Explore every episode of the podcast Mostly Awesome

In this episode, we talk to Pip Klöckner, tech analyst, angel investor, and host of Doppelgänger, Germany's leading tech podcast. Pip started doing data entry at Idealo, climbed through marketing and product, advised Rocket Internet and KKR, and now invests his own money and breaks down tech for a living.

We get into how he actually never wanted to start a podcast and kept saying no until his co-host found a way to get him to do it anyway. He talks about why podcasting works surprisingly well for introverts, how he processes 115 newsletters without burning out, and what his inbox management has in common with social media.

On AI he's refreshingly pragmatic. He makes a case for why doing nothing might actually be the smart move for most companies right now, and has a pretty blunt take on whether Europe has any realistic shot at competing with US labs spending 50 billion a year.

He also opens up about growing up in East Germany, what selling vegetables with his grandma taught him about economics, and why he thinks there's an integration problem in Germany that nobody really talks about. We ask him what single skill matters most in a world where AI makes intelligence cheap.

We wrap up with a rapid fire round covering everything from dropping out of uni to Munich's reputation.

In this episode, we sit down with Magnus Grünewald, the 23-year-old founder and CEO of Lyceum, who recently raised a massive €10.3M pre-seed round to challenge US hyperscalers. Rather than just a story about a young founder raising capital, this conversation offers a revealing look into what it takes to build "impossible" deep tech from Europe.

Magnus shares how his tenure as Chief of Staff at Enpal served as a crucial lesson in losing the fear of "heavy assets." He candidly admits that starting out required a healthy dose of "delusion" to dare compete with established Tech Giants. He argues that while software is often about rapid iteration, building industrial infrastructure demands a fundamental mindset shift from tweaking buttons to moving mountains.

We explore Lyceum’s core thesis of transitioning from "renting computers" to "consuming compute." Magnus breaks down his "power socket" philosophy, where AI engineers manage server uptime no more than a smartphone user manages the electrical grid. He also outlines why digital sovereignty is far more than a regulatory checkbox, becoming a critical competitive necessity for industries like BioTech.

Finally, Magnus opens up about his leadership style of "extreme delegation" and how he unites PhDs and industry veterans behind a shared mission by hiring for a unique blend of "high urgency" and "conscientiousness." He concludes with a sharp perspective on the AI market, arguing that we should ignore the funding bubble and focus entirely on enterprise adoption.

In this episode, André Petry, co-founder and CEO of Tacto, joins us for a wide-ranging conversation about ambition, agency, and what it means to build from Europe. We trace André’s journey from a 400-person village to CDTM, Berkeley, and eventually to founding one of Germany’s rising industrial software companies. Along the way, he shares how discovering a community of optimistic, self-directed peers at CDTM reshaped his sense of what’s possible and why that shift in mindset ultimately led him to entrepreneurship.

André reflects on his early experiments building websites, online marketing projects as unlikely training grounds for developing self-reliance and problem-solving. He explains why agency, rather than pedigree, is often the defining factor in whether people actually change things, and how this belief guides Tacto’s culture today.

We dive deep into Europe’s industrial backbone and why André believes the continent’s greatest opportunity lies in doubling down on manufacturing, robotics, and industrial AI. He challenges the narrative that ambitious founders must leave for the U.S., arguing instead that the strongest companies are built where domain expertise, customers, and talent are closest. He also opens up about the responsibility he feels toward the system that supported him, how ambition can be cultivated through narrative, and why optimism must shape Europe’s strategy.

In this episode, Julia Gottfriedsen, Head of Data Science & AI at OroraTech, shares how space and artificial intelligence come together to address one of the most pressing challenges of our time. We follow Julia’s journey and explore how technology, leadership, and vision can shape the future. She reflects on how seeing Earth from orbit, with its atmosphere and absence of borders, influences her perspective on responsibility, innovation, and collaboration.

Julia also discusses how OroraTech is building the world’s first thermal-infrared satellite constellation to detect and monitor wildfires in real time, providing critical insights for climate resilience and communities across the globe. She explains how running AI models directly on satellites enhances data quality and why vertical integration is essential for success in space technology. Beyond innovation, Julia emphasizes the importance of leadership, diversity, and inclusion, sharing how she builds high-performing teams in a fast-scaling deep-tech environment, why vulnerability and trust are central to her approach, and how she works to create more opportunities for women in tech and space.

