In this episode of The Innovantage Podcast, Max sits down with Jerome Cloetens, Co-founder & CEO at Palau, Sustainability Tech Entrepreneur, to unpack what it really takes to build and scale a startup in today’s AI-driven world. From bootstrapping with almost no runway to signing major enterprise clients, Jerome shares the hard realities, clever strategies, and mindset shifts that kept his company alive and growing even when a regulation change nearly wiped them out overnight.

Explore the psychology of fundraising vs. bootstrapping, the power of community-driven product development, and why enterprise sales are both the hardest challenge and the biggest moat for early-stage startups.

What you’ll learn:

➡️ How startup founders survive between building product and raising funds.
➡️ Why bootstrapping creates discipline and when to switch to venture capital.
➡️ How Palau signed 20+ enterprise clients and built a 750-member expert community.
➡️ Why AI enables small teams to outperform big competitors.
➡️ The reality of enterprise sales cycles and how to shorten them.
➡️ What to do when regulation changes destroy your assumptions overnight.
➡️ Why transparency and non-financial data will reshape global decision-making.
➡️ How AI agents are already transforming real-world workflows.

Connect with Our Guest

Jerome Cloetens –https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeromecloetens/

Connect with Max (Host)

Max Golikov – https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxim-golikov/

🎧 Listen Now

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/19M3HKc1pbeTkYcOeOkJc0?si=aab60a9ec2864ba2

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/pl/podcast/innovantage-podcast/id1749330437

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