ICONS

Oskar Hartmann is one of Europe's most prolific serial entrepreneurs and early-stage investors — a man who launched his first company on the day Lehman Brothers collapsed, co-founded over 20 companies while running a 1,500-person business, broke two world records in indoor rowing after a near-total physical breakdown, and then built a 17-city stand-up comedy tour just to get something out of his s...

Marc-Alexander Christ , co-founder at SumUp , pulls back the curtain on how a five-founder startup launched simultaneously in Dublin, Berlin, and Bulgaria in 2012 and grew into one of Europe's most formidable fintech companies — serving 4 million merchants across 36 countries at an approximately €8 billion valuation. From the early mistake of hiring 100 salespeople before achieving product-market...

In this episode of ICONS, host Roman Kirsch sits down with Tushar Ahluwalia , Co-Founder of Razor Group , to unpack one of the most complex entrepreneurial journeys in e-commerce. Tushar's career spans three continents and three ventures: building India's first major D2C fashion brand (SBL) that reached 100 crores in revenue, creating Razor Group into a $700 million revenue aggregator that acquire...

In this episode of ICONS, host Roman Kirsch interviews Heini Zachariassen, founder of Vivino and current chairman of the board, who is now building Vota ( vota.org) , a quality rating system for restaurants. Growing up on the remote Faroe Islands (population 50,000) between Norway and Iceland, Heini developed the entrepreneurial belief that you can walk to parliament and knock on the prime ministe...

In this episode of ICONS, host Roman Kirsch interviews Barbara Martin Coppola, one of the most accomplished global marketing and digital transformation executives of our time. Barbara shares her playbook for scaling iconic brands globally, having led transformations at Samsung Korea, Google/YouTube, IKEA, and Decathlon. Her unique perspective comes from successfully navigating vastly different cor...

In this episode of ICONS, host Roman Kirsch interviews Luca Ferrari and Matteo Danieli, founders of Bending Spoons. Operating from Milan, Bending Spoons has evolved from a failed startup into Europe's most sophisticated digital acquisition platform, acquiring and improving dozens of businesses worth over $1.2 billion in revenue. From their first $10,000 acquisition to writing $500 million checks,...

In this episode of ICONS, host Roman Kirsch interviews Eric Wahlforss, founder of SoundCloud and Dance. From building one of the world's most influential music platforms to revolutionizing urban mobility through e-bike subscriptions, Eric shares how he's created two category-defining brands across completely different industries. His journey reveals the power of product-first thinking, authentic c...

In this episode of ICONS, Roman Kirsch interviews Charlie Bowes-Lyon, Co-founder and CMO of Wild, the refillable deodorant brand recently acquired by Unilever. Starting with a mission to remove single-use plastic from the bathroom, Wild transformed a £5 million UK natural deodorant market into a global sustainable brand worth hundreds of millions. By rejecting the traditional "eco-aesthetic" and i...