Entrepreneurial Realities

Martin Giese has spent 25 years at the centre of Munich's deep tech ecosystem — and he thinks most European founders have a blind spot that no incubator programme will fix: they can't sell.

As Managing Director of XPRENEURS (now UTUM Accelerator) and guest lecturer at Stanford GSB, Martin has seen founders across three continents make the same mistake.

In this episode, we dig into what Stanford founders understand about customers that TUM founders typically don't, why the Europe-US gap is more cultural than financial, and what it actually takes to build a B2B company that scales past the first few customers.

Join me as I speak with Martin Giese — investor, incubator director, and one of Europe's most clear-eyed voices on what it really takes to sell deep tech.

This is our 100th episode — and we are not celebrating with a retrospective. We are celebrating with three founders who came back to tell us what actually happened.

Flora Geskeco-founded SUMM-AI, a GovTech company using AI to make public administration more accessible and efficient, and winner of the TUM Presidential Award. Pablo Palafox co-founded HappyRobot, a Y Combinator-backed agentic AI platform for logistics that has raised $44 million and counts the world's biggest freight brokers among its customers. Kevin Berghoff co-founded Quantum Diamonds, a TUM spin-out that has just raised €152 million and deployed its quantum sensing systems in the US, with nine of the world's top ten chipmakers already engaged.

Three very different sectors. One starting point: Munich, TUM, five years ago.

Join us as we look back at five years of building — and forward at what comes next.

Adrian Locher co-founded Merantix Capitalin Berlin in 2016 with machine-learning researcher Rasmus Rothe.

What started as an AI studio has become one of Europe's most distinctive AI organisations: a venture studio that incubates companies from scratch, a campus hosting an entire ecosystem, and — as of June 2026 — a €100 million plus fund backing AI ventures across the continent.

In this conversation, Adrian traces his path from founding his first company at fourteen and selling the Swiss flash-sale platform DeinDeal to Ringier in 2012, to building Merantix's combined studio-fund-campus model.

We discuss what it actually means to build AI-native companies in Europe, where the structural obstacles remain, how to evaluate teams when technology moves faster than any due diligence, and what a thriving European AI ecosystem could look like by 2031.

Defense tech is being rewritten in real time — not in labs or conference rooms, but on the frontlines of Ukraine.

Join me in my conversation with with Dimko Zhluktenko — soldier, drone pilot , founder of Dzyga's Paw ($6M raised, 70+ countries), analyst at Ukraine's 413th Unmanned Systems Regiment RAID, and now founder of Hasta, a DefTech VC fund.

Dimko has lived every dimension of defense tech at once: as a soldier who uses the technology, as a founder who sources and funds it, and as an analyst who extracts lessons from it. What he shares about drone warfare, and what actually matters on the battlefield, his analysis of Ukraine, Europe, ... is something no conference panel can replicate and a must for all defenders of liberty and democracy.

Meet Eden Chabanet and Johannes Moran, Co-Founder of Arctory.

Arctory is a platform for shopfloor vibe coding which, since its inception, has been used in hundreds of applications.

Join me as we discuss topics such as the role of vibe coding in demanding professional environments, positioning focused platforms versus generalist ones, the role of IT in a changing world, ... and how a German startups focusing on the mid market is experience significant growth.

Join me in my conversation with Simon Wilhelm, CEO & Co-Founder of Scaile.

Simon understood that classic SEO techniques no longer works. His startup helps companies get visibility.

After a mere 6 months, he has secured 40 plus customers from multiple countries and shares learnings with us.

Do join the discussion I had with Edgar Kussberg about Vibe coding.

Edgar is a former entrepreneur where he focused on product development and gradually turned in applying his market focused approach to code development.

He is currently in charge of Product development at SonarSource, a Swiss scale up which is the leader in code validation tool. We discuss on what is the phenomenon of vibe coding, who are the typical use cases and how to make the most of this new technology.

Do join our conversation with Christine Carville and Marc Goldberg, co-founders of Resilience labs, now Cerebral, a this podcast first married couple.

Both started Resilience labs in 2019 to bridge a gap in the American healthcare market by training new clinicians while providing accessible care to patients.

By integrating proprietary education with AI-powered clinical tools, they professionalised a fragmented industry and achieved a significant acquisition by the platform Cerebral.

The latest episode of Entrepreneurial Realities welcomes back Sebastian Mallaby, who joined the podcast once before to discuss The Power Law, his landmark account of the venture capital industry. This time, Sebastian returns with The Infinity Machine: Demis Hassabis, DeepMind, and the Quest for Superintelligence — the result of three years of unprecedented access to Demis Hassabis and his inner circle.

The Infinity Machine traces the journey of a chess prodigy from North London — Nobel Prize winner, founding CEO of Google DeepMind — whose singular goal was never money or power, but the scientific dream of artificial superintelligence.

The conversation covers the story of DeepMind itself, the lessons European deep tech startups can draw from its trajectory, the very real risks of AGI, and many of the other defining questions that sit at the frontier of AI today.

In this episode, I speak with Michael Brand, CEO of TraxSurf and Jonas Dunkel, CEO of DeepGolf, two German entrepreneurs applying AI to elite sport performance.

Different sports but same ambition: replace guesswork with data, and help athletes improve with precision.

A conversation about technology, entrepreneurship, and building something new far from the traditional hubs of surf and golf culture.