In this special guest episode, Judith Dada (General Partner at La Famiglia) and Hanno Renner (Co-founder & CEO of Personio) join us to reflect on their time at CDTM and how it shaped their journeys over the past decade.

They talk about what made CDTM so formative, how it created a culture of ambition and trust, and why it continues to be a launchpad for some of Europe’s most impactful founders and investors. Judith shares how CDTM influenced her approach to backing early-stage companies, while Hanno reflects on how the program supported the earliest days of building Personio.

This episode is a celebration of community, curiosity, and what happens when driven people are given the space to think big - together.

Erik Muttersbach, co-founder of Forto and now Zauber AI, joins us to talk about what it takes to build globally competitive tech companies from Europe. A CDTM Spring 2013 alumnus, Erik reflects on his journey from being the first employee at DailyDeal, to launching and scaling Forto into one of Europe’s leading digital freight forwarders, and now starting over with Zauber AI.

We dive into why most startups scale too early, how product-market fit is often misunderstood, and why AI agents are finally making it possible to automate the chaotic workflows behind global logistics. Erik shares what he’s doing differently this time around — from hiring and fundraising to focusing relentlessly on building something indispensable.

He also opens up about life after Forto, the decision to return to zero-to-one, and how becoming a parent reshaped his relationship to time, focus, and ambition. If you're building in logistics, AI, or Europe, or just want an honest look at the highs and lows of company-building, this episode is for you.

Verena Pausder joins us to talk about what Germany needs to truly scale innovation. We dive into how the next generation of founders is redefining work, what’s broken in the startup ecosystem, and how AI can bridge the gap in digital education.

She shares lessons from leading the German Startup Association, building companies, and investing in women’s football. This episode is about mindset shifts, modern leadership, and why we need to stop underestimating young builders.

🎧 Topics include:

• The risk-aversion problem in German entrepreneurship

• How AI can transform classrooms and tutoring

• Why Verena is optimistic about the new generation

#Startups #AI #Germany #Education #Leadership #VerenaPausder #Podcast #CDTM

In this episode, we sit down with Gustaf Alströmer, YC Partner and former Head of Growth at Airbnb, to explore how AI is rewriting the playbook for early-stage startups. From why output matters more than effort, to what truly defines exceptional founders today, Gustaf shares lessons from working with hundreds of companies. We also dive into the European startup ecosystem, building ambition at scale, and why immigrant founders consistently outperform. If you’re building in the AI era - or just want to understand what’s changed in startup land over the last two decades.

Insights from Marc Klingen CEO and co-founder of Langfuse, the open-source LLM observability platform.

In this episode, we dive Marc shares his journey of moving back to Europe post-YC and establishing a high-agency, high-trust team culture. We delve into the complexities of building an open-source community, the hurdles in exciting developers about your product, and strategies for monetization. Marc also shares observations on the current state of AI applications, highlighting common use cases like customer support, market research, and software development.

00:36 - The "WHY" of decisions

02:27 - The Langfuse Story

04:18 - Pivoting

05:09 - The "YC" effect

08:14 - Building high trust and high talent team

10:02 - Team Motivation

11:01 - Reasons not to start a company

12:21 - Building a Company in Europe

14:01 - Speed and Progress in AI

15:50 - Why open source?

19:49 - Creating a developer community

22:51 - Patterns in AI teams

26:58 - What do teams get wrong?

28:43 - Moats in AI applications

30:56 - Missing in Stack

34:08 - Afraid of and optimistic about....

35:01 - Running from and running towards

In conversation with Clemens Meyer, Technical Director @ Google DeepMind.

This time we first dive into Clemens’ journey from startups to joining DeepMind and making an impact in interdisciplinary teams. Then how to balance exploitation and exploration in research, with a focus on measurable progress tracking and finally Google’s early role in the AI race, and reflections on the exponential nature of AI progress. Clemens also shares behind-the-scenes insights into AlphaFold’s success—how it began and how ongoing team efforts helped shape its impact.

