The People Factor

Merten is the founder and co-CEO of Ravio. Prior to starting Ravio, Merten spent several years at Deliveroo where he first led the company’s international expansion before stepping into the managing director role for Deliveroo’s APAC and Middle Eastern business. Merten started his career as an investor and has been working in the tech industry ever since.Shownotes00:00 - Intro, Berlin vs London08:27 - Founder Story, VC, Operator, Founder12:12 - Ravio Purpose24:12 - Rewards Philosophy, Founder impact24:27 - Learnings from Deliveroo, APAC, Middle East29:27 - Ravio vision & next steps33:27 - RecommendationsLinksMerten Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mwulfert/Thomas Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-kohler-pplwise/Thomas e-mail: thomas@pplwise.compplwise: https://pplwise.com/

Hilary, an experienced entrepreneur and HR leader, believes in the power of positive human interactions for peak performance and well-being. With a background in startups and corporates across multiple continents, she is the CEO and Founder of bestselfy, an AI pocket coach for workplace excellence. Hilary also heads Quahog, an HR consultancy assisting scaling tech companies with various aspects of organizational development, and is a Founding Partner of Strengths Circle, promoting strengths-based leadership. Co-founding The Secret HR Society, she advocates for networks and open-source collaboration. Hilary is from Massachusetts, USA, and welcomes discussions on the Future of Work, Biergartens, American sports, and is fluent in German.Shownotes00:00 - Intro02:32 - HR in early stages06:22 - Leadership insights10:32 - Context & Background of Hilary14:32 - HR victims23:32 - Internal Hiring and Development28:52 - Leadership mistakes & learnings33:32 - RecommendationsLinksLinkedin Hilary: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hilaryklassen/Thomas Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-kohler-pplwise/Thomas e-mail: thomas@pplwise.compplwise: https://pplwise.com/

Constanze Buchheim is a pioneering entrepreneur in Germany's digital economy, specializing in "future leadership" and intrapreneurial culture development. With over 15 years of experience, she has successfully built and transformed digital teams in various industries. In 2009, she founded the executive search consultancy i-potentials to address the lack of market solutions for scaling companies. Constanze actively serves as an advisory board member, angel investor, and strategic partner, guiding serial entrepreneurs and boards in navigating the challenges of leadership, recruitment, and organizational culture. Her influence in German business was recognized by the Boston Consulting Group and "Manager Magazin" in 2015, and she was honored as one of Focus magazine's 100 Women of the Year in 2020.Shownotes00:00 - Intro02:52 - Fit & Authenticity11:22 - Evaluating Fit19:37 - Context & Background of Constanze23:52 - Difference in leadership styles and executive teams31:52 - World Change and Leadership40:52 - RecommendationsLinksConstanze: https://www.linkedin.com/in/constanzebuchheim/Thomas Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-kohler-pplwise/Thomas e-mail: thomas@pplwise.compplwise: https://pplwise.com/

Charlotte von Riess is the Director of Talent Acquisition of Doctolib, a healthcare Scale-up from France. Charlotte has a background in Sourcing, Employer Branding and Talent Acquisition at the probably biggest TA organization in Germany, Deutsche Bahn. She is also an Ambassador for female HR excellence and a global leader.Shownotes00:00 - Intro08:22 - Sourcing, Talent Acquisition & Business Partnering14:30 - Building and running a sourcing team23:30 - Career tracks, goals & KPIs of a Sourcer31:30 - Sales Hiring & Sourcing, RecommendationsLinksCharlotte: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlottevonriess/Thomas Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-kohler-pplwise/Thomas e-mail: thomas@pplwise.compplwise: https://pplwise.com/

Gitte is an exceptional leader who embodies forward thinking, change-driven, and global-oriented qualities. She excels at transforming grand visions into tangible realities by developing and fearlessly executing robust strategic plans. Gitte thrives on embracing innovation and staying ahead of the curve to drive progress. Her leadership style is characterized by a strong focus on adopting and implementing change, adapting to new environments, and fostering a global perspective. Gitte is a visionary who combines her strategic acumen with bold action to achieve extraordinary results.Shownotes00:00 - Intro02:30 - Creator industry08:25 - Background & Deezer10:30 - Operating System for an organization, C-Level, Board14:00 - Building trust with Executives, Communication24:30 - Probem Solving, Politics or Influence31:30 - Executive Teams, Role of the CEO & Individuals41:00 - RecommendationsLinksGitte: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gitte-bendzulla-/Thomas Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-kohler-pplwise/Thomas e-mail: thomas@pplwise.compplwise: https://pplwise.com/

