What’s your favorite ritual or meeting in your team?
We don't start and end each week with business topics, but with personal questions and stories from the team. E.g., each team member tells us what they have planned for the weekend, or talks about a hobby, friends or family. It's a ritual that’s very important for a 100% remote team like ours.
What book do you recommend the most?
Scaling up from Verne Harnish. This is one of the best guides I know on how to build a great business in a structured way.
What helped you accelerate your growth as a leader / entrepreneur?
Reading books (specialised books and biographies of my leadership role models), conversations with my mentor, conversations with other founders. The success of a company is based on numerous factors. There is no single success factor. However, leadership is one of the most underestimated success criteria for a company. That is why every founder should regularly engage with leadership in their preferred way.
What motivates you to work as a leader / entrepreneur?
Seeing happy team members doing exactly what their talents allow them to do and being successful because they have an environment in which they can develop their talent to the full.
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When times are tough, who or what is an anchor for you?
My co-founders are my anchor in work-related topics. Having an environment where failure is welcomed with a helping hand and where weakness is valued as openness, once you are down those people will drag you up.
What's a mistake that you're happy you've made?
When I was 16 (way before the internet) I founded a travel-partner agency to connect people from different backgrounds seeking travel companions. After a year, I had to close the agency due to a lack of customers and the confusion some callers had regarding the nature of the “service.” Despite this setback, I gained invaluable insights into sales, communication and people’s needs, solidifying my desire to run a business that helps people.
What motivated you to become an entrepreneur?
After graduating, I worked for an extremely well-paying automotive company. But I always had the feeling that there was more out there. So I quit and went into research with the aim of becoming a founder.
What should leaders understand about their own role and responsibility?
There are no overnight miracles, it's very hard work: both physically and emotionally. Requires resilience, grit, strategic approach and grind.