Rabbi Mois Navon is one of the founder engineer of MobilEye. He is also an advisor to the Israeli Government on the theme of AI and Ethics and a lecturer at ben Gourion University.

Join us on our discussion on why ethical considerations profoundly matter for AI entrepreneurs and how to take these into considerations for your AI startups.

Sebastian Bastek, co-founder of Valoron, takes you on a journey of transforming mixed waste into virgin-quality fuels and chemicals, scaling a bold climate tech vision from the lab to industry andliterally turning trash into treasure.

Dive into the breakthroughs, the entrepreneurial journey, and how Valoron is turning circular economy ideas into reality.

Hosted by Lucia Lara from the Climate & Circular Lab.

This episode concludes our special series during the ⁠⁠Munich Security Conference⁠⁠⁠, where we explore the entrepreneurial realities behind defense and dual-use innovation.

We speak with my colleague Florian Doetzer⁠⁠, who is the Managing Director of the TUM Venture Lab for Aerospace and Defense.

The name of Florian’slab was changed from Aerospace to Aerospace and Defense and announced at the MSC (see here).

Together, we discuss how Florian’s lab supports Defense related startups and the underlying ecosystem which is being build in Munich for develop and support a competitive European defense industry.

This episode is part of our special series during the ⁠Munich Security Conference⁠⁠, where we explore the entrepreneurial realities behind defense and dual-use innovation.

We speak with Nicolas Tenzer⁠, a French senior policy expert who was among the first voices to warn of the dangers posed by Europe's sustained disinvestment in and neglect of its defense capabilities.

Together, we explore the current state of European security and draw parallels between the challenges of building the next generation of entrepreneurs and those of developing a competitive European defense industry.

This episode is part of our special series during the Munich Security Conference, where we explore the entrepreneurial realities behind defense and dual-use innovation.

We are joined by Khrystyna Rozhenko and German Stelmakh, founders ofDrone Aide Collective.

Khrystyna and German explain how they have mobilized funding to support drone production for Ukraine and organized hands-on workshops across Europe to transfer criticaltechnical know-how. Tune in for an inside look at innovation, resilience, and action at the intersection of defense, technology, and civil society — and please donate here.

This episode is part of our special series during the Munich Security Conference, where we explore the entrepreneurial realities behind defense and dual-use innovation.

Dariia Rekunspeaks with Oleksii Markhovskyi, co-founder of Ukrainian defense tech company Frontline Robotics, and Alina Kizlevych, who works on partnerships at Darkstar and brings deep experience working with defense startups.

The conversation explores what it takes to build a defense tech startup in Ukraine: how teams develop and test products in real battlefieldconditions, what “product market fit” means during wartime, and the mainchallenges Oleksii has faced as a founder, from operations and hiring tofundraising and executing fast.

Together, they discuss what building a company in Ukraine looks like today, the challenges founders face in high-stakes environments, and how Frontline Robotics’ cooperation with Quantum Systemsgave rise to e a new German-Ukrainian joint venture strengthening European security.

This episode is part of our special series during the Munich Security Conference, where we explore the entrepreneurial realities behind defense and dual-use innovation.

Anastasia Lala⁠, pipeline manager at the TUM Venture Lab Aerospace and Defense, speaks with Artem Moroz⁠, Head of Investments at Brave 1⁠ — a Ukrainian government initiative designed to fast-track DefTech solutions through asymmetric innovation.

Together, they discuss the transition of civilian entrepreneurs into defense founders, the high-stakes reality of development cycles where technology often only has a three-month lifespan on the front line, and how Ukraine is building a sustainable defense ecosystem to support NATO and long-term European security.

Do listen to this conversation to understand how agile startups are redefining modern warfare and creating the future of defense technology

This episode is part of our special series during the Munich Security Conference, where we explore the entrepreneurial realities behind defense and dual-use innovation.

We speak with Benjamin Wolba, co-founder of the EuropeanDefense Tech Hub.

Benjamin co-created what has become Europe's largest network of defense tech hackathons — bringing together engineers, students, researchers, and early-stage founders across cities including Munich, Berlin, Copenhagen, Paris, London, and more importantly, Lvyv and Kyiv.

Each event gives participants 48 hours to prototype real solutions to challenges sourced directly from frontline partners in Ukraine and NATO allies, with the explicit goal of continuing toward deployment after the weekend ends.

What started as a single event with 150 participants has grown into a movement on track to run over twenty hackathons in 2025 alone, with each edition producing ten to twelvestartups.

Together, we explore what it takes to build an efficient grassroots innovation movement in defense, how hackathons can serve as an on-ramp for civilian technologists entering the sector, and what Benjamin has learned about the gap between ideation and real battlefield deployment — and how to close it.

And for those that want to attend the Demo Day on Sunday in Munich, the link is here.

Former BCG consultants and now founders Benedikt Wiechers and Michael Spira share an honest, behind-the-scenes perspective on their transition from consulting to entrepreneurship — and what it really takes to build AI-driven companies in Europe.

The conversation explores the realities of leaving a secure consulting career, why execution quickly matters more than strategy once you start building, and what makes Europe — especially Germany — a viable place to build AI startups. They also discuss how to think about talent, curiosity, and continuous learning in fast-moving AI fields, and why founders need to cut through startup hype to focus on solving real problems.

Hosted by Claire Schwarz, former member of the Software / AI Lab and now consultant at BCG.

