Category: Allgemein

Insights:

• Understanding low code – no code and pro code
• Why has Jacob been so successful in business?
• When is the right time to bootstrap a business?
• Understanding open source
• What is Camunda’s work culture like?
• Is the cloud market as hot as it looks?

Key Discussion Points:

[00:09] Getting to know our guest, Jakob Freund

[00:33] What does Camunda do?

[02:52] The low codes and how they relate to Jakob’s system

[06:57] The disadvantages of purely depending on low codes when developing solutions

[09:41] What has made Jakob’s company so enormously successful?

[13:11] What drove Jakob and his partner to bootstrapping?

[17:75] What’s the best time to bootstrap a business?

[20:49] The source of Jakob’s entrepreneurial passion

[28:43] Why do people exit their companies?

[30:12] Why Jakob and the company decided to have their source codes as open source and how it has worked for them

[31:50] Why is a free open-source license essential?

[33:26] How Camunda benefited from open-source projects

[37:26] Open source and how it changed

[39:14] What is open source?

[43:09] Camunda’s transparency

[44:24] Work culture at Camunda

[49:11] Camunda’s goals for the next ten years

[51:11] Jakob’s take on the cloud market

[54:27] Jakob’s advice to young people who want to become entrepreneurs

[56:43] Choosing a business partner

[01:00:07] Jakob’s take on work-life balance

[1:08:31] Jakob’s favorite books

[01:10:40] Jakob’s message to his 20-year-old self

[01:11:13] Jakob’s message to his 30 years old self

Interesting Quotes:

“Low-code is another tool in that toolbox that you can apply in order to speed up the development process, or to make sure that business stakeholder’s needs are understood better.”

“If all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.”

“When all you have at your disposal is low code, you will hit a ceiling. It will become very complicated for the people that are supposed to implement your application. Because suddenly, you need to both implement a relatively bespoke complex environment with a limited set of tools.”

“Market dynamics are like surfing, the waves come in, or they don’t.”

“One of the things which made the computers interesting was that you could do a lot of things with them, but you had to learn how to do it.”

“Where growth is really driven by the product itself, people want to use it, and they want to buy it.”

“If you’re a product person in the sense that you’re really excited about your product, you love your product, you love to see people using it. You’re smart enough to monetize it. That is a great source of energy to keep going, even when things are difficult.”

“Community is a very big, cornerstone-important pillar for the success of such a product.”

“Open source, as a distribution model, is an effective strategy to get your product out to the market and to get feedback on your product that you need in order to make it better.”

“It’s better to make a bad decision swiftly, than a great assumption a lot more slowly.”

“Process orchestration is the ability to execute high numbers of business processes end to end by stitching together different systems and devices.”

“Running your own company comes with a lot of work. It comes with a lot of stress and uncertainty. You need to be ready for that.”

“Be aware of your weaknesses – for example, if you are harmony driven, work on your capability to confront others with problems or find someone who helps you in doing so. ”

“Finding the right balance in your life is most important.”

“When you’re in a mode where you’re feeling stressed, and not really enjoying yourself, it’s time to reflect and figure out what you can do in order to make your life enjoyable.”

Insights:

• Understanding low code – no code and pro code
• Why has Jacob been so successful in business?
• When is the right time to bootstrap a business?
• Understanding open source
• What is Camunda’s work culture like?
• Is the cloud market as hot as it looks?

Key Discussion Points:

[00:09] Getting to know our guest, Jakob Freund

[00:33] What does Camunda do?

[02:52] The low codes and how they relate to Jakob’s system

[06:57] The disadvantages of purely depending on low codes when developing solutions

[09:41] What has made Jakob’s company so enormously successful?

[13:11] What drove Jakob and his partner to bootstrapping?

[17:75] What’s the best time to bootstrap a business?

[20:49] The source of Jakob’s entrepreneurial passion

[28:43] Why do people exit their companies?

[30:12] Why Jakob and the company decided to have their source codes as open source and how it has worked for them

[31:50] Why is a free open-source license essential?

[33:26] How Camunda benefited from open-source projects

[37:26] Open source and how it changed

[39:14] What is open source?

[43:09] Camunda’s transparency

[44:24] Work culture at Camunda

[49:11] Camunda’s goals for the next ten years

[51:11] Jakob’s take on the cloud market

[54:27] Jakob’s advice to young people who want to become entrepreneurs

[56:43] Choosing a business partner

[01:00:07] Jakob’s take on work-life balance

[1:08:31] Jakob’s favorite books

[01:10:40] Jakob’s message to his 20-year-old self

[01:11:13] Jakob’s message to his 30 years old self

Interesting Quotes:

“Low-code is another tool in that toolbox that you can apply in order to speed up the development process, or to make sure that business stakeholder’s needs are understood better.”

“If all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.”

“When all you have at your disposal is low code, you will hit a ceiling. It will become very complicated for the people that are supposed to implement your application. Because suddenly, you need to both implement a relatively bespoke complex environment with a limited set of tools.”

“Market dynamics are like surfing, the waves come in, or they don’t.”

“One of the things which made the computers interesting was that you could do a lot of things with them, but you had to learn how to do it.”

“Where growth is really driven by the product itself, people want to use it, and they want to buy it.”

“If you’re a product person in the sense that you’re really excited about your product, you love your product, you love to see people using it. You’re smart enough to monetize it. That is a great source of energy to keep going, even when things are difficult.”

“Community is a very big, cornerstone-important pillar for the success of such a product.”

“Open source, as a distribution model, is an effective strategy to get your product out to the market and to get feedback on your product that you need in order to make it better.”

“It’s better to make a bad decision swiftly, than a great assumption a lot more slowly.”

“Process orchestration is the ability to execute high numbers of business processes end to end by stitching together different systems and devices.”

“Running your own company comes with a lot of work. It comes with a lot of stress and uncertainty. You need to be ready for that.”

“Be aware of your weaknesses – for example, if you are harmony driven, work on your capability to confront others with problems or find someone who helps you in doing so. ”

“Finding the right balance in your life is most important.”

“When you’re in a mode where you’re feeling stressed, and not really enjoying yourself, it’s time to reflect and figure out what you can do in order to make your life enjoyable.”

Insights:

• Jörn Leogrande’s career from journalism to marketing
• What is good marketing and how to create it
• The confusion of at Wirecard in the initial phase
• The complexity in Wirecard multi-vision approach
• Wirecard CEO’s imaginary open door policy
• Jörn Leogrande experience in product development and challenges
• Wirecard confusion in allocating wrong people in the innovation division.
• Wirecard focus on innovation marketing and challenges there in.
• The fraud transaction model at Wirecard
• Marcus Braun behavior as CEO and CTO
• The Wirecard red flags and P&L reporting issues.
• Wirecard great idea that was not utilized.
• Wirecard financial reporting misrepresentation

Key Discussion Points:

[00:06] Jörn Leogrande background story and career journey

[01:50] Why Jörn Leogrande moved from journalism to marketing

[03:25] What is good marketing and how to create it

[04:36] Why Jörn Leogrande says he restarted Wirecard

[09:23] Tackling issues during the reestablishment of Wirecard

[11:00] Why Wiredcard was complex: Lack of unified vision

[12:57] Importance of marketing in shaping the company vision direction

[15:46] How was Wirecard more innovative than its competitors

[18:01] Working with Alipay

[27:33]Jörn Leogrande biggest success while working at Wirecard

[31:57] Why Wirecard posted Jörn Leogrande to the product development department

[33:41] The fraud transaction model at Wirecard

[38:31] Jörn Leogrande problems at Wirecard

[42:12] Wirecard great ideas that were never utilized

[43:41] The Wirecard red flags and P &L reporting issues

[48:24] Why Jörn Leogrande stayed longer at Wirecard despite challenges faced

[50:33] Wirecard financial reporting misrepresentation

[52:00] What Jörn Leogrande would do differently on the startup challenge

[1:07:30] What is work-life balance to Jörn Leogrande

[1:13:16] Jörn Leogrande’s favorite books

[1:14:56] Jörn Leogrande advice to 18/19, 30, and 40-year-old self

Interesting Quotes:

“You focus and see the brand as a living creature you have to create and give life. You have to take care of all the little nitty-gritty details of it.”

“They had a globe, their logo and everything was looking internationally. But it was not real. The brand was not there. What we were trying to establish back then was a different brand, something focused and lean.”

“This vision of an international global tech company, right in the very beginning was pretty hard.”

“It was a complex company back then. There were different people that had different visions.”

“People believed until the end that it was one of the most innovative companies.”

“My kids saw this tremendous change in my life. When I was working for Wirecard, I was often traveling or on business trips and something like this. And after the Wirecard story ended, and the corona story started, I was at home all the time, I wasn’t sitting in my working room and doing zoom calls, like everybody else.”

“This is what my entire life is all about: I cannot stay too long. At some point, I always try to think, what’s the next level?”

“He always said, if someone has a good idea, he can go to my office. And I said to him, Markus, nobody can go to your floor, actually, because you need a special key card to come into the CEO floor.”

“I always had this little theory that payment has to do with pain. Nobody likes to pay.”

“We were more interested in the press release than in the revenue of this kind of business.”

“If you know in the very beginning how hard it will get, you will never get started.”

“If something is not possible, don’t do the stuff. Don’t challenge yourself, and don’t tweak yourself in this way.”

Insights:

• Jörn Leogrande’s career from journalism to marketing
• What is good marketing and how to create it
• The confusion of at Wirecard in the initial phase
• The complexity in Wirecard multi-vision approach
• Wirecard CEO’s imaginary open door policy
• Jörn Leogrande experience in product development and challenges
• Wirecard confusion in allocating wrong people in the innovation division.
• Wirecard focus on innovation marketing and challenges there in.
• The fraud transaction model at Wirecard
• Marcus Braun behavior as CEO and CTO
• The Wirecard red flags and P&L reporting issues.
• Wirecard great idea that was not utilized.
• Wirecard financial reporting misrepresentation

Key Discussion Points:

[00:06] Jörn Leogrande background story and career journey

[01:50] Why Jörn Leogrande moved from journalism to marketing

[03:25] What is good marketing and how to create it

[04:36] Why Jörn Leogrande says he restarted Wirecard

[09:23] Tackling issues during the reestablishment of Wirecard

[11:00] Why Wiredcard was complex: Lack of unified vision

[12:57] Importance of marketing in shaping the company vision direction

[15:46] How was Wirecard more innovative than its competitors

[18:01] Working with Alipay

[27:33]Jörn Leogrande biggest success while working at Wirecard

[31:57] Why Wirecard posted Jörn Leogrande to the product development department

[33:41] The fraud transaction model at Wirecard

[38:31] Jörn Leogrande problems at Wirecard

[42:12] Wirecard great ideas that were never utilized

[43:41] The Wirecard red flags and P &L reporting issues

[48:24] Why Jörn Leogrande stayed longer at Wirecard despite challenges faced

[50:33] Wirecard financial reporting misrepresentation

[52:00] What Jörn Leogrande would do differently on the startup challenge

[1:07:30] What is work-life balance to Jörn Leogrande

[1:13:16] Jörn Leogrande’s favorite books

[1:14:56] Jörn Leogrande advice to 18/19, 30, and 40-year-old self

Interesting Quotes:

“You focus and see the brand as a living creature you have to create and give life. You have to take care of all the little nitty-gritty details of it.”

“They had a globe, their logo and everything was looking internationally. But it was not real. The brand was not there. What we were trying to establish back then was a different brand, something focused and lean.”

“This vision of an international global tech company, right in the very beginning was pretty hard.”

“It was a complex company back then. There were different people that had different visions.”

“People believed until the end that it was one of the most innovative companies.”

“My kids saw this tremendous change in my life. When I was working for Wirecard, I was often traveling or on business trips and something like this. And after the Wirecard story ended, and the corona story started, I was at home all the time, I wasn’t sitting in my working room and doing zoom calls, like everybody else.”

“This is what my entire life is all about: I cannot stay too long. At some point, I always try to think, what’s the next level?”

“He always said, if someone has a good idea, he can go to my office. And I said to him, Markus, nobody can go to your floor, actually, because you need a special key card to come into the CEO floor.”

“I always had this little theory that payment has to do with pain. Nobody likes to pay.”

“We were more interested in the press release than in the revenue of this kind of business.”

“If you know in the very beginning how hard it will get, you will never get started.”

“If something is not possible, don’t do the stuff. Don’t challenge yourself, and don’t tweak yourself in this way.”

Insights:

• How to convince decision-makers to make certain decisions
• Finding employees for a new department
• Handling a team virtually
• Why we shouldn’t focus exclusively on technology when looking at the future
• How to achieve work-life balance
• What does it take to become a head of innovation?

Key Discussion Points:

[00:46] How Sven got his first job and quit

[07:39] Lessons that Sven learned from working in a startup

[14:27] Sven’s journey into the corporate world

[21:13] How Sven handled being on the tech side

[26:14] Key points to convince decision-makers to try something

[30:18] How Sven got developers to develop the product for Postbank

[32:17] Why Sven decided to leave Postbank

[33:12] Projects that Brian was most proud of, in the innovation side of Postbank

[34:38] How Sven found his new challenge after Postbank

[36:20] How Sven selected who to hire

[39:00] Sven’s leadership style

[40:52] How Sven managed a team virtually

[43:43] Challenges that Sven faced as ahead of innovation at the Digital Innovation Unit

[48:25] How Sven founded a new company and went IPO

[50:10] Challenges Sven faced setting up a company inside a company and how he managed the challenges

[52:46] Sven’s advice anyone who wants to be head of innovation

[55:28] Work-life balance for Ben

[59:30] Sven’s favorite books

[01:01:48] Sven’s message to his 18 years old self

Interesting Quotes:

“Most of the things need time and a lot of investment to push it forward and to change people’s mind.”

“You should be able to express yourself to convince, motivate and enable people to see the broader picture.”

“When you start something new, you will not have the people in place.”

“If you don’t have the people in place, you can either hire the people, or look for some partners, in order to better understand the technology, or the business model.”

“It is always time to go, if there’s nothing to do anymore.”

“Diversity can bring a lot of benefits to a team’s performance.”

“Work life balance is very important, and we have to deal with and find effective ways of working and living especially after the pandemic crisis where nothing will be the same as before.”

“You should live to your own value and stick to them.”

“We have to decide when to change something, when to leave, and when to do something new.”

“Leading is taking time for people.”

“It Isn’t easy to find the right people when you use, the traditional channels.”

Insights:

• How to convince decision-makers to make certain decisions
• Finding employees for a new department
• Handling a team virtually
• Why we shouldn’t focus exclusively on technology when looking at the future
• How to achieve work-life balance
• What does it take to become a head of innovation?

Key Discussion Points:

[00:46] How Sven got his first job and quit

[07:39] Lessons that Sven learned from working in a startup

[14:27] Sven’s journey into the corporate world

[21:13] How Sven handled being on the tech side

[26:14] Key points to convince decision-makers to try something

[30:18] How Sven got developers to develop the product for Postbank

[32:17] Why Sven decided to leave Postbank

[33:12] Projects that Brian was most proud of, in the innovation side of Postbank

[34:38] How Sven found his new challenge after Postbank

[36:20] How Sven selected who to hire

[39:00] Sven’s leadership style

[40:52] How Sven managed a team virtually

[43:43] Challenges that Sven faced as ahead of innovation at the Digital Innovation Unit

[48:25] How Sven founded a new company and went IPO

[50:10] Challenges Sven faced setting up a company inside a company and how he managed the challenges

[52:46] Sven’s advice anyone who wants to be head of innovation

[55:28] Work-life balance for Ben

[59:30] Sven’s favorite books

[01:01:48] Sven’s message to his 18 years old self

Interesting Quotes:

“Most of the things need time and a lot of investment to push it forward and to change people’s mind.”

“You should be able to express yourself to convince, motivate and enable people to see the broader picture.”

“When you start something new, you will not have the people in place.”

“If you don’t have the people in place, you can either hire the people, or look for some partners, in order to better understand the technology, or the business model.”

“It is always time to go, if there’s nothing to do anymore.”

“Diversity can bring a lot of benefits to a team’s performance.”

“Work life balance is very important, and we have to deal with and find effective ways of working and living especially after the pandemic crisis where nothing will be the same as before.”

“You should live to your own value and stick to them.”

“We have to decide when to change something, when to leave, and when to do something new.”

“Leading is taking time for people.”

“It Isn’t easy to find the right people when you use, the traditional channels.”

Insights:

• Getting to know Jacob
• Introducing Agile methods at Deutsche Post
• Strategy for teaching a big and slow company to do things in a more effective way
• Importance of company politics and learning how to work with them
• Challenges designing a smart home meter
• Jacob’s key learnings on negotiation, building, and using networks
• Working as a CTO and CEO in different projects
• Criteria for building successful teams
• Difference between digitalization and digital expansion
• Features of a good CTO
• Achieving work-life balance
• Advice to his 18 years old self

Key Discussion Points:

[0:52] Getting to know Jacob

[5:41] Starting career as a junior developer

[7:13] Why Jacob left Hypoport and moved to Deutsche Post

[9:45] Introducing the Agile methods at Deutsche Post

[11:30] What was your strategy to teach a big, slow company to do things in a better way

[22:26] Why Jacob left Deutsche Post

[23:14] Why company politics are important and how to handle them

[29:27] Jacob’s next step after leaving Deutsche Post

[35:00] Jacob’s key learnings on negotiation, building, and using networks

[39:54] Challenges in selling their smart hub idea

[46:00] Jacob’s experience working in other projects as a CEO and CTO

[59:35] Criteria for building teams

[1:10:25] What is the difference between digitalization and digital expansion

[1:14:44] What makes a good CTO for you

[1:17:38] How Jacob achieves work-life balance

[1:24:40] What do you do to recharge your batteries

[1:25:44] What is your favorite books

[1:28:27] What kind of advice would you give to your 18-year-old self?

Interesting Quotes:

“Although I really enjoyed working with the people there and still admire everything that they did, there wasn’t enough room for me to make the next step.”

“If we believe the right thing, we really value the customer feedback.”

“Just push yourself into the world and letting people know you and your product exist”

“Listen to understand, not to answer.”

“We always also look for certain character traits. What I like to use a lot are the animals. So, there’s like the owl, the dolphin, the shark and the whale. Everyone has certain character traits and for you to build the team, you need all four of them.”

