show episodes
 
Every week Bits & Pretzels Editor-in-Chief Britta Weddeling (@bweddeling) invites the most important voices from the global founders and VC network to her podcast to discuss their routes from founding or financing a startup to the peak of international success. Guest include world renowned Silicon Valley representatives such as former Head of Retail at Apple, Angela Ahrendts, Shazam founder Chris Barton, Drew Houston, the founder of Dropbox, Hollywood actor Jessica Alba and the leading voice ...
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show series
 
Oliver Holle, Co-founder & Managing Partner at Speedinvest, shares his key takeaways from the past for founders and investors for a successful 2021 This week’s guest is Oliver Holle, Co-founder and Managing Partner at Speedinvest, one of Europe's leading investment companies, which is working with some of the household names in the startup ecosyste…
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Jan Goetz, CEO of IQM, about how he wants go beyond competitors like IBM and Google and make Europe the hotspot for the technology This week’s podcast guest and his team are moving quantum computing forward in Europe like no one else and they want to make it the new hotspot for the technology. His name is Jan Goetz and the company he co-founded and…
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Harry Moseley, Zoom’s Chief Information Officer, about how the video communication platform dealt with a sudden growth overnight due to Covid-19, as well as the related challenges If you had to name one company that during the current pandemic quickly became an essential part of all of our lives – it would very likely have to be Zoom! And this week…
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The exceptional athlete about how to turn a challenge into an opportunity and why focus beats uncertainties all the time While the whole world is still grappling with the effects of the current pandemic, this week’s podcast guest shows how to not let yourself be defeated by uncertain circumstances: Jan Frodeno, the three times Ironman World Champio…
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CEO Stewart Butterfield, who just sold his communication platform to Salesforce for $27.7 billion, on dealing with setbacks & fighting incumbents This week on the Bits & Pretzels Podcast we welcome an entrepreneur who is at the forefront of the global remote work experiment that shows no sign of ending anytime soon, as Europe struggles to contain t…
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AUDI AG board member for Sales & Marketing Hildegard Wortmann about the Dos and Don’ts of crisis communication and how she’s turning around the brand of her company This week’s podcast guest is one of the most influential women in the international automotive industry: Hildegard Wortmann, Member of the Board of Management for Sales and Marketing at…
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The media mogul explains how crucial downtime is for long-term success & shares first steps towards becoming a better leader This week on the show is Arianna Huffington, the co-founder of the Huffington Post, that won her her the Pulitzer Prize, entrepreneurial role model as well as founder & CEO of Thrive Global. The now 70-years old media mogul h…
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Operating with a long-term philosophy is necessary for sustained growth explains the founder of Long-Term-Stock-Exchange This week on the podcast Bits & Pretzels Editor-in-Chief Britta Weddeling welcomes entrepreneurial superstar Eric Ries, author of New York Times bestseller The Lean Startup, a must have bible for all founders, and initiator of al…
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Roxanne Varza, Director at Station F, one of the largest global accelerators hosting 1000 startups on how founders can benefit from a crisis and use it to their advantage Our podcast guest this week is one of the leading voices of the French startup ecosystem: Roxanne Varza, the Director of Station F, one of the largest startup campuses in the worl…
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Sarah Cannon and Martin Mignot, partners at Index Ventures share why European founders are ditching their “US or nothing” mentality This week’s podcast has a very international setup with two guests joining us from different sides of the world: Sarah Cannon is dialing in from New York City and Martin Mignot from his home in London. They are both pa…
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The CEO & founder of Starling Bank on how to build a challenger bank from scratch to conquer the Fintech world At a point when most people make plans for their retirement, our podcast guest this week wrote a business plan to start her own bank: Anne Boden, the CEO and founder of Starling Bank, who has built a name for herself building one of UK’s s…
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The former NBA player on how to maintain motivation and inner strength despite failures and what startups he’s looking for now as an investor Our podcast guest this week is an overall legend and a true loyal Bavarian at heart who became a well-known name even outside the basketball court: The NBA superstar Dirk Nowitzki joined the Bits & Pretzels N…
