Scouting for Growth

Ron Rock: Why Ohio is the Ultimate Launchpad for International Startups

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Ron Rock, former Managing Director for the Financial Services Sector at JobsOhio, now guest editor at FF News.
When you think "FinTech hub," your mind might automatically jump to Silicon Valley or New York. But there’s a powerhouse in the heartland that's giving these coastal giants a run for their money: Ohio.
In our conversation today, we'll unpack why Ohio – a state that puts you within a two-hour flight of 75% of the U.S. and Canadian financial services industry – might just be the strategic move your startup needs to make.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Ohio has the 4th-largest financial services economy in the US, so if you’re looking for partnerships, a market, and people who’ll have a conversation with you, the operating costs will be much lower than on the coasts in New York and California.
If you’re a graduate in IT, thinking about going into an IT profession, maybe it’s time to think about financial services. If you can do that kind of development, programming, or coding, there are a lot of opportunities in InsurTech and FinTech. 
There are a few pillars you need for growth. The first is the state's economy, which we do. Then you need the ecosystem of players – investors, large companies, startups that have found a footing- and the talent in that ecosystem as well. When we look at the talent needed to fill jobs of the future in financial services, we have to ensure curricula are up to par, including AI and low-code environments.
We’re not a one-size-fits-all; we have programmes that didn’t fit earlier-stage companies. We looked at that and how we could support formally and informally, and now we have 3 innovations across the state. These provide support, whether that’s proximity to other innovators or incentives like JobsOhio's Growth Cap for early-stage companies.
BEST MOMENTS
London and the Midwestern states share similar mindsets and amicable relationships. We find a way to make something happen.’
‘Startups have found footing in Ohio because of the climate we’re in; we don’t have large catastrophes or losses, so if you’re testing a new product or company, you have that in your favour.’
‘Ohio is a microcosm of a larger market, almost like a sandbox in which you can pay before you launch.’
‘I call myself a connector, or facilitator, it’s the core of my job. I have to know the industry, but I’ll never get deep into knowing exactly what the industry is doing. So I stay in my lane and make connections to the right individuals, listen to companies, and introduce people.’
ABOUT THE GUEST
Ron Rock is a forward-thinking business management executive and Managing Director of JobsOhio’s Financial Services Sector. With over two decades of experience spanning financial services, insurance, economic development, and process improvement, Ron is renowned for creating and executing strategic growth plans that boost market share, elevate customer loyalty, and broaden service offerings.
A dynamic leader, innovator, strategist, and connector, Ron bridges the gap between traditional institutions and emerging technology ventures. He regularly partners with founders, investors, and corporate stakeholders to identify opportunities for expansion into Ohio, home to the nation’s fourth-largest financial services economy. Under Ron’s guidance, JobsOhio provides tailored incentives and support, empowering promising fintech and insurtech startups to flourish while meeting the needs of major banks and insurers throughout the state.
Known for his collaborative style and commitment to continuous innovation, Ron’s work centers on connecting bright ideas with meaningful partnerships, ultimately creating jobs and sparking economic growth. His deep understanding of market dynamics, coupled with his emphasis on data-driven strategy, has positioned him at the forefront of Ohio’s rise as a nationwide hub for financial technology and insurance innovation.
LinkedIn
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

