SPEAK LIKE A CEO

Every year in Berlin, people spend 154 hours stuck in traffic. In Paris? 237. In Rome? 254! Traffic is undeniably a major issue for cities and is only expected to get worse as more people (and more cars) migrate towards urban centres. So today we’re skipping the traffic and getting from A to B with Tom Kirschbaum, CEO and founder of Door-to-door, finding smart solutions for the future of transport.  Despite a lot of talk about driving, let it be autonomous or eco-friendly, Tom is clear about not being driven by ideology, but rather by attractive solutions to real life problems. He lets us in on the specific challenges that come with convincing different actors of your idea, from politicians to manufacturers to investors, and offers us a concise roadmap to pitching your proposal in a clear and graspable way.  Tom believes people are driven by habit - especially in Germany where the mobility industry is sacred and difficultly disrupted. So, how do you break habits and make people believe that your solution is the best one out there? How do you get from A to B while convincing those you meet along the way?  Buckle up to find out, and let’s get this show on the road! 

Building a community is harder than it looks - just ask Orlie Dahan, the executive director of EcoMotion. With over 8000 members, Ecomotion aims to foster innovation by building a community comprised of individuals dedicated to improving smart transportation. For Orlie, business is done human to human, not logo to logo. But how can you keep communication personalised when your community is growing rapidly and expanding internationally? How can you make the most of offline events and online platforms like facebook groups to encourage new ways of interacting and form strong connections. We explore this and more on this week’s episode of Speak Like a CEO. Enjoy!

Getting people’s attention is hard.  Everyone is vying for our attention across traditional and digital media. Back on 9th May, we brought together a diverse panel of experts to share what established business can learn from startups and non-profits, about how to make an impact with campaigning - just in time for the European elections. You can listen to the live recording here. Enjoy!

Keep your ideas weird and wild. That’s what today’s guest Jörg Rheinboldt, founding CEO of APX, the joint accelerator programme of Axel Springer and Porsche, learned to do from childhood. Jörg was previously CEO of the Axel Springer Plug and Play accelerator, which invested in more than 100 companies including N26. He is a verifiable ideas man whose edge lies in his ability to take dreams and make them reality. This week we’re talking to him about where he finds inspiration, communicating your vision and investing in winners.  Do you want to know how to get the right people in the room for your event? Are you curious about the communication clues that spell success? Do you feel ready to do that thing you’ve always wanted to do? Then tune in and learn from the gentleman who landed Bill Gates as a speaker for his college conference. 

Sometimes, it feels like to be a thought leader you have be present at every single event. Our guest today tells us why this isn’t the case! Elena Poughia knows all there is to know about what makes a successful event. She is the managing director of Dataconomy and the founder & head curator of Data Natives, Europe’s largest data science conference. Data Natives has taken place twice in Tel Aviv and is now going on its fifth time here in Berlin! Elena is passionate about understanding how data science and connected devices are changing modern technology as well as how we communicate these changes in our everyday lives. With a background studying economics but also Modern and Contemporary Art, Elena brings a unique perspective to questions of data science, building business relations and curating the perfect event. Elena tells us all about how knowing your audience is one of the most important parts of a successful event - and a successful event is the best place to promote your company, build a community and add value to your communication. So what’s the secret to finding and creating the perfect event? You need to make choices, find your niche, have a clear goal and come prepared. Tune in to learn more!

Welcome back to Speak Like a CEO! On today's podcast we take you to Israel, with an episode recorded straight from Tel Aviv.  Our guest is Chedva Kleinhandler, the CEO and Founder of Emerj, an app that connects employees and mentors.  Chedva started her first business at 21. At that time she thought she was the only person in the world who needed a mentor. After her second business succeeded, more and more people sought her advice. She realised: you can be an employee surrounded by people with knowledge and still feel that you don't have access to that knowledge.  On today's episode, our guest tells us how she broke down the barriers of making mentorship truly scalable within organisations and easy in terms of people's commitment and time. In a time of platform fatigue, she talks to us about how to create a safe and confidential digital space for mentoring and how it can truly enhance internal communications and become a powerful tool for employer branding Beyond mentorship, we talk about what makes Israeli entrepreneurship and what role communications plays in this part of the world. A true bridge builder between different cultures, Chedva lets us in on the different types of communication styles she has experienced and how religion and tech intersect in Israel. Is communication the secret to Israeli innovation?  To find out, tune in on this special episode from Tel Aviv! Enjoy.

Ever been in a situation where you really wished you knew what the other person was thinking? Well, we aren’t talking to any psychics today, but we’ve got the next best thing.  Today we are joined with Germany’s mindreader, Gerrit Richter CEO and founder of leading opinion poll tech company Civey. Civey has over 1 million active participants per month, and with the European parliamentary elections coming up in May, polling is a hot topic.  But polling doesn’t need to be political. Gerrit lets us in on everything from what makes a company successful to user feedback to how the Internet is full of people who just want to express their opinion and what makes polling important. He also talks about how, in the polling business, trust and transparency are of utmost importance and lets us into how communicating change can allow a company to grow fast. So put away your crystal balls and let's head to the polls. Enjoy. 

Today we are talking straight from the heart with Dr. Johannes Keienburg, CEO of HitFox Group and co-Managing Director of Heartbeat Labs - a digital health platform aiming to bring patient-centric solutions to the market. Drawing on his experience working in journalism, consultancy and in the start-up world, Johannes shares his insights into communications as an essential component of good leadership and how adopting a data-driven mindset can be the key to taking effective business decisions.  He lets us into everything from the challenges facing the healthcare market to how telling a convincing story is essential to building relationships with customers. He also lets us into why he believes being radically transparent can foster authority, but also empathy... So let’s get into our data driven mindsets! Enjoy!  

Ever wondered what pitching your start-up and folk music have in common?  Today our guest is Henric Hungerhoff, managing director of the APX startup accelerator, a collaboration by Axel Spring and Porsche. Not only is he an entrepreneur himself but he’s also a startup enthusiast, an investor, a lawyer and plays in his own Americana band (and if you listen closely to the episode, you can catch some of his music!).  Henric let’s us in on everything he looks for in a successful startup, from how he prefers working with teams over single founders and how he steers away from family based endeavours…with a couple of exceptions. Henric also takes us through the process of pitching your start-up, and how the perfect pitch is like writing a song: all the parts need to be in the perfect place to really captivate your audience. Enjoy! 

Help! Sometimes you need somebody! Not just anybody...Sometime you need the right person, or right mentor, to guide you in the right direction! Today on the show we have Berlin start-up original and friend of the show Christoph Raethke as well as Anne Riechert, the Joan of Arc of social entrepreneurship and CEO and co-founder of the ReDi School of Digital Integration, teaching coding skills to refugees and asylum seekers. Today our guests talk about a common passion: mentoring. What makes a good mentor? From staying  curious to being empathetic, our guests share some personal stories on what it takes to be the best mentor you can be, one of which even includes a visit from Marc Zuckerberg... Enjoy!