The hundert female start up founders europe 2016
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This issue of The Hundert magazine highlights 100 female entrepreneurs from across Europe. The editor's letter introduces the topic of focusing on female entrepreneurship in Europe and celebrating the diverse paths that women have taken to start successful companies. It aims to inspire others by sharing these stories of courage and success. Although challenges remain, this issue shows that women can achieve success wherever they are located through determination and initiative.
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The hundert female start up founders europe 2016
- 2. DO. OR DO NOT. Yoda, Jedi MasterTHERE IS NO TRY.
- 3. Deutsche Börse Venture Network Growth financing in a strong network Deutsche Börse Venture Network brings together high-growth companies and investors on its online platform. It supports the initiation of funding rounds. Networking events promote personal relationships. Executive trainings complement the programme. Take the right way to achieve growth. Find more information at venture-network.com Your place for growth
- 4. 6 7 THE HUNDERT // SEGMENT THE HUNDERT // SEGMENT JOANNE WILSONActive New York angel investor with a portfolio of over 90 companies. Organizes the Women’s Entrepreneur Festival, which will be hosted in Berlin June 2017. THE HUNDERT // FOREWORD © David Johnson Throughout my travels and over 20 years of working in the startup community, I’ve come to love the ever-changing, vi- brant and supportive nature of the female founder community in Europe. Simply put: I am a huge fan of the female found- er, and I could give a million reasons why. Although female founders generally take longer to build businesses, this slow and steady mindset wins the race. Failure is not an option, so it’s important for female founders to have their ducks in a row before stepping on the gas. Every woman entrepreneur I have worked with has been tenacious, scrappy and team-oriented. But even more important than listing out these qualities is the data that backs it up. Female founders have better return on investments than their male counterparts. That doesn’t surprise me, as I have been investing in female founders for almost a decade and have seen it myself. Almost 70 percent of my 90 portfolio companies have female founders. The Hundert’s celebration of these women founders is a great thing for European entrepreneurship. Since co-founding the Women’s Entrepreneur Festival, an event that allows women who are in the trenches of starting their businesses to con- nect and be heard, I have witnessed the women’s founder movement grow and prosper. The goal of the Hundert Issue Number 8 is to highlight 100 strong female entrepreneurs in Europe, and ultimately inspire more women to bring their own ideas to life. When reading through the stories of these women, you will find that there’s no typical path to entrepre- neurship – but rather a common thread of determination and passion to make great change in the world. My private bank. Private Banking for Successful Entrepreneurs: Time to Talk. Weberbank has been providing comprehensive investment advice for successful entrepreneurs for over 65 years. A permanent, trustworthy, confidential and professional relationship with our clients is the basis of our advise on their private investment portfolio. Please see the article on page 80 for more information. Contact: (+4930)89798-234
- 5. P.34 // EM M A HUOVINEN M YNEXTRUN P.39 // ELINA BERGLUND NATURAL CYCLES P.28 // NINA ANGELOVSKA GROUPER P.37 // ALISE SEM JONOVA INFOGRAM P.29 // YANA VLATCHKOVA SW IPES P.38 // THERESA STEININGER W OHNW AGON P.35 // BRYNNE HERBERT M OVE GUIDES P.40 // JOSIPA M A JIC ID GUARDIAN P.36 // JENNIE M C GINN OPSH P.41 // LEA-SOPHIE CRAM ER AM ORELIE P.20 // JEANETTE DYHRE KVISVIK VILLOID P.25 // BASA K TASPIN A R-DEGIM A RM UT P.18 // URSKA SRSEN BELLABEAT P.23 // VLADKA TESKOVA TESKALABS P.19 // BA RBA RA LABATE RISPA RM IO SUPER P.24 // ANGÉLIQUE ZETTOR GENYM OBILE P. 21 // M ETTE LYKKE ENDOM ONDO P.26 // BARBARA M UCKERM ANN YONDERBOUND P.22 // ELEFTH ERIA ZOUROU DOCTORA N YTIM E P.27 // M ILDA M ITKUTE VINTED P.60 // TRIINU M AGI NEURA P.68 // EM M ANUELLE VIN AM IA SYSTEM S P.58 // M ERYL JOB VIDEDRESSING P.66 // JUTTA HAARAM O STYLEW HILE P.59 // JANNA BASTOW PRODPAD P.67 // AM BER ATHERTON M Y FLASH TRASH P.61 // ANDREA PFUNDM EIER BOXCRYPTOR P.69 // GULNAZ KHUSAINOVA EASYSIZE P.64 // ZSUZSA KECSM AR ANTAVO P.70 // TAM AR YANIV PREEN.M E P.44 // N ORA KH A LDI N URITAS P.55 // ANITA KLASANOVA ROOBAR P.42 // CÉLIN E LAZORTH ES LEETCH I P.53 // JOANNA DRABENT PROW LY P.43 // CH LOÉ ROOSE TA KE EAT EASY P.54 // OLGA PETERS QUALYSENSE P.45 // ALEXANDRA ANGHEL APPTICLES P.56 // IOANA HASAN SM ART BILL P.52 // SUZAN CLAESEN CROW DYHOUSE P.57 // SOFIA PESSANHA UNBABEL P.87 // LIAT M ORDECHAY HERTANU 24M E P.92 // ZARA M ARTIROSYAN INKIN P.85 // JOANNA GRZELAK BOOKLIKES P.90 // CHIARA BURBERI REDOOC P.86 // DEBBIE W OSSKOW LOVE HOM E SW AP P.91 // DRAGANA DJERM ANOVIC BEESHAPER P.88 // ULLA ENGESTROM THINGLINK P.98 // VIRGINIE SIM ON M YSCIENCEW ORK P.89 // LIUBOU PASHKOUSKAYA RED ROCK APPS P.99 // SASHA OLENINA STUDYQA P.73 // DALIA LASAITE CGTRADER P.82 // GENNA ELVIN TADAW EB P.71 // YASM IN DE GIORGIO THE GRASSY HOPPER P.76 // M ARIA M ARTÍN TIENDEO P.72 // LELA DRITSA PSARROS NANNUKA P.77 // ANNABELLE DIAM ANTINO VIDEO RECRUIT P.74 // ANNA ALEX OUTFITTERY P.83 // KATHARINA KLAUSBERGER SHPOCK P.75 // GIOIA PISTOLA ATOOM A P.84 // M A JA M IKEK CELTRA P.115 // ANNA POLISHCHUK ALLSET P.120 // EDYTA KOCYK SIDLY P.113 // CHRISTINA KEHL KNIP P.118 // ROSSI M ITOVA FARM HOPPING P.114 // ORIT HASHAY BRAYOLA P.119 // STINA EHRENSVARD YUBICO P.116 // ANIKE V. GAGERN TAUSENDKIND P.122 // M ARTA ESTEVE SOYSUPER P.117 // LISA TERZIM AN FENTURY P.123 // PAULINE LAIGNEAU GEM M YO P.102 // KINGA JENTETICS PUBLISHDRIVE P.107 // ANUSHKA BELTRAM TRAVEL STARTER P.100 // VERENA PAUSDER FOX & SHEEP P.105 // KATE UNSW ORTH VINAYA P.101 // SONA POHLOVÁ ECOCAPSULE P.106 // NATALIE M ASRUJEH TEACH `N GO P.103 // SILJE VALLESTAD BSAFE P.108 // JANNEKE NIESSEN IM PROVE DIGITAL P.104 // KAROLI HINDRIKS JOBBATICAL P.112 // LESLIE COTTENJE HELLO CUSTOM ER P.139 // RAFFAELA REIN CAREERFOUNDRY P.144 // KAIDI RUUSALEPP FUNDERBEAM P.137 // TAISIYA KUDASHKINA TULP P.142 // M ARYNA KUZM ENKO PETIOLE P.138 // TIFFANY HART 7W RITE P.143 // JENNY W OLFRAM BRANDBASTION P.140 // ÜLANE VILUM ETS LIKE A LOCAL GUIDE P.145 // FILIPA NETO CHIC BY CHOICE P.141 // IRINA ALEXANDRU VECTOR W ATCH P.146 // ANNA ANDERSONE FROONT P.126 // KSENIJA ROSTOVA INSELLY P.134 // DEM ET M UTLU TRENDYOL P.124 // GLORIA M OLINS TRIP4REAL P.129 // RHONA TOGHER RESTORED HEARING P.125 // LEA VON BIDDER AVA P.130 // ELISA FAZIO FLAZIO P.127 // HEIDI RAKELS GUARDSQUARE P.135 // GINA TOST GEENAPP P.128 // SARAH W OOD UNRULY P.136 // BIANCA GFREI KIW ENO
- 6. 10 THE HUNDERT // SEGMENT It is my great pleasure to officially welcome you to the new issue of the Hundert. I’m really excit- ed and even a bit nervous to see how you react to it. I’m aware that this is a much more unusual edition of our magazine. Let’s just say it’s a very daring one, since we chose a topic that doesn’t exactly fit to what we’ve been doing so far. The Hundert has always been centered around the Berlin startup scene. This time we decided to leave our city and present 100 female startup founders from across Europe.Female entrepreneurship is a wonderful and ex- citing topic that we wanted to dive into. From the beginning, we knew that we weren’t going to make a political statement. The aim of the Hundert has always been building a stage for peo- ple and companies worth showing to the world. So our vision for this issue was to to inspire oth- ers by introducing 100 great stories of fascinating women, who have succeeded in starting their own companies. While working on this magazine, reading ama- zing founders’ stories every day, we knew we were on a good path. We ourselves feel inspired by these wonderful women and struck by their courage; we therefore opted for an audacious de- sign. Furthermore it led us to completely rethink the concept of the Hundert and brought up many ideas that we’ll implement in the future. So be prepared for big changes ;)As usual, the final list of the 100 is not a rating and the sequence of appearance is not a ran- king. It is a colorful overview of various paths, our founders chose. So you’ll meet startup be- ginners, serial entrepreneurs, scientists or career changers. Women, who built their startups out of passion, who saw a niche in the market or a problem to be solved. Women who were pas- sionate about entrepreneurship since childhood, and those who didn’t even think about owning a company before. This amazing mix of stories reflects the present generation of female startup founders in Europe. Their founding paths super- sede borders and show that the startup spirit is everywhere! Despite varying economic situations and the general opinion that it’s harder for wo- men to be founders, this issue should prove, that it is possible to achieve success wherever you are, whatever situation you’re in and whatever you’ve done before! You just have to be brave and dare to take initiative. I’m convinced that this edition of the Hundert has a real inspiring power. It’s a testament to the startup community and our tireless small team: Chris Lennartz, who made this project her own, spent long hours in the office and spread an un- usual amount of enthusiasm no matter what, and Daniela Rattunde, who also put all of her heart into the project and used every free moment to work, when not having to take care of her one- year-old daughter. Thank you, girls, for your engagement and making this issue happen! We all truly hope the Hundert will reach as many women as possible. So please pass it to your sis- ter, mother, girlfriend or colleague as a source of inspiration. Remember, the magazine can also be downloaded for free on the-hundert.com. Yours, Kata Oldziejewska TABLE OF CONTENTS08 Participants Overview 12 Wise Words 30 No Risk, No Fun - No Business 46 European Coworking Partners 62 The Perfect Startup Crash Course 78 Women Supporters 80 Klaus Siegers, Weberbank 93 Helping to Provide Reliable Cooling 94 Tips for Female Founders 109 Business Shopper from Bellevory 150 the Hundert at Events 156 Berlin Partners 158 Network Partners 162 Thank You! 163 Media Partners 164 Index / Europe Map 166 Imprint and Contact DEARREADER THANK YOU!Our premium sponsors the Hundert is proudly produced by NKF Media, home of: Our production partners WITHOUT THE SUPPORT OF OUR SPONSORS, PRODUCTION AND FREE DISTRIBUTION OF THE HUNDERT WOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE. 11
