Isabell Gollmer

At Hive Founders we run two Accelerator Programs and facilitate one Online, Self-paced Accelerator. They were built with the knowledge and first-hand experience of our Founders. Andrea Sommer and Caroline Hughes aim to help founders make informed decisions when choosing the right accelerator for their journey. Here are a few of Andrea’s tips to choosing the right path for your business: Find an accelerator that aligns with your specific stage and needs. The best programs have a narrow, clear focus. See if you can experience the accelerator before committing. Chemistry is crucial, so take the opportunity to do a ‘vibe check’. For instance, our 2x monthly pitch clinics (https://lnkd.in/g3CQVuBr) offer a glimpse into our program, allowing founders to get to know us before joining.  Smaller cohorts ensure personalized attention and tailored support. They also facilitate stronger connections with peers, which can be invaluable. One of the best ways to evaluate a program is by talking to its graduates. They provide first-hand insights into the program’s value. Our Ask Me Anything sessions with graduates are a highlight, offering honest feedback and success stories - Next AMA coming soon! Look into the program’s track record. We’re proud that 70% of our accelerator graduates successfully raise funds within six months. Many accelerators take equity in exchange for their services. While this can be beneficial, remember that equity is finite. Listen to Dr Georgia Fleet talk about our Investment Readiness Accelerator below! ➡️ Check out our programs - one of them could be the accelerator for you! 💸 Investment Readiness Accelerator - https://bit.ly/4aowXgO 💸 Zero to Launch Accelerator - https://bit.ly/3wT6dqW 💸 Digital Investment Readiness Accelerator - https://bit.ly/3R5ziGK #femalefounder #investmentaccelerator #startupsupport #investmentadvice #businessaccelerator #funding #investment #investmentstrategy Denise Celeghin Jessica Clucas Erin A. Emma Bell Nufar Segal Bareket Subha Sivaraman Kim Toker Ursula Morgenstern Christina Nesheva Lucy Navas Michelle Pomerantz

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𝐒𝐌𝐄 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 - Johanna Heise, 𝐅𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲-𝐎𝐰𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 Family-owned or privately owned businesses of course make up a large percentage of SMEs in Europe. Johanna, is the third generation of the family that owns Heise Medien GmbH & Co. KG a specialist publishing house here in Germany where she actively works on building brand and culture. Digital transformation and client venturing has long been the stalwart of many corporates and larger organisations, however, it's a topic that is just as relevant to smaller organisations and especially long-standing family-owned business. In this interview, Johanna explains how her family-owned business looks at that transformation journey and how our thesis at āltitude investing in SME Tech can add additional value and directly impact the Heise business and the SME clients they serve. We're proud to have heise ventures as one of our LPs and especially for the wonderful relationship and shared values with our investors. If you are interested in learning more about SME Tech Leaders or joining our community to be informed of upcoming events please do subscribe to our newsletter. #smetech #familybusinesses #publishers #nextgeneration #digitaltransformation cc: Torge, Marc, Ingo, Fernanda, Dr. Golnaz, Aydo, Patrick, Marc, Filippo https://lnkd.in/eD2SMpRG

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🎙️Podcast alert: Had a great catch-up with Kai on 🤝𝑪𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑫𝒆𝒂𝒍🤝 this week (🇩🇪) After our first session last year, we again talked about the latest developments in the SaaS and M&A market. Topics we've covered: ➡️ Our approach with saas.group, ➡️ Where we stand and what our goals are, ➡️ Current SaaS and M&A market trends, ➡️ How to properly value a SaaS business, ➡️ Role of AI in SaaS and M&A, ➡️ And more... You can check it out on all relevant podcast platforms. Links to Spotify and Apple below: 🟢 Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gn8RaVpD 🟣 Apple Podcasts: https://lnkd.in/g3kBWSBW Enjoy listening! 🙌 @ Kai, Anja + team: Thanks again for having me. Happy to speak again next year and see how good or bad my predictions were.

