What started as a passion project by two economics graduates in 2013 now reaches 30 million users each month on multiple channels. This week’s guest is Mengting Gao, the impressive CEO of Kitchen Stories. She built a global brand in the very crowded online cooking market with her co-founder Verena Hubertz. What a story! First they were rejected by investors; a few years later they exited successfully by finding the right strategic partner. Their business model evolved from vague to acing both B2B and B2C, and now everyone wants a piece of the pie: even Apple chief Tim Cook stopped by to make pancakes with them. Tune in and find out how to ☄️ set yourself apart from your competition in a crowded online market 🧮 use data to build a social media strategy that gets business results 💸 what channels they double down on right now Connect with Lena Carlson & Oliver Aust on LinkedIn. 

Why do nine out of ten startups fail? What differentiates a future unicorn from your run-off-the-mill startup? More often than not, the answer is communications. As Ben Horowitz points out, “As a company grows, its biggest challenge always becomes communications.” Clearly, no raging success has been built on bad communications. Given the magnitude of this challenge, there is little systematic advice out there how startups and scaleups can overcome this challenge and turn communications from threat to massive opportunity. Jag and Oliver have set out to close this gap. In this episode they announce their forthcoming book which aims to help founders turn communications into their biggest asset, covering external, internal and financial stakeholders. But they need your help: If you are a founder who has raised Series A or a heading communications for a scale-up and might be interested in providing feedback on one of the chapters, please do get in touch: Jag Singh: linkedin.com/in/jagsingh85 Oliver Aust: linkedin.com/in/oliver-aust

Psychedelics are back. And thanks to scientific discovery there are high hopes that these substances will treat depression, addiction and help in other categories of mental illness. Science is one thing. Building a business in a this arena is still highly controversial and even illegal in many countries. This is definitely a challenge that requires very sophisticated communication. Anne Philippi is the founder and CEO of The New Health Club, a platform and a community in the field of psychedelic wellness and treatments. Being a trailblazer in this field, she also brings an impressive pedigree as a journalist to her venture, interviewing musicians like Amy Winehouse and Hollywood stars like Gwyneth Paltrow  for Vanity Fair, Vogue, GQ, and Süddeutsche Zeitung. Tune in and find out 📍 How to navigate public opinion for a highly sensitive offer 🤫 The journalistic secrets to making stories work as an entrepreneur 💰 How to create trust and make an impact with investors when pitching in a controversial field If you enjoyed the episode, share it and give us a review on Apple Podcasts. That would be lovely. Thank you! If you have any questions or feedback, do not hesitate to get in touch with us on LinkedIn. 

Michael Wax is the co-founder & CEO of Forto, a Berlin based unicorn that is driving digitalisation and decarbonisation in a sector that is the backbone of the global economy - freight forwarding. Not only is the fast-growing company, formerly known as FreightHub, a top-ranked employer. Michael is also an outspoken CEO who is on a mission to shipping sustainable while further democratising the access globally. Tune in and find out 🎯 Why sometimes every word counts and rebranding allowed Michael to set the sails for an ambitious communication strategy ⛑ What responsibilities Michael sees as a CEO toward his team and society, how he communicates and aligns these with the purpose of Forto 📣 How to stay in contact with the team in a fast growing Unicorn as CEO and the communication principles Michael follows If you find the episode helpful, please share it with your colleagues and friends and give us a review on Apple Podcasts. If you have questions, or if you are a CEO with communications advice and would like to be featured on the podcast, please connect with Oliver Aust or Lena Carlson on LinkedIn. Thank you for listening!

Are you as relaxed as the Dalai-Lama in front of a camera? Pulitzer Prize Finalist Piotr Pilat knows how you can achieve that state. Having interviewed personalities such as the Tibetan spiritual leader and Richard Branson as well as reporting from conflict areas worldwide for Reuters, he is now on a mission with HeyViz to empower you to create quick and painless videos to grow your brand and sales. Working together with Konstanty Sliwowski (#leadershiphiring #expert) and Oliver Aust (#CEO #communications #bestsellingauthor), the first HeyViz.com walk-in studio is now up-and-running, offering simple done-for-you video creation in central Berlin. Tune in to this episode to find out 🎥 How Piotr’s images from Libya became part of history 🎬 The atmosphere Piotr creates to help CEOs be their best in front of a camera 🚀 How you too can get best video content possible today. At HeyViz you not only get the right lightning, crisp sound and professional post-production, but also the combined expertise of Piotr, Oliver and their teams to maximise your impact. Without the cost and the hassle. If you find the episode helpful, please share it with your colleagues and friends and give us a review on Apple Podcasts.  If you have questions, or if you are a CEO with communications advice and would like to be featured on the podcast, please connect with Oliver Aust or Lena Carlson on LinkedIn. Thank you for listening!

