Episodes
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This week’s guest is Oliver Holle, Co-founder and Managing Partner at Speedinvest, one of Europe's leading investment companies, which is working with some of the household names in the startup ecosystem such as Tier, Schüttflix or Planetly.
Before becoming an investor, Oliver had started a business himself which struggled quite a bit during the first years but then merged with two other startups and became 3united, a mobile content and messaging company. It was acquired by VeriSign in 2006 for 55 million Euros.
Together with Oliver, who has lived and worked both in Silicon Valley and Europe as a founder and investor, we’ll be taking a look back to find out what learnings he has to share especially from the past year - and we will look into the future: At major trends and developments and how to succeed as a founder or investor in 2021:
“As a founder in crisis, you need to be two things. You need to be ignorant. You can't listen to everybody. You can't believe all the things people tell you, because if you do that, then you throw in the towel immediately. So you have to stick to what you believe in the core. And on the other hand, you have to listen super carefully and differentiate and substance, say, be flat, open up your inner beliefs about what you think is true and really challenge that for yourself.“
Tune in to this episode if you want to hear more about 1) Oliver’s tips for entrepreneurs on how to get through 2021 - another year which will for sure be strongly influenced by the ongoing pandemic, 2) the importance of a strong company culture and a reliable team and 3) what playing cards with his daughter has taught him about taking risks and why he recommends time offline to everyone.
More to explore:
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Hosts:
Britta Weddeling (@bweddeling), Bits & Pretzels podcast host (@bitsandpretzels)
Featuring:
Oliver Holle (@oholle), Co-Founder & Managing Partner at Speedinvest (@speedinvest)
Follow us:
Twitter: @bitsandpretzels
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bits-&-pretzels
If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review. You can also send us feedback at [email protected].
Production: professional-podcasts.com (Regina Körner, Migo Fecke), Sophie Dechansreiter & Dina Zhakupova. -
This week’s podcast guest and his team are moving quantum computing forward in Europe like no one else and they want to make it the new hotspot for the technology.
His name is Jan Goetz and the company he co-founded and now is the CEO of is the German-Finnish startup IQM, which has just recently been all over the news because it received another 39 million Euros in funding. This round, which was led by deep-tech-investor MIG Fonds, adds the total amount of funding up to 71 million Euros. And with that support IQM as a European player enters the race for quantum computing which has so far been mostly between the big tech companies from the US and China.
This podcast episode is all about building up a company around a technology which is not even fully developed yet but which is expected to have a huge impact on all of us. Even if at the moment we’re still talking about research machines as Jan stresses, the vision is huge:
“And if this only partly becomes true, then it will really, really revolutionize society in many, many aspects. So it's still a big promise, but I think we have pretty good chances to see the impacts on society.“
In conversation with Bits & Pretzels podcast host Britta Weddeling Jan talks about 1) what he and IQM are up to, 2) what learnings he has to share as a founder and person from IQM’s journey and 3) what potential he sees for this fascinating technology for every single one of us in the future!
More to explore:
Stay updated on news & insights from us about founders, startups in Bavaria, Austria & Switzerland at www.bitsandpretzels.com.
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Hosts:
Britta Weddeling (@bweddeling), Bits & Pretzels podcast host (@bitsandpretzels)
Featuring:
Jan Goetz (@JanGoetz6), Co-Founder & CEO of IQM (@meetIQM)
Follow us:
Twitter: @bitsandpretzels
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bits-&-pretzels
If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review. You can also send us feedback at [email protected].
Production: professional-podcasts.com (Regina Körner, Migo Fecke), Sophie Dechansreiter & Dina Zhakupova. -
Missing episodes?
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If you had to name one company that during the current pandemic quickly became an essential part of all of our lives – it would very likely have to be Zoom!
And this week on the podcast we welcome the executive who is at the center of that crazy growth story: Harry Moseley, Zoom’s Global Chief Information Officer.
But a sudden growth doesn’t come without a cost - Harry also shared how Zoom was dealing with the difficulties of growing exponentially during this crisis, what at times felt like putting new engines on a flying airplane, and what founders can learn from that experience:
From 1) how to not neglect the root cause of the problem in a hectic situation and 2) how to onboard people efficiently in a crisis situation when the demand for talent is rising at your company to 3) how to navigate a completely new customer group.
