28 May 2026etn. Live at Panathenea
David Shim: Read AI's Hypergrowth and Digital Twins
Read AI co-founder and CEO David Shim explains the meeting note-taker's 5 million MAUs, 40-50k daily signups and near-zero marketing spend, powered by a 'narration layer' that captures how people react in meetings rather than just transcripts. He traces his analytics career — youngest US stockbroker at 17, Placed sold to Snapchat for ~$200M, Foursquare CEO — and the founding moment of spotting ESPN reflected in a Zoom participant's glasses. He details the sub-100-person org, the move from system of record to system of action via Cloud/OpenAI connectors, MCP and digital twins, and lessons like not planning for exits and under-spending his Series B at Placed.
Apostolos Apostolakis: VentureFriends and the Athens Ecosystem
VentureFriends managing partner Apostolos Apostolakis traces the Greek ecosystem from 2011 — when Beat and Workable first raised from international investors — through Viva Wallet's JP Morgan exit, arguing Athens is trending right but could have moved faster in the last four years. He describes the fund's founder-driven, pan-European B2B/B2C strategy (launched 2016, now on fund four, 60+ companies), why small-market ambition is a no-go, and how moats have shifted to distribution and AI-first thinking. He also previews his Panathenia fireside chat with Plum's founder and pushes back on inflated growth expectations for B2B startups.
News Break: Samsung's $22B Profit Share and ETN Updates
The hosts cover reports that Samsung's employees and unions secured a share of the company's surging memory-chip profits — roughly $22 billion — amid the AI compute boom. They explain ETN's disrupted schedule, recapping the A16Z builders retreat in Monaco and confirming regular programming resumes next week as the European tour wraps. The show then cuts to a loading-screen break before the next guests arrive.
Madeline Lawrence & Henri: Aikido Security and Singular
Singular partner Henri outlines the firm's lead-every-round, deliberately tiny-team strategy and recounts leading Aikido Security's Series A when it was 14 people in Ghent, drawn in by unusual inbound SMB demand for security tooling. Aikido co-founder Madeline Lawrence shares growth since her last ETN appearance — 150 to 260 people, a new Chicago HQ, and over $1 million in net new ARR per week — and explains how the no-BS brand emerged naturally from her relationship with co-founder Willem. The segment ends mid-story on the Neo conference stunt that earned ETN's inaugural Startup Stunt of the Month award and the trade-show commitments behind their Series B launch.