Startup Knockout Germany – Details, episodes & analysis

Zoltan Vardy spent 20 years in the international corporate world, exited his own startup, and went on to found The Launch Code ( @launchcode9265 ), which reads like a professional playbook for creating sustainable B2B Deal Flow. He's worked with over 200 startups worldwide and shares his knowledge with us on the podcast about what startups SHOULD and SHOULD NOT be thinking about as they develop their sales pipeline.

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Zoltan's Special Offer:

https://zoltanvardy.com/podcast/

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⏱️ CHAPTERS:

0:00 - Intro to

1:08 - What Startups NEED TO KNOW about B2B sales that they usually don't

4:40 - Rabbit Deer and Elephant

7:01 - How lead generation has changed over last 5-10 years with new technology

9:48 - How The Launch Code looks at the structure of a startup

12:48 - Should startups hire sales people or train them themselves?

14:28 - How introverted founders can do sales

18:09 - How to prepare a startup for leaving home market and entering US or UK?

25:40 - When SHOULD a startup hire an experienced sales professional?

28:02 - WLD - Every startup getting a startup coach or mentor

30:50 - WLD Big Corporates doing more deals with startups that are riskier

31:21 - WLD Turning The Launch Code into a book

32:13 - Outro to

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Find Us on Social Media:

📺 WATCH The Full Interview on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/X4uGyTpUPC8

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/startup-knockout/

Website:

https://www.startupknockout.com/

OUR GUEST - Zoltan Vardy:

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/zoltanvardy/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-launch-code/

Website:

https://zoltanvardy.com/

https://thelaunchcode.net/

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#startups #b2bsales #startupmentor #zoltanvardy #thelaunchcode #startupgermany

How do you bring an entire continent's startup ecosystem to the next level and beyond?

Marisa Schneider from @UnternehmerTUMGmbH with their Rise Europe network aims to do exactly that. Bring together the biggest names in the European Startup Scene and Academia like ETH Zurich and Oxford University.

Watch this space to see how they could, in time, rival silicon valley! 🚀

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⏱️ CHAPTERS:

0:00 - Intro to the Episode: Rise Europe Aims to Overtake the US's Startup Ecosystem 🇺🇸🔫

1:02 - What is Rise Europe?

2:05 - We want to be on top, but we don't want to be alone on top

3:13 - The May 17th startup multiplier conference?

6:24 - German unicorn, French unicorn...this is what we want to get away from

7:16 - Every member nominates startups for the program

8:48 - What support do the startups get once accepted?

10:34 - What do startups give up for this strong network of multipliers?

11:56 - How to know when the EU has caught up to the US?

13:23 - How important is the absolute number of startups in Europe?

14:25 - What must institutions do for Europe to rise in startups?

16:20 - Europe's USP

18:05 - How to get in touch or follow Rise Europe?

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Find Us on Social Media:

📺 WATCH on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/@startupknockout

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/startup-knockout/

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/startupknockout

Website:

https://www.startupknockout.com/

OUR GUEST - Marisa Schneider and UnternehmerTUM's Rise Europe:

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/unternehmertum/

Website:

https://www.unternehmertum.de/landingpages/rise-europe

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#startups #europe #accelerator #incubator #unternehmertum #startupgermany

This Munich startups says it has the Secret to Unlocking Cost-Effective Materials Research with AI

Here is our conversation with Barbara Prähofer from ExoMatter on how the XPRENEURS program at the Munich Urban Colab have been breaking down barriers for them on their journey to make materials science digitally driven by artificial intelligence

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📺 WATCH on YouTube: https://youtu.be/LxsX9JmbtnI

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🎙️ In Our Discussion:

1. EXOMATTER - Who are they and what problem do they solve?

2. The details of how they're using artificial intelligence and machine learning to change materials science

3. The data science and data sets that are necessary

4. How XPRENEURS and The Munich Urban Colab has broken down barriers

5. Advice for early startups

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⏱️ Timestamps

0:00 - Intro The Secret to Unlocking Cost-Effective Materials Research with AI

0:29 - What problem does ExoMatter solve?

