The 5th episode of the Untold Stories podcast follows the path of Bálint Orosz, CEO and founder of Craft Docs, an interactive note-taking app supporting writers and researchers with a frictionless sharing and collaboration platform.

Since Craft’s launch in 2019, the startup has already secured an $8M Series A round investment led by Creandum and many ex-Skyscanner tech entrepreneurs. To understand how they reached this milestone, Bálint shares his journey from becoming an entrepreneur turning a hobby to a work project, through Skyscanner acquiring his agency startup focused on mobile technology to arriving to the decision to get back to the startup game with the daring goal of changing how people structure and write down their thoughts.

“We like to work with curious people….we always want to see new ideas, we never believe we know anything. The more we know, the more we know oh my god, there's so much we do not know.” - This episode is not merely about presenting you with a company’s timeline to success, you can also learn about Bálint’s way of thinking about seizing opportunities, dealing with changes and learning from every situation along the way. Here are some of the questions you will find the answers to:

<0.00>

How did Bálint become an entrepreneur? What makes a good entrepreneur and are there certain personality traits one must have to succeed in this role?

<03.57>

How to gain visibility when starting out in a competing market such as mobile app development and what makes an app sustainable for the long run?

<06.21>

How to be relevant on a global scale? What led to their agency being acquired by Skyscanner? How to make the most out of a learning opportunity like this?

<09.51>

Is there a perfect time to sell a company? How do you know it is time for a change?

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How did the transition period go? What are the roles founders have after a takeover?

<20.00>

How to shift from being a startup CEO to angel investor? What is Bálint’s perception on early startups and hopeful entrepreneurs?

<29.50>

What is the role of ‘inherent curiosity’ and safety in one’s becoming a good entrepreneur? What aspects have the biggest impact on being successful in the startup environment? How to narrow down focus and pick the right choices (as an investor)?

<35.09>

Early days of Craft - what happens when someone puts away the risk-averse conservative approach and goes all in? How was it for Bálint to get back in the game? What are the core values that Craft was built on?

<41.00>

2 week- and 2 year-plans - how does Craft design project management when execution speed & quality is a must in the crowded space they compete in? How coming up with new releases help grow customer loyalty?

<46.47>

How to choose the right people for a startup? Why could it be more important to focus on the company’s success than on ‘vanity metrics’?

<50.45>

How did Craft secure an investment and how did this help with their long-term goals? Is there more pressure in seeking out financing or already securing it and having to prove the company’s worth to investors?

<57.25>

What's next for Craft? Who should drive the innovation of a mobile app - the company or the users? How to shift away from being a product-focused company to being a distribution-focused one?

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What advice would Bálint give to today’s fresh entrepreneurs? Why is it a mistake to focus on investment tiers?