#50 Magnus Grünewald: On AI Sovereignty, Deep Tech Infrastructure and Building High-Performance Teams

In this episode, we sit down with Magnus Grünewald, the 23-year-old founder and CEO of Lyceum, who recently raised a massive €10.3M pre-seed round to challenge US hyperscalers. Rather than just a story about a young founder raising capital, this conversation offers a revealing look into what it takes to build "impossible" deep tech from Europe.

Magnus shares how his tenure as Chief of Staff at Enpal served as a crucial lesson in losing the fear of "heavy assets." He candidly admits that starting out required a healthy dose of "delusion" to dare compete with established Tech Giants. He argues that while software is often about rapid iteration, building industrial infrastructure demands a fundamental mindset shift from tweaking buttons to moving mountains.

We explore Lyceum’s core thesis of transitioning from "renting computers" to "consuming compute." Magnus breaks down his "power socket" philosophy, where AI engineers manage server uptime no more than a smartphone user manages the electrical grid. He also outlines why digital sovereignty is far more than a regulatory checkbox, becoming a critical competitive necessity for industries like BioTech.

Finally, Magnus opens up about his leadership style of "extreme delegation" and how he unites PhDs and industry veterans behind a shared mission by hiring for a unique blend of "high urgency" and "conscientiousness." He concludes with a sharp perspective on the AI market, arguing that we should ignore the funding bubble and focus entirely on enterprise adoption.