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In February it will be 6 years since I had a 𝗯𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗼𝘂𝘁. With some distance Business Insider has asked me to talk about my experience in consulting, my burnout and the new company I started: WirDämmenDeinHaus.com You can find the link in the first comment.  (I’m also happy to share the pdf, in case you cannot access it.) My ask to you:  𝗣𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸, 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗶𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗶𝘁. Having talked to many people that suffered a burnout, my observation is that it can be tremendously helpful to get a nudge from people that care about you. It is a common burnout symptom to “try to keep pushing through” and “take care of one self, after X, Y, Z is finished” -> this often significantly prolongs the healing process. Be there for the people you care about and encourage them to take care of themselves now and not when it’s too late. I’m also here for anyone that wants to talk 1:1 about their experience or ask questions. Please feel free to reach out. Happy holidays to all of you!

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Term Sheet Negotiation – A Term Sheet Battle: Startup-Woche Düsseldorf   Don't Get Blindsided in Your Next Funding Round! Know Your Worth!   Financing rounds can be thrilling, but being unprepared can lead to unexpected dilution and lost value for founders. Join our ecosystem partner Bird & Bird LLP during Startup Week Düsseldorf to gain the key facts on a Term Sheet - the preliminary blueprint that outlines the fundamental terms and conditions of an investment.   📆 Wed. 5 June 2024 🕔 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m 📍 Bird & Bird - Düsseldorf office (Carl-Theodor-Straße 6)   Be prepared.   Don’t miss your chance to experience a dynamic, simulated negotiation of a Venture Capital Term Sheet between a real seasoned entrepreneur and a renowned investor. This exclusive event is your chance to witness firsthand the critical first step in securing funding for your startup.   If you are a founder, pre-seed / seed startup, scaleup, or interested in the world of venture capital, this is your chance to learn:  ↳ the terms you SHOULD know,  ↳ which clauses are CRITICAL, and  ↳ on what points investors are more likely to GIVE IN!   Learn by Example. Demystify Key Terms. Gain Negotiation Insights. Boost your confidence.   Discover the strategies and tactics used by both founders and investors during VC negotiations - explained and classified by Bird & Bird's experts.    Light refreshments and networking afterwards.   Limited spots available - https://t.ly/lq_e9 - Register today!   ……. Speakers: Andrea Schlote, Jan Medele Cooperation Partner: Scale-up.NRW ……. #financing #taxation  #venturecapital #startupfunding #termsheet #negotiation #founders #angelinvestor #vc #funding  

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What a night - German Startup Awards 2024! Last Thursday, we attended the annual German Startup Awards ceremony in the heart of Berlin, organized by the Startup-Verband. It was an inspiring night celebrating founders, investors, and the growth and innovation within the German startup ecosystem. As Verena Pausder pointed out, "Some say the lights are going out in Germany. I think: We haven't even turned them on yet." This spirit of optimism is precisely why Amazon Business is proud to have partnered with the Startup-Verband since 2023. Congratulations again to all the winners. Here's to the future of German startups! #GSA24 #Startups

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Three biggest learnings from a fundraising journey. Shared by Rainer Märkle, General Partner at HV Capital at EUVC 1/ Have a time box with a deadline attached. Have a defined horizon & create a clear plan. Have some urgency to get things done at some point. Execute very transparently and reliably. 2/ Stick to your narrative. But don't do it blindly. Tweak it when necessary. Adapt it. Don't let yourself be surprised by major changes. Keep focusing on delivering according to your strategy & plan. 3/ Fundraising is a marathon with many sprints. There are moments when you'll ask yourself - Why do I do this? Is it gonna work out? But don't get too negative during the down phases. Adapting and pivoting is part of our job. As it is for the founder of a company. How about you? What fundraising lessons have you learned? Join the conversation. 🔽 #venturecapital #angelinvesting #startupfunding #europe

