey and the customer experience, and how it adapts to various levels of digital readiness while ensuring data security and compliance.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
I started my path in technology in software development, primarily focused on data and metadata analysis. When we started Novidea, we looked for an industry that is flooded with data and has data technology requirements and gaps. This is how we came up with the idea to focus on insurance and the insurance distribution market specifically.
We have one platform that can serve multiple geographies, compliance, and regulations, offering insurance companies that operate globally a consistent technology stack rather than a fragmented one.
Novidea is a platform that covers everything in one technology stack. What we offer our customers to increase operational efficiency is automation and business process management across all 3 pillars, all in one streamlined process.
Novidea has implemented layers and protocols to segregate data across multiple legal entities that use the platform. We have all the governance and controls in place to safeguard that information.
BEST MOMENTS‘We have a data driven approach: Everything in our platform allows us to measure and improve, we offer our customers the ability, in real time, to get a hold of and understand the data and transforming that into knowledge.’‘Our platform is futureproof; it’s updated and upgraded continuously.’‘No longer do you have to go to a data warehouse to get an understanding of what’s happening and the trends, you’re getting access to information in real time so you’re making better and more educated decisions.’‘We see Novidea as the core platform to manage the entire insurance journey, from the prospect all the way to the renewal and all the financial transactions.’
ABOUT THE GUESTInsurance technology entrepreneur Roi Agababa is the founder and CEO of Novidea, a provider of data-driven and SaaS technologies and best practices to insurance distribution professionals and their customers. The company serves global brokerages, agencies, bancassurance, and corporate risk management operations servicing more than 10M policies worldwide.
Want to know more. Well, book a meeting with Roi's team
ABOUT THE HOST
Sabine VanderLinden is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur and the CEO of Alchemy Crew Ventures. She leads venture-client labs that help Fortune 500 companies adopt and scale cutting-edge technologies from global tech ventures. A builder of accelerators, investor, and co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, Sabine is known for asking the uncomfortable questions—about AI governance, risk, and trust. On Scouting for Growth, she decodes how real growth happens—where capital, collaboration, and courage meet.
If this episode sparked your thinking, follow Sabine VanderLinden on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram for more insights.
And if you’re interested in sponsoring the podcast, reach out to the team at hello@alchemycrew.ventures