AI’s energy hunger is exploding — but can photonic computing unlock a sustainable future for AI? Samarth Vadia, CEO & Co-founder of Linque, shares his path from quantum research to founding a deep tech start-up, tackling one of AI’s biggest challenges: exploding energy use in data centers.

Discover how computers that run on light could transform data centers, make AI more energy-efficient and sustainable.

Hosted by Lucia Lara from our Climate / Circular Lab.

Can a start-up really go from founding to a successful exit in just 18 months? Dylan, founder of CareMates, proves it is possible.

In this special end-of-year episode, Antoine and co-host Magnus dive deep into Dylan’s journey — from bootstrapping and rapid scaling to navigating unexpected challenges and achieving a successful exit.

This episode covers:

How to draft a winning EXIST application

How B2B SaaS pricing is really determined

What it takes to bootstrap and scale a tech company

Please meet Ryan Grant Little.

Ryan reaches out from Kyiv where he has moved to support Defence startups in the country where it really matters.

Do join us for an inspiring presentation to better understand the dynamics of Defence Technology, why this really matters to us all in Europe and hear how Ryan has genuine impact.

Ryan and I met beginning of this month at the first Defence Hackathon organised by EDTH in Kyiv.

For all of us in Munich, the TUM Venture Lab and Europe Defense Tech Hub will organise a Hackathon in February 2026. Details are here. Do join us.

We are joined today by two Venture Capitalists, Fadwa Ouardani and Omar Hedeya.

Fadwa and Omar explain what brought them to the world of venture capital and also the initiative of "Habbitis" to support founders from the Arab Diaspora.

Meet Marcus Lobbes, visionary director of the Dortmund Academie of Theater and Digitalisation.

Marcus will be the curator at the Richard Wagner Bayreuth Festival for the first ever AI powered production of the Ring des Nibelungen, bringing artificial intelligence into the world's most prestigious Wagner opera Festival.

In this episode of Entrepreneurial Realities, discover how Marcus merges artistic genius and technological boldness to reinvent what it means to create, perform, and experience art.

Lucia, our new host, talks withDr. Andreas Weiss, CTO of Qkera, about turning his PhD research into next-gen battery materials to advance future energy storage. From lab experiments to scaling a startup, Andreas shares the surprises, challenges, and lessons learned along the way.

Prof. Maria Roche from Harvard Business School talks with Antoine Leboyer about her research showing how limited resources can push startups to be more creative and experimental. Maria also shares her own story to becoming a professor at Harvard — and what she’s learned about what truly drives innovation.

This week, Dariia Rekun, Pipeline manager at the SW/AI Venture Lab interviews Jonathan Luther-Bergquist, partner at Inflection XYZ, for a deep dive into venture capital with a focus on deep tech and defense – two areas gaining significant importance in Europe.

Explore Inflection's thesis-driven approach centered on sovereignty and compute, understanding how controlling these resources is vital for future national and individual independence.

Learn about "new defense" and its distinction from traditional industry, highlighting its importance through rapid iteration cycles and the application of commercially available technology.

Listen as Jonathan shares invaluable advice for aspiring defense tech founders, including leveraging European Defense Tech Hub hackathons to connect with military end-users and build impactful products.

Gain insights into how venture capital selects companies with massive upside and be inspired to "just do things" to tackle critical challenges

We are diving into a remarkable story of innovation born at the Technical University of Munich — OneTutor — an AI-powered tutoring platform that’s reshaping how students learn, without replacing the human role of educators.

I sat down with the founders — Philipp Cisistian, Jann Winter and Professor Alexander Pretschner, who built OneTutor from the ground up, combining cutting-edge AI with real pedagogical insight.

Learn about this startup which began as a local experiment and is now in use at over 20 institutions across Germany as well as being piloted in the United States.

In September 2023, Israel's Sefaria, Munich's AppliedAI Institute and the Venture Lab joined forces to explore how AI could enhance Torah study. After months of embedding, prototyping, gathering feedback, and fine-tuning, Sefaria is preparing to roll out new AI-powered features in the second half of the year—making them available to the million-plus users who rely on their platform.

This marks a significant milestone for any organization, but especially for Sefaria, which is deeply committed to truthfulness, transparency, and intellectual rigour. It’s also a moment that resonates with all AI startups working at the TUM Software/AI Venture Lab, where responsible innovation is a shared value.

So do join us as we discuss with Hadara Steinberg, AI Researcher and Product Manager and Lev Israel, Sefaria' CTO as they share the insights, challenges, and learnings from building an AI platform at the intersection of tradition and cutting-edge technology.

... and reach out if you want to join the pilot.

Please meet Paul Graham, Vice President of Customer Centric Innovation at Mastercard Europe.

In today’s episode, Paul will share his insights on Mastercard’s collaborations with startups, highlighting the innovative strides in the payment sector.

With a wealth of experience, he’ll discuss Mastercard’s strategies for nurturing startup relationships and delve into the evolving landscape of financial technologies and offer valuable recommendations for startups aiming to succeed in this dynamic field.

Tune in to gain expert perspectives on making the most out of these collaborations, essential listening for entrepreneurs and innovators from Munich and beyond, eager to make their mark in the business world.

Three TUM Venture Labs. One shared mission.

In this episode, we dive into the Life Science Cluster at TUM Venture Labs – and explore how they are redefining their role within the biotech ecosystem with Maria Sievert, MD of the Healthcare Venture Lab, Sabine Oldemeyer, OD of the ChemSPACE Venture Lab and Roman Werner, MD of the AgriFood & Biotech Venture lab.