Change is hard. Getting someone else to change is even harder. So how can you convince someone to become your customer when it really matters? Jan Rabe, co-founder and CEO of of three companies - Wechselpilot, RABOT Energy & RABOT Charge - knows how to persuade us to do the right thing. Most notably, Wechselpilot is a thriving German start-up that makes switching electricity and gas contracts easy for private households. All three of his start-ups share a mission: to convince us consumers to switch to renewable energy sources. Jan’s personal mission: Make Change Possible. Jan also knows how to keep customers happy, with Wechselpilot winning the German Service Award in 2020. Tune in and find out all about 🎯 What trigger points you need to focus on to position yourself as the premium service provider (and get more customers) 💙 How to create trust to win customers 💱 How to finance and manage three companies at the same time If you liked the episode, feel free to share it with your colleagues and friends. We would be delighted, if give us a written review on Apple Podcasts. If you have questions, or if you are a CEO with communications advice and would like to be featured on the podcast, please connect with Oliver Aust and Lena Carlson on LinkedIn. Thank you for listening!

How can I create an irresistible brand? Every founder is looking for an answer to this question. With a strong brand, it becomes easier to attract top talent and the right kind of customer. You can charge more for your product or service, generate higher margins and grow your company faster. As a founder, you want to take your brand seriously from the start and create a minimum viable brand (MVB) that has the potential to become irresistible. In this episode Jag Singh, accomplished entrepreneur, investor and former Techstars Berlin MD speaks with Oliver about creating a Minimum Viable Brand that fast-tracks your growth. Tune in to this episode to 🧪 Get the formula to create your irresistible brand  ❌  Understand founders’ most common mistakes 🚀 Find out how to enhance a brand even when the company is already established If you liked the episode, feel free to share it with your colleagues and friends to listen.  We would be delighted, if give us a written review on Apple Podcasts.If you have questions, or if you are a CEO with communications advice and would like to be featured on the podcast, please connect with Oliver Aust on LinkedIn.

Videos have become a cornerstone of CEO communications: for media interviews, brand building, pitches, social media content and internal communications. Videos create awareness, build trust and boost sales. Yet, many CEOs still shy away from stepping in front of the camera. With the experience of over 1000 media interviews and having coached professionals in over 100 countries between them, top international executive coach Bettina Hausmann and Oliver talk about CEOs on camera. Specifically: 🤩 How to appear natural and connect with the audience on camera 🧨 The most common mistake and how to avoid it 🤳🏾Creating a controlled environment that make you look great ⏰ How to minimise the time needed for filming Producing videos can be a time-consuming nuisance. That’s why we want to show you how to create quick and painless videos to grow your brand and sales. Come to our studio at Mindspace Friedrichstrasse in Berlin on 15-17 September where we will produce a professional video with you completely for free. Simply book your slot here: https://calendly.com/vizibl/30min?month=2021-09. 

Our guest today turned his Veganuary into a thriving business with a purpose. For Jan Bredack, Founder and CEO of Veganz - the brand leader for plant-based food - eating vegan is more than a nutritional choice. It is a path to better health, animal welfare and climate protection. When Jan swapped his career at a luxury car maker for the chopping waters of building a vegan company from scratch, the Vegan food choice was still in a niche. Getting investors, supermarkets and the consumers on board was not an easy communication task. Tune in and find out all about 🤸🏽‍ The company’s pivots from retail to wholesale to brand 📈 How “fans” accelerated the development of Veganz and put the company on the path to an IPO 🕵 Jan’s passion for and secret to great leadership If you liked the episode, feel free to share it with your colleagues and friends to listen and learn more about Jan and Veganz!  We would be delighted, if give us a written review on Apple Podcasts. If you have questions, or if you are a CEO with communications advice and would like to be featured on the podcast, please connect with Oliver Aust and Lena Carlson on LinkedIn. Thank you for listening!

Only 7% of what you say matters, but your voice accounts for 38% of the first impression you make. So, how come that dating apps are voice-less? Not anymore. Our guest today is the co-founder and CEO of Wayvs, an audio dating app that combines the magic of voice and the efficiency of audio communication. With her Co-founder Julian Krahnen, Franziska Focken just raised €1.5m from investors to take the slow dating app to international markets. Tune in and find out all about 🎢 Franziska’s rollercoaster ride as an entrepreneur 🎯 Her biggest communication challenge right at the beginning of her journey 🗣 How people communicate when they’ve only got audio, and what that means for your business Podcasts in principle are also audio messages. If you liked the episode, feel free to share it with your colleagues and friends to listen and learn more about Franziska and Wayvs!  We would be delighted, if give us a written review on Apple Podcasts.  If you have questions, or if you are a CEO with communications advice and would like to be featured on the podcast, please connect with Oliver Aust and Lena Carlson on LinkedIn. Thank you for listening!