Mostly Awesome

If we hear about living an almost nomadic life, we typically have a picture of a backpacker in mind, traveling the world. Our guest for today's episode, Maya Hari, however, would probably describe this as how she spent her 20s working in India, the U.S., France as well as Singapore. Maya is not your run-of-the-mill backpacker though - she studied engineering and did an MBA at INSEAD before she wor...

Joshua and Mehmet both studied Business Administration and Math in Munich. Together they founded Freeletics in 2013, which later rose to become a popular consumer internet company that offers personalized fitness plans and community support via a mobile application. After exiting from Freeletics in 2018 they waited no more than three weeks before they founded yet again! Their current venture is ca...

In today’s episode, our guest is Vlad Lata. Vlad is not only a serial entrepreneur with founding experience at KONUX and Avi Medical but also a CDTM alumnus. His first venture, KONUX, is active in the field of IoT/AI providing smart sensor systems and AI-based analytics. With AVI Medical he is now active in the optimization of the patient experience by leveraging technology. In the course of this...

In today’s episode we were delighted to have Hessam Lavi as our guest. Hessam is the CEO and Co-Founder of Climatiq, a company that engineers and develops a Carbon Footprint Intelligence Platform. During the course of this episode we spoke about several topics that make Hessam’s journey unique. We learnt about his voyage from war-torn Iran, to Sweden, and finally to Berlin. We also took deep dives...

In this episode, we talk to Thomas Regier and Kivanc Semen - the founders of DataGuard. In 2017 they founded DataGuard together. And since then they help companies to manage their data privacy - an inviolable human right and key to a successful business in an increasingly digital world. We talk to them about their multi-cultural background and how they first met as teenagers in a workshop for bask...

In this episode, we are talking to Sona Chandra, the co-founder of Terra Lumina - an AI-based drug discovery platform. Sona is a qualified Biomedical engineer who speaks passionately about drug discovery and healthcare. One can tell from her responses that she’s determined to make a dent in how we as a civilization discover and engineer medicines. We spoke to Sona about her cross-continental journ...

In this episode, we spoke to Hung Dang- an inspiring CDTM alumnus and the founder of Y42 - the company that is on the mission to build the most powerful and simple to use data tool that allows everyone to work with their data efficiently and collaboratively. In October 2021, the company raised one of the biggest Series A funding rounds in Europe. But before founding Y42, Hung had his fair share of...

Arseniy Vershinin is a co-founder and CTO of Personio - Europe's leading one-stop HR platform for small and medium-sized businesses. It helps small businesses across Europe manage common HR tasks like onboarding, payroll, and attendance accounting. Coming originally from Russia, Arseniy moved to Munich in 2011. Here, at CDTM he met his future co-founders Hanno Renner, Ignaz Forstmeyer, and Roman S...

This time, we had a very exciting talk with Awais Shafique - the co-founder and CPO of a FashionTech startup presize.ai. After finishing his Bachelor's degree in his homeland Pakistan, Awais came to Germany to study Biomedical Computing at Technical University in Munich. As he was already very passionate about entrepreneurship at the time, Awais joined the Center for Digital Technologies and Manag...

Dr. Sophie Chung is the CEO and Founder of Qunomedical - a digital health platform with a focus on medical travel that helps patients find the right doctor anywhere in the world. On the mission to empower patients worldwide, Qunomedical gives everyone the chance to access great healthcare - no matter who they are and where they are from. Sophie, who spent five years as a Consultant at McKinsey & C...

Welcome to Season 3 of Mostly Awesome with our new hosts Keke and Maria! We are again talking to inspiring innovators from the world of entrepreneurship and technology to give you unique insights into their personal journeys, motivation, and opinions. Listen to our teaser to meet our new hosts and get a sneak peek at our awesome lineup of guests. As usual, we will be launching new episodes bi-week...

Caroline Weimann is the founder and co-director of JoinPolitics. JoinPolitics aims to open unusual routes into politics by supporting and giving seed capital to political talent and applying the disruptive and innovative nature of entrepreneurship to politics. Caroline holds a Master’s degree in International Studies from SOAS - University of London and an Executive MPA from the Hertie School of G...

Daniel Metzler is the co-founder and CEO of Isar Aerospace. Daniel studied mechanical engineering at TU Wien and aerospace engineering at TUM. During his studies in Munich, he joined the rocket technology initiative WARR, where he worked on special rocket engines and met his later co-founders - Josef Fleischmann and Markus Brandl. In 2018, they founded Isar Aerospace Technologies GmbH. Isar Aerosp...

