Should you finish your degree?

Max Linden is the Co-Founder and CEO of lemon.markets, a Berlin-based brokerage-as-a-service platform that lets banks, fintechs, and asset managers embed stock and ETF trading into their own products. Max's entrepreneurial path started young, building websites as a student before founding lemon.markets in 2020 at age 20, growing it into a BaFin-licensed investment firm that raised €28 million from investors including Lakestar, Creandum, and Lightspeed. In 2025, lemon.markets was acquired by Deutsche WertpapierService Bank (dwpbank), and Max continues to lead the company as an independently run subsidiary within the group. Max joins Valerie to talk about his journey founding lemon.markets, the "triangle" of craft, science, and art in entrepreneurship, and why mission, community, and trust matter as much as strategy when building a startup.

Paul Ostwald is the Co-Founder of Morningcrunch, a German newsletter-only media brand delivering daily bullet-point briefings on business, finance, and AI to young professionals, read in under five minutes each morning. Paul left his role at Ringier to build Morningcrunch alongside co-founder Gregor Becker, growing it from a side project in 2023 into a newsletter read by over 200,000 subscribers, taking an unconventional approach to fundraising along the way, targeting a small, carefully chosen list of investors rather than casting a wide net. Today, he continues pushing on what a modern, disruptive media company can look like, blending AI-supported content creation with human craftsmanship and direct relationships with readers. Paul joins Valerie to talk about building Morningcrunch without a traditional media background, his approach to fundraising through a small, targeted list of investors rather than a broad pitch process, and how he thinks about balancing AI-assisted content with human craftsmanship as Morningcrunch scales.

Should you drop out to build your startup? The data says probably not. This episode digs into what's really driving students to leave school, how AI is reshaping what a degree is even worth, and why real-world experience keeps outpacing the classroom. 

Jennifer Baum-Minkus is the Founder and CEO of gitti, the Berlin-based conscious beauty brand behind clean, plant- and water-based nail polish that has become a category leader in Europe. Jennifer left a corporate career at Coca-Cola to launch gitti from her kitchen table, building the brand into a company that has raised $11.7M in funding and expanded internationally, all while staying rooted in community trust and product transparency. Today, she continues to lead gitti's growth and is a vocal advocate for rethinking industry standards around ingredient safety and sustainability. Jennifer joins Valerie to talk about leaving the corporate world behind, what it took to build gitti from scratch, and the lessons she's learned scaling a beauty brand rooted in authenticity.

Europe is producing great founders. It's just not always keeping them. This episode looks at the funding gaps pushing talent out, what market proximity really means for early-stage companies, and the emotional side of deciding where to be.

Not many people have taken a European startup all the way to a 2 billion-dollar IPO. Daniel Beutler has, and then he walked away to become a coach. As COO of Captain Train and later President of Trainline International, he helped build one of Europe's most successful tech companies, leading a €200 million acquisition and a €2 billion IPO along the way. Before that he served as CEO for Western Europe at Deutsche Bahn, one of the world's largest mobility companies. After more than a decade at the top, he made a deliberate shift, retraining as an executive coach and chairman to work with the founders and C-suite leaders who are where he once was. Daniel joins Andy to talk about his journey from corporate leadership to coaching, the importance of inner clarity and purpose, and how founders can build trust, stay accountable, and protect their personal lives without sacrificing their ambition.

Why do so many early startup teams fall apart? Most first-time founders are never taught how to lead people and build trust. This episode explores what gets in the way and what it actually takes to fix it. 

Chris Bach is the Co-founder of Netlify, the web development platform that pioneered the Jamstack movement and serves over 1 million developers worldwide, including Twilio, Nike, and Verizon. Chris helped scale Netlify from an idea into a company that has raised nearly $100M in funding. Today, he is an active investor, board member, and advisor to founders across the modern web ecosystem, and serves on the Board of the MACH Alliance. Chris joins Valerie to talk about co-founding Netlify, his unconventional path into tech, and what he's learned from building for developers over the past decade. 

Dr. Klaus Kleinfeld — former CEO of Siemens and Alcoa, and ex-Chairman of Arconic — joins Andy for a reflective conversation on leadership from the inside out. A leader who has stewarded global organisations spanning energy, manufacturing, and technology across more than 40 countries, Klaus brings hard-won perspective that goes far beyond the boardroom. Drawing from decades of global executive experience, he shares insights on energy management, emotional discipline, and the importance of aligning work with personal values. This episode invites leaders to pause, recalibrate, and reconsider where their energy truly goes. In this episode: Why energy management outperforms time management Emotional control under sustained pressure Purpose as something that evolves The role of spirituality in leadership Investing in relationships that endure

Andy and Valerie sit down to unpack what it means to build in markets where there is no clear roadmap — especially in established industries that don’t move easily. Andy reflects on entering the railway sector as a startup outsider and the discipline required to earn credibility. Valerie explores the advantage of fresh perspective — and the humility needed to make it work. They discuss speed versus precision, the reality that startups can’t afford to run out of money, and why the customer ultimately defines what’s true. This episode is about learning fast, adapting constantly, and building without assuming you already understand the rules. In this episode: The strategic edge of a beginner’s mindset Earning trust in legacy industries Balancing urgency with patience Staying grounded when resources are tight Letting customer reality guide decisions