EP 5 – From Idea to IPO with Tim Thabe

EP 5 – From Idea to IPO with Tim Thabe

 

Episode Stream

 

Biography

Dr Tim Thabe is an entrepreneur, credit finance guru, and cofounder of SME lending platform, creditshelf. After nearly a decade in credit risk management with a number of global banks in Germany and Switzerland, Tim decided to take on the Kellogg-WHU Executive MBA program – which helped pave the way for his rocket-fueled entrepreneurial journey. 

In 2015, Tim left the comforts of the banking world behind to launch creditshelf with his partners. Within four years, creditshelf became the first publicly-traded finch startup in Germany – raising over Euro 15m and growing his team to over 40 FTEs. 

Creditshelf now serves over Euro 400 million in loan applications per year and continues to set the standard for SME financial technology in the German market.

 

Chapters

Interview Introduction (0:26) 

Intro to Tim (1:23) 

Part 1: Difference between credit shelf and bank lenders (1:54) 

Part 2: Entrepreneurial Journey (3:46) 

Part 3: Creditshelf process: Digital or Analog? (4:50) 

Part 4: What is your market? (5:57) 

      MUSIC INTERLUDE (7:54) 

Part 5: Creditshelf’s Competition (8:42) 

Part 6: Do you consider yourself a startup? (10:41) 

Part 7: Fintech: Are you a finance or tech company? (11:26) 

Part 8: Tim’s Entrepreneurial Journey (13:01) 

      MUSIC INTERLUDE (17:23) 

Part 9: Transitioning from Corporates to Entrepreneurship(18:10) 

Part 10: Creditshelf from Idea to Market (20:02) 

Part 11: Early Stage Funding (21:23) 

Part 12: Alignment with Investors (22:13) 

Part 13: Why IPO? (23:09) 

Part 14: HR Recruitment as a Public Company (27:25) 

      MUSIC INTERLUDE (30:15) 

Part 15: Leadership in a Public Company (31:36) 

Part 16: Impacts on Public Trading on Company Growth (34:10) 

Part 17: The Future of SMEs in Germany (37:20) 

      MUSIC INTERLUDE (40:00) 

Part 18: The Future of Creditshelf (41:32) 

Part 19: What are you currently reading? (44:52) 

Part 20: What’s on your playlist? (46:19) 

Closing Summary (46:38)