Marius Krüger

Series A Engineering: How does Dreamcraft Ventures support startups towards a successful Series A? 🚀 Find out in our Bits & Pretzels Masterclass in Munich on 30 Sep, which will be hosted by Nico, Founder Enablement Partner, and yours truly 🙌 We will cover how we invest and support portfolio companies. Using Hiber as a case study, I will talk about our collaboration with Michael and his team, and give you insights into how they raised their $15m Series A led by EQT Ventures 🤩 Nico will do a deep dive into crucial building blocks for early-stage startups. Based on his +15 years of experience from VC-backed startups like Trustpilot and Platypus, which he co-founded, Nico will provide hands-on advice for hiring, creating structural trust, retaining talent and building a performance culture 💪🔥 Are you going to Bits & Pretzels? Then join our Masterclass or reach out to myself, Nico or our colleague, Mads, if you want to meet up elsewhere! 💬 #Bits24 #venturecapital #vc #startup

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4️⃣ SaaStock Fundraising Chatter: Finding the Right VC for You. A key takeaway from Tuesday’s post was how important it is to qualify your investors. With so many options, here's how to be strategic: 🔎 Qualify ruthlessly. Treat your investor funnel like a sales funnel. AlbionVC, for example, invests $1-10M in UK-based B2B software and deeptech. If you’re a Paris-based consumer marketplace raising $20M, it’s a non-starter. Founders waste precious time crafting outreach to funds outside their scope. 🥇 Prioritise Smartly. Rank your target funds by both appeal and likelihood of success. 💘 Find a Warm Intro. If you don’t know the fund directly, network like you would for sales. Get a concise, compelling intro via a mutual connection. Remember a “pass” could even lead to a referral to another, better-fit fund. 🎮 Sequence Pitches. Start with lower-priority VCs to refine your pitch with early feedback. Then, approach your top picks with a polished narrative. Generating interest early creates momentum in your process. ⚠️ Requalify Your VCs! It’s as important to assess us as it is for us to assess you. ➡️Ambition Alignment: Are their expectations aligned with yours? ➡️Personal Fit: Grab a coffee, breakfast, lunch, go on a walk: will you enjoy working with them for years? ➡️Support: What do you need? Do your diligence to ensure they deliver it. ➡️References: Talk to portfolio companies, successes and struggles. Were they fair? were they kind? ➡️Partner Stability: The partner who leads your investment will be emotionally and intellectually invested in you and your vision. They will be on call. They will fight for you when things get tough (bridge rounds, etc)…far more than someone who replaces them later. Also, high turnover at a fund could signal cultural issues. #SaaS #Fundraising #VC #AlbionVC

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78% of startups can’t even pay back their investors. How do you avoid becoming one of them? I got to chat with Fabian Tausch of the popular Unicorn Bakery podcast about the common pitfalls founders face, how to avoid them in the first place, and what to do if you find yourself stuck. This one’s for you if you want more insight on:  🤔When to use intuition vs. data when making decisions, 💰When and how to raise capital, 👥Choosing the right investor Plus, startup questions you want to know but may be afraid to ask, including, “Is it even possible to be successful in my early 20s?” #UnicornBakery #Startups #Entrepreneurship #Capital #Investors #DecisionMaking 

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#Germany's Funded Startups Directory. You can view the list of startups funded in #Germany whenever you need it. Access the directory here https://lnkd.in/dc9emGbb #startup #startups #vc #venturecapital #investmentbanking #privateequity #managementconsulting #b2b #founders #entrepreneurs

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As part of the Startup Incubator Berlin's Lean Startup program, I've talked to many inspired and motivated individuals, and we all make the same critical mistake (myself included!). We're trying to solve something too big at once, and so we're building a solution with multiple parts. What's worse is that when we talk to each other, we're extremely convinced that we have to deliver the whole piece or our solution doesn't make sense. But the person we're talking to is often able to quickly see that that's not true and point out how independent each part can be. This is actually the best part of participating in these programs: the insights gained from sharing with others. What I'm talking about here is nothing new: it's the very concept of the Minimum Valuable Product (MVP). And when you think you have it, think again and slice again. This applies not only to new companies, but also to new product development and features: What is the thinnest slice I can deliver that already provides value? The next time you're about to deliver something, ask yourself if you can split it, but also ask someone how they would split it, and don't forget to slice, slice, slice!