Discover how close collaboration across multiple TUM Venture Labs creates a unique support system for life science innovators – from the first idea to a successful startup.

We also discuss what defines a true life science entrepreneur, why this field is both incredibly exciting and highly complex, and what structures and offerings are needed to thrive in such an environment.

Whether it is biotechnology, medtech, or digital health – this episode highlights how bold visions turn into real impact through deep expertise, interdisciplinary networks, and entrepreneurial drive.

We are joined today by three AI luminaries from the Technical University of Munich: Professors Daniel Cremers, Stephan Günnemann, and Reinhard Heckel.

These distinguished scholars aren't just leading prestigious academic chairs at TUM—they're actively shaping the business landscape through their entrepreneurial ventures.

Join us for a fascinating conversation as they share their unique perspectives on AI DeepTech entrepreneurship, bridging the gap between cutting-edge research and real-world innovation.

Please meet Simon Sagmeister.

Simon is the lead in the TUM Autonomous Motorsport project.

Simon and his exceptional team have consistently dominated the Autonomous Challenge, outperforming 20 elite universities from across the globe.

Discover the unique constraints and cutting-edge solutions behind developing high-performance autonomous racing software. Simon reveals how his team pushes the boundaries of AI and software engineering to achieve victory on the track.

A must-listen for automotive enthusiasts, software developers, and anyone fascinated by the future of autonomous technology.

Eugene Huang is founder of https://www.prorata.ai/.

I heard of Prorata after listening to legendary investor and entrepreneur Bill Gross at the Munich DLD conference.

Prorata completely changes the concept of intellectual property for Generative AI. It is a radical game changer which I strongly believe will have a systemic impact on stabilising business models for AI applications.

Do listen to what they are doing, GenAI is not going to be the same after.

Please meet Jonathan Lowenhar.

Jonathan lives in California based. He has been an executive in large organisations, a Private Equity investor and a repeat founder.

He has since started Enjoy the work where, not unlike what we do at the Venture Lab, he supports founders in all aspects of their entrepreneurial journey.

Please meet Kevin Berghoff.

Kevin is the CEO of Quantum Diamonds and an Alumni of the team of the Venture Labs.

Discover Quantum Diamonds's technology and projects. But more importantly, do hear how they are transforming DeepTech research from Munich's Technical University into a leading player in the global semiconductor industry.

Please meet Vladimir Keil, CEO and co-Founder of AskLio.

Vladimir is a serial entrepreneur whose latest startup, Asklio, is an AI powered procurement assistant. Asklio is a proud Y-Combinator Alumni and has strong momentum.

Join us to understand Vladimir's business philosophy and particularly why increasing the number satisfied customers is addicitive.

Please meet Raffaela Rein, Entrepreneur, Board member and amongst the most influential women in startups and VC by Startups EU.

We discuss together on her journey, entrepreneurship, B2C versus and B2B and how to foster entrepreneurship in Germany.

Do join me as I discuss with Sebastian Mallaby on the history of Venture Capital.

Sebastian is the writer of the Power Law.

This book which is on recommended list for the lecture I teach at TUM on VCs. It an outstanding analysis of the unique and still misunderstood dynamics of Venture Funding.

It is an absolute must-hear (and the book is a must-read) for all interested in better understanding entrepreneurship.

Please meet David Oldeen.

David is the CEO of Co-founder of Sizekick. His startup uses AI to enable e-commerce customers to validate that the clothes they are buying are of the right size so as to reduce costly and environment-unfriendly returns.

Discover his journey, why he had an unusual but very apt source of financing for his startup, where they are and how they are expanding.

This is our first episode straight from the Valley with Rocky Yu entrepreneur, VC and now founder of Hillsborough AGI House.

Do not miss our discussion to understand why AGI House is such a powerhouse, how the AI opportunity is evolving, why the Valley is so special for Entrepreneurship and what we have to do in Munich.

Please meet Pablo Palafox.

He is the CEO and Co-founder of HappyRobot, one of the most successful TUM Software and AI Venture Lab Alumni.

Discover his experience of going to the US, doing a major Pivot and reaping the benefits of focusing with intensity on a very specific problem for the freight industry in the US.

Join me In this episode where we discuss with Matthias Röder, CEO of the Karajan Institute.

In this fascinating interview, we discuss his work, how artists can embrace technology and particularly AI to enhance their creativity, classical music and entrepreneurship.

We are joined this week by Julien Weissenberg.

Julien is Zurich based and the founder of Deep Tech Experts. He is also playing an active role with leading organisations such as the World Economic Forum and Inno-Suisse.

More importantly, he is working with many Swiss leading VCs and Innovation Agencies as the expert they call to assess the quality of the technology of AI startups they want to invest in.

... So he is really someone you want to be asked to meet.

Do join me in my fascinating conversation with Niclas Molinder.

I met Niclas at the 2024 DLD Munich Conference where he gave a remarquable presentation of creation of music using AI tools.

In addition to his activities as a musician (he has worked with Abba, Miley Cyrus and Lady Gaga ..), Niclas is also a founder of SessionStudio and has launched CLIP to help creators manage their Intellectual Property.

Together, we discuss on his career but also on how AI is impacting the music industry.

Please join us in our discussion with Bernhard Neumann.

Bernhard is a dear friend and a brand strategist whose recent work focuses on the concept of personal branding. We discuss why this really matters and particularly for younger entrepreneurs and is part of their journey.

