Munich Startup: Did you found it alone or with partners?
Tina Ruseva: Alone, and I always looked for partnerships. At Mentessa, I’m happy to work with my husband for the first time, like in a family business. He officially joined as a co-founder during the funding round in 2022, but he was always my biggest fan and supporter.
Munich Startup: What motivated you to found the company?
Tina Ruseva: Between my startups, I spent a couple of years back in a large corporation. I was shocked at how little exchange took place there – between different functions, but also between departments and hierarchical levels. Such silos not only create inefficiencies, they also degrade corporate culture and inhibit innovation. As a founder, I knew you rely on exchange and collaboration with experts when you create something new. Transformation also requires learning and collaboration as a collective.
Large corporations today depend on this culture of dialogue to avoid being pushed out of the market in times of rapid change. Besides, it makes the working world fairer, for example for women. That’s exactly where I wanted to make a difference.
Tina Ruseva: “You don’t create great things alone”
Munich Startup: What would you have liked to know before your first founding?
Tina Ruseva: I would have liked to know earlier about the driving force of good, productive working relationships. Because you don’t create great things alone. By that I don’t mean the networking that’s common today, which is strategic and “upward” oriented, but the way we treat each other and social belonging in the team. Connection creates commitment and opens doors that would otherwise remain closed. For a long time, I also wasn’t aware of the external perception of being a woman in tech, a woman in leadership, or a ‘female founder’. Honestly, I’m glad about that, because it allowed me to pursue my goals authentically. In the end, that’s what matters.
Munich Startup: How has your company been funded so far?
Tina Ruseva: For the first two and a half years until we reached 500,000 euros in revenue, we were bootstrapped. Then came a pre-seed round from Eleven Ventures (VC) in 2022 as well as a major EU grant from EIT Digital in 2023. A good mix of funding sources keeps us flexible and resilient in times of change.
A good mix of funding sources
Munich Startup: When and where do you get your best ideas?
Tina Ruseva: While walking the dog. There I mostly meet other dog owners who have nothing to do with my profession and who show me very interesting new perspectives. Exchange outside the bubble is very important for creativity and problem-solving. The same happens with books from other disciplines. That’s why I like to read a lot.
Munich Startup: What are your 3 favorite work tools?
Tina Ruseva:
- LinkedIn – it’s my Slack with the world. I actually use it as a collaboration platform.
- My smartwatch – it’s my mentor for good habits and reminds me between meetings to drink water and go outside, for example.
- Docusign! As CEO, I sign several documents a week. Before this tool, that was really tedious. Thank you, Docusign.
Munich Startup: Your top tip on “pitching”?
Tina Ruseva: Pitching is like public speaking – it doesn’t matter what you say if you don’t mean it. So the rule is: mean it! Authenticity makes pitches memorable! Investors hear hundreds of them every week – they can’t keep up with templates and phrases. With your own founding story, you already have a real hook and get into the conversation.
“Any time is a good time to found”
Munich Startup: Does it seem like a good time to found a company right now? Why?
Tina Ruseva: Any time is a good time to found. The world needs solutions and builders who create them. Now more than ever – for the preservation of democracy, freedom of speech, the principles of our society, prosperity. It’s not about timing, but about drive. When it comes to financial investments, you can perfectly time it. But when it comes to impact, the answer is always: yesterday! As a founder, you should always be driven by what you want to achieve, and ask yourself which problem is worth finding a solution for. The rest will follow.
Munich Startup: What technology or industry would you focus on with your next founding?
Tina Ruseva: I’ve made work my profession. As founder of Mentessa, president of the federal association “New Work” or initiator of the “Big & Growing New Work” festival. What guides me is not an industry or technology, but my mission: to remove barriers to exchange and development for everyone in the working world. Currently, we’re founding a new consulting company for team culture from Mentessa. There’s so much to do!
“Munich is a fantastic place to found a startup”
Munich Startup: What could be improved at the startup location Munich from your perspective?
Tina Ruseva: Munich is a fantastic place to found a startup. As an economic hub, the city is home to many potential customers and a well-differentiated startup ecosystem. This offers many funding opportunities that simply don’t exist in other places. There are also many capital providers and top universities here, where you can find potential co-founders, employees, and innovations.
Unfortunately, the local culture is very dependent on “relationships” in the traditional sense. As a woman, “with a migration background,” or with a different skin color, you’re quickly sidelined outside the startup scene. The “old boys’ network” of yesteryear needs to go! Because Munich is now an international metropolis with a high proportion of migrants and alternative lifestyles. Diverse backgrounds are not a weakness but a strength. That’s an enrichment and an opportunity, because no one can do everything and everyone can do something. A strong community is based on strong individuals.
Munich Startup: Which founder would you like to meet personally? And what would you ask them?
Tina Ruseva: Hanno Renner. Personio is a major role model for us as an HR-tech startup. I would like to exchange ideas with him about his forecast for the future of work and learn about the principles he used to shape corporate culture at Personio, as well as get recommendations on scaling Mentessa to unicorn status.
