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Building the Spotify for textbooks: How Gauthier van Malderen solved the £300 textbook problem and scaled Perlego from failed first attempt to major universities
Season 9 Episode 14
Hector is joined by Gauthier van Malderen, Founder and CEO of Perlego, the “Spotify for textbooks” and one of Europe’s leading edtech scale-ups.
Gauthier shares the remarkable journey of building Perlego from a personal frustration with expensive university textbooks into a global subscription platform transforming access to educational content. He reflects on early failures, the turning points that led to success, and how COVID accelerated the company’s growth.
The discussion dives deep into topics including:
- Solving the chicken-and-egg problem of marketplace growth
- The power of B2B partnerships in edtech
- Building a resilient and mission-driven culture
- Hiring mistakes, founder evolution, and staying authentic as a CEO
- Lessons from scaling internationally and the differences between European and US venture ecosystems
Gauthier also shares his thoughts on leadership, founder ambition, and why being “more American” changed his mindset on growth and success.
A candid and inspiring conversation about persistence, humility, and global ambition from one of Europe’s standout founders.
Published on 10 hours ago