This year, the Sifted Podcast didn’t lack big topics to get stuck into — Can Europe build an AI champion? Why are there so many well-funded drone startups? And what exactly is AI doing to the tech workforce?
We also had plenty of big hitters and up-and-coming founders join us for one-on-one interviews with Sifted’s editor and podcast host Amy Lewin, from Sequoia’s Luciana Lixandru to Quantum Systems’ founder Florian Seibel, Portia AI’s founder Emma Burrows to the man-of-the-moment, Lovable founder Anton Osika.
Want to catch-up on what you’ve missed? Below we list the most downloaded Sifted Podcast episodes of 2025. Check out the full back catalogue (and subscribe!) on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you find your podcasts.
Vinted CEO Thomas Plantenga: ‘Vinted is not a company that’s going to exit’
Secondhand marketplace Vinted needs little introduction, with tens of millions registered users around the world who use its app to sell everything from clothes to furniture to even lava lamps.
But the (profitable) company is swiftly becoming far more than a marketplace: it also has its own shipping infrastructure, a payments business and — as of recently — a venture arm.
Despite that, CEO Thomas Plantenga is far from complacent: “If we really want to make secondhand first choice, then everything that we have needs to be a lot better.”
“The only thing that protects you is if you consistently improve what you have, because if you don’t, somebody’s going to see an opportunity to do things better than you do. And if somebody else is delivering more value to users than you, then you don’t deserve the position you’re in.”
In this episode, Amy asks Thomas what’s next for Vinted, how it plans to stay three steps ahead of the pack and what its exit plans look like.
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Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt: 'The AI bubble is a good thing'
Unsurprisingly, listeners loved this special episode recorded in front of a live audience at the Sifted Summit; a fireside discussion between former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Sifted's founder John Thornhill.
They discuss the ongoing AI revolution, with Eric arguing that the technology is actually undervalued today, and why "industrial" bubbles can actually be a good thing after they burst. He also talks about what the rest of the world can learn from Ukraine when it comes to automation in the defence sector, and about how Europe can compete on the global stage in the new AI economy.
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Nord's Tomas Okmanas on why he had to launch an AI startup
Tomas Okmanas is no stranger to scaling a company in a highly competitive space. When he launched NordVPN in 2012, the market was crowded with competitors, but today his company has 15m users, a $3bn valuation and a consistent stream of new features and products in development. At the start of 2025, as if he wasn't busy enough, Tomas launched a new startup — Nexos.ai, a platform that helps enterprises to make the best use of AI models.
In this episode, he tells Amy why he believes he can rise above the competition and scale a huge business in what is the frothiest market of the moment, as well as why Lithuania is a startup hub to watch and why a trip to Davos is worth it for founders.
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How to make partner in less than three years: Cherry Ventures' Dinika Mahtani
Dinika Mahtani is a London-based partner at European early-stage VC Cherry Ventures. In this episode, recorded in the spring, Dinika explains why she thinks deeptech is 'back', why Europe is having a moment — and what impact tariff turmoil is having on her portfolio companies.
She also shares how she made the jump from general manager at Uber to angel investing and then VC — and talks through how she ensured she made partner within just three years of joining Cherry Ventures.
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Lovable’s Anton Osika on churn, calculating ARR and his newfound celebrity status
It’s pretty fun being the frontman of the world’s fastest-growing company, says Anton Osika. But being swarmed by enthusiastic users, opportunistic investors and beady-eyed journalists can occasionally have its downsides.
It’s no surprise everyone wants a piece of Lovable founder and CEO Anton. In July 2025, just eight months after its launch (and shortly before this podcast was recorded), Lovable was crowned Europe’s newest unicorn when it raised $200m at a $1.8bn valuation, and hit $100m ARR.
In this episode of the Sifted podcast, Anton sits down with Amy to discuss the company's push into enterprise, hiring mistakes he’s made and the challenges of building Europe’s startup du jour in public.
