Client
RECnGO
Service
Product & Project Delivery, Strategic Advisory, Cross-border Scaling, Capital Raise
location
Budapest, Hungary → US, EU, Asia (three continents)
RECnGO started as a product concept I conceived in 2018: that live video production, historically dominated by expensive broadcast equipment and desktop-tethered workflows, would move to mobile-first, AI-driven platforms in the same way editing and videography had. Seven years later, RECnGO had shipped that platform across iOS, Android, and macOS, secured enterprise partnerships with Magyar Telekom (Deutsche Telekom group), Huawei, and SmallRig, and negotiated to term-sheet stage in M&A with a major European telecom group.
I built RECnGO from seed-idea stage as co-founder, CEO, and Head of Product. Seven years, three continents, and a founding role that spanned product vision, commercial leadership, capital raising, and enterprise partnership closing. The chapter closed in 2026. The operating pattern I built during those years is what Szel & Partners now applies to other founder-CEOs at inflection points.
The Challenge
The live video and media production market in 2019 was a paradox: creators wanted mobile-first, easy workflows, but the tools available were either consumer-grade (limited by broadcast quality gaps) or enterprise-grade (locked to hardware, prohibitively expensive, and desktop-only). Meanwhile, the media production industry, including telecoms, broadcasters, and enterprise brands, needed a way to bring live video production into modern mobile workflows without abandoning the quality, reliability, and integration standards enterprise clients required.
Building the platform meant more than shipping software. It meant defining the product category from scratch. Closing partnerships with hardware makers who normally saw software as competition. Convincing telecom groups that a Hungarian startup could deliver enterprise-grade live video infrastructure. Raising international capital in a hardware-adjacent category most European venture investors did not understand. Recruiting cross-continental engineering talent from a Central European base. And doing all of it while the underlying category, mobile-first live video production, was defining itself in real time.
The Approach
Phase 1: Product concept and foundation (2018-2021). This phase was product-first, and I ran it wearing both CEO and Head of Product hats. I defined the product architecture, shipped RECnGO's iOS, Android, and macOS applications with an AI-driven approach to live video production that could stand up to broadcaster expectations, and built the founding international team. This phase closed a seed round of international capital and set the operating rhythm for the years that followed. From day one, the company was designed for international operations rather than domestic scale, which shaped every early hiring, product, and partnership decision.
Phase 2: Enterprise partnerships and industry-first execution (2021-2023). The defining move of RECnGO's middle years was proving that hardware and software could compound rather than compete. As CEO, I closed an industry-first partnership between RECnGO and SmallRig, one of the world's leading video hardware manufacturers, covered by Business Insider and the international tech press. Enterprise partnerships followed with Magyar Telekom (Deutsche Telekom group) and Huawei, positioning RECnGO as a credible layer between broadcaster-grade infrastructure and creator-grade mobile experience. During this period, the team scaled to over twenty across three continents, and I spoke about the mobile-first live video thesis at Web Summit (Huawei Stage, Lisbon), Collision Conference (Toronto), and London Tech Week.
Phase 3: Enterprise scale and M&A track (2024-2026). The final phase moved RECnGO into serious enterprise negotiations and eventually to term-sheet stage in M&A discussions with a major European telecom group. The chapter did not close as originally planned. What it did produce was a complete operator record: full commercial cycle experience from concept through international capital, enterprise partnership closing, cross-border operations, and exit negotiation. That record is now the foundation of the Szel & Partners advisory practice.
The Outcome
Between 2018 and 2026, as co-founder, CEO, and Head of Product, I raised approximately €1.5M across seed and bridge rounds, built and scaled a 20+ person cross-functional international team across three continents, shipped applications on iOS, Android, and macOS to hundreds of thousands of users, and closed enterprise partnerships with Magyar Telekom (Deutsche Telekom group), Huawei, and SmallRig. The industry-first software-hardware partnership with SmallRig was covered by Business Insider. I keynoted on the mobile-first live video thesis at Web Summit (Huawei Stage), Collision Conference, and London Tech Week, with wider coverage in Forbes and Business Insider.
The M&A negotiation with a major European telecom group reached term-sheet stage before the deal did not close. That outcome is part of the record too. What matters for the founder-CEOs I now advise is that every phase of the venture was real, from concept through global partnerships to negotiation table, and the operating patterns that produced it now sit at Szel & Partners.
"Every enterprise partnership starts as an impossibility, until someone in the room commits to closing it. RECnGO taught me the same is true across three continents."
—
Greg Szél
,
Co-founder, CEO & Head of Product, RECnGO
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