I have been working in the Internet industry since the nineties after I had built my first startup in fashion trading in Italy/France and  working as a consultant at BCG - which I is actually my only real business studies I did...;-). Since then, I have been mostly focused on transaction-oriented software businesses such as marketplaces, paid on-demand services, digitized value-chains, SaaS, enabling technologies etc.

I founded and was CEO or COO of several companies such as the Online Personals Group (a group of dating websites in 30+ countries), FriendScout24 (personals/dating) and part of the Scout24 Group, ADA health (medtech), Market Makers (marketplace technology). Also, I was Chair of the Board of ImmobilienScout24 in its early days (from 2001 to 2004), when the going was still pretty "hot".... Later, I co-founded other companies such as enmacc.com (a professional energy over-the-counter (OTC) trading platform, market leader in Europe) or FLEX Capital, a private equity fund that focuses on growth and buyout opportunities in the German Software and Internet Mittelstand).

Since 2007, and before co-founding 10x Founders, I have invested in 100+ digital & tech start-ups in Europe and the US and exited 30+ of them.

I truly like to back founders to become successful (being invested or not!) because I have had my fair share of help (and luck) in the past. I find it rewarding if sharing my experiences can help others to avoid making all the mistakes I did....;-)

Citing Arnold Schwarzenegger's speech at the Bits & Pretzels 2022: " 'Self-made man' is bullshit, there is no such thing. Any successful person, in business, sports, entertainment or else has had much help along the way!" I couldn't agree more. And I would love to be such help.

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