For this end of year 2023,Antoine Leboyer receives Leon Merkel, Founder and CEO of Bumpee.

Leon is one of the rare entrepreneurs who have already sold their startups. This is a rare experience. Do hear our discussion on the lessons of this great adventure.

Please join us for our end of year podcast, a conversation with Valentin Schelhaas, CEO of Zentor on ... Happiness.

Valentin and I were guests at the first conference on Mental Health and Entrepreneurship where he gave a revealing presentation.

I reached out to him so that we could discuss it in the context of Entrepreneurship to understand if and how entrepreneurs can also be as good on their ventures as to their happiness.

Do join my colleague Nic Knapp in our interview with Bernhard Horst, head of the BMW Startup Garage, as we discuss on multiple topics, where innovation in the automotive industry will come from, Startups around the world and how to engage with his organisation.

Please note that we had a few seconds where we were disconnected (around 8:30 ...) but all the rest of the conversation is perfectly audible.

Welcome to a very Special Episode:

Harvard Business School Professor Andy Wu⁠ and Antoine Leboyer step back from the events of the last days with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman being fired and joining, along with a likely high number of OpenAI employees and discuss on a big variety of topics: Non profit and for profit board, what this means for the industry, what this means for Microsoft, ...

Andy Wu is Harvard Business School Professor of Strategy with a focus on new technologies.

He also is the holder of multiple patents so in other words, he really has a grasp of strategy and technology.

Join us as we discuss the implications of AI for Businesses, new business models, who are going to be the winners in the new world and what AI startups should take into account ...

For the 50th Episode of the series, we do not have a guest.

This podcast is the audio of a conference I did at the Global Tech Shapers on Mental Health and Entrepreneurship.

It is a "first person testimony" of my personal journey as a founder and the mental health struggles I had to face: I was diagnosed with PTSD.

My objective is to describe what happened to me but beyond this, also give hints on how to cope with this problem.

At TUM , I meet many remarquable young founders who are under huge stress. This is very common to many of them. And this episode and all what we do at the Venture Lab is for them.

Join us today for a conversation with Pr Noam Wasserman, Dean of the Yeshiva University, former Professor of Entrepreneurship at the Harvard Business School and writer of The founder's Dilemnas.

Pr Wasserman has done an extensive and regular studies of thousands of startups in IT and Life Science. He takes us through some of the key choices founders face at the very beginning of their startup journeys, from ownership and control to roles and responsibilities and why these are among the biggest challenges founders face.

Join us as we uncover the wisdom and expertise of Professor Wasserman, offering practical advice for aspiring founders, students, and startup enthusiasts alike. Whether you're at the inception of your entrepreneurial dream or seeking to scale your existing venture, this conversation promises to shed light on the intricate web of decisions that can make or break a startup.

Join us this week with Katrin Redmann, the COO of SAP Paris, as she shares insights tailored for first-time entrepreneurs like YOU. Hosted by Svenja Enchelmaier, dive into topics from unearthing your motivation, resilience in entrepreneurship, to the transformative power of female networks and the magic of teamwork in innovation. Kickstart your entrepreneurial journey with a dose of real-world wisdom! 🚀🎧 #EmpowerHer #InnovationAtHeart #MunichTechEntrepreneurs

Dive into the extraordinary journey of https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexasinyachova/https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexasinyachova/ on this enlightening episode of "Entrepreneurial Realities," presented by Antoine Leboyer, MD of the SW and AI TUM Venture Lab.

Alexa, a leading entrepreneur, community builder, and mother, shares her wealth of knowledge and insights from her dynamic career.

With her roots in Ukraine, Alexa provides a unique perspective on global entrepreneurship and her efforts to support tech ventures in her home country. As a mother, Alexa showcases how she embraces the beautiful chaos of juggling professional and personal responsibilities, serving as an inspiration to many.

Join us for an enlightening conversation filled with inspiration, realities, and lessons from Alexa's life as an entrepreneur, mentor, and mother. Don't miss this incredible episode!

In this compelling episode of Entrepreneurial Realities, host Antoine delves into the world of healthcare innovation with esteemed guests Marina Leonie Moskvina and Dominik Pförringer. Join them as they explore the exciting realm of (digital) innovation in healthcare and shed light on the entrepreneurial endeavours that are shaping the future of the industry.

Marina Leonie Moskvina, Operating Director of TUM Venture Labs - Healthcare, and Dominik Pförringer, Academic Director of TUM Venture Labs - Healthcare and Medical Director of the University Hospital of TUM, bring their extensive expertise to the table. Together with Antoine, they embark on an insightful journey to uncover the latest trends, challenges and transformative technologies that are revolutionising healthcare.

Throughout this episode, Marina, Dominik and Antoine navigate a wide range of fascinating topics. They delve into the latest digital innovations and the influential role of artificial intelligence in reshaping the healthcare landscape. With a focus on visionary ideas and entrepreneurial ventures, they explore how entrepreneurs are driving change and transforming the industry.

Listen as the guests share compelling stories of successful healthcare startups, emphasising the importance of fostering an entrepreneurial mindset within the industry. They highlight the key role of academic institutions such as TUM Venture Labs in nurturing and supporting budding entrepreneurs. They also shed light on the unique challenges and opportunities specific to healthcare entrepreneurship.

In this captivating episode, Antoine Leboyer, MD of the SW/AI TUM Venture Lab, engages in a thought-provoking discussion with esteemed sociologist Jacy Reese Anthis, founder of the Sentience Institute.