John Rossman: Building Leadership Skills The Amazon Way

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine talks to John Rossman, a pioneering force in the digital era and the mastermind behind Amazon's Marketplace. His time at Amazon has deeply ingrained in him a unique set of leadership principles that he now shares with the world through his best-selling book, "The Amazon Way”. John's mission is to empower others to make their own 'big bets' and achieve lasting impact in their respective fields. His work is a treasure trove of insights for anyone looking to understand and navigate the complexities of the digital era. So, get ready for an engaging conversation as we dive deep into the world of 'big bets,' digital transformation, and leadership the Amazon way.
KEY TAKEAWAYSI’m an engineer, a problem solver, and that’s what I love to do with my businesses, my clients, and with leaders.
I was an early leader at Amazon (2002-5), where I oversaw the launch of the Amazon Marketplace. When I left there, I started working with clients on strategy, problem-solving, digital capabilities, and models.
I’ve now written 4 books about how to insert Amazon thinking into your business to compete and win in the digital era.
There are 16 leadership principles at Amazon that really make a difference: The first is Customer obsession – leaders start with the customer and work backwards, they work vigorously to earn and keep customer trust.
If we’re truly going to solve hard problems, innovate, be agile, and test things out, we have to be able to push against and persecute ideas early. 
BEST MOMENTS‘Sometimes the idea is just not quite the right idea, and so you learn, adjust, and move forward.’‘The Amazon Way translates Amazon's unique culture and management practices into insights and opportunities.’‘Amazon believes in internal competition. It's very Darwinian.’‘Simplifying processes, procedures, requirements, jobs, technology, projects, everything is super hard work and it’s super critical if you want to scale. Delete, delete, delete is the mantra I impose with clients to take away the calcification of things that build up.’
ABOUT THE GUESTJohn Rossman is a renowned thought leader and expert in digital strategy, known for an audacious decision-making style he calls 'big bets.' His approach has been instrumental in shaping the careers of industry titans like Jeff Bezos and Satya Nadella. John's expertise stems from his time as an executive at Amazon, where he was instrumental in launching the marketplace business model. John is a prolific author. His book, "The Amazon Way," is a deep dive into leadership principles that drive Amazon's success. He is a sought-after consultant, helping businesses transform strategies to thrive in the digital age. He is a popular keynote speaker, sharing insights with audiences worldwide. John's mission is to empower others to make their own 'big bets' and achieve lasting impact in their fields. His upcoming book, "Big Bet Leadership," will be available for free on Kindle. John is a catalyst for change, inspiring others to make audacious decisions and come out winners in the hyper-digital era.
ABOUT THE HOST
Sabine VanderLinden is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur and the CEO of Alchemy Crew Ventures. She leads venture-client labs that help Fortune 500 companies adopt and scale cutting-edge technologies from global tech ventures. A builder of accelerators, investor, and co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, Sabine is known for asking the uncomfortable questions—about AI governance, risk, and trust. On Scouting for Growth, she decodes how real growth happens—where capital, collaboration, and courage meet.
If this episode sparked your thinking, follow Sabine VanderLinden on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram for more insights.
And if you’re interested in sponsoring the podcast, reach out to the team at hello@alchemycrew.ventures

Alex Shevelenko: Elevating Digital Document Experiences

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Alex Shevelenko, the CEO and Co-Founder of Relayto, who brings to the table a compelling narrative of how transforming mundane PDFs and presentations into interactive web experiences is not just an upgrade but a necessity.
Today, we will weave through Alex's entrepreneurial voyage, his insights on leadership, the genesis and trajectory of Relayto, and a glance into the future of digital content experiences. Alex’s perspectives on our dialogue will bring both foresight and actionable intelligence on harnessing interactive content management platforms like Relayto. We unmask the potential of interactive AI-led content management platforms to reshape enterprise communication and how leaders can leverage this technology to foster better engagement in a world of digitalization.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
At my first job, an internship at Microsoft Office in 1997, I discovered that PDF was taking over PowerPoint and Word as the primary format customers wanted. 
The medium we’re advocating is consumer-centric. They start with the end recipient in mind and, in the process, make that vision a reality by using AI and no-code software.
The more valuable the idea for progression, the worse it’s communicated. The more trivial ideas have a ton of clickbait ads that try to get you to buy stuff that you don’t need and solve problems you don’t really have.
BEST MOMENTS
‘Entrepreneurship tends to call on you.’
‘Fundamentally, it’s about the consumer of your content… what do they want to do? Increasingly, they want a conversation rather than be pummelled with information, they want to be engaged and make the interaction their own.’
‘It’s a privilege and a joy to work on something you really believe in.’
ABOUT THE GUESTAlex Shevelenko is the CEO and Co-Founder of Relayto, a document experience platform that turns conventional PDFs and presentations into interactive web experiences.
With over 20 years of experience in the technology industry, Alex has worn many hats across global organizations such as Microsoft, Salesforce, SAP SuccessFactors, and Oliver Wyman Consulting. His career reflects his passion for innovation and his innate ability to lead and inspire teams.
Alex holds an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business and a BA from the University of Pennsylvania. He has also completed executive education at Harvard Business School. As a serial entrepreneur, Alex founded the management consulting firm Glocal Partners, where he advised international companies on growth strategies and innovation. 
This experience laid the foundation for his current venture, Relayto. Since co-founding Relayto in 2017, Alex has rapidly grown the company. Relayto has raised $500K in funding to date and hit $1.6M in revenue in 2022. Under Alex's leadership, Relayto transforms how enterprises communicate and engage with digital documents. 
When he's not building Relayto, Alex is an avid reader and movie buff. He also loves to travel the world, having been to over 29 countries across 6 continents. Alex brings a unique blend of leadership, innovation, and global perspective. 
ABOUT THE HOST
Sabine VanderLinden is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur and the CEO of Alchemy Crew Ventures. She leads venture-client labs that help Fortune 500 companies adopt and scale cutting-edge technologies from global tech ventures. A builder of accelerators, investor, and co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, Sabine is known for asking the uncomfortable questions—about AI governance, risk, and trust. On Scouting for Growth, she decodes how real growth happens—where capital, collaboration, and courage meet.
If this episode sparked your thinking, follow Sabine VanderLinden on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram for more insights.
And if you’re interested in sponsoring the podcast, reach out to the team at hello@alchemycrew.ventures