- 7. 12 THE HUNDERT // STATEMENTS Axelle Lemaire French Deputy Minister for Digital Affairs Women are often underrepresented in poli- tics or the economy. The tech sector is a prime example despite many women building incredible startups, apps and products. Being a woman means that you have to ‘fight’ more than men do to succeed. Not because you are less talented, but because we live in a male dominant society and not in perfect parity and equality. In France, networks as Girlz in Web or Les Pionnières help women develop their startups. It is a way to empower each other and become more visible. We all need to set more successful examples so that asso- ciating ‘woman’ and ‘entrepreneur’ becomes more commonplace in everyone’s mind. Bruno Giussani European Director of TED Women leaders need to get more familiar with microphones. Too many conferences’ programs are overwhelmingly male, especially in tech and business. But don’t blame it on the orga- nizers only. In years of curating TED events around the world, including several with a majority of female speakers, my colleagues and I have noticed that women are far more likely to decline invitations to speak, and also more likely to cancel. When women decline speaking opportunities, they contribute to the impres- sion that the world lacks female leaders: if the world doesn’t see women talking about their work, how will anyone know they’re there?20 prestigious international personalities address women, who dream of starting their own business, but hesitate doing so. WISE WORDS Tine Thygesen Digital strategist, board member and entrepreneurThe first step is the hardest. You’re stepping outside the norm. Any woman old enough to start a business has been through decades of priming, receiving signals of unconscious bias that rewar- ded her when she did the expected and disparaged when she did otherwise. Of course it’s scary. But scary is brave. It’s courageous people like you that walk new paths, set new norms and change unconscious stereotypes. Not only will you realise that you can do much more than you think, but you’ll also be setting the scene for the next generation. @ FHH Selma Prodanovic Founder & CEO 1millionstartups.com Creating and running your startup is one of the most rewarding experiences in life! When I started, none of the existing (boxes) jobs fitted my needs so I decided to create my own. I was a mom of two babies, setting up my business in a new field, with no mo- ney and no network but with a big vision. In fact, being an entrepreneur is taking the freedom to choose and create your own path to success – you set the rules! You don’t like glass ceilings? Makes sure there is none in your company. You want to work in a fa- mily-friendly environment? Set an example. Dare to be authentic and follow your passion. Dare to create your ‘dream’ startup! ©GeorgSchnellnberger ©ClausBoesen ©PatrickVedrune Steffi Czerny DLD Founder and Managing Director The so-called failure culture is so hip nowadays that to me it becomes some- what boring. Doesn’t “always make new mistakes” rather mean: Don’t put too much pressure on yourself and stay open-minded when taking on new challenges. From my personal experience you need to be persistent, courageous and absolutely confident of what you are doing to succeed. I also encourage you to take vocal coaching and professional advice on body lan- guage to best pitch your idea. In the end, never forget to stay authentic and keep a good sense of humor. © Hubert Burda Media / Andreas Pohlmann Mathias Döpfner CEO of the Axel Springer Media Group Women are still in the minority in Europe when it comes to setting up new businesses. According to the German Startup Monitor, only 13% of German startups are founded by women. That’s not much. And it’s a pity. Women have good reason to start their own companies. As entrepreneurs, you will be in a modern, trans- parent environment, free from outdated gender roles or quotas. You will be independent and can shape your own corporate culture and iden- tity. Stay curious and take the initiative. Best of luck and success to you. 13
- 8. 14 15 Neelie KroesSpecial Envoy for StartupDelta and former vice-president of the European Commission Never give up, keep dreaming and follow your dreams. Trust yourself and your gut feeling. Put yourself out there to realize your dreams. Visualize your goals and go for it. Now, there might be times that you fail but don’t let it hold you back. I have failed many times, but it always made me more determined to push forward and become more resourceful. So be creative, be fear- less and try, try again. I encourage you to take the risk. If you have started your own company, then congratulations for being a risk- taker. But that is merely the start because you have to keep pushing boundaries, obliterate them, and motivate yourself to excel. Nenad Marovac Founder and CEO of DN Capital Love what you do and believe in the value propo- sition that you’re offering your customers. If you’re just in it for the money, chances are high that you will fail. Remain true to yourself and build a sustainable, lasting company where you don’t rely on investors. Make sure that your unit economics work and that there is a path to profitability. And choose your venture capita- lists carefully: find someone who is experi- enced, likes what you are doing, and who you like spending time with. You must constantly iterate and create the best product or service and continue to get feedback from your custo- mers and stakeholders and continue to improve your business in every dimension. Irena Goldenberg Partner at Highland Capital Partners Best to think of your founder journey as a marathon – to be approached with incredi- ble determination and tenacity. Once you’ve decided to go for it, I have three tips. First, show passion. Startups face a path strewn with obstacles and without passion, potential hires, investors and customers are tough to win over. Second, do what you can without funding – it is powerfully indicative of what you will achieve with it! Third, there are lots of great ideas out there, which is why how you pull them off is what counts. Focus on building a team and a board that can help bring your vision to life. Thomas Sattelberger Former Member of the Executive Boards of Deutsche Telekom AG, Continental AG and Lufthansa German Airlines In my career, I have so far met many wonderful and successful female founders and entrepreneurs and I am delighted to hear that more and more women are taking initiative, founding a startup, and fulfilling their dream. The fact that the startup scene is still predominantly male will soon be looked back upon in history as a mere trifle. Europe and, even more so, the customers will need female entrepreneurship. Sophie V. Vandebroek Chief Technology Officer, Xerox Three concepts that I live by and recommend: 1. Make smart choices on where to spend your time. 2. Lean In and dedicate time to those choices. 3. Lean Out everything else: say no, simplify and out- source. Being an entrepreneur is important and very fulfilling but never forget to take care of yourself. I could have not achieved both: a loving family and leading Xerox’s global research labs otherwise. The way you respect your health and close relationships will reflect on your company. I dedicate time to my partner, kids, health and work. I Lean Out every- thing else to create more precious time. © Tom Kates © Rory Linsday Armgard von Reden Expert in the field of Gender Diversity, Teacher at the Leibnitz University in Hannover Every entrepreneur will get tons of (unso- licited) pieces of advice. These three worked well for me and I advice them to you: 1. Customers don’t give us their trust, they only lend it to us, if we don’t justify it, they take it back. It simply does not make sense to get a short term advantage, when in the lon- ger term you loose the trust of a customer. 2. You don’t get what you expect, but what you inspect. You probably experienced this yourself. 3. The only person a manager really needs to manage is him-/herself. Doing that is dif- ficult, putting the blame on others is easy. Elzbieta Bienkowska European Commissioner for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs Male entrepreneurs outnumber women by more than two to one in Europe. This is not a good situation. Europe needs to encourage women entrepreneurs and use their commitment and entrepreneurial spirit. The European Commission is actively supporting women’s entrepre- neurship. What is lacking is often information about the possible support. This year we will open a one-stop shop in the form of an online platform for women who want to start, run and grow a business. Another source of inspira- tion can be the Women Business Angels network which also offers interesting opportunities. We must encourage creation of new businesses in Europe, we must encour- age more women to be engaged in business activities. I hope that our actions will bring concrete results that will contribute to restoring the steady growth and creating more jobs in the EU. THE HUNDERT // STATEMENTS © European Commission
- 9. 16 THE HUNDERT // STATEMENTS Hemdat SagiHead of Economic and Trade Mission to Germany, Embassy of Israel Take advantage of the skill set and strengths that mainly appeal to wo- men, i.e, multitasking, minute-to-minute efficiency, good instincts, focus and trans- parent communications. These are key factors to a successful company. I often meet decision makers who prefer to in- vest in female-founded startups because of these advantages. Surround yourself with smart people and build a good sup- port system and network of motivated, talen-ted people who will help you along the way. Lastly, I encourage you to adopt a well known Israeli virtue called Chutzpah: it’s not rudeness or being too direct. It is da-ring to want what others can’t dream of, to challenge authority, question every- thing and not being afraid to fail! Paddy Cosgrave Founder of Web Summit My advice to female entrepreneurs is go for it! Think deeply about your idea, research it relentlessly, evaluate care- fully what the market opportunity is, take lots of advice and then get on with it. I mean, what’s the risk in try- ing something? Above all, think about your team and hire carefully. Last year we launched our Commitment to Change program where we have given away 10,000 free tickets to tal- ented female entrepreneurs. The tech industry needs female entrepreneurs, which is why we want to see you at our events. Ursula Schwarzenbart General Manager, Talent and Diversity Management at Daimler AG“There is a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.” This quote from Madeline Albright always makes me think how often wom- en face situations where they are less supported than their male counterparts. Passing on the know- ledge, the expertise, and the motivation makes us all stronger. It is our obligation to extend both hands to those just starting out. If we don’t, women not only fail in business but we all fail humanity miserably as well. This means we should always try to be the best human beings we can be, all the time. Robin Wauters Co-Founder and Editor in Chief of tech.eu As a woman, you’re unlikely to be successful at your startup. As a woman, you’re unlikely to raise mil- lions in funding, and the odds are against you ever selling your com- pany. In fact, chances are you’re going to end up disappointed if you dream of getting rich. As a wo- man, you should consider careful- ly if you want to give up time with your family and friends, and perhaps even your health, to build a startup. Guess what? The same goes for men. It doesn’t matter what’s between your legs, all that matters is what’s between your ears and in your heart. If none of the above can stop you, then don’t let ‘anything’ stop you. Judith CleggCEO of Innovation Agency Takeout, Founder of charity LiveKind and angel investor I’d like to share with future female entrepre- neurs that the world most definitely needs you and that kindness in business is a strength. The words of two acclaimed female authors helped to galvanize me and I hope that they do the same for you. Elif Shafak says, in some European coun- tries, “in terms of women’s rights we have been sliding backwards”, “the streets belong to men” and that “we need diversity for democracy”. Her words highlight an important role for female entrepreneurs - to advance freedom and equality for ALL. “It’s food for thought that a lot of businesses seem to do so well when they start to do charitable activities or acts of kindness.” C.E. Chevalier Female Entrepreneur, Author, Founder and CEO of Animals Actually Ltd. Anne Ravanona Founder and CEO of Global Invest Her If you are reading this, you want to become an entrepreneur or are one already, I applaud you! Creating a company to solve a real problem is an adventure. Are you ready? Pick an important problem to solve, one you truly care about. Pick Your Passion! You need energy to seize opportunities and overcome obstacles. Your passion will car- ry you through both. Be brave: expect and embrace no’s on the journey to yes. Own your mistakes, fix them and move on. Ask for more money when seeking funding, at least 18 to 24 months runway. I can’t wait to see what you achieve! © Maria Mikulas © Magali Papale Lindsey Nefesh-Clarke Founder and Managing Director, W4 (Women’s WorldWide Web) Create a strong, supportive network. There’s no such thing as individual success. The future is the collaborative edge. Cultivate a supportive network of friends, family, team members, investors, mentors, advisors and role models. People who you can rely on for advice, resources, constructive criticism and support. What makes your entrepre- neurial adventure meaningful, gratifying and ultimately successful is the people you build and share it with. They can coach you and help you to be your own best ally. They can inspire in you the strength to remain Chief Believer when the ride gets rough. 17