00:30 Clemens's responsibilities @ DeepMind

01:53 The shift from startups to managing research teams

07:17 Teams @DeepMind

09:55 How to make sure that teams are making progress

11:28 Exploration vs Exploitation

12:48 Communication is key

14:11 The DeepMind team structure

15:29 The AlphaFold story

24:55 The Gemini story

27:07 Google joining the transformer race

29:11 What to look for in people when making a team?

30:29 The AI hype and what people are missing

32:31 Advice to create impact

35:05 Final thoughts on what should be changed or encouraged @ CDTM

Insights from Viet Le, an Early-Stage VC and Partner @ General Catalyst: Betting on Young, Naive Founders and Navigating the AI Hype In this episode, we dive into a conversation with Viet who shares his unique investment philosophy focused on young, naive first-time founders. The discussion covers controversial opinions on the current AI hype and the importance of building and selling efficiently in the early stages. Viet also provides personal background on transitioning from a founder to a VC and offers insights on making independent investment decisions. Various topics such as defensibility in AI software, opportunities in the application layer of AI, and the importance of a bias for action in building startups are explored, along with the potential for AI-native companies to disrupt traditional industries. 00:00 Diving Right In: No Introductions Needed 00:30 Controversial Opinions in AI and VC 01:48 Founder Preferences: Young vs. Experienced 02:56 The Importance of Building and Selling 03:22 From Founder to VC: A Personal Journey 04:33 Making Independent Decisions in a FOMO Market 04:59 Investing in Gen AI: Insights and Examples 07:10 Defensibility in AI Software 09:23 The Future of AI in Coding and Applications 15:52 Consumer AI: Opportunities and Challenges 16:51 Essential Skills for Founders 22:37 Startup Advice: Action Over Whiteboards 25:56 Rapid Fire Questions and Final Thoughts

In this episode, we are talking to Thomas Kirchner. Thomas is an entrepreneur and founder of ProGlove, a company that sells smart gloves used in countless German and international companies for speeding up the manufacturing process. The idea of ProGlove is simple, yet brilliant: every time you scan a barcode of a part when you assemble, for example, a car, you have to pick up a scanner from your pocket, scan the barcode of the item, and put back the scanner. This is frustrating and time-consuming. So what if you could just... wear the scanner? In this episode, we talk to Thomas about his life, his previous ventures, how he and his cofounders came up with the idea, how they scaled up the company from zero to millions in revenue, how they sold it for lots of money and how he's now giving back to other founders. Stay with us, because you're not gonna want to miss this episode! This is the CDTM Mostly Awesome Podcast.

Hamza Tahir is a software developer turned ML engineer. An indie hacker by heart, he loves ideating, implementing, and launching data-driven products. His previous projects include PicHance, Scrilys, BudgetML, and you-tldr. Based on his learnings from deploying ML in production for predictive maintenance use-cases in his previous startup, he co-created ZenML, an open-source MLOps framework for creating production grade ML pipelines on any infrastructure stack. In this podcast, we dive into Hamza's initial projects, how he got into entrepreneurship, as well as his struggles with balancing his entrepreneurial career and personal responsibilities. We also talk about his outlook on the AI space, limits to current model architectures, existential risks, and much more. We hope you enjoy the episode!

We just released a brand new episode of our podcast featuring an in-depth conversation with the co-founder and chief product officer of Tanso, Gyri Reiersen, a groundbreaking company revolutionizing carbon accounting and emission reduction processes. Join us as we delve into the world of sustainability and technology, exploring how Tanso automates processes in carbon accounting while building the analytical basis for effective emission reduction. Discover their innovative solutions that are helping organizations make a tangible impact on climate change. Tune in to this enlightening episode to learn more about Tanso's mission, their success stories, and the future of carbon accounting and emission reduction. Whether you're an entrepreneur, a climate enthusiast, or simply curious about the intersection of technology and sustainability, this conversation is a must-listen! Don't miss out on this incredible opportunity to gain insights from a visionary leader in the field. Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcast or wherever you listen to us and let us know your thoughts in the comments below. Together, let's create a greener, more sustainable future!

Welcome to the new season of the Mostly Awesome podcast! Our first episode will drop on May 10, but before that we wanted to give you all a sneak preview of what season 5 is all about. Over this season, we will be chatting with different changemakers and innovators – we can’t wait for you to hear! We’re also stoked to have Ruby Zhang, Claudia Dalmau, and Ali Raza as our fearless hosts.