Daniel Besendorfer is the CEO of Allianz Technology, the IT service provider of the Allianz Group. He studied economics in Freiburg and Boston and holds a Ph. D. from the University of Freiburg. He started his career as an executive assistant in the German life insurance division of Allianz. Daniel quickly took on leadership responsibilities and progressed through many different positions at Allia...

Alev Canoglu is the founder of the Munich-based non-profit organisation Female Tech Leaders, which aims to empower women in STEM and leadership positions and mentor tech-savvy girls. After graduating and working in the documentary film industry, Alev decided to change fields and studied computer science at LMU and TUM. Alev has previously led product initiatives at Siemens, Microsoft and Autoscout...

Folkert Behrends is a triathlete and professional coach. After an accident in 2008, doctors told him he might never be able to walk again. But 15 months later, Folkert successfully competed in the Iron Man triathlon and became world champion in his age group. Building on this experience, he is now active as a speaker and as a coach for individuals, teams, and companies. In this role, he shares his...

Saskia Bruysten is co-founder and CEO of Yunus Social Business. After studying economics at EBS and LSE, Saskia started her career at Boston Consulting Group. After a crucial meeting with Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Prof. Muhammad Yunus, she decided to go into social business, and they eventually co-founded Yunus Social Business. Saskia is also an active member of the UN Commission's Expert Group o...

Hana Milanov is a Professor of International Entrepreneurship at the Technical University of Munich and an active board member and mentor at CDTM. Hana studied management in Croatia, earned her Ph. D. in Entrepreneurship and Strategy in the U.S. and worked as a professor at IE Business School in Spain for 5 years. 3:07 Hana’s career in academia: In the beginning, Hana explains why she decided to d...

Jakob is the founder of Greengas Concepts and Polarstern Energie, which are pioneers in developing sustainable energy and heating solutions. He is also the co-owner and managing director of Impact Hub Munich, which supports sustainable entrepreneurship and innovation. Before entering entrepreneurship, Jakob studied business administration and earned his Ph. D. at LMU Munich. 2:19 Jakob's career pa...

Veronika Riederle is the Founder and CEO of Demodesk, an intelligent meeting platform for remote sales that was supported by Y-Combinator. Veronika studied in Munich and New York and is an alumna of the CDTM. After graduating, she spent five years in consulting at Bain & Company before starting her own company. 2:31 Veronika's career choices: In the beginning, Veronika talks about why she initiall...

Dan Ram is a speaker, motivational coach and event host. He has hosted some of the biggest innovation and tech events, such as Bits & Pretzels, and has delivered 5 Ted Talks on a variety of topics, from motivational tips to the power of diversity. Before finding his passion as a host, Dan worked in many different jobs, including for the UN, as an entrepreneur, consultant, and voice-over artist. Da...

Anna Alex is the co-founder and COO of Planetly, a tech startup on a mission to help build a carbon neutral economy. Previously, she co-founded Outfittery, Europe's leading online personal shopping service for men. For her achievements, she was named one of the young elite top 40 under 40. 2:43 Anna's journey into entrepreneurship: In the beginning, Anna talks about how she got interested in the s...

Nino Ulsamer is a serial entrepreneur and currently CTO of StashAway in Singapore, a digital wealth management platform that personalizes financial planning and portfolio management. He has founded seven times on three different continents, out of which two companies have already become a great success. 03:52 Nino's early career and his decision to become a founder: In the beginning, Nino talks ab...

Welcome to Season 2 of Mostly Awesome with our new hosts Lisa and Tim! We are again talking to inspiring innovators from the world of entrepreneurship and technology to give you unique insights into their personal journeys, motivation, and opinions. Listen to our teaser to meet our new hosts and get a sneak peek at our awesome lineup of guests. As usual, we will be launching new episodes bi-weekly...

Carsten Maschmeyer ist erfolgreicher Gründer, Investor, Bestsellerautor und Juror in der TV-Show "Die Höhle der Löwen". Als Jäger nach den besten unternehmerischen Ideen auf dem Markt hat Carsten Maschmeyer mit seiner gleichnamigen Maschmeyer Group – einem Kollektiv von mehreren Investmentfonds – bis dato in über 85 Unternehmen investiert. Carsten spricht darüber, was ihn in den Anfängen seiner vo...