- 10. 18 W hen Isay m y path has been anything but linear, it sounds unusual,but it’s actually quite com m on w hen you’re founding a startup.Iw as born in 1989 in Ljubljana and studied to becom e a sculptor in H elsinki.D uring m y studies,Idiscovered the m ate- rial that I loved to w ork w ith m ost: w ood. That w as to becom e an inspiration for Bellabeat’s health tracking sm art jew elry,the LEA F,and kickstarted m y journey in designing devices to track the health ofw om en throughoutdifferentstages oftheir lives. W hen Im etSandro,w e becam e a couple and ended up co-founding Bellabeatin 2013. Ibelieve the m ostdangerous thing w e can do in life is lim itourselves.Itdoesn’tm atter ifyou are a doc- tor,a sculptor or a program m er – w e can build great things together.Technology does notm aterialize by itself,butrather itgrow sfrom cooperation betw een different fields and from people w ho envision the future w ithoutlim itations. U rska, 26, is the co-founder and CPO of Bellabeat,a Silicon V alley com pany design- ing the future of healthcare. U rska w as chosen by Forbes as the am bassador of the Technology field for its first European Top 30 U nder 30 list launched in January 2016.Bellabeathas offices in San Francisco, London,Shenzhen,and Zagreb.The com pa- ny em ploys80 people. bellabeat.com NEVERLIMIT YOURSELF! H O W D O YO U REA CT TO O BSTA CLES? Ihavethem forbreakfast. UrskaSrsen Co-FounderandCPO Bellabeat CROATIA 18 THE HUNDERT // ONLINE COMPARISON From an early age,I’ve been a very independent person. I don’t like follow ing anyone’s rules and w ould rather be in charge of succeeding or failing on m y ow n.K now ing this aboutm yselfpushed m e to new venturesand into entrepreneurship. W hile studying atColum bia U niversity,Ihad a tight budgetand boughtgroceriesat99 centstores.Ihad a terrible,expensive grocery store nextto m y apart- m entand soon realized Icould save tim e and m oney by com paring grocery store prices.Ipresented the conceptofa price com parison service in one ofm y classesatColum bia and keptthe idea in m y m ind. M y passion for transform ing ideas into real ser- vicesorproductsled m e to found m y firststartup,a prem ium space for m obile phone services,in 2004. Then,in 2010,Ifounded Risparm io Super.Ilearned to risk m y ow n m oney,survive w ithouta salary for m onthsw hile Iw aspaying em ployees,and function on justa few hoursofsleep.Startupsare notabouta questfor m oney or success,butrather the pleasure ofm aking an im pactw ith yourideas. Barbara is both founder and CEO of Risparm io Super,a w eb and m obile service thatcom pares gro- cery store prices throughout Italy. She launched her first startup in 2004 in the field of prem ium m obile services.Risparm io Super launched in 2010, and now has a team of 23 people divided betw een Catania,Rom e and M ilan.Barbara has a degree in PoliticalScience,a Fulbrightscholarship and a m as- ter’sdegree from Colum bia U niversity in N ew Y ork. risparmiosuper.it BETHE ONETHAT MAKES THINGS HAPPEN H O W D O YO U D EA L W ITH STRESS? Iactually don’t,Ijust em bracestress,Iuse itto befocused 24h a day,to getthingsdone and to push m y team in m oving faster. BarbaraLabate Co-FounderandCEO RisparmioSuper ITALY THE HUNDERT // DIGITAL HEALTH 19 © A m anda Sm ith
- 11. 21 THE HUNDERT // HEALTH AND FITNESS Beforeco-founding Endom ondo,Iw orked atM cK insey & Com pany, w here Im etm y tw o other founding m em bers.A lthough Ienjoyed w orking there,Iw as m issing a greater purpose.W e felt a desire to m ake an im pact on the w ay people live,so in 2007,w e left to pursue our entrepreneurialdream .I’ve alw ays had this desire to build som ething tangible.Iguessyou could say it’sin m y genes.M y grandfatherstarted a retailchain in 1947 and keptitin the fam ily, so Igrew up w itnessing this entrepreneuriallifestyle.Leaving m y job behind w asa bitdaunting,butitfeltlike the rightm ove. W hen m y tw o co-founders and Isetoutto create Endom ondo,w e w anted to help people lead m ore active lives by giving them the m otivation to exercise.Itw asn’talw ayseasy to getothersto share our enthusiasm ,butI’m a com petitive person,and Igetenergized w hen som eone says som ething can’t be done.Sure,there have been setbacksand obstacles.Butthisjourney hashelped m e grow , and hashelped Endom ondo grow asw ell.Lastyear,w e joined forc- esw ith U nder A rm our.Iknow thatthisisonly the beginning and Ican’tw aitto see w hatthe future holds.Istillfeellike w e are just getting started. M ette is the co-founder and CEO ofone of the leading health and fitness apps in the w orld,Endom ondo.She is 35 and lives in Copenhagen.She co-founded Endom ondo back in 2007 w ith a m ission ofm aking fit- ness m ore fun.W hen it first started,the team consisted of three people.Today,it hasgrow n to m orethan 50 team m atesw ho, since joining U nder A rm our in 2015,form partofU nderA rm ourConnected Fitness. endomondo.com TURNING DOUBTSINTO POSITIVE ENERGY W H A T G IV ES YO U PO W ER? Ifsom eonesaysitcan’tbedone, provethem w rong. MetteLykke Co-Founder,Endomondo DENMARK © A lexander A lbl I used to run a startup in N ew Y ork. D uring thattim e,Ilived in the heartof theshopping districtofSoho –and even as a style lover,Ihad neither the tim e northe m eansto shop.Istarted to play w ith the idea ofcreating the nextgen- eration shopping experience on m obile – a sort of Instagram that allow s style lovers to shop everything they see. Style icon and influencer A lexa Chung shared this vision,and w e started the journey launching our service from N ew Y ork in the fallof2015. Iboth love and hate being an entrepre- neur.O n the one hand,itishard w ork to create and build som ething new .O n the other hand,Ilike to take chances instead of w alk the beaten path,and take action m ore than talk.In general, I think w om en are too afraid to take chances.Y ou have to take chances in orderto w in.A nd w hen you m akem is- takes – because w e alldo – itprepares you and teachesyou how to w in in the end.M y single m ostim portantadvice is to be ready to adjustyour course as you set out on your journey.It is like a sailing trip,asyou can never foresee the w eatherorchallengesahead. Jeanette is the founder of V illoid, the nextgeneration shopping service,w hich she co-founded in 2014 w ith style icon A lexa Chung,e-com m erce expertK arin K ällm an, and social gam ing expert Jarle Snertingdalen.V illoid is active in 180 countries, has 10 em ployees, and is based out of offices in O slo and N ew Y ork. Jeanette holds a M aster in Law from the U niversity ofBergen,N orw ay. villoid.com LEARNINGTO ADJUSTTHE SAILSALONG THEJOURNEY JeanetteDyhreKvisvik FounderandCEO,Villoid NORWAY THE HUNDERT // SOCIAL SHOPPING W H A T A RE YO U PA SSIO N A TE A B O U T? M y com pany is m y biggestpassion. V forV illoid! © Filip Loebbert 20
- 12. 23 Everything started w hen Iw as a kid in m y grandfather’s shop,w here I w ascrazy aboutselling toysto parents.M y favorite gam e w asto identify their needs and find the righttoy for them .The feeling ofachievem ent hasbeen firm ly planted in m y heartever since.Iw orked for the biggest com panies in the w orld as a m arketer,butatsom e pointIrealized thatI didn’tfind itm eaningfulto sellone m ore m ascara.Iw asn’tfeeling useful in society,and w asnotcreating the changesIw anted. There cam e a day w hen Ihad to visita doctor,and the processw aslike a blind date.Itseem ed so unacceptable in 2012,and Idecided to change it. Thatw asin January,and by M ay ofthe sam e year Ihad already started D octoranytim e.A friend of m ine funded the business atthe beginning. Iknew nothing aboutinternetbusiness,buthad a clear picture ofhow a proper health system should be.N ow ,Ilove w hatIdo and getvalidation w hen Ispeak to doctors w ho adm it D octoranytim e has m ade a serious change in the health system ,orw hen patientsthank usforthe care they get.Ifeelhonor,respect,and responsibility! Eleftheria,34,is proud to have disrupt- ed the health industry in G reece and Belgium w ith D octoranytim e,a com pany started in 2012 thathassince grow n to 30 em ployees.She livesin G reece and touch- esthe m ostim portantside ofhum an lives and health every day. D octoranytim e helps people identify the right doctor for them and book an appointm ent online instantly.Eleftheria has studied business in G reece and in the U SA ,and hasw orked forProcter& G am ble and L’O réal. doctoranytime.gr FROM SELLING TOYSTO DISRUPTINGTHE HEALTHSYSTEM EleftheriaZourou FounderandCEO Doctoranytime GREECE THE HUNDERT // DIGITAL HEALTH THE HUNDERT // CYBER SECURITY M y journey started in Jablonec nad N isou,a sm allcity north of Prague.Iw as quiet,pretty geeky and generally refused to follow the rules. So perhaps itisn’tsurprising thatm y corporate career in netw ork technology and radio engi- neering w asshort-lived.Ialw aysfound m yself w anting to do m y ow n thing.Inow see cyber security asa blue ocean opportunity – a race to capture m arket share.I’m driven by a sense of urgency and a m ission to protect people from hacking – the consequences of w hich can be devastating.M y team of ex-hackers know just how bad thingscan get. Som etim es w hen Ineed to clear m y m ind and regain a sense of balance,I traveldeep inside the forests and enjoy m om ents of m editation am ong the trees, m oss and stones. This pre- pares m e for the challenges ahead.A s a leader, it’s im portant that I w ake up every day ener- gized and ready to inspire m y team to go out and m ake the digitalw orld a safer place.That sense of purpose keeps m e going w hen tim es are tough.O h,and playing w ith catshelps,too. V ladka, 35, is CO O of Prague- and London-based cybersecurity start- up TeskaLabs. Founded in 2014, TeskaLabs protects individuals and enterprisesfrom m obileand IoT cyber threats. A long w ith her co-founder, V ladka steered the 15-person com - pany through tw o accelerators in 2015, including Techstars London. TeskaLabs is V ladka’s fourth startup and the biggestchallenge she’s taken on so far. teskalabs.com MEDITATION, CATSAND CYBERSECURITY H O W D O YO U RELA X ? W ithoutpeople,w ith anim als. VladkaTeskova Co-FounderandCOO TeskaLabs CZECHREPUBLIC H O W D O YO U REA CT TO O BSTA CLES? Ichallengethem ! 22