Join them as they unravel the complexities surrounding AI, diving into the realms of ethics, regulation, and innovative business models. From exploring the societal impact of AI to dissecting the challenges of regional regulations and the evolving landscape of AI startups, this conversation offers valuable insights for entrepreneurs navigating the AI revolution. Tune in for a captivating exploration of the ethical, regulatory, and business aspects of unleashing AI.

Join Antoine as he engages in a captivating conversation with Simon Greenman, an AI expert with a passion for pushing the boundaries of technology. Simon, a Partner at Best Practice AI and a Global AI Council member at the World Economic Forum, shares his deep insights into the world of AI and its transformative potential. From his co-founding role at MapQuest to his expertise in generative AI, Simon's expertise will leave you inspired and enlightened. Tune in to this episode of "Entrepreneurial Realities" to explore the exciting possibilities of AI with Simon Greenman.

In this episode of "Entrepreneurial Realities," host Antoine sits down with Morra Aarons-Mele, a renowned workplace mental health speaker, entrepreneur, and host of the Anxious Achiever podcast. Join the conversation as they delve into the challenges faced by anxious entrepreneurs and explore strategies for not just surviving, but thriving as an entrepreneur with anxiety. Morra shares her expertise on navigating the pressures, self-doubt, and emotional hurdles that come with the entrepreneurial journey, providing valuable insights and practical advice for anxious achievers in the business world. Discover how embracing your unique qualities can be an asset and learn actionable tips for achieving success while taking care of your mental well-being. Don't miss this engaging discussion on entrepreneurship, anxiety, and the path to fulfillment and achievement.

Welcome to another episode of Entrepreneurial Realities! Today, we're joined by Meg Langan, a seasoned professional with a diverse background in commercial and investment banking, as well as biotech and software startups. Based in New York, Meg brings a unique perspective to the table as we delve into the latest developments at Silicon Valley Bank. During our conversation with Meg, we'll be exploring the past, present, and future of the banking sector, and discussing what this means - or doesn't mean - for the world of startups. From her wealth of experience, Meg shares insights and assessments that are sure to be valuable to anyone interested in the intersection of finance and entrepreneurship. So sit back, relax, and let's dive into this fascinating conversation!

Welcome to the third season of Entrepreneurial Realities, the podcast for startup founders at the Munich Technical University. Our guest today is Michael Eckhardt, Chairman of the Chasm Institute, a high-tech consulting firm founded by Geoffrey Moore, author of the classic book "Crossing the Chasm." Michael is a highly experienced entrepreneur and advisor to companies in the technology industry. In this episode, we will discuss the key challenges and opportunities facing startup founders today, as well as strategies for successfully navigating the early stages of a startup's development. Whether you're just starting out or looking to take your business to the next level, this episode is a must-listen for anyone looking to succeed in the fast-paced world of entrepreneurship. So, sit back, relax, and join us as we explore the realities of starting and growing a business with Michael Eckhardt.

In this episode, Antoine interviews Bruce Linton, Legendary Canadian CEO and Co-Founder of Canopy Growth, the world largest Cannabis company.

We discuss a wide range of topics that go beyond Canopy Growth, how to grow companies, spot huge disruptions and the coming revolution on psychedelics for mental health treatment. 

In this week's episode, Antoine talks to Rafael Laguna de la Vera, Co-Founder, and Director of the federal agency SPRIND. 

SPRIND is a German civil version of the US agency DARPA which focuses on helping local founders to achieve ambitious disrupting innovations.

In anticipation of the MUC.XYZ, we interview Annette Doms, founder of MUC/labs, and one of the world best authority on NFT and Web 3 opportunities.

In this episode, Jan Goetz, CEO and Co-Founder of IQM Quantum Computers is interviewed by Antoine to discuss the huge opportunities opended by Quantum Computing, IQM's latest raise and the challenges and opportunities of having such a Venture in Europe. 

In this week's episode, Jan Mittendorf meets Zied Bahrouni, the CEO and Co-Founder of Motius. Zied and Jan talk about the challenges many deep tech founders face and how Zied came from working at BMW and founding a company to starting his own venture fund Spacewalk.

For the first time since many years we are in an economic downturn. This could be due to many reasons: Interest rates are rising, uncertainties in Supply Chain, the war in Ukraine, ... but whatever, this is likely to be the first time that young entrepreneurs will face such a situation. 

This will impact both existing funded startups which will need to plan for uncertainty and not growth at all costs and non-funded ones will find it more difficult to raise. 

To make sense of this situation, Antoine Leboyer Leboyer interviews Andreas Goeldi, Partner at Btov Partners, who wrote in Medium: The 10 mistakes most founders make in a downturn to help our listeners step back and make the right decisions in the current situation.

In this week's episode, Antoine meets Jochen Engert, Co-Founder and CEO at FlixMobility. Antoine and Jochen are talking about the story of Flixmobility to becoming a dominant player in Germany before going abroad to evolve into a global leader.

In this week's episode, Antoine meets Florian Scherl, founder of FAST AI Movies. Florian founded his company while being 17years old and still being a pupil. Florian takes us on his journey of how he learned coding identified the opportunity for FAST AI Movies, but also of the importance of intensely listening to what your customers want.

In this week's episode, Antoine meets Mathijs Heutinck, Founder of Venturelytic. Mathijs and Antoine talk about the story of Venturelytic as well as how founders can keep relations with interested VCs.