When you think about trees, what comes to mind? In most of our heads, they are probably the prime example of “something good for the environment”. Even though it is by far not the only way to capture carbon, there is an increasing trend to quantify and enhance the environmental benefit of sustainable forestry. We are happy to have Gesa Biermann as our guest today. Gesa is a Co-Founder of Pina, a startup that quantifies and rewards sustainable forestry.  Before founding Pina she was a Center Assistant at CDTM, did her Ph.D. in the area of sustainable food consumption, and co-founded the Munich Branch of 180 Degrees Consulting. Over the course of the episode, we will dive deeper into Gesa's journey in the field of sustainability and social impact. We will hear how the CDTM shaped her and also how both the idea and founding team for Pina were impacted by the Center. Finally, we will deep dive into Gesa's view on the future of sustainability and the voluntary carbon market. As always, we end the episode by getting insights into Gesa's personal toolbox.

Today we welcome Johannes Hussak in our podcast, one of the co-founders of Kertos, a platform that automates data privacy operations. Always fascinated by technology, Johannes did his bachelor and master at Technical University of Munich in Energy and Process Technology and went to an abroad semester at Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai. It was during his studies when one of his friends drew Johannes attention to Manage and More - an entrepreneurship scholarship by UnternehmerTUM in Munich. At Manage and more Johannes discovered his passion to build products and teams around them. Together with Kilian Schmidt on the legal side and Alexander Prams on the tech side, he found a perfect team match for Kertos. Over the course of the episode, we speak to Johannes about his experience of founding a company in the middle of the pandemic, the story of how the Kertos founding team came to be, Johannes's take on the future of the compliance industry, and his personal advise on maintaining work-life balance. As always, at the end of episode, you will hear Johannes's prompt answers and recommendations to our toolbox.

This week we are excited to welcome Eva Spannagl, head of Strategy & Business Development at Moss, founder of Femstory, business angel, and personal inspiration to both of us. Eva studied at ESCP Business school and the Universidad Carlos tercero de Madrid. She held a variety of internships during her studies and ultimately joined McKinsey full time when she graduated from her masters. During that time, Eva founded Femstory, a nonprofit focused on connecting women to professional mentors. For the past 2 years, Femstory has empowered a variety of women to make impactful career moves. I'm personally happy to be part of the last Femstory batch and am already getting a lot of insights from my mentor and the network. After spending 3 years with McKinsey Eva joined Moss, a fintech startup focused on smart corporate credit cards, digital invoice management, and automated accounting. Over the course of the episode, we speak to Eva about her early career trajectory, her experience at Moss, her experience with founding Femstory and angel investing, and finally, we ask her about work-life balance & managing multiple projects without burnout. Needless to say, Eva is a pro – the following episode is full of game-changing career and time management tips. As always, to finish out the podcast, we are also thrilled to add Eva's personal toolbox to our resources for the innovators of tomorrow.

How do you found a VC firm, really? Today we will talk to Claudius Jablonka, a former CDTM Centerling and Center assistant who co-founded 10x Founders. Claudius co-founded and led the Munich office of Plug and Play Ventures, one of the most active early-stage investors in the world. In 2020, he and 6 other partners co-founded 10x founders, now a €160m early-stage fund which is backed also by CDTM alumni. Over the course of the episode, we speak to Claudius about his academic and professional background, the experience of founding 10x, Claudius' take on diversity in VC, and some tips on maintaining work-life balance.

Some people say the entrepreneurial spirit is something you are born with. This is something that could be true for our guest in today’s episode, Vanessa Westphal. As a very young child she already started selling stones in front of her house to top up pocket money. And she kept the entrepreneurial spirit ever since. Having spent more than 10 years building a corporate career at Siemens, last year Vanessa founded Choosy, which offers AI-optimized nutrition plans that suit both your taste and your health. Choosy aims not only to improve our individual nutrition habits, but also to make planetary health available to everyone. Over the course of the episode we will dive deeper into Vanessas journey. We will learn what she took from her experience of being an innovation driver within corporate Siemens and what made her switch to entrepreneurship again. Furthermore, we learn about her founding experience with Choosy and what her expert view on the importance of health and nutrition is.

