Munich Startup: What was your career path after your training?
Lisa Oberaigner, Co-Founder & CEO by Emidat: I have been active in the climate tech scene since 2018. Back then, I co-founded the “Sustainable Entrepreneurship Initiative” at TUM and the “Climate Club” at CDTM (Center for Digital Technology and Management). Immediately after graduating from university, I began looking for co-founders and developed initial ideas at MIT in Boston. Eventually, I returned to Munich, partly because of CDTM. We had originally planned to found the company in Berlin.
Crazy topics
Munich Startup: What motivated you to start the company?
Lisa Oberaigner: During my second semester at TUM, I had the opportunity to attend guest lectures by founders who I found to be extremely inspiring. I loved the energy of the people, even when they were working on crazy topics.
Munich Startup: What would you have liked to have known before starting your first business?
Lisa Oberaigner: I believe I was already well prepared, thanks to my experiences at CDTM and several internships in the startup and venture capital sectors. However, you're never truly "ready" anyway. A lot of things have to be learned on the job.
Munich Startup: How has your company been financed so far?
Lisa Oberaigner: Emidat currently has a Angel and VC investment, and of course revenues. For the first five months we were bootstrapped.
Munich Startup: When and where do you get the best ideas?
Lisa Oberaigner: Listening to inspiring people at lectures or on podcasts. Reading a book also stimulates my thoughts.
Munich Startup: What are your 3 favorite work tools?
Lisa Oberaigner: First, Notion, which can do just about anything. Second, "noise-canceling headphones" for ignoring the hustle and bustle every now and then. Third, Hubspot. I still spend 80 percent of my time selling, and the tool is simply incredibly powerful.
Lisa Oberaigner: “What sticks is the feeling”
Munich Startup: Your top tip on pitching?
Lisa Oberaigner: What sticks is the feeling. If you seem nervous, people will get nervous. I recommend: just have fun and take the pressure off. My co-founder Flo always said in the beginning: Even if it's really bad, at least they'll remember.
Munich Startup: Does this seem like a good time to start a business? Why?
Lisa Oberaigner: There's always a good and a bad time to start a business. If you, like me back then, want to start a business someday, the best time to do it is now.
Munich Startup: Which technology or industry would you focus on for your next startup?
Lisa Oberaigner: Most likely something about climate change, then probably hardware.
Munich Startup: In your opinion, what could be improved at the Munich startup location?
Lisa Oberaigner: First, you can sense the internal movement, which is clearly being boosted by the strong impetus from institutions like TUM and CDTM. What's still missing is international attention, so that more capital flows into our region and we can think even bigger. It would also be important for the established players in the region to think a little bigger.
What would the world look like if there were more successful female founders?
Munich Startup: Which founder would you like to meet in person? And what would you ask them?
Lisa Oberaigner: Melanie Perkins of Canva. As far as I know, it's the most valuable female-founded startup in the world. Canva was also profitable very early on, but continued to raise VC money because Perkins wanted to build the biggest company in the world from the start. I would ask her why she thinks there are so few highly successful female founders. And what she thinks the world would be like if there were more.
