Podcast
Scouting for Growth
Hosted by Sabine VanderLinden · EN
There are over 180,000 FinTech ventures out there today.
My team tracks 7.3 million of them across markets every single week.
But the number that matters isn't the one that's growing. It's the one that isn't.
Only 25% of these ventures have secured funding and meaningful backing.
The other 75% aren't just looking for capital. They're looking for access, credibility, and partnerships with the institutions that can turn a great product into real-world impact.
This is Scouting for Growth. I'm Sabine VanderLinden. I lead Alchemy Crew Ventures, and I built the Venture-Client Model for regulated industries... the model where a growth venture earns a corporation as its customer before a VC writes the cheque. When that sequence works, it changes the equation for everyone: founders, corporates, and the investors watching from both sides of the table.
Each episode, I bring a founder, an operator, or an institutional leader to the table for the conversation that usually happens behind closed doors: about how corporates really think, how capital really flows, and what it actually takes to build, grow, and scale in a world where the boundaries between FinTech, InsurTech, HealthTech, and AI are dissolving by the month.
This isn't theory. Our conversations should bring you the strategy, the tactics, and the hard-won clarity from people who control capital and collaboration.
If you're navigating this ecosystem — as a founder, an operator, or a leader — this conversation is for you.
Listen in. Challenge what you thought you knew. And join us.
12episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Xavier Lestrade: From Insurance to Personalized Care Pathways: The New Blueprint for Growth
May 700:26:42Tap to summarizeXavier Lestrade: From Insurance to Personalized Care Pathways In this episode of Scouting for Growth, Sabine VanderLinden explores the transformation of health insurance from a claims-paying model to a care partnership approach with Xavier Lestrade, Managing Director of AXA Health International within AXA Global Healthcare. The conversation delves into how AXA Global Healthcare is redefining industry standards by transitioning from traditional insurance products to an integrated membership model focused on prevention, personalization, and digital engagement. Together, they discuss the operational, regulatory, and technological complexities of building all-in-one health platforms and the broader mission of combating medical inflation while making quality healthcare accessible globally. This episode offers an inside look into what it takes for a leading insurer to become indispensable to its members, not just reactive in times of crisis. KEY TAKEAWAYS The future of health insurance is defined by proactive support rather than reactive compensation. The shift Xavier and I discussed is not merely technological; it’s cultural and strategic, centered on creating integrated, member-centric experiences that anticipate needs. I learned that true differentiation in this space hinges on our ability to orchestrate seamless journeys by combining wellness, prevention, payments, and claims into a cohesive platform. The greatest challenge, according to Xavier Lestrade, is bridging regulatory regimes across payments, insurance, and healthcare, which demands expertise beyond traditional insurance boundaries. Moving forward, he sees the largest value in member experience and sustainable healthcare access, not just improved retention or cost control. I was struck by the ambition to leverage AI and ecosystem partnerships, blending human and machine expertise to be not just insurers, but trusted medical concierges for globally mobile members. Ultimately, the discussion reinforced my belief that becoming a care partner is about operational courage, relentless execution, and an unyielding commitment to making health protection truly indispensable, even when no claim is made. BEST MOMENTS “What happens when an insurer stops talking about becoming a care partner and actually starts building like one?” — Sabine VanderLinden “We are kind of the private banking of health insurance. Our members...are expatriates, diplomats, wealthy people, individuals willing to access and navigate the best of healthcare in the world.” — Xavier Lestrade “Bringing this all-in-one app, building bridges between wellness and prevention, virtual healthcare, and insurance into one app, helping us orchestrate the patient journeys of our members.” — Xavier Lestrade “The dream we have is to position ourselves in the eyes of our members as their medical concierge…the person they come to when they’ve got questions regarding preventative healthcare.” — Xavier Lestrade “The most powerful insurance isn’t the policy that pays the claim—it is the partnership that prevents it in the first place.” — Sabine VanderLinden ABOUT THE GUEST Xavier Lestrade is the Managing Director of AXA Health International within AXA Global Healthcare. With over 31 years at AXA and extensive international leadership experience, he has been at the forefront of transforming health insurance into a proactive, data-driven, and member-centered service. Xavier Lestrade leads a global business serving mobile individuals and organizations in 200 countries, focusing on integrating