The startup ecosystem has seen many software startups over the last years, but how about a software startup that aims to ease the development of new electronic hardware products? Our guest in todays episode, Sebastian Schaal, is diving into exactly this area. He is the co-founder of Luminovo, a company that speeds up the process of electronic hardware development, leveraging software and machine learning. Over the course of the episode you will learn about the Luminovo's transition into a pure SaaS business, Sebastian's take on the current supply chain crisis, being a founder and the future of AI in Europe.

Welcome to the new season of the Mostly Awesome podcast! Our first episode will drop on October 4, but before that we wanted to give you all a sneak preview of what season 4 is all about. Over this season, we will be chatting with 6 different changemakers and innovators – we can’t wait for you to hear! We’re also stoked to have Julia Kozlovskaia and Jaclyn Hovsmith as our fearless hosts.

In this week’s episode, we welcome Vidya Madhavan, Founder and CEO of Schmooze, the dating app where you swipe memes instead of people. Coming from Engineering and Business Background, Vidya will tell us how she did not build “just another dating app” but rather the fastest growing one. During this episode, we will get to hear Vidya's thoughts on how an MBA and Entrepreneurship complement each other, where the idea of a meme-based dating app even came from and how the online dating market might develop in the years to come.

For this week’s episode Passionfroot is on the menu! The co-founders Jennifer Phan and Michelle Tian combine backgrounds in venture capital at Rocket Internet and tech development at AirBnB and Shopify. In 2021 they co-founded Passionfroot with the aim to empower independent businesses of tomorrow. With this passion in mind, they are developing a back-office tool tailored to creator businesses. Tune in to learn more about Passionfroot and the future of the creator economy!

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 worked at the likes of Cisco, Google, and Microsoft before becoming the VP of Global Strategy and Operations at Twitter. In this episode, Maya tells us more about her personal and truly international journey, founding an eCommerce start-up while being a mother, working for Twitter, and sharing her thoughts about the current state of online media.

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 called Zavvy, a company that aspires to invent aspects of the “future of work”. During this episode, they talk about where the idea for Freeletics came from and the culture and community that Freeletics created for end users. Furthermore, Joshua and Mehmet tell us more about Zavvy, the differences from their previous experiences at Freeletics and how despite that they're both still able to draw on their past experiences to build an employee-enablement platform.

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 episode, we learned why and how he decided to found a venture twice, what institutions impacted his journey most, and also how it is to operate a venture in regulated markets like the railway and healthcare industry.

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 into the learnings he drew from being a serial entrepreneur, how he built successful startups in the very competitive recruiting industry and what it means to be an entrepreneur in the climate-tech space today.

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 basketball trainers. Covid-19 has been a major topic of discussion everywhere in the last months. However, this time we discuss it from the perspective of data privacy and information security. Moreover, we spoke about the future of data privacy, GDPR, and about annoying cookie banners on every website.

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 journey and understanding how a person of Indian origin, who is actually a citizen of Australia, gets educated in the US and eventually lands up in Berlin to become a two-time startup founder. Mind you, all of this happened in Sona’s life well before she turned 30, and that perhaps, explains how she ended up receiving the coveted Forbes 30-under-30 award in 2020.

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 hardship and challenges - He was born in Vietnam and grew up with his grandparents while his parents laboured in Germany to make a mark for themselves. Later, when he was 8, he took a flight all alone from Vietnam to Germany to start a new chapter in his life. Imagine being uprooted from a culture so different at such a tender age, battling all the odds that are stacked against you in the next two decades, and then going on to found a company that is on the way to impact the lives of hundreds of employees and thousands, if not millions, of data users.

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 Schumacher. And this is where the Personio story begins! Tune in to listen to Arseniy's personal journey and experiences with running Personio, a company that's growing and reaching new heights of success every day.

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 Management. And after just one year he founded presize.ai with two other Centerlings, Leon Szeli and Tomislav Tomov. Curious to hear about what we discussed with Awais? Then tune into our latest episode!

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 & Company told us about her career decisions and instances that proved to be inflection points along her journey. As a qualified Doctor of Medicine and a truly global citizen who has studied in 3 different continents, Sophie was able to give her expert opinions on the state of global healthcare. Sophie told us more about her involvement with the 2hearts Community and the problems that she and her team at Qunomedical are attempting to solve.