- 13. 24 THE HUNDERT // MARKETPLACE A fter eightyears in the U S,m y husband and Ideci- ded to m ove back to Turkey and raise our son closer to the restof our fam ily.W e arrived in Istanbulon a snow y Sunday,and thatw as the startofour chal- lenging relocation story. Finding a m over and a painterw assuch anegativeexperienceand Ithought there should be an easierw ay to connectw ith them online.People Iinitially spoke w ith rejected the idea, saying itw ouldn’tw ork in Turkey. Iw as offered another greatjob position and putm y idea on hold for aw hile – that is,untilour son got sick and spenttw o nights atthe hospital.Itw as the w ake-up callform e thatlife istoo shortto postpone a dream .O nce w e cam e back hom e,Itold m y hus- band,‘I’m quitting tom orrow to pursue thisidea.’H e said,‘O kay,goodnight.’A nd to everyone’s surprise, Iresigned from m y job the next m orning.It w as a choice betw een regretting nottrying and confront- ing a risk offailure.Icertainly m ade the rightchoice and haven’tlooked back since. A rm ut,m y com pany nam e,m eans ‘pear’and com es from an old Turkish saying aboutlazy people w ait- ing for som ething to happen:‘H ey pear,getripe and fallinto m y m outh!’O urm ission isto use technology to m ake iteasy to find localservice providersonline. Basak, 37, studied civil engineering at Bogazici U niversity, got her M BA from K oc, and earned an M SIM C from Loyola U niversity, Chicago. A fter a brand m an- agem entcareerm ostly in the U nited States w ith Revlon,N ielsen,and Coca-Cola,she quit her corporate career to found arm ut. com in 2011.Itisnow the leading localser- vices m arketplace in Turkey, w ith m ore than 1.2 m illion m onthly visitorsand a cus- tom ersatisfaction rate of98 percent. armut.com DON’TWAIT AROUNDFOR THEPEARTO RIPEN BasakTaspinar-Degim Co-Founder,Armut TURKEY W H A T D RIV ES YO U CR A ZY ? Prejudice.Peopleshould betreated asequalsand acknow ledged fortheir actionsand notonly be seen asA dam sand Eves ofthew orld. © Erdem Erol The desire to becom e an entrepreneur cam e to m e early and naturally,as Iw as alw ays searching for freedom .Ichose to go to university atISC Paris because Ibelieved its associative system w ould be a good w ay to startm y entrepreneurialcareer.There,Ichaired a charity called A ccède,w hich helps unem ployed people return to w orking via entrepreneurship. Before G enym obile,m y leadership experiences dealt w ith problem s that had clear solutions.But in 2011,A ndroid w as not an obvious solution for the m obile needs of businesses.M aking it one w as a real gam ble for m e personally and professionally,butentering a m arketw ith a clear issue and finding a new solution w asa risk thatIw anted to take.In orderto overcom e this challenge,I knew I needed a top notch team ,strong com pany foun- dation and excellent culture.I’ve often noticed that the best creativity at G enym obile em erges from friendships betw een colleagues.Passion,atm o- sphere and em ployee involvem ent are the keys to our grow th.W hen you enterany one ofourofficesin San Francisco,ParisorLyon,you getthe sam e m essage:m ake yourselfathom e! A ngélique isa 30-year-old entrepreneur living in San Francisco.Passionate about technology and m obility,she co-founded G enym obile in Paris in 2011 after hold- ing a business engineering position at Linagora. W ith 67 em ployees and 10,000 enterprise custom ers including Facebook,LinkedIn,Tw itter,U ber and Sam sung,G enym obile has becom e the num ber one Enterprise A ndroid solu- tion in the w orld. genymobile.com FRIENDSHIPS INSPIRECREATIVITY AngéliqueZettor Co-FounderandCEO Genymobile FRANCEW H A T IS SO M ETH IN G PEO PLE D O N ’T K N O W A B O U T YO U ? Iam passionateaboutclim bing, hoping oneday to attem ptthe ElCapitan clim b in Yosem ite. THE HUNDERT // COMPUTER SOFTWARE 25
- 14. 26 27 THE HUNDERT // MARKETINGTHE HUNDERT // TRAVEL A s a founder and CEO of Y onderbound,I’ve learned that there is only one constantin the startup w orld:change.N either the corpo- rate w orld – nor m y M BA at Colum bia U niversity – prepared m e for the roller coaster experience of m anaging a startup!From the beginning,Iknew Ihad to be flexible and resilient,m ake no assum p- tionsand testand track everything (ifw e can’tm easure it,itsim ply does notexist).Butm ostim portantly,Im ade sure to follow w hatI believed in. Theinspiration forcreatingY onderbound stem m ed from travelling– a true passion ofm ine.W orking in travelislike w orking in the hap- piness industry.W e’re at a point w here there is an abundance of inform ation on the internet,and thiscan be confusing fortravelers. W e decided to create a one-stop shop for unique trips,w hich ulti- m ately can m ake travelershappier. Iknow that Y onderbound w illinspire others to support the w on- dersoftravelw ith innovative initiatives.M y nextgoal?Convincing m y husband Roberto thatw e should geta dog. Barbara, 42, lives in M onaco and founded Y onderbound togeth- er w ith tw o co-founders in 2014. Before,she w asCM O atM SC Cruises, SV P M arketing and Sales Europe of Silversea Cruises, and spearheaded m arketing at other leading com pa- nies. Y onderbound is the w orld’s largest collection of bookable trav- el stories,having becom e a trusted m arketplace w here travelerscan buy unique experiences directly from others’stories. yonderbound.com EMBRACINGCHANGE ANDBEINGRESILIENT H O W D O YO U RELA X ? Yoga and sunshine! BarbaraMuckermann FounderandCEO Yonderbound MONACO 26 M ilda, 30, is the co-founder of V inted – the w orld’s largest pre- loved fashion m arketplace. It started asa hobby projectin 2008 and now includes11m illion m em - bers w orldw ide,from the U nited States to Europe. H eadquartered in V ilnius, Lithuania, V inted em ploys 250 people globally. V inted is M ilda’s first business. She created its concept w hile she w asstudyingculturem anagem ent. vinted.com CREATINGABUSINESS FROM ANADDICTION W H A T’S TH E FIRST TH IN G YO U D O W H EN YO U G ET H O M E FR O M W O RK ? Ilisten to m usic and takem y m ind offw ork. MildaMitkute Co-Founder,Vinted LITHUANIA © B on B on W hen Iw asa student,Ihad a seriousshopping addiction and used to spend 90 percentofm y salary on clothes.M y closetw asfullof clothes,butIstillhad nothing to w ear!In som e shops,salespeople even knew m e by nam e.The m om entoftruth cam e w hen Iw as m oving from m y native tow n to V ilnius and Ihad to review all of m y w ardrobe.Ifound around 150 item s I’d never w orn.M ost of them stillhad tags.Then,the idea of an online m arketplace forgirlslike m e popped into m y m ind.Ihad a feeling Iw asn’tthe only one in the w orld w ith this addiction.The prospectofopen- ing thousandsofothergirls’closetsseem ed am azing to m e. The idea cam e true w hen I m et Justas Janauskas, a talented developer and an old acquaintance.Itold him aboutthe idea ata party at2 a.m .First,he w asskeptical.H e couldn’tbelieve w om en had thisaddiction.N ow ,I’m happy he believed m e.W ith V inted, w e created an incredible w orldw ide m ovem entofshopping m ade personal.W e also achieved m y originaldream .
- 15. THE HUNDERT // PRODUCTIVITYTHE HUNDERT // E-COMMERCE Since I w as a little girl, m y m other taughtm e to strive for know ledge and be the best at w hatever I do.D uring m y studies,I w as devoted to em brac- ing know ledge and gotvery passionate about e-com m erce.I w as also excited about com petitions and considered them a w ay to prove m yself.Iw as 21 yearsold w hen Iw on “M ostInnovative Business Plan” in a national com pe- tition and got funding to start m y business.Fullof energy and am bition, Iw as ready to seize opportunities and dive into the business w orld.The new businessm odelofgroup buyingseem ed to be a perfectinitiatorfore-com m erce developm entin m y em erging country. I launched the leading e-com m erce site w hen less than one percentofthe population w as buying online.W here others saw obstacles,Isaw a challenge to change the e-com m erce m arket.The path w asnoteasy butevery barrierw e overcam e m ade us stronger and w iser. W ith hard w ork, a m otivated team , good organization, constant learning, support from friends and fam ily and a bit of luck,anything can be accom - plished (and itcan be fun)! Iw asborn in the 90’sin Bulgaria.These w ere very turbulenttim esof transition from a planned to m arketeconom y in w hich m any people started businesses to seize open m arket opportunities.M y m om w as one ofthese entrepreneurs,so I’ve been thinking aboutbusinessforas long asIcan rem em ber– w hetheritbe com pany nam esorrepurposing old business cards and invoices into m y ow n pretend com pany docu- m ents.Igrew up believing that w ork is not som ething that you get, but som ething you create.So naturally w hen Igraduated university and w assupposed to starta career,Icould notputm y m ind to it.A llI w anted w asto create thingsIlove w ith the people Ilike.Thisbrought m e togetherw ith K asperand Stefan,m y tw o co-founders,w ho are the m ostbrilliantpeople Iknow and w ho feltthe sam e w ay Idid.D id w e know exactly w hatw e w anted to do atthe tim e? N o.W ere w e expe- rienced enough? N o.D id everyone tellus w e w ould fail? Y es.Y et,w e didn’t,because w e follow ed a sim ple rule:do w hatyou love w ith the people you like and becom e the bestatit. SEEINGA CHALLENGE WHERE OTHERSSEE ANOBSTACLE DOWHATYOULOVE WITHTHEPEOPLE YOULIKE W H A T D O YO U LIK E TH E M O ST A B O U T YO U RSELF? M y energy and passion,positive attitude, progressiveness and liveliness. W H A T M A K ES YO U H A PPY ? Chocolate! N ina A ngelovska is a 27-year-old entrepreneur w ho launched the first dealplatform in M acedonia in 2011 and transform ed the e-com - m erce m arket. She com pleted her bachelor’s and m aster’s degrees in e-business at the Faculty of Econom ics,Ss.Cyriland M ethodius U niversity in Skopje.She is current- ly w orking on her PhD , aim ing to turn practice into science. Today, G rouper.m k is the leading e-com - m erce site in M acedonia w ith a team of15 people.grouper.mk Y ana V latchkova is the co-founder of Sw ipes, a com pany that is building a connected w ork- space for your projects across apps.Sw ipes w as founded in 2013 in D enm ark, and its six-per- son team is currently split betw een offices in Sofia,Bulgaria and Palo A lto,California.Y ana is leading the operations and creating a com pany culture focused on happiness.H erbackground is in m arketing m anagem ent. swipesapp.com NinaAngelovska Co-FounderandCEO Grouper MACEDONIA YanaVlatchkova Co-FounderandCOO,Swipes BULGARIA © Ilija Zogovski 2928
- 16. 30 31 THE HUNDERT // ADVERTORIAL NO RISK, NO FUN – NO BUSINESS KPMG’s Anne Schäfer met with Ingeborg Neumann, founder of the Peppermint Group and honorary president of the Confederation of the German Textile and Fashion Industry and Verena Pausder, founder of Fox&Sheep, to talk about female entrepreneurship in Berlin. Anne Schäfer: Ms. Neumann, you were actually working at an accountancy firm on the fast track down the career path to being partner, only to then establish your own company via the former GDR privatization agency Treuhandanstalt. What were your reasons, how did it actually come to that point? Ingeborg Neumann: I am a business administrator, first started in the US at Arthur Andersen and then made it to auditor. The German reunification came and I was sent to the Treuhand as a partner for six months. From that point on my life changed completely. This was pure entrepreneurship. Eventually six months turned into three years and privatizing was my essential task. I have noticed that I enjoy the establish- ing and designing of companies very much, crowned with the successful search for great investors. The most important thing to me was to shape something with an entrepreneurial spirit. In a public bidding process I, together with two partners, have therefore acquired five companies from our managed portfolio in the light industry, i.e. shoes, leather and textiles - a truly difficult terrain. Today my company, the Peppermint Group, produces at six locations in three countries. AS: So you are saying that you more or less stumbled into this industry? IN: Yes that is true, but it was a great fit. I like textiles, always did. Today I am also the honorary president of the Confederation of the German Textile and Fashion Industry. Textile is a material, which often expands into other branches of industry. About 60 percent of our revenue is not earned through clothing, but through textiles for aerospace, automotive engineering, medical technology, construction technology and many other innovative areas of application. AS: Verena, one could say you are a child of digitalization. You only worked in a corporation for a short period of time. What made you want to found a company so early on? Verena Pausder: My roots lie in a family of textile entre- preneurs from Bielefeld, meaning I am from a household of consummated entrepreneurs. My father is now managing our family business in the 9th generation, my mother, who is also an entrepreneur, manages her own company. I think seeing your parents constantly reinvent themselves and continue to do so every day really leaves an impression on you. Insofar I was always sure that I also wanted to do my own thing. First I studied business administration with emphasis on financ- es and controlling in St. Gallen and then proceeded to work at Munich Re, so actually a quite traditional path. But I was always tempted to put my ideas into practice. My sister and I opened a sushi restaurant in Bielefeld when we were 19 and 16 years old, though it was more of a family project. The real company founding was for Fox & Sheep – apps for kids – what I have been doing for five years now. That was my first idea I actually liked so much that I decided: now is the time to jump. AS: So you had role models in your family? VP: Yes exactly. Your own inhibition levels are much lower. Not only because of my family but rather because I am not afraid to take risks. Neither does it scare me nor do I perma- nently think about what could happen if something were to go wrong. We’ll just find another way then. The worst thing I could imagine would be to think back one day and say to my- self: Man, was my life boring, doing the same thing for forty years just to be on the safe side. That is far worse to me than to run aground three times. IN: Did you ever run aground before? VP: You bet! Once with a salad bar chain concept I saw in New York and wanted to implement here. We gave ourselves one year and said: If we are not going to launch then, we’ll stop. Twelve months later everything was done, from the concept to the recipes, up to the processes – but we didn’t have a retail space. That was back in 2004 / 2005 when Nordsee, Häagen Dazs and Kamps conquered the inner cities. We closed shop before we ever even opened it. 240.000 Euro of the 400.000 Euro investor’s money was left but we didn’t achieve anything. That was the first failure, with 25. Additionally, two years ago a company went bankrupt that I, as the managing direc- tor, was supposed to save from a threatening imbalance. That is ok though, as long as you have serious backbone and give it your best effort. I think it only gets problematic when people halfheartedly run aground and don’t learn anything from their mistakes. AS: Ms. Neumann, which qualities helped you during founding and your business activities? IN: Perhaps first also to a loss of mine: I was once president of a football club in the German second league. After the relega- tion we finally had to file for bankruptcy and on top of that I personally lost money. You asked which qualities are needed? You definitely need a willingness to take risks and a keen understanding of balanc- es and figures – with that you can calculate the opportunities and risks fairly easy. Furthermore you have to analyze and implement business models. You need a lot of curiosity and great enthusiasm, you have to learn the ropes and have passion, work hard. I take a lot of thoughts concerning work with me into the weekend, they are always there. Our motto is: Trade and Passion – these are qualities you need. AS: Did you have specific role models or mentors that helped you along your professional life? IN: I never had actual role models. I did have companions in every phase of my life that supported me. I would have never walked this path alone. AS: Do you think that entrepreneurship feels different in the various phases of life? Would you say that 20 years ago there were more restrictions and inhibitions to deal with than today? IN: Back in 2000 we went through the downswing with our first venture capital fund, which I built up independently from my textile group – we should have achieved more then. The entrepreneurs and founders of today are more advanced, more secure and know better what to expect. They also under- stand more of founding companies. Nowadays there are overall more women that are daring and confident. Nevertheless they are still too few. I also love that young people already want to found and quickly sell startups while they are still studying. That is a great breeding ground. I myself want to bring my textile group to the next generation. The appeal for me is to develop and enlarge an already existing company. AS: Verena, you founded Fox & Sheep and about one year ago you made the exit. You are still a shareholder but what has changed for you as a founder because of the sale? VP: Nothing because it is still 11 percent my company. I love the digital world for kids and it still offers so many more opportunities. This means all ideas that I have always go in the direction of digital education for children and teenagers. At the moment we are building digital workshops where we teach children programming and coding, 3D printing and design. I am thinking about establishing STEM schools with the goal of training students in STEM within a fun and sustainable environment. AS: In some industries there are not yet many women that found startups. How could that be changed? VP: I strongly believe in the power of role models. If you want to get young women to found, you have to show them how and that it works. Three and a half years ago we developed a Ladies Dinner together with KPMG at which female founders from the Berlin tech scene can meet and get to know each other. We started with 25 women and are now at 125. That is proof for me that being a good role model is more important than fulfilling a quota. AS: Ms. Neumann what advice would you give new founders? IN: You should always think of the phrase: cash is king, because it obviously takes some time to find customers and investors which often means you need more money than previously expected. You always have to make sure that enough cash is at hand. The second lesson is to make the experience that business plans never work. With these two insights I have managed to navigate quite well so far. VP: Founding a company is extremely hard and permanent work. But it is also so much fun that it doesn’t really seem like a lot of work. The rumor is spreading around in Berlin that the life of a founder is so hip and so cool and we only sit around in super food stores and work with our laptops on our knees. Yes, that might be the brainstorming session for startup ideas with the salary from the last job, but it doesn’t really reflect reality. IN: I agree completely but would like to add something: when you look at the Berlin startup scene you see a lot of “me too” mentality, meaning successful ideas are often imitated or cop- ied. I on the other hand believe in the outstanding importance of disruptive innovations and business models, even if no one likes to hear this term anymore. These new ideas may fail and they need a lot of time but they eventually bring us forward because they change the world for the better. This doesn’t only concern the startup scene but also the established industry. The question is how do you breathe fresh new life into those industries? That is a big topic for our medium-sized enterpris- es and also for me personally. From left to right: Ingeborg Neumann, Verena Pausder and Anne Schäfer
- 17. 33 THE HUNDERT // SEGMENTTHE HUNDERT // ADVERTORIAL AS: Both of you aren’t here in Berlin by accident. Here is a vast startup scene, mutually inspiring each other. Is that enough? What is missing in Berlin? VP: A lot of what happened here has model character, even internationally. Up until a couple of years ago one may have still derided it as a hype but now Berlin is a successful startup ecosystem. It works because the next person I can talk to is right around the corner. Because of that the inhibition towards founding a startup declines. Berlin is now also internationally relevant, just last year we superseded London in terms of venture capital – two or three years ago that was inconceiv- able. Meanwhile I could list 30 companies that are extremely relevant and market-leading in their respective fields. IN: Moreover, many international teams are here. They found startups because of highly diverse reasons and I think that is great. It works despite a lack of or poor policy frameworks. For example, the Federal Government still hasn’t brought the Venture Capital Act forward, even though it is extremely im- portant for funds. Fundraising outside of the IT sector is still very difficult. I myself am involved in this sector and manage two funds. The Venture Capital Act would really help here. But I am not one to only cry for policies – the entrepreneurs should take the first step. AS: Verena, if you could change two things from the general conditions of founders, what would those be? VP: First of all I would let specialists come to Germany, procure them actively, roll out the red carpet for them at the airport if someone wants to come here. Despite the Blue Card it is still extremely difficult to get non-European specialists into Germany. They are missing here - we are training too few and in actuality don’t even have an answer to the issue of skills shortage. Secondly, investing in education, and I mean in every area of it. I don’t think that we reflect the reality of our future living and working environment at our schools. We are a country with a higher average age and skills shortage, therefore we should do everything in our power to properly train our children. AS: Ms. Neumann, is this also a topic of discussion for you? IN: Yes, we have to better convey in our schools what economy actually is. Our economy is the backbone of our prosperity. At the moment education is far too narrow. A certain variety is extremely important, a more interdisciplinary approach paired with the conveyance of the vast cultural diversity that widens our horizons and enables creativity. AS: The key word is creativity – it is essential for both of your companies, as well as your employees and yourself. How do you encourage that? IN: Of course here in Berlin we don’t have time clocks, we offer an independent time management and have no problems with home office work, especially for parents. For me personally a fixed workplace is important though, especially for the per- sonal exchange. This will be a topic in the digital world: I like talking to people. This gives me new energy and new ideas. At Peppermint we like to venture into various areas, for example fine arts and music, and in this way try to produce creativity. Contemporary art is hanging on our walls – not calendars. AS: What do your employees think about that? IN: They love it. You just feel the energy that art can have. We also like to regularly go on guided museum tours with our managerial staff. These effects cannot be measured but I am sure that it produces creativity. AS: So the physical work place does play a role? VP: Not really in our case. What brings us together is the feeling of creating something new, that hasn’t been done before. Despite different time zones the spark ignites. In the end this feeling unites us that we created something now available on the homepages of 135 App Stores around the world. The great advantage of this working style is: you don’t have to necessar- ily find someone at your present location, you just have to find the best – no matter where they are. EIN KLICK– UND DIE GUTE MUSIK HÖRT NIE MEHR AUF.* *ES SEI DENN, DU DRÜCKST ”STOP” HOLT EUCH JETZT DIE NEUE APP VON FLUXFM! KOSTENLOS FÜR ANDROID UND iOS. 32
- 18. 34 35 THE HUNDERT // EMPLOYEE RELOCATIONTHE HUNDERT // SPORTS Itook a leap offaith and becam e a founderoutofsheercuriosity.I w anted to do som ething new and see w hatthe w orld ofentrepre- neurship could offer m e.Ididn’t quite know w hat Iw as getting m yself into,but that w as part of the fascination.Iw asn’t afraid and prepared m yselfto learn on the go.Because Iw as stilla stu- dent,m y studies had to be put on hold for m e to focus fully on starting a com pany.A lthough raising m oney istypically an issue for founders in the beginning,w e w ere lucky to get backed by top-tier investorsquite early on.Thisgave usthe chance to start scaling ourbusinessquickly. The people I’ve m etover the years ofbeing a founder have been m y biggestinfluences.I’ve had the pleasure ofw orking w ith and gaining support from som e of our experienced investors,w ho have been an invaluable help in sharing their entrepreneur- ship expertise.Ibelieve it is very im portant to absorb as m uch inform ation from others as possible. Everyone has their ow n experiences,and w ith those experiences their unique ideas and thoughts.These m entors have increased m y understanding of entrepreneurship in itsm any form sand putm e on the rightpath to successw ith m y ow n com pany. Brynne is 32 years old and based in both London and San Francisco.She is the found- er and CEO of M O V E G uides, the leading provider of tech and services for em ployee relocation.M O V E G uidesbegan in 2011during Brynne’sM BA atLondon BusinessSchool.The com pany now has over 100 em ployees,oper- ates across four offices w orldw ide, and has raised m ore than $25 m illion in totalV C fund- ing.Brynne also holds a BA in H istory from Y ale U niversity. moveguides.com ABSORBASMUCH INFORMATION FROM OTHERS ASPOSSIBLE!H O W D O YO U D EA L W ITH STRESS? By going to the gym to train w ith m y friends. EmmaHuovinen Co-FounderandCEO MyNextRun FINLAND M oving around regularly during m y years w orking as an investm ent banker caused m e a lot of frustration.I founded M O V E G uides after a particularly challenging m ove from A sia to London to startm y M BA program atLondon BusinessSchool. A t that point,I w as determ ined to m ake m oving easier for everyone.W ith a clear vision in m ind,Ibegan M O V E G uides. It w as exciting to em bark on this journey and stare dow n at the face of uncertainty. I didn’t know if m y vision w as valid or crazy,or if Icould m ake it happen.But Ihad confidence in m yselfand knew thatIw ould do everything possible to m ake ita reality. The idea hassince evolved to transform notonly the w ay indi- vidualsrelocate around the w orld,butalso the w ay com panies m anage and m ove their globaltalent– from new hires to proj- ectsto expatriates. N ow adays,I am constantly back and forth betw een our tw o headquarters in London and San Francisco.Iget m y strength from m y strong team ,supportersand m entors.They encourage and inspire m e to m ake M O V E G uidesa success. Em m a, 29, lives in H elsinki and w as a student at the H elsinki School of Econom ics and an e-com m erce entrepre- neur. In 2010, she founded M yN extRun, the online destination for running. M yN extRun helps runners to discover their next running adventure by listing over 10,000 running events w orldw ide in a calendar. M yN extRun also provides running-related content such as articles, blogsand socialm edia coverage. mynextrun.com MAKINGAMOVE ONSUCCESSWITH ACLEARVISION W H A T IS SO M ETH IN G PEO PLE D O N ’T K N O W A B O U T YO U ? Iw asa form er elitelevel gym nastforthe U nited States. BrynneHerbert FounderandCEO MOVEGuides UNITEDKINGDOM © M aija Saarem a © C laire B eckenstein
- 19. 36 37 THE HUNDERT // DATA VISUALIZATION Before Infogram ,Iw asdoing design projectsin differentfields– both in agenciesand asa free- lancer.W hen Ifounded a startup,Irealized the bestthing aboutw orking on itis thatno m an- agers,bosses or clients are involved w hen you bring youridea to life!Itw asjustm e. The Infogram idea w as born w hen tw o of the three founders w ere w orking for the biggest m edia com pany in the Baltics.Creation ofdata visualization w as on their daily agenda,and at som e pointw e realized thatthisprocessshould be autom ated.Changesin the industry encour- aged it,too.M edia m oved from printto digital, a w orld in w hich the m essage m ustbe visually im pressive in order to capture readers’atten- tion.That’sw here Infogram cam e in. A partfrom truly believing in the dem ocratiza- tion ofdata visualization,Igotinspired by the startup com m unity.It is built around sharing know ledge and helping each other to becom e successful.Iw asa bitafraid to quiteverything, and Ihad to jum p into the unknow n,butevery victory thatInfogram w on – including prizesin conferencesand trustfrom thefirstcustom ers– encouraged m e to continue. A lise,28,is the co-founder of Infogram ,a data visualization platform that brings out the best in data.Infogram started in 2012 and has since grow n to a team of30 people.Infogram isbased in Riga and hasofficesin San Francisco and Sydney. A lise’s background is in graphic design,and her passion for digital products led her to m aster’s studiesin hum an-com puterinteraction. infogr.am ONLY YOUCAN BRINGYOUR IDEATOLIFE H O W D O YO U RELA X ? By getting aw ay from screensofallsizesand being offline. AliseSemjonova Co-Founder,Infogram LATVIA Starting a businessw asinevitable form e,asboth ofm y parentsare very entrepreneurialand thatspiritw aspassed dow n to m e and m y tw o sisters.The three ofusoften talked aboutw orking together,and in 2012 w e took that leap w hen w e co-founded Prow lster,w hich eventually grew into O psh. O ur love for online shopping led us to build a shopping “nirvana”– a single destination w here every brand,productand piece ofcontent w ascatered to thetastes,interests,pricepointsand sizesofourfem ale audience.In short,w em adea platform w ew ould liketo useourselves! Building a business is terrifying.Y ou have to w ear m ultiple hats at once and rapidly learn new languages and w ork processes (legal, financing,investm ent,technical,operational,staffing).A lthough, thatis allpartofbeing an entrepreneur and you m usthave a w ill- ingnessto learn and adapt.M y businessm otivationscom e from m y fam ily and the incredible team w e have builtatO psh.M y personal recipe forsuccessisto have the utm osttrustin yourfounding team . D o the research,so thatyou can be unw avering in your vision.A sk forhelp and offerhelp,and don’tforgetto celebrate the m ilestones! Jennie,32,is the co-founder and CEO ofO psh along w ith her tw o sisters,Sarah and Grace.Jennie studied at the London College of Fashion and hasam aster’sdegree in A rts M anagem ent. She has w orked across m ultiple indus- tries in business developm ent roles.O psh is the third venture from theM cGinn sisters,w ho are serialentrepreneurs. opsh.com RESEARCH, WORK HARDAND CELEBRATETHEWINS! W H A T G IV ES YO U PO W ER? N ottaking N O foran answ er. JennieMcGinn Co-FounderandCEO,Opsh IRELAND THE HUNDERT // E-COMMERCE © A lex H uchinson © Filips Sm its
- 20. THE HUNDERT // DIGITAL HEALTHTHE HUNDERT // SUSTAINABILITY Iam originally a particle physicist,and m aybe still am at heart.A fter discovering the H iggs boson,Iquitm y job and sw itched fieldsto w om - en’s reproductive health to develop the sm art algorithm behind N aturalCycles – a com pany Ico-founded togetherw ith m y husband. W e started the com pany due to ourow n needs. W e w ere looking for a safe and user friendly natural birth control, and there w asn’t one on the m arket. By analyzing w om en’s body tem peratures,the N atural Cycles m obile app identifies fertile days for the purposes ofboth preventing and planning pregnancy. In the beginning,I w as excited and terrified at the sam e tim e.Ithink there isalm ostnothing m ore incredible and fun than creating your ow n business and productfrom scratch and reveal- ing itto the w orld.A big challenge for m e as a founder w as to accept that at som e point you have to delegate responsibility to others and give up som e control.To grow a businessm eans thatyou w illnotbe able to do everything your- self;you have to allow otherpeople to w ork for you,even ifthey approach thingsdifferently. Elina,32,is a particle physicist w ho w orked for six years at the CERN laboratory in Sw itzerland. She w as one of the leading researchers w ho discovered the H iggs boson, w hich led to a N obelPrize in physicsin 2013. Today she isthe co-founderofN aturalCycles, a natural birth control app.She w on m ulti- ple aw ards for her w ork,including W om an in Tech 2015. In February 2016, Elina w as nam ed one of the m ost pow erful business- w om en in Sw eden. naturalcycles.com FROM PARTICLES TOPREGNANCY PLANNING ElinaBerglundScherwitzl Co-FounderandCTO NaturalCycles SWEDEN W H A T IN SPIRES YO U ? A llthepow erfuland w onderfulw om en in the w orld.Itisa greatprivilege to w ork w ith som ething every day thataffects w om en’slives. W hat do you really need for a good life? This is the question that started everything for m e.W ith clim ate change and allthe w asted resources in the w orld,Iw as alw ays convinced thatthings can’tgo on like this.ButIw aslacking a clearalternative forw hatIcould offer to really m ake things different.W hen Christian cam e up w ith the idea ofa fully self-sustained living unitcalled a ‘W ohnw agon’,Iw as im m ediately fascinated by the concept.W e both envisioned m ore than just a product,but a politicaland philosophicalstatem ent on how living in the future could be m ore clim ate friendly – and fun! Building this com pany w as not a w alk in the park,but I’ve alw ays been convinced it is the right thing to do.Together w ith our team and a greatnetw ork,w e alw aysfound w aysto m ake thingshappen. W e are now looking to scale our idea and have started building an online platform for sustainable and independent living,w here you can buy separate parts and m odules of the W ohnw agon.W e w ant to inspire people and m ake possible new w ays of self-sustainable, naturalliving. Theresa,26,studied com m unication and econom ic m anagem entin V ienna.She started herfirstcom - pany,an agency for com m unication and design,at the age of21.A businesspartner,Christian Frantal, cam eup w ith theidea ofW ohnw agon and Theresa notonly becam e its firstbig fan,butalso the CEO and co-founder. They started W ohnw agon in M arch 2013.Today they w ork in a team often peo- ple and sellW ohnw agonsallacrossEurope. wohnwagon.at RETHINK LIVING TheresaSteininger Co-FounderandCEO Wohnwagon AUSTRIA W H A T IS SO M ETH IN G PEO PLE D O N ’T K N O W A B O U T YO U ? Ireally used to struggle w ith netw orking and talking to strangersatthe beginning,butIgrew w ith thechallengeand loveto connectw ith othersnow . 3938 © Thom as Topf