Alon Kaufman: Unlocking the Future of Privacy Preserving Data Collaboration

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Alon Kaufman, CEO and Co-Founder of Duality Technologies, a company that is revolutionising the way organisations collaborate on data while preserving privacy and security.
During today’s conversation, we’ll explore the vision behind Duality Technologies, the real-world problems it is solving, and how organisations can future-proof themselves against risks by adopting privacy-preserving technologies. We’ll also dive into Alon’s inspiring journey as a technology leader and his perspective on the ethical and strategic aspects of data collaboration in the age of AI and Big Data.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Combining and enhancing data sets is becoming more and more challenging in a world where privacy, security, regulations and data protection are becoming more critical. This is a good thing. What inspires us at Duality is to find a way to allow organisations to unlock the challenges around working together on data in a way that both protects the data and allows you to get the utility out of it.
At the source of Duality is: How can we work on data sets without leaking or sharing the data. That’s where homomorphic encryption comes in. This allows us to work on and analyse data while it remains protected or encrypted.
Two companies each have a list of customers and they both want to understand how many customers they have in intersection. The way you did this before is for company A to disclose it’s list of customers to company B which does the analysis and fins the intersection or go to a trusted third party. With duality, the two companies can use our software platform to run a computation that comes up with the intersection without either company seeing each other’s data.
We all want our governments and law enforcement to be able to do their work, but we don’t want them to pull in every data point that we leave outside. Duality allows law enforcement investigations to run queries and analytics only on data that is allowed and only giving the insights that are needed. Government and healthcare – where data sets are large an sensitive – are big places where Duality has been successful.
BEST MOMENTS
‘In order to get the most value out of data, the more you can bring data sets together and enhance them the better off you are.’
‘Duality’s mission is to run AI data science analytics on data sets that cannot simply be centralised, and doing it where ethe data is  while making sure the data isn’t exposed, privacy isn’t leaked or challenges of data localisation and regulation are not violated.’
‘Companies that already know to work on their own data, and control it, can now go to the next step and do it in a collaborative way.’
‘Insurance companies need to work together around fraud because the fraudsters utilise the fact different companies don’t talk and will attack one and then the other because they know the level of data shared between them is limited.’
ABOUT THE GUEST
Alon Kaufman is the CEO and Co-Founder of Duality Technologies, a pioneering company at the forefront of data encryption and privacy technologies. With over 20 years of experience in technology leadership, Alon has a rich background spanning Big Data, Data Science, Machine Learning, and Cybersecurity.
As a thought leader, Alon frequently speaks on Big Data, Cybersecurity, and Innovation. He is committed to advancing the conversation around data privacy and security.
LinkedIn
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

Sara Simeone: NoCodeLab Vibe Coding or Launching AI Startups with No-Code

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Sara Simeone, an award-winning entrepreneur behind NoCodeLab.ai, the First Vibe Coding Launchpad that helps non-technical dreamers ship AI-powered products in just five weeks—no keyboard sorcery required.
Whether you’re a Gen Z founder sketching ideas on a dorm whiteboard, an investor scouting the next scalable platform, or a corporate leader hunting for fresh growth engines, Sara’s story is your front-row seat to how Vibe Coding is about to change the way we build.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Vibe coding is defined as creating something using your natural language and vibe with the code to try to understand how the product in front of you is changing as you add more prompts/features. It’s an evolution of the drag-and-drop of no-code platforms but allows you to express yourself in a clear, specific and tangible way to translate visions into products.
When I stepped into the startup founder world, I realised that there was a very big problem: There are a lot of subject matter experts who had a lot of dreams, but they couldn’t make these into tangible products. A lot of accelerator programmes only teach you how to launch a product rather than create one because they take for granted that you have a technical co-founder or you can create it yourself, this excludes non-technical founders from a big portion of the entrepreneurial world. Founders don’t need to become techies, but they need a new process to make tch work for them. That’s when I realised AI can help.
My goal is to give non-technical founders the creative freedom to move fast but with the discipline of the corporate world. We guide them to develop something new, that wouldn’t have been able to have been developed before. It’s now possible to create, realise and build that idea, it’s a mindset shift where we can become our own CPOs, CEOs, CMO, COOs, etc, we just need the right community around us.
I want founders to be aware that they can solve their own problems and they can build something in plain English. When you’re building something, ask yourself who are the customers? What do they need? How much am I going to charge for this? Once there you can start generating technical foundations and product requirements – front/back end, database, APIs, etc in order to create that product.
BEST MOMENTS
‘Vibe coding was coined in 2025, so it’s brand new, but I’d been doing it before the term was created.’
‘AI gives us a lot of tools but we need to know how to use them.’
‘The beauty of AI platforms is that if you see that something is going wrong you can question the code, understand what’s wrong and ask the AI to fix it for you.’
‘With vibe coding and NoCodeLab you can build your ideas in days, weeks, or months depending on your technical expertise or background.’
ABOUT THE GUEST
Sara Simeone is a multi-award-winning entrepreneur and product strategist who has spent the past two decades turning frontier technologies into real-world growth engines. Today she wears several cutting-edge hats: Founder of NoCodeLab.ai, the first vibe-driven coding accelerator for non-technical founders; CEO & Co-founder of Niftyz.io, the Web3 token-factory that lets brands transform data and IP into tradable digital assets; and lecturer in Blockchain For Business at the MedieInstitutet in Sweden. 
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