wellness, prevention, and streamlined healthcare journeys to position AXA as a global leader in forward-thinking health solutions. ABOUT THE HOST Sabine VanderLinden is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur and the CEO of Alchemy Crew Ventures. She leads venture-client labs that help Fortune 500 companies adopt and scale cutting-edge technologies from global tech ventures. A builder of accelerators, investor, and co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, Sabine is known for asking the uncomfortable questions—about AI governance, risk, and trust. On Scouting for Growth, she decodes how real growth happens—where capital, collaboration, and courage meet. If this episode sparked your thinking, follow Sabine VanderLinden on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram for more insights. And if you’re interested in sponsoring the podcast, reach out to the team at hello@alchemycrew.ventures
Transcribe →From Org Charts to Work Charts: What the MIT Frontier Firm Paper Means for Insurance, Finance & Risk
Apr 3000:27:11Tap to summarizeFrom Org Charts to Work Charts: What the MIT Frontier Firm Paper Means for Insurance, Finance & Risk In this episode of Scouting for Growth, Sabine VanderLinden explores a 2026 research paper from MIT CISR on how business models are evolving in the age of agentic AI. Drawing on longitudinal data from nearly 2,400 companies, the research highlights a major shift from traditional digital business models toward AI-driven ones. Sabine explains how earlier models, such as supplier, omnichannel, modular producer, and ecosystem driver, have now evolved into four new archetypes: existing plus, customer proxy, modular creator, and orchestrator. She emphasizes that most financial institutions and insurers remain stuck in incremental “existing plus” adaptations, while the real competitive advantage lies in becoming orchestrators that dynamically coordinate ecosystems to deliver customer outcomes. Using her “frontier insurer matrix,” Sabine illustrates how firms can move from rigid, process-driven structures to adaptive, AI-enabled ecosystems. The episode also examines the implications for finance and risk management, highlighting the importance of real-time decision-making, AI governance, and human-AI collaboration. Sabine concludes with five practical imperatives for leaders, stressing that this transformation is not just about adopting AI, but fundamentally rethinking how value is created, delivered, and captured in a rapidly changing landscape. KEY TAKEAWAYS What stood out to me most from the MIT CISR research is that we are not simply witnessing a technology shift. We are seeing a fundamental redesign of business models. Too many organizations are still treating AI as an incremental improvement when, in reality, the opportunity lies in rethinking how value is created and delivered. Moving from “existing plus” to orchestrator requires a mindset shift as much as a technical one. I also see a clear gap between where most insurers and financial institutions operate today and where they need to be. Legacy systems, rigid processes, and siloed structures limit their ability to scale and respond dynamically. The firms that will lead are those that embrace modularity, ecosystem thinking, and API-first architectures, allowing AI agents to operate at speed and scale. Another critical insight is the evolving role of humans. AI can handle routine processes, but trust, empathy, and judgment remain uniquely human strengths. Designing the right human-to-agent ratio for each task will be essential, particularly in high-stakes scenarios. Finally, governance becomes a design challenge rather than just a control function. Risk leaders must define guardrails upfront, shaping how AI operates rather than reacting to its outputs. This is a shift from oversight to architecture. Ultimately, the organizations that succeed will be those that ask not how to use AI, but what new value they can create for customers because of it. BEST MOMENTS “This is not a technology gap, it is a business model gap.” “Scale your ecosystem or get out, or you will be competed by someone who does.” “The frontier insurer doesn’t just pay the claim, it prevents the loss and manages the recovery.” “Risk management has to move upstream from auditor to architect.” “This is not a technology story, this is a purpose story.” “The real question is not how do we add AI, but what can we now do that was impossible before?” ABOUT THE HOST Sabine VanderLinden is a corporate strategist turned entrepreneur and the CEO of Alchemy Crew Ventures. She leads venture-client labs that help Fortune 500 companies adopt and scale cutting-edge technologies from global tech ventures. A builder of accelerators, investor, and co-editor of the bestseller The INSURTECH Book, Sabine is known for asking the uncomfortable questions—about AI governance, risk, and trust. On Scouting for Growth, she decodes how real growth happens—where capital, collaboration, and courage meet. If this episode sparked your thinking, follow Sabine VanderLinden on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram for more insights. And if you’re interested in sponsoring the podcast, reach out to the team at hello@alchemycrew.ventures
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