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

2026-01-13

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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 ide...

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 American billionaire 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.

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