A special episode this time, not in Dutch but in English! In Berlin, during the VE22/SO22 Steward-Ownership Conference Nina had the chance to sit down with Astrid Scholz. Astrid is an entrepreneur, and one of the initiators of Zebra’s Unite: a global movement of startup founders that do not resonate with the hypergrowth ‘unicorn’ path, but are building businesses that are durable, diverse and for-purpose. This movement gained traction amongst entrepreneurs and investors worldwide, as the detrimental effects of the Silicon Valley growth-at-all-cost model became apparent. Astrid is also founding director of XXcelerate Fund, a revolving loan fund for female entrepreneurs. We spoke on why the Silicon Valley funding system is broken, how to fix it, and how new financing and (steward) ownership structures are being adopted in the United States: the land of Milton Friedman, Wall Street and shareholder primacy.

Check out the shownotes on wearestewards.nl/de-steward-ownership-podcast-special-edition-with-astrid-scholz/