Ivan and Olha Pylypchuk: Unlocking the Power of Agentic AI

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Ivan Pylypchuk, the CEO of Softblues, and Olha Pylypchuk, the company’s COO.
In today’s discussion, we’ll explore: What Agentic AI is and why it’s poised to disrupt traditional business processes, how Ivan and Olha are leveraging multi-agent systems to solve domain-specific challenges and deliver business transformation, and the future of AI agents and their role in shaping the workplace of tomorrow.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
If you talk about traditional AI systems, they can handle one simple, specific task, such as image recognition, data classification, or content generation. Agentic AI is more autonomous and capable of complex decision-making across multiple steps. Our approach is focused on controlled, multi-agent systems. 
The biggest challenge companies face is collecting and integrating data. Often, companies have their valuable data spread across different systems and departments, like customer databases, email records, and business software. These don’t always talk to each other. To ensure an effective AI implementation, you must ensure that all this data is collected neatly and accurately.
Surprisingly, some companies don’t know how their people work. When you observe their processes, you sometimes see that they miss important details about their daily operations, which can lead to significant wasted investment when we rectify these mistakes afterwards. That’s why we invest a lot of time working with and talking to the businesses about how their workflows move from point A to B. Then, we can enhance them with AI.
How team members embrace this technology is very important. Even a perfect solution will fail if teams don’t use it. We create simple interfaces and make sure our systems explain their recommendations in plain language. This approach dramatically improves understanding of how AI works and builds trust.
BEST MOMENTS
‘Agentic AI gives us scalability in different domains, explainability to understand what it’s doing, so we can provide the exact information that is needed across an organisation.’
‘It’s important to start very small, on a piece of a project, so the AI can show clearly its quick results. After the goal has been demonstrated, then we scale the solution.’
‘Our recruitment solution helps reduce time to hire by 60% and provides an increase in the quality of hires by 40%.’
‘It gives you more time to do strategic work that brings more value to the business than managing this data.’
ABOUT THE GUEST
Ivan Pylypchuk is the CEO and AI Solution Architect at Softblues, a company specializing in building multi-agent AI systems to tackle real-world business challenges.
LinkedIn
Olha Pylypchuk is the Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Softblues, where she drives operational excellence and spearheads AI-driven business automation initiatives.
LinkedIn
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

Areiel Wolanow On Unleashing AI, Quantum, and Emerging Tech

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine meets Areiel Wolanow, the managing director of Finserv Experts, who discusses his journey from IBM to founding FinServ Experts, emphasising the importance of focusing on business models enabled by technology rather than the technology itself.
Areiel delves into the challenges and opportunities presented by artificial intelligence, responsible AI practices, and the implications of quantum computing for data security, highlighting the need for organisations to adapt their approaches to digital transformation, advocating for a migration strategy over traditional transformation methods
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Emerging tech should be leveraged to create new business models rather than just re-engineering existing ones. Understanding the business implications of technology is crucial for delivering value.
When harnessing artificial intelligence, it's essential to identify the real underlying problems within an organisation, assess its maturity, and build self-awareness before applying maturity models and gap analyses.
The EU AI Act serves as a comprehensive guideline for responsible AI use, offering risk categories and controls that can benefit companies outside the EU by providing a framework for ethical AI practices without the burden of compliance.
Organisations should prepare for the future of quantum computing by ensuring their data is protected against potential vulnerabilities. This involves adopting quantum-resilient algorithms and planning for the transition well in advance.
Leaders should place significant responsibility on younger team members who are more familiar with emerging technologies. Providing them with autonomy and support can lead to innovative solutions and successful business outcomes.
BEST MOMENTS
'We focus not on the technology itself, but on the business models the tech enables.'
'The first thing you have to do... is to say, OK, is the proximate cause the real problem?'
'The best AI regulations out there is the EU AI Act... it actually benefits AI companies outside the EU more than it benefits within.'
'Digital transformations have two things in common. One is they're expensive, and two is they always fail.'
ABOUT THE GUEST
Areiel Wolanow is the managing director of Finserv Experts. He is an experienced business leader with over 25 years of experience in business transformation solutioning, sales, and execution. He served as one of IBM’s key thought leaders in blockchain, machine learning, and financial inclusion. Areiel has deep experience leading large, globally distributed teams; he has led programs of over 100 people through the full delivery life cycle, and has managed budgets in the tens of millions of dollars.
In addition to his delivery experience, Areiel also serves as a senior advisor on blockchain, machine learning, and technology adoption. He has worked with central banks and financial regulators around the world and is currently serving as the insurance industry advisor for the UK Parliament’s working group on blockchain.
LinkedIn
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