- 21. 40 41 THE HUNDERT // INTERNET OF THINGS M y journey started w hen I w as 22 years old studying at the U niversity of Zagreb and w orking on m H ealth solutions in the CEE region. I w ent through a fam ily health situation during w hich I observed som ething interesting about the health system :Even w ith am azing doctors,oftentim es a patient’s em otionalstate is neglected even though itis highly correlated to the outcom e oftreatm ent. W e decided to explore thisarea and create ourow n solution – one thatw ould approach the patientin a friendly,soothing w ay. M y decision to be an entrepreneurw asvery uncon- ventional,asIw asthe firstin m y fam ily to receive a college education.Being an entrepreneur seem ed like a less reputable and secure option com pared to being em ployed in the public sector. A part from that,the sector Iw anted to join w as partial- ly undeveloped w ith lim ited access to capital.M y tools w ere a book and any inform ation available online.But m y m otivation w as stronger than all the obstacles,and Teddy The G uardian is now a com pany trusted by investorsand custom ersalike. I’ve learned to carefully choose m y battles,because building a com pany isa m arathon – nota sprint. D uring an internship at a m anagem ent consultancy,m y boss once said to m e,“w e w elcom e you here, but you should really becom e a founder.”Five years later,after I’d held various positions at BCG and Rocket Internet/G roupon,he turned outto be right. The idea for A m orelie developed in 2012. O ne day,m y good acquaintance,Sebastian, told m e aboutan online shop for design fur- niture and accessoriesselling huge am ounts of vibrators.I,in turn,told him about m y journey from M unich to Berlin during w hich I’d noticed m any people reading 50 ShadesofG rey,basically erotic literature,in public!Som ething w aschanging in oursoci- ety.Thisw asan epiphany form e. U ntilnow ,people haven’thad a com fortable place to shop for articles for their love life w ithoutfeeling uneasy orgoing undercover w hile entering a dodgy sex shop.W e decid- ed to revolutionize sensuality and sexuality and push the quality to a higher level.W e w antpeople to appreciate their ow n bodies and the bodies ofother,and indulge in that appreciation.This is a vision Ifeelstrongly about,w hich allow s m e to w ork hard daily to achieve greatthingsforA m orelie. Josipa is the founder and CEO ofID G uardian,a London- based com pany thatanalyzes biom etric data and creates sm artdevices w ith biosensors,helping people and com - panies w orldw ide to take care of their overall health. Josipa is the m ain visionary behind ID G uardian’s prod- uctsand overallstrategy,w hich w asrecently recognized by Fortune 100 clients globally and TIM E M agazine as one ofthe m ostinnovative productsofthe year. teddytheguardian.com Lea-Sophie,28,istheco-founderofA m orelie, an online shop foryourlove life established in January 2013.The com pany now counts 90 em ployees. Lea-Sophie w as previously V ice President,A sia at G roupon.She also sits on the board ofConrad Electronics and founded Starstrike V entures, a com pany that supports and invests in other young foundersand theirstartup ideas. amorelie.com UTILIZETHE TOOLSYOU HAVEINFRONT OFYOU,EVEN IFTHEY ARE LIMITED CREATINGA REVOLUTION WITHASTRONG VISION W H A T’S TH E FIRST TH IN G YO U D O W H EN YO U G ET H O M E FR O M W O RK ? Considerifm y team and I spenttheday w orking on the m ostim portantthings. W H A T W O U LD YO U D O IF YO U H A D M O RE SPA RE TIM E? Traveling thew orld. JosipaMajic CEOandFounder,IDGuardian CROATIA Lea-SophieCramer Co-FounderandManaging Director,Amorelie GERMANY © G oran R usm ir THE HUNDERT // E-COMMERCE
- 23. 44 W hen Iw aslittle,m y parentsalw aystold m e that I have to becom e independent. In 2010, I founded A ppticles alongside tw o university colleagues w ith w hom I’d previously founded an outsourcing business. W e w ere the first Rom anian startup to join the firstStartupbootcam p accelerator in Europe. M y co-found- ers and Ipacked our bags and m oved to Copenhagen for three m onths, w hich w as a roller coaster of em otions and a greatlearning experience. Ipersonally m ade a lotofm istakesalong the w ay,hesitating to m onetize the prod- uctand w orking w ith people w ho didn’t belong in a startup.Investors and m en- torsgave usa lotofadvice,butIrealized thatm y co-foundersand Iw ere the ones w ho w ere pushing thisbusinessforw ard and knew best w hat had to be done. Being your ow n boss is m ore w ork than fun but the grow th opportunities and potentialoutcom es are too attractive for m e to ignore.I realize I stillhave m uch to learn, and hopefully, this tim e next year,Iw illhave plenty m ore interesting storiesto share. A lexandra, 32, is the co-founder and CTO at A ppticles. She has a technical background and pre- viously ow ned an outsourcing com pany.She is passionate about startups and entrepreneurship, and likes to get involved in vari- ous activities to help w om en w ith careers in com puter program m ing. A ppticles.com is an SaaS platform that helps online publishers bet- ter target their m obile audience by packaging their content into m obile and tabletapplications. appticles.com BEINGYOUR OWNBOSSIS TOOATTRACTIVE TOIGNORE AlexandraAnghel Co-FounderandCTO Appticles ROMANIA W H A T D O YO U H O PE FO R TH E FU TU RE? G row th,success,happiness. THE HUNDERT // BIOTECH W hen Iw as a kid,Iw anted to be a scientist and w as very good at m ath.I follow ed that passion,studied m athem atics and earned m y PhD in m olecular evolution and bioinform at- ics.W orking at the university,Irealized that thiskind ofscience probably only reachesoth- er scientists and not consum ers.I w anted to m ake m y research m ore functional. The real transform ation in m y career cam e w hen I realized that food m olecules contain a trem endous am ount of health benefits. I decided to focus m y research on food devel- opm ent and food evolution.W hen Isaw that people couldn’tdo w hatIw as doing,and that com panies – w hether food, pharm aceutical or cosm etics – w ere looking for these kinds of ingredients,I decided to leave university and found N uritas. It took m e m ore than a yearto m ake thisdecision ofleaving a safe job and industry,one in w hich Iw as recognized w orldw ide, and venture into the unknow n. ButIneverregretted m y decision. Starting your ow n com pany forces you to learn a lot about yourself. O ne of the m ost im portantthingsIalw aysprom ised m yselfis, ‘D on’t settle for less.’Y ou w on’t reach G oogle status right aw ay,but don’t let others say it’s im possible. I w as told that quite often but alw ayscontinued to m ove forw ard. Textby Paulina B aginska,shefounded.com N ora is an aw ard-w inning speaker and highly published m athem atician and scientist,living in D ublin.H er innova- tive inventions have been recognised by the likes of Forbes,W ired,and the EU com m ission.In 2014 N ora founded N uritas,the firstcom pany in the w orld introducing artificialintelligence to the food arena w ith the aim ofcreating the future of health by discovering new disease-beating m olecules from food. Today N uritasem ploys13 people. nuritas.com DON’TSETTLE FORLESS! NoraKhaldi FounderandCSO Nuritas IRELAND H O W D O YO U REA CT TO O BSTA CLES? Bring them on! © Fred M acG regor 45 THE HUNDERT // PUBLISHING ´
- 24. 46 47 THE HUNDERT // COWORKINGS EUROPEANCOWORKINGS ThankstoourEuropeanCoworkingPartners,theHundertwillbeavailable toreadersalloverEurope. Oslo, Norway657 Oslo is a coworking space that offers a place for freelancers, entrepreneurs and businesses within the creative industries and communication industry to work. We have about 180 people spread over 86 companies at six floors in Fredensborgveien 24 D. As a mem- ber at 657 Oslo you will get access to a unique network, mentoring programs, maker space, photo studio and invitations to our events. 657.no Rome, ItalyCowo|360 is a comfortable personal space in an open environment that goes beyond the traditional idea of „the office“; there are desks for nomad or fixed workers, an event and a meeting room, as well as a kitchen for lunch break. Every month it’s possible to participate at networking and training events.coworkingroma.com Kyiv, UkraineFounded in 2012, Chasopys is the intellectual, business and cultural space for work, meetings, events and development, located in the heart of Kyiv, Ukraine. To us coworking is all about people and a good infrastructure.chasopys.ua Lisbon, PortugalCoworklisboa first opened in 2010 and is a reference among the new shared workplaces in beautiful Lisbon. Ana and Fernando manage this space in the only way they know: with their hearts. It’s not about work anymore! Designers, scientists, translators, programmers, architects, photographers and marketeers are the ingredients of a great creative and collaborative broth. coworklisboa.pt Poznan, PolandInspiration Avenue is a place for busi- ness and education but above all, a place created out of the desire to build relationships between people. We attach great value to the atmosphere. On 170 sqm on two levels, our guests find 21 workplaces, conference rooms, private rooms, virtual offices and a chillout zone for inspiration, reflec- tion and relaxation.cowalski.pl Helsinki, FinlandHUB13 is a leading independent startup hub with office, meeting and learning spaces in downtown Helsinki. Entrepreneurs need all the help they can get – before money, it’s practical advice and a great place to work. That’s what our coworking spaces are designed for. We produce branded trainings and events to help corporations understand and take advantage of disruptive industries. hub13.fi www.coworklisboa.pt www.coworklisboa.pt Stockholm, SwedenImpact Hub Stockholm is a collaborative workspace where the collective action of its diverse members accelerates inspiration into realization- creating a sustain- able impact in the local community and far beyond. Part business incubator, part innovation lab, and part social enterprise community, we offer you a unique ecosystem of resources, inspiration and collaboration opportunities to maximize the impact of your business and projects.impacthub.se Budapest, HungaryKubik coworking provides an inspir- ing atmosphere on nearly 400 m2 in the heart of Budapest. It offers workstations, fully equipped offices, meeting rooms, an auditorium, show- ers for bikers, a café and even more. Flexible services include legal and accounting assistance.kubik.hu Istanbul, TurkeyAn interaction and creativity platform that gathers an interdisciplinary network of designers, makers, entre- preneurs and more under one roof. It is a new generation workspace where members can explore their innovative potential through collaborative work, experiential classes and workshops. With a strong technology infrastructure and a dedicated team, we seek to offer the best experience for our visitors. atolyeistanbul.co Wrocław, PolandIdeaPlace is a professional coworking space for entrepreneurial, dynamic, creative and independent people, located in the heart of Wrocław. We truly implement the idea of cowork- ing, thereby allowing companies to freely develop their ideas in a produc- tive environment. All you have to do is to bring your notebook and your mobile phone along - we will try to do the rest for you!ideaplace.pl Vienna, AustriaLoffice is a new-generation office where the creative- and the business world meet. It incorporates working, network- ing and relaxing, making it a place where everyone finds the space best suited to their activity. They are characterized by an industrial design, recycled furniture, environmental awareness, ergonomy and integrating contemporary art into the work environment. You can also find us in Budapest!wien.lofficecoworking.com Tel Aviv, IsraelMundspace offers an unique co-work- ing experience on 6.000m² of stylish and inspiring workplaces in top locations in Tel Aviv. Our beautiful and inspiring workspaces are crafted for teams of all sizes, from entrepre- neurs to early-stage startups to small businesses. With stunning meeting rooms, communal kitchens, dedicated services and curated design, you’ll love your new coworking space. mindspace.me Amsterdam, Netherlands An inspiring place for people who want to work, meet, learn, connect and find solutions for the world’s most pressing issues. Located in a beautiful restored schoolbuilding at the heart of the city, embedded into a global network of people and places dedicated to driving positive change, filled with all the tools and trimmings needed to realize impactful ideas and develop new ventures. #co-working #accelerator #growthamsterdam.impacthub.net Sofia, Bulgariabetahaus Sofia has made a big name in the startup ecosystem in Bulgaria and is widely used as a synonym to coworking. Since the very beginning we host, educate and boost a new generation of leaders. We have a pow- erful web of affluent partnerships with coworking spaces around the world, with leaders in the VC industry and in media & technology sectors. Currently we host over 200 members on a daily basis and welcome more than 1500 guests in our cafeteria and event spaces each month. betahaus.bg