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Did you know? Female founders' share in German startups has decreased from 20.7% in 2023 to 17.7% in 2024. These numbers from the Deutscher Startup Monitor 2024 aren't just statistics – they're a call to action. 📊 That's why we're especially proud that TripLeap participated in the German Accelerator Focus-Program "Empowering Diversity in Ventures" this December! During three intensive days, we joined forces with other founders committed to changing these numbers. The program offered invaluable roundtable discussions with different experts focusing on fundraising strategies, navigating work-life balance, empowering diversity and many more. The highlight that awaits us? Four hours of free personalized mentorship from experienced entrepreneurs and industry experts through specific business challenges we have! Special thanks to the BMWK (Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate) for making this impactful program possible. Together, we're working toward a more inclusive startup ecosystem! 💪 German Accelerator Start2 Group #WomenInTech #DiversityMatters #StartupLife #FemaleFounders #Innovation #GermanAccelerator #BMWK

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🔍 Why Less Funding Can Create Better Startups 💡 A recent article by manager magazin delves into a surprising startup trend: leaner funded organizations outperforming their more generously funded counterparts. This phenomenon is supported by empirical studies suggesting that limited resources foster greater innovation and efficiency. 💸 Startups with tighter budgets prioritize their expenditures, making strategic decisions that drive sustainable growth. Overfunding, in contrast, can lead to complacency and even inefficiency. Successful startups often emerge from environments where resourcefulness and resilience are crucial. 💡 A study conducted by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Group in partnership with MassChallenge found that startups founded by women, who generally receive less funding, generate more revenue – more than twice as much per dollar invested – compared to those founded by men. This insight reveals that limited resources can drive better performance by necessitating smarter, more efficient business practices​​. 📰 Moreover, research published in the European Journal of Innovation Management indicates that resource constraint encourages open innovation models, leading startups to leverage external knowledge and partnerships to enhance capabilities without significant capital outlay. This approach not only fosters innovation but also ensures startup agility and adaptability in a fast-paced market​​. At caesar., we understand the value of strategic funding. By providing startups with just the right amount of capital, we encourage their innovation and sustainable growth, building robust foundations for long-term success 🌱🚀 Read more about this insightful perspective: https://lnkd.in/eAG_uSKY #VentureCapital #Startups #Innovation #InvestmentStrategy #Entrepreneurship Jan Ossenbrink, Faris Zaher, Avik Mukhija, Yue Wu, Thomas Abend, Felix Benscheid, Leopold zu Schleswig-Holstein, Uirá Souto Melo, Linus Drop, Gadi Benjamini, Ryan Guterman, Oliver Siegel BCG Article: https://lnkd.in/emkB4Jp European Journal of Innovation Management Article: https://lnkd.in/emveCGSS

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Opportunities for Impact Startups 🌱 1. avant now // innovation for impact is onboarding a new cohort for their accelerator programme, offering women-led Berlin startups up to €105K equity-free funding. Early-stage ventures with prototypes or MVPs will receive workspace, mentoring, and join the Women's Success Circle. Open to teams addressing social and ecological challenges. Deadline: 15 Jan 2. Female Founders Rise is calling for UK-based women entrepreneurs to join a free 8-week #fundraising #accelerator. The programme offers intensive training, peer support, and investor connections to secure term sheets within 8 weeks post-graduation. Open to tech-enabled startup founders seeking first/second funding round. Deadline: ASAP (onboarding in Jan) 3. Nestlé launches #Innovation #Challenge seeking nutrition-based solutions for women's health across all life stages. Selected startups will gain access to Nestlé's R+D Accelerators, infrastructure, and scientific expertise. Open to IP-protected innovations focusing on reproductive health, menopause, and related conditions. Deadline: 31 Jan 4. Energie AG OÖ is calling for startups to tackle energy transition challenges with up to €50K funding for proof of concept. The programme focuses on customer energy optimization, sustainable e-commerce data integration, and business decarbonization. Top solutions in the special nomination track can win an additional €5K prize. Deadline: 31 Jan 5. imec.istart is calling for tech startups globally to join their world-leading university-linked #accelerator. Selected companies receive €100K-250K pre-seed investment, 12-month personal coaching, expert mentoring, free office space, and access to the imec technology. Open to startups with working proof of concept and complementary founding team. Deadline: 1 Feb #opportunities #awards #grants #accelerator

