EP 75 – From e-commerce wunderkind to successful investor
Episode Stream
Biography
Our next guest on the Most Awesome Founder podcast: Roman Kirsch! 🎙️
Roman will be sharing his high-paced entrepreneurial journey, characterized by his story of perseverance, hard work, and why sometimes naivety can be beneficial.
Discover Roman’s passion for building new ventures that led to various well-known and flourishing startups but also some non-successes and how he dealt with them. Roman also discusses his insights from switching from an entrepreneur to an investor role, the importance of a startup’s idea vs. its team, and why serial founding can almost be addictive. 💉
We hope this unique founder story will stimulate the entrepreneurial spirit of our listeners!
Chapters:
(0:55) Intro of Dries
(2:05) Roman’s entrepreneurial start
(7:35) The process of Roman’s first founding
(12:20) Acquiring funding in a recession
(14:30) Getting first funding
(20:00) Doing a financially lucrative exit as a 23-year-old
(25:40) Experiences from moving as an entrepreneur to a more corporate environment
(29:30) The difference between American and German startup culture
(32:32) The story behind Amorelie
(36:45) What does it mean to have a focus?
(38:35) Lessons of Casacanda for future endeavors?
(42:03) The emotional side of being an e-commerce wunderkind
(47:15) Raising as a successful entrepreneur
(48:25) The end of Lesara and fighting against subsidized competitors
(55:20) Failing for the first time as a wunderkind
(58:45) Would you invest in a failed entrepreneur?
(1:01:05) Roman’s latest entrepreneurial activities
(1:08:40) Team, idea and pivoting
(1:10:55) Roman’s role as entrepreneur and investor
(1:15:00) Roman’s recommendations for books
(1:17:30) Outro
Roman’s book recommendations:
Skin in the game: Hidden Symmetries in Daily Life
Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions