B&P #29: Arianna Huffington: How to Sleep yourself to the Top, literally.

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 ecosystem such as Tier, Schüttflix or Planetly.  Before becoming an investor, Oliver had started a business himself which struggled quite a bit during the first years but then merged with two other startups and became 3united, a mobile content and messaging company. It was acquired by VeriSign in 2006 for 55 million Euros.  Together with Oliver, who has lived and worked both in Silicon Valley and Europe as a founder and investor, we’ll be taking a look back to find out what learnings he has to share especially from the past year - and we will look into the future: At major trends and developments and how to succeed as a founder or investor in 2021:  “As a founder in crisis, you need to be two things. You need to be ignorant. You can't listen to everybody. You can't believe all the things people tell you, because if you do that, then you throw in the towel immediately. So you have to stick to what you believe in the core. And on the other hand, you have to listen super carefully and differentiate and substance, say, be flat, open up your inner beliefs about what you think is true and really challenge that for yourself.“ Tune in to this episode if you want to hear more about 1) Oliver’s tips for entrepreneurs on how to get through 2021 - another year which will for sure be strongly influenced by the ongoing pandemic, 2) the importance of a strong company culture and a reliable team and 3) what playing cards with his daughter has taught him about taking risks and why he recommends time offline to everyone.  More to explore: Stay updated on news & insights from us about founders, startups in Bavaria, Austria & Switzerland at www.bitsandpretzels.com. Signup for our media newsletter to get the next episode of this podcast delivered right to your inbox: www.bitsandpretzels.com/media-signup. Hosts: Britta Weddeling (@bweddeling), Bits & Pretzels podcast host (@bitsandpretzels) Featuring: Oliver Holle (@oholle), Co-Founder & Managing Partner at Speedinvest (@speedinvest) Follow us: Twitter: @bitsandpretzels Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bits-&-pretzels If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review. You can also send us feedback at podcast@bitsandpretzels.com. Production: professional-podcasts.com (Regina Körner, Migo Fecke), Sophie Dechansreiter & Dina Zhakupova.

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 now is the CEO of is the German-Finnish startup IQM, which has just recently been all over the news because it received another 39 million Euros in funding. This round, which was led by deep-tech-investor MIG Fonds, adds the total amount of funding up to 71 million Euros. And with that support IQM as a European player enters the race for quantum computing which has so far been mostly between the big tech companies from the US and China.  This podcast episode is all about building up a company around a technology which is not even fully developed yet but which is expected to have a huge impact on all of us. Even if at the moment we’re still talking about research machines as Jan stresses, the vision is huge:  “And if this only partly becomes true, then it will really, really revolutionize society in many, many aspects. So it's still a big promise, but I think we have pretty good chances to see the impacts on society.“ In conversation with Bits & Pretzels podcast host Britta Weddeling Jan talks about 1) what he and IQM are up to, 2) what learnings he has to share as a founder and person from IQM’s journey and 3) what potential he sees for this fascinating technology for every single one of us in the future!  More to explore: Stay updated on news & insights from us about founders, startups in Bavaria, Austria & Switzerland at www.bitsandpretzels.com. Signup for our media newsletter to get the next episode of this podcast delivered right to your inbox: www.bitsandpretzels.com/media-signup. Hosts: Britta Weddeling (@bweddeling), Bits & Pretzels podcast host (@bitsandpretzels) Featuring: Jan Goetz (@JanGoetz6), Co-Founder & CEO of IQM (@meetIQM) Follow us: Twitter: @bitsandpretzels Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bits-&-pretzels If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review. You can also send us feedback at podcast@bitsandpretzels.com. Production: professional-podcasts.com (Regina Körner, Migo Fecke), Sophie Dechansreiter & Dina Zhakupova.

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 on the podcast we welcome the executive who is at the center of that crazy growth story: Harry Moseley, Zoom’s Global Chief Information Officer. But a sudden growth doesn’t come without a cost - Harry also shared how Zoom was dealing with the difficulties of growing exponentially during this crisis, what at times felt like putting new engines on a flying airplane, and what founders can learn from that experience: From 1) how to not neglect the root cause of the problem in a hectic situation and 2) how to onboard people efficiently in a crisis situation when the demand for talent is rising at your company to 3) how to navigate a completely new customer group. More to explore: Stay updated on news & insights from us about founders, startups in Bavaria, Austria & Switzerland at www.bitsandpretzels.com. Signup for our media newsletter to get the next episode of this podcast delivered right to your inbox: www.bitsandpretzels.com/media-signup. Hosts: Britta Weddeling (@bweddeling), Bits & Pretzels podcast host (@bitsandpretzels) Featuring: Harry Moseley (@harrymoseleyd), Chief Information Officer at Zoom (@Zoom_us) Follow us: Twitter: @bitsandpretzels Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bits-&-pretzels If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review. You can also send us feedback at podcast@bitsandpretzels.com. Production: professional-podcasts.com (Regina Körner, Migo Fecke), Sophie Dechansreiter & Dina Zhakupova.

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 Championship winner, Olympic winner, world record holder and entrepreneur who was our guest at our Bits & Pretzels Networking Week. He turned the obstacle into an opportunity, invented the first of its kind Ironman@home and turned it into a great success: 320 million people from 50 different countries watched Jan for eight and a half hours swim, cycle and run in his living room. Not only did he raise 200k Euros for charity but his accumulated PR-value was estimated at 12 Million Euros - almost the same amount he gained from his victory at the world championship. And after venturing into entrepreneurship himself he shared some learnings from his successful career in sports that have helped him navigate the business world: From 1) why failing and losing from time to time is necessary and 2) why a positive mindset is non-negotiable to 3) how he uses a launching rocket that is moving toward the sky as his personal mantra to focus, build his mental strength and blend out any noise around him. Tune into Jan Frodeno’s live conversation with Britta Weddeling to get some inspiration and motivation for the year ahead and get 2021 kickstarted on the right foot. More to explore: Stay updated on news & insights from us about founders, startups in Bavaria, Austria & Switzerland at www.bitsandpretzels.com. Signup for our media newsletter to get the next episode of this podcast delivered right to your inbox: www.bitsandpretzels.com/media-signup. Hosts: Britta Weddeling (@bweddeling), Editor-in-Chief of Bits & Pretzels (@bitsandpretzels) Featuring: Jan Frodeno (@janfrodeno), Olympic Champion and 3x Ironman World Champion Follow us: Twitter: @bitsandpretzels Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bits-&-pretzels If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review. You can also send us feedback at podcast@bitsandpretzels.com. Production: professional-podcasts.com (Regina Körner, Migo Fecke), Sophie Dechansreiter & Dina Zhakupova.

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 the second wave of Covid-19. Stewart Butterfield, the founder and CEO of communication platform Slack, which is certainly a huge winner of this crisis, even though the company is faced with incumbent competitors such as Microsoft. We've talked to Stewart just before he closed this year’s mega exit in tech that also happens to be Salesforce's largest ever acquisition. The Slack founder & CEO joined us at our Bits & Pretzels Networking Week – and discussed the future of work as well as the huge growth his company has seen since the pandemic hit with home office becoming the new normal and more than 12 million people actively using Slack every day. But Stewart also shared his key learnings from his 15 plus years in tech including what’s necessary to navigate the ups and downs of scaling a company and continuously pushing your firm as well as yourself to new beginnings. More to explore: Stay updated on news & insights from us about founders, startups in Bavaria, Austria & Switzerland at www.bitsandpretzels.com. Signup for our media newsletter to get the next episode of this podcast delivered right to your inbox: www.bitsandpretzels.com/media-signup. Hosts: Britta Weddeling (@bweddeling), Editor-in-Chief of Bits & Pretzels (@bitsandpretzels) Featuring: Stewart Butterfield (@stewart), Founder & CEO of Slack Follow us: Twitter: @bitsandpretzels Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bits-&-pretzels If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review. You can also send us feedback at podcast@bitsandpretzels.com. Production: professional-podcasts.com (Regina Körner, Migo Fecke), Sophie Dechansreiter & Dina Zhakupova.

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 AUDI AG and a leading expert in brand creation as well as crisis communication. In conversation with Bits & Pretzels Editor-In-Chief Britta Weddeling, Hildegard Wortmann shares a rare glimpse into her playbook on developing and maintaining a brand using the personal narrative of the company as well as how to communicate in a crisis. From 1) why you should start communicating in a crisis even if you don’t have all the answers yet to 2) what to do to keep your brand relevant & interesting over time and 3) how to handle rough times, such as the Dieselgate, and learn from mistakes as an automotive brand. The powerful executive who’s the first woman ever on the board of an automotive company, draws her deep expertise from her years in leading marketing roles in the industry – at Unilever and BMW, where she completely revamped the MINI brand in the early 2000s - turning the MINI into one of the most popular cars in the world today. And we’ve talked to Hildegard Wortmann just days after our Bits & Pretzels Networking Week in October. More to explore: Stay updated on news & insights from us about founders, startups in Bavaria, Austria & Switzerland at www.bitsandpretzels.com. Signup for our media newsletter to get the next episode of this podcast delivered right to your inbox: www.bitsandpretzels.com/media-signup. Hosts: Britta Weddeling (@bweddeling), Editor-in-Chief of Bits & Pretzels (@bitsandpretzels) Featuring: Hildegard Wortmann, Member of the Board of Management for Sales and Marketing at Audi Follow us: Twitter: @bitsandpretzels Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bits-&-pretzels If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review. You can also send us feedback at podcast@bitsandpretzels.com. Production: professional-podcasts.com (Regina Körner, Migo Fecke), Sophie Dechansreiter & Dina Zhakupova.

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 has a lot to share from her outstanding career for founders, especially for those of you who are working non-stop during the current pandemic! In conversation with Bits & Pretzels Editor-in-Chief Britta Weddeling during our Bits & Pretzels Networking Week Arianna explains how crucial downtime and self-care are for long-term success and shares first steps towards becoming a better leader. She is convinced that too much stress and lack of sleep lead to bad decisions and to failure in business in the end. This is what you gonna learn today: 1) How to find out what's urgent and what you can delegate as CEO, 2) how to motivate your team even in a crisis and 3) what micro steps entrepreneurs can use right away to be more focused and calm. More to explore: Stay updated on news & insights from us about founders, startups in Bavaria, Austria & Switzerland at www.bitsandpretzels.com. Signup for our media newsletter to get the next episode of this podcast delivered right to your inbox: www.bitsandpretzels.com/media-signup. Hosts: Britta Weddeling (@bweddeling), Editor-in-Chief of Bits & Pretzels (@bitsandpretzels) Featuring: Arianna Huffington (@ariannahuff), Founder of Huffington Post (@HuffPost), Co-Founder & CEO Thrive Global (@thrive) Follow us: Twitter: @bitsandpretzels Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bits-&-pretzels If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review. You can also send us feedback at podcast@bitsandpretzels.com. Production: professional-podcasts.com (Regina Körner, Migo Fecke), Sophie Dechansreiter & Dina Zhakupova.

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 alternative Long-Term-Stock Exchange (LTSE). Eric’s Lean Startup method has been credited by numerous entrepreneurs for their success and now he shares his most important advice from his decades of experience as serial entrepreneur, startup advisor and investor. Most importantly, he argues that operating with a long-term philosophy is necessary for sustained growth and that the current public capital market system does only serve short-term needs. That’s why Eric launched the LTSE with the support of powerful Silicon Valley entrepreneurs including Netscape co-founder and VC Marc Andreessen, to support company builders and investors who are taking the lead to sustainable growth as he believes that entrepreneurship is the driving force for changing our future. And on the show he points out what mindset is helpful to deal with uncertainties not limited to the current coronavirus crisis: From 1) what personality trait is essential for founders and 2) how to apply the lean methodology to philanthropy to 3) how founders can use a recession to grow their business. More to explore: Stay updated on news & insights from us about founders, startups in Bavaria, Austria & Switzerland at www.bitsandpretzels.com. Signup for our media newsletter to get the next episode of this podcast delivered right to your inbox: www.bitsandpretzels.com/media-signup. Hosts: Britta Weddeling (@bweddeling), Editor-in-Chief of Bits & Pretzels (@bitsandpretzels) Featuring: Eric Ries (@ericries), CEO of LTSE and Author of The Lean Startup. Follow us: Twitter: @bitsandpretzels Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bits-&-pretzels If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review. You can also send us feedback at podcast@bitsandpretzels.com. Production: professional-podcasts.com (Regina Körner, Migo Fecke), Dina Zhakupova.

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 world that opened its doors in 2017 and is located in the heart of Paris. Over 1000 startups are currently at home at Station F. In this week's show she provided an insight into how she sees the current startup situation and why a crisis always presents new opportunities for entrepreneurs and what areas especially could unfold a lot of potential moving forward. And with a very diverse background in the startup scene she has many learnings to share with entrepreneurs: From 1) how founders can turn around their products during a crisis to serve the current need of a society and 2) how to surround yourself with a team that will help you grow and come up with innovative ideas to 3) the importance of constantly learning and discovering new ecosystems and gaining therefore new perspectives for founders. More to explore: Stay updated on news & insights from us about founders, startups in Bavaria, Austria & Switzerland at www.bitsandpretzels.com. Signup for our media newsletter to get the next episode of this podcast delivered right to your inbox: www.bitsandpretzels.com/media-signup. Hosts: Britta Weddeling (@bweddeling), Editor-in-Chief of Bits & Pretzels (@bitsandpretzels) Featuring: Roxanne Varza (@roxannevarza), Director at Station F. Follow us: Twitter: @bitsandpretzels Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bits-&-pretzels If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review. You can also send us feedback at podcast@bitsandpretzels.com. Production: professional-podcasts.com (Regina Körner, Migo Fecke) & Dina Zhakupova.

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 partners at Index Ventures, one of the biggest Venture Capital firms that invested in Dropbox, Deliveroo, Skype and Slack - just to name a few. With over 10 billion euro under the current management, their fund oversees a portfolio of 160 companies from the US and Europe. Started as a European based firm themselves Index Ventures has been in the US for almost a decade now and successfully operates with dual headquarters located in San Francisco and London. Sarah and Martin have helped numerous companies make that move as well and gathered enough knowledge on expanding a business across the Atlantic. They share how the mentality of founders has changed over the last couple of years in regard to expanding to the US market and why a lot of European startups are choosing to win the US remotely. And with a lot of experience helping startups all over the world grow and expand, they both had a few advices up their sleeve for founders: from 1) how to build a reliable communication and maintain a culture within an international team to 2) how to navigate different regulation across the world and 3) how the landscape of investment changed during Covid-19 as well as how founders can benefit. More to explore: Stay updated on news & insights from us about founders, startups in Bavaria, Austria & Switzerland at www.bitsandpretzels.com. Signup for our media newsletter to get the next episode of this podcast delivered right to your inbox: www.bitsandpretzels.com/media-signup. Hosts: Britta Weddeling (@bweddeling), Editor-in-Chief of Bits & Pretzels (@bitsandpretzels) Featuring: Sarah Cannon (@SarahRCannon) & Martin Mignot (@martinmignot), Partners at Index Ventures. Follow us: Twitter: @bitsandpretzels Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bits-&-pretzels If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review. You can also send us feedback at podcast@bitsandpretzels.com. Production: professional-podcasts.com (Regina Körner, Migo Fecke) & Dina Zhakupova.