Pravina Ladva: The Economics of Digitalization

Sabine VdL talks to Pravina Ladva, Group Chief Digital and Technology Officer at Swiss Re. Pravina’s career reads like a playbook for digital transformation, offering answers that could redefine how we view insurance economics.
This conversation is not just timely, it’s urgently needed in a world where data is the new oil and AI is the new electricity. Pravina tells us about why Swiss Re is taking the lead with its groundbreaking Sigma Research Report from the Swiss Re Institute, what we, as an industry, stand to gain or lose, uncovering the blueprints for the future of insurance, digital risk, and how technology could either be the ladder or the snake in this high-stakes game of digital transformation.
KEY TAKEAWAYS         
Today, you can’t turn a corner without talking about AI, tech, and data. This means there’s a huge untapped opportunity. There are a whole load of new business models that we haven’t even dreamed of yet. 
Digitisation is taking the analogue world and putting it into a digital system so that it can be transmitted around the world, both in terms of data and conversation, in a digital context rather than a paper one. Digitalisation is about taking that information and applying it to your business processes.
Many organisations deal with some kind of legacy technology, you need to be aware of your digital environment and work within that as well as what the opportunities are to change it and where some of it is OK, because not all legacy is bad. 
BEST MOMENTS
‘If you type digitisation and digitalisation the come up together on autocorrect, it shows we really have a mixed view on what they both are and mean.’‘Every one of my peers that I speak to is all facing the same challenge: There is a war for talent because we all want the same kind of people to come and do similar kinds of things.’‘No organisation on its own can achieve what it wants to achieve, you need to be very open-minded about who you’re partnering with, whether that’s InsurTechs, large global service providers, whoever it is in the end-to-end ecosystem to really bring the value in the right way.’‘It’s not about your core technology, it’s about what you do with it and how you operate it that makes a difference.’
ABOUT THE GUEST
Pravina Ladva started her career at Abbey National/Santander, gaining experience in the financial technology sector, with responsibility for strategy, delivery, and financial results across various areas. She joined Barclaycard in 2008 and held various roles, including COO of the Digital Marketplace and CIO of Barclaycard Business Solutions. During this time, she led B2B and B2B2C technology and change teams, as well as the build and launch of a digital marketplace platform in the UK.
Pravina Ladva joined Swiss Re in 2017 as Chief Technology and Operations Officer for iptiQ, Swiss Re's digital white-label provider of property & casualty and life & health insurance, and in July 2020, assumed the role of Swiss Re Group Digital Transformation Officer. Pravina Ladva was appointed Group Chief Digital & Technology Officer and member of the Group Executive Committee as of 1 January 2022.
ABOUT THE HOST
Sabine VanderLinden is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur and the CEO of Alchemy Crew Ventures. She leads venture-client labs that help Fortune 500 companies adopt and scale cutting-edge technologies from global tech ventures. A builder of accelerators, investor, and co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, Sabine is known for asking the uncomfortable questions—about AI governance, risk, and trust. On Scouting for Growth, she decodes how real growth happens—where capital, collaboration, and courage meet.
If this episode sparked your thinking, follow Sabine VanderLinden on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram for more insights.
And if you’re interested in sponsoring the podcast, reach out to the team at hello@alchemycrew.ventures