“Digitalization is when you have processes that currently are analog and put them into the digital world. It’s like introducing a CRM system or like getting away from certain XML files into better tooling.”

“Digital expansion is like adding to your core business products that leverage internet technology and digital technology.”
“You always should follow what you think is right. Follow your value system, and be explicit about it.”

“A lot of people need to understand that it’s not just making their workflows digital. There’s something else that they need to do: shape and open the market for digital services and products in their respective fields.”

“Be yourself. Be your true self and stick with it.”

Insights:

• Getting to know Jacob
• Introducing Agile methods at Deutsche Post
• Strategy for teaching a big and slow company to do things in a more effective way
• Importance of company politics and learning how to work with them
• Challenges designing a smart home meter
• Jacob’s key learnings on negotiation, building, and using networks
• Working as a CTO and CEO in different projects
• Criteria for building successful teams
• Difference between digitalization and digital expansion
• Features of a good CTO
• Achieving work-life balance
• Advice to his 18 years old self

Key Discussion Points:

[0:52] Getting to know Jacob

[5:41] Starting career as a junior developer

[7:13] Why Jacob left Hypoport and moved to Deutsche Post

[9:45] Introducing the Agile methods at Deutsche Post

[11:30] What was your strategy to teach a big, slow company to do things in a better way

[22:26] Why Jacob left Deutsche Post

[23:14] Why company politics are important and how to handle them

[29:27] Jacob’s next step after leaving Deutsche Post

[35:00] Jacob’s key learnings on negotiation, building, and using networks

[39:54] Challenges in selling their smart hub idea

[46:00] Jacob’s experience working in other projects as a CEO and CTO

[59:35] Criteria for building teams

[1:10:25] What is the difference between digitalization and digital expansion

[1:14:44] What makes a good CTO for you

[1:17:38] How Jacob achieves work-life balance

[1:24:40] What do you do to recharge your batteries

[1:25:44] What is your favorite books

[1:28:27] What kind of advice would you give to your 18-year-old self?

Interesting Quotes:

“Although I really enjoyed working with the people there and still admire everything that they did, there wasn’t enough room for me to make the next step.”

“If we believe the right thing, we really value the customer feedback.”

“Just push yourself into the world and letting people know you and your product exist”

“Listen to understand, not to answer.”

“We always also look for certain character traits. What I like to use a lot are the animals. So, there’s like the owl, the dolphin, the shark and the whale. Everyone has certain character traits and for you to build the team, you need all four of them.”

“Digitalization is when you have processes that currently are analog and put them into the digital world. It’s like introducing a CRM system or like getting away from certain XML files into better tooling.”

“Digital expansion is like adding to your core business products that leverage internet technology and digital technology.”
“You always should follow what you think is right. Follow your value system, and be explicit about it.”

“A lot of people need to understand that it’s not just making their workflows digital. There’s something else that they need to do: shape and open the market for digital services and products in their respective fields.”

“Be yourself. Be your true self and stick with it.”

Insights:

• Julia’s journey to becoming the director of venture accelerator
• How watching soccer can help you build a better team
• Diversification: Julia’s thoughts on diversification
• Achieving alignment in a company
• About life balance
• Making a minority group feel listened to
• Gender equality
• How companies thrive with diversity 

Key Discussion Points:

[00:10] Getting to know our guest

[00:40] How Julia became the director of venture accelerator

[02:11] How watching soccer can help build a better team

[03:42] What qualifies Julia to become a CEO?

[05:34] How Julia built the accelerator

[11:09] What does homogenous mean when it comes to founder teams?

[14:05] Julia’s views on diversification

[20:42] How to motivate employees to speak their truth without fear

[26:43] Julia’s view on people having different opinions

[30:16] How to make the minority groups in a company feel listened to

[33:00] Getting alignment in a company

[35:47] Examples of how companies thrive with diversity

[44:19] Definition of better in the sense of capitalism

[49:47] Steps into becoming a managing director of an accelerator

[52:23] Is Julia’s path different for her as a woman?

[01:01:55] Work-life balance for Julia

[1:06:59] Is it possible for us to achieve 50/50 equality in the future?

[01:08:45] Julia’s favorite books

[01:10:59] Julia’s message to her 18 years old self

Interesting Quotes:

“Talking about the soccer game, and the soccer team helps a lot not to get in direct conflict with your teammates. It’s much easier to objectify possible conflicts by not talking about your own group but talking about another group.”

“Failure is something connected to privilege and money in the background.”

“You should not judge, which are the most important ones, because they are all important. But what you have to decide is where to start, and how to think it as much as possible inclusive from the beginning on.”

“If you are not feeling safe enough to communicate, you’re a real perspective or your real ideas. Because you think someone could judge it in a bad way or whatever. Then that’s not the best way.”

“It’s important to try to understand why people behave like they behave, even if you do not agree to that behavior.”

“Where the dignity of the other person starts, that ends my dignity.”

“The person with the lowest power is the only one who can define if space safe or not, because that’s the perfect state of safety.”

“Opinions are important to understand what’s going on.”

“Change always happen slowly in incremental. It is never like one and zero.”

“Trust yourself, you’re worth it.”

“I started as a side-preneur too, because I don’t want it to have such insecurity to because we were in a family planning phase.”

“When we’re talking about hierarchy, the best way to make sure that you are creating a safe space is empower the ones with the with the less power to be the powerful, so to top down and change totally the hierarchy system.”

“I would say a founder could choose the battles and the battles I’m fighting are because of my identity.”

Insights:

• Julia’s journey to becoming the director of venture accelerator
• How watching soccer can help you build a better team
• Diversification: Julia’s thoughts on diversification
• Achieving alignment in a company
• About life balance
• Making a minority group feel listened to
• Gender equality
• How companies thrive with diversity 

Key Discussion Points:

[00:10] Getting to know our guest

[00:40] How Julia became the director of venture accelerator

[02:11] How watching soccer can help build a better team

[03:42] What qualifies Julia to become a CEO?

[05:34] How Julia built the accelerator

[11:09] What does homogenous mean when it comes to founder teams?

[14:05] Julia’s views on diversification

[20:42] How to motivate employees to speak their truth without fear

[26:43] Julia’s view on people having different opinions

[30:16] How to make the minority groups in a company feel listened to

[33:00] Getting alignment in a company

[35:47] Examples of how companies thrive with diversity

[44:19] Definition of better in the sense of capitalism

[49:47] Steps into becoming a managing director of an accelerator

[52:23] Is Julia’s path different for her as a woman?

[01:01:55] Work-life balance for Julia

[1:06:59] Is it possible for us to achieve 50/50 equality in the future?

[01:08:45] Julia’s favorite books

[01:10:59] Julia’s message to her 18 years old self

Interesting Quotes:

“Talking about the soccer game, and the soccer team helps a lot not to get in direct conflict with your teammates. It’s much easier to objectify possible conflicts by not talking about your own group but talking about another group.”

“Failure is something connected to privilege and money in the background.”

“You should not judge, which are the most important ones, because they are all important. But what you have to decide is where to start, and how to think it as much as possible inclusive from the beginning on.”

“If you are not feeling safe enough to communicate, you’re a real perspective or your real ideas. Because you think someone could judge it in a bad way or whatever. Then that’s not the best way.”

“It’s important to try to understand why people behave like they behave, even if you do not agree to that behavior.”

“Where the dignity of the other person starts, that ends my dignity.”

“The person with the lowest power is the only one who can define if space safe or not, because that’s the perfect state of safety.”

“Opinions are important to understand what’s going on.”

“Change always happen slowly in incremental. It is never like one and zero.”

“Trust yourself, you’re worth it.”

“I started as a side-preneur too, because I don’t want it to have such insecurity to because we were in a family planning phase.”

“When we’re talking about hierarchy, the best way to make sure that you are creating a safe space is empower the ones with the with the less power to be the powerful, so to top down and change totally the hierarchy system.”

“I would say a founder could choose the battles and the battles I’m fighting are because of my identity.”

Insights:

• Mico’s back story
• Mico’s agency
• Emotional Intelligence
• Digitalization Vs Innovation
• Impacts of digitalization on society
• How Non-IT business handle the IT part of their business
• Emotional intelligence and company culture
• Raising children in the digital age
• Mico’s favourite books
• Mico’s advice to his younger self

Key Discussion Points:

[00:08] Getting to know Mico

[01:27] What motivated Mico to start his agency?

[03:14]Emotional intelligence. What is emotional intelligence, and what makes a great team?

[05:48] Examples of what emotional intelligence can do

[10:30] Emotional intelligence and company culture: Is emotional intelligence core for company culture?

[11:44] How does Mico test emotional intelligence?

[13:36] Do digitalization and innovation always go together?

[16:10] Biggest impact and for the society, in the context of digitization

[20:10] How are countries preparing for digitalization and innovation?

[31:02] How the non-IT Company should handle their IT part of their business?

[35:29]How to transfer knowledge to teams

[43:27] How to raise kids in the digital age

[52:30] Mico’s favourite books

[53:37] Mico’s advice to his 20 year old self

Interesting Quotes:

“Have the courage to do nothing and not to always put stress on certain things you’re right there.”

“Natural interests come together with emotional stability. If you’re able to be interested in certain things and have a broad interest in graphics, this is the foundation for creativity. Creative means you can come up with ideas and you have the foundation behind it because you know, certain things, we have a broad knowledge.”

“I like the perspective more that, you don’t stay in front of the kids to keep them from crossing a border. Rather, stay behind them and foster their emotional intelligence. Confirm their emotions, elaborate their feelings here and there, and help them cope with that, rather than be against them.”

“If you force a process into a team, which is dysfunctional, you will not make that team better. Chances are the team becomes even worse.”

“We’ve reached our goal if our clients are enabled enough to take over from us.”

“If you don’t have knowledge in-house, certainly start with external experts, but don’t miss out to, you know, transfer their knowledge to your people. Otherwise, those solutions that external companies come up with are not sustainable.”

“It’s dangerous to say how a different kind of a certain country performs in digitalization if you didn’t live there.”

“We need to set frameworks and design our politicians and ourselves need to design society rules for the future so that, those innovations are channeled in the right directions.”

“Digitalization is, is in the end process of renewing things, and transforming things.”

“Emotional intelligence means to be aware of your own emotions, and also be transparent about your own emotions first.”

Insights:

• Mico’s back story
• Mico’s agency
• Emotional Intelligence
• Digitalization Vs Innovation
• Impacts of digitalization on society
• How Non-IT business handle the IT part of their business
• Emotional intelligence and company culture
• Raising children in the digital age
• Mico’s favourite books
• Mico’s advice to his younger self

Key Discussion Points:

[00:08] Getting to know Mico

[01:27] What motivated Mico to start his agency?

[03:14]Emotional intelligence. What is emotional intelligence, and what makes a great team?

[05:48] Examples of what emotional intelligence can do

[10:30] Emotional intelligence and company culture: Is emotional intelligence core for company culture?

[11:44] How does Mico test emotional intelligence?

[13:36] Do digitalization and innovation always go together?

[16:10] Biggest impact and for the society, in the context of digitization

[20:10] How are countries preparing for digitalization and innovation?

[31:02] How the non-IT Company should handle their IT part of their business?

[35:29]How to transfer knowledge to teams

[43:27] How to raise kids in the digital age

[52:30] Mico’s favourite books

[53:37] Mico’s advice to his 20 year old self

Interesting Quotes:

“Have the courage to do nothing and not to always put stress on certain things you’re right there.”

“Natural interests come together with emotional stability. If you’re able to be interested in certain things and have a broad interest in graphics, this is the foundation for creativity. Creative means you can come up with ideas and you have the foundation behind it because you know, certain things, we have a broad knowledge.”

“I like the perspective more that, you don’t stay in front of the kids to keep them from crossing a border. Rather, stay behind them and foster their emotional intelligence. Confirm their emotions, elaborate their feelings here and there, and help them cope with that, rather than be against them.”

“If you force a process into a team, which is dysfunctional, you will not make that team better. Chances are the team becomes even worse.”

“We’ve reached our goal if our clients are enabled enough to take over from us.”

“If you don’t have knowledge in-house, certainly start with external experts, but don’t miss out to, you know, transfer their knowledge to your people. Otherwise, those solutions that external companies come up with are not sustainable.”

“It’s dangerous to say how a different kind of a certain country performs in digitalization if you didn’t live there.”

“We need to set frameworks and design our politicians and ourselves need to design society rules for the future so that, those innovations are channeled in the right directions.”

“Digitalization is, is in the end process of renewing things, and transforming things.”

“Emotional intelligence means to be aware of your own emotions, and also be transparent about your own emotions first.”

Insights:

• Getting to know our guest
• The definition of Innovation to Julia
• What influences Julia’s thinking?
• Julia’s transition from the research field
• Transitioning from an academic background to business and leadership
• How to gauge your leadership
• Building a team
• Surviving in a male-dominated career
• Work-life balance
• Wrapping up questions

Key Discussion Points:

[00:09] Getting to know our guest

[01:38] What is Innovation?

[03:01] Did research influence Julia’s way of thinking?

[04:38] Why did Julia transition out of the research arena?

[08:13] Julia moving into product management

[09:59] Julia’s advice to people who want to transition from academic to business and leadership

[11:44] The main difference between the research time and the business time out of a team perspective

[13:37] How do you know you have made it as a leader?

[14:48] Techniques that Julia uses to lead a team

[20:59] Key takeaways from Julia’s experience

[24:23] A company that Julia has worked with as part of the transition

[28:58] Enabling a team of five. Examples on how to enable a 5 member’s team

[31:45] Did being a woman make Julia’s journey different?

[33:30] How Julia handled difficult moments in male-dominated environments

[35:01] Julia’s perspective on work-life balance

[36:33] Julia’s favorite books

[38:51] Julia’s message to her 18 years old self

Interesting Quotes:

“Innovation is what keeps us evolving. We learn really quickly and stick to skills as kids, we accumulate knowledge and then prefer products that really provide us with value.”

“The world is evolving way too quickly these days to wait until the knowledge is included in curricula and textbooks, but you need to find the right people to develop your products together.”

“Completing an advanced degree, often means building up a lot of resilience, because it sounds cool. It also means you spend a lot of days and nights in the lab running experiments that don’t necessarily yield the desired outcome that you were hoping to get.”

“Treat other people like you want to be treated as well and be yourself.”

“If you have an open mind and ear for the needs of team members and give everybody space to develop, you will be amazed what happens.”

“Friction usually helps to release some creative energy and removes things out of the way that people probably didn’t want to voice in the beginning. But it can be a big hurdle, if you just agree, and nobody’s dares to say what they really think.”

“You can’t just change one function into agile, if all the mindset and decision making processes in the rest of the organization are not agile.”

“Innovation also takes time. So with new products, you don’t necessarily see a return on invest right away.”

“A few people with positive mindsets provide a new environment for others to flourish.”

“It’s not only what you say, but also what other people see and wants to hear from you.”

“It’s super important that you pick a profession that is personally fulfilling and ideally also pays for your living.”

“Lifelong learning is super important and trying to push yourself every now and then beyond your comfort zone, because that’s really when learning takes place.”

Insights:

• Getting to know our guest
• The definition of Innovation to Julia
• What influences Julia’s thinking?
• Julia’s transition from the research field
• Transitioning from an academic background to business and leadership
• How to gauge your leadership
• Building a team
• Surviving in a male-dominated career
• Work-life balance
• Wrapping up questions

Key Discussion Points:

[00:09] Getting to know our guest

[01:38] What is Innovation?

[03:01] Did research influence Julia’s way of thinking?

[04:38] Why did Julia transition out of the research arena?

[08:13] Julia moving into product management

[09:59] Julia’s advice to people who want to transition from academic to business and leadership

[11:44] The main difference between the research time and the business time out of a team perspective

[13:37] How do you know you have made it as a leader?

[14:48] Techniques that Julia uses to lead a team

[20:59] Key takeaways from Julia’s experience

[24:23] A company that Julia has worked with as part of the transition

[28:58] Enabling a team of five. Examples on how to enable a 5 member’s team

[31:45] Did being a woman make Julia’s journey different?

[33:30] How Julia handled difficult moments in male-dominated environments

[35:01] Julia’s perspective on work-life balance

[36:33] Julia’s favorite books

[38:51] Julia’s message to her 18 years old self

Interesting Quotes:

“Innovation is what keeps us evolving. We learn really quickly and stick to skills as kids, we accumulate knowledge and then prefer products that really provide us with value.”

“The world is evolving way too quickly these days to wait until the knowledge is included in curricula and textbooks, but you need to find the right people to develop your products together.”

“Completing an advanced degree, often means building up a lot of resilience, because it sounds cool. It also means you spend a lot of days and nights in the lab running experiments that don’t necessarily yield the desired outcome that you were hoping to get.”

“Treat other people like you want to be treated as well and be yourself.”

“If you have an open mind and ear for the needs of team members and give everybody space to develop, you will be amazed what happens.”

“Friction usually helps to release some creative energy and removes things out of the way that people probably didn’t want to voice in the beginning. But it can be a big hurdle, if you just agree, and nobody’s dares to say what they really think.”

“You can’t just change one function into agile, if all the mindset and decision making processes in the rest of the organization are not agile.”

“Innovation also takes time. So with new products, you don’t necessarily see a return on invest right away.”

“A few people with positive mindsets provide a new environment for others to flourish.”

“It’s not only what you say, but also what other people see and wants to hear from you.”

“It’s super important that you pick a profession that is personally fulfilling and ideally also pays for your living.”

“Lifelong learning is super important and trying to push yourself every now and then beyond your comfort zone, because that’s really when learning takes place.”

Insights:

•  What is quality management?
•  Prioritizing requirements as a quality manager
•  Should quality management have some flexibility
•  Quality manager versus improvement manager
•  Tools that quality managers use in their day to day job
•  Working with different departments as a quality manager
•  Keeping control over processes
•  Digitalization in quality management
•  The future of quality management
•  The different frameworks in quality management
•  Agile in quality management
•  Wrapping up questions

Key Discussion Points:

[00:08] Getting to know our guest

[00:47] What does a quality manager do?

[00:58] What is quality?

[2:00] How Florian makes sure requirements are met

[03:50] Prioritizing requirements as a quality manager

[06:32] Flexibility of quality requirements system

[08:30] Quality manager versus improvement manager

[11:17] What tools do quality managers use in their day-to-day life?

