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Luis grew up fourth of 11 children. He studied agriculture at UC Davis, then got a PhD in computer science at Berkeley, then built AvantPage, a language company that is now 30 years old with 127 people in 23 countries.He sat down with Miķelis in Riga to talk about why a company is a club and not a family, what a mother of 11 teaches you that no business book will, and the day they found out one of their remote hires was a North Korean operative.On surviving every tech shift since the Apple II, hiring people you may never meet, and why success is just leaving things a little better than you found them.Full episode 70 on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcastsenjoy

Violeta Brenčeva founded Skolas Vārds while pregnant with her first child. Started publishing school books with no experience, in a market that was already taken. She and Kristīne joines us to talk about why balance is a myth, and why a growing company behaves exactly like a newborn. On building fast in a slow industry, why you should never make a decision out of fear, and what it costs a child when the books never arrive. enjoy

We welcomed serial entrepreneur John Airaksinen to Riga to share his journey building a company with his AI co-founder, Julius.On finding your unique, personal and human edge in the age of AI, and using technology to make people feel seen.enjoy.

Marta never planned to start a company.What began with homemade beard oil for her husband has grown into Silmachy, a natural skincare brand selling across Europe.In Episode 67 of the Asketic Podcast, Miķelis Baštiks sits down with Marta to talk about scaling a small business, paid advertising, content, and growing without investors.

Asketic Podcast #66 with our co-founder Miķelis Baštiks and Pärtel Vurma, CEO of Velvet, Estonia's largest design agency.We talked about the business of design, how AI is changing creative work, what clients actually pay for, how agencies approach sales, and why empathy remains a competitive advantage.A conversation about design, business, and the future of creative services.Enjoy.

The same discipline that shapes a football club, is what makes brands and teams last. A special episode with co-Founder Ģirts Mihelsons. We celebrate 20 years of football club Metta & one of the very first logos made by asketic. We get into the story behind the name Metta, why green and white were there from day one, and Ģirts goal of one day making Metta a 100-year club.

A candid story of Ilze Grase Kibilde — moving to another country with two kids as a single parent to become Director of Business Development, Digitalisation and Compliance After Sales at Audi AG. With over 20 years in the automotive industry, she's one of those rare people who knows exactly what long-term thinking looks like in practice. We talked about what it really takes to make a bold career move, how she balances ambition with parenting guilt, why plan B is always ready, and what a 100-year-old brand teaches you about thinking long-term.

When Bitcoin drops, everyone starts questioning crypto. But underneath that, something else is happening. Davis Dargelis has spent years building in this space — and he's one of those rare people who sees clearly without the hype. We talked about why crypto is quietly shifting from speculation to real infrastructure, what MiCA regulation actually means for Europe, why Latvia is making a smart move attracting crypto companies, and how small teams today can operate at a scale that used to require entire departments.

In Asketic Podcast #62, Mikelis Bastiks sits down with Martins Pilens — architect, designer, and founder of My Wine Design and My Wine Basket — to talk premium branding in a tight niche. They talk about Bauhaus thinking, wine culture, why he runs two offers (pro vs lifestyle), and how it grows in the real world: getting into the right shops and places, building distribution, and letting people meet the product offline before they ever see it online.

Most people try to grow their business by working harder, Matīss Kuba builds businesses that work without him. In Asketic Podcast #61, @mikelisbastiks sits down with entrepreneur Matīss Kuba to break down how he uses systems to scale companies — from timber production to modular housing. Full episode on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts #entrepreneurship #businesssystems #asketicpodcast

PLAN8’s Calle Stenqvist & Hans Iwarsson reveal the hidden power of sound in branding, UX and design — explaining how a single tone can define a brand like Spotify or LinkedIn, why “the shorter the sound, the more expensive it should be,” and how silence can be just as powerful as music.PLAN8 is a Stockholm-based design agency for music and sound, behind the sonic identities of Spotify, LinkedIn, LEGO House and more. With over 15 years of experience at the intersection of audio, design and technology, they’ve proven that small studios can shape the world’s biggest brands.In this conversation, Krisjanis Jukumsons, Asketic Studio Partner, sits down with Calle and Hans to explore how sound becomes design — and why it’s time for brands to think with their ears, not just their eyes.They explain: ◼️ Why sound isn’t decoration — it’s a strategic design tool ◼️ How to build a sonic identity that people actually remember ◼️ What makes UX sounds work (and fail) in global platforms ◼️ Why silence sometimes speaks louder than sound ◼️ How PLAN8 creates world-class work with a team of just five

Saruna par pirmo bankrotu, pirmo miljonu un pirmajiem bērniem kopā ar uzņēmēju Gustavu Gotautu un Asketic partneri un dizaineri Miķeli Baštiku

Saruna par lielākajiem izaicinājumiem, uzsākot savu pirmo biznesu — bez ārējiem investoriem, attālināti un bootstrap režīmā kopā ar Supply.Family un Orbyt Studio dibinātāju Kristu Dārziņu un Asketic partneri un dizaineri Miķeli Baštiku.

Kā paralēli darbam izveidot biznesu, kas palīdz viegli un legāli norēķināties ar freelanceriem visā pasaulē – un kā mākslīgais intelekts šo procesu pāatrina un maina.

Saruna ar indie-app izstrādātāju Aivaru Meijeru un Asketic partneri un dizaineri Miķeli Baštiku par uzņēmējdarbību un sava ceļa veidošanu