WHU

EP 77 – From founder to unicorn angel investor with Oskar Hartmann

We’re kicking off our new season with a bang! A dive deep into the world of angel investing with none other than Oskar Hartmann.🌍✨ His outstanding track record: 14 (!) of his startup investments have reached unicorn status, he’s one of the 1000 wealthiest Germans, and in his spare time? He cracks world records in indoor rowing 🥴🏆

Alongside our brilliant hosts Dries Faems & Gerrit McGowan, Oskar unveils the intricacies of spotting unicorns, what he learns from Olympic champions, and how to source for business opportunities from Africa to South America 🦄🚀

By the end of this episode, you’ll be equipped with a treasure trove of insights into the culture of risk, pinpointing unparalleled opportunities and the magic of unconventional thinking. Let Oskar’s unparalleled experiences and tales inspire you to transcend your limits and chase excellence! 💡🌟

EP 76 – The art of balancing startups and life with Björn Maronde

Get ready for an inspiring conversation with successful entrepreneur Björn Maronde in the newest episode of the Most Awesome Founder Podcast!
Björn shares his personal background, the pivotal moments that led him to entrepreneurship, and the valuable lessons he learned along the way. 📚💡 You’ll discover how an executive MBA played a role in shaping his entrepreneurial career and how he navigated the challenges of starting a business with a close friend. 🤝
Björn also reveals the importance of product-market fit and the challenges of expanding into multiple markets simultaneously. 🚀
So, whether you’re a seasoned entrepreneur or just starting out, this podcast episode is a must-listen. Tune in to gain valuable insights and strategies that will propel your startup journey.

EP 75 – From e-commerce wunderkind to successful investor with Roman Kirsch

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!

EP 73 – The impact of AI on Startups, VC and Society with Frank Thelen

🎧 We are thrilled to announce a new episode of The Most Awesome Founder Podcast, featuring one of Germany’s most prominent deep tech investors, Frank Thelen. In this wide-ranging discussion, Frank shares his perspective on how AI and generative technologies are beginning to reshape the startup and venture capital landscapes. 🚀

While AI promises to turbocharge innovation and efficiency, Frank cautions that many startups are simply slapping an “AI startup” label on their pitch decks without true breakthroughs. Real advances require deep research and teams willing to eat glass for years before product-market fit. We also dive into the opportunities and limitations of using AI in deal flow analysis and startup evaluation. While AI can help sort prospects, Frank emphasizes that human judgment around founding teams and markets remains critical – not something algorithms can replicate (yet!). 🤖💡

With his characteristic candor, Frank voices his views on creating a thriving European tech ecosystem and why he engages in spirited LinkedIn debates on issues like work-life balance and how to balance innovation with ethics. If you’re an investor, founder, or tech enthusiast, this thought-provoking episode is not to be missed. Tune in across platforms like Apple Podcasts and Spotify to hear our free-wheeling exchange. After listening, we’d love to hear your key takeaways in the comments! 🌟

EP 70 – Unleashing Pet Health: Crafting a Customer-Focused Growth Journey with Stan Nazarenus & Alex Thelen

🎙️ Join us again for an exciting episode of the Most Awesome Founder Podcast as we dive into the captivating story of Alex and Stan, the founders of high-growth startup Mammaly, which tackles the complex issue of pet health.

Alex and Stand share how their shared vision led to a thriving direct-to-consumer business model and how collaborations are essential for their product development. Get ready for insights on customer understanding and hypotheses testing while rapidly scaling a startup. Take advantage of this fascinating episode packed with hands-on advice and inspiration for aspiring entrepreneurs.

We hope you have as much fun listening to the episode as we had producing it!

EP 69 – Building platforms to disrupt the healthcare industry with Philipp Buhr

🎙️ Get ready to tune into today’s new episode of The Most Awesome Founder Podcast with Philipp Buhr, the co-founder of marta! marta is a platform that transparently enables families to match their elderly family members with suitable caregivers.

Beginning with stories from Philipps entrepreneurial childhood, enabling him to be the co-founder he is today, the episode advances into deeper topics associated with the healthcare market.

Here is a sneak peek of the topics Dries and Philipp further indulge into:
🤝 How Philipp and his co-founder developed their idea and shaped it into reality
💪 The challenges faced when growing companies
🚀 How the possibilities of digitally disrupting the healthcare market look like

We look forward to hearing what you think of the episode!

EP 68 – Mastering the Art of Founder Communication with Jag Singh & Oliver Aust

🎧 We are thrilled to welcome Jag Singh (Managing Director @ Angel Invest) and Oliver Aust (CEO & Founder @Eo Ipso Communications) for a second time to the show!

This time we discuss their newest book MESSAGE MACHINE: How Communications Will Make You An Unstoppable Founder where they share essential aspects for founder communication mastery.
Tune in to find out why communication is the biggest challenge for a growing company and why startups need to have a compelling message market fit.

We hope you enjoy this episode!

Ep 67 – Scaling a fintech startup while navigating regulations with Justus Schmueser

Should you work at a consultancy before founding? How is communication within international founding teams? And what skills and mindset do you really need to become a successful founder?

Today’s episode features our guest Justus Schmueser! He is a former WHU bachelor student and completed his master of finance at MIT. Here he met his co-founder and today is leading the company Kadmos, which in 2022 was renowned for being one of the fastest-growing startups in Germany.

Tune in to get answers to those burning questions and find out how Justus has grown through his founder career, and how you can implement those life lessons into your own founding journey.

EP 64 – How to screw up your startup: 5 financial mistakes with Dr. Sven Greulich

Do you know about all the different ways to screw up your startup’s financials?

Managing investments for your startup is bound to come with difficulties and requires a lot of learning by doing. However, you can learn how to avoid these mistakes beforehand!

Tune in to todays episode and listen to Sven, Gerrit and Dries discuss about:
Both sides of the financing table
What type of red flags to identify in investors
Do you get in bed with the devil?
Equity shares in university spin outs
And many other interesting topics!

We hope you enjoy!

EP 63 – How to screw up your startup: 5 human mistakes with Dr. Sven Greulich

Learn from legal expert Dr. Sven Greulich how to avoid typical founder pitfalls!

In episode 63, we are excited to introduce Dr. Sven Greulich to you, who elaborates on the main pitfalls the Orrick Legal Ninja Series identified. To give you a little insight, here are the first two problems discussed:

1. Not thinking about founder team dynamics and founder departures
2. Creating an unreflect equity split

There will always be conflicts which arise throughout the founding process. Whether those occur because you believe in deserving more equity, since you had the founding idea, or you are struggling to retain good talent, informing yourself will give you a kick start!

Listen to the episode to avoid falling into these common pitfalls.