Jonathan Green: Using Chat GTP For Profit

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Jonathan Green, an AI maven and the mastermind behind ChatGPT Profits. Jonathan Green's story is one of radical transformation, resilience, and the relentless pursuit of excellence. From once being fired during a blizzard to becoming a bestselling author with over 300 books under his belt, Jonathan has not only recovered but soared to new heights.
In this episode, we'll delve deep into the world of AI and business acceleration. Jonathan will share insights on how to leverage ChatGPT for immediate revenue generation, the role of AI in building mailing lists, and how ChatGPT enables a remote island lifestyle while running a thriving online business.
KEY TAKEAWAYS         
There are a couple of reasons to start your own business: financial freedom,  decision-making freedom, and locational freedom.
When we were kids, using a calculator in math class was cheating; since then, calculators have become mandatory. How long before AI becomes mandatory?
If you give a computer bad data, you’re going to get a bad result. If we say “Chat GPT, do this…”, the AI will obey us precisely, even if given a bad command. Instead, ask the AI what information it needs you to provide, based on your end goal.
BEST MOMENTS‘Whenever I meet someone who’s travelled, I can always tell because they have a stronger sense of self, ego, more self-confidence, they’ve been in tough situations and survived them. There’s a lot of growth that comes from meeting people from different cultures and having different experiences.’‘Most people who wait to learn to use AI are going to go out of business; people who learn to use Chat GPT are 40% more efficient. That’s a huge differential, an insurmountable edge.’‘The more tasks that I can push down to my AI tools, the more I can accomplish every day.’
ABOUT THE GUESTJonathan Green is no stranger to radical transformations. Once fired during a blizzard, he didn't just recover; he soared. Now, he's the bestselling author of over 300 books and the maestro behind ChatGPT Profits. From his serene island base in the South Pacific, Jonathan masterminds AI-driven solutions through platforms like MidJourney, Claude, and Leonardo.ai. With a robust mailing list of 100k+ subscribers and a podcast showcasing 250+ episodes, he’s an indisputable authority in leveraging AI to catapult online businesses into success stories.
His initiatives, AI Freedom and Fractional AIO, are not mere training programs but transformative experiences, designed to generate quick revenue for startups and optimize businesses. No, you won’t find a 9-5 mindset here. Jonathan teaches you to replace that limitation with scalable, high-ticket offers and automated revenue streams.
Passionate about democratizing AI, Jonathan also uses his expertise as a celebrity ghost-writer to guide entrepreneurs in storytelling that not only sells but turns them into industry heroes. He’s not just in the business of building revenue. He's in the business of building legacies.
For Jonathan, it’s more than just business—it’s a revolution. A revolution you can join to change your life exponentially.
ABOUT THE HOST
Sabine VanderLinden is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur and the CEO of Alchemy Crew Ventures. She leads venture-client labs that help Fortune 500 companies adopt and scale cutting-edge technologies from global tech ventures. A builder of accelerators, investor, and co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, Sabine is known for asking the uncomfortable questions—about AI governance, risk, and trust. On Scouting for Growth, she decodes how real growth happens—where capital, collaboration, and courage meet.
If this episode sparked your thinking, follow Sabine VanderLinden on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram for more insights.
And if you’re interested in sponsoring the podcast, reach out to the team at hello@alchemycrew.ventures