More to explore:
Stay updated on news & insights from us about founders, startups in Bavaria, Austria & Switzerland at www.bitsandpretzels.com.
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Hosts:
Britta Weddeling (@bweddeling), Bits & Pretzels podcast host (@bitsandpretzels)
Featuring:
Harry Moseley (@harrymoseleyd), Chief Information Officer at Zoom (@Zoom_us)
Follow us:
Twitter: @bitsandpretzels
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bits-&-pretzels
If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review. You can also send us feedback at [email protected].
Production: professional-podcasts.com (Regina Körner, Migo Fecke), Sophie Dechansreiter & Dina Zhakupova. -
While the whole world is still grappling with the effects of the current pandemic, this week’s podcast guest shows how to not let yourself be defeated by uncertain circumstances:
Jan Frodeno, the three times Ironman World Championship winner, Olympic winner, world record holder and entrepreneur who was our guest at our Bits & Pretzels Networking Week.
He turned the obstacle into an opportunity, invented the first of its kind Ironman@home and turned it into a great success: 320 million people from 50 different countries watched Jan for eight and a half hours swim, cycle and run in his living room.
Not only did he raise 200k Euros for charity but his accumulated PR-value was estimated at 12 Million Euros - almost the same amount he gained from his victory at the world championship.
And after venturing into entrepreneurship himself he shared some learnings from his successful career in sports that have helped him navigate the business world: From 1) why failing and losing from time to time is necessary and 2) why a positive mindset is non-negotiable to 3) how he uses a launching rocket that is moving toward the sky as his personal mantra to focus, build his mental strength and blend out any noise around him.
Tune into Jan Frodeno’s live conversation with Britta Weddeling to get some inspiration and motivation for the year ahead and get 2021 kickstarted on the right foot.
More to explore:
Stay updated on news & insights from us about founders, startups in Bavaria, Austria & Switzerland at www.bitsandpretzels.com.
Signup for our media newsletter to get the next episode of this podcast delivered right to your inbox: www.bitsandpretzels.com/media-signup.
Hosts:
Britta Weddeling (@bweddeling), Editor-in-Chief of Bits & Pretzels (@bitsandpretzels)
Featuring:
Jan Frodeno (@janfrodeno), Olympic Champion and 3x Ironman World Champion
Follow us:
Twitter: @bitsandpretzels
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bits-&-pretzels
If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review. You can also send us feedback at [email protected].
Production: professional-podcasts.com (Regina Körner, Migo Fecke), Sophie Dechansreiter & Dina Zhakupova. -
This week on the Bits & Pretzels Podcast we welcome an entrepreneur who is at the forefront of the global remote work experiment that shows no sign of ending anytime soon, as Europe struggles to contain the second wave of Covid-19.
Stewart Butterfield, the founder and CEO of communication platform Slack, which is certainly a huge winner of this crisis, even though the company is faced with incumbent competitors such as Microsoft.
We've talked to Stewart just before he closed this year’s mega exit in tech that also happens to be Salesforce's largest ever acquisition.
The Slack founder & CEO joined us at our Bits & Pretzels Networking Week – and discussed the future of work as well as the huge growth his company has seen since the pandemic hit with home office becoming the new normal and more than 12 million people actively using Slack every day.
But Stewart also shared his key learnings from his 15 plus years in tech including what’s necessary to navigate the ups and downs of scaling a company and continuously pushing your firm as well as yourself to new beginnings.
More to explore:
Stay updated on news & insights from us about founders, startups in Bavaria, Austria & Switzerland at www.bitsandpretzels.com.
Signup for our media newsletter to get the next episode of this podcast delivered right to your inbox: www.bitsandpretzels.com/media-signup.
Hosts:
Britta Weddeling (@bweddeling), Editor-in-Chief of Bits & Pretzels (@bitsandpretzels)
Featuring:
Stewart Butterfield (@stewart), Founder & CEO of Slack
Follow us:
Twitter: @bitsandpretzels
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bits-&-pretzels
If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review. You can also send us feedback at [email protected].
Production: professional-podcasts.com (Regina Körner, Migo Fecke), Sophie Dechansreiter & Dina Zhakupova. -
This week’s podcast guest is one of the most influential women in the international automotive industry: Hildegard Wortmann, Member of the Board of Management for Sales and Marketing at AUDI AG and a leading expert in brand creation as well as crisis communication.
In conversation with Bits & Pretzels Editor-In-Chief Britta Weddeling, Hildegard Wortmann shares a rare glimpse into her playbook on developing and maintaining a brand using the personal narrative of the company as well as how to communicate in a crisis.
From 1) why you should start communicating in a crisis even if you don’t have all the answers yet to 2) what to do to keep your brand relevant & interesting over time and 3) how to handle rough times, such as the Dieselgate, and learn from mistakes as an automotive brand.
The powerful executive who’s the first woman ever on the board of an automotive company, draws her deep expertise from her years in leading marketing roles in the industry – at Unilever and BMW, where she completely revamped the MINI brand in the early 2000s - turning the MINI into one of the most popular cars in the world today.
And we’ve talked to Hildegard Wortmann just days after our Bits & Pretzels Networking Week in October.
More to explore:
Stay updated on news & insights from us about founders, startups in Bavaria, Austria & Switzerland at www.bitsandpretzels.com.
Signup for our media newsletter to get the next episode of this podcast delivered right to your inbox: www.bitsandpretzels.com/media-signup.
Hosts:
Britta Weddeling (@bweddeling), Editor-in-Chief of Bits & Pretzels (@bitsandpretzels)
Featuring:
Hildegard Wortmann, Member of the Board of Management for Sales and Marketing at Audi
Follow us:
Twitter: @bitsandpretzels
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bits-&-pretzels
If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review. You can also send us feedback at [email protected].
Production: professional-podcasts.com (Regina Körner, Migo Fecke), Sophie Dechansreiter & Dina Zhakupova. -
This week on the show is Arianna Huffington, the co-founder of the Huffington Post, that won her her the Pulitzer Prize, entrepreneurial role model as well as founder & CEO of Thrive Global.
The now 70-years old media mogul has a lot to share from her outstanding career for founders, especially for those of you who are working non-stop during the current pandemic!
In conversation with Bits & Pretzels Editor-in-Chief Britta Weddeling during our Bits & Pretzels Networking Week Arianna explains how crucial downtime and self-care are for long-term success and shares first steps towards becoming a better leader. She is convinced that too much stress and lack of sleep lead to bad decisions and to failure in business in the end.
This is what you gonna learn today: 1) How to find out what's urgent and what you can delegate as CEO, 2) how to motivate your team even in a crisis and 3) what micro steps entrepreneurs can use right away to be more focused and calm.
More to explore:
Stay updated on news & insights from us about founders, startups in Bavaria, Austria & Switzerland at www.bitsandpretzels.com.
Signup for our media newsletter to get the next episode of this podcast delivered right to your inbox: www.bitsandpretzels.com/media-signup.
Hosts:
Britta Weddeling (@bweddeling), Editor-in-Chief of Bits & Pretzels (@bitsandpretzels)
Featuring:
Arianna Huffington (@ariannahuff), Founder of Huffington Post (@HuffPost), Co-Founder & CEO Thrive Global (@thrive)
Follow us:
Twitter: @bitsandpretzels
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bits-&-pretzels
If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review. You can also send us feedback at [email protected].
Production: professional-podcasts.com (Regina Körner, Migo Fecke), Sophie Dechansreiter & Dina Zhakupova. -
This week on the podcast Bits & Pretzels Editor-in-Chief Britta Weddeling welcomes entrepreneurial superstar Eric Ries, author of New York Times bestseller The Lean Startup, a must have bible for all founders, and initiator of alternative Long-Term-Stock Exchange (LTSE).
Eric’s Lean Startup method has been credited by numerous entrepreneurs for their success and now he shares his most important advice from his decades of experience as serial entrepreneur, startup advisor and investor. Most importantly, he argues that operating with a long-term philosophy is necessary for sustained growth and that the current public capital market system does only serve short-term needs.
That’s why Eric launched the LTSE with the support of powerful Silicon Valley entrepreneurs including Netscape co-founder and VC Marc Andreessen, to support company builders and investors who are taking the lead to sustainable growth as he believes that entrepreneurship is the driving force for changing our future.