0:52 - Concrete example of ExoMatter's business case - Battery Producers

1:28 - AI Based calculations on materials permutations

1:41 - How do deal with the needed processing power for the machine learning calculations

2:12 - What stage is ExoMatter at right now? Help from the Helmholz Institution

3:02 - Capital secured, takeoff time! Where do they want to be in 5 years?

3:33 - ExoMatter's Vision

3:52 - Starting in renewable energies but can go to so many different sectors

4:11 - What kind of datasets are necessary for this?

4:59 - How has ExoMatter benefitted from the XPRENEURS Incubator?

6:25 - Would not be alive were it not for XPRENEURS and Munich Urban Colab networking opportunities

7:33 - Lack of hierarchy to networking at the Colabs

7:49 - Don't need any more mentoring or coaching, you need access

8:38 - One piece of advice for startups...don't be shy

9:24 - Outro The Secret to Unlocking Cost-Effective Materials Research with AI

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Find Us on Social Media:

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/startupknockout/

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/startupknockout

TikTok:

https://www.tiktok.com/@startupknockout

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/startup-knockout/

Website:

https://www.startupknockout.com/

OUR GUEST - Exomatter:

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/exomatter/

Website:

https://exomatter.ai/

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#startups #growthstage #machinelearning #datascientist #startupgermany #materialscience

As mentioned in last week's episode, we'll be changing things up a bit with some new formats.

We're gonna focus on three pillars:

1. Startup Profiles - Short form interviews that zero in on startup learnings and their amazing ideas
2. Commentary - Presenting to you our learnings in context
3. Expert Interviews - Longer form interviews with experts who can give a broader overview of the German Startup Ecosystem

Any comments or suggestions, feel free to get in touch Info@StartupKnockout.com

Catch ya soon

- Timo 😉

Urban farming is fast becoming an economic necessity for some, and at Our Greenery, Daniel Bosman and his team are creating a platform that is functional, fashionable, feel-good and fosters a sense of community amongst urban gardeners.

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In Today’s Discussion:

1. SERIAL FOUNDER REVOLUTIONISING URBAN FARMING

Daniel has done some amazing things as an entrepreneur and now he's pointing his gaze and changing how the world thinks about urban farming

2. OUR GREENERY AND INDOOR GARDENING

A functional and fashionable garden in your home is fast becoming a platform for a growing community

3. VALUES DRIVEN FROM STARTUP TO FINISH

Daniel explains how the values he eschews make sense in a business context as well

4. PITCHING TIPS FROM THE LEAGUE LEADER

Daniel has never lost a pitch competition. He shares with us some of his secret sauce.

5. WIN LOSE OR DRAW

1 - Urban Farming products in major German supermarkets

2 - Inflation causing more people to grow kitchen gardens at home

3 - Indoor Gardens becoming a fashion piece, not just functional

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CHAPTERS:

0:00 - Intro

2:04 - Crazy life story, what made you want to start Our Greenery?

3:34 - How (not) green China's cities can be

4:59 - What is Urban Farming as you see it?

7:19 - Is the Raumgarten a B2C product? What's your target market?

8:54 - How you developed such a values-driven business?

11:01 - The why behind a values-driven business

12:52 - Salary transparency at Our Greenery

17:49 - Why building a community around Our Greenery is important

19:15 - Offering services without always looking for fees, very refreshing

21:41 - Pitching tips from Startup Coach Daniel

22:49 - WLD Urban Farming products in major German supermarkets

24:25 - WLD Inflation causing more people to grow kitchen gardens at home

25:17 - WLD Indoor Gardens becoming a fashion piece, not just functional

26:30 - Outro

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FIND US ONLINE!

