For this episode, we sat down with Paul Heiden, CEO of Optics11.

Optics11 builds fibre optic sensing technology for early warning systems. The company operates out of the Netherlands, and its mission is to protect sea lanes, offshore infrastructure, and energy supply from disruption before it happens.

Paul was Chief Product Officer at Bynder, later acquired by THL, and held the same role at Ultimaker, where he helped the company become a leader in 3D printing. Before that, he founded BHOLD and sold it to Microsoft. He also spent 30+ years as a Captain in the Royal Netherlands Marine Corps, including multiple deployments to the Arctic Circle to guard the northern seaways. In 2024, we partnered with Optics11 to place him as CEO.

That background shapes how he talks about Optics11’s mission. The pitch is about winning the high ground and knowing about a threat before anyone else does, because Optics11’s sensors pick up signals long before a problem becomes visible. The company works across two markets. Underwater, where Paul describes the entire space as a black hole and where Optics11 is the only company shedding any light on it. And energy, where the goal is to make our energy provision more reliable.

Throughout the interview, we talked about Optics11's talent culture and where the company is headed next. Paul also walked us through how his time in the Marine Corps and years in DeepTech now shape his vision of talent.

The Big Search conducted the interview: https://www.thebigsearch.com/Research powered by Topliner, our talent intelligence platform: https://topliner.app/

For this episode, we sat down with Joe Wilson, Chief Evangelist at bunq and former COO and Board Member.

Joe began his career building and leading startups before spending a decade in leadership roles at Microsoft. He later ran his own fund backing Series A sustainability companies across Europe.

In the course of that, he joined bunq’s Supervisory Board first, then stepped in as COO during the company’s growth phase, overseeing Marketing, Adoption, Finance, and People. He was also part of the team that drove bunq’s US expansion. He left in 2024, returned in 2025, and now serves as Chief Evangelist.

Founded in 2012 by Ali Niknam, bunq is a European neobank headquartered in Amsterdam. It operates across 30 European countries and targets digital nomads, freelancers, and travellers. In 2021, it raised €193M in what was then the largest Series A in European fintech history, reaching unicorn status. By the end of 2022, it became the first EU neobank to achieve structural profitability.

Across his career, Joe has hired and led teams across geographies, business models, and every stage of company growth. We wanted to understand how bunq approaches hiring, what makes their culture so distinct, and what Joe has learned along the way.

Enjoy the episode!

The Big Search conducted the interview: https://www.thebigsearch.com/

Research powered by Topliner, our talent intelligence platform: https://topliner.app/

For this episode, we sat down with Albert Malikov, CEO and founder of Stacks.

Albert founded Stacks in 2024 after a decade building fintech products. He worked at Plaid (US banking infrastructure) and at Uber, where he was part of the Uber Money team.

Stacks works with enterprise companies on their monthly financial close, helping them close their books faster, more efficiently, and with fewer errors. The product is purpose-built AI for enterprise accounting. It automates the most manual and error-prone finance workflows so teams can close faster and focus on high-impact work.

Albert has personally hired every person at Stacks. He was also involved in the hiring process at Plaid and Uber. We asked him to reveal his hiring secrets and unpack Stacks’ talent approach.

Enjoy the episode.

The Big Search conducted the interview: https://www.thebigsearch.com/

Research powered by Topliner, our talent intelligence platform: https://topliner.app/