Due to an autoimmune disease for Molly, flexible working hours was not only a ‘nice-to-have’, but an absolute need. Yet, confronted with a pre-pandemic situation, where remote work or flexible hours were the exception rather than the norm, it was a hard and time-consuming process to find employers offering flexible work environments. In 2019, Molly Johnson-Jones co-founded the start-up flexa.careers with the ultimate goal to bring more transparency to the global job-hunting process and to portray and evaluate employers not only by ‘what they offer’ but especially, which working environment you’ll be able to find there.

Venture Capital, Bootstrapping oder wann ist der beste Zeitpunkt in ein Start-up zu investieren? In dieser informativen Folge mit Penny Schiffer, tauchen wir ein in die Welt des Risikokapitals und worauf es Investor:innen ankommt, wenn sie in Start-ups investieren. Penny Schiffer, die gemeinsam mit Thomas Schulz, Raized.ai gründete war davor selbst als Investorin tätig und weiß, worauf es im Screening-Prozess ankommt. Penny erklärt alle Fachbegriffe, leicht verständlich und teilt mit uns spannende Eindrücke aus ihrer eigenen Investoren-Roadshow im Silicon Valley.

Anastasia ist eine der jüngsten Gründerinnen Deutschlands. Mit 20 gründete sie ihr Start-up FeMentor – eine Reverse Mentoring Plattform von Frauen für Frauen, die heute mehr als 1000 Frauen (Mentorinnen & Mentees) umfasst. Sie selbst wurde auf ihrem Weg von einer Vielzahl an Mentor:innen begleitet und unterstützt. So steht sie heute mit 22 an einem Punkt, der ihr es ermöglicht sich für das einzusetzen, was ihr wirklich wichtig ist: Gleichstellung, Empowerment für Frauen, Schaffung von Vorbildern und ein Netzwerk, in dem alle voneinander lernen!

Anna-Katharina Pelzel gründete gemeinsam mit Nico Hauschke 2020 ihr Start-Up new work campus. Mit ihrem Kollektiv wollen die beiden Bildung und Wirtschaft verbinden, um wirksame und nachhaltige Vernetzungskonzepte für gemeinsames Lernen und Entwickeln umzusetzen. So entstand auch die Idee für ihr Produkt „trabayolo“, einer digitalen Plattform, die junge Menschen dabei hilft, ihren Lebensweg selbst zu gestalten. Dabei werden sie am Strascheg Center für Entrepreneurship von Jana Hollmann unterstützt. Jana arbeitet als Start-up Beraterin am SCE, wo sie Einzelpersonen und Teams im Gründungsprozess begleitet. In dieser Podcast-Episode erzählen Anna und Jana von ihrer Zusammenarbeit und ihren Erfahrungen mit Gründungsberatung, Herausforderungen im Gründungsprozess, und Selbstbestimmung im Berufsalltag.

Carolin Kunert,started her company Knister Grill in 2017 while studying Industrial Design at HM – Munich University of Applied Sciences and Syddansk University in Denmark. The sustainable brand produces a compact and transportable barbecue locally in Germany. With her company, Carolin has won prices such as the RedDot and ISPO Award and was added to the “Forbes 30 under 30 Europe” list in the category “Retail and Ecommerce” in 2020. In the same year, Knister Grill opened its first showroom and shop in Munich. Currently, the company consists of a team of eight employees, who support Carolin with her vision to create more awareness for responsible and sustainable production and consumer behaviour. The focus on sustainability is reflected in short transportation routes, durability of the products, and dedication to social responsibility. In this podcast episode, Carolin talks about how to start a company with no background knowledge, how to deal with issues founders are facing, and her own vision for Knister Grill.

Svenja Lassen finds her passion and thrive in how to enhance the proportion of women entrepreneurs and female investors in Germany. #25to25 – The Female Founders Pitch, is opening a call to action, namely to increase the portion of women entrepreneurs from 16 to 25% by the year of 2025. In recent years this number has been stagnating, and thus, it’s time to set clear goals and make change happen. The increase of women entrepreneurs positively contributes to both economic, as well as sustainable development. By initiating the Female Investors Network, Svenja aims to enhance the number of female investors, which would also positively impact the number of start-ups led or co-led by women. Diversity matters!

Building bridges: arcs audio, founded in 2017 by Saskia Riedel, offers interactive and participative audio guides for museums and exhibitions to make ‘art more accessible’ to all people. Saskia is driven by her passion to ‘open up’ the seemingly exclusive art scene, by exploring and experiencing what is displayed ‘through the voices of others’. These stories, and narratives of ‘everyday people’, what they perceive and see when looking at a specific piece of art, are recorded and put together in an interactive audio guide format. A start-up at the intersection of culture, digitalization, humanity and art.

‘Develop the HERO within you! I still remember these words from Dianne Welsh, when I met her for the first time shooting her video on Entrepreneurial Personality, included in our MOOC on ‘Entrepreneurship and Digital Transformation’. Dianne is a great role model, when it comes to academic research, and research on positive psychology in the context of entrepreneurship. In this episode she talks about how she found her way into the field of entrepreneurship, what is fascinating to her, and what the ‘HERO’ within you actually stands for.

Franziska is a film director, composer and entrepreneur herself. She strongly believes in empowerment, and making great stories visible. This is how her current project – createF came to life. createF – The Female Founders Show, is a series of 12 episodes and shows the ‘real’ process of becoming an entrepreneur. 10 aspiring start-ups, 3 potential investors and +50 supporters on a mission to thrive and grow the amount of women entrepreneurs in Germany. Janina Mütze, Mona Mayr, Aya Jaff, Fränzi Kühne, Svenja Lassen are some of the inspiring role models supporting create F.

Martina Panchyrz is a journalist and professional storyteller. She started her carreer in the media industry, working as a chief reporter, before she decided to make a move. Instead of traveling the world, Martina took the chance of a sabbatical to found her own business, M.STORIES. Martina and I talk about her journey of becoming an entrepreneur, the upcoming female business festival and who she thinks are great rolemodels to follow and get inspired.