In this week's episode, Antoine and Christos, MD TUM Venture Labs Built Environment, meet Dénes Honus, a serial entrepreneur and currently Chief Commercial Officer of metr Building Management Systems. Together, they elaborate on the importance of built environment for societal challenges and the corresponding megatrends that shape the industry.

In this week's episode, Antoine meets Patrick Strunkmann-Meister, the Founder and CEO of BAO. Patrick tells about his experiences as an XPRENEURS mentor and tips on how young founders can identify the true value of their technical solutions and convince potential customers.

On this week’s podcast, Antoine interviews Ravi Venkatesan. Ravi was last on this podcast on episode #14 as the founder of GAME (Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship to illustrate how entrepreneurship can be a force for social good.

Ravi is not here in his new capacity as Chairman of The Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet, he is back this week to speak about his latest book: “What the Heck do I do with my life ?” and how its lessons can be of value for entrepreneurs.

This week's TUM Venture Labs podcast features two inspiring guests from Infineon: Nico Kelling, Head of AI Center of Excellence, and Lamin Ben-Hamdane, Head of Start-up cooperations.

Together with Antoine, we deep-dived into:

In today's episode, Antoine meets Markos Kern, a serial entrepreneur, CEO of LYMB.iO, and co-founder of Civil Relief Munich. He tells us about his newest organization (Civil Relief Munich), which he co-founded to help thousands of people who had to fly due to the war in their home country. Three weeks after its creation, Civic Relief Munich has gathered a permanent team of 80 volunteers and 1,000 drivers to safely organize transportation from the Ukrainian Polish border to Germany. Around 1000 refugees have been transported to Munich as well as directly paired with host families with the best possible match.

Details and information is at Civil Relief Convoy Munich | Linktree.

You can donate at Help & donate to Ukraine - Civil Relief Munich.

This is an amazing and inspiring story which illustrates that the principles of entrepreneurship can bring the best of us during the most difficult of the times.

In this week's episode, Antoine meets Andreas Schwarzenbrunner, a Partner at Speedinvest. Andreas introduced Speedinvest and his way from TUM to a VC fund in their discussion. Furthermore, Andreas explained how Speedinvest values early-stage start-ups and added some valuable tips about fundraising.

In this episode Antoine meets Gregor Haidl, a Senior Investment Manger at High-Tech Gründersfonds (HTGF) and TUM Alumnus. The HTGF is a German-based VC fund with public and private investors. In their discussion, Antoine and Gregor are talking about the operating model of the HTGF as well as how early-stage teams should engage with their first customer(s) and early adopters.

We are back from our short break: Antoine Leboyer and Roman Werner, the MD of our FAB Venture Lab, discuss with Judith Camarcat, VC Associate at Five Season Ventures, the latest trends, and challenges in Food Tech. In their exciting discussion, they cover the topic from a business as well as a research angle and especially spotlight the DACH market.

First Momentum Ventures is the first student-run VC fund founded by Sebastian and his co-founders. In this week's session, Antoine and Sebastian are talking about the story and business of First Momentum and what fellow students can learn from it.

In this week's episode, Antoine discusses with Nicolas Kozakiewicz, Chief Innovation Officer of Worldline, the hype and reality of the Blockchain. Therefore, they elaborate on the technology's primary use cases, the chances, and their limitations.

To reinvent urban mobility Pascal Blum and his Co-Founders developed electric mopeds and founded their own company, unu motors. In this week’s episode, Pascal and Antoine discuss unu’s path to a successful startup and its challenges along the way.

Entrepreneurial Realities, listen to Mark Gazeki, a serial entrepreneur and angel investor, to start the year. Mark talks about his lessons learned during the founding and scaling companies and his tips for other founders.

We conclude this 2021 year with a thoughtful interview with Ravi Venkatesan.

On this podcast so far, we have discussed with Entrepreneurs, VCs and Thought leaders to better understand some of the aspects of building companies.

There is another aspect of entrepreneurship which is to be a force for positive societal change.This is for this purpose that Ravi Venkatesan has created India’s Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship.

He is interviewed here by Klaus Liegener from the TUM-Venture Lab Central team.

Entrepreneurial Realities will take a break for the end of year and will be back the second week of January. We wish you wonderful end of year vacations, do recommend that you all get boosted and vaccinated and wish you an entrepreneurial happy new year.

Thanks to Dominik Reuter, for doing an amazing job as producer of the podcast.

Again thanks to the magical pianist Gabriela Montero whose unique fascinating improvisational skills have created the music of the podcast and who, like our guest Ravi Vekatesan, is both an amazing talent and a force for good.

This week's TUM Venture Labs podcast features the winners of the TUM.ai Makeathon.

As a Munich-based student initiative, TUM.ai aims to have a positive impact through combining AI with entrepreneurship including their Makeathons and projects such as TUM.ai Entrepreneurship Lab in Ghana. In this episode, we talked about the exciting combination of Venture and AI, as well as the Makeathon, AI4Good, and other projects of TUM.ai with Nils Jacobsen (Team Cabalytics), Sebastian Wilhelm (Team Cabalytics), David Podolskyi (AI4Good Organizer, TUM.ai), Ekin Karabulut (Makeathon Lead, TUM.ai)!

It is not obvious that all Tech Entrepreneurs are charismatic figures like some of the greatest entrepreneurs. Many aspiring students at Munich TUM need some form of encouragement and confidence. Too many believe that their technological prowess is only what they need to succeed on their ventures.