[15:14] The challenges that Florian has had with bringing departments together and how he solved them

[21:07] How relevant can quality management be outside production?

[22:04] How does Florian keep control over the processes?

[24:45] How Florian brings different departments to the processes

[26:06] How does Florian bring digitalization to the process?

[32:45]The future of quality management

[34:40] How is control done?

[37:30] The different frameworks

[41:21] Agile in quality management

[47:13] Advice to a young person who would like to become a quality manager

[50:23] Work-life balance, according to Florian

[51:30] Florian’s favorite books

[53:35] Florian’s advice to his younger self

Interesting Quotes:

“The basis for a sustainable and successful company is that the customers are happy and the customers are buying again, and are buying more expensive products.”

“Working on customer satisfaction is the highest priority if you start with quality management.”

“We should not need to focus on the word requirements from other people; we should try to help to solve the issues that our colleagues in other departments have.”

“The law is always above quality, and also, personal health and safety are for me above quality.”

“It’s impossible to know everything.”

“Agile doesn’t mean that you change the products every day. It means like there is a certain fixture like the most important thing which was in quality management, the core process which generates value.”

“Try to find out as early as possible what you like to do in the future. Do not only listen to your parents telling you just choose your education based on the highest income you can achieve in your first job. Focus on what you’d like to do.”

“As a quality manager, you are only helping to support the system as good as possible with the tools that you have.”

Insights:

•  What is quality management?
•  Prioritizing requirements as a quality manager
•  Should quality management have some flexibility
•  Quality manager versus improvement manager
•  Tools that quality managers use in their day to day job
•  Working with different departments as a quality manager
•  Keeping control over processes
•  Digitalization in quality management
•  The future of quality management
•  The different frameworks in quality management
•  Agile in quality management
•  Wrapping up questions

Key Discussion Points:

[00:08] Getting to know our guest

[00:47] What does a quality manager do?

[00:58] What is quality?

[2:00] How Florian makes sure requirements are met

[03:50] Prioritizing requirements as a quality manager

[06:32] Flexibility of quality requirements system

[08:30] Quality manager versus improvement manager

[11:17] What tools do quality managers use in their day-to-day life?

[15:14] The challenges that Florian has had with bringing departments together and how he solved them

[21:07] How relevant can quality management be outside production?

[22:04] How does Florian keep control over the processes?

[24:45] How Florian brings different departments to the processes

[26:06] How does Florian bring digitalization to the process?

[32:45]The future of quality management

[34:40] How is control done?

[37:30] The different frameworks

[41:21] Agile in quality management

[47:13] Advice to a young person who would like to become a quality manager

[50:23] Work-life balance, according to Florian

[51:30] Florian’s favorite books

[53:35] Florian’s advice to his younger self

Interesting Quotes:

“The basis for a sustainable and successful company is that the customers are happy and the customers are buying again, and are buying more expensive products.”

“Working on customer satisfaction is the highest priority if you start with quality management.”

“We should not need to focus on the word requirements from other people; we should try to help to solve the issues that our colleagues in other departments have.”

“The law is always above quality, and also, personal health and safety are for me above quality.”

“It’s impossible to know everything.”

“Agile doesn’t mean that you change the products every day. It means like there is a certain fixture like the most important thing which was in quality management, the core process which generates value.”

“Try to find out as early as possible what you like to do in the future. Do not only listen to your parents telling you just choose your education based on the highest income you can achieve in your first job. Focus on what you’d like to do.”

“As a quality manager, you are only helping to support the system as good as possible with the tools that you have.”

Insights:

•  Starting a job at Vopak
•  Challenges of working in countries experiencing a change in government
•  Matching the organization culture with the prevailing culture in a country
•  Main challenges in Indonesia and tricks to success
•  Strengths you should have in the company management teams
•  Taking up a new challenge and problems encountered during the digital transformation
•  Handling software programming is part of the digitalization
•  Vopak company culture evolution
•  Advice to a young person who wants to become a digital director of innovation
• Disruption needed to evolve the energy sector
• Wrap up questions

Key Discussion Points:

[00:09] Introduction to the episode guest

[01:50] How Mark started his job at Vopak?

[04:53] How did you know the 300 people in the management

[05:47] When you started working in a company did you already have a focus on innovation?

[09:00] Challenges of working in countries experiencing a change in government

[15:50] Strengths you should have in the management teams

[17:17] Taking up a new challenge

[19:25] How did you find your first challenge to tackle?

[23:15] Problem encountered during the digital transformation

[26:43] How do you handle the software programming part of the digitalization

[32:33] How flexible are you with your team to changes in innovation platforms if you are working on new ideas?

[35:12] What part of Vopak company culture evolved over time or didn’t evolve?

[36:02] Advice to a young person who wants to become a digital director of innovation

[38:53] Do you think the energy sector needs a disruption for another time to evolve in a certain way?

[40:05] How do you think about work-life balance?

[42:28] What are your favorite books?

[43:58] Advice to 18-year-old self

Interesting Quotes:

“The important aspect of success is that you need to set up a management team in an organization that can execute.”

“You should not look for clones of yourself. Look for people that have strengths in areas where you maybe have less experience or less passion so that you have a team that goes well together.”

“Vopak has a family culture. We take care of one another. And I think in this digital age, we are also entrepreneurial.”

“Dont focus on exploiting, focus on exploring.”

“You not only guide young people, young people also guide you.”

“If you need subject matter experts or to change management’s resources, you usually get them in the pilot phase.”

“Working from home doesn’t mean that you’re less productive. The contrary is we have actually learned that we can get more things done. We have become more effective and productive.”

“Follow your intuition and your passion.”

Insights:

•  Starting a job at Vopak
•  Challenges of working in countries experiencing a change in government
•  Matching the organization culture with the prevailing culture in a country
•  Main challenges in Indonesia and tricks to success
•  Strengths you should have in the company management teams
•  Taking up a new challenge and problems encountered during the digital transformation
•  Handling software programming is part of the digitalization
•  Vopak company culture evolution
•  Advice to a young person who wants to become a digital director of innovation
• Disruption needed to evolve the energy sector
• Wrap up questions

Key Discussion Points:

[00:09] Introduction to the episode guest

[01:50] How Mark started his job at Vopak?

[04:53] How did you know the 300 people in the management

[05:47] When you started working in a company did you already have a focus on innovation?

[09:00] Challenges of working in countries experiencing a change in government

[15:50] Strengths you should have in the management teams

[17:17] Taking up a new challenge

[19:25] How did you find your first challenge to tackle?

[23:15] Problem encountered during the digital transformation

[26:43] How do you handle the software programming part of the digitalization

[32:33] How flexible are you with your team to changes in innovation platforms if you are working on new ideas?

[35:12] What part of Vopak company culture evolved over time or didn’t evolve?

[36:02] Advice to a young person who wants to become a digital director of innovation

[38:53] Do you think the energy sector needs a disruption for another time to evolve in a certain way?

[40:05] How do you think about work-life balance?

[42:28] What are your favorite books?

[43:58] Advice to 18-year-old self

Interesting Quotes:

“The important aspect of success is that you need to set up a management team in an organization that can execute.”

“You should not look for clones of yourself. Look for people that have strengths in areas where you maybe have less experience or less passion so that you have a team that goes well together.”

“Vopak has a family culture. We take care of one another. And I think in this digital age, we are also entrepreneurial.”

“Dont focus on exploiting, focus on exploring.”

“You not only guide young people, young people also guide you.”

“If you need subject matter experts or to change management’s resources, you usually get them in the pilot phase.”

“Working from home doesn’t mean that you’re less productive. The contrary is we have actually learned that we can get more things done. We have become more effective and productive.”

“Follow your intuition and your passion.”

Insights:

• Kristin’s backstory
• Balancing being a parent and work
• Stepping out of the comfort zone
• How Kristin got into innovation
• Kristin’s first job
• How Kristin sets goals when implementing an innovation
• Kristin’s life at the incubator
• Kristin’s advice to anyone who wants to join the innovation field
• Work-life balance
• Kristin’s favorite books
• Wrapping up questions.

Key Discussion Points:

[00:33] Getting to know Kristin

[02:28] What did Kristin first study?

[04:48] How Kristin coped with work and being a mom

[09:22] Stepping out of the comfort zone

[12:43] How Kristin pushed her career forward

[15:11] Why Kristin chose innovation

[17:16] Key points about innovation

[21:23] How Kristin found her first job

[25:47] Key learnings that Kristin got from working with SME

[28:11] How Kristin would implement innovation in a company starting from Scratch

[31:13] Goal setting

[35:30] Kristin’s life at the incubator

[38:17] Kristin’s next step after the incubator

[39:44] What is an open call?

[40:53] Kristin’s advice to anyone who wants to be in innovation

[42:07] Kristin’s journey to her current role as a woman

[46:20] Work-life balance according to Kristin

[48:08] Kristin’s favorite books

[50:31] Kristin’s advice to her 18 years old self

Interesting Quotes:

“Just because you get a child, does not mean that you stop to exist as an own person.”

“Going out of your comfort zone is a good point concerning innovation as well to get better check back.”

“Progress is my passion, and not the fashion.”

“You can be innovative and do not talk about it. But it does not make sense for a company or for anyone else.”

“But innovation is kind of a vehicle to transfer things from one point to another.”

“It’s the wrong way to implement an innovation lab and think that everything comes naturally; the culture shift and all that stuff.”

“If you want to find a solution for a need, you have to be aware that it might be a disruptive solution as well.”

“When you suggest something to a startup and it’s implemented, and it doesn’t work. You are more responsible than ever for your suggestions and ideas.”

“If you want to do something, it’s possible to do it. Sometimes not on the straightaway.”

“Work life balance is not easy when you have a lot of interests.”

“Be kind to yourself and don’t put too much pressure on yourself – You are enough.”

Insights:

• Kristin’s backstory
• Balancing being a parent and work
• Stepping out of the comfort zone
• How Kristin got into innovation
• Kristin’s first job
• How Kristin sets goals when implementing an innovation
• Kristin’s life at the incubator
• Kristin’s advice to anyone who wants to join the innovation field
• Work-life balance
• Kristin’s favorite books
• Wrapping up questions.

Key Discussion Points:

[00:33] Getting to know Kristin

[02:28] What did Kristin first study?

[04:48] How Kristin coped with work and being a mom

[09:22] Stepping out of the comfort zone

[12:43] How Kristin pushed her career forward

[15:11] Why Kristin chose innovation

[17:16] Key points about innovation

[21:23] How Kristin found her first job

[25:47] Key learnings that Kristin got from working with SME

[28:11] How Kristin would implement innovation in a company starting from Scratch

[31:13] Goal setting

[35:30] Kristin’s life at the incubator

[38:17] Kristin’s next step after the incubator

[39:44] What is an open call?

[40:53] Kristin’s advice to anyone who wants to be in innovation

[42:07] Kristin’s journey to her current role as a woman

[46:20] Work-life balance according to Kristin

[48:08] Kristin’s favorite books

[50:31] Kristin’s advice to her 18 years old self

Interesting Quotes:

“Just because you get a child, does not mean that you stop to exist as an own person.”

“Going out of your comfort zone is a good point concerning innovation as well to get better check back.”

“Progress is my passion, and not the fashion.”

“You can be innovative and do not talk about it. But it does not make sense for a company or for anyone else.”

“But innovation is kind of a vehicle to transfer things from one point to another.”

“It’s the wrong way to implement an innovation lab and think that everything comes naturally; the culture shift and all that stuff.”

“If you want to find a solution for a need, you have to be aware that it might be a disruptive solution as well.”

“When you suggest something to a startup and it’s implemented, and it doesn’t work. You are more responsible than ever for your suggestions and ideas.”

“If you want to do something, it’s possible to do it. Sometimes not on the straightaway.”

“Work life balance is not easy when you have a lot of interests.”

“Be kind to yourself and don’t put too much pressure on yourself – You are enough.”

Insights:

• Why Tilman stopped the toaster startup business
• Innovation definition and how it differs between corporate and startups
• Importance of analyzing other markets before implementing an innovation
• Why big companies need a good business case
• Ways of fastening a quite slow research-driven innovation
• Most important aspect in driving innovation in a company
• Form of investment Tilman used for his startup
• How to bring change to the company culture
• Importance of having an open culture in an organization
• Work-life balance and favorite books
• Advice to 18-year-old self

Key Discussion Points:

[00:07] Introduction to the episode guest

[06:01] Why Tilman stopped the toaster startup business

[12:48] What do you think about innovation, and how does it differ in startups and corporate organizations

[16:06] Importance of analyzing other markets before implementing an innovation

[23:51] Why does a big company need a good business case to make money

[26:16] Examples of past innovations at Evonik

[30:05] How do you choose the options or the paths you want to follow

[34:44] Examples of fastening quite slow research-driven innovation

[37:46] Why aim is the most important aspect in driving innovation on a company

[41:12] Form of investment Tilman used for his startup

[44:39] Ways of bringing change to the company culture

[49:22] Importance of having an open culture in an organization

[56:23] What do you think about work-life balance?

[58:29] What are your favorite books?

[1:01:01] If you could go back in time, what kind of advice would you give your 18-year-old self?

Interesting Quotes:

“If you are a true scientist, you are trying to make the perfect pitch.”

“When you work in innovation in a big company, it is not always that you want to have a project that you need to realize it as quickly as possible. Like in a startup, you have an idea. You get funding, and you work as hard and as quick as possible on it.”

“A big company needs a good business case.”

“It is important to have different ways of deciding which ideas should be pursued and which ideas you should not. If you only have one innovation process, then you have one way of weighing a decision.”

“The success of the company is not related to the people who decide what I have to do today but about what we all have to do today.”

“The best companies are the ones which integrate everyone and how they like to be in there.”

Insights:

• Why Tilman stopped the toaster startup business
• Innovation definition and how it differs between corporate and startups
• Importance of analyzing other markets before implementing an innovation
• Why big companies need a good business case
• Ways of fastening a quite slow research-driven innovation
• Most important aspect in driving innovation in a company
• Form of investment Tilman used for his startup
• How to bring change to the company culture
• Importance of having an open culture in an organization
• Work-life balance and favorite books
• Advice to 18-year-old self

Key Discussion Points:

[00:07] Introduction to the episode guest

[06:01] Why Tilman stopped the toaster startup business

[12:48] What do you think about innovation, and how does it differ in startups and corporate organizations

[16:06] Importance of analyzing other markets before implementing an innovation

[23:51] Why does a big company need a good business case to make money

[26:16] Examples of past innovations at Evonik

[30:05] How do you choose the options or the paths you want to follow

[34:44] Examples of fastening quite slow research-driven innovation

[37:46] Why aim is the most important aspect in driving innovation on a company

[41:12] Form of investment Tilman used for his startup

[44:39] Ways of bringing change to the company culture

[49:22] Importance of having an open culture in an organization

[56:23] What do you think about work-life balance?

[58:29] What are your favorite books?

[1:01:01] If you could go back in time, what kind of advice would you give your 18-year-old self?

Interesting Quotes:

“If you are a true scientist, you are trying to make the perfect pitch.”

“When you work in innovation in a big company, it is not always that you want to have a project that you need to realize it as quickly as possible. Like in a startup, you have an idea. You get funding, and you work as hard and as quick as possible on it.”

“A big company needs a good business case.”

“It is important to have different ways of deciding which ideas should be pursued and which ideas you should not. If you only have one innovation process, then you have one way of weighing a decision.”

“The success of the company is not related to the people who decide what I have to do today but about what we all have to do today.”

“The best companies are the ones which integrate everyone and how they like to be in there.”

Insights:

• Julia’s backstory
• Working with startups
• Julia’s work at Vodafone and Uplift
• Julia’s Definition of innovation
• About Business Development
• Julia’s interesting moments
• The future of IoT
• Advice for becoming head of innovation
• Work-life balance
• Julia’s advice to her younger self

Key Discussion Points:

[00:28] Getting to know Julia

[07:59] What did Julia study?

[10:45] Julia’s journey to working with startups

[13:24] What’s the goal of Uplift, and how does it work with startups?

[17:58] What other investments do Julia’s company make?

[20:26] What is innovation to Julia?

[21:30] Julia’s definition of business development

[24:32] How was Julia able to access the right startups when Uplift started?

[31:13] Moments that Julia is most proud of

[36:09] 5G in the cloud context

[39:44] Where does Julia see IoT in the next ten years. What’s the future of IoT

[41:05] Who will benefit from the 5G development?

[45:22] Julia’s advice to someone who wants to become head of innovation

[47:04] Was Julia’s journey different because of her gender?

[48:41] Work-life balance. Does one need a supportive partner to achieve a work-life balance?

[50:15] Julia’s favorite books

[51:26] Julia’s advice to her younger self

Interesting Quotes:

“Innovation is an invention. You come up with something new, but which definitely needs to be paired with a value.”

“What I always tell my team is, you need a passion and patience, at the same time. You need to transport a vision.”

“Size matters for relevance.”

“Running innovation in a large corporation, you cannot do it on your own. You always need followers, people buying your vision, and a team.”

“Successful people always having a strong partner next to them, supporting them throughout their journey.”

“There is no master plan. I don’t think that you can plan your life in like every single step.”

Insights:

• Julia’s backstory
• Working with startups
• Julia’s work at Vodafone and Uplift
• Julia’s Definition of innovation
• About Business Development
• Julia’s interesting moments
• The future of IoT
• Advice for becoming head of innovation
• Work-life balance
• Julia’s advice to her younger self

Key Discussion Points:

[00:28] Getting to know Julia

[07:59] What did Julia study?

[10:45] Julia’s journey to working with startups

[13:24] What’s the goal of Uplift, and how does it work with startups?

[17:58] What other investments do Julia’s company make?

[20:26] What is innovation to Julia?

[21:30] Julia’s definition of business development

[24:32] How was Julia able to access the right startups when Uplift started?

[31:13] Moments that Julia is most proud of

[36:09] 5G in the cloud context

[39:44] Where does Julia see IoT in the next ten years. What’s the future of IoT

[41:05] Who will benefit from the 5G development?

[45:22] Julia’s advice to someone who wants to become head of innovation

[47:04] Was Julia’s journey different because of her gender?