And on the show he points out what mindset is helpful to deal with uncertainties not limited to the current coronavirus crisis: From 1) what personality trait is essential for founders and 2) how to apply the lean methodology to philanthropy to 3) how founders can use a recession to grow their business.
More to explore:
Stay updated on news & insights from us about founders, startups in Bavaria, Austria & Switzerland at www.bitsandpretzels.com.
Signup for our media newsletter to get the next episode of this podcast delivered right to your inbox: www.bitsandpretzels.com/media-signup.
Hosts:
Britta Weddeling (@bweddeling), Editor-in-Chief of Bits & Pretzels (@bitsandpretzels)
Featuring:
Eric Ries (@ericries), CEO of LTSE and Author of The Lean Startup.
Follow us:
Twitter: @bitsandpretzels
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bits-&-pretzels
If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review. You can also send us feedback at [email protected].
Production: professional-podcasts.com (Regina Körner, Migo Fecke), Dina Zhakupova. -
Our podcast guest this week is one of the leading voices of the French startup ecosystem: Roxanne Varza, the Director of Station F, one of the largest startup campuses in the world that opened its doors in 2017 and is located in the heart of Paris. Over 1000 startups are currently at home at Station F. In this week's show she provided an insight into how she sees the current startup situation and why a crisis always presents new opportunities for entrepreneurs and what areas especially could unfold a lot of potential moving forward.
And with a very diverse background in the startup scene she has many learnings to share with entrepreneurs: From 1) how founders can turn around their products during a crisis to serve the current need of a society and 2) how to surround yourself with a team that will help you grow and come up with innovative ideas to 3) the importance of constantly learning and discovering new ecosystems and gaining therefore new perspectives for founders.
More to explore:
Stay updated on news & insights from us about founders, startups in Bavaria, Austria & Switzerland at www.bitsandpretzels.com.
Signup for our media newsletter to get the next episode of this podcast delivered right to your inbox: www.bitsandpretzels.com/media-signup.
Hosts:
Britta Weddeling (@bweddeling), Editor-in-Chief of Bits & Pretzels (@bitsandpretzels)
Featuring:
Roxanne Varza (@roxannevarza), Director at Station F.
Follow us:
Twitter: @bitsandpretzels
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bits-&-pretzels
If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review. You can also send us feedback at [email protected].
Production: professional-podcasts.com (Regina Körner, Migo Fecke) & Dina Zhakupova. -
This week’s podcast has a very international setup with two guests joining us from different sides of the world: Sarah Cannon is dialing in from New York City and Martin Mignot from his home in London. They are both partners at Index Ventures, one of the biggest Venture Capital firms that invested in Dropbox, Deliveroo, Skype and Slack - just to name a few. With over 10 billion euro under the current management, their fund oversees a portfolio of 160 companies from the US and Europe.
Started as a European based firm themselves Index Ventures has been in the US for almost a decade now and successfully operates with dual headquarters located in San Francisco and London. Sarah and Martin have helped numerous companies make that move as well and gathered enough knowledge on expanding a business across the Atlantic. They share how the mentality of founders has changed over the last couple of years in regard to expanding to the US market and why a lot of European startups are choosing to win the US remotely.
And with a lot of experience helping startups all over the world grow and expand, they both had a few advices up their sleeve for founders: from 1) how to build a reliable communication and maintain a culture within an international team to 2) how to navigate different regulation across the world and 3) how the landscape of investment changed during Covid-19 as well as how founders can benefit.
More to explore:
Stay updated on news & insights from us about founders, startups in Bavaria, Austria & Switzerland at www.bitsandpretzels.com.
Signup for our media newsletter to get the next episode of this podcast delivered right to your inbox: www.bitsandpretzels.com/media-signup.
Hosts:
Britta Weddeling (@bweddeling), Editor-in-Chief of Bits & Pretzels (@bitsandpretzels)
Featuring:
Sarah Cannon (@SarahRCannon) & Martin Mignot (@martinmignot), Partners at Index Ventures.
Follow us:
Twitter: @bitsandpretzels
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bits-&-pretzels
If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review. You can also send us feedback at [email protected].