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-weekly, starting on Tuesday 19th of October. We are looking forward to your feedback to podcast@cdtm.de. Follow our channel to never miss an episode!

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 Governance. Previously, she worked on building social ventures at Siemens Stiftung, at the EU Commission, in NGO consulting at actori and in impact investing at Ananda Impact Ventures. 2:27 Caroline's personal journey towards politics Caroline explains the differences between social entrepreneurship and politics and why she chose politics. She also tells us what kind of work JoinPolitics is doing and how they are trying to bring the agile and fast-paced startup mentality to the political landscape. 22:56 Careers in politics Caroline shares the challenges of a career in politics and why it might still be worth it. She also tells us what qualities make you a good fit for a career in politics.

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 Aerospace builds satellite launch vehicles that are smaller, cheaper, and more sustainable than existing ones. 2:24 How it all started Daniel tells us how he got into the aerospace industry and when and how he realized that he wanted to start a company in this field 08:10 Isar Aerospace: Aerospace technology made in Germany Daniel shares what his founding experience was like and what fears and challenges he faced. He also talks about what he learned from other companies and what the rocket prototyping process looks like. 24:08 The importance of space technologies Daniel explains how space technology improves life on Earth and what functions satellites perform. He also tells us what the challenges and opportunities of a hardware start-up are.

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 Allianz for almost 17 years before taking on his role as Chief Executive Officer of Allianz Technology earlier this year. 2:40 Daniel’s role as CEO of Allianz Technology: Daniel tells us how he got into this position and what it means to set the right guardrails as CEO of a large corporate. 24:33 Working at Allianz: Daniel speaks about Allianz’s corporate values and how Allianz understands its social and environmental responsibilities. He also shares what Allianz is doing to bring women into leadership. 35:39 Innovation in the corporate world: Daniel talks about how innovation is driven at Allianz and why an entrepreneurial mindset is necessary also in the corporate context. He also shares how decisions regarding the adaption of new technologies are made at Allianz Technology.

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. 2:25 Alev's career path: In the beginning, Alev tells us why she moved from the arts to the tech industry. She shares the challenges she faced and talks about the differences between these two fields. Alev also tells us why and how she founded Female Tech Leaders and what projects she is pursuing with it. 22:44 Women in the tech industry: Alev shares her opinion on the status quo and speaks about what she thinks needs to be done next to achieve equal opportunities. Alev also tells us what she would advise every girl who wants to start a career in the tech industry.

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 insights on taking risks, believing in yourself, and striving for more, but also on patience and taking breaks. 2:17 Folkert’s thoughts on ambition: In the beginning, Folkert tells us how he keeps the discipline to do triathlons and why he thinks time off and relaxation are important. He also talks about what ambition can look like for different people and the differences between ambitious or striving and status quo. 32:38 Turning adversity into opportunity: Folkert shares how he turned adversity into opportunity in his personal story and what he learned from this experience.

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 on Social Business, as well as a lecturer at events including the World Economic Forum and the Clinton Global Initiative. In 2020, she co-initiated the COVID Alliance for Social Entrepreneurs with the World Economic Forum. 3:02 Saskia's career path from consulting to social business: In the beginning, Saskia describes how a typical day looks like for her. She also tells us how she decided what career to pursue after her time in consulting. 13:29 Saskia's experiences in social businesses Saskia explains how to target a client group that doesn't have a lot of money. She also shares how YSB decides which companies to invest in and how they measure the social and environmental impact.

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 do research and teach instead of being an entrepreneur. She also shares her initial challenges as an academic and how she stays motivated to keep researching. 17:10 Teaching and mentoring: Hana tells us about the first question she always asks her classes, why she doesn't give advice to her mentees and what she has learned from them. She also talks about particular challenges that women entrepreneurs are facing. 35:34 Hana’s international experiences: Hana shares her international experiences from Croatia, Spain, the U.S. and Germany and how the different cultures have shaped her.

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 path: Jakob tells us about his journey to earn a Ph.D. and how this gave him time to reflect and figure out what he really wanted in life. He also shares his experience as a founder of two sustainable startups and explains his perspective on measuring impact. 26:52 Jakob's opinions about the future and entrepreneurship: Jakob shares his rather critical thoughts about the future and the climate crises and tells us why he thinks you should become an entrepreneur.

