The Most Awesome Founder Podcast

Episode 90 of the Most Awesome Founder podcast and we are pleased to welcome Karel Dörner! Karel is one of the earliest role models of the WHU entrepreneurship spirit; from the dorm rooms of WHU to co-founding eBay competitor Alando, it took him only a few months. Moreover, leaving McKinsey to found a startup with buddies from university when founding was yet to be considered an outstanding career...

In this episode, we delve into Tobias Auferoth's career journey, which led him from an beginning at Goldman Sachs to a pivotal turn toward entrepreneurship and technology in fintech. As the co-founder and managing director of the fintech startup Upvest, Tobias shares his insights on creating a groundbreaking investment API, demystifying the complexities of financial technologies for our audience....

Join us on the WHU Most Awesome Founder Podcast as we dive into the world of entrepreneurship with Marco Dassisti, a seasoned alumnus of WHU's MBA program and the founder of kitchX and Qualimero.🔊🚀  Discover the highs and lows of building a startup, the power of conversational commerce, and the future of WhatsApp as a sales channel. From the challenges of scalability to the excitement of creatin...

Dive into the heart of Germany's startup ecosystem with our latest podcast episode, where we explore the vibrant yet challenging landscape of entrepreneurship in this dynamic country. Despite being a hub of innovation and potential, German startups face unique hurdles, from stringent regulations to the quest for funding. Our episode sheds light on these intricacies through the lens of industry ins...

Strap in for a riveting new episode on 'The Most Awesome Founder Podcast' as our hosts, Dries Faems and Gerrit McGowan, are joined by strategic mastermind Jeroen Kraaijenbrink. Jeroen shares captivating real-life experiences that he acquired while working on strategic matters with all kinds of clients from the corporate and startup world. Coming from an academic background, he gives insights into...

🌟 Welcome to the first episode of 2024 on 'The Most Awesome Founder Podcast'! Join our esteemed host, Dries Faems, as he engages in an enlightening conversation with Sergio G. Chavez, the innovative head of marketplace and partnerships at Sastrify. Sergio, with his rich international experience in Germany, delves into the intricate world of partnership management and its unique challenges, while...

Welcome to our last episode in 2023! 🚀 This episode takes a unique twist as we journey 25 years back in time to dissect a master thesis that was written by two of the German entrepreneurship world's most influential figures – Oliver Samwer & Max Finger. 📜 Oliver & Max, renowned for their groundbreaking entrepreneurial ventures, penned this remarkable thesis called "America's Most Succesful Start...

Strap in for a riveting new episode on 'The Most Awesome Founder Podcast' as our hosts, Dries Faems and Gerrit McGowan, are joined by strategic mastermind Jeroen Kraaijenbrink. Jeroen shares captivating real-life experiences that he acquired while working on strategic matters with all kinds of clients from the corporate and startup world. Coming from an academic background, he gives insights into...

This episode is for everybody who wants to get a bit nerdy with top-notch entrepreneurship research. We are excited to welcome the two renowned scholars Murat Tarakci & Timo van Balen to gain insights into their electrifying research about how startups with a social vision struggle to attract job talent. Gerrit's trajectory perfectly complements this academic understanding as the founder of a nonp...

The 81st edition of the Most Awesome Founder Podcast with Dries & Gerrit is just around the corner! We delve into the fascinating world of startups and cross-cultural business dynamics with our guest, experienced founder, business angel and WHU alum, Muhammad Chbib. Muhammad shares his valuable insights and experiences in the startup world and describes his journey from Germany to Dubai and back a...

We are excited to unveil the 10th installment of the inspiration session, featuring our co-hosts GerritMcGowan and Dries Faems. They discuss a captivating mixture of different topics in the realm of entrepreneurship from an academic and a practitioner perspective, such as: •    Why aren't there more sustainability-driven unicorns, although badly needed •    Which startups get supported by governme...

In today's episode 79, Dries & Gerrit explore the toll it can take on a founder's mental health whilst trying to materialize his entrepreneurial dream into a reality, and they have an excellent guest for that matter: Prof. Ute Stephan, a renowned entrepreneurship scholar from King's College and an outstanding expert on entrepreneurial wellbeing and founder stress. The three plunge into the fascina...

