True to the motto "Ask the Expert," we once again gave experts from the startup scene a chance to speak in 2018. From business angels to founders to a true world champion — discover our top expert interviews 2018 here:
Delia Fischer — “Being underestimated every now and then can be an advantage”
Westwing — a happy place for all interior design fans. Since 2011, founder Delia Fischer — along with her co-founders Stefan Smalla, Tim Schäfer, Matthias Siepe, and Georg Biersack — has made it her mission to make affordable, modern furniture accessible online to a broad audience. How did she come up with this idea? And did she find it an advantage or disadvantage to be a female founder in the male-dominated startup scene? Answers to these — and other questions — in this interview.
Dr. Albert Michael Geiger — Alphazirkel brings family businesses together with Munich startups
Alpha Circle supports collaborations between founders and established SMEs. We spoke with the network's managing director, Dr. Albert Michael Geiger. Here, he explains how SMEs and startups are brought together—and which young companies are particularly interesting in this context.
Dagmar Schuller — “Don’t set limits!”
Dagmar Schuller founded her company audEERING in 2012 with a small team and little start-up capital. The founder is passionate about building new things and constantly developing herself. She first studied economics, then law, both with a focus on IT. In this interview, Dagmar Schuller tells us how she wants to leave a mark, why smiling is important, and what clichés she had to fight against in the beginning.
Dr. Florian Bieberbach — How Munich's municipal utilities cooperate with startups
We spoke with Dr. Florian Bieberbach, Managing Director of Stadtwerke München (SWM), about Munich's startup landscape and how the municipal utilities are already working with startups to drive innovation.
Martin Giese — Customer feedback instead of “hot air”
It's a long road from founding a school newspaper to becoming a business angel. Martin Giese, a negotiation coach, investor, lecturer, and entrepreneurial enthusiast, knows this well. We spoke with him to find out what's most important to him as a business angel, what advice he has for young entrepreneurs, and how he assesses the local startup landscape.
Zarah Bruhn — "Take a break. Rethink. Do. Nothing is impossible."
Find a topic you're passionate about—and then just do it. With this attitude, Zarah Bruhn founded the startup Social-Bee together with Maximilian Felsner in 2016. With it, they created the first social temporary employment agency to actively integrate refugees into the job market and society. It's not an easy topic, but it's an important one. We wanted to know what drives her, what prejudices she encounters when starting up her business and in her daily work, and what makes her happy.
Philipp Lahm — World champion and startup investor
In his career as a football player, Philipp Lahm has achieved almost everything one can achieve in football: German champion, cup winner, Champions League winner, world champion. Since retiring from football, the former captain of the German national team and FC Bayern Munich has dedicated himself to a new task: He invests in startups and supports the initiative Startup TeensWe spoke to Philipp Lahm about his second career as a startup investor and promoter of young entrepreneurs.
Rike Brand — Founder’s secret weapon: A water pistol
Rike Brand is versatile. She is an anthropologist and holds a master's degree in public policy—and is also quite versatile in other ways: First, she co-founded the Munich wave power startup SINN Power. Then, with two other partners, she founded the water pistol startup Spyra. She has a lot of bootstrapping behind her, and preparations for the current crowdfunding campaign are underway. You can read about what else is on Rike Brand's mind in our interview.
Klaus Sailer — “We are currently in a good spirit of optimism”
Prof. Dr. Klaus Sailer, Professor of Entrepreneurship at the Munich University of Applied Sciences since 2006 and Managing Director of Strascheg Center for Entrepreneurship (SCE), talks about successful startups from the SCE, social responsibility and the current spirit of optimism in the Munich ecosystem.
Wilfried Hüntelmann — “An incredible amount is happening in terms of digitalization right now”
A rule of thumb regarding the labor market's influence on startup activity is: the better the job prospects, the fewer people start businesses. Employment agencies should be particularly aware of this connection. We had the opportunity to speak with Wilfried Hüntelmann, the head of the Munich Employment Agency. Hüntelmann previously headed the employment agency in Göppingen.
Manuel Götzendörfer — Developing innovative solutions together
The construction and real estate sector is one of the most important industries in Germany, with over €300 billion in annual revenue and over 1 million employees. However, when it comes to digitalization, the industry is no longer doing so well. The innovation and digitalization platform BE5 was launched to change this. An interview with Dr. Manuel Götzendörfer, Managing Director of BE5.
Angelika Kneidl — Founder’s secret weapons: good mood, curiosity and openness
Angelika Kneidl is the founder of accu:rate GmbH. Founded in Munich in 2016 together with Florian Sesser, the startup for the simulation and analysis of people flows is still bootstrapped. We wanted to know how Angelika went from pursuing her doctorate in computer science to founding her own company, what motivates her, and what secret weapons she brings with her.
