European Growth Stories

“Scaling is not a money problem. It’s a time problem.” In this episode of European Scaling Stories , Andrea Vaugan welcomes Angeley Mullins, Chief Growth Officer at Ninox, for an in-depth conversation on the realities of scaling across Europe. Together, they discuss one of the key differences between the US and Europe: speed. Angeley explains why time, more than capital, is often the most critical...

When a green business model doesn’t translate across borders, adaptation becomes everything. In this episode of Go-to-Germany Stories , Andrea Vaugan talks with Christian Bergius , Country Director Germany at Ecotree , about adapting their French sustainability model to the German market. Christian shares why EcoTree had to move away from copy-paste expansion, how local ecosystem needs and custome...

In this special episode of Go to Germany Stories , host Andrea Vaugan sits down with the French Tech Düsseldorf team and the winners of the French Tech Germany Awards 2025 to explore what it really takes to build, invest, and scale across the Franco-German border. This episode brings together founders, investors, and ecosystem leaders who share their firsthand experience of expanding to Germany —...

How do you win trust and business in one of Europe’s most conservative markets? In this episode of Go to Germany Stories , Andrea Vaugan sits down with Besart Shala, Country Manager for Germany at Ibanfirst, to explore how Ibanfirst has built a strong presence in Germany, now accounting for 10% of the company’s global revenue . We discuss the “sales secret sauce” behind their growth, how to break...

In this episode of Go-to-Germany Stories , host Andrea Vaugan sits down with Marek Kraus, Country Manager Germany at Lucca, the French HR software company breaking into one of Europe’s toughest markets. Marek shares how Lucca combined rigorous preparation, thoughtful localization, and cultural awareness to build real traction in Germany — from adapting product features to small but telling choices...

Welcome back to Go-to-Germany Stories ! Season 4 opens with host Andrea Vaugan and Philipp Wegmann, Country Manager Germany at Signicat, exploring what it takes to build a true “growth engine” when entering the German market. Philipp shares first-hand lessons from his journey: how to set the right goals and prove traction early, why sales readiness is essential before scaling, and how regulatory m...

In this episode, Andrea Vaugan interviews Eva Katernberg, a localization specialist and translator. They discuss the importance of localization and the differences between translation, localization, and transcreation. Eva explains that localization involves not only translating content but also adapting it culturally, including numbers, images, and cultural references. Transcreation, on the other...

Andrea Vaugan interviews Tim Rath, the founder of Yoyaba, a leading B2B tech SaaS growth agency in the German market. They discuss how to approach the German market and the critical steps to launch a brand successfully. They emphasize the importance of mindset, market differences, and mechanics in the process and also highlight the need for thorough research, understanding the target market's pain...

In this new episode of Go-to-Germany Stories Caroline Langer and Andrea Vaugan take a look behind the scenes of the employer branding and international communications strategies of Doctolib - a prime example of what can happen when international market expansion is done right. ✅ Head of Employer Brand & International Communications at Doctolib today, Caroline is a trilingual marketing leader...

If at any point since 2014 you were looking to buy a phone or laptop, more likely than not you know of them - Back Market 📱🔋 By offering a platform that ensures rigorous refurbishing processes and quality checks, Back Market enables consumers to make eco-friendly choices without compromising on performance or affordability. Active in 13 European countries today, as well as Australia, Japan, Sout...

Season 3 continues with a second deep-dive into Swan, the leading provider of embedded finance solutions in Europe. This time, Andrea Vaugan interviews Pico Petershagen, VP Growth at the Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) startup. Splitting his time between Paris and Berlin, Pico leads Swan’s growth marketing, product marketing and brand teams. What Pico outlines as the reason for Swan’s rapid success in...

Last year we discussed the important role of partnerships for a successful market expansion - now we’re welcoming back another team member of Qonto! Benjamin Romberg, Head of Global Communications, is leading central PR, Social Media, and Community teams at the European unicorn start-up. Qonto is the leading European business finance solution, making day-to-day banking easier for SMEs and freelanc...

Welcome back to Go-to-Germany Stories! Season 3 is kicking off with an exciting new player in the European start-up space: Franziska Geier, Managing Director DACH at Stoïk, sits down with host Andrea Vaugan to outline the start-up’s impressive European expansion processes. Founded in 2021 by Jules Veyrat, Alexandre Andreini, Nicolas Sayer and Philippe Mangematin, Stoïk is the first insurance agent...