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 initially decided to go into consulting and what she learned from that experience. She also shares her thoughts on the impact you can have in consulting vs. entrepreneurship. 15:07 Veronika's founding experience: Veronika explains how she started with the right person at the right time and tells us how she assembled a great team that shares their company values. 24:09 Women in Leadership: Veronika shares why she thinks we need more successful role models for young women and how she manages to be a founder and have a family at the same time.

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. Dan grew up traveling the world as the son of an Indian diplomat, who made his way out of India’s lowest caste. 2:10 Dan’s winded career path: To get started, Dan talks about how he became a fulfilled host, after pursuing, in his words "nine or ten wildly different careers”. He shares his parents’ incredible journey of working themselves out of poverty despite India’s strict caste system and how it motivated him to go into personal development. Dan also explains how he learned to embrace the idea of being a generalist rather than the expert he wanted to be. 31:06 Dan’s motivational tips and views Dan talks about the power of routines and how he structures his day. He also shares the concept of his 4G-Mondays (goals, gym, god, gratitude). 40:15 Dan’s toolbox Last but not least, Dan shares his toolbox, including his favorite book and app and explains why he believes that the most inspiring innovator is yourself.

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 startup scene, what she learned during her time at Rocket Internet, and why she would not recommend going into consulting or VC as a graduate if you want to become a founder. She also tells us why she moved on from Outfittery and what "mistake" she made, that helped her in her next endeavor. 17:46 Anna's second startup Planetly: Anna shares why she founded a startup focused on tackling the climate crisis and how it unites purpose and profit. She also tells us what purpose means for her and how she thinks people can make a positive impact in many fields including the food industry, agriculture, and politics. 29:53 Anna's opinion on female entrepreneurship: Anna talks about her involvement in promoting female entrepreneurship and how being a female founder can be an advantage in this male-dominated space. She also explains why she believes it is important for female founders to be bolder when raising money from investors.

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 about his personal journey of becoming a founder, how CDTM impacted his decision, and why he chose entrepreneurship over consulting. We also learn from Nino what he enjoys most about being an entrepreneur and why he thinks every founder needs grit and curiosity to succeed. 14:43 Nino's international experience: Having spent four years in Russia building the e-commerce platform Westwing for the German investor Rocket Internet, Nino shares what cultural difficulties he encountered while living there and leading a 150-employee company, with most of the business conducted in Russian. 24:19 Nino's current startup StashAway: Nino tells us why he moved on to found StashAway in Singapore and how he met his co-founders abroad. He also touches on how he overcame doubts after his first startups failed. 34:31 Nino's toolbox: In the end, we get insights into Nino's toolbox, including his favorite podcast and morning routine, and he reveals why he believes everyone has an innovator inside of him or her.

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, starting on Wednesday 24th of March. We are looking forward to your feedback to podcast@cdtm.de. Follow our channel to never miss an episode!

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 von Armut geprägten Kindheit angetrieben hat, wie sich seine Wahrnehmung von Reichtum im Laufe der Jahre verändert hat und warum er damals sein Medizinstudium abgebrochen hat. Wir sprechen auch über seine aktuellen Wünsche und Visionen, die Bedeutung seiner Medienpräsenz, seine Investor-Philosophie und was wir in Deutschland von unseren transatlantischen Nachbarn in Puncto Gründen lernen können. Zu guter Letzt erhalten wir Einblicke in seine Toolbox.

Laura Lewandowski is a Top 30 under 30 journalist, columnist (Business Insider), podcast host (Innovator Sessions by Red Bull), and co-founder of the "The Meet Your Mentor” YouTube series, featuring leaders such as Jay Shetty, Nico Rosberg, Toni Garrn or Sophia Amoruso. On top, she consults companies on storytelling such as Facebook, Uber, or Google. In this episode, Laura talks about how she initiates, develops, and starts successful formats, and projects with top companies such as an “African experience dinner” for Google. She tells us about how to combat creative blocks and what makes great stories. Diving into the topic of productivity, we learn about her take on the law of attraction, essentialism, the zero inbox principles, and weekly reflection check-ins. Last but not least, we get insights into her favorite tools: books, podcasts, apps, and newsletters!