The People Factor

Sebastian has built the Finance & Internal Operations Team at Taxfix from Series B beyond Series D. He has played a vital role in financial planning, implementing scalable accounting and people systems, fundraising and internal communications at Taxfix. Sebastian holds an honours degree from the University of Oxford and is a graduate of Bucerius Law School, Hamburg.Shownotes00:00 - intro & context05:41 - Finance stages from series A to series D16:41 - Growing a finance team from series A to series D24:41 - Headcount planning from series A to series DLinksSebastian - https://www.linkedin.com/in/flysebsch/Thomas Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-kohler-pplwise/Thomas e-mail: thomas@pplwise.compplwise: https://pplwise.com/

Annika is an HR executive who went trough roles in HR and consulting, most notably her current position as the Director of People & Organization at ABOUT YOU, where she leads the People & culture function while going public. Before this, she was a consultant focusing on M&A, Digital Transformation, and Organizational Design.Shownotes00:00 - intro & context 05:22 - HR from a Private Equity & Strategy perspective 14:52 - Pre-IPO in a people function 22:00 - IPO processLinksAnnika Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annika-in-der-beek/Thomas Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-kohler-pplwise/ Thomas e-mail: thomas@pplwise.com pplwise: https://pplwise.com/

Jochem van der Veer is the co-founder & CEO of TheyDo - a journey management platform. Before starting his latest venture, he has been working as a design leader helping to transform companies in the Fortune 500 to work more customer-centric. With a background in UX and Service Design, he’s currently helping to solve one of the biggest problems at the Enterprise-scale: systemically aligning customer needs to business impact.Shownotes00:00 - intro & context07:47 - Journey mapping14:17 - Funding and from agency to SaaS28:17 - Remote work: Superpower vs RiskLinksJochem van der Veer - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jochemvanderveer/Thomas Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-kohler-pplwise/Thomas e-mail: thomas@pplwise.compplwise: https://pplwise.com/

Rudi Bauer was Managing Director of StepStone Austria from 2014 to the end of 2019 and also Chief Evangelist of StepStone Group from 2018 to 2020. He now has 29 years of management and leadership experience in the telecom, IT and advertising industries. In addition to his current role as CCO and Managing Director at WeAreDevelopers.com, he is also co-founder of the Vienna-based agency active concepts, focusing on corporate culture, coaching, strategy consulting and team development.Shownotes00:00 - intro & context05:54 - Hiring engineers in 2023 and beyond08:39 - Job fairness report13:54 - WeAreDevelopers & Developer communities19:24 - Social demographics and engineers, female engineers26:54 - Management & LeadershipLinksRudi Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rudi-bauer-1b325813/Thomas Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-kohler-pplwise/Thomas e-mail: thomas@pplwise.compplwise: https://pplwise.com/

00:00 - intro & context05:29 - CTO Coaching & the role of a CTO15:29 - Goal setting, OKRs in Tech orgs, Vision vs Opportunity driven24:09 - Scrum & delivery methodologies28:14 - AI impacting software developmentLinksStephan Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanjschmidt/Thomas Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-kohler-pplwise/Thomas e-mail: thomas@pplwise.compplwise: https://pplwise.com/

Jamie is an HR executive with a track record of building up core pillars of HR with the aim to carry a company onward through maturity and growth journeys. Her last 20 years’ experience leading EU-based, international HR teams in Germany and Austria, coupled with her American upbringing, she applies a unique perspective and balance of HR practices.Her strengths cover diverse areas such as global applications of HR practices on local levels, implementing effective core processes of People Operations, integrating competency management into the daily business of managers and long-lasting leadership development approaches. Jamie is Berlin-based, with her husband and children. They enjoy exploring new cultures and rarely miss a Dodger baseball game!Shownotes00:00 - Intro07:36 - Change fatigue17:21 - Partnership, transactional workLinksJamie Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-t-2baaa47/Thomas Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-kohler-pplwise/Thomas e-mail: thomas@pplwise.compplwise: https://pplwise.com/

Axel is a Munich native with a strong track record in talent acquisition, having honed his skills at renowned companies like Personio, Intel, and Comites. With nearly a decade of experience, he now contributes his expertise to DEDIQ, a private equity investment firm specializing in medium-sized enterprises poised for profitability or already thriving. Axel's career journey reflects his commitment to fostering success and growth in the business world.Shownotes00:00 - Intro06:34 - Executive Search, Biases18:04 - Executive Search by company stageLinksAxel Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/axel-sedlmeier-241481a0/Thomas Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-kohler-pplwise/Thomas e-mail: thomas@pplwise.compplwise: https://pplwise.com/

Tanya Channing is a seasoned leader with over 20 years of experience in the people field and shaping company culture and is currently Chief People & Culture Officer at Pipedrive. Prior to this, she played a pivotal role in the successful IPO of Worldpay, one of Europe's largest IPOs. Tanya's expertise extends across various sectors, including renowned brands like Burger King and Red Bull.Shownotes00:00 - Intro08:50 - Culture, customer value17:50 - People teams purpose and mission24:20 - Prioritization & psychologitstsLinksTanya Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanyachanning/Thomas Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-kohler-pplwise/Thomas e-mail: thomas@pplwise.compplwise: https://pplwise.com/

Gabriele Fanta has been Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) at the technology group Körber since 2020. As CHRO, she is heading the recruiting, personnel development and employer branding worldwide. Before joining Körber, she worked at Daimler, McDonalds and most recently as Head of Global Human Resources at Sixt. She was named one of Germany's most inspiring female executives in 2022 by 40 over 40.Shownotes00:00 - Intro08:38 - Planning with 13.000 employees14:08 - Internal mobility & hiring16:38 - Length of cutting + 14:00 Culture & Leadership principles21:08 - Brand & Culture transformation, vision27:08 - AI perspectiveLinksGabriele Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabrielefanta/Thomas Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-kohler-pplwise/Thomas e-mail: thomas@pplwise.compplwise: https://pplwise.com/

Julian is a renowned global thought leader in people and organizational transformations, with a focus on public sector and healthcare clients in Europe. He has driven initiatives in reskilling and strategic workforce planning across various industries. Before joining McKinsey, Julian was an assistant professor for innovation and authored "The Lean PhD," recognized in publications like the Guardian, Times Higher Education, and the Chronicle of Higher Education.Shownotes00:00 - Intro06:05 - Definition & perspective on HR12:35 - Generative AI & HR19:05 - Regulation in generative AI22:05 - Future trough AILinksJulian Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julian-kirchherr-42a52032/Thomas Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-kohler-pplwise/Thomas e-mail: thomas@pplwise.compplwise: https://pplwise.com/