Production: professional-podcasts.com (Regina Körner, Migo Fecke) & Dina Zhakupova. -
At a point when most people make plans for their retirement, our podcast guest this week wrote a business plan to start her own bank:
Anne Boden, the CEO and founder of Starling Bank, who has built a name for herself building one of UK’s standout digital banks, drawing on her experience in the financial heartlands for more than 30 years building and running global banking and payments businesses as part of RBS and Lloyds among other things.
The banker and technologist is the prime example and embodiment of the famous saying it’s never too late to break new ground.
And in this week’s episode the exceptional founder shares her learnings from making her way up to the top in the Fintech world: 1) From how to build a challenger bank from scratch and 2) why she is not threatened by the established big banks to 3) how to diversify your revenue streams to make your business profitable.
But her wisdom goes far beyond just the Fintech world and offers founders from all sectors a glimpse into her way of navigating the experience of being a founder especially as a woman in a very male dominated entrepreneurial environment.
Despite having had a 30-years career in the global banking and payment business earlier to founding Starling Bank, Anne had to face the same challenges as every other founder specifically when asking for funding. So her advice to younger entrepreneurs is to keep pushing: “Keep knocking on those doors!”
And one thing she would recommend every founder is to have lots of drive and ambition: “If I aim for something really awesome, really ambitious - even failure would be a success”, she told Bits & Pretzels Editor-In-Chief Britta Weddeling.
More to explore:
Stay updated on news & insights from us about founders, startups in Bavaria, Austria & Switzerland at www.bitsandpretzels.com.
Signup for our media newsletter to get the next episode of this podcast delivered right to your inbox: www.bitsandpretzels.com/media-signup.
Hosts:
Britta Weddeling (@bweddeling), Editor-in-Chief of Bits & Pretzels (@bitsandpretzels)
Featuring:
Anne Boden (@AnneBoden), CEO & founder of Starling Bank
Follow us:
Twitter: @bitsandpretzels
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bits-&-pretzels
If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review. You can also send us feedback at [email protected].
Production: professional-podcasts.com (Regina Körner, Migo Fecke), Sophie Dechansreiter & Dina Zhakupova. -
Our podcast guest this week is an overall legend and a true loyal Bavarian at heart who became a well-known name even outside the basketball court: The NBA superstar Dirk Nowitzki joined the Bits & Pretzels Networking Week live from his home in Dallas, Texas where he offered insights into how his career in basketball helped him grow as a person, accept any challenge that life might throw at him and the importance of staying humble by giving back to the community. He also shared how his mentality of always trying to improve and never be satisfied is also transferable to the business world and how especially young entrepreneurs can benefit from this mindset.
And even after retiring from professional basketball just last year, Dirk Nowitzki has kept his “don’t put a ceiling on your limit” attitude up and is now venturing into the entrepreneurial universe by dipping his feet into investing - a world he is excited to explore further. As an investor Dirk Nowitzki is looking for all kinds of startups like a cyber defense company for example and is definitely not limited to just sports related startups.
During his conversation with the Bits & Pretzels Editor-In-Chief Britta Weddeling, Dirk Nowitzki shared some of the biggest lessons he sometimes had to learn the hard way and can be beneficial to all aspects of life: 1) utilize your failures as motivation and as stepping stones to your personal success, 2) have someone in your life who will guide you by taking on the mentor role and of course, 3) never be satisfied with the result, always try to improve, learn more and work even harder!
More to explore:
Stay updated on news & insights from us about founders, startups in Bavaria, Austria & Switzerland at www.bitsandpretzels.com.
Signup for our media newsletter to get the next episode of this podcast delivered right to your inbox: www.bitsandpretzels.com/media-signup.
Hosts:
Britta Weddeling (@bweddeling), Editor-in-Chief of Bits & Pretzels (@bitsandpretzels)
Featuring:
Dirk Nowitzki (@swish41), former professional basketball player for the Dallas Mavericks.
Follow us:
Twitter: @bitsandpretzels
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bits-&-pretzels
If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review. You can also send us feedback at [email protected].
Production: professional-podcasts.com (Regina Körner, Migo Fecke), Sophie Dechansreiter & Dina Zhakupova. -
This week’s podcast guest has shaped the legend of Google, served in the epicenter of Silicon Valley for almost 20 years and led Google’s expansion into all aspects of our lives: Eric Schmidt, the former Google Inc. CEO & executive chairman.