Dr Andrée Bates: The World of AI in Healthcare

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Dr Andrée Bates, neuroscientist and founder of Eularis, an AI-centric company that serves as a catalyst for innovation in healthcare.
The pair delves into the pivot points that drive innovation, the ethical implications of widespread AI adoption, and the tangible ways in which artificial intelligence is reshaping healthcare as we know it.
KEY TAKEAWAYS         
Eularis was created to examine mathematics in commercial activities within the pharmaceutical industry.
Generative AI takes elements of real data, looks at the database on which it’s been trained, makes new connections, and generates something new.
We’re going to have to get to a point where we have some kind of digital certificate in our voice, our video, images, that authenticates whether it’s actually us or not, almost like a digital fingerprint
BEST MOMENTS‘AI is a broad term; there are so many different types of techniques which are classified as artificial intelligence, and under each one, there are different types.’‘We can use AI to repurpose existing drugs – and this happened with Covid.’‘I’ve recently come across AI that is predicting with very high accuracy whether a drug will be successful or not in the long term. That’s set to revolutionise the industry.’
ABOUT THE GUESTDr Andrée Bates stands at the intersection of artificial intelligence, healthcare, and entrepreneurship. A seasoned neuroscientist and a disruptive tech innovator, she has trailblazed the healthcare industry since the early '90s. Dr Bates founded Eularis, a vanguard firm leveraging AI to address healthcare's most pressing challenges, back in 2003. Under her leadership, Eularis has catalysed growth for all the top 50 pharmaceutical giants, driving profits and expanding market share through AI-empowered projects in clinical trials, R&D, and medical affairs.
After launching her career in academia, Dr. Bates made a seamless transition into the corporate sphere, where she continued her legacy of firsts. She is credited with establishing the world's first digital health company in the 1990s, followed by the pioneering of commercial AI applications in healthcare. This entrepreneurial spirit has positioned her as a go-to advisor for an impressive roster of healthcare CEOs.
Her influence extends to both academia and industry circles. Dr. Bates is a sought-after guest lecturer in prestigious MBA programs, including INSEAD Business School and Fordham University, where she instills the next generation with a nuanced understanding of healthcare innovation and AI. A prolific author, her work has appeared in peer-reviewed journals and industry reports. Her international speaking engagements span continents, ranging from Europe and North America to Asia.
Never one to limit her impact, Dr Bates actively champions female entrepreneurs worldwide. She serves as a mentor through Thrive Mentoring, contributes to the programming committee of the Healthcare Businesswomen's Association (HBA), and is a founding member of Chief, a network designed for women leaders.
ABOUT THE HOST
Sabine VanderLinden is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur and the CEO of Alchemy Crew Ventures. She leads venture-client labs that help Fortune 500 companies adopt and scale cutting-edge technologies from global tech ventures. A builder of accelerators, investor, and co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, Sabine is known for asking the uncomfortable questions—about AI governance, risk, and trust. On Scouting for Growth, she decodes how real growth happens—where capital, collaboration, and courage meet.
If this episode sparked your thinking, follow Sabine VanderLinden on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram for more insights.
And if you’re interested in sponsoring the podcast, reach out to the team at hello@alchemycrew.ventures

