Startup Notes

Pawel Chudzinski belongs to the most renowned VCs in Germany and Europe. Working and living in Berlin, he is an early stage venture capital investor at Point Nine Capital. The firm is focused on early-stage investments related to SaaS and digital marketplaces.

In next week's episode, we are talking to Pawel about best practices on how to raise early-stage funding, stand out among the startups that ask for investments, and what the ideal relationship between VCs and founders should be like.

Uwe Horstmann is one of the people that truly stand out in the Berlin startup scene. Only in his early 30’s, he has been Managing Director at Rocket Internet in the past and started his own VC firm that follows a special approach - Project A Ventures does not only invest into startups but also supports them operationally with its own team of experts. Uwe knows what qualities to look for in founding teams to increase the chances of making it to the top.

In this episode, recorded at our third "From Scratch" masterclass, Uwe and moderator Christian Miele (Partner at e.ventures) take a deep dive into the underlying elements of startup success with a special focus on the traits of founders that accomplish great things together.

„From Scratch“ is an exclusive series of masterclasses organized by Startup Notes in association with Digital McKinsey. It brings together Europe's top entrepreneurs, investors, and leaders to give their personal insights on becoming digital winners. The lectures are presented by Business Punk.

Uwe Horstmann is one of the people that truly stand out in the Berlin startup scene. Only in his early 30’s, he has been Managing Director at Rocket Internet in the past and started his own VC firm that follows a special approach - Project A Ventures does not only invest into startups but also supports them operationally with its own team of experts. Uwe knows what qualities to look for in founding teams to increase the chances of making it to the top.

In next week's episode, recorded at our third "From Scratch" masterclass, Uwe will together with moderator Christian Miele (Principal at e.ventures) take a deep dive into the underlying elements of startup success with a special focus on the traits of founders that accomplish great things together.

Dr. Fabian Heilemann rose into the spotlight of the European startup scene after founding DailyDeal together with his brother Ferry. In 2011, they sold the company to Google for $114m. Later, they went on to found FreightHub, which recently raised $23m. Currently, Dr. Fabian Heilemann serves as Partner at renown VC firm Earlybird.

In this second lecture of “From Scratch”, our moderator, Christian Miele (Principal at e.Ventures), and Fabian listed the criteria of great business ideas, explained how to identify them in a structured way, and outlined which future trends are offering business opportunities for future entrepreneurs.

„From Scratch“ is an exclusive series of masterclasses organized by Startup Notes in association with Digital McKinsey. It brings together Europe's top entrepreneurs, investors, and leaders to give their personal insights on becoming digital winners. The lectures are presented by Business Punk.

Dr. Fabian Heilemann rose into the spotlight of the European startup scene after founding DailyDeal together with his brother Ferry. In 2011, they sold the company to Google for $114m. Later, they went on to found FreightHub, which recently raised $23m. Currently, Dr. Fabian Heilemann serves as Partner at renown VC firm Earlybird.

In this second lecture of “From Scratch”, our moderator, Christian Miele (Principal at e.Ventures), and Fabian listed the criteria of great business ideas, explained how to identify them in a structured way, and outlined which future trends are offering business opportunities for future entrepreneurs.

„From Scratch“ is an exclusive series of masterclasses organized by Startup Notes in association with Digital McKinsey. It brings together Europe's top entrepreneurs, investors, and leaders to give their personal insights on becoming digital winners. The lectures are presented by Business Punk.

Charles von Abercron is the Founder & former CEO of GLOSSYBOX. Started in 2011, GLOSSYBOX is an online subscription service that delivers high-end beauty products directly to its users’ doorstep. Founded by Charles with the backing of Rocket Internet, the startup was successfully sold to The Hut Group in 2017. Having been been responsible for all of the company's operations, including brand management, strategy development and marketing concepts, Charles successfully developed GLOSSYBOX into an international role-model business for subscription commerce and led the startup until 2015. Prior, he was Vice President for International Online Marketing at Groupon International. In this episode, we talk to Charles about the importance of timing when starting a company, the particularities of the beauty industry and advice for increasing one’s personal productivity as a founder.

Finn Age Hänsel is one of the most notable personalities in the German startup scene. Based in Berlin, he is Managing Director of Movinga - an online startup that was founded with the ambition to globally disrupt the moving services industry and is backed by renowned investors like Earlybird Venture Capital, Index Ventures and Global Founders Capital.

Before joining Movinga in 2015 and turning the struggling high-growth startup around, Finn was MD of EPIC Companies (a company builder). Prior, he made a name for himself as Co-Founder of THE ICONIC (Australia’s biggest online fashion retailer), which he built up for tech powerhouse Rocket Internet in Sydney. Since 2013, Finn is also Co-Founder of a craft beer brewery called „Berliner Berg“.

In this episode, we are discussing with Finn the different phases of a startup’s lifecycle, how to manage a turnaround when your company is struggling, and why founders should not focus too much on their competitors.

[00:37 – 05:21] Introduction of Finn and his professional background

[05:22 – 08:07] Finn’s recommendation on working in consulting before becoming an entrepreneur

[08:08 – 11:02] Why the moving services industry is one of the most exciting ones for Finn

[11:03 – 16:15] On managing the turnaround of a struggling startup

[16:16 – 21:05] How to find the right balance between growth and building a robust organization

[21:06 – 24:47] How Finn managed the turnaround of Movinga

[24:48 – 29:18] On the partial takeover of Move24 after it folded

[29:19 – 35:00] Why founders shouldn’t focus too much on their competitors

[35:01 – 37:22] Finn’s best advice for aspiring entrepreneurs

[37:23 – 39:32] Recruitment opportunities at Movinga

Christoph Gerber belongs to Germany's best-known tech entrepreneurs. Back in 2009, he started Lieferando — one of the first online food delivery startups in Germany. In 2014, Christoph and his co-founders sold the company for €62.9M to the Dutch Takeaway.com Group, which went public only two years later for a valuation of almost €1B. Only shortly after selling Lieferando, Christoph already started from scratch again by founding Talon.One - a SaaS company with a powerful API that enables businesses to create, manage and analyze promotional marketing campaigns.

Chanyu Xu is a seasoned entrepreneur from Berlin. After co-founding several food startups like EAT ÜBER and Eating with the Chefs (backed by star investor Peter Thiel), she became the Founder & CEO of ONO Labs in 2017. ONO LABS creates individualised and life stage-tailored fast moving consumer goods for women by using natural ingredients and smart data. The startup delivers 100% natural nutrition for women before, during and after a pregnancy.

In this episode, we talk to Chanyu about trends and success factors in the foodtech space, her plans for ONO Labs, and how to get started with a MVP and make hiring decisions.