And in our show he’s offering a rare look inside his playbook – from how to systematically harness world-changing ideas to establishing a culture of agility and excellence in your startup.
For this conversation that we recorded during our Bits & Pretzels Networking Week the Google billionaire joined us live from his apartment in New York and he shared the key learnings that have helped him building his impressive career in tech: from 1) why founders should try building smaller businesses that can be linked together, rather than focussing on one big project, to 2) the one skill every entrepreneur should acquire right now and 3) what European startups can do to catch up with Silicon Valley.
Because, as Schmidt points out, creativity and quality of talent in Europe is “exceptional”, the challenge lies more in the restrictions and rules founders face set by the European laws regarding privacy for example. Another problem he sees is the underfunding of universities and especially the graduate programmes as that where the talent is usually coming from.
More to explore:
Stay updated on news & insights from us about founders, startups in Bavaria, Austria & Switzerland at www.bitsandpretzels.com.
Signup for our media newsletter to get the next episode of this podcast delivered right to your inbox: www.bitsandpretzels.com/media-signup.
Hosts:
Britta Weddeling (@bweddeling), Editor-in-Chief of Bits & Pretzels (@bitsandpretzels)
Featuring:
Eric Schmidt (@ericschmidt), former Executive Chairman & CEO Google and founder of Schmidt Foundation
Follow us:
Twitter: @bitsandpretzels
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bits-&-pretzels
If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review. You can also send us feedback at [email protected].
Production: professional-podcasts.com (Regina Körner, Migo Fecke), Sophie Dechansreiter & Dina Zhakupova. -
In this episode Britta Weddeling, editor-in-chief at Bits & Pretzels, welcomes Max Wittrock! He is the co-founder of German breakfast cereals brand mymuesli, which was one of the first companies to allow customers to create their own breakfast cereals. In this podcast Max shares best practises from his 14 years experience in the startup ecosystem including his ABC for product market fit for founders – from finding the right idea for your startup to testing and proving your business thesis in the markets.
More to explore:
Stay updated on news & insights from us about founders, startups in Bavaria, Austria & Switzerland at www.bitsandpretzels.com.
Signup for our media newsletter to get the next episode of this podcast delivered right to your inbox: www.bitsandpretzels.com/media-signup.
Hosts:
Britta Weddeling (@bweddeling), Editor-in-Chief of Bits & Pretzels (@bitsandpretzels)
Featuring:
Max Wittrock (@maxwittrock), founder of mymuesli (@mymuesli)
Follow us:
Twitter: @bitsandpretzels
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bits-&-pretzels
If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review. You can also send us feedback at [email protected].
Production: professional-podcasts.com (Regina Körner, Migo Fecke), Sophie Dechansreiter & Dina Zhakupova. -
Would you like to send your pitch deck to the personal email address of Mattias Ljungman, the co-founder of $2.7 billion VC firm Atomico and who just started a new fund with Moonfire Ventures? In this week’s podcast Mattias shares his email address as well as what he is looking for in an investor. The Swedish-born VC is one of the household names in the global investor community, after co-founding the European VC firm Atomico together with Skype founder Niklas Zennström. Mattias has been involved with numerous exits and substantial investments in companies including the Stockholm based banking company Klarna, which has just raised $650 million at a post-money valuation of $10.65 billion – and has worked closely with companies on their global expansion. AND – not that we at Bits & Pretzels didn’t know – but Mattias sees Europe on the verge of a tech investment breakthrough that is likely to continue unfolding even during the pandemic because today more than ever, it doesn’t really matter where you start your company as a founder.
More to explore:
Stay updated on news & insights from us about founders, startups in Bavaria, Austria & Switzerland at www.bitsandpretzels.com.
Signup for our media newsletter to get the next episode of this podcast delivered right to your inbox: www.bitsandpretzels.com/media-signup.
Hosts:
Britta Weddeling (@bweddeling), Editor-in-Chief of Bits & Pretzels (@bitsandpretzels)
Featuring:
Mattias Ljungman (@Ljungman), founder of Moonfire Ventures & co-founder of Atomico
Follow us:
Twitter: @bitsandpretzels
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bits-&-pretzels
If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review. You can also send us feedback at [email protected].