🎙️ LISTEN on Your Favourite Podcast App:

https://anchor.fm/startupknockout

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/startupknockout

TikTok:

https://www.tiktok.com/@startupknockout

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/startup-knockout/

Website:

https://www.startupknockout.com/

OUR GUEST: Our Greenery

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/our-greenery/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-bosman-og/

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/ourgreenery_de/

Website:

https://ourgreenery.com/

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#startups #germany #entrepreneurship #urbanfarming #ourgreenery #raumgarten

Startups used to do their sales just like large companies: KPIs, break up the sales funnel, focus on returns. According to Regine Harr, this is just WRONG! Instead, focus on the relationships when you're starting out, she says, with her ROAR^WHY methodology, the returns will follow 🚀

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In Today’s Discussion:

1. SALES IN STARTUPS AND ENTERPRISES MUST BE DIFFERENT

Startups often want to copy what large companies do, but sales is one area where they should not mirror enterprise sales techniques. Instead, says Regine Harr, try this...

2. THE ROAR^WHY METHODOLOGY

Regine lays out her proven framework for startup sales

3. FIRST 10 CUSTOMERS? NO PROBLEM!

The first 10 are the most crucial and Regine explains her 3 step process for making sure they're the absolute right fit

4. KEEPING PERSONAL AND COMPANY LIFE IN BALANCE

Through years of mentoring and coaching startups, a founder's ability to keep on trucking is mission critical. Regine talks about how to identify and avoid burnout

5. WIN LOSE OR DRAW

1 - B2B Sales and Startup Sales requiring completely different training

2 - KPIs becoming a thing of the past

3 - Every Startup seeing sales mentorship or training as necessity

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CHAPTERS:

0:00 - Intro

0:49 - Difference between B2B Sales and Startup Sales

2:55 - Selling shared values, identity and energy

5:00 - ROAR^Why Methodology for Sales in Startups

7:48 - Ongoing investment from the ROAR^WHY Methodology

9:27 - Authenticity from ROAR^WHY Methodology

11:31 - How deep does your experience need to be with the problem to start fixing it?

12:06 - What if you're just a customer, is that enough depth of understanding the problem?

14:23 - Circling back because of higher energy

15:54 - How to find your first 10 customers?

17:35 - Should these first 10 be paying customers at the beginning?

19:51 - How to decide using your WHY if a business is right for you?

22:04 - Thing number 3 in how to find first 10 customers

22:31 - Recap of the 3 To-Dos for finding first 10 customers

23:10 - What is a burnout?

23:57 - How to keep personal and company life in balance

24:04 - WLD B2B Sales and Startup Sales requiring completely different training

25:27 - WLD KPIs becoming a thing of the past

27:54 - WLD Every Startup seeing sales mentorship or training as necessity

28:18 - Outro

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FIND US ONLINE!

🎙️ LISTEN on Your Favourite Podcast App:

https://anchor.fm/startupknockout

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/startupknockout

TikTok:

https://www.tiktok.com/@startupknockout

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/startup-knockout/

Website:

https://www.startupknockout.com/

And from our Guest - Regine Harr of Sales360:

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/regine-harr-91012215/

Website:

http://www.sales-360.com/

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#startups #germany #entrepreneurship #sales #startupsales

AR has been around for a while but it's finally having its day! Dr. Björn Schwerdtfeger shares his 20 years of experience and what we can expect with augmented reality now and in the future ---------------------- In Today’s Discussion:

1. AR DIDN'T START OR END WITH GOOGLE GLASS

Björn gives us the insider view on what happened to a much hyped technology and why it didn't disappear the way you think it did

2. GIRI - THE APP THAT'LL END INSTRUCTION MANUALS

The GIRI app from AR Experts is 10x-ing the ease and speed of training workers, eliminating the need for paper manuals...maybe even instructional YouTube videos

3. GERMANY AND THE AXIS OF AR

German-speaking countries were among the first to push AR forward. But how is the German Startup Ecosystem still helping maintain its spot as an Augmented Reality Giant?