Lisa Bechtold: From AI Governance to AI Transformation

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Lisa Bechtold, a global executive and strategic leader in technology and law, who at the time served as the head of AI governance from a transformative viewpoint at Zurich Insurance Group. Lisa is now with Nestlé.
In this episode, we explore the challenges and opportunities of the current AI transformation, what it takes to drive innovation in insurance while minimizing potential risks of AI, the role of digital trust and sustainability in leveraging AI for long-term growth, and how leaders can prepare their teams for the digital transformation ahead of us.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
AI governance is about how we use AI, which already affects all areas of our private and business lives. The acceptance and potential success of AI applications, tools, and use cases correlate with the respect of legal systems and the culture of the country or region.
With the tools, systems, and platforms we’ve built at Zurich, we’ve driven and scaled AI adoption, including the reuse of solutions that have proven extremely successful. In parallel, we drive AI literacy to foster adoption and ensure AI tools are used optimally. For example, setting the right prompts is crucial for generating the most valuable output from GenAI tools.
On the one hand, we invest in the education of our workforce, with a particular focus on digital upskilling and AI literacy. On the other hand, it’s crucial to allow experimentation in a safe sandbox environment so everyone can embrace technological opportunities. Insurance has always been a data-driven industry, so the adoption of AI techniques is well-founded across the insurance value chain, from risk modelling to all phases of the insurance business.
Looking ahead, with the AI revolution taking place this year, both opportunities and risks will be taken to another level. Today, AI systems are beginning to autonomously interact with one another and adapt their behaviours accordingly. I expec thatt, as things increase within both the interaction of individual AI agents as well as in the creation of high-performance, multi-agent systems. Such multi-agent systems offer a multitude of business opportunities but also pose challenges, such as potential information asymmetries and miscoordination, which need to be understood and managed.
BEST MOMENTS
‘The goal of deploying AI solutions must be to optimise the benefits of the technology while effectively minimising the risks.’‘AI governance is the foundation of being a catalyst of AI innovation and ensures high-quality outcomes and inspires trust in customers.’‘Today we’re focusing on the scalability and further optimisation of our AI capabilities.’‘Managing the complexity of multi-agent systems in a safe and lean way while optimising business value will be one of the key priorities for 2025.’
ABOUT THE GUEST
Lisa Bechtold shares: As a Global Executive and Strategic Leader and Leader in Technology & Law, I have profound expertise and experience in Data, AI, Governance, Digital Risk, and Regulatory Affairs to protect corporate assets and optimise business performance.
After serving as Head of AI Governance at Zurich Insurance Group, I moved to Head of Group Risk Management at Nestlé. I have pioneered and led the operationalisation of a framework for AI Quality & Safety to oversee the development and deployment of AI solutions globally.
My multifaceted background positions me perfectly to provide strategic advice on data, digital solutions, and technology topics, integrating legal & risk considerations, to generate sustainable business value and digital trust as a competitive edge.
LinkedIn
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 Schmelkin: Transforming Insurance Underwriting with GenAI and AI Agents