- 25. 48 49 THE HUNDERT // COWORKINGS Barcelona, SpainMOB is a collaborative community where professionals in the fields of creativity, innovation and entre- preneurship share space to generate content. We promote real life practice of innovative ideas and new dynamics and implement them by providing tools in the form of the newest maker technologies, skill-sharing workshops, and open-sourced knowledge sharing. mob-barcelona.com Vienna, AustriaIn the 19th century, a blacksmith found his working space among these ancient factory walls in the heart of Vienna. Since 2007, it is again a place to forge - ideas and entrepreneurship! 50 businesses and entrepreneurs share a working, learning and developing space. A space that forms a growing network of like-minded people, a homely atmosphere to work in and an inspiring community to be part of. rochuspark.at Paris, FranceMutinerie offers independents work- ers and entrepreneurs a stimulating place to work and an ecosystem to help them be free but not isolated. Creative minds will find resources but also superb networks and skills. We offer a workstation, a meeting room, a kitchen, a living room and many services. Come and join us, you’ll soon know if Mutinerie fits your needs. mutinerie.org Sofia, BulgariaSOHO provides easy and flexible access to a fully equipped workplace for freelancers, entrepreneurs and professionals from the creative sector. Renting a desk, an office or an event space also comes with value-added business services and opportunities for professional development, cultural enrichment and relaxation – all happening “at home”. soho.bg Copenhagen, Denmark Republikken is a creative co-working space for freelancers and small busi- nesses that offers an array of services and facilitated knowledge sharing in a vibrant professional network in the heart of Vesterbro. Over 125 members working independently in individual companies with architecture, graphic and furniture design, coding, engineer- ing, media, journalism and more. republikken.net Bratislava, SlovakiaThe premiere place for startups in Slovakia. We built a space for cre- ative and innovative people with an entrepreneurial spirit to cooperate, get educated, help each other and get inspired. We help them start their businesses and constantly encourage them to higher goals. We are home to more than 70 creative and ambi- tious people on 750 m2 of space in the heart of the city. And of course we offer good coffee!thespot.sk spot the Vienna, AustriaStockwerk Coworking offers 55 desks on 3 floors, partially air conditioned, 2 kitchens, the finest event space in town, 3 meeting rooms and table tennis! Our location is a beautiful old building close to Westbahnhof railway station. It’s a meeting point, coworking and event space and a sec- ond home to many different people, organizations and companies. stockwerk.co.at Athens, GreeceThe Cube stands out as a hub of innovation and ‘the place’ to be and hang out for the do-ers of our city. We bring together people who are open to new ideas, love innovation and seek change through applicable initiatives. Throughout the seven floors of the building we provide offices, meeting rooms, seminar rooms, a workshop and an event space.thecube.gr Milano, ItalyTalent Garden is the first international network of coworking spaces with a focus on digital. In our 12 campuses, we bring together tech/digital/creative entrepreneurs, freelancers, startups, companies and all the digital ecosys- tem members to meet, work, learn and collaborate with each other in a cre- atively designed work environment. milano.talentgarden.org Amsterdam, Netherlands The Thinking Hut is the new and fresh creative co-working space in Amsterdam. These 500sqm once filled with horses have been renovated to re-open doors to a collaborative work environment where different people can feel comfortable working on their own projects, while having the possibil- ity of sharing, engaging and in essence, creating together with others. thethinkinghut.com London, UKTechHub is the global community for tech entrepreneurs. It is a unique en- vironment where technology startups can start up faster. We nurture an international network of like-minded and focused tech entrepreneurs, pro- viding places where they can work, meet, collaborate, network, learn and have fun. By getting the right people together in a physical space, good things happen.techhub.com Riga, LatviaThe Mill Riga is hottest developers and designers space in the heart of Riga. It is a coworking and event space for new success and collaboration between industries in order to create greater value and fast growing ventures. Developers, programmers, designers and business minded people in one place.millriga.com London, United Kingdom Innovation Warehouse is a coworking accelerator based above the historic Smithfield Market. As well as supplying coworking space, we also provide men- toring, training and investment to high growth digital startups. Every day, over 200 entrepreneurs, angels and mentors work together in our community. innovationwarehouse.org
- 27. 52 THE HUNDERT // PR SOFTWARETHE HUNDERT // E-COMMERCE I com e from an entrepreneurial and creative fam ily. M y m other is an artist and m y parents ow n a business in the furniture indus- try.This had a big influence on m e in becom ing an entrepreneur. Starting m y ow n business w as a very logicalthing to do,asIlove to be creative m yself.Idesigned and m adequitea bitoffurniturein m y tim e,w hich Iproudly show case in m y ow n living room .Ioften visit design fairs,butnoticed thatafter the fairs are over,the sm all and unique designers often disappear. This is how Crow dyhouse w as born;Iw anted to give designersa platform to show case their w ork atany tim e. W hat Ilike m ost about m y start- up is com bining the creative w ith the business aspects,and helping other designersselltheir w ork all over the w orld.M y biggeststrug- gle starting m y ow n com pany w as finding a good balance betw een m y personaland professionallife. There w as a point w hen every- thing w as about Crow dyhouse and itconsum ed m e atallhoursof the day.O f course that passion is a good thing,butyou also need to be able to step back and putthings into perspective.Istarted to play a lotofsports and m ade an effort to see m y friends m ore often. N ow that I’ve found this balance, itactually helps m e run m y com - pany m ore efficiently. Before starting Prow ly,I ran m y ow n PR agency and never understood w hy our industry didn’tem brace new technology.A longside m y colleague, Sebastian,I decided to build a tool that w ould m ake m y PR job easier. Iw asn’tsure ifthe industry w as ready to em brace such a tool,butProw ly w as a solution based on realneeds.Fortunately,Sebastian m ade sure the softw are w orked.O ur friends and PR pros offered to testProw ly before it w asreleased and provided useful,constructive feedback.A llthatm ade m e confidentitw ould w ork. Prow ly is m y firststartup.Iconstantly need to learn new things and find new paths.The sam e goes for the team – w e allneed to learn extrem ely fast,otherw ise w e w ould stop grow ing.The hardestpartofrunning a tech startup is this neverending race againsttim e – butno m atter w hat,if you believe in your productand your people,you should never give up.This is the advice m y father gave m e.K eep doing w hat you started and don’t be afraid to fail,asw ith every failure there com esnew know ledge. STARTUPLIFEIS ABALANCINGACT ALIFEOF CONSTANT LEARNINGAND ADAPTING W H A T D O YO U LIK E TH E M O ST A B O U T YO U RSELF? M y m ix betw een business and creativity. W H A T A RE YO U PA SSIO N A TE A B O U T? W atersportsand travels– w hen I’m not atw ork,you can m eetm ekitesurfing in som eexotic placesaround thew orld. Suzan is 30 years old and lives in A m sterdam . She studied psychiatric nursing,and after a short careerin healthcare,sheco-founded Crow dyhouse in 2013 alongside M ark Studholm e.Crow dyhouse is the prem ier (launch)platform and m arketplace for the w orld’s best designers and m akers.Team Crow dyhouse counts seven full-tim e em ployees. Suzan is responsible for the designer com m unity and operations. crowdyhouse.com Joanna, 30, from W arsaw , Poland, co-founded Prow ly in M ay 2013 w ith the goalofsolving the needsofthePR industry.Today,Prow ly em ploys17 peopleand operatesglobally from officesin Poland and the U S. The com pany w orks w ith brands like Spotify,IKEA and H ill+Know lton Strategies. Joanna graduated in Journalism and European StudiesatU niversity ofW arsaw . prowly.com SuzanClaesen Co-FounderandCOO Crowdyhouse NETHERLANDS JoannaDrabent Co-FounderandCEO,Prowly POLAND © Filip K lim aszew ski 53
- 28. 54 55 THE HUNDERT // AGRITECH THE HUNDERT // FOOD Sim ple m em ories from m y childhood ended up having a huge im pacton m y life.Iused to pick outbad grainsfrom the bunch before m y m om cooked porridge.Surprisingly,years later,people are still having to m anually sort out contam i- nated grains.In fact,this causes a 25 percent loss of harvest each year.Such lossesare notsustainable.M oreover,there isa grow ing dem and forhealthierand betterquality food. I’ve alw ays setm yselfvery am bitious goals and w orked hard for them .Idid itbecause Iknew they w ould help m e m ake a positive contribution to society,w hich isim portantfor m e to feelcom plete in life.In 2010,asa studentatZurich U niversity, Ididn’t m iss m y chance to be a part of an exciting founder’s journey.Today,our team at Q ualySense is w orking passion- ately to deploy our invention w orldw ide w ith the goal of im proving quality offood and solving the w aste problem . M y biggestchallenge isstillahead ofm e.Taking opportunities and trying m y bestare the principlesruling m y life,and they are the reasonsI’ve achieved allm y pastgoals.Ibelieve these qualitiesare essentialforany entrepreneur. O lga, 27, is co-founder of Q ualySense, a Sw iss com pany aim ing to im prove qual- ity and reduce w aste of food w orldw ide. The com pany is developing and m arketing unique and proprietary devices for sorting grains,seedsand beansby biochem icaland visualproperties at a high speed.W ith an education in econom ics, O lga co-founded Q ualySense in 2010. Today, the com pany hasa fast-grow ing,m ulticulturalteam of22 highly m otivated people. qualysense.com ASINGLEMEMORY CAN GUIDEYOUFORALIFETIME H O W D O YO U REA CT TO O BSTA CLES? Isortthem out. OlgaPeters Co-FounderandCFO QualySense SWITZERLAND A nita,36,is the co-founder and food technologist of the Sofia-based Roo Brands. Before she created the alter- native energy bar, Roobar, in 2012, A nita studied graphic design and had a professional background in the food industry as co-ow ner of an organ- ic store and a vegan deli cafe.Today, her com pany has 75 em ployees and Roobar is the European leader in the organicraw food barcategory,reaching 46 countrieson fourcontinents. roobar.com A turning point in m y life cam e during m y second pregnancy,w hen Ibecam e vegetarian and enthusias- tic aboutnutrition and a healthy lifestyle.W orking as a freelance designer w asn’tenough anym ore.M y hus- band and Iopened the firstorganicstore in Sofia,w here I created a three ingredient energy bar for m y kids. People loved it,and Iim m ediately w anted to share m y sw eets w ith the w orld.Ihad discovered a niche prod- uctthatIcould im prove.In order to m ake thishappen, w e found one m ore businesspartnerto join us. Com ing from a fam ily of entrepreneurs,Iknow n that Ihave to dream big and be patientto succeed.M y big- gestchallenge w asto break the habitofw orking on m y ow n.A llow ing m yself to connect w ith the right part- nersled to Roobar’sfastsuccess. I’m very detail-oriented in m y w ork,including business concept,recipes and design.N ow Itend to look at the bigger picture,stay authentic and focus on m y talents by doing m ore of w hatI’m bestat.Sharing the idea of sim ple food turned into a w orldw ide success sim ply because Ichose to do w hatIlove. SHARERESPONSIBILITY WITHTHERIGHTPEOPLE ANDSTAY AUTHENTIC W H A T IS SO M ETH IN G PEO PLE D O N ’T K N O W A B O U T YO U ? Iam in lovew ith sw ing dancing.It’sm y quick rem inderto alw aysplay and dancew ith lifeand circum stances.AnitaKlasanova Co-Founder,Roobar BULGARIA © Sim eon Levi