Munich Startup: What motivated you to start a company – back then at Catchys, but also now at Superangels?
Franzi Majer: It’s simply a wonderful feeling to build a new product, a company from scratch and be part of every development step. Having the opportunity to come together with exactly the right people, build a team that sticks together through all the challenges that come with a startup and goes the extra mile – I find that incredibly satisfying. Besides, I’ve always been more of a generalist. I love diving into new topics again and again. That’s especially advantageous at the beginning of a startup, since you have to start everything yourself at first – until eventually there’s enough money to put together a team of experts.
Different personalities bring diversity to the team
Munich Startup: In your view, what advantages do diversely composed founding or VC teams bring?
Franzi Majer: Diversely composed teams are important for every project and bring many advantages. Whether in startups, VCs, large corporations or individual projects. But before I go into the advantages, the question of how to define diversity is more important to me.
Even though this interview falls under the “Women in Tech” category: diversity – and this is purely my personal opinion – is not determined by different gender, social background or culture, but above all by personality. A diverse team is a team that unites different, sometimes completely contradictory people. Everyone sees the world with different eyes, approaches problems differently and handles them differently. Bringing these different personalities together to fight for the same cause brings, in my view, the greatest energy to a team and thus the best results.
In my employee selection, this was always the decisive aspect. Does this person fit the team, do they complement the others, and: are they cut out for startups? A team is diverse for me when the most varied characters with all their strengths and weaknesses come together to create the best and ultimately most creative solutions because all perspectives are taken into account. Forcing diversity based on gender or other obvious characteristics, in my view, goes in the wrong direction because it doesn’t put the individual person at the center.
Munich Startup: When and where do you get your best ideas?
Franzi Majer: Oh, that’s easy: while road cycling somewhere in the Bavarian middle of nowhere…or while walking my dog.
Munich Startup: What are your 3 favorite work tools?
Franzi Majer: Hubspot, Slack and Evernote.
Franzi Majer: Many are too modest when pitching
Munich Startup: Your top tip on “pitching”?
Franzi Majer: Sales, sales, sales and convince with it! When pitching, whether fundraising for a startup, a VC fund or any other project: if I want to sell something, I also have to show that my product is the best. And I have to show that my team and I are equally the best at implementing it and making it really big.
Example startups: Now I’ll assume every founder is convinced of their own idea. Otherwise they wouldn’t start a company. But I believe that many come across as too modest when pitching. Then the person you’re talking to might not notice how passionate you are about the matter. Modesty is completely out of place here. That doesn’t mean you should come across as grandiose. But the risk of that is much lower in Europe anyway. At the same time – and unfortunately many still neglect this when pitching: support as much as you can with numbers! If you can’t show any from your own company yet because you’re not on the market: show projected figures, market data, competitor analyses including numbers (if available), customer analyses, etc. And even more important: get the numbers right and be prepared for critical questions.
Munich Startup: Does it seem like a good time to you to start a company right now? Why?
Franzi Majer: Definitely! The overall market environment is certainly much more difficult for startups, not just in terms of fundraising. At the same time, there is still sufficient capital on the market. Therefore, convincing ideas and teams still have very good chances of being funded. Especially in the pre-seed and seed range, things look quite positive.
For larger growth financing (i.e. everything from Series A+), the market is currently more difficult. So it’s actually a very good time to start a company. Because by the time you need larger growth financing, the market will likely have recovered.
The bridge to corporates is missing
Munich Startup: What could be improved at the Munich startup location from your perspective?
Franzi Majer: First of all, I have to say that a lot has developed very, very positively in recent years. If I think back to my first founding in 2012… Back then there were more loosely organized local founder networks, smaller and very rare pitch events. It was much more difficult overall to gain access to the network. That has changed rapidly over time. Just look at the development of the ‘Bits & Pretzels’, the numerous founder and investor meetups, various other tech summits, some initiated by investors, some by founders. And now this year for the first time: the Munich Startup Festival!
All these events strengthen the local ecosystem. They promote exchange and create the perfect foundation in the long term for Munich to continue to establish itself as one of the best locations for startups. You could count them on one hand back then. Today you rather have to choose carefully where to go because there are so many options. A real luxury problem.
What I still miss, though, is the bridge to traditional successful corporates, which we have in a particularly high concentration in Munich, and innovative startups and investors. I believe there is still enormous potential here that can only be realized through intensive exchange. Some things are happening here too, but there is still room for improvement. Especially because we are so well positioned on both sides here in Munich.
Munich needs to step more to the forefront internationally
And Munich itself needs to put itself more prominently in the foreground at the international level. We have some very innovative companies, especially in areas like tech and deep tech – and we need to communicate that very actively. If you don’t do that, you won’t be heard and thus won’t be relevant.
Munich Startup: Which investor would you like to meet personally? And what would you ask them?
Franzi Majer: Andy von Bechtholsheim. The question would be quite clear: when can we welcome him as a superangel with us, what will our first deal together be, and how much of his own capital would he like to invest in our fund. Of course only after I’ve pitched Superangels to him and then hopefully only rhetorical questions follow.