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Had yet another super fun evening of pitching and feedback organized by Kai Malkwitz and Founder Institute Berlin / Germany - the new Fall 2024 Impact Cohort is on! Together with incredible mentors Leehe Skuler Jonathan Eade Dr. Andreas M. Rickert we helped new founders refine their pitches: how impactful can the idea be? How do we measure it? What audience do we attract? The main weak spot was Problem-Solution Fit, the Impact Space seems larger than life: we are solving the big world problems with our little ideas, but that is not the case. Refining the Problem-Solution space is a helpful exercise, how to do it? 1. If you have an idea for a product: identify who will come back to you on a recurrent basis and will be willing to pay for your solution every day/month/year etc 2. If you have a problem you want to solve: identify who is at the root cause (it can be many user groups) and try to solve their problem first, then take Step 1 again.

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Studying at Tomorrow University of Applied Sciences: How we use the Master program as an academic incubator for our startup journey… 🚀 Sarah & I are currently on a mission to identify an idea for our climate tech startup. We also started a Master's program in Sustainability, Entrepreneurship and Technology at Tomorrow University in March. We did not start the program for the sake of an M.Sc. (we both already have a master's degree) but rather to help us on our journey. While we knew we had the skill set to build digital solutions, we also knew we had more to learn, especially in entrepreneurship. The program at ToU allows us to use our ideas in the courses, get feedback from a diverse group of students and extend our skill set. It's kinda like using the Master's program as an academic incubator for our startup journey ✨ Of all the courses (challenges) at ToU I did so far, three stood out for me: 1️⃣ Mission Identification with Dr. Thomas Funke This was the first challenge I've done and it really helped me to understand what drives me. I knew I wanted to work on solving the climate crisis, but I had never identified my why (purpose) and how (mission). This challenge with Thomas helped me accomplish that and also to build a support network for the future. 2️⃣ Finance for Entrepreneurs with Johannes Arning A few months ago, Sarah & I calculated a business case for an idea we had. It was alright, but after this challenge with Johannes, we had created a really sophisticated model that could easily be adapted for different business ideas. We had a clear overview of our profit & loss, cash flow and cost structure. This challenge gave us crucial new insights into our cases and helped us a lot in planning for 2025. 3️⃣ Getting Funding Ready with Christian Rebernik It is safe to say that funding from business angels or VCs is still way down the road, but nonetheless, I would say that this challenge was really eye-opening. Honestly, before this challenge, I would have always seen external funding as the second option and bootstrapping as the preferred choice. Learning about the different aspects, including shares, convertible notes, and dilution, was really eye-opening. Overall, it is safe to say that our pitch decks and business cases would not be as good without our studies at Tomorrow University. The vibrant community and discussions with fellow students are inspiring and broaden my horizons every time. I'm excited for my next year at Tomorrow University! 🚀 🦋

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𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲, 𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲! 🪑 Today we are going to launch the “Round Table – Founder-Friendly VC Feedback”. 🚀 This format will take place on the first day of the check-in event alongside two workshops on the topics of “Pitch Founder Personality” and “Start-up Valuation Methods”. What exactly is this “Round Table”, how does it work, who is involved, and what is the point of it? 🟠 Who? We will be welcoming four venture capitalists and seven teams from Phase 1 to the round table. The format will be moderated by Kathrin Schelbaum. 🟠 What? After an introduction and conversation with the representatives of the VCs, all start-ups will pitch for 3 minutes and then receive feedback from them. 🟠 Why? The aim of the format is to familiarise the start-ups with the topic of pitching and to prepare them for potential financing rounds in a fun way. They achieve this by receiving valuable feedback from the VCs on what they can improve regarding content and how they can communicate better in order to be more convincing verbally, for example. The primary aim is therefore not securing funding, but learning from representatives of real VCs and practising their pitches. And who knows, maybe there will be one or two opportunities after all ... 😉 We are very happy and grateful to have venture capitalists Dr. Maximilian Ochs, Emilie Cousin, Varun Gupta and Sebastian Büchte on board this time and therefore took the chance to dive deeper into the world of VCs. Swipe to the left to take a look behind the scenes of the VCs and read extracts from our #interview with them. 🙌 ➡️ Would you have expected these answers? #maximizeincubator is the official start-up incubation program for the Max Planck Society by Max-Planck-Innovation GmbH.