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Alex Schmelkin, a visionary entrepreneur who's reshaping the future of insurance operations. Alex is the Founder and CEO of Sixfold, a company at the forefront of harnessing Generative AI to empower insurance underwriters with groundbreaking tools and capabilities.
Today, we'll explore how Sixfold is leveraging Generative AI to transform underwriting practices, the challenges and opportunities in implementing AI at scale, and Alex's vision for the future of insurance operations.
KEY TAKEAWAYS         
There’s close to $7 trillion of premium written around the globe every year. That equals 7% of global GDP, it’s an enormous amount of premium that’s needed for the world to function and for people and businesses to take risks. The most underserved population are the underwriters, the people making decisions day in day out on that $7 trillion worth of business trying to figure out the good and bad risks and why. There’s so little support for these unsung heroes.
The typical underwriter is reading the equivalent of a novel every 2-3 days in documentation. These are not interesting fiction novels, they’re information-dense losses, statements of values of property and exposures. We’ve expected them to consume more and more but it’s information overload. Enter language models and AI, in the first time in human history we have the ability to take in a nearly limitless volume of data and help the underwriter to see through that to find the patterns without having to read every single word on every single page and free them to do the extra research at the end to find the best result for the end customer.
Regulators understand that AI is here and have already embraced it. They’re not as ahead of it as we would like them to be, as an industry, and they’re not getting everything right. But by putting a few fence posts around the problem we’re trying to solve they’ve forced the conversation and the industry to respond to it and to start rolling out the way we are with some of these AI transparency partner models.
The single challenge we run into everywhere is underwriter trust. The underwriters, despite being overworked, there not being enough of them, and despite it being a challenging job, are really good at what they do. The reason is they’ve been trained over the years to do everything they can to get the right answer. They’re the front line protecting insurance companies from bringing on bad risks. The hardest thing is to convince them is that AI is accurate. If they have a bad experience with AI first time they may not go back ever.
BEST MOMENTS
‘I found insurance – or it found me – almost 20 years ago and I’ve never looked back, and it’s all underwriting all the time.’‘The biggest use of GenAI today is helping underwriters to find more accuracy, be more effective, and more transparent in their underwriting efforts.’‘We attempt to arm the human with a bevy of different things for those who are the less value-producing part of their jobs.’‘The human is so much more effective when they’re working beside a robot that helps them be more accurate and more efficient at their job.’
ABOUT THE GUEST
Alex Schmelkin is the Founder and CEO of Sixfold and is at the forefront of revolutionizing how insurance underwriters operate through Generative AI—a game-changing approach that not only enhances decision-making but also streamlines processes for a more efficient future.
His knack for identifying industry pain points and transforming them into innovative solutions has been the backbone of his success. With a deep-rooted belief in the power of technology to drive growth, Alex has consistently pushed the envelope, challenging norms and inspiring those around him.
Beyond his entrepreneurial endeavors, Alex is a dynamic speaker who captivates audiences with insights on SaaS, customer experience, and technology ethics. His passion for responsible innovation shines through in every conversation, as he advocates for solutions that not only meet business needs but also uphold ethical standards.
LinkedIn
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

Anneli Scopazzi: AI-Driven Talent Management and Upskilling Strategies for High-Growth Ventures

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Anneli Scopazzi, CEO and Founder of Boulevard Recruiting. With a background rooted in fast-growth startup environments, Anneli has become an authority on matching world-class talent to the right opportunities—particularly in an era brimming with AI-driven disruption.
Expect a compelling conversation about how technology is changing the face of recruiting, the critical importance of upskilling and reskilling in today’s competitive market, and what early-stage ventures need to keep in mind while scaling with AI.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
We work with early-stage startups, starting with series B but it’s moved down to series C when the market crashed, but we now sit in series A where we’re hoping to scale with those clients for the next couple of years to be the first recruiters on the ground, working very closely with the founders. As the companies start to scale and hire internal recruiters the we’ll work very closely with them too.
Covid benefitted us in vary big way as a remote company founded in Q4 2019, I was fiercely committed to working remotely, it was the number one driver of the company, the name Boulevard was chosen because it represents remote work. When Covid happened, everyone had to figure out how to work remotely and now companies are accustomed to it and how it works.
AI is something that felt scary for a minute back when ChatGPT was released and there was all this appearance of fast acceleration. But, working in tech, we’ve known this has been going on for years. I wanted to be the first to adopt and work with these early tech companies, you don’t want to be the company that doesn’t survive the extinction event if you can’t work it out.
In the recruiting landscape I haven’t seen any amazing AI solutions just yet. There are some things that make us more efficient, but we’re in a bit of a safe space because of the relationship focus, which is really hard to replicate with AI technology. The more exciting thing is working with the AI companies and seeing them get funded massively. It’s an exciting space to be in.
BEST MOMENTS
‘I’ve loved the French language and Paris since I was very young and I didn’t want to name my business after myself. What I love about Boulevard is that it’s of French origin but it’s very recognisable around the world.’
‘What excites me about working with early-stage startups is that you have the ability to do more than you’re qualified to do.’
‘A lot of my personal growth has been very self-taught. That’s been very liberating and rewarding but also can be very painful at times learning through mistakes.’
‘There’s a lot of administrative work in recruiting, in-bound applications have surged dramatically in the last couple of years globally. The recruiting tools we’re seeing are sorting through profiles faster and narrowing it down to a shorter list for the human to review.’
ABOUT THE GUEST
Anneli Scopazzi is the CEO and Founder of Boulevard Recruiting, a boutique San Francisco-based agency that specializes in matching startups with world-class talent in engineering, product, and beyond. 
She began her career in accounting before transitioning into recruiting about seven years ago, initially stepping into a 100% commission role at a boutique agency and later being recruited to Palantir. 
This non-traditional path enabled Anneli to grow quickly in leadership, ultimately becoming Head of Talent at Figma, where she played a key role in tripling the company’s headcount through its Series B and C stages. 
In September 2019, driven by her passion for connecting people and technology, Anneli founded Boulevard Recruiting—a remote-focused firm that balances expert matching of talent with a flexible work culture for its team members.
LinkedIn
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