4. WIN LOSE OR DRAW

1 - AR being used by normal people nearly every day

2 - AR ready glasses becoming a consumer good again

3 - AR becoming standardised the way Wifi is standardised

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CHAPTERS

0:00 - Intro

0:42 - History of Augmented Reality and AR Experts

2:54 - Why Google Glass didn't work

5:32 - Axis of AR the DACH Countries driving AR development

6:01 - When will AR come back to customer facing instead of B2B

7:22 - Use cases from GIRI

9:41 - AR Coffee maker example

11:05 - How much time can GIRI typically save a company?

13:17 - What does the UX look like for a typical worker using GIRI?

17:06 - How many customers are using glasses compared with their cell phone?

19:26 - Will more people use glasses in the future?

20:35 - Where does most AR development take place now?

21:29 - Is the German Startup Ecosystem helping enough to develop AR?

24:51 - WLD AR being used by normal people every day

26:10 - WLD AR-Ready Glasses becoming a consumer good withing 5-10 years

26:33 - WLD AR becoming standardised the way Wifi is

28:04 - Outro

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FIND US ONLINE!

Audio Only Podcast:

https://anchor.fm/startupknockout

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/startupknockout

TikTok:

https://www.tiktok.com/@startupknockout

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/startup-knockout/

Website:

https://www.startupknockout.com/

And from our Guest - Dr. Björn Schwerdtfeger of AR Experts:

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/AR-Experts.de/

Website:

https://www.AR-Experts.de

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#startps #germany #entrepreneurship #augmentedreality #ar

It's becoming almost a MUST in the startup world now: Mentorship!

It's taking on many forms and changing in many ways across regions and ecosystems which is exactly what Emily Koolen from Horizon37 has a view into.

In this episode, everything you need to know about startup and scaleup mentorship in 2023!

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In Today’s Discussion:

1. THERE ARE A LOT OF DIFFERENT WAYS TO COACH A STARTUP

Emily takes us through the various models she uses including mentorship, coaching and non-executive directorship.

2. WHY STARTUPS NEED THIS

We learn about the most often seen skillset gaps and blind spots that mentorship NEEDS to fill and why accelerators everywhere are gathering mentors to them like moths to a flame

3. MENTORSHIP LOOKS DIFFERENT ACROSS REGIONS AND ECOSYSTEMS

Emily prefers to look at regions and verticals rather than nations when describing how mentorship and coaching is developing around the startup world. And she has good reason why!

4. WIN LOSE OR DRAW

1 - German startup mentors beginning to mentor outside of Germany within the next 5 years

2 - One of the startups you mentor becoming a unicorn or even a decacorn

3 - Universities or business colleges offering courses in how to be a Non-Executive Director

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CHAPTERS

0:00 - Intro

0:42 - Mentor, Coach, Non-Executive-Director, how do you choose which to use with each startup?

2:37 - How can startups recognise that they need coaching?

4:08 - Top 3 skillset holes that Emily sees in startups

7:03 - How to know when to drop deligate tasks that you must do as an early startup?

9:11 - What are some of the new demands on startup executives that weren't there before?

11:54 - Do you see differences in expectations in different cultures?

14:31 - How do you help someone when you see they're getting burnt out?

16:13 - What is a Non Executive Director ?

19:21 - Example of how Emily as an NED helped a startup

20:30 - Difference between mentoring, consulting and coaching

21:07 - Is there a prescribed science for mentoring startups?

23:19 - Most Accelerators now boast providing access to mentorship

24:07 - 2nd most common startup killer is conflicts within founder's team

25:03 - How are different countries trying to help startups succeed

30:59 - WLD German Startup mentors mentoring outside of Germany in the next 5 year

31:55 - WLD A startup Emily mentors becoming a unicorn or decacorn

32:24 - WLD Universities or colleges offering courses in startup mentoring or NED

24:47 - Outro

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FIND US ONLINE!