Richard Tedlow is Professor of Business History at the Harvard Business School. Immediately after his first “retirement” from HBS, he joined the Apple University where he stayed until 2018. He is an “emeritus” Professor of both institutions.

He has published several very important History Books: the complex relation between Watson father and son at IBM , the definitive biography of Andy Grove, CEO of Intel and my personal favorite "Denial, Why Business Leaders Fail to Look Facts in the Face--and What to Do About It".

He speaks on his last book: The Emergence of Charismatic Business Leadership and on this podcast, discusses some of the inspiring characteristics of leading entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs and Elon Musk.

Peter Raulerson is a former SW CEO - Technology Consultant. He has worked on a large number of engagements related to Go-to-Market redesigns for HW and SW Companies.

Along with former Plantronics Europe GM Jean-Claude Malraison and Antoine Leboyer, Current MD of the TUM Venture Lab for Software and AI, he has co-written Building Routes to Customers: Proven Strategies for Profitable Growth.

One of the cornerstones of the book is the framework developed by Goeffrey Moore in Crossing the Chasm which explains the various stages through which new technologies go through to be adopted by consumers.

Peter gives an introduction to this framework which is fundamental for Technology Entrepreneurs.

One of the many misconceptions on Entrepreneurship is that it is linked with innovation and reserved for brilliant young graduates.

At the Harvard Business School, Professor Royce Yudkoff has done a comprehensive study of different types of entrepreneurs that, at a stage in their career, want to use their experience and position to become entrepreneurs by acquiring an existing company with their means and running it.

Our discussion centers on the dynamics of such a project, the risks, and the returns. The characteristics of these are not so different from other entrepreneurs.

And Royce’s book: HBR Guide to Buying a Small Business is recommended reading to go further.

Bill Reichert is a founder of Garage.com, a legendary Tech investor, and a current partner at Pegasus Tech Ventures.

He is also the writer of the great and essential: "Getting to Wow!" Silicon Valley Pitches Secrets for Entrepreneurs, which is simply the best book I have read to understand how to make a strong pitch to a VC.

He speaks to us from Silicon Valley about how to make a good pitch, the current state of the Venture business, and how Covid has changed investing.

Harvard Business School Emeritus Professor Bill Sahlman has run several of the most influential classes on Entrepreneurship which have inspired many entrepreneurs worldwide.

His research has had an immense influence. His book on How to write a business plan is a major classic. His case studies are being taught at TUM and in every Entrepreneurial minded university worldwide.

TUM CDTM Professor Hana Milanov teaches several of his cases for this special episode and joins us to interview Professor Sahlman.

Prof. Sahlman discusses entrepreneurship, the importance of hypothesis testing, how entrepreneurship has evolved in the last years, the value of Ventures for social progress, and being financed with VCs.

This is a major episode of our series of Entrepreneurial Realities.

(and since Pr Sahlman refers to the importance of mothers for entrepreneurs, this episode is dedicated to all mothers.)

Daniel Garnitz is the Co-Founder and CEO of FAAREN, a Wurzburg-based provider of solutions to enable car dealers to offer car subscriptions to their customers.

FAAREN was founded three years ago. They recently closed a significant funding round which values them in the double digits range. Daniel talks about the fundraising process, which was not an easy one, and presents valuable insights, lessons learned, and best practices for founders:

This is a crucial episode of Entrepreneurial Realities for all startups we work with at TUM. They are very strong on technology but lack marketing experience and sensitivity but need to gain visibility and market insight to get prospects and clients.

This is a similar experience I went through personally in my former company. The person who helped us overcome this challenge and build a fantastic Marketing Engine is Meryll Moreau, my former VP of Marketing.

Meryll gives us an excellent overview of Marketing for startups which is simply essential listening for every Tech Entrepreneur.

Do not miss this podcast which will ensure you will understand the principles of Marketing for Tech Startups, how to implement them practically and how to get your startups to progress.

Of all Early Stage/Deeptech Venture Capital Firms, UVC Partners is unique for us given its proximity to Munich TUM and the impressive set of successful companies they have invested in and supported.

Today, we speak with Andreas Unseld, TUM Alumni and partner at UVC, on a series of topics: how he became a Venture Capitalist, what he is looking for in projects he invests in … and as always, what he is looking for is his advice to students and entrepreneurs.

Music: Gabriela Montero

This is a follow-up to last week's podcast where we interviewed Tom Eisenmann from the Harvard Business School.

In this conclusion of our two-part series, we now turn to Martin Bitzinger. Martin is Group Vice President Product Management at Canadian Telecom Giant Mitel. He is also a TUM Alumni 2001 whose personal story you simply have to hear.

Yes, Entrepreneurship is hard and even the best entrepreneurs have failures and multiple starts, but the real Entrepreneurs learn and restart.

We now embark on a two-part series about the challenges of entrepreneurship.

Professor Tom Eisenmann is co-Chair of the Harvard Business School Center of Entrepreneurship.

He recently wrote an important book called Why Startups Fail: A New Roadmap for Entrepreneurial Success, which is an essential complement to the “Lean Startup”.

It looks at ventures which followed this approach and yet failed. It is a fabulous book that reminds us that failure can happen even if you are a hard-working entrepreneur. It helps identify some patterns and also explains how to "fail well" and to restart.

Entrepreneurship is hard, and studying successes and failures is a source of learning and inspiration. This will be the object of next week's podcast so stay tuned.