Emily Tsitrian: Bossing Up or Disrupting Fintech and Millennial Management

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Emily Tsitrian, a fintech powerhouse, seasoned leader, and the author of 'Make Me The Boss,' a transformative guide and toolkit for millennial managers navigating the new complexities of leadership in our current social climate. A world defined by Covid, #BLM, and #MeToo.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
I think a lot of people in my generation have had an experience where, in their early 20s, they're interested in doing big political/social things, and the way to actually change things is to work in technology. Overnight, you can make an app and see how thousands, millions of people change how they work, live, and exist due to technology.
Payment technology has largely been considered to be a commodity because almost every business needs to accept payments. In the past 10-15 years, the payments layer of the entire Fintech stack, from payments to accounting, to accounts receivable, to reconciliation, to tax, has ultimately become more of a strategy rather than something that is an afterthought. 
The dynamic in the American workplace has shifted significantly, changing how we work. Do I want to be doing 9-5 work if there are things like climate change and social upheaval that feel more real and present to me?
The worst thing that can happen is that you fail. Failing at a company isn't a big deal; it’s OK if it doesn't work.
BEST MOMENTS‘At a fundamental level, it’s all about risk, and managing risk. I think there’s going to be a lot of crossover over the next decade or so.’‘What you set up in the early days can become very entangled with your downstream systems and it can be hard to disentangle as you scale, it’s something you want to put a little bit of thought and strategy into as you’re starting out on your entrepreneurial journey.’‘If somebody had told me I was going to be an entrepreneur, I would have laughed, even a year ago. I always loved working in really big companies doing really big things. And rubbing shoulders with VPs and executives, and very much saw myself climbing that corporate ladder. It’s funny how life works.’‘I never want to be laid off again ever, and the only way to truly ensure that is to become an entrepreneur.’
ABOUT THE GUESTIn a Fintech universe often viewed through the traditional lens, Emily Tsitrian is the game-changing asterisk. A seasoned leader with over 7 years in tech management, Emily has captained teams across diverse terrain—from established public companies to explosive unicorn start-ups, including almost 2 years at the Fintech behemoth Stripe.
As the co-founder of Yeeld, a consulting firm specializing in payment implementations, she's not just navigating the complex fintech landscape; she's helping redraw the map. But her expertise isn't confined to fintech. She's a professional services manager who doesn’t just manage, but leads—guiding teams with strategic insights that go beyond spreadsheets and quarterly reports.
ABOUT THE HOST
Sabine VanderLinden is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur and the CEO of Alchemy Crew Ventures. She leads venture-client labs that help Fortune 500 companies adopt and scale cutting-edge technologies from global tech ventures. A builder of accelerators, investor, and co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, Sabine is known for asking the uncomfortable questions—about AI governance, risk, and trust. On Scouting for Growth, she decodes how real growth happens—where capital, collaboration, and courage meet.
If this episode sparked your thinking, follow Sabine VanderLinden on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram for more insights.
And if you’re interested in sponsoring the podcast, reach out to the team at hello@alchemycrew.ventures

Mark Fidelman: Tokenizing Industries

On this episode, Sabine VdL talks to Mark Fidelman, founder of SmartBlocks.Agency, and a globally recognised thought leader with over two decades of tech-fuelled wisdom.Whether you’re a CEO pondering your next strategic move, a CTO looking to harness emerging technologies, or a CDO keen on transformative solutions, buckle up! We’re about to deep-dive into a world where the token is mightier than the sword.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
It's always more fun to join up and coming companies before big businesses come in and take over, but I quickly realised I wasn't building anything by doing this.
The crypto I tend to focus on is the tokenisation/fractionalisation of assets where you break up real estate or something really valuable and you allow the democratisation of that asset to anyone that wants to invest in it.
Tokenisation is much safer than crypto. There’s no such thing as ‘hacked wallets’ because everything’s white listed, it’s attached to you, so if somebody steals those tokens out of your wallet you can go back to the issuer and say “cancel those and reissue mine”, you can’t do that with crypto.
To me crypto is Monopoly money, what I’m doing is real, with real money.
If you were to invest £1,000 every single month in one of the projects that are paying 10-15%, in 10 years you’d have a £30,000 per month income for life – some of that is because the real estate was sold, but on average it works out this way. 
BEST MOMENTS‘For young entrepreneurs the top 5 areas are AI, engineering (like SpaceX), cryptocurrency (find a niche), Ecommerce, and tools and technologies (SaaS-based products that solve a really nuanced problem that no one else is solving).’‘I chose tokens when I fractionalise businesses because it’s a lot easier to set up, then you have a blockchain that does all the management, you’re not working with the stock exchange or have expensive systems in place.’‘It’s the future, if you look at Black Rock, Bank of America, Citi, they’re all saying the same thing: everything’s going to be fractionalised. They’ve already tokenised billions of dollars of bands because you can then trade that anywhere in the world, you’re not subject to local laws.’‘95% of crypto is just a scam, they’re worthless, they’re not backed by anything, they’re just a big ponzi scheme. Though there are 5% that will change the future, we just need to better educate people on what’s what.’
ABOUT THE GUESTAs the founder of SmartBlocks.Agency, Mark Fidelman is a pivotal player in crypto and e-commerce with a career spanning two decades. He's not just a veteran; he’s an industry influencer—endorsed by Forbes and celebrated as a Top 50 Social CEO by Huffington Post.Mark is a growth catalyst, having spearheaded initiatives for NFT trailblazers like WAX.io. His credentials go beyond mere business acumen; he's a respected keynote speaker, a Forbes contributor, and the mastermind behind the YouTube channel, Cryptonized!, where he dissects the hottest trends in crypto.
ABOUT THE HOST
Sabine VanderLinden is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur and the CEO of Alchemy Crew Ventures. She leads venture-client labs that help Fortune 500 companies adopt and scale cutting-edge technologies from global tech ventures. A builder of accelerators, investor, and co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, Sabine is known for asking the uncomfortable questions—about AI governance, risk, and trust. On Scouting for Growth, she decodes how real growth happens—where capital, collaboration, and courage meet.
If this episode sparked your thinking, follow Sabine VanderLinden on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram for more insights.
And if you’re interested in sponsoring the podcast, reach out to the team at hello@alchemycrew.ventures