Christin Glaeser-Seidel is the Head of Talent Acquisition & Employer Branding at wefox. She has a background in talent acquisition, previously working at Deutsche Bahn, working in one of the largest talent acquisition departments in the world. She is also an Ambassador for One Young World, a global organization for young leaders. Shownotes00:00 - Intro 05:52 - Corporate vs Scale-up12:42 - EVP, values, talent pooling26:52 - Internal mobility39:42 - RecommendationsLinksChristin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christin-glaeser-seidel-b4b322104/ Thomas Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-kohler-pplwise/ Thomas e-mail: thomas@pplwise.com pplwise: https://pplwise.com/

Experienced entrepreneur with a successful track-record in building global businesses in the HR SaaS industry. Skilled in business strategy, digitization, start-ups, marketing, and market entry. Business professional with a consulting background and Master’s Degree in business administration, marketing and operations from WHU and HEC Montreal.Shownotes00:00 - Intro08:20 - Alumni software, Leading us player13:35 - Retention engine16:35 - Organisational transformation, Private equity27:35 - Work-tech, HR-tech33:35 - Angel network37:20 - RecommendationsLinksJens Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jens-bender/Thomas Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-kohler-pplwise/Thomas e-mail: thomas@pplwise.compplwise: https://pplwise.com/

Oliver is a sales executive with a background in the B2B SaaS industry, currently VP Sales at Personio where he scaled sales from 500 to +10.000 customers. He started his sales career early, working in his parents' restaurant and later selling American Express credit cards. He has a passion for sales and believes there is a lack of focus on sales education in Germany. Oliver has experience in enterprise sales and has worked for prominent companies like GitHub and New Relic. He is an active angel investor in the HR Tech field and invested already in +15 companies.Shownotes Oliver 00:00 - Intro 10:24 - Sales: US vs Europe 14:24 - Scaling Personio from 500 to +10.000 customers 24:54 - Sales expansion 30:54 - Angel investing 36:24 - Hiring & Outstanding performance 41:54 - Recommendations & final wordsLinks Oliver Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/olivermanojlovic/ Thomas Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-kohler-pplwise/ Thomas e-mail: thomas@pplwise.com pplwise: https://pplwise.com/

Summary Ian Whiteford is an expert in building world-class teams and fostering impactful cultures for disruptive tech companies. With a background in a Global Investment Bank and a scaling technology firm, he founded Rebel HR to guide rapidly growing organizations, particularly in the cryptocurrency and Web3 space. Ian's focus is redesigning people and talent processes to empower employees and enable career ownership. His advisory work extends to scaling fintech companies and a large electric mobility firm. As an avid HR enthusiast, Ian constantly explores management, culture, and leadership literature for continuous growth. Shownotes 00:02:58 - Intro & context 00:08:58 - VC vs DAO 00:14:28 - Talentflows, Web 2 vs Web 3 00:22:28 - Improbable learnings, scaling from 50-1.200, EUR 500 M Softbank funding 00:28:28 - C-Suite partnering 00:30:58 - Scientific approach to org design 00:36:58 - People Infrastructure, People Ops, Mistakes vs Opportunities 00:42:58 - Recommendations Links Ian Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ian-whiteford-10145225/ Thomas Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-kohler-pplwise/ Thomas e-mail: thomas@pplwise.com pplwise: https://pplwise.com/ Book recommendations Built for people https://www.amazon.de/Transforming-People-Operations-Evidence-based-Performance/dp/1398608025

SummaryMichaela is an energetic people leader passionate about shaping organizations and cultures of trust and impact. Her mission is to create an employee experience that enables all team members to develop and grow in an inspiring work environment. Michaela believes that building human connections within an innovative, collaborative mindset is key to aligning the demands of our volatile, digital working world with individual needs. Join us as we dive deeper into Michaela's vision and learn how she strives to bring together people and products to create a #bettertogether experience.Shownotes00:02:27 - Intro00:08:52 - Women in Leadership00:13:27 - Top Learnings & Mentoring00:21:27 - Boldness00:27:47 - Network, Peers & Perception00:34:47 - Female leadership accessibilitxy00:40:47 - RecommendationsLinks*Gender Decoder:* https://gender-decoder.katmatfield.com/*Book recommendation*:German https://www.amazon.de/Das-Caf%C3%A9-Rande-Welt-Erz%C3%A4hlung/dp/3423209690English https://www.amazon.de/Why-Are-You-Here-Cafe/dp/0749927178/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3HHE3PWGP7K03&keywords=the+why+cafe+john+strelecky&qid=1683452544&s=books&sprefix=the+why+cafe%2Cstripbooks%2C95&sr=1-1Michaela: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaela-matus-6b626868/Thomas: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-kohler-pplwise/pplwise: https://pplwise.com/