Emmanuel Djengue: Driving Tech Innovation & Sustainable Growth

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Emmanuel Djengue, a dynamic professional whose passion for technology and user-focused innovation has shaped his remarkable career path. From leading tech initiatives to connecting diverse people and ideas, Emmanuel exemplifies the very spirit of relentless curiosity and strategic thinking that we celebrate on this show.
We’ll be delving into his personal journey, uncovering how he transforms ambition into concrete impact, and discussing the role of collaboration and how talent can play a crucial role in fostering exponential growth as the world goes through a workforce transformation requiring reskilling and upskilling, while finding the talent for the right role across markets.
KEY TAKEAWAYS         
Insurance is a product no one wakes up wanting to buy, but it’s super essential to society and people, especially life insurance. We need to help people understand the importance of insurance and ensure that everything we offer customers is simple, attractive, and delivered at the right time.
Health insurance is also very important. How do we help people with this? I’ve studied how people think to figure out how to motivate them. If you bring this element into industry innovation, we’d be able to improve how people interact with insurance, how they care about it, and how they take care of themselves.
There are 3 types of InsurTech players: Integrators – those that identify solutions and want to integrate them into what an insurance company is doing. Disruptors – They want to change everything that doesn’t work well so that it does. These require financial capability to do that, so there aren't many startups that can be disruptors. Collaborators – who want to touch base with insurers to try to improve what’s going on
The difference between a great and a bad insurer is not so much in the product, efficiency, etc. It’s on the people making the company great. If I need to do more innovation, change things, and bring something different, why not help people solve this issue? The number one business problem for anyone is unsuccessful hiring.
BEST MOMENTS
‘South Africa has one of the most innovative markets in life and health insurance; there are a lot of startups doing great things there.’‘Too many startups turn up in the market to play disruptor roles, but only 1 or 2 players can do this and win.’‘In insurance, David is not going to win against Goliath.’‘Both sides need the partnership and want the partnership to happen.’
ABOUT THE GUEST
From the moment he first tinkered with a computer at a young age, Emmanuel Djengue has been captivated by the power of creativity and innovation to transform lives. His journey—marked by curiosity, resilience, and collaboration—has taken him from passion projects in his hometown to spearheading tech initiatives on a global stage.
Along the way, Emmanuel developed a talent for weaving user-focused storytelling into every project, bridging technology and humanity in impactful ways. Fueled by an enduring love of problem-solving, he thrives on connecting diverse people and ideas to craft solutions that don’t just work but inspire.
Whether rallying a team around a new software concept or mentoring future innovators, Emmanuel’s drive to make a positive impact is as unyielding as his imaginative spirit, promising that every new chapter of his story will be just as vibrant and compelling as the last.
LinkedIn
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