Jerry Fetta: Building Personal Wealth

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Jerry Fetta, who is on a mission to demystify wealth management, making it accessible and relatable for everyone. As the brains behind Wealth DynamX, Jerry's fingerprints are on numerous success stories across the US, helping countless individuals lay the foundation for solid financial futures.Beyond his role as a financial expert, Jerry has penned three books. In the latest, he lays bare the trials and tribulations he faced, both personally and professionally, and how he overcame these, showcasing a resilience that's nothing short of inspiring.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
I grew up in a lower-income household; my parents didn’t have much money. When I was 8 years old, my parents got divorced, we lost our house, the car got repossessed, and both my parents became homeless. I didn’t have many examples of people succeeding with money or as entrepreneurs.
Sometimes, there’s an advantage to growing up without money. It instilled in me a work ethic, and as an entrepreneur, I’m much more comfortable with risk because I’ve come from a place where I had nothing and am not afraid to go back there if I need to.
As a culture, we believe that if we go to school to get the grades, college to get the degree, get the job, then we save up for retirement, try to pay off the house and build up a nest-egg, then at 60-65 years old, we can finally enjoy what we’ve put together. My Mom was my first client, and we did all that. At 60, she was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and she passed away 6 months later. As a son, it was a shocker, but as a financial professional, I saw the plan unravel, and I didn’t want to have that client experience again or experience personally. I want to enjoy life now.
As CEO, my day-to-day is mostly about observing; I shadow my staff members and attend their calls and meetings. I spend several hours a day reading and studying business and administration, and how to be a better business executive.
BEST MOMENTS‘Wealth DynamX helps families, individuals, and entrepreneurs in North America achieve greater financial education, stability, and freedom in the future.’‘I became a bodybuilder and thought I’d do that forever, but I started to get into the financial industry at 18, got all my licences, and the rest has been a natural progression of evolving and growing and putting my vision into reality over the last 11 years.’‘School is necessary, we need to learn the basics, but I think it does a really poor job on two things, and an area where we can simply improve is telling people the purpose of school. It’s a very long period of our lives where we don’t really know why we’re there.’
ABOUT THE GUESTJerry Fetta is a beacon in the world of finance, with a mission to simplify wealth management and make it relatable to everyone. As the visionary Founder and CEO of Wealth DynamX, Jerry has dedicated his career to helping numerous clients across the U.S. build a solid financial foundation. Jerry's unique approach, rooted in authenticity and applicability, has set him apart in the industry.Get access to Jerry's free book "The Blueprint to Financial Freedom."https://jerryfetta.com/b2fpromo
ABOUT THE HOST
Sabine VanderLinden is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur and the CEO of Alchemy Crew Ventures. She leads venture-client labs that help Fortune 500 companies adopt and scale cutting-edge technologies from global tech ventures. A builder of accelerators, investor, and co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, Sabine is known for asking the uncomfortable questions—about AI governance, risk, and trust. On Scouting for Growth, she decodes how real growth happens—where capital, collaboration, and courage meet.
If this episode sparked your thinking, follow Sabine VanderLinden on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram for more insights.
And if you’re interested in sponsoring the podcast, reach out to the team at hello@alchemycrew.ventures