Production: professional-podcasts.com (Regina Körner, Migo Fecke), Hubert Honold & Sophie Dechansreiter. -
It’s in the genes of entrepreneurs to want to change the status quo – most founders do that by starting companies, creating innovative products and then give back to society or becoming politically involved later – after a successful exit.
But that has to change according to the guest in our show today – serial entrepreneur, book author and political activist and education advocate Verena Pauser, who’s one of the most influential founders in the German entrepreneurial ecosystem and named Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.
Just yesterday Verenas’s first book came out – and in this show she shares why founders should transfer what they have learned in their companies to the governmental system, to education and health care – in order to prepare Germany for a digital and sustainable future – and why the time to act is right now:
And like always – our guest also talks about the tools that have helped her during her successful career in tech from how delegating everything leads to finding focus to where to find the energy to getting through the tough times as an entrepreneur.
More to explore:
Stay updated on news & insights from us about founders, startups in Bavaria, Austria & Switzerland at www.bitsandpretzels.com.
Signup for our media newsletter to get the next episode of this podcast delivered right to your inbox: www.bitsandpretzels.com/media-signup.
Hosts:
Britta Weddeling (@bweddeling), Editor-in-Chief of Bits & Pretzels (@bitsandpretzels)
Featuring:
Verena Pausder (@VerenaDE), Author of Das Neue Land, Initiator of hackathon #WirfuerSchule & #StayOnBoard, board member Digitale Bildung für Alle e.V., Young Global Leader @WEF
Follow us:
Twitter: @bitsandpretzels
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bits-&-pretzels
If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review. You can also send us feedback at [email protected].
Production: professional-podcasts.com (Regina Körner, Migo Fecke), Hubert Honold & Sophie Dechansreiter. -
You are a female founder looking for new cash? And you want to learn the exclusive insights and tricks of an experienced investor to make it in the (unfortunately) still male-dominated startup world? Or maybe you are a male founder and you just lost one of your best female executives and you realize you need to turn around your company’s culture sooner or later?
This podcast might hold the answer to your questions! In this week’s episode Bits & Pretzels Editor-in-Chief Britta Weddeling talks to the experienced entrepreneur and investor Gesa Miczaika, who is the co-founder of capital firm Auxxo, as well as a Board Member of the German Startups Association. In our conversation Gesa explains how to network for success as a female founder, how to pitch in front of an all-male investor audience as well as how to create more diversity within your company for better financial results. Because – after what happened in scandal-ridden firms such as Wirecard with an all-male leadership and N26 that made headlines with an internal rebellion against its management – the investor's convinced that gender equality is more than ever key to the future of your company: "If there would have been females investing in those companies, things would have been a little bit different."
More to explore:
Stay updated on news & insights from us about founders, startups in Bavaria, Austria & Switzerland at www.bitsandpretzels.com.
Stay up to date and signup for our media newsletter to get the next episode of this podcast delivered right to your inbox: www.bitsandpretzels.com/media-signup.
Hosts:
Britta Weddeling (@bweddeling), Editor-in-Chief of Bits & Pretzels (@bitsandpretzels)
Featuring:
Gesa Miczaicka, Co-founder & co-founder of capital firm Auxxo
Follow us:
Twitter: @bitsandpretzels
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bits-&-pretzels
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bitsandpretzels/
Production: professional-podcasts.com (Regina Körner, Migo Fecke), Sophie Dechansreiter
If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review. You can also send us feedback directly at [email protected]. -
Famously joining the index of Germany's 30 largest companies by market capitalization & valuation — was REALLY just the first step for Niklas Östberg, the co-founder and CEO of Berlin headquartered Delivery Hero.
The entrepreneur who co-started the online food delivery platform that's more valuable now than Deutsche Bank, has much higher ambitions, as he discloses in this week's episode of our Bits & Pretzels podcast.
Here's what's in this show for you: The leader of the global player in the $100 billion market of food delivery shares 1) best practices about managing a global logistics business in a pandemic, 2) how he turned a local service into a global platform for lunch and more & 3) the secrets of keeping big tech rivals, namely Amazon & Google, who dominate most digital businesses in Europe, on arms-length (for now).
