The Role of Rebelliousness in Innovation — with Synthesia CEO Victor Riparbelli

In this episode of Executive Decisions, Steve Sedgwick sits down with Victor Riparbelli, co‑founder and CEO of Synthesia, to unpack the unconventional thinking that took him from a restless, rebellious childhood in Denmark to leading one of Europe’s most valuable generative‑AI companies. He describes the pivotal moments that guided his trajectory—from a transformative semester at Stanford University to his discovery of the groundbreaking “Face‑to‑Face” research paper, which sparked the idea behind Synthesia. Riparbelli also opens up about the company’s rocky beginnings, including more than 100 investor rejections before a cold email to Mark Cuban led to a game‑changing $1 million investment. The conversation explores the leadership lessons he’s learned scaling Synthesia to a multibillion‑dollar valuation, the importance of staying skeptical in fast‑moving industries and the high‑stakes decisions ahead as the company pushes into its next chapter. Chapters: 01:36 How Hearing Loss Shaped Victor's Early Curiosity and Trend Spotting 04:07 From Websites to Startups: Challenging the Education System 10:08 Why Rebelliousness and Skepticism Drive Entrepreneurial Success 16:04 Comparing Danish Culture to American Ambition at Stanford 18:20 From VR Hype to Founding Synthesia with 'Face-to-Face' 23:07 Why Starting a Company Young is Less Risky Than a Corporate Path 25:52 Overcoming 100 Rejections to Secure Mark Cuban's Investment 29:37 What Victor Looks for in Founders: Fire, Low Ego, High Conviction 34:33 The Next Big Decisions: Scaling a Unicorn and Leading as CEO #CNBC #CNBCPodcast #ExecutiveDecisions ----- Subscribe: @cnbci CNBC International Live: @cnbcinternationalive LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/cnbc-international/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@cnbci Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cnbcinternational Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cnbcinternational/ Threads: https://www.threads.net/@cnbcinternational X: https://twitter.com/CNBCi Telegram: https://t.me/cnbci WhatsApp: https://bit.ly/CNBCiWhatsApp