Season 2 is coming to an end with this fifth episode and our guest Sophie Wehrle. Sophie Wehrle is currently General Manager DACH at PlayPlay, a B2B SaaS startup and video creation platform trusted by more than 3000 organizations in 15 countries. Before kickstarting the DACH market launch at PlayPlay, Sophie helped Doctolib, now one of France’s most successful unicorn companies expand to Germany....

In this episode of "Go-to-Germany Stories," Andrea Vaugan invites Thorsten Seeger, Group COO of October and the CEO of October Germany. October is a European FinTech specialized in business lending. Leader in continental Europe, it has already financed thousands of SMEs for a total amount of over €1 billion in France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and Germany. Based on his extensive experience in...

Dans l’épisode nr. 3 de la saison 2 de "Go-to-Germany Stories", Andrea Vaugan discute avec Felix Nübold, Country Manager Germany chez Rapidmooc. Rapidmooc, une entreprise bootstrapped fondée à Lyon en 2016, est un fournisseur d'e-learning qui permet aux organisations de créer de manière rapide et facile des contenus de formation pour leurs équipes. Felix partage comment, avec le partenariat de lon...

Join Andrea in episode 2 of season 2 for an insightful conversation with David Frei, Head of DACH & Eastern Europe at Swan. David joined the European fintech early 2022 as their first employee outside of France and is running the Berlin office. Swan’s Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) platform is the easiest way for companies to embed banking features. Via its simple APIs, European companies can int...

In this first episode of season 2 of Go-to-Germany Stories, Dominik Drechsler, Country Manager Germany at YouSign, shares his insights on successfully launching the French e-signature startup in the German market during the COVID-19 pandemic. Yousign is a major European player in electronic signature, document management and identification services. Founded in 2013 by Luc Pallavidino and Antoine L...

As the first season of Go-to-Germany Stories is coming to an end, Andrea Vaugan invites Torben Rabe, Global Partnerships Director and formerly Country Director Germany at Qonto. Qonto is one of the most successful French fintechs, providing an all-in-one business finance solution for European SMEs and freelancers. Torben, who is a German native, explains how Qonto's European DNA made the early mar...

L’épisode 5 vous invite à écouter une conversation entre Andrea Vaugan et Philippe Chonion, responsable de l'expansion internationale chez Planity. Planity est une entreprise SaaS qui permet aux coiffeurs et instituts de beauté de numériser entièrement leurs services de réservation. Lui-même franco-allemand, Philippe aborde l’importance de structures d’équipes interculturelles efficaces. De cette...

Dans l'épisode n° 4, vous pouvez entendre Andrea Vaugan discuter avec Bettina Proft, Head of International Development et Country Manager pour l'Allemagne et l'Autriche chez Little Cigogne. Little Cigogne apporte une solution simple, efficace et économique pour vêtir les enfants, de la naissance à l’âge de 14 ans. Bettina, native d'Allemagne mais vivant et travaillant en France depuis plus de 10 a...

Dans l'épisode n° 3, Andrea Vaugan invite Moritz Himmelreich, Head of Sales - DACH chez Matera, à raconter son Go-to-Germany Story. Matera est une Proptech start-up qui permet aux copropriétaires de gérer leurs immeubles sans faire appel à syndics traditionnels. Moritz, qui vit aujourd'hui à Berlin, explique comment son séjour à Paris l'a aidé à comprendre les différentes cultures d'entreprise et...

Dans ce deuxième épisode de Go-to-Germany stories, Andrea Vaugan discute avec Carolin Marschall, ancienne Country Manager Dach + Nordics et maintenant Head of Customer Satisfaction chez Evaneos. Evaneos est la plateforme en ligne leader du voyage responsable en Europe, présente sur 7 marchés. Tout comme Andrea, Carolin est originaire d’Allemagne, mais vit en France depuis plus de 10 ans. Carolin e...

Dans cet épisode, Andrea Vaugan s’entretient avec Vincent Huguet, CEO de Malt, pour explorer le sujet captivant de l’expansion internationale. Vincent partage ses connaissances et l’expérience acquise grâce à l’expansion réussie de son entreprise de la France à l’Allemagne. Malt est une plateforme qui met en relation des freelancers et des entreprises. Des différences culturelles aux défis à surmo...