And you've got a chance to personally meet Niklas at our Bits & Pretzels Networking Week (Sept 27th to Oct 2nd 2020) along with other world-class startup leaders. Register here to join: https://www.bitsandpretzels.com/application-page.
More to explore:
Stay updated on news & insights from us about founders, startups in Bavaria, Austria & Switzerland at www.bitsandpretzels.com.
Stay up to date and signup for our media newsletter to get the next episode of this podcast delivered right to your inbox: www.bitsandpretzels.com/media-signup.
Hosts:
Britta Weddeling (@bweddeling), Editor-in-Chief of Bits & Pretzels (@bitsandpretzels)
Featuring:
Niklas Östberg (@niklasoestberg), Co-founder & CEO of Delivery Hero (@deliveryherocom)
Follow us:
Twitter: @bitsandpretzels
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bits-&-pretzels
If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review. You can also send us feedback at [email protected].
Production: professional-podcasts.com (Regina Körner, Migo Fecke), Sophie Dechansreiter -
€170 million for European deep tech startups: Serial entrepreneur Florian Leibert shares the masterplan for the new fund called 468 Capital that he set up with former Rocket Internet executives Alexander Kudlich & Ludwig Ensthaler in this week’s conversation with Bits & Pretzels' Editor-in-Chief Britta Weddeling. Florian has 10+ years career in Silicon Valley, as the co-founder of California based cloud container company Mesosphere that secured funding of more than $250 million, and alumnus of Airbnb and Twitter. In this podcast he’s providing a rare glimpse into what he and his 2 partners are up to – how the team secured the million Euros funds to bridge the innovation gap between Europe and the US despite the economic uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 pandemic – and why he thinks the time to act for European tech founders is right now.
More to explore:
Stay updated on news & insights from us about founders, startups in Bavaria, Austria & Switzerland at www.bitsandpretzels.com.
Signup for our media newsletter to get the next episode of this podcast delivered right to your inbox: www.bitsandpretzels.com/media-signup.
Hosts:
Britta Weddeling (@bweddeling), Editor-in-Chief of Bits & Pretzels (@bitsandpretzels)
Featuring:
Florian Leibert (@flo), General Partner at 468 Capital (@468Capital), founder of Mesosphere (@mesosphere). Former Tech Lead at Airbnb (@airbnb) and Twitter (@twitter)
Follow us:
Twitter: @bitsandpretzels
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bits-&-pretzels
If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review. You can also send us feedback at [email protected].
Production: professional-podcasts.com (Regina Körner, Migo Fecke), Sophie Dechansreiter -
In this episode, Bits & Pretzels’ Editor-in-Chief Britta Weddeling talks to one of the most successful cloud communication entrepreneurs in the tech world, Jeff Lawson, the co-founder & CEO of $8.5 billion firm Twilio. Get insights into 1) how he has launch a million dollar company within just six weeks, 2) how your customers lead you the way to build better products and 3) why you have to push ownership & responsibility in your startup to get better results. Because Jeff himself successfully did all of the above to climb the ladder in Silicon Valley. Today, his company Twilio is used by millions of developers around the world and big tech companies including Airbnb and Uber. Twilio allows software engineers to programmatically make and receive phone calls, send and receive text messages, and perform other communication functions using its web service APIs. The company is getting a boost from the pandemic as its customers both old and new scramble to update their operations for a new digital age. Shares of Twilio are up over 160% so far in 2020.
More to explore:
Stay updated on news & insights from us about founders, startups in Bavaria, Austria & Switzerland at www.bitsandpretzels.com.
Signup for our media newsletter to get the next episode of this podcast delivered right to your inbox: www.bitsandpretzels.com/media-signup.
Hosts:
Britta Weddeling (@bweddeling), Editor-in-Chief of Bits & Pretzels (@bitsandpretzels)
Featuring:
Jeff Lawson (@jeffiel), founder of Twilio (@twilio). Former Amazon (@amazon) executive
Follow us:
Twitter: @bitsandpretzels
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bits-&-pretzels
If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review. You can also send us feedback at [email protected].
Production: professional-podcasts.com (Regina Körner, Migo Fecke), Sophie Dechansreiter - Show more
