SaaS: Missteps & Mastery Thu, 05 Mar 2026 18:35:25 -0500 https://www.buzzsprout.com/2427836 en-us © 2026 SaaS: Missteps & Mastery yes 9cff4fb1-11b2-5792-a371-6a0900fd4b69 Bluebird episodic false What’s the secret to building a successful SaaS company?

Join host Machiel Kunst—an ex-operator in SaaS and recruitment expert with over a decade of leadership experience—as he uncovers the pivotal missteps and moments of mastery that define the journeys of SaaS founders and leaders.

Through candid conversations, Machiel explores the failures that taught the biggest lessons and the strategies that led to extraordinary success.

Curious to learn? Tune in.

]]> Buzzsprout (https://www.buzzsprout.com) Bluebird https://storage.buzzsprout.com/anaej7lxqbh0dcrtj7qrjsbsh34i?.jpg SaaS: Missteps & Mastery Caroline Zand-Korteweg | Life as a Female Founder Caroline Zand-Korteweg | Life as a Female Founder In this episode, Caroline, co-founder of Uncover, shares how a casual dinner between two burned-out lawyers sparked one of Europe’s most promising LegalTech startups. What followed was anything but smooth: an MVP built by the wrong people, a founding team with zero technical background, and a fundraising journey that included questions like, “How much money does your husband make?”

But Caroline and her co-founder didn’t give up. Instead, they built a product lawyers actually use. She opens up about building trust in a slow-moving market, the lessons they learned from rebuilding their tech team, and the moment they ditched their homegrown models to go all-in on GPT.

We also talk motherhood, bias, and how being underestimated sometimes becomes your greatest advantage.

]]> In this episode, Caroline, co-founder of Uncover, shares how a casual dinner between two burned-out lawyers sparked one of Europe’s most promising LegalTech startups. What followed was anything but smooth: an MVP built by the wrong people, a founding team with zero technical background, and a fundraising journey that included questions like, “How much money does your husband make?”

But Caroline and her co-founder didn’t give up. Instead, they built a product lawyers actually use. She opens up about building trust in a slow-moving market, the lessons they learned from rebuilding their tech team, and the moment they ditched their homegrown models to go all-in on GPT.

We also talk motherhood, bias, and how being underestimated sometimes becomes your greatest advantage.

]]> Bluebird Buzzsprout-17593464 Thu, 04 Sep 2025 08:00:00 +0200 2488 1 4 full false Matthijs Huiskamp | Mastering the Founder Mindset after a €8M Series A Matthijs Huiskamp | Mastering the Founder Mindset after a €8M Series A In this episode, Matthijs Huiskamp, Co-Founder and CEO of Altura, shares his unconventional path from a failed hardware startup (yes, it involved beer cooling) to raising a €8M Series A and building one of Europe’s most promising SaaS scale-ups. He opens up about the power of focus, why Altura delayed international expansion, and the internal chaos that comes from being “too fast” at hiring.

We also dive into the personal side of leadership; navigating imposter syndrome, hiring people more senior than yourself, and reinventing your role every six months. With plenty of hard-won lessons on growing from freelancer to founder, Matthijs delivers a candid look at what it really takes to lead a 40+ person SaaS company through rapid growth.

]]> In this episode, Matthijs Huiskamp, Co-Founder and CEO of Altura, shares his unconventional path from a failed hardware startup (yes, it involved beer cooling) to raising a €8M Series A and building one of Europe’s most promising SaaS scale-ups. He opens up about the power of focus, why Altura delayed international expansion, and the internal chaos that comes from being “too fast” at hiring.

We also dive into the personal side of leadership; navigating imposter syndrome, hiring people more senior than yourself, and reinventing your role every six months. With plenty of hard-won lessons on growing from freelancer to founder, Matthijs delivers a candid look at what it really takes to lead a 40+ person SaaS company through rapid growth.

]]> Bluebird Buzzsprout-17592609 Mon, 04 Aug 2025 14:00:00 +0200 2386 1 3 full false Lars Mangelsdorf | From SDR to successfully founding & exiting a SaaS business Lars Mangelsdorf | From SDR to successfully founding & exiting a SaaS business In this episode, Lars Mangelsdorf, Co-Founder and CCO of Yokoy, takes us on a journey from his early days as an SDR to building a multi-product SaaS powerhouse. He shares candid insights on scaling aggressively, navigating complex European markets, and the hard lessons learned from over-hiring and rapid expansion. With practical advice on mastering outbound sales and adapting to market nuances, Lars reveals how every misstep paved the way for Yokoy's eventual acquisition by TravelPerk.

]]> In this episode, Lars Mangelsdorf, Co-Founder and CCO of Yokoy, takes us on a journey from his early days as an SDR to building a multi-product SaaS powerhouse. He shares candid insights on scaling aggressively, navigating complex European markets, and the hard lessons learned from over-hiring and rapid expansion. With practical advice on mastering outbound sales and adapting to market nuances, Lars reveals how every misstep paved the way for Yokoy's eventual acquisition by TravelPerk.

]]> Bluebird Buzzsprout-16681799 Tue, 25 Feb 2025 09:00:00 +0100 2435 1 2 full false Hans de Penning | How Losing Focus Can Sink A Startup Hans de Penning | How Losing Focus Can Sink A Startup Hans de Penning is the co-founder of Neople, an AI-powered customer service software. In this episode, he shares with Machiel how one of his previous startups lost focus by pursuing too many side projects.

He also opens up about the challenges of building a strong team, and the steps on how to overcome those obstacles to create a high-performing, motivated workforce.

Hans offers actionable insights on how to regain focus and how to build a winning team from scratch.

Curious to learn? Tune in.

]]> Hans de Penning is the co-founder of Neople, an AI-powered customer service software. In this episode, he shares with Machiel how one of his previous startups lost focus by pursuing too many side projects.

He also opens up about the challenges of building a strong team, and the steps on how to overcome those obstacles to create a high-performing, motivated workforce.

Hans offers actionable insights on how to regain focus and how to build a winning team from scratch.

Curious to learn? Tune in.

]]> Bluebird Buzzsprout-16169382 Mon, 25 Nov 2024 14:00:00 +0100 1545 SaaS, entrepreneurship, start ups, leadership, management, founders, build a company, manage a team 1 1 full false