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/@startupknockout

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/startupknockout

TikTok:

https://www.tiktok.com/@startupknockout

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/startup-knockout/

Website:

https://www.startupknockout.com/

And from our Guest - Emily Koolen of Horizon37:

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/Horizon37/

Website:

https://horizon37.co.uk

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/Horizon37Method

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#startups #mentorship #startupmentor #startupcoaching #scaleupcoaching

You probably wouldn't believe Ana Álvarez when she lists how much Germany still needs to do before they are truly an inviting place to do business as an entrepreneur. As CEO of Migrapreneur, Ana is helping Germany identify these blind spots, and taking migrants by the hand as they attempt to navigate the murky waters of German bureaucracy, and perhaps one day, change it.

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In Today’s Discussion:

1. GERMANY IS NOT READY FOR MIGRANTS TO THRIVE

Ana shares her story of arriving with a dearth of experience and still experienced the struggle that spawned Migrapreneur

2. BRIGHT SPOTS AND NECESSITIES

There are good things happening, but not enough and not fast enough, is the message Migrapreneur wants us to understand.

3. MIGRAPRENEUR STEPS IN TO HELP

With plans to expand more into the digital world with their upcoming platform, Ana shares more about how Migrapreneur is helping migrant entrepreneurs to fulfil their potential

4. STORIES FROM THE MIGRANT STARTUP WORLD

Ana shares with us one of her favourite stories from the world of migrant entrepreneurs; arriving as a refugee and creating an award-winning (still thriving) business

5. WIN LOSE or DRAW

Our guest gives us their predictions for…

1 - Germany one day making it into the Top 10 ranking of Ease Of Doing Business

2 - Germany having multi-lingual support at all government offices

3 - Germany one day becoming multi-cultural enough that people stop thinking about it

FIND US ONLINE!

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/@startupknockout

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/startupknockout

TikTok:

https://www.tiktok.com/@startupknockout

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/startup-knockout/

And from our Guest - MIGRAPRENEUR:

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/Migrapreneur/

Website:

https://migrapreneur.org/

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/Migrapreneur/

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#startuppodcast #germany #impactstartup #migrants #entrepreneurs

ESG is fast becoming a MUST instead of a Nice-to-have and at the centre of the German Mittelstand adopting pro-social practices is Dr. Christopher Scheubel and Cubemos

Join our conversation as he explains more about how this movement is changing the face of German business

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In Today’s Discussion:

1. AN UNUSUAL BEGINNING FOR SOME DATA NERDS

It won't surprise you to find out how delightfully obsessed Cubemos is with data, the heart and soul of any ESG Program. And it goes deep, colouring the quirky beginnings of the company.

2. THE MITTELSTAND IS ADOPTING ESG, BUT...

Perhaps not quite in the way you'd imagine. Regulation is not the driving force here, it's something else entirely. German business is getting ahead of the curve.

3. CUBEMOS MAKES ESG A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

Dr. Scheubel runs us through some typical use cases and the myriad advantages to creating the kind of transparency and metric-oriented ESG programming that Cubemos is advocating.

4. CUBEMOS AND ESG...A MARRIAGE INTO THE FUTURE

Cubemos has designs on becoming THE go-to company for sustainability. See how

5. WIN LOSE or DRAW

Our guest gives us their predictions for…

1 - The vast majority of German companies having ESG programs within the next 10 years

2 - Enviro, Social and Governance programs all individually becoming too big to still be lumped together as one acronym

3 - Germany reaching its Climate Action Goals of a 55% reduction in CO2 by 2030

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FIND US ONLINE!

Audio Only Podcast:

https://anchor.fm/startupknockout

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/startupknockout

TikTok:

https://www.tiktok.com/@startupknockout

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/startup-knockout/

And from our Guest - CUBEMOS:

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/Cubemos/

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/@cubemos-gmbh

#startup #germany #startupgermany #impactinvesting #cubemos #esg