Megan Bingham-Walker: Why Embedded Goods-in-Transit Insurance

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Megan Bingham-Walker, Co-founder and CEO of Anansi, a cutting-edge company on a mission to revolutionise the goods-in-transit insurance industry.Today, we will dive deep into Megan's journey as an entrepreneur, her vision for the future of goods-in-transit insurance, and the unique approaches and strategies that have propelled Anansi to success.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
I spent a few years working with the Government, 5 years in venture capital, specialising in CleanTech investing in early-stage startups.
I really wanted to found a business in the areas of machine learning and data, and how to solve problems using them.
At Anans,i we built a platform to essentially automate the process for goods-in-transit insurance.
The problem retailers face at the moment is that they may not even know an item is lost or damaged until a customer tells them, so even early identification of that is a big step up.
Insurance is about information; we are an information industry. The new aspect of what we’re doing is bringing this transactional data, so we have a very quick turnaround: 60 days max between when an item is shipped and when we process the claim, and the contract is completed.
BEST MOMENTS‘The biggest problem we’re solving for the retailers is admin.’"We've all experienced something going missing or getting damaged-in-transit, it’s the number 1 cause of customer complaints and never purchasing again. Having a bad purchase experience is a real decision point for consumers.’‘Anansi is a West-African folklore character – I have some family connections to West-Africa and the Caribbean – it’s a spider character which is the keeper of knowledge.’‘What’s exciting about the insurance industry is that there is so much opportunity for innovation and there are still so many areas where you can bring new data and processes, particularly on the claims side, to improve things that I think it’s a very rewarding industry to be part of.’
ABOUT THE GUESTMegan Bingham-Walker is an award-winning entrepreneur, co-founder, and CEO of Anansi – a company on a mission to make goods-in-transit insurance faster, fairer, and more flexible for retailers who thrive on bringing innovative new technologies to market.She is also an Ambassador of the charity PumpAid, which empowers communities and transforms lives, with a mission to end water poverty in Malawi by 2030. In her spare time, she loves weightlifting, Formula One, dancing, hiking, and skiing.
About Anansi:Goods-in-transit insurance platform Anansi creates tailored, embedded, and low-admin insurance products for retailers, logistics providers, and marketplaces. Its open API and web app solution digitise manual processes, including claims, with parametric claim triggers that automate repetitive tasks. Its integrated platform uses Open Banking to allow customers to pay for cover and receive claims payments directly and instantaneously into their accounts. It is the only automated solution in a $33 billion market to offer data-powered signup, parametrically triggered claims and pay-outs when a parcel is lost or delayed, and a simple damage submission process.
ABOUT THE HOST
Sabine VanderLinden is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur and the CEO of Alchemy Crew Ventures. She leads venture-client labs that help Fortune 500 companies adopt and scale cutting-edge technologies from global tech ventures. A builder of accelerators, investor, and co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, Sabine is known for asking the uncomfortable questions—about AI governance, risk, and trust. On Scouting for Growth, she decodes how real growth happens—where capital, collaboration, and courage meet.
If this episode sparked your thinking, follow Sabine VanderLinden on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram for more insights.
And if you’re interested in sponsoring the podcast, reach out to the team at hello@alchemycrew.ventures