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The long-term Google CEO offers a rare glimpse into his playbook about how to build a culture of excellence to how to systematically harnessing world-changing ideas in your company This week’s podcast guest has shaped the legend of Google, served in the epicenter of Silicon Valley for almost 20 years and led Google’s expansion into all aspects of o…
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Max Wittrock on finding the right idea to build a startup & to kick off a business In this episode Britta Weddeling, editor-in-chief at Bits & Pretzels, welcomes Max Wittrock! He is the co-founder of German breakfast cereals brand mymuesli, which was one of the first companies to allow customers to create their own breakfast cereals. In this podcas…
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Mattias Ljungman about his new VC firm Moonfire Ventures & why Europe is on the verge of a tech investment breakthrough Would you like to send your pitch deck to the personal email address of Mattias Ljungman, the co-founder of $2.7 billion VC firm Atomico and who just started a new fund with Moonfire Ventures? In this week’s podcast Mattias shares…
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The serial entrepreneur, Young Global Leader & book author to founders: It’s your responsibility to get politically involved to create a better world! It’s in the genes of entrepreneurs to want to change the status quo – most founders do that by starting companies, creating innovative products and then give back to society or becoming politically i…
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Board Member of the German Startups Association & co-founder of Auxxo, Gesa Miczaika shares exclusive insights of how to network & pitch for success You are a female founder looking for new cash? And you want to learn the exclusive insights and tricks of an experienced investor to make it in the (unfortunately) still male-dominated startup world? O…
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€18 billion market cap Delivery Hero co-founder about running a global logistics business during the pandemic Famously joining the index of Germany's 30 largest companies by market capitalization & valuation — was REALLY just the first step for Niklas Östberg, the co-founder and CEO of Berlin headquartered Delivery Hero. The entrepreneur who co-sta…
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Florian Leibert, founder of Mesosphere & Twitter and Airbnb alumnus, about what he's looking for in a startup as an investor. Meet Florian at #bits20 €170 million for European deep tech startups: Serial entrepreneur Florian Leibert shares the masterplan for the new fund called 468 Capital that he set up with former Rocket Internet executives Alexan…
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Jeff Lawson, co-founder of $8.5 billion dollar cloud communication firm about customer centricity, Jeff Bezos & the power of developers In this episode, Bits & Pretzels’ Editor-in-Chief Britta Weddeling talks to one of the most successful cloud communication entrepreneurs in the tech world, Jeff Lawson, the co-founder & CEO of $8.5 billion firm Twi…
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The Fintech pioneer on Corona, how he became founder & what rules have guided him since In this episode Bits & Pretzels Editor-in-Chief Britta Weddeling talks to Taavet Hinrikus, the co-founder of London headquartered borderless cash company Transferwise, who’s a tech pioneer, an investor and business angel, just days after his company announced a …
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Earlybird co-founder Hendrik Brandis on why the next wave of innovation happens in deep tech & Bavaria is the place to be for space startups right now In this week’s episode Britta Weddeling, Bits & Pretzels’ editor in chief, talks to Hendrik Brandis, co-founder and partner at Earlybird, a venture capital firm focused on European technology compani…
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Cloud computer pioneer Aaron Levie about Trump, the future of work & how to beat your larger competitors with speed and agility In this week’s episode, Britta Weddeling, Editor-in-Chief of Bits & Pretzels, talks with Aaron Levie, the CEO and co-founder of cloud computer pioneer Box and one of the most successful and outspoken innovators in the ente…
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The co-founder of the Huffington Post & founder of behaviour change company Thrive Global about how microsteps lead to big changes Remember what it feels like to be focused and productive? It has been a while? Well, you're not alone! Many of us feel exhausted and overwhelmed due to the economic situation caused by Covid-19 and the many uncertaintie…
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The NY futurist, founder & adviser to Fortune 100 companies gives exclusive advice & insights for entrepreneurs Open your ears and listen to the future with us! This episode of the Bits & Pretzels podcast is about what entrepreneurs can expect as we all look towards a post-pandemic world and how founders should prepare. Britta Weddeling, our Editor…