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Should founders take advice from non-founder VCs? 🤔 As a founder, everyone (family, friends, the neighbors' dog 🐶 ) is constantly trying to give you advice - and especially your investors but, do you really have to listen to VCs who've never built a company themselves? On the one hand, VCs who were not founders often bring a wealth of industry experience. They analyzed hundreds of businesses from many sectors, and they see what works and what doesn't. For example, Benchmark's Peter Fenton is one of the world's top VCs, even though he's never founded a startup. His investments in companies like Twitter have shaped entire industries. Conversely, founders-turned-VCs are better able to understand the emotional side of running a business. At Vinthera, I speak with many GPs about this operational experience being a critical part of their USP to founders - the shared experience creates trust. So, should you take advice from someone who has never built a company before? Does their outside perspective bring value or is the founder's life experience more important? I'd love to hear your thoughts. What is your experience?👇

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📍Berlin // The Founders’ Story event hosted by Google; Key lessons 👇featuring Flix - Daniel Krauss Plan A - Lubomila Jordanova CODE University - Thomas Bachem Inclusive Tech - Mina Saidze FeMentor - Anastasia Barner And here are 8 key points I remember standing out: 💡 The why, why do we build companies? "It's not about being rich. It's about creating something meaningful." It;'s about following one’s passion while also recognizing the need for commitment: "You have to really work at it if you want to make it big." as the motto says if you raise money: "Go big or go home". It's about the impact and money may follow. 🤝 Building Connections & Mentorship: "My mother was a role model for me. She always had a great balance between being a mother and being a businesswoman." Overvall they all mentioned people who truly helped them, mentored them "It's important to have mentors, people who can guide you and help you learn." Mentorship, they noted, is crucial as "you can learn something from every situation, even if you don't always see it right away." 📱 Personal Brand & LinkedIn: Many of the speakers used LinkedIn to establish a brand, which all recognised to be extremely helpful. "You need to have a distinct voice and identity, something that makes you stand out." 🌐 Building Ecosystems & Partnerships: "Successful startups usually have a strong network of partners and collaborators." The speaker stressed that success isn’t just about what you do, but also about who you work with. 👩‍💼 Gen Z & Work Culture in Germany: "The younger generation is really looking for meaningful work and a better work-life balance." The speaker observed that Gen Z is driven by a desire to make a difference in the world, marking a shift in workplace values, especially in Germany. 💪 Mindset: "You need to be optimistic and willing to take risks." The speaker encouraged the audience to embrace failure as part of the journey: "You have to believe in yourself and your vision." Optimism and resilience, they suggested, are key to overcoming obstacles. 📊 Venture Development & Data: "It's important to use data to inform your decision-making." The speaker highlighted the significance of data-driven strategies in identifying opportunities and refining business models in Venture Development. 👥 Building a Strong Team: "It's essential to build a team with diverse perspectives and skills." The speaker emphasized that trust and support within a team are crucial for success, and that diverse viewpoints enrich the problem-solving process. I believe it's not every day that we see successful entrepreneurs in Germany coming here and speaking about their journey. Nice event to give back to the community; especially the networking afterward to meet them, and get their insights. So curious to see how this "1st generation of entrepreneurs" (2010-2020) will help Germany thrive in the digital and ecosystem economy!

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📣 Free founders-only event below! I often see founders get a lot of early traction in signing customers and then hit a wall when trying to scale that repeatedly. Why?? Maybe it's because: 1️⃣ that 1st group of customers came through warm intros from your accelerator batch 2️⃣ you've already combed through industry connections from your previous career 3️⃣ you're just good at brute-force selling but you're only one person 4️⃣ you are still narrowing in on product market fit Next week I'm hosting a free, founders-only candid discussion with two people who have had to break through this wall out of necessity and now coach countless founders on this. More on our speakers: 📈 Ian Illig took his 1st job out of college at a friend's startup (employee #1). He quickly found himself trying to sell a product that was still finding its market fit. Fast forward years later and Ian had completely built out the sales team and revenue, allowing the company to get acquired. And then he turned around and did the same thing again with the same founding team. 👀 Sonia Baschez was one of the 1st employees at Atmos, a consumer & builder-facing product for homebuilding. She developed early marketing channels & helped the company grow from Pre-seed to Series A. Sonia optimized product launches to reach the right customers, a challenging feat given their core customers are actively NOT in the tech bubble (aka Techcrunch and a thread on X are not going to do the trick). Whether they know it or not, both Ian and Sonia have been secret superpowers for me as I've grown The Council Fund and supported portfolio companies. I'm excited to share their playbooks & expertise with founders for FREE next Wednesday. Join us 12-1pm Pacific! Link to RSVP in comments below ;)

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This table by Antler allows to guide founders on how much to raise in their first round. You can use it to form an initial understanding, but keep in mind: 1. The numbers are German, so they’re conservative. 2. The numbers are from last year. But as a starting point for research, they are definitely useful. #Startups #Fundraising #Entrepreneurship #Founder #Traction

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Without dismissing the issues raised, I think this is a bit simplistic way of looking at it. Rather than suggesting a ban, shouldn't we all learn to play the game? I don't agree that the best idea comes from far flung people merely because they experienced something - that may happen sometimes but statistically it comes from unique insight and professional exposure (and this is what accentuates the network bias) - to a large extent. I agree with Opeyemi 's submission that successful blacks should get in the game (but not just investing in blacks alone). The more representations you have higher up there the more diverse the allocation becomes. I don't think anyone is stopping blacks from becoming LPs, Angel Investors or starting funds.