Anna Bojic: Disrupting Customer Engagement with Digital Wallet Technology

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Anna Bojic, founder and CEO of Miss Moneypenny Technologies, which is on a mission to transform wallet apps into dynamic, customer-focused engagement tools.
On this episode, Anna will share how her artistic roots inspired her approach to scaling Miss Moneypenny Technologies, especially in collaboration with leading insurance brands and more, as well as why digital wallets have become transformative assets for businesses looking to modernise their communication, streamline processes, and deliver exceptional customer experiences.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
My co-founder and I have something in common; that we learned a practice of critical refinement, building something up with all the ideas you have but noticing when the time has come when you have to look very intensely at it and strip away everything that isn’t essential to the core of what you intended to do, the real solution behind it and destroying everything you don’t need.
We’re in a world of information overload/overwhelm, and the information has varying qualities. Some is very fleeting, and maybe we don’t need it very often, but when we need it, we really need it. It may be very small, or we may just need it for a short time. We have this information at home, but it was never presented to us in a way that would be helpful when we need it. We realised that the digital wallet could provide the capabilities for reducing the chaos, stress, and overwhelm.
Companies and insurers try to use techniques that work for family members, but they don’t have that kind of pull. But they do have an amazing opportunity to build relationships that are trust- and reliability-based, and have a different tone. The wallet is the home for building these kinds of relationships.
Regarding vehicle insurance, what we would have done if we’d had an accident is scribble our details on a piece of paper and take pictures of driver's licenses (which is a security concern), all while very nervous. Now you can scan the QR code of my digital insurance card. You would receive a digital accident card, which would trigger an automation in Wallet Studio, and both people would receive messages that would then pull us into the client’s processes that Zurich has. It provides us with all the information until the claim is completed. The cost savings are substantial.
BEST MOMENTS
‘I have a background in fine arts, but I’ve always been a creator. I love to think deeply about problems I encounter in whichever subject matter, I just love problem-solving.’
‘We’ve trashed 100,000s of lines of code because we suddenly understood what we should have been doing, to let go of the things that weren’t working and tackle the real solution to the problem.’
‘Expectations of consumers have changed. 5 years ago, it was fine to wait for a week when I placed an order, now I get nervous on day 2.’
‘Wallet Studio adds to the capabilities of what wallet technology can already do, making it scalable within a large company.’
ABOUT THE GUEST
Anna Bojic is the founder and CEO of Miss Moneypenny Technologies, the no-code wallet studio, which enables Businesses to use the native digital wallet apps Apple & Google Wallet to connect and interact with users in a new, powerful way.
It’s a SaaS product, Wallet Studio, a digital wallet engagement and automation suite that enables companies to transform digital wallet cards into dynamic, interactive, meaningful, and invaluable communication hubs.
LinkedIn
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

Danilo Raponi: Driving Insurance Innovation & Sustainability at Generali (Driving Insurance Innovation & Sustainability)

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to Danilo Raponi about the trends and topics from this year’s ITC London event, including AI, sustainability, new startups, and why InsurTech isn’t dead.
KEY TAKEAWAYS         
Climate change is the biggest risk, along with misinformation and generative AI, because its misuse can amplify its spread, affecting many economies and democracies.
Partnerships are essential, though it’s not always super easy, especially when we’re talking about public/private partnerships. There has to be awareness on both sides that the starting points can differ, but the goals and objectives we want to achieve are the same. For example, the public sector doesn’t always seek profit as a motive, but it may recognize that the private sector has to make money somehow.
Technology can really help us with risk protection and the monitoring and detection of things like forest fires. There are fantastic startups out there with devices that detect forest fires extremely early, including devices you can place strategically where fires are likely to occur, as well as satellites. There are many materials that can now be used to rebuild houses and make them less prone to burning down. When these risk mitigations are in place, it becomes easier for insurers to provide insurance.
Insurance and reinsurance are essential to make the world work. And they’ve been important in growth and innovation across the world, going back to the merchants in Venice. Attracting talent from the younger generation is important, but they need to work in a place that lives up to its values. It’s easier to attract talent in innovation because it’s all about technology, and it’s cool. But when you combine purpose with that and show the positive outcomes the products will have for other people, it becomes even easier.
BEST MOMENTS
‘Generali is a 200-year-old startup, which is a fancy way of saying that we’ve always had a remarkable ability to stay ahead of the trends, innovate and be close to our customers.’‘We need to be humble. These are big things that no one can solve on their own.’‘Parametrics can be an option to be looked at in modelling and technologies around insuring the ‘uninsurable’.’‘There’s a growing awareness that all the issues that the world is facing are big ones, but they can also be turned into opportunities for insurance companies.’
ABOUT THE GUEST
Danilo Raponi is the Group Head of Innovation at Generali, Managing Director, Board Member, Angel Investor, MBA (Bocconi), PhD (Cambridge)
Danilo Raponi serves as Group Head of Innovation at Generali, one of the world’s leading insurance and financial services companies. In this capacity, he focuses on accelerating the company’s strategic and business transformation and spearheading new product development to enhance customer experience. Alongside his executive role, Danilo is a Managing Director and Board Member, helping guide strategic decision-making and long-term growth across multiple initiatives. He is also leading Generali Ventures, the VC initiative of the Generali Group, bridging corporate strategy with entrepreneurial ecosystems.
Danilo holds a Master of Science summa cum laude from LUISS University in Rome, an MBA from the Bocconi School of Management, and a PhD from the University of Cambridge. These academic achievements underpin his multidisciplinary approach to innovation, enabling him to navigate complex challenges and foster impactful solutions within Generali’s global network.
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 Hewitt: How CEOs Building Their Empire