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The co-founder of Klarna about how he has turned a local under-dog into an international scale-up threatening traditional banks Today Bits & Pretzels Editor-in-Chief Britta Weddeling talks to Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski who has created a revolution in online shopping as well as Europe's most valuable fintech with 85 million customers, 205 00…
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Christoph Hornung, co-founder of Rocket Internet & now at VC firm Draper Esprit, with advice for later stage startups of what to do next Today Britta Weddeling, Editor-in-chief of Bits & Pretzels, talks with Christoph Hornung, co-founder of legendary German startup accelerator Rocket Internet, who recently joint London-based VC firm Draper Esprit a…
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Planet CEO Will Marshall about Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos & how he has built the world’s largest fleet of satellites Welcome to the first interstellar episode of the Bits & Pretzels podcast! After with SpaceX for the first time in history a private company successfully sent two US astronauts to the International Space Station, the stars of space-gazing …
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One of Europe’s top Entrepreneurs, early stage Investors & Startup Mentors on how founders can thrive in uncertainty In conversation with Bits & Pretzels' Britta Weddeling London-based top VC Brent Hoberman, one of the most influential entrepreneurs in European tech, shares his secrets of how founders can grow their startup during the current COVID…
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Amol Sarva shares personal insights & learnings of his 20+ years as entrepreneur "We’re going to have to redesign everything” – says Amol Sarva, the Knotel workspace CEO and serial entrepreneur from New York in conversation with Bit & Pretzels' Britta Weddeling. Last year Amol raised $400 million for his company, but today business as usual is over…
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The MC of Bits & Pretzels, coach & entrepreneur shares crucial insights into how to push through the Corona crisis Dan Ram is an entrepreneur as well as a master of adaptation and reinvention which are skills every entrepreneur needs today to manage the many uncertainties and headwinds towards the future. As the son of an Indian diplomat Dan had to…
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The Clearbanc co-founder about how she became the rising star in Silicon Valley & what needs to be done to get more female founders Before the age of 28, Michele Romanow already started 3 companies. She's on TV regularly as one of the Dragon's on CBC's Dragon's Den, the Canadian equivalent to ABC's Shark Tank. And she was named as Canada’s Top 100 …
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The female executive about what led her from Burberry to the top at Apple In this podcast episode, you’ll hear from one of the leading female executives in the business world: Angela Ahrendts, the longtime Head of Retail at Apple where she became the highest-paid executive and made double of what CEO Tim Cook made. Before that, she was CEO at Briti…
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Chris Boos, the frontman of PEPP-PT and the founder of Arago, about the current conflict regarding privacy and data protection around the European tracking platform It started as a truly European effort to create tracking apps to help break Covid-19 infection chains and to ease lockdown restrictions: the Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tr…
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Ijad Madisch, the founder and CEO of ResearchGate backed by ResearchGate is backed by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, investment bank Goldman Sachs and Peter Thiel's Founders Fund among others The time of Corona is the time of virologists, a species that’s more prominent than ever. Today we focus on medical aspects in our Bits & Pretzels podcast. …
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An interview with the Formula One World Champion, Hannes Ametsreiter, the CEO of Vodafone Germany & other highlights from our first Virtual Founders Breakfast You´re listening to part two of our Bits & Pretzels Podcast Special regarding the corona crisis. Today former Formula One World Champion Nico Rosberg shares his insights how meditation and me…
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Overcoming the crisis with advice from an actor, a leading VC from New York and the Amorelie founder Todays special episode of the Bits & Pretzels Podcast presents highlights from our first Bits & Pretzels Virtual Founders Breakfast. Actor Kevin Spacey shares his first-hand experience in dealing with uncertainties when your life as you know it come…