We are over the moon to have Dana Menzel on board for episode 78 of the Most Awesome Founder Podcast. Dana's entrepreneurial path is impressively versatile. She started as a goldsmith, mastering the art of this filigree craft, and turned this into her first thriving jewellery business. Now, she is leaping into a whole new area, and we are excited to hear about this! With roots spanning across inte...

We're kicking off our new season with a bang! A dive deep into the world of angel investing with none other than Oskar Hartmann. 🌍✨ His outstanding track record: 14 (!) of his startup investments have reached unicorn status, he's one of the 1000 wealthiest Germans, and in his spare time? He cracks world records in indoor rowing 🥴🏆 Alongside our brilliant hosts Dries Faems & Gerrit McGowan, Osk...

Get ready for an inspiring conversation with successful entrepreneur Björn Maronde in the newest episode of the Most Awesome Founder Podcast! Björn shares his personal background, the pivotal moments that led him to entrepreneurship, and the valuable lessons he learned along the way. 📚💡 You'll discover how an executive MBA played a role in shaping his entrepreneurial career and how he navigated...

Our next guest on the Most Awesome Founder podcast: Roman Kirsch! 🎙️ Roman will be sharing his high-paced entrepreneurial journey, characterized by his story of perseverance, hard work, and why sometimes naivety can be beneficial. Discover Roman's passion for building new ventures that led to various well-known and flourishing startups but also some non-successes and how he dealt with them. Roman...

We are thrilled to announce the launch of the 9th edition of the inspiration session with Gerrit and Dries! 🎉 They will once more discuss diverse and thought-provoking topics, combining insights from an academic and a practitioner perspective. What are the legal implications of AI-generated inventions, which entrepreneurs should consider entering a venture studio and why women should be careful i...

🎧 We are thrilled to announce a new episode of The Most Awesome Founder Podcast, featuring one of Germany's most prominent deep tech investors, Frank Thelen. In this wide-ranging discussion, Frank shares his perspective on how AI and generative technologies are beginning to reshape the startup and venture capital landscapes. 🚀 While AI promises to turbocharge innovation and efficiency, Frank cau...

🔥🚀  We're thrilled to spotlight the incredible journey of Kiran Banakar, one of our founders from this year's WHU accelerator batch. From grappling with the challenge of finding friends to scaling the heights of entrepreneurship, Kiran's story is nothing short of inspiring. 🌟 Kiran will be peeling back the curtain on his success as an entrepreneur in Germany, sharing the invaluable lessons he's...

We are thrilled to welcome Andre Retterath to episode #71 of our podcast. Andre is one of the leading figures in disrupting the traditional VC landscape by implementing data-driven approaches to improve decision-making. So tune in to hear interesting use cases, why the days of purely gut-based decisions investing seem to be over and what the future might look like.  If you want to not miss out on...

Join us again for an exciting episode of the Most Awesome Founder Podcast as we dive into the captivating story of Alex and Stan, the founders of high-growth startup Mammaly, which tackles the complex issue of pet health. Alex and Stan share how their shared vision led to a thriving direct-to-consumer business model and how collaborations are essential for their product development. Get ready for...

🎙️ Get ready to tune into today's new episode of The Most Awesome Founder Podcast with Philipp Buhr, the co-founder of marta! marta is a platform that transparently enables families to match their elderly family members with suitable caregivers. Beginning with stories from Philipps entrepreneurial childhood, enabling him to be the co-founder he is today, the episode advances into deeper topics ass...

🎧 We are thrilled to welcome Jag Singh (Managing Director @ Angel Invest ) and Oliver Aust (CEO & Founder @ Eo Ipso Communications ) for a second time to the show! This time we discuss their newest book MESSAGE MACHINE: How Communications Will Make You An Unstoppable Founder where they share essential aspects for founder communication mastery. Tune in to find out why communication is the biggest...

Should you work at a consultancy before founding? How is communication within international founding teams? And what skills and mindset do you really need to become a successful founder? Today's episode features our guest Justus Schmueser ! He is a former WHU bachelor student and completed his master of finance at MIT. Here he met his co-founder and today is leading the company Kadmos , which in 2...

Get ready for today's episode 66 of the Most Awesome Founder Podcast! As always, the Inspiration Session will discuss topics that made Dries and Gerrit think, learn, and laugh.    Here are some exciting sneak peeks of the topics explored within the episode: -       What impact do prominent Venture Capitalists have on replacing startup founders over time? -       The four main challenges Venture Ca...