On this episode of the Scouting For Growth podcast, Sabine VdL talks to John Hewitt, a true pioneer in the tax preparation and financial services industry, having founded and scaled two companies to over $500 million in value - Jackson Hewitt Tax Service and Liberty Tax Service.
Throughout his illustrious 55-year career, John has always kept his driving purpose in sight – to change lives. He takes pride in having a monumental positive impact on franchisees, employees, and customers. We'll be exploring his strategies for scaling successful empires, overcoming barriers, financing growth models, and more.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
One key ingredient is getting buy-in from everyone involved. You have to have a dream that’s fairly accurate, then get your employees, customers, vendors, investors, etc to buy into where you’re going.
As a franchisee, you want your franchisor to deliver consistency and quality. Whoever offers the worst service in your system will determine what your brand name is worth. We call every customer and ask them how we did, which no one else does, in the franchise world, they send and email, text, or send them a survey. It’s been great for us because not only do we police our brand, but our customers also love being called and asked how we can improve our service to them. Plus, we get higher staff retention and get more referrals.
Anything that’s systemic should be able to be provided by software and computers. We divide issues up into ‘tip of the iceberg’. If it’s systemic – an iceberg – we’re looking for a solution; if it’s just a one-off, we don’t build systems or use software for it. I’ve been doing it this way since 1981, making things more expeditious and consistently high-quality.
Train your staff so they can go anywhere and be successful, but treat them so well that they want to stay. It comes from creating a culture and an attitude in your organisation, and the attitude starts with employees first: If you want your customers to be treated well by your employees, you have to treat your employees well, you have to listen and be loyal to your team, and build a team of people with a great attitude. You can’t teach a great attitude.
BEST MOMENTS
‘There are two major parts of growth: The amount of money you spend, and the amount of money you take in; you always have to make sure they’re balanced.’
‘I’ve been in taxes for 55 years: There are only 2 certainties in life: death and tax, it’s recession proof.’
‘In the pet industry, we’ve seen young people in the past 10 years delay having children. Sometimes I ask if they have children and they say: “I have 2 dogs, those are my children.”’
‘Brand loyalty is such a cool and important thing to have, which is why my company is called Loyalty Brands.’
ABOUT THE GUEST
John Hewitt is a visionary entrepreneur renowned for founding two of the largest tax preparation companies in the United States - Jackson Hewitt Tax Service and Liberty Tax Service. 
As the pioneer behind the "Hewitt" in Jackson Hewitt, John grew the company to over 1,300 offices and $483 million in sales before selling it in 1997.
Undeterred, John founded Liberty Tax in 1997 and rapidly expanded it to over 4,000 offices in the U.S. and Canada. By 2012, Liberty Tax was one of the top 100 largest retail organizations in North America.
Now, John is applying his strategic prowess to investing. He helps entrepreneurs build their own empires as CEO of Loyalty Brands. Guided by ambition and faith, he continues to compete - and win - on an extraordinary level.
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