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#Exciting news! Our caesar. partner Sebastian Büchte is participating in the session "Round Table - Founder-friendly VC feedback" of the MAXIMIZE incubator for Max Planck startups 💬 💡 The format is designed to familiarize founders with the topic of pitching and prepare them for possible financing rounds. Sebastian is looking forward to the pitches and is happy to share his constructive feedback, as he is not only an investor but also a founder himself and therefore very familiar with the other side of the table! 🙌 Take a look below to see what he had to say in advance about sustainability and values when evaluating start-ups at caesar. 👇 🔎

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Want to know the truth? Running a start-up business isn't always smooth sailing 🙅‍♂️ 💡 Join Wolfgang Ettlich in our latest podcast as he reveals the reality and the highs and lows of being a founder. 🚀 Get ready for honest insights, valuable tips, and lessons learned from over 10+ years of entrepreneurial experience. Wolfgang shares the raw truth about his journey, offering invaluable tips and lessons from managing different businesses. Watch our latest episode, "Learn 10+ Years of Business Insights in 36 Minutes" now Link in the comments below to watch the full video 👇 #networking #hk #AI #artificialintelligence #startups #career #careergoals #careerdevelopment #futuretech #startup #business #career #tech #culture #startupbusiness #businesstips #growthmindset #ai #businesspodcast #techpodcast #founder #ceo

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Pleased to partner with re:cap and offer a 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭 to the Berlin startup ecosystem. You can check our deal on their website - but I want to take this opportunity to talk a bit more about re:cap. re:cap enables companies to grow with flexible debt funding and real-time, automated liquidity management software. That's a very compelling funding alternative, especially if your business starts to be more predictable. Ok but 9x is bootstrapped, so why team up with re:cap? Because they also launched 𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴, a solution to manage and optimize liquidity, reports, forecasts with all your bank, revenue, customer, and accounting data. And as much as we like building our own tools, we're very happy to take out of the shelf SaaS tools when they 𝘯𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘪𝘵. 𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 falls into this category. It instantly replaced our house made setup - we were piping multiple spreadsheets and Airtable bases and retrieving Qonto data via API. Our setup was a) breaking every second week and b) eating Pierre-Yves Garcia's time. More time for us. Check it out!

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The culture you create within your business will directly impact the talent that you can attract. And how well you can keep that talent. But where do you start? Find out how to build a winning culture for your startup in Berlin here 👉 https://bit.ly/4cD6Zbb 🐺💜 #sales #startups #recruitment

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Fundraising is definitely not a walk in the park 😅 I’m still rather far away from being en expert in this - but the past months taught me a lot! It was a pleasure to share some of these lessons with Nicole Plich from Gründerszene. I want to share especially one insight, that is very specific if you’re fundraising as a woman. Women are typically asked risk-focused (prevention) questions by investors, while men are questioned about their potential (promotion). The challenge for us is to not get overshadowed by these risk-centric questions. Instead, and to pivot the conversation to emphasize our potential and vision. This is one of the crucial lessons I’ve learned over the past months - and I’m working on getting better at this. Dear early stage founders - what would be your key lessons to share? Cesar Hussmann Stefan Balg Bastian Meyer Cassie Yusofi Nikolaus Ridder Sufyan Osamah 🐾 Federica Moreno Jen Godderidge Anna Maria Ullmann Evoléna de Wilde d'Estmael 🌱 Susanne Krehl Viktoria Lindner Valeriy Bykanov 🇺🇦 Jana Maria Weinand Jessica Droujko

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