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Working with founders I am always amazed by the diversity of the approaches founders choose to build their businesses. What stays the same is the need for a good mentor. Here is a little insight into the mentoring work I have been doing with the Founder Institute Berlin for this cohort: 👗 Jennifer von Walderdorff is building a fashion tech platform, a super interesting idea. I helped her to understand the direction of the product better, & what to build first to get traction and start growing sustainably with the help of the community she built. 🚘 Daniel Muñoz Mármol is building his company in the automotive automation space, which seems easy but is not. This space is highly competitive, but also conservative (if we are talking about Germany). I helped him to understand the customer better and make the pitch a bit more clear, so the product is built for the right audience. I will be sharing more in the next few days. While building a company, we all need support. Getting someone from the tech world, with an actual experience building real tech products is not that easy. Generally speaking, I have to admit that the deep and applicable knowledge of product+tech is not available within the majority of accelerator and incubator programs and this is something I want to change in the future. Also, that is why Tobias Mende and I are working on creating a new space, where all of your tech+product questions can be answered. Stay tuned! #founders #mentoring #product #tech #techstartup #growth

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𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐚 𝐒𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫! 🚀 With this, I am super excited to announce that Scripe closed its pre-seed fundraising round – with a group of amazing, experienced angel investors! 🙌 Since day one, I am a huge fan of the product. Scripe is a is a content workspace that enables companies to position their whole team on LinkedIn – from the intern to the CEO. Imagine everyone having a personal high-end ghostwriter assistant in their pocket. Their mission: Empowering the world's professionals to share their stories. And they are doing everything they can to get there. My favorite features so far are: - YouTube uploads turn into endless content ideas. - Plan your content week in advance with ease. - Reports are 1000X better than LinkedIn's native tools. (Sorry, LinkedIn! 😉) I look super forward to being part of their journey and to support them with my experience in Sales, Content Creation & Scaling 🙌 I am very happy about the other investors who are working with me to make scripe the next Unicorn 🦄 : Glenn Miseroy, Daniel Frese, Richard van der Blom, Robert Heineke  Laura Raggl, Nina Kani, Tony E. Kula, 👋 Michael Kamleitner, Julius Göllner, Roman Geugelin, 🛠 Nico Axtmann, Michael Streit, Emanuel Jöbstl, Stefan Smulders, Nicoleta Danu. If you want to give Scripe a try and get an extra month for free, comment SCRIPE in the comment section. 👇 #Scripe #Contentcreation #AI #PersonalBranding

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I mentored the newest cohort at Techstars Berlin and was positively surprised to see the quality of founders. Key takeaways: 1. AI as expected was the key theme for most companies 2. Techstars has carved a niche for itself in choosing founders with strong technical expertise who need business coaching. Was refreshing to see founders who didn't just copy paste AI but truly knew what they were building 3. For many early stage founders, going deep with one use case makes sense but at times lacked the longer term vision on expanding TAM (critical for raising cash at the right valuation in early rounds) 4. Some ambitious founders (including one building offshore hydrogen production infra) will challenge the depth and conviction of European VC ecosystem (many founders already planning their London and SF meetings) 5. #givefirst is the key theme at Techstars. No mentor or company was in transaction mode. True startup exchange and paying it forward Thanks Brian for inviting me to be part of the mentor group!

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I study daily because it’s the best investment with the highest ROI in the long run. A recent lecture from Jeff Becker wasn’t just inspiring for many founders at Antler, but also gave me a lot to think about: 1. Know your strengths and focus on them 2. Create a workplace where you’d want to work I’m already aware of my strengths, but this was a powerful reminder to double down on what I do best—and to do the same for the people around me, helping them maximize their potential too. As for creating a workplace where I’d want to work, that’s a HUGE topic—especially when there’s no boss to complain about! Any thoughts or best practices on HOW to do that?

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Heading to Munich for Ultimate Demo Day! ✈️ 🇩🇪 Tomorrow, I’ll join UnternehmerTUM's Ultimate Demo Day at Munich Urban Colