StartingUP
Season 1
Episode 3: Building an AI Speech Assistant for Kids | Quint Wiersma, Speaklee
Building the World's Fastest-Growing AI Community | Jasper Wognum, AI Salon
Let AI Work For You, Never Think For You | Ruben Molenaars, YourMindr
by Parker Miller & Megan De Klein
Quint Wiersema is CEO and co-founder of Speaklee, the AI-driven speech assistant helping children with language and speech disorders practice between sessions with their speech therapist. In episode 3 of StartingUP, we sit down with Quint to talk about how Speaklee started, why it wasn't built to replace speech therapists but to support both them and the families waiting on them, and how a Dutch speech-therapy waiting list problem turned into a startup. From there we get into why validating your idea early matters more than perfecting your product, why you should never be proud of your MVP, and what it's really like sitting across the table from an investor for the first time. No polished founder story, no gatekeeping. Just how one founder learned to build, pitch, and jump before he was ready. ▶ About Speaklee An AI-driven speech assistant supporting children with language and speech disorders, and the speech therapists who treat them, built to shorten the wait for the practice these children need. Site: https://speaklybee.com/ ▶ About StartingUP The founder podcast with no gatekeeping, made at Startup Village, Amsterdam Science Park. Real founder problems and what it actually takes to solve them early. #StartingUP #Speaklee #QuintWiersema #AIforKids #SpeechTherapy #founderpodcast #StartupVillage #AmsterdamSciencePark
Jasper Wognum is a serial AI entrepreneur of 20+ years and CEO of AI Salon, the global community connecting AI founders, builders and investors across 73 chapters on every continent. In episode 2 of StartingUP, we sit down with Jasper to talk about where AI is actually headed. His starting point is simple: technology keeps automating the parts of work nobody's actually good at anyway, the real question is what people do once it has. From there we get into why "local AI" doesn't exist, how he's using AI to build tools that used to cost him tens of thousands a month in SaaS fees, and what 20 years of building companies has taught him about working with people. No polished founder story, no gatekeeping. Just how one founder keeps building, chapter after chapter. ▶ About AI Salon The global AI startup community connecting founders, builders, and investors across 70+ chapters worldwide. Informal, no-suits events built around lightning pitches and real conversation — helping AI founders find funding, customers, and community wherever they are. Site: https://www.aisalon.ai ▶ About StartingUP The founder podcast with no gatekeeping, made at Startup Village, Amsterdam Science Park. Real founder problems and what it actually takes to solve them early. #StartingUP #AISalon #JasperWognum #AIcommunity #AIstartup #founderpodcast #StartupVillage #AmsterdamSciencePark
AI is making us faster and more dependent at the same time. Ruben Molenaars thinks that tradeoff is a problem worth building a company around. In episode one of StartingUP, we sit down with Ruben, founder of Mindr-AI, to talk about the AI layer he's building to keep people thinking for themselves. His starting point is simple: let AI work for you, but never let it think for you. From there we get into the research on cognitive dependency and why so many corporate AI projects quietly stall. Then what it actually takes to build a company that runs against where the whole industry is heading. No polished founder story, no gatekeeping. Just how one founder saw a problem early and decided to do something about it. ▶ About Mindr-AI A Socratic AI platform that sits on top of your existing AI stack. When you're thinking well, it stays out of the way. When it senses you offloading, it nudges you with a question instead of handing over the answer. Site: https://www.mindr-ai.nl Try the free Mindr-AI Scan: https://www.mindr-ai.nl/scan ▶ About StartingUP The founder podcast with no gatekeeping, made at Startup Village, Amsterdam Science Park. Real founder problems and what it actually takes to solve them early. #StartingUP #MindrAI #RubenMolenaars #SocraticAI #AIstartup #founderpodcast #StartupVillage #AmsterdamSciencePark
StartingUP is the podcast for early-stage founders who want real answers, not generic advice. Every episode, we sit down with founders, operators, and ecosystem experts to dig into the actual problems that come up when you're building: from finding your first customers to navigating co-founder dynamics, fundraising, hiring, and everything in between. No gatekeeping. No fluff. Just the stuff that actually moves the needle. Based in Amsterdam, rooted in the startup ecosystem but built for founders everywhere. Subscribe now so you don't miss Episode 1.