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Matthias Schranner, a former hostage negotiator about how to handle the current worldwide crisis and to emerge stronger afterwards Here's how to emerge even stronger from the actual crisis around Covid-19: Call you investor. Call your clients. And get yourself a better deal. Sounds counterintuitive to you? Listen to the new Bits & Pretzels Podcast …
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Valley VC Saeed Amidi, CEO & founder of Plug & Play, about how founders should tackle the Corona crisis Saeed Amidi, CEO and founder of Plug & Play, a leading international accelerator, shares a surprising positive perspective on the ongoing economic downturn caused by the Corona crisis. Amidi, who heads work with 400 companies and more than 10 000…
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The young politician about what needs to be done to support founders & the upsetting digital dead zones in rural Bavaria Judith Gerlach, Bavaria's first State Minister for Digital Affairs, talks about what needs to be done politically to push for more entrepreneurship and innovation in Germany, including whether we need to establish a Federal Minis…
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The co-founder of GetYourGuide about why customer centricity is the key to built a globally successful platform for the travel industry Today, Johannes Reck, the co-founder of German travel unicorn GetYourGuide, talks about politics, recruiting talent to Berlin and why customer centricity is the single most important principle within GetYourGuide. …
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Brexit, international expansion and competition - N26 is facing new tasks Today Bits & Pretzels Editor-in-chief, Britta Weddeling, is talking to Valentin Stalf, the co-founder of N26. N26 is a story of success. Its valuation of 3.5 billion dollars makes it the most valuable fintech startup in Germany, top 3 in Europe, top 10 worldwide. In the podca…
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Daniel Krauss, co-founder of the German transportation unicorn, about the struggles of hyper-growth In this episode of the Bits & Pretzels podcast, Daniel Krauss, the co-founder of German unicorn FlixMobility, shares his experience with rapid expansion of the transportation unicorn into the international markets & how the team is targeting the down…
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Lars Klingbeil (SPD) about how to build a truly effective political framework for entrepreneurship In this episode Bits & Pretzels Editor-in-Chief, Britta Weddeling, challenges Lars Klingbeil, the General Secretary of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), on the upsetting lack of a truly effective political framework for a thriving ecosystem for found…
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Marketing guru Margit Wennmachers, operating partner with VC firm Andreessen Horowitz, about the DOs & Don'ts for Founders Wired calls her "one of the most talented spin masters in the technology industry". CNN names her "the real queen of Silicon Valley". Margit Wennmachers has helped many founders to build their brand out of nowhere and helped in…
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Maria Ressa, the co-founder of news website Rappler, has been to jail several times and threatened with rape – but she won’t stop Investigative reporter Maria Ressa, the co-founder and CEO of popular news website Rappler, disclosed the spread of fake-news by supporters of Rodrigo Duterte, the President of the Philippines, and Facebook's role in the…
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How 3 friends turned a college project into a $2.5 billion dollar company Bastian Nominacher, the co-founder and Co-CEO of Celonis, started his firm with two university friends in Munich, which became one of the rare European unicorns out there. He talks about how he met his fellow founders, the moment when they founded their startup, how he identi…
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Drew Houston about working less, "No-Meeting-Wednesdays" and his 90s cover band Drew Houston, co-founder of Dropbox, talks about why while building one of the most popular productivity apps on the internet he got really frustrated with his lack of performance as CEO and how being available 24/7 contributes to an "epidemic of burnout". He also talks…
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The Runtastic co-founder's top 5 learnings from having his company been acquired by Adidas Florian Gschwandtner, co-founder and long-time CEO of Runtastic, who sold the fitness-company to Adidas for 220 million Euros in 2015, shares his personal learnings of what founders need to do after their company gets acquired. He talks about how the team kep…
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While VCs are mostly looking for big "Grand Slam wins" while for an entrepreneur a firm doesn't have to be the biggest business to be a success Chris Barton, co-founder of popular music app Shazam, talks with Bits & Pretzels Editor-in-Chief Britta Weddeling about what he has learned from building Shazam –including what he would do differently next …
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