[48:41] Work-life balance. Does one need a supportive partner to achieve a work-life balance?

[50:15] Julia’s favorite books

[51:26] Julia’s advice to her younger self

Interesting Quotes:

“Innovation is an invention. You come up with something new, but which definitely needs to be paired with a value.”

“What I always tell my team is, you need a passion and patience, at the same time. You need to transport a vision.”

“Size matters for relevance.”

“Running innovation in a large corporation, you cannot do it on your own. You always need followers, people buying your vision, and a team.”

“Successful people always having a strong partner next to them, supporting them throughout their journey.”

“There is no master plan. I don’t think that you can plan your life in like every single step.”

Insights:

• What is 5G?
• What did 5G change in the mobile network
• Why are there discussions that there are three or four big players 5G providers?
• Are the leaders in the technology field so far, even if it’s quite open?
• The opportunities in the 5G technology?
• Wrapping up questions

Key Discussion Points:

[00:08] Introduction to the episode guest

[01:35] What is 5G?

[03:47] How would you explain 5G to a kid?

[05:55] What did 5G change in the mobile network

[11:53] Why are there discussions that there are three or four big players 5G providers?

[15:16] Are the leaders in the technology field so far even if it’s quite open?

[22:10] What are the opportunities you see in this technology?

[29:25] What are your favorite books

[30:29] If you could go back in time to your 18-year-old self, what kind of advice would you give yourself?

Interesting Quotes:

“In 5G, there are some advancements, and we could go into detail, but that’s very technical stuff. What you don’t see is what is happening after the base station. So, your phone has a connection to a base station nearby. And after that, it’s a data network, and in a sense, you have it in data centers. So, you have like switches, routers, servers, stuff like that. But it’s not concentrated like in a data center where everything is close by; it’s stretched out all over the country. Sometimes even more with the continent.”

“With 5G, there are standardized interfaces into the network to gain this kind of information. What the standard does is open up the information; usually, only the operator had access to. And now everybody, maybe not everybody, but many people who develop applications can now tailor it to the use case of mobile. They have their standardized interfaces to the network, the information in the network, and can request the network to changes its behavior according to your service.”

“When 5G first entered the market, it was implemented on top of the 4g network. So they only switched out or added new antennas, and that’s something you need high expertise for it.”

“If you enable every user on the world to build, or to buy equipment to add to the network, then it will explode.”

“Accept that there is an unknown and do not force your comfort zone to lean into the unknown and to embrace the discomfort because of the discomfort there is a growth.”

Insights:

• What is 5G?
• What did 5G change in the mobile network
• Why are there discussions that there are three or four big players 5G providers?
• Are the leaders in the technology field so far, even if it’s quite open?
• The opportunities in the 5G technology?
• Wrapping up questions

Key Discussion Points:

[00:08] Introduction to the episode guest

[01:35] What is 5G?

[03:47] How would you explain 5G to a kid?

[05:55] What did 5G change in the mobile network

[11:53] Why are there discussions that there are three or four big players 5G providers?

[15:16] Are the leaders in the technology field so far even if it’s quite open?

[22:10] What are the opportunities you see in this technology?

[29:25] What are your favorite books

[30:29] If you could go back in time to your 18-year-old self, what kind of advice would you give yourself?

Interesting Quotes:

“In 5G, there are some advancements, and we could go into detail, but that’s very technical stuff. What you don’t see is what is happening after the base station. So, your phone has a connection to a base station nearby. And after that, it’s a data network, and in a sense, you have it in data centers. So, you have like switches, routers, servers, stuff like that. But it’s not concentrated like in a data center where everything is close by; it’s stretched out all over the country. Sometimes even more with the continent.”

“With 5G, there are standardized interfaces into the network to gain this kind of information. What the standard does is open up the information; usually, only the operator had access to. And now everybody, maybe not everybody, but many people who develop applications can now tailor it to the use case of mobile. They have their standardized interfaces to the network, the information in the network, and can request the network to changes its behavior according to your service.”

“When 5G first entered the market, it was implemented on top of the 4g network. So they only switched out or added new antennas, and that’s something you need high expertise for it.”

“If you enable every user on the world to build, or to buy equipment to add to the network, then it will explode.”

“Accept that there is an unknown and do not force your comfort zone to lean into the unknown and to embrace the discomfort because of the discomfort there is a growth.”

Insights:

• Starting a career in IT and shifting to another area of study
• Importance of being open to learning and enthusiastic when joining the FinTech sector
• Why it is hard to replace the traditional system of money
• Culture and technology are the biggest determining actors of innovation in the modern banking system
• The difference in how companies are financing themselves in the US and in Europe
• Monoculture versus diversity in technology
• The reason why banks are moving to the cloud
• Decentralization versus standardization of the technological framework and algorithms
• Regulation and transparency challenges in the technological sphere
• Advice to a young graduate seeking to join a consulting company

Key Discussion Points:

[00:10] Introduction to the episode guest

[03:08] How did you decide to quit your job for studying something entirely different?

[07:24] The importance of being open to learning and enthusiastic when joining the FinTech sector

[12:05] Why is it hard to replace the traditional system of money in the banking sector despite tech adoption?

[13:29] Why can startup do better than banks?

[15:36] Which big bank is the leading tribe?

[19:55] Are culture and technology the biggest determining actors of innovation in the modern banking system?

[22:41] Difference in how companies are financing themselves in the US and in Europe

[27:36] Do you see enough diversity in the technology field or do we go way too fast in a monoculture?

[31:02] Why are banks moving in the direction of the cloud?

[38:05] Decentralization versus standardization of the technological framework and algorithms

[46:17] Regulation and transparency challenges in the technological sphere

[52:02] Should future schools make a better place for personality groups?

[53:37] Advice to a young graduate seeking to join a consulting company

[55:51] How do you handle work-life balance?

[1:00:21] What are your favorite books?

[1:01:52] What kind of advice would you give to your 18-year-old self?

Interesting Quotes:

“As a customer, you don’t want to spend money. You want to buy a product.”

“The banking sector moves into the cloud because of its need to focus on market differentiating functionality and better products instead of infrastructure that others are better at providing.”

“The internet fosters innovation because it allows building on an ecosystem defined by open standards and API-driven functionality thereby reducing the necessity to spend time on problems others have already solved.”

“If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.”

“If you regulate processes, change becomes difficult. Stability often comes at the price of speed and flexibility.”

“Just learning what you are personally interested in leads to a very narrow point of view.”

Insights:

• Starting a career in IT and shifting to another area of study
• Importance of being open to learning and enthusiastic when joining the FinTech sector
• Why it is hard to replace the traditional system of money
• Culture and technology are the biggest determining actors of innovation in the modern banking system
• The difference in how companies are financing themselves in the US and in Europe
• Monoculture versus diversity in technology
• The reason why banks are moving to the cloud
• Decentralization versus standardization of the technological framework and algorithms
• Regulation and transparency challenges in the technological sphere
• Advice to a young graduate seeking to join a consulting company

Key Discussion Points:

[00:10] Introduction to the episode guest

[03:08] How did you decide to quit your job for studying something entirely different?

[07:24] The importance of being open to learning and enthusiastic when joining the FinTech sector

[12:05] Why is it hard to replace the traditional system of money in the banking sector despite tech adoption?

[13:29] Why can startup do better than banks?

[15:36] Which big bank is the leading tribe?

[19:55] Are culture and technology the biggest determining actors of innovation in the modern banking system?

[22:41] Difference in how companies are financing themselves in the US and in Europe

[27:36] Do you see enough diversity in the technology field or do we go way too fast in a monoculture?

[31:02] Why are banks moving in the direction of the cloud?

[38:05] Decentralization versus standardization of the technological framework and algorithms

[46:17] Regulation and transparency challenges in the technological sphere

[52:02] Should future schools make a better place for personality groups?

[53:37] Advice to a young graduate seeking to join a consulting company

[55:51] How do you handle work-life balance?

[1:00:21] What are your favorite books?

[1:01:52] What kind of advice would you give to your 18-year-old self?

Interesting Quotes:

“As a customer, you don’t want to spend money. You want to buy a product.”

“The banking sector moves into the cloud because of its need to focus on market differentiating functionality and better products instead of infrastructure that others are better at providing.”

“The internet fosters innovation because it allows building on an ecosystem defined by open standards and API-driven functionality thereby reducing the necessity to spend time on problems others have already solved.”

“If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.”

“If you regulate processes, change becomes difficult. Stability often comes at the price of speed and flexibility.”

“Just learning what you are personally interested in leads to a very narrow point of view.”

Insights:

• Working as an electrician and basic IT knowledge learned
• Combining education and working experience
• Transition from working career into project management
• Certification or learning by doing
• Learnings from doing project management
• Why it is good to be a generalist
• Getting as an outsider into the IT security field and the challenge of building a team
• Key factors for successful team leadership and tips on how to have more fun at work
• Guidelines for successful digitization
• Wrap up questions

Key Discussion Points:

[00:09] Introduction to the episode guest

[01:07] How did it go on from the electrician shop to the next step

[02:15] Basic IT knowledge from the utility business

[07:23] Would you recommend one to do education and working experience parallel?

[09:47] How did you handle work-life balance during the time? Was it a big issue working and studying?

[12:06] Transition from working career into project management

[12:27] Would you recommend certification or learning by doing?

[13:57] Learnings from doing project management

[16:14] What is your motivation

[18:46] What project you tackled that hit you in a special way?

[20:10] Why it is good to be a generalist.

[23:35] Getting into the IT security field and challenges of building a team

[28:33] Key factors for successful team leadership

[31:54] Tips for adding fun in the workplace

[33:53] If I would give you the task to hire people from scratch, How would you choose or test them?

[37:40] What is innovation? Some of your practical examples while working as an innovation manager

[43:12] What is a tentative condition for you?

[45:09] Guidelines for successful digitization

[51:23] How do you think about work-life balance right now

[53:16] What are your favorite books?

[57:22] If you could go back in time to your 18 years old self what would you tell yourself?

Interesting Quotes:

“When you think about digitalization in the grid, then it’s mostly about telecommunication about how to make things smart.”

“What you learn theoretically is not comparable to how you do it in practice.”

“In general, trust your people, listen to them, create a common goal together, which is motivating, and let the fun begin.”

“While hiring a person for your startup, project team, or for the department, find someone who is willing to work, to see and fix things even without someone telling him to do so.

“Innovation is a creative disruption.”

“Choose your war or fight wisely. Sometimes, go with the flow. Sometimes let it happen. Everything happens for a reason. And sooner or later, you will understand and see in everything that happened as a kind of an opportunity.”

Insights:

• Working as an electrician and basic IT knowledge learned
• Combining education and working experience
• Transition from working career into project management
• Certification or learning by doing
• Learnings from doing project management
• Why it is good to be a generalist
• Getting as an outsider into the IT security field and the challenge of building a team
• Key factors for successful team leadership and tips on how to have more fun at work
• Guidelines for successful digitization
• Wrap up questions

Key Discussion Points:

[00:09] Introduction to the episode guest

[01:07] How did it go on from the electrician shop to the next step

[02:15] Basic IT knowledge from the utility business

[07:23] Would you recommend one to do education and working experience parallel?

[09:47] How did you handle work-life balance during the time? Was it a big issue working and studying?

[12:06] Transition from working career into project management

[12:27] Would you recommend certification or learning by doing?

[13:57] Learnings from doing project management

[16:14] What is your motivation

[18:46] What project you tackled that hit you in a special way?

[20:10] Why it is good to be a generalist.

[23:35] Getting into the IT security field and challenges of building a team

[28:33] Key factors for successful team leadership

[31:54] Tips for adding fun in the workplace

[33:53] If I would give you the task to hire people from scratch, How would you choose or test them?

[37:40] What is innovation? Some of your practical examples while working as an innovation manager

[43:12] What is a tentative condition for you?

[45:09] Guidelines for successful digitization

[51:23] How do you think about work-life balance right now

[53:16] What are your favorite books?

[57:22] If you could go back in time to your 18 years old self what would you tell yourself?

Interesting Quotes:

“When you think about digitalization in the grid, then it’s mostly about telecommunication about how to make things smart.”

“What you learn theoretically is not comparable to how you do it in practice.”

“In general, trust your people, listen to them, create a common goal together, which is motivating, and let the fun begin.”

“While hiring a person for your startup, project team, or for the department, find someone who is willing to work, to see and fix things even without someone telling him to do so.

“Innovation is a creative disruption.”

“Choose your war or fight wisely. Sometimes, go with the flow. Sometimes let it happen. Everything happens for a reason. And sooner or later, you will understand and see in everything that happened as a kind of an opportunity.”

Insights:

• What is innovation?
• How do you evaluate and value technologies such as chatbots or augmented reality?
• How long do you stay in a project and what is your strategy for handling resources?
• Examples of innovation projects you had to stop and successful ones
• Technological disruption and the insurance sector
• Steps and advices of becoming a successful innovation manager
• Achieving work-life balance
• Favorite books and advices to young self

Key Discussion Points:

[00:07] Introduction to the episode guest

[00:27] How did you land where you are today?

[03:53] What is innovation?

[05:55] How do you evaluate and value technologies such as chatbots or augmented reality?

[07:45] How long do you stay in a project

[10:52] What is your strategy for handling resources

[13:31] Examples of projects you had to stop

[17:17] What are examples of successful innovation projects

[19:42] Your thoughts about the field of disruption, using the example of the digital insurance Nexible

[23:57] Where do you think the insurance sector will be in five or ten years?

[26:32] Best steps and advice to becoming an innovation manager

[33:15] How do you handle your work-life balance?

[37:10] What are your favorite books?

[40:15] What kind of advice would you give yourself if you go back to 18 years?

Interesting Quotes:

“If you’re really running projects, you realize very early that none of the project is like another, and there can’t be like a fixed process on how the project is developing.”

“First thing that we take into consideration is the technology mature enough? Is the technology ready to be implemented in our company? How early is it? The second thing is how do we create value? We focus on four different dimensions. Either to create brand reputation, increase customer satisfaction, reduce costs, or increase revenue.”

“We have to be honest especially in innovation. There are of course coming projects that we need to stop at someday. I think we also need to see it as a good sign because if we wouldn’t need to stop any project, it would mean that we didn’t push hard enough.”

“Technology will play a huge part in in every area of your life. Be it at home or on the go, we need to find a way to be relevant in your everyday life to prevent you from damages.”

“If somebody is applying for an innovation digit or whatever position, they should prove that they have knowledge in it. Not in theory, but in practice.”

“If you have an idea, the idea already consists of the solution.”

“My advice is be conscious about when to read and for what reason, then choose the books for it.”

“You should organize your life like an athlete. You have your training periods, performance period, execution, and your resting period, and then you return to that circuit.”

Insights:

• What is innovation?
• How do you evaluate and value technologies such as chatbots or augmented reality?
• How long do you stay in a project and what is your strategy for handling resources?
• Examples of innovation projects you had to stop and successful ones
• Technological disruption and the insurance sector
• Steps and advices of becoming a successful innovation manager
• Achieving work-life balance
• Favorite books and advices to young self

Key Discussion Points:

[00:07] Introduction to the episode guest

[00:27] How did you land where you are today?

[03:53] What is innovation?

[05:55] How do you evaluate and value technologies such as chatbots or augmented reality?

[07:45] How long do you stay in a project

[10:52] What is your strategy for handling resources

[13:31] Examples of projects you had to stop

[17:17] What are examples of successful innovation projects

[19:42] Your thoughts about the field of disruption, using the example of the digital insurance Nexible

[23:57] Where do you think the insurance sector will be in five or ten years?

[26:32] Best steps and advice to becoming an innovation manager

[33:15] How do you handle your work-life balance?

[37:10] What are your favorite books?

[40:15] What kind of advice would you give yourself if you go back to 18 years?

Interesting Quotes:

“If you’re really running projects, you realize very early that none of the project is like another, and there can’t be like a fixed process on how the project is developing.”

“First thing that we take into consideration is the technology mature enough? Is the technology ready to be implemented in our company? How early is it? The second thing is how do we create value? We focus on four different dimensions. Either to create brand reputation, increase customer satisfaction, reduce costs, or increase revenue.”

“We have to be honest especially in innovation. There are of course coming projects that we need to stop at someday. I think we also need to see it as a good sign because if we wouldn’t need to stop any project, it would mean that we didn’t push hard enough.”

“Technology will play a huge part in in every area of your life. Be it at home or on the go, we need to find a way to be relevant in your everyday life to prevent you from damages.”

“If somebody is applying for an innovation digit or whatever position, they should prove that they have knowledge in it. Not in theory, but in practice.”

“If you have an idea, the idea already consists of the solution.”

“My advice is be conscious about when to read and for what reason, then choose the books for it.”

“You should organize your life like an athlete. You have your training periods, performance period, execution, and your resting period, and then you return to that circuit.”

Insights:

• Getting to know Tobi
• What does culture change mean?
• How did Tobi start his job?
• How did Tobi diagnose what was ailing the company?
• Tobi’s first step to culture change
• The main hypothesis that Tobi and his team came up with to solve the company’s culture issue and how they prioritize
• How did Tobi convince the board of the problem that was ailing the company?
• How Tobi implemented the change in the organization
• How Tobi turned the whole culture concept into a framework that can work without him
• Which communication tool does the Otto Group use for communication?
• How did Tobias help the organization move to the next step in changing the culture?
• Measuring success for the culture change
• Tobi’s favorite books
• Work-life balance for Tobi
• Tobi’s message to his 18 years old self

Key Discussion Points:

[00:06] Getting to know Tobi

[00:21] What does Culture change mean?

[01:05] Understanding the Otto Group

[01:49] How did Tobi start his job?

[04:05] How did Tobi diagnose what was ailing the company?

[06:47] Tobi’s first step to culture change

[09:12] The main hypothesis that Tobi and his team came up with to solve the organization’s culture issue and how they prioritize

[16:19] How did Tobias convince the board on the problem that was ailing the company?

[19:13] How Tobias implemented the change in the organization

[24:14] How Tobi turned the whole culture concept into a framework that can work without him

[27:17] Which tool does the auto group use for communication?

[29:52] How did Tobias help the organization move to the next step in changing the culture?

[40:10] What did Tobi use to measure his success in changing the culture?

[46:34] Tobi’s favorite books

[48:29] Work-life balance for Tobi

[52:22] Tobi’s message to his 18 years old self

Interesting Quotes:

“Only by having one good night with someone in a club will he never become your best friend forever?”

“You cannot simply stop and let people complain about each other and do nothing.”

“If we want to scale, we have to reframe and reset the operating system.”

“You cannot convince people by talking to their heads.”

“People need to get better to perform better.”

“If you have the best team and a bad idea, you might not make it in the market.”

“Trust might mean for you, something very different in comparison to me, so we have to figure out what does trust means in your personal daily work.”

“When talking culture, it’s always about relationships.”

“If you see the problem, you might think about what kind of behavior patterns, or values you want to live up for.”

“You are like you are because we wanted you to be like you asked. If we want to change something, we have to change first.”

“Partnership means you’re going to establish some relationship, and you have to work on these kinds of relationships for them to last.”

Insights:

• Getting to know Tobi
• What does culture change mean?
• How did Tobi start his job?
• How did Tobi diagnose what was ailing the company?
• Tobi’s first step to culture change
• The main hypothesis that Tobi and his team came up with to solve the company’s culture issue and how they prioritize
• How did Tobi convince the board of the problem that was ailing the company?
• How Tobi implemented the change in the organization
• How Tobi turned the whole culture concept into a framework that can work without him
• Which communication tool does the Otto Group use for communication?
• How did Tobias help the organization move to the next step in changing the culture?
• Measuring success for the culture change
• Tobi’s favorite books
• Work-life balance for Tobi
• Tobi’s message to his 18 years old self

Key Discussion Points:

[00:06] Getting to know Tobi

[00:21] What does Culture change mean?

[01:05] Understanding the Otto Group

[01:49] How did Tobi start his job?

[04:05] How did Tobi diagnose what was ailing the company?

[06:47] Tobi’s first step to culture change

[09:12] The main hypothesis that Tobi and his team came up with to solve the organization’s culture issue and how they prioritize

[16:19] How did Tobias convince the board on the problem that was ailing the company?

[19:13] How Tobias implemented the change in the organization

[24:14] How Tobi turned the whole culture concept into a framework that can work without him

[27:17] Which tool does the auto group use for communication?

[29:52] How did Tobias help the organization move to the next step in changing the culture?

[40:10] What did Tobi use to measure his success in changing the culture?

[46:34] Tobi’s favorite books

[48:29] Work-life balance for Tobi

[52:22] Tobi’s message to his 18 years old self

Interesting Quotes:

“Only by having one good night with someone in a club will he never become your best friend forever?”

“You cannot simply stop and let people complain about each other and do nothing.”

“If we want to scale, we have to reframe and reset the operating system.”

“You cannot convince people by talking to their heads.”

“People need to get better to perform better.”

“If you have the best team and a bad idea, you might not make it in the market.”

“Trust might mean for you, something very different in comparison to me, so we have to figure out what does trust means in your personal daily work.”

“When talking culture, it’s always about relationships.”

“If you see the problem, you might think about what kind of behavior patterns, or values you want to live up for.”

“You are like you are because we wanted you to be like you asked. If we want to change something, we have to change first.”

“Partnership means you’re going to establish some relationship, and you have to work on these kinds of relationships for them to last.”

Insights:

• Getting to know Daniel
• Understanding Y Combinator
• The application process for Y Combinator
• What impressed Daniel most about Y Combinator?
• The main difference between the Berlin start-ups community and to the Silicon Valley start-ups
• Daniel’s plans for his start-up
• How to know if a product is ready for the market
• Daniel’s Favorite books
• Daniel’s message to his 18 years old self

Key Discussion Points:

[00:07] Getting to know Daniel

[00:56] Understanding Y Combinator

[02: 16] The application process to Y Combinator

[08:31] What is it like to work Y Combinator?

[11:42] What impressed Daniel the most about Y Combinator?

[14:15]What did Daniel learn from Y Combinator?

[17:02] Does Daniel still contact the mentors?

[20:19] How did Daniel go about the legalization part of the US company?

[22:27] The main difference between the Berlin start-ups community and to the Silicon Valley start-ups

[26:17] Daniel’s future plans for his start-up

[27:17] How do you know when a product is ready for the market?

[30:59] Daniel’s favorite books

[33:44] Daniel’s message to his 18 years old self

Interesting Quotes:

“The program was brought into life because they wanted to make the playing field even.”

“The most important thing is to build something that people want.”

“Everything will go fine. Enjoy what you are doing, and don’t become a cynic.”

“Your customer needs value. So it is always good to focus on the value.”

Insights:

• Getting to know Daniel
• Understanding Y Combinator
• The application process for Y Combinator
• What impressed Daniel most about Y Combinator?
• The main difference between the Berlin start-ups community and to the Silicon Valley start-ups
• Daniel’s plans for his start-up
• How to know if a product is ready for the market
• Daniel’s Favorite books
• Daniel’s message to his 18 years old self

Key Discussion Points:

[00:07] Getting to know Daniel

[00:56] Understanding Y Combinator

[02: 16] The application process to Y Combinator

[08:31] What is it like to work Y Combinator?

[11:42] What impressed Daniel the most about Y Combinator?

[14:15]What did Daniel learn from Y Combinator?

[17:02] Does Daniel still contact the mentors?

[20:19] How did Daniel go about the legalization part of the US company?

[22:27] The main difference between the Berlin start-ups community and to the Silicon Valley start-ups

[26:17] Daniel’s future plans for his start-up

[27:17] How do you know when a product is ready for the market?

[30:59] Daniel’s favorite books

[33:44] Daniel’s message to his 18 years old self

Interesting Quotes:

“The program was brought into life because they wanted to make the playing field even.”

“The most important thing is to build something that people want.”

“Everything will go fine. Enjoy what you are doing, and don’t become a cynic.”

“Your customer needs value. So it is always good to focus on the value.”

Insights:

• How Oliver and his colleagues determine what to develop
• Oliver’s favorite projects
• Dealing with cooperation and networking problems in the company
• How to build team skills
• How Oliver ensures his team stay connected to the company culture and core people

Key Discussion Points:

[00:06] Knowing Oliver and People Park (sic) background

[02:48]How Oliver and his colleagues determine what to develop

[05:24] The Oliver favorite development project

[16:13] How often does Oliver meet with the board to discuss projects

[24:22] Dealing with cooperation and networking problems in a big company

[28:12] How to build team skills

[30:50] How Oliver ensures his team stay connected to the company culture and core people

[34:16] Oliver’s list of successful and complete projects

[37:26] What are Oliver’s favorite books

[38:22] Oliver advice to his 18 years old self

Interesting Quotes:

“We need to think about ways, how to better use the space because space is so limited in the city.”

“The housing industry is not known to be a fast-moving industry.”

“If you think about the company as an onion, and then you have some core business inside and then around it, there are different layers.”

“Our goal here is to make the car not necessary anymore.”

“If you follow your heart and do what you’re passionate about, I think you will be successful in what you’re doing.”

“It doesn’t matter how many euros you have at the end of the month, but how you feel about what you’re doing.”

Insights:

• How Oliver and his colleagues determine what to develop
• Oliver’s favorite projects
• Dealing with cooperation and networking problems in the company
• How to build team skills
• How Oliver ensures his team stay connected to the company culture and core people

Key Discussion Points:

[00:06] Knowing Oliver and People Park (sic) background

[02:48]How Oliver and his colleagues determine what to develop

[05:24] The Oliver favorite development project

[16:13] How often does Oliver meet with the board to discuss projects

[24:22] Dealing with cooperation and networking problems in a big company

[28:12] How to build team skills

[30:50] How Oliver ensures his team stay connected to the company culture and core people

[34:16] Oliver’s list of successful and complete projects

[37:26] What are Oliver’s favorite books

[38:22] Oliver advice to his 18 years old self

Interesting Quotes:

“We need to think about ways, how to better use the space because space is so limited in the city.”

“The housing industry is not known to be a fast-moving industry.”

“If you think about the company as an onion, and then you have some core business inside and then around it, there are different layers.”

“Our goal here is to make the car not necessary anymore.”

“If you follow your heart and do what you’re passionate about, I think you will be successful in what you’re doing.”

“It doesn’t matter how many euros you have at the end of the month, but how you feel about what you’re doing.”

Insights:

• Getting to know Marc
• The background of the German Association of Small and Medium-sized Businesses (BVMW)
• How Gemeinsam digital supports companies
• The most Effective things to digitalize in a company
• The biggest obstacle that Marc and the scientific partners experience when digitizing companies
• How is Germany fairing when it comes to digitalization?
• The most common requests raised by companies
• Effects of Covid_19 on digitalization
• Mistakes to avoid when it comes to digitalization

Key Discussion Points:

[00:13] Getting to know Marc

[01:09] What does BVMW do?

[03:03] BVMW’s background

[03:55] How Gemeinsam digital supports companies?

[08:24] How do Marc and his team choose a project to work with?

[10:31] What are the most effective things to digitalize?

[13:13] The biggest obstacles for Gemeinsam digital when digitizing companies

[14:37] How is Germany fairing in digitalization compared to the US?

[19:29] The most common requests that Marc gets from SMEs

[21:25] Effects of Covid-19 on digitalization

[24:48] Mistakes to avoid when it comes to digitalization

[29:25] Marc’s Favorite books

[32:27] Marc’s advice to his 18 year’s old self

Interesting Quotes:

“Digitalization means finding a new strategy that is absolutely necessary to stay competitive in the future.”

“Get out of your comfort zone. With that experience you will grow personally and professionally.”

“I doubt that the Coronavirus is the best consultant for SMEs when it comes to going digital.”

“A study shows that about 51% of small and midsize companies now understand that digitalization has to be a high priority strategic project for them.”

“When you go into a company and you want to digitize a process, in the end, it is not so much about the technology itself. It comes down to the human factor.”

Insights:

• Getting to know Marc
• The background of the German Association of Small and Medium-sized Businesses (BVMW)
• How Gemeinsam digital supports companies
• The most Effective things to digitalize in a company
• The biggest obstacle that Marc and the scientific partners experience when digitizing companies
• How is Germany fairing when it comes to digitalization?
• The most common requests raised by companies
• Effects of Covid_19 on digitalization
• Mistakes to avoid when it comes to digitalization

Key Discussion Points:

[00:13] Getting to know Marc

[01:09] What does BVMW do?

[03:03] BVMW’s background

[03:55] How Gemeinsam digital supports companies?

[08:24] How do Marc and his team choose a project to work with?

[10:31] What are the most effective things to digitalize?

[13:13] The biggest obstacles for Gemeinsam digital when digitizing companies

[14:37] How is Germany fairing in digitalization compared to the US?

[19:29] The most common requests that Marc gets from SMEs

[21:25] Effects of Covid-19 on digitalization

[24:48] Mistakes to avoid when it comes to digitalization

[29:25] Marc’s Favorite books

[32:27] Marc’s advice to his 18 year’s old self

Interesting Quotes:

“Digitalization means finding a new strategy that is absolutely necessary to stay competitive in the future.”

“Get out of your comfort zone. With that experience you will grow personally and professionally.”

“I doubt that the Coronavirus is the best consultant for SMEs when it comes to going digital.”

“A study shows that about 51% of small and midsize companies now understand that digitalization has to be a high priority strategic project for them.”

“When you go into a company and you want to digitize a process, in the end, it is not so much about the technology itself. It comes down to the human factor.”

Insights:

• Understanding what is future
• The five glasses of future
• What motivated Pero Mićić to focus on the future?
• How often should we think of the future?
• Do we need time frames when it comes to thinking of the future?
• Defining impossible
• How companies think of the future
• What method does Pero Mićić employ use to help his clients to help them succeed?
• Recommendation for a person who has been in one job for 20 years.
• Books to read
• What would Pero Mićić say to his 18 years old self

Key Discussion Points:

[0:21] What is the future for Pero Mićić?

[0:50] The five future glasses

[1:17] What motivated Dr. Pero Mićić to focus on the future?

[2:39] How often should we think of the future?

[3:35] Do we need time frames when it comes to thinking of the future?

[6:54] The different ways of looking at future

[17:19] Do companies get it right or wrong when looking at the future?

[20:11] Companies that have successfully implemented Pero Mićić method

[23:22] What method does Pero Mićić use on his customers to help them succeed?

[29:54] What would Pero Mićić recommend to a person who has been in the same job for over 20 years to do?

[38:04] What books does Pero Mićić endorse, and why does he recommend them?

[45:45] Taken back in time, what would Pero Mićić say to his 18 years old self?

Interesting Quotes:

“Do what seems to be the best thing that you found. Do not wait for the optimal thing.”

“Make sure that you can see your future self.”

“Make sure that you work on something that’s really that’s really energizing you.”

“If you really think through the concept of surprise, then there is no time horizon.”

“You can change the weather, but you cannot change the streams, and you cannot change the wind. What you can do is make assumptions about them”

“The different time horizons are a good way to prioritize what you think and work on.”

Insights:

• Understanding what is future
• The five glasses of future
• What motivated Pero Mićić to focus on the future?
• How often should we think of the future?
• Do we need time frames when it comes to thinking of the future?
• Defining impossible
• How companies think of the future
• What method does Pero Mićić employ use to help his clients to help them succeed?
• Recommendation for a person who has been in one job for 20 years.
• Books to read
• What would Pero Mićić say to his 18 years old self

Key Discussion Points:

[0:21] What is the future for Pero Mićić?

[0:50] The five future glasses

[1:17] What motivated Dr. Pero Mićić to focus on the future?

[2:39] How often should we think of the future?

[3:35] Do we need time frames when it comes to thinking of the future?

[6:54] The different ways of looking at future

[17:19] Do companies get it right or wrong when looking at the future?

[20:11] Companies that have successfully implemented Pero Mićić method

[23:22] What method does Pero Mićić use on his customers to help them succeed?

[29:54] What would Pero Mićić recommend to a person who has been in the same job for over 20 years to do?

[38:04] What books does Pero Mićić endorse, and why does he recommend them?

[45:45] Taken back in time, what would Pero Mićić say to his 18 years old self?

Interesting Quotes:

“Do what seems to be the best thing that you found. Do not wait for the optimal thing.”

“Make sure that you can see your future self.”

“Make sure that you work on something that’s really that’s really energizing you.”

“If you really think through the concept of surprise, then there is no time horizon.”

“You can change the weather, but you cannot change the streams, and you cannot change the wind. What you can do is make assumptions about them”

“The different time horizons are a good way to prioritize what you think and work on.”

Insights:

• Thomas start-ups
• How Thomas started his school?
• Why did he sell his start-ups?
• Lessons learned about politics compared to the real world
• Thomas side projects

Key Discussion Points:

[01:01] Getting to know Thomas

[02:20] Digging deeper into the start-ups that Thomas has had

[08:50] Find out why Thomas founded the German association for start-ups

[11:05] The birth of lebenslauf.com an online resume creator that enabled users to have their resumes in PDF

[13:55] Find out what inspired Thomas to want to invest in a school

[16:08] How did Tom start his school?

[21:27] Did you know that students can study and pay later? Find out how.

[25:10] Digging deeper into seven load. (Thomas first start-up)

[38:22] Lessons learned about politics compared to real world

[43:46] Why did Tom sell the gaming company?

[44:52] What drove Thomas to selling his online resume creator business?

[51:25] Thomas side projects

[55:11] What would Thomas say to his 18 years old self?

[56:00] Words of wisdom from Thomas

Interesting Quotes:

“Sometimes don’t, don’t underestimate yourself and don’t undersell yourself.”

“Don’t give up too much control and responsibility even if you feel young.”

“Company culture is an essential thing all the time and very demanding also when running a university, which is so much about people.”

“A lot of the time, the politicians are just looking for someone talk to, because an association is also part of our democratic system.”

“It’s always hard decisions, especially for it’s your baby because you brought it up, and you put a lot of time, and it’s one of the hardest things to know when to let go.”

“In the end, it’s still super important that you as a founder to feel overly responsible.”

“When you take in so much money from investors, then obviously they have a lot of shares.”

“Whatever you do, you’ll have to find the money for it yourself.”

Insights:

• Thomas start-ups
• How Thomas started his school?
• Why did he sell his start-ups?
• Lessons learned about politics compared to the real world
• Thomas side projects

Key Discussion Points:

[01:01] Getting to know Thomas

[02:20] Digging deeper into the start-ups that Thomas has had

[08:50] Find out why Thomas founded the German association for start-ups

[11:05] The birth of lebenslauf.com an online resume creator that enabled users to have their resumes in PDF

[13:55] Find out what inspired Thomas to want to invest in a school

[16:08] How did Tom start his school?

[21:27] Did you know that students can study and pay later? Find out how.

[25:10] Digging deeper into seven load. (Thomas first start-up)

[38:22] Lessons learned about politics compared to real world

[43:46] Why did Tom sell the gaming company?

[44:52] What drove Thomas to selling his online resume creator business?

[51:25] Thomas side projects

[55:11] What would Thomas say to his 18 years old self?

[56:00] Words of wisdom from Thomas

Interesting Quotes:

“Sometimes don’t, don’t underestimate yourself and don’t undersell yourself.”

“Don’t give up too much control and responsibility even if you feel young.”

“Company culture is an essential thing all the time and very demanding also when running a university, which is so much about people.”

“A lot of the time, the politicians are just looking for someone talk to, because an association is also part of our democratic system.”

“It’s always hard decisions, especially for it’s your baby because you brought it up, and you put a lot of time, and it’s one of the hardest things to know when to let go.”

“In the end, it’s still super important that you as a founder to feel overly responsible.”

“When you take in so much money from investors, then obviously they have a lot of shares.”

“Whatever you do, you’ll have to find the money for it yourself.”

Insights:

• Getting to know Mali
• Why did Mali start her company?
• What motivated Mali to start her last venture in Telaviv?
• How Mali made the huge decision to move from Telaviv to Berlin and start all over again
• What makes Mali feel like Berlin is five years behind?
• Recession and start-ups
• How Mali changed her perspective from an entrepreneur to an investor
• What is Smart money, and is it available in Berlin?
• What is diversity?
• What would solve the underrepresentation of women in tech and entrepreneurship?
• Did being a woman impact Mali’s journey?
• Mali’s main mistakes
• How does Mali handle work-life balance?
• Mali’s message to her younger self

Key Discussion Points:

[00:08] Getting to know Mali

[01:19] Why did Mali start her company?

[03:09]What motivated Mali to begin her last venture in Tel Aviv?

[08:26]How Mali made the huge decision to move from Tel Aviv to Berlin and start all over again. What did she feel?

[10:41]What makes Mali feel like Berlin is five years behind?

[14:37]Recession and start-ups

[17:49]How Mali changed her perspective from an entrepreneur to an investor

[22:21]What is Smart money and is it available in Berlin?

[26:10]What is diversity?

[31:42]What would solve the under-representation of women in tech and entrepreneurship?

[35:42]Did being a woman impact Mali’s journey?

[37:18]Mali’s main mistakes

[41:09]How does Mali handle work-life balance?

[47:00]Mali’s message to her younger self

Interesting Quotes:

“No product come from the market and stay the same.”

“If I made a mistake, I never did it twice.”

“There is a lot of super talented ladies that do not dare to dream big.”

“We have to keep moving; we should not kill those that still have the opportunity to grow.”

“Diversity is key.”

“You build a company with the big aim to exit,”

Insights:

• Getting to know Mali
• Why did Mali start her company?
• What motivated Mali to start her last venture in Telaviv?
• How Mali made the huge decision to move from Telaviv to Berlin and start all over again
• What makes Mali feel like Berlin is five years behind?
• Recession and start-ups
• How Mali changed her perspective from an entrepreneur to an investor
• What is Smart money, and is it available in Berlin?
• What is diversity?
• What would solve the underrepresentation of women in tech and entrepreneurship?
• Did being a woman impact Mali’s journey?
• Mali’s main mistakes
• How does Mali handle work-life balance?
• Mali’s message to her younger self

Key Discussion Points:

[00:08] Getting to know Mali

[01:19] Why did Mali start her company?

[03:09]What motivated Mali to begin her last venture in Tel Aviv?

[08:26]How Mali made the huge decision to move from Tel Aviv to Berlin and start all over again. What did she feel?

[10:41]What makes Mali feel like Berlin is five years behind?

[14:37]Recession and start-ups

[17:49]How Mali changed her perspective from an entrepreneur to an investor

[22:21]What is Smart money and is it available in Berlin?

[26:10]What is diversity?

[31:42]What would solve the under-representation of women in tech and entrepreneurship?

[35:42]Did being a woman impact Mali’s journey?

[37:18]Mali’s main mistakes

[41:09]How does Mali handle work-life balance?

[47:00]Mali’s message to her younger self

Interesting Quotes:

“No product come from the market and stay the same.”

“If I made a mistake, I never did it twice.”

“There is a lot of super talented ladies that do not dare to dream big.”

“We have to keep moving; we should not kill those that still have the opportunity to grow.”

“Diversity is key.”

“You build a company with the big aim to exit,”

Insights:

• What does the Digital services department do?
• Responsibilities of Digital services department
• The use of blocks
• What initiatives does Digital services support?
• What organizational structure does the Digital services department apply?
• How Does Digital services deal with cultural changes?
• What would a young person need to do to become a director in the EU?
• What would Emanuel say to his 18 years old?

Key Discussion Points:

[00:48] What does the Digital services department do?

[04:40] Responsibilities of the Digital services department

[09:49] How many member states are using blocks or are planning to use blocks?

[11:13] Does Digital services publish code?

[13:07] Which initiatives does Digital services support?

[16:16] What organizational structure does the department apply?

[19:46] Dealing with cultural change

[27:58] What would need a young person to do to become a director in the European Union?

[31:52] Emanuele’s favorite books

[33:48] What would Emanuele say to his younger self?

Interesting Quotes:

“Don’t lock yourself early on into something. Explore the world.”

“We are a people organization; people to people skills are increasingly important.”

“..if you are brave enough to apply these new methodologies in areas that are not, let’s say low risk, but are really the main business or where the organization is losing face you’re failing, I think that you are proving that you are serious about transforming the way.”

“…once you’ve gone through such an experience, you will not go back to the old way of working, or at least you will be in a position to challenge it.”

“The ambition is to transition very faster into an organization that is prevailing. Based on methods of collaboration and cooperation, knowledge sharing, and by design.”

“We want to be able to reuse and learn from each other.”

Insights:

• What does the Digital services department do?
• Responsibilities of Digital services department
• The use of blocks
• What initiatives does Digital services support?
• What organizational structure does the Digital services department apply?
• How Does Digital services deal with cultural changes?
• What would a young person need to do to become a director in the EU?
• What would Emanuel say to his 18 years old?

Key Discussion Points:

[00:48] What does the Digital services department do?

[04:40] Responsibilities of the Digital services department

[09:49] How many member states are using blocks or are planning to use blocks?

[11:13] Does Digital services publish code?

[13:07] Which initiatives does Digital services support?

[16:16] What organizational structure does the department apply?

[19:46] Dealing with cultural change

[27:58] What would need a young person to do to become a director in the European Union?

[31:52] Emanuele’s favorite books

[33:48] What would Emanuele say to his younger self?

Interesting Quotes:

“Don’t lock yourself early on into something. Explore the world.”

“We are a people organization; people to people skills are increasingly important.”

“..if you are brave enough to apply these new methodologies in areas that are not, let’s say low risk, but are really the main business or where the organization is losing face you’re failing, I think that you are proving that you are serious about transforming the way.”

“…once you’ve gone through such an experience, you will not go back to the old way of working, or at least you will be in a position to challenge it.”

“The ambition is to transition very faster into an organization that is prevailing. Based on methods of collaboration and cooperation, knowledge sharing, and by design.”

“We want to be able to reuse and learn from each other.”

Insights:

• Lars’s current job and what it involves
• Transitioning from product management to a business role
• Creating a different business model for online car sale which was not auction-based
• The C to B to B business model that makes it easy for car dealers to sell their stock and maintain the right portfolio
• Choosing the correct testing ways
• Getting a budget for the external team
• Determining the score for the team
• Conducting research interviews to understand the customer journey

Key Discussion Points:

[00:11]: Lars’s job and what it entails

[02:19]: Transitioning from product management to a business role

[06:03]: The C to B to B business model that makes it easy for car dealers to sell their stock and maintain the right portfolio

[13:05]: Building the first prototype

[19:15]: Research to find out what part of the market they can attract

[24:00]: Getting a budget for external people

[30:42]: Directed storytelling

[34:11]: Conducting research interviews to understand the customer journey

Interesting Quotes:

” The learnings that you generate by building up your own things are invaluable.”

“The danger is always that nobody is free of biases.”

“If you don’t have a clear understanding about the customer journey and the different pains and gains within the customer journey, your interviewed went wrong.”

“The narrower you go, the better you can define.”

“I’ve never seen that someone opens up in a research lab.”

“You can get an idea about the problem space you’re solving for, but not the solution. The solution is still something you can’t really predict that too much through interviews.”

“No business failed because it didn’t have this one great idea.”

Insights:

• Lars’s current job and what it involves
• Transitioning from product management to a business role
• Creating a different business model for online car sale which was not auction-based
• The C to B to B business model that makes it easy for car dealers to sell their stock and maintain the right portfolio
• Choosing the correct testing ways
• Getting a budget for the external team
• Determining the score for the team
• Conducting research interviews to understand the customer journey

Key Discussion Points:

[00:11]: Lars’s job and what it entails

[02:19]: Transitioning from product management to a business role

[06:03]: The C to B to B business model that makes it easy for car dealers to sell their stock and maintain the right portfolio

[13:05]: Building the first prototype

[19:15]: Research to find out what part of the market they can attract

[24:00]: Getting a budget for external people

[30:42]: Directed storytelling

[34:11]: Conducting research interviews to understand the customer journey

Interesting Quotes:

” The learnings that you generate by building up your own things are invaluable.”

“The danger is always that nobody is free of biases.”

“If you don’t have a clear understanding about the customer journey and the different pains and gains within the customer journey, your interviewed went wrong.”

“The narrower you go, the better you can define.”

“I’ve never seen that someone opens up in a research lab.”

“You can get an idea about the problem space you’re solving for, but not the solution. The solution is still something you can’t really predict that too much through interviews.”

“No business failed because it didn’t have this one great idea.”

Insights:

• The purpose of entrepreneurship and how to handle it.
• Leadership styles used by the founders of companies.
• Scaling and growth of businesses.
• Cloud tools and how to handle them.
• The importance of motivation and innovation in work environments.
• The importance of studies and learning in a career.
• How we can educate and train our children better for their future careers.
• Dealing with the challenges of a work environment.

Key Discussion Points:

[6:01] How Christoph helped Facebook launch in Germany through his Ambassador Marketing company.

[10:22] How to scale an organization in the right manner, and how scaling is related to communication.

[15:50] How a company can deal with failures, criticism, and emergencies.

[20:39] The importance of “search” options and the right keywords on cloud platforms.

[23:44] Importance of cloud tools like G-Suite and Office 365.

[26:01] How studies and learning help in career building and management.

[29:44] What leadership style is used by a good founder.

[38:18] How to work consistently and keep going as an entrepreneur.

[44:00] What is an ideal work environment and set up for entrepreneurship.

[49:07] How to bring about a change in what children are taught and what they believe in promoting better work ethics and purposeful, motivated work.

Interesting Quotes:

“At some point, I stumbled upon the very first – one of the very first inspirational videos on YouTube in 2006 that was the amendment speech by Steve Jobs who said follow your heart and your intuition, and the next day I told my boss I’m gonna quit.”

“The idea of scaling for the sake of scaling, I think, is a very dangerous – what, of course, is the idea that you’re big enough to dominate a market. I don’t see size as the main factor.”

“If you’re a data protection officer in a company, read what it is, see what’s the potential behind it, search.”

“We cannot influence anything in our lives – nothing – we can only influence how we react to it.”

“I learned over the course of the last 10-12 years that doing what I like and doing what I really want are much different things.”

“Work can become something that makes you stronger instead of weaker if you find something that you really, really want to do.”

“You make your mind up about what your really, really want to do. If more people would ask themselves that, more people would leave their current jobs or reduce it to a certain amount.”

“There is no straight line, and everyone has their own story in a very individual way, and accepting a story as your life is also a very important learning – a hard thing to do.”

“Look on your life and accept it as your life with every up and down, seeing the colors and contrasts, the mountains and the valleys, with the same gratitude.”

Insights:

• The purpose of entrepreneurship and how to handle it.
• Leadership styles used by the founders of companies.
• Scaling and growth of businesses.
• Cloud tools and how to handle them.
• The importance of motivation and innovation in work environments.
• The importance of studies and learning in a career.
• How we can educate and train our children better for their future careers.
• Dealing with the challenges of a work environment.

Key Discussion Points:

[6:01] How Christoph helped Facebook launch in Germany through his Ambassador Marketing company.

[10:22] How to scale an organization in the right manner, and how scaling is related to communication.

[15:50] How a company can deal with failures, criticism, and emergencies.

[20:39] The importance of “search” options and the right keywords on cloud platforms.

[23:44] Importance of cloud tools like G-Suite and Office 365.

[26:01] How studies and learning help in career building and management.

[29:44] What leadership style is used by a good founder.

[38:18] How to work consistently and keep going as an entrepreneur.

[44:00] What is an ideal work environment and set up for entrepreneurship.

[49:07] How to bring about a change in what children are taught and what they believe in promoting better work ethics and purposeful, motivated work.

Interesting Quotes:

“At some point, I stumbled upon the very first – one of the very first inspirational videos on YouTube in 2006 that was the amendment speech by Steve Jobs who said follow your heart and your intuition, and the next day I told my boss I’m gonna quit.”

“The idea of scaling for the sake of scaling, I think, is a very dangerous – what, of course, is the idea that you’re big enough to dominate a market. I don’t see size as the main factor.”

“If you’re a data protection officer in a company, read what it is, see what’s the potential behind it, search.”

“We cannot influence anything in our lives – nothing – we can only influence how we react to it.”

“I learned over the course of the last 10-12 years that doing what I like and doing what I really want are much different things.”

“Work can become something that makes you stronger instead of weaker if you find something that you really, really want to do.”

“You make your mind up about what your really, really want to do. If more people would ask themselves that, more people would leave their current jobs or reduce it to a certain amount.”

“There is no straight line, and everyone has their own story in a very individual way, and accepting a story as your life is also a very important learning – a hard thing to do.”

“Look on your life and accept it as your life with every up and down, seeing the colors and contrasts, the mountains and the valleys, with the same gratitude.”

Insights:

• Understanding the difference between change and transformation

• Drivers and targets of change in organizations

• Understanding the self-organization

• Why leadership and company ethics and values matters in change implementation

• Cultural differences between profit and non-profit companies and lessons

• Finding your values and purposes

• Improving the working of cross-functional teams

• Resources to help you develop new habits

• Advice to the 18 years old people

Key Discussion Points:

[1:21] What is the difference between change and transformation?

[3:16] The drivers or cause of change and transformation in individuals and companies.

[6:36] Defining the change/transformation process and defining the goals

[11:16] Importance of leadership and company ethics and values in change implementation

[20:50] Cultural differences between profit and non-profit companies and lessons they can learn from each other

[28:38] how can you find your values and purposes

[34:54] Ways that can help cross-functional teams to work better together

[40:28] strategies and approaches to creating new or changing your habits

[44:42] What would you tell yourself if you were 18 years?

Interesting Quotes:

“If I talk about change, it would be something more linear, more coming from the present state.”

“Many organizations these days want to change or transform depending on where they are right now.”

“What I see is that in profit-driven companies, more and more employees will look for the meaning in the work or companies.”

“It’s important to find the balance between what the individuals want and what’s good for the company.”

“For the value to really be strong and alive, I believe it needs to kind of look and feel different every day. It is not something static.”

“We can only have a proper conversation when I keep my perspective.”

Insights:

• Understanding the difference between change and transformation

• Drivers and targets of change in organizations

• Understanding the self-organization

• Why leadership and company ethics and values matters in change implementation

• Cultural differences between profit and non-profit companies and lessons

• Finding your values and purposes

• Improving the working of cross-functional teams

• Resources to help you develop new habits

• Advice to the 18 years old people

Key Discussion Points:

[1:21] What is the difference between change and transformation?

[3:16] The drivers or cause of change and transformation in individuals and companies.

[6:36] Defining the change/transformation process and defining the goals

[11:16] Importance of leadership and company ethics and values in change implementation

[20:50] Cultural differences between profit and non-profit companies and lessons they can learn from each other

[28:38] how can you find your values and purposes

[34:54] Ways that can help cross-functional teams to work better together

[40:28] strategies and approaches to creating new or changing your habits

[44:42] What would you tell yourself if you were 18 years?

Interesting Quotes:

“If I talk about change, it would be something more linear, more coming from the present state.”

“Many organizations these days want to change or transform depending on where they are right now.”

“What I see is that in profit-driven companies, more and more employees will look for the meaning in the work or companies.”

“It’s important to find the balance between what the individuals want and what’s good for the company.”

“For the value to really be strong and alive, I believe it needs to kind of look and feel different every day. It is not something static.”

“We can only have a proper conversation when I keep my perspective.”

Insights:

• Why banks are starting to focus on culture, not just numbers

• The challenges of innovating within a bank

• Creating change in a big organization

• Leveraging feedback: What kind of feedback do you need and what do you do with it?

• Making sure people understand the big WHY

• How do you change a person’s mindset?

• Using events to drive change

• The future of banking

Key Discussion Points:

[1:01] Starting with the culture in culture
[2:55] How do you even start changing the culture in an industry like the bank?
[6:55] How do you create change in a big organization with thousands of employees?
[14:08] Getting feedback and ideas from employees
[16:26] What else did you learn about change management from your experience so far?
[21:54] How do you know your change is working?
[25:46] Using events to create change
[30:16] How to drive innovation
[33:39] Where do you see the banking industry going in the next few years?
[40:42] How do you experiment for a constantly changing and unknown future?
[46:09] Books and resources you read to stay informed

Interesting Quotes:

“Everything starts with the culture.”

“…when you say ‘change management’ in the bank, the door slams…”

“Some banks, have not been customer-centric industries…since the last 150 years.”

“You have to tell the same story at least seven times until people understand.”

“Feedback is one of the strongest values in the Agile world.”

“The change process is ongoing.”

“When people see the necessity of change, then you are successful.”

“Change is never easy and we don’t want to say digitization is perfect.”

“You have to understand where the customer is going.”

“We have to offer customers solutions before he even asks it.”

“I would be happy in the future, if people came to the branch with a smile…”

“Banking will be a form of Lifestyle”

Insights:

• Why banks are starting to focus on culture, not just numbers

• The challenges of innovating within a bank

• Creating change in a big organization

• Leveraging feedback: What kind of feedback do you need and what do you do with it?

• Making sure people understand the big WHY

• How do you change a person’s mindset?

• Using events to drive change

• The future of banking

Key Discussion Points:

[1:01] Starting with the culture in culture
[2:55] How do you even start changing the culture in an industry like the bank?
[6:55] How do you create change in a big organization with thousands of employees?
[14:08] Getting feedback and ideas from employees
[16:26] What else did you learn about change management from your experience so far?
[21:54] How do you know your change is working?
[25:46] Using events to create change
[30:16] How to drive innovation
[33:39] Where do you see the banking industry going in the next few years?
[40:42] How do you experiment for a constantly changing and unknown future?
[46:09] Books and resources you read to stay informed

Interesting Quotes:

“Everything starts with the culture.”

“…when you say ‘change management’ in the bank, the door slams…”

“Some banks, have not been customer-centric industries…since the last 150 years.”

“You have to tell the same story at least seven times until people understand.”

“Feedback is one of the strongest values in the Agile world.”

“The change process is ongoing.”

“When people see the necessity of change, then you are successful.”

“Change is never easy and we don’t want to say digitization is perfect.”

“You have to understand where the customer is going.”

“We have to offer customers solutions before he even asks it.”

“I would be happy in the future, if people came to the branch with a smile…”

“Banking will be a form of Lifestyle”

Insights:

• What are product managers and what impact do they have to a business?
• What does a product manager do?
• What challenges do product managers go through?
• Resources to help you get started in a career in product management
• How can you become a product manager?

Key Discussion Points:

[00:05]: Magdalena’s introduction

[06:33]: The pros and cons of working in a cross-functional culture

[09:33]: Does a product manager get involved in user testing?

[12:00]: What is product management like in the telemedicine industry?

[16:58]: Challenges that startups in the medical sector go through

[23:04]: Words of wisdom for aspiring product managers

[24:50]: Why a female product manager has advantages to lead a team

[28:16]: What does Magdalena read?

Interesting Quotes:

“Give yourself time to figure out what you’re good at.”

“Prototyping and testing beforehand is part of the job and, it’s inevitable.”

“Success of a project was oftentimes is dependent on the quality of the counterparts on the client-side.”

“The tech industry uniquely shares knowledge for free”

“Take time to decide what you want to do, it’s never too late for a change”

Insights:

• What are product managers and what impact do they have to a business?
• What does a product manager do?
• What challenges do product managers go through?
• Resources to help you get started in a career in product management
• How can you become a product manager?

Key Discussion Points:

[00:05]: Magdalena’s introduction

[06:33]: The pros and cons of working in a cross-functional culture

[09:33]: Does a product manager get involved in user testing?

[12:00]: What is product management like in the telemedicine industry?

[16:58]: Challenges that startups in the medical sector go through

[23:04]: Words of wisdom for aspiring product managers

[24:50]: Why a female product manager has advantages to lead a team

[28:16]: What does Magdalena read?

Interesting Quotes:

“Give yourself time to figure out what you’re good at.”

“Prototyping and testing beforehand is part of the job and, it’s inevitable.”

“Success of a project was oftentimes is dependent on the quality of the counterparts on the client-side.”

“The tech industry uniquely shares knowledge for free”

“Take time to decide what you want to do, it’s never too late for a change”

Insights:

• Javier’s journey into entrepreneurship and product management
• Transitioning from corporate world to entrepreneurship
• Business marketing
• Challenges faced by start-ups
• Challenges in product management
• Books for product managers to read

Key Discussion Points:

[00:00]: Javier’s introduction

[02:14]: Working at Oracle

[02:36]: Beginning of Javier’s entrepreneurship journey

[04:23]: Working for Wunderlist

[05:05]: Freelancing for other start-ups

[09:48]: The most common mistake start-ups make

[12:59]: Core product-market fit

[19:03]: Identifying a customer profile and the pain points

[22:49]: Customer segmentation

[26:04]: The three horizons

[36:16]: Exactly how does Javier work with companies?

[40:05]: The AB tests

[46:51]: Books to read

[53:07]: Message to 18 years old Javier

Interesting Quotes:

“Do not get discouraged by other people around you that really don’t believe or understand what you’re doing.”

“Give yourself time to make great connections.”

“Try to think about life with a system’s perspective.”

“Entrepreneurship is finding a value inside uncertainty in uncertain conditions.”

“Risk is the highest form of waste that you could have in a system.”

“It’s the market risk that takes most companies down.”

“When you identify value, sometimes if the value is strong enough and your competitive standing isn’t, the only metric that matters is really gaining a competitive advantage.”

“The mind-set around discovery should be not about meeting a product and road map feature with deadlines and dates.”

“If you’re only working on horizon one, then you will never stop working on it.”

“Entrepreneurship is filled with high uncertainty, and discovery is basically the best way to tackle that.”

“Traction for me is the amount of value we’re able to capture right from the value we create, and obviously, a minimum set of that attraction should be defined in a core product-market fit.”

“It’s not just about the product, it’s about making a whole business model work.”

Insights:

• Javier’s journey into entrepreneurship and product management
• Transitioning from corporate world to entrepreneurship
• Business marketing
• Challenges faced by start-ups
• Challenges in product management
• Books for product managers to read

Key Discussion Points:

[00:00]: Javier’s introduction

[02:14]: Working at Oracle

[02:36]: Beginning of Javier’s entrepreneurship journey

[04:23]: Working for Wunderlist

[05:05]: Freelancing for other start-ups

[09:48]: The most common mistake start-ups make

[12:59]: Core product-market fit

[19:03]: Identifying a customer profile and the pain points

[22:49]: Customer segmentation

[26:04]: The three horizons

[36:16]: Exactly how does Javier work with companies?

[40:05]: The AB tests

[46:51]: Books to read

[53:07]: Message to 18 years old Javier

Interesting Quotes:

“Do not get discouraged by other people around you that really don’t believe or understand what you’re doing.”

“Give yourself time to make great connections.”

“Try to think about life with a system’s perspective.”

“Entrepreneurship is finding a value inside uncertainty in uncertain conditions.”

“Risk is the highest form of waste that you could have in a system.”

“It’s the market risk that takes most companies down.”

“When you identify value, sometimes if the value is strong enough and your competitive standing isn’t, the only metric that matters is really gaining a competitive advantage.”

“The mind-set around discovery should be not about meeting a product and road map feature with deadlines and dates.”

“If you’re only working on horizon one, then you will never stop working on it.”

“Entrepreneurship is filled with high uncertainty, and discovery is basically the best way to tackle that.”

“Traction for me is the amount of value we’re able to capture right from the value we create, and obviously, a minimum set of that attraction should be defined in a core product-market fit.”

“It’s not just about the product, it’s about making a whole business model work.”

Insights:

• Jana’s journey to product management

• Working with a start-up as a product manager

• Jana’s words of wisdom to aspiring product managers

• Challenges faced by product managers

Key Discussion Points:

[00:07]: Jana’s introduction

[00:36]: Jana’s product management journey

[02:58]: About heycar

[07:00]: How heycar and Volkswagen work with each other

[14:19]: Major challenges experienced by Jana

[16:32]: Product management from an startup vs big company perspective

[23:35]: The future of the transport sector

[27:00]: What does a person need to do to become a product manager

[36:42]: What does Jana read

Interesting Quotes:

“Try things out, take risks and don’t be too afraid.”

“Product managers are the rather entrepreneurial type of people.”

“Whoever considers this to be a career choice for them, it’s essential to make it clear that you really want this and why.”

“Not everyone wants to own a car, actually less and fewer people want to own a car.”

“I realized things are repeating themselves. So at some point, it’s also about learning by doing, learning by talking to other PMs and just trying it out.”

“Sometimes, you need to prove yourself for them to, to realize the value.”

“The more mature we get, the more independent we become.”

“When they see there’s a big brand behind us, it provides more trust than a completely new and unknown internet brand.”

Insights:

• Jana’s journey to product management

• Working with a start-up as a product manager

• Jana’s words of wisdom to aspiring product managers

• Challenges faced by product managers

Key Discussion Points:

[00:07]: Jana’s introduction

[00:36]: Jana’s product management journey

[02:58]: About heycar

[07:00]: How heycar and Volkswagen work with each other

[14:19]: Major challenges experienced by Jana

[16:32]: Product management from an startup vs big company perspective

[23:35]: The future of the transport sector

[27:00]: What does a person need to do to become a product manager

[36:42]: What does Jana read

Interesting Quotes:

“Try things out, take risks and don’t be too afraid.”

“Product managers are the rather entrepreneurial type of people.”

“Whoever considers this to be a career choice for them, it’s essential to make it clear that you really want this and why.”

“Not everyone wants to own a car, actually less and fewer people want to own a car.”

“I realized things are repeating themselves. So at some point, it’s also about learning by doing, learning by talking to other PMs and just trying it out.”

“Sometimes, you need to prove yourself for them to, to realize the value.”

“The more mature we get, the more independent we become.”

“When they see there’s a big brand behind us, it provides more trust than a completely new and unknown internet brand.”

Insights:

• What innovation is and the small steps any business can take to start innovating
• Why we shouldn’t be scared of the future
• The basic principles of predicting the future
• Why we shouldn’t focus exclusively on technology when looking at the future
• The importance of listening – now and in the future
• Where innovative companies invest to reap future profits
• Dealing with the unpredictability of change

Key Discussion Points:

[0:22] Introduction: Looking at the future from the perspective of a futurist

[3:40] What are the first steps an entrepreneur can take to innovate?

[9:27] How do you plan for the unpredictable?

[16:10] What technology impresses you?

[15:46] Should we be scared or be optimistic about the future?

[20:04] What is innovation to you?

[21:20] Innovation in a startup vs “innovation” in a traditional business

[29:00] Will the technology of the future make us more connected?

[34:40] How do you make the future better for more people?

[52:14] Favorite books

Interesting Quotes:

“The quality time at work is a system.”

“What comes before strategy?”

“Being scared [of the future] as a default, is a downward spiral that will kill us.”

“Technology will follow the inevitable.”

“It is not the technology that gives us opportunities and threats. It’s the human imagination.”

“The future of humans is a social discussion.”

“You build relationships, the rest will follow.”

“Meditation is a human practice.”

“Future is exponential.”

“Change is your design brief.”

“You cannot predict the future but you can move towards a direction.”

“The constant change is the stability of today.”

Insights:

• What innovation is and the small steps any business can take to start innovating
• Why we shouldn’t be scared of the future
• The basic principles of predicting the future
• Why we shouldn’t focus exclusively on technology when looking at the future
• The importance of listening – now and in the future
• Where innovative companies invest to reap future profits
• Dealing with the unpredictability of change

Key Discussion Points:

[0:22] Introduction: Looking at the future from the perspective of a futurist

[3:40] What are the first steps an entrepreneur can take to innovate?

[9:27] How do you plan for the unpredictable?

[16:10] What technology impresses you?

[15:46] Should we be scared or be optimistic about the future?

[20:04] What is innovation to you?

[21:20] Innovation in a startup vs “innovation” in a traditional business

[29:00] Will the technology of the future make us more connected?

[34:40] How do you make the future better for more people?

[52:14] Favorite books

Interesting Quotes:

“The quality time at work is a system.”

“What comes before strategy?”

“Being scared [of the future] as a default, is a downward spiral that will kill us.”

“Technology will follow the inevitable.”

“It is not the technology that gives us opportunities and threats. It’s the human imagination.”

“The future of humans is a social discussion.”

“You build relationships, the rest will follow.”

“Meditation is a human practice.”

“Future is exponential.”

“Change is your design brief.”

“You cannot predict the future but you can move towards a direction.”

“The constant change is the stability of today.”

Insights:

• How you create future-focused business on a sheet of paper

• Your ID, Business Collaboration & Security: How businesses use your digital identity to collaborate in a safe environment…

• Digital ID & Privacy: Keeping our data safe with business and private sector support

• Bootstrapping Your Way: Why Al & his team did no go the traditional funding route when building their business

Key Discussion Points:

[00:54] How IDEE GmbH began

[3:26] What inspired your business idea?

[5:41] How is your business different from other businesses that share digital information for easier customer access?

[9:25] Why should I trust companies like yours with my data?

[12:19] Current cybersecurity systems and your data

[20:51] How are other companies responding to this concept of sharing data and digital identity management?

[29:00] How do you protect your own identity?

[34:21] Should the government do more to protect our data?

[37:48] What resources did you use when starting your own business?

[42:52] Did you use investors to get funding for your business?

[49:27] How do you educate yourself?

Interesting Quotes:

“It’s a very simple story. It begins with: I was bored.”

“I resigned that afternoon and started the company…with a blank sheet of paper. The idea was ‘Can I create identities that cannot be stolen?’”

“We are becoming an economy that is always creating great new products and services, but then there comes a massive speed bump…to consumer these products and services, you have to get through the signup process..”

“IDEE’s philosophy has always been: ‘The end user controls the data, but the business owns the data.”

“Digital identity is a very new concept so it’s not easy for people to fully absorb it.”

“The internet connected People, IDEE wants to bring trust to that”

“No matter how smart you are, you can’t read minds”

Insights:

• How you create future-focused business on a sheet of paper

• Your ID, Business Collaboration & Security: How businesses use your digital identity to collaborate in a safe environment…

• Digital ID & Privacy: Keeping our data safe with business and private sector support

• Bootstrapping Your Way: Why Al & his team did no go the traditional funding route when building their business

Key Discussion Points:

[00:54] How IDEE GmbH began

[3:26] What inspired your business idea?

[5:41] How is your business different from other businesses that share digital information for easier customer access?

[9:25] Why should I trust companies like yours with my data?

[12:19] Current cybersecurity systems and your data

[20:51] How are other companies responding to this concept of sharing data and digital identity management?

[29:00] How do you protect your own identity?

[34:21] Should the government do more to protect our data?

[37:48] What resources did you use when starting your own business?

[42:52] Did you use investors to get funding for your business?

[49:27] How do you educate yourself?

Interesting Quotes:

“It’s a very simple story. It begins with: I was bored.”

“I resigned that afternoon and started the company…with a blank sheet of paper. The idea was ‘Can I create identities that cannot be stolen?’”

“We are becoming an economy that is always creating great new products and services, but then there comes a massive speed bump…to consumer these products and services, you have to get through the signup process..”

“IDEE’s philosophy has always been: ‘The end user controls the data, but the business owns the data.”

“Digital identity is a very new concept so it’s not easy for people to fully absorb it.”

“The internet connected People, IDEE wants to bring trust to that”

“No matter how smart you are, you can’t read minds”

Insights:

• Finding good market fit for rapid innovation
• Testing and adapting ideas for innovation
• The two sides of market fit
• Work with customers during the innovation process

Key Discussion Points:

[0:06] Introduction of Jens

[0:40] What is innovation to you?

[4:09] How did you find the right customers? How do you find fintech’s?

[9:35] How do you define product market fit?

[14:34] What are the different ways you test ideas

[14:45] Why do you emphasize testing?

[17:13] When do you stop testing?

[20:17] What did you learn from the process?

[23:52] What was the most interesting project you worked on?

[34:40] How do you make the future better for more people?

[32:34] Where do you see the finance sector in 5-12 years

Interesting Quotes:

“On the other side, I think market fit really has something to do with separating the customer base into tiny groups”

“…not everything is a honeymoon..”

Insights:

• Finding good market fit for rapid innovation
• Testing and adapting ideas for innovation
• The two sides of market fit
• Work with customers during the innovation process

Key Discussion Points:

[0:06] Introduction of Jens

[0:40] What is innovation to you?

[4:09] How did you find the right customers? How do you find fintech’s?

[9:35] How do you define product market fit?

[14:34] What are the different ways you test ideas

[14:45] Why do you emphasize testing?

[17:13] When do you stop testing?

[20:17] What did you learn from the process?

[23:52] What was the most interesting project you worked on?

[34:40] How do you make the future better for more people?

[32:34] Where do you see the finance sector in 5-12 years

Interesting Quotes:

“On the other side, I think market fit really has something to do with separating the customer base into tiny groups”

“…not everything is a honeymoon..”

Insights:

• The most important role of a founder

• How Stephan used an entrepreneurial mindset while jumping industries

• Why Stephan believes there is no such thing as work/life balance

• His secret power to keep perspective while building a business

• Reframing struggle to help you (and your business) thrive

• The key thing when you aren’t the expert

• Why innovation isn’t bigger than new software or equipment

Key Discussion Points:

[0:33] Introduction: Stephan’s career move from communications to watches to finance

[4:55] Where did you develop your entrepreneurial mindset?

[9:00] Key books & experiences

[12:37] Can you have work-life balance and run a startup?

[16:00] How do you manage teams when you’re not an expert?

[20:04] What is innovation to you?

[21:20] Innovation in a startup vs “innovation” in a traditional business

[23:23] How do you prioritize? How do you maintain and drive your culture while growing?

[26:14] Can you give a practical example of aligning your company while growing?

[30:48] Building a marketplace is hard. What tips can you give to aspiring entrepreneurs who want to build one?

[35:40] How do you keep learning on a busy schedule?

[39:20] When do you want to stop building startups?

[41:38} If you could go back in time, what advice would you give yourself?

Interesting Quotes:

About the fintech space:”I truly believe it is one of the largest markets I have ever seen…”

“The key role of a founder is that you have to take the decision.”

“You have to make sure that your work is fulfilling part of your life…because otherwise nothing will make you happy…”

“There’s always struggle in some way or form.”

“You need to understand where your weaknesses are and where you need to hire people..”

“Space is structure…”

“At the end of the day, am I driven by innovation? Not really. At the end of the day. I’m driven by markets, by business opportunities.”

“Innovation comes at a price”

“Every time an organization doubles, it breaks in half.”

Insights:

• The most important role of a founder

• How Stephan used an entrepreneurial mindset while jumping industries

• Why Stephan believes there is no such thing as work/life balance

• His secret power to keep perspective while building a business

• Reframing struggle to help you (and your business) thrive

• The key thing when you aren’t the expert

• Why innovation isn’t bigger than new software or equipment

Key Discussion Points:

[0:33] Introduction: Stephan’s career move from communications to watches to finance

[4:55] Where did you develop your entrepreneurial mindset?

[9:00] Key books & experiences

[12:37] Can you have work-life balance and run a startup?

[16:00] How do you manage teams when you’re not an expert?

[20:04] What is innovation to you?

[21:20] Innovation in a startup vs “innovation” in a traditional business

[23:23] How do you prioritize? How do you maintain and drive your culture while growing?

[26:14] Can you give a practical example of aligning your company while growing?

[30:48] Building a marketplace is hard. What tips can you give to aspiring entrepreneurs who want to build one?

[35:40] How do you keep learning on a busy schedule?

[39:20] When do you want to stop building startups?

[41:38} If you could go back in time, what advice would you give yourself?

Interesting Quotes:

About the fintech space:”I truly believe it is one of the largest markets I have ever seen…”

“The key role of a founder is that you have to take the decision.”

“You have to make sure that your work is fulfilling part of your life…because otherwise nothing will make you happy…”

“There’s always struggle in some way or form.”

“You need to understand where your weaknesses are and where you need to hire people..”

“Space is structure…”

“At the end of the day, am I driven by innovation? Not really. At the end of the day. I’m driven by markets, by business opportunities.”

“Innovation comes at a price”

“Every time an organization doubles, it breaks in half.”

Insights:

• Listening to your gut feeling

• Challenging ideas

• Have a strategy on how to scale and face challenges

• Thoroughly read financial contracts

Key Discussion Points:

[3:55] Describe your decision-making process
[4:50] Did you always go with your gut feeling
[5:50] How do you remind yourself to stick to what you have learned
[7:50] How to define innovation
[10:00] What did you learn from building your market place
[13:50] How do you pace the scaling
[16:00] What were your biggest challenges and how did you solve them
[17:45] What advice would you give people in similar situations
[19:05] How do you decide to take action
[21:45] How do you set goals with your company
[23:55] How do you keep a good team of employees
[29:55] Special way to handle how to find the best people
[30:35] Tips on financing
[33:00] Advice for a founder
[34:00] Difference for a female founder
[35:45] Work/life balance
[37:40] Do you think about work all the time
[38:55] How did you start meditating

Interesting Quotes:

Go test things – “Is it working or not?”

At what age to start a company – “Start as soon as you can”

Insights:

• Listening to your gut feeling

• Challenging ideas

• Have a strategy on how to scale and face challenges

• Thoroughly read financial contracts

Key Discussion Points:

[3:55] Describe your decision-making process
[4:50] Did you always go with your gut feeling
[5:50] How do you remind yourself to stick to what you have learned
[7:50] How to define innovation
[10:00] What did you learn from building your market place
[13:50] How do you pace the scaling
[16:00] What were your biggest challenges and how did you solve them
[17:45] What advice would you give people in similar situations
[19:05] How do you decide to take action
[21:45] How do you set goals with your company
[23:55] How do you keep a good team of employees
[29:55] Special way to handle how to find the best people
[30:35] Tips on financing
[33:00] Advice for a founder
[34:00] Difference for a female founder
[35:45] Work/life balance
[37:40] Do you think about work all the time
[38:55] How did you start meditating

Interesting Quotes:

Go test things – “Is it working or not?”

At what age to start a company – “Start as soon as you can”

Insights:

• How do you grow a business

• Viral vs purchased growth

• How to decide whether to scale

• Pivoting

• Type of users

• Building a business in Berlin vs Silicon Valley

Key Discussion Points:

[1:35] Idea – The pitch
[3:45] What did you do with the funding?
[5:00] How did you get your girlfriend to move?
[5:55] What about scaling
[8:45] Do you have intensive users
[10:45] Scaling is about testing
[13:35] What did you pivot to
[19:45] Grow, Grow, Grow! Money later.
[21:30] How do you keep up with Silicon Valley culture and your German culture?
[29:05] What is innovation
[30:00] How does evolution affect you
[32:10] What to teach your kids

Interesting Quotes:

“If you sell a dream anything is possible”

“You don’t need users, you need fans”

“You can throw spaghetti at the wall all night long”

“The world is getting better not worse”

Insights:

• How do you grow a business

• Viral vs purchased growth

• How to decide whether to scale

• Pivoting

• Type of users

• Building a business in Berlin vs Silicon Valley

Key Discussion Points:

[1:35] Idea – The pitch
[3:45] What did you do with the funding?
[5:00] How did you get your girlfriend to move?
[5:55] What about scaling
[8:45] Do you have intensive users
[10:45] Scaling is about testing
[13:35] What did you pivot to
[19:45] Grow, Grow, Grow! Money later.
[21:30] How do you keep up with Silicon Valley culture and your German culture?
[29:05] What is innovation
[30:00] How does evolution affect you
[32:10] What to teach your kids

Interesting Quotes:

“If you sell a dream anything is possible”

“You don’t need users, you need fans”

“You can throw spaghetti at the wall all night long”

“The world is getting better not worse”

Key Discussion Points:

[1:01] What is a product manager?

[2:16] The difference between an entrepreneur and a product manager

[10:15] What kind of problems do product managers solve

[16:30] How do you find the next problem to solve?

[22:53] Has your “fail fast and learn quickly” got you into trouble with
leadership?

[20:49] How to develop a data-driven mentality

[24:48] How do you get started learning to work with data

Interesting Quotes:

“I formulated the role of a project manager as: ‘You are someone who make the future happen’”

“I realized I wanted to actually be a changemaker.”

“You try to formulate the overall vision, where you want to go with your product within the area you’re responsible for as a product manager.”

“I usually follow this advice: ‘You can’t pick the company. You can’t even pick the industry. You pick the manager….”

“With every error that you make, you want to next step to be more precise.”

“Eighty percent of the hypotheses that you are stating will be wrong. You need to accept that.”

“There is data, as in evidence, and there is technique to work with the data.”

“My fundamental value in life is growth.”

“I don’t have a dream position. It’s more about the work I do.”

“I really want more people to be obsessed about personal growth.”

“People are amazing.”

Key Discussion Points:

[1:01] What is a product manager?

[2:16] The difference between an entrepreneur and a product manager

[10:15] What kind of problems do product managers solve

[16:30] How do you find the next problem to solve?

[22:53] Has your “fail fast and learn quickly” got you into trouble with
leadership?

[20:49] How to develop a data-driven mentality

[24:48] How do you get started learning to work with data

Interesting Quotes:

“I formulated the role of a project manager as: ‘You are someone who make the future happen’”

“I realized I wanted to actually be a changemaker.”

“You try to formulate the overall vision, where you want to go with your product within the area you’re responsible for as a product manager.”

“I usually follow this advice: ‘You can’t pick the company. You can’t even pick the industry. You pick the manager….”

“With every error that you make, you want to next step to be more precise.”

“Eighty percent of the hypotheses that you are stating will be wrong. You need to accept that.”

“There is data, as in evidence, and there is technique to work with the data.”

“My fundamental value in life is growth.”

“I don’t have a dream position. It’s more about the work I do.”

“I really want more people to be obsessed about personal growth.”

“People are amazing.”

Interesting Quotes:

Take time to study and travel

If you want something test it practically for example with an internship

Learn as much as you can about a field, develop skills and knowledge  to have the confidence for the hiring process

With your employees, handle expectations in an honest way

Holacracy solves some problems but also brings some new one, everyone thinks about it differently

Growth vs static mindset

Be confident, do what you like

Stay focused on relationships, they are the most important ingredients for a happy life

Interesting Quotes:

Take time to study and travel

If you want something test it practically for example with an internship

Learn as much as you can about a field, develop skills and knowledge  to have the confidence for the hiring process

With your employees, handle expectations in an honest way

Holacracy solves some problems but also brings some new one, everyone thinks about it differently

Growth vs static mindset

Be confident, do what you like

Stay focused on relationships, they are the most important ingredients for a happy life

Interesting Quotes:

Deutsche Bank Innovation Labs have 5 Goals:
* Drive technology transfer
* Support digital strategy
* Co-develop digital narrative
* Drive global collaboration
* Foster innovation culture

At the beginning, communicate well and raise awareness with internal stakeholders

Create demand for change by exposing stakeholders to technological possibilities and ventures in the market

Innovation is about adapting to ever shorter product life cycles by challenging the status quo and act on the findings respectively

Align well and work closely with top management and digital leaders to deliver along the right priorities

Build a strong network of internal stakeholders with similar beliefs

Have bold ambitions

Interesting Quotes:

Deutsche Bank Innovation Labs have 5 Goals:
* Drive technology transfer
* Support digital strategy
* Co-develop digital narrative
* Drive global collaboration
* Foster innovation culture

At the beginning, communicate well and raise awareness with internal stakeholders

Create demand for change by exposing stakeholders to technological possibilities and ventures in the market

Innovation is about adapting to ever shorter product life cycles by challenging the status quo and act on the findings respectively

Align well and work closely with top management and digital leaders to deliver along the right priorities

Build a strong network of internal stakeholders with similar beliefs

Have bold ambitions

Interesting Quotes:

Find an Angel which has a passion for your topic

Stay on the positive side of a problem

Interesting Quotes:

Find an Angel which has a passion for your topic

Stay on the positive side of a problem

Interesting Quotes

Digitalization :
The real change of the internet is not e-commerce, the real change is the balance of power of information which shifted towards the consumer.

Recommendations for opening your own business

• Freedom is what motivates you
• The open horizon – everything is possible – is what inspires you
• The first results encourage you
• Classic things that you tend to ignore:
  • I’m my own boss, I’m in control, it’s gonna be freedom – that’s really naïve
  • To think you will spend 5 days working, instead it’s gonna be 7
  • Everything you learnt before about doing accurate business planning, accounting and tax

Principles for becoming a good leader:
You need to be curious, always ask the next question – opportunities don’t pop up by themselves.

Cost efficiency – be careful with spending money.

Live by example.

Take away the fear of failing.

Never aspire to become a CEO, just stay curious

Give your goals a “why” –  meaning and purpose.

Understand systematically value creation and business models.

Make yourself visible to progress in your career.

In leadership, we need diversity of opinion before and during decision-making but then once we decided we need alignment of making things happen.

Have aspiration, be curious and have the portion of courage that will make you succeed and even more important than to succeed – enjoy.

Interesting Quotes

Digitalization :
The real change of the internet is not e-commerce, the real change is the balance of power of information which shifted towards the consumer.

Recommendations for opening your own business

• Freedom is what motivates you
• The open horizon – everything is possible – is what inspires you
• The first results encourage you
• Classic things that you tend to ignore:
  • I’m my own boss, I’m in control, it’s gonna be freedom – that’s really naïve
  • To think you will spend 5 days working, instead it’s gonna be 7
  • Everything you learnt before about doing accurate business planning, accounting and tax

Principles for becoming a good leader:
You need to be curious, always ask the next question – opportunities don’t pop up by themselves.

Cost efficiency – be careful with spending money.

Live by example.

Take away the fear of failing.

Never aspire to become a CEO, just stay curious

Give your goals a “why” –  meaning and purpose.

Understand systematically value creation and business models.

Make yourself visible to progress in your career.

In leadership, we need diversity of opinion before and during decision-making but then once we decided we need alignment of making things happen.

Have aspiration, be curious and have the portion of courage that will make you succeed and even more important than to succeed – enjoy.

Interesting Quotes:

Good Site:
Explore Body more
help couples to have better sex

Bad:
dating apps
Paradox of choice

Opportunities using technologies
Lonlies epidemic

Healing not only the Body also Heal the Mind

The Biggest Advice for Relationship:
Love is, where Focus/Attention is

Solutions:
Creating Events where you need to give away your phone
Be aware how often you are distracted by your phone

Pushback vs electronic consumption

Learn to embrace change early

When you feel what you think is romantic Love, it’s not your Heart its dopamine searching through your brain

The greatest Art you can master, is to be Mindful of this feeling and not asign meaning to it

it takes many years to really know someone and many more that someone really knows you

Drugs are a hurricane

Life it’s never what you think, be aware of the dopamine

If you keep bad people around you because you are scared of being alone, but one day you love being alone

Interesting Quotes:

Good Site:
Explore Body more
help couples to have better sex

Bad:
dating apps
Paradox of choice

Opportunities using technologies
Lonlies epidemic

Healing not only the Body also Heal the Mind

The Biggest Advice for Relationship:
Love is, where Focus/Attention is

Solutions:
Creating Events where you need to give away your phone
Be aware how often you are distracted by your phone

Pushback vs electronic consumption

Learn to embrace change early

When you feel what you think is romantic Love, it’s not your Heart its dopamine searching through your brain

The greatest Art you can master, is to be Mindful of this feeling and not asign meaning to it

it takes many years to really know someone and many more that someone really knows you

Drugs are a hurricane

Life it’s never what you think, be aware of the dopamine

If you keep bad people around you because you are scared of being alone, but one day you love being alone

Interesting Quotes:

Marketing has besides the CEO the strongest angle how people feel about the business

Be as brand authentic and be able to laugh about yourself

Keep moving, keep changing, keep innovating, keep transforming

Being creative:
– Its a state of mind – cannot be forced
– Give all information
– Enable Freedom of mind

If you don’t have the freedom – push for it

Interesting Quotes:

Marketing has besides the CEO the strongest angle how people feel about the business

Be as brand authentic and be able to laugh about yourself

Keep moving, keep changing, keep innovating, keep transforming

Being creative:
– Its a state of mind – cannot be forced
– Give all information
– Enable Freedom of mind

If you don’t have the freedom – push for it

Interesting Quotes:

Innovation is:
– collaboration from people with different backgrounds

– client centric

• – different channels for different people.

Career Tips How to be successful in a bank:
You need to perform

Be resilient

Mistakes will happen
– If your environment can’t accept it then change it.

Push yourself
– If you feel to comfortable push for a change (internal or external)

Should you vision your future?
– The world and especially banks are rapidly changing so don’t make fix plans go build your network and take your chances.

Calm Down and Relax more, you don’t need to be perfect all the time

General Advice:
Don’t be too different – but still be yourself

Interesting Quotes:

Innovation is:
– collaboration from people with different backgrounds

– client centric

• – different channels for different people.

Career Tips How to be successful in a bank:
You need to perform

Be resilient

Mistakes will happen
– If your environment can’t accept it then change it.

Push yourself
– If you feel to comfortable push for a change (internal or external)

Should you vision your future?
– The world and especially banks are rapidly changing so don’t make fix plans go build your network and take your chances.

Calm Down and Relax more, you don’t need to be perfect all the time

General Advice:
Don’t be too different – but still be yourself

Interesting Quotes:

New Work= Change of Work through digitalization

Robert Scoble – a company without a blog is like house without a window

Buzzword Hypes are just a way of explaining the change the digitalization

Helping people see the fun/good reason in the new change

Big cooperation:
Cravity Center Theory
[Tipp] Create an envioment to open up

Midsize Companys:
Combination of both Problems pf Big Companys and Startups
[Tipp] Connect online and offline funnel

Startups:
Amazing on Speed (purpose)
Lack of structure and security
[Tipp] Do the sales direct in person
Sales Tipp 15 Words Sentence:

Timewise grap your chances when you see it

Keep up the good energy
Dont be concerned what other say

Let no excuses stop you from being your best self

Interesting Quotes:

New Work= Change of Work through digitalization

Robert Scoble – a company without a blog is like house without a window

Buzzword Hypes are just a way of explaining the change the digitalization

Helping people see the fun/good reason in the new change

Big cooperation:
Cravity Center Theory
[Tipp] Create an envioment to open up

Midsize Companys:
Combination of both Problems pf Big Companys and Startups
[Tipp] Connect online and offline funnel

Startups:
Amazing on Speed (purpose)
Lack of structure and security
[Tipp] Do the sales direct in person
Sales Tipp 15 Words Sentence:

Timewise grap your chances when you see it

Keep up the good energy
Dont be concerned what other say

Let no excuses stop you from being your best self

Interesting Quotes:

To be successful:
Stick on the Result/Impact some one made not the hours they spend

Good entrepreneurs/teams need the willingness to win – fail fast (and stand fast up again)

Women and Business:
with women in the team, you have a higher level of empathy, respect and appreciation for every person of the team

To attract more women, install a women as a role model

women should take a challenge that seems a little bit to big. And by this they can make a career

five characteristics for successful entrepreneurs:
– entrepreneur attitude – have the courage to take decisions under are a limited amount of information.

– Result Orientation – get shit done

– Colaboration – Teamplayer (hire people which are better than you)

– Leadership- especially with 10+ people

– customer and market orientation

follow three principles to start your career:
A do something you can be really truly best in
B You’re passionate for. This would be
C you can make money with

Tipps for your Private Life:
Family is first be home at six – do work again after they sleep

Work a bit before you get children so you can afford help from a nanny and a cleaner

Your kids should become habitants of the world

Interesting Quotes:

To be successful:
Stick on the Result/Impact some one made not the hours they spend

Good entrepreneurs/teams need the willingness to win – fail fast (and stand fast up again)

Women and Business:
with women in the team, you have a higher level of empathy, respect and appreciation for every person of the team

To attract more women, install a women as a role model

women should take a challenge that seems a little bit to big. And by this they can make a career

five characteristics for successful entrepreneurs:
– entrepreneur attitude – have the courage to take decisions under are a limited amount of information.

– Result Orientation – get shit done

– Colaboration – Teamplayer (hire people which are better than you)

– Leadership- especially with 10+ people

– customer and market orientation

follow three principles to start your career:
A do something you can be really truly best in
B You’re passionate for. This would be
C you can make money with

Tipps for your Private Life:
Family is first be home at six – do work again after they sleep

Work a bit before you get children so you can afford help from a nanny and a cleaner

Your kids should become habitants of the world

Interesting Quotes:

„Found a company right after Leaving the university”

„To be a better manager find HR concepts and test them”

„Found a circle of people in similar positions for feedback”

„To become a VC, ask yourself why you want to be one”

Startups – Doing
Managers -Planing
VCs – Analyzing

Interesting Quotes:

„Found a company right after Leaving the university”

„To be a better manager find HR concepts and test them”

„Found a circle of people in similar positions for feedback”

„To become a VC, ask yourself why you want to be one”

Startups – Doing
Managers -Planing
VCs – Analyzing

Key Takeaways:

PR Key Problems:

1. No clear Goal > You need S.M.A.R.T goals (Specific Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-related)

2. Campaign mismanagement -> no clear idea of how to run a campaign, steps to follow

3. Lack of alternatives -> Doing PR is sometimes not the right action to achieve your business goals. Evaluate other alternatives (adwords, Facebook-Twitter ads, email marketing,..), does it help me to achieve my business goal?

Be aware PR needs 3 Months of preparation

Prepare your pressroom on your website for journalists, a place where they can find all they need to publish your story, without having to contact you

Prepare your startup for PR, you will generate traffic to your website, are you ready to convert it into leads/clients?

Get to know first journalists, read them, follow them on social media

The email subject title is 90% of the success of your campaign, craft your message for the specific journalist

The more visual the email message, the most possibility to get positive answer

Learning by doing lower the risk of failure: Before committing budget to a PR agency or freelance, do it yourself to understand the media industry

If you work for it life will give it to you

Key Takeaways:

PR Key Problems:

1. No clear Goal > You need S.M.A.R.T goals (Specific Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-related)

2. Campaign mismanagement -> no clear idea of how to run a campaign, steps to follow

3. Lack of alternatives -> Doing PR is sometimes not the right action to achieve your business goals. Evaluate other alternatives (adwords, Facebook-Twitter ads, email marketing,..), does it help me to achieve my business goal?

Be aware PR needs 3 Months of preparation

Prepare your pressroom on your website for journalists, a place where they can find all they need to publish your story, without having to contact you

Prepare your startup for PR, you will generate traffic to your website, are you ready to convert it into leads/clients?

Get to know first journalists, read them, follow them on social media

The email subject title is 90% of the success of your campaign, craft your message for the specific journalist

The more visual the email message, the most possibility to get positive answer

Learning by doing lower the risk of failure: Before committing budget to a PR agency or freelance, do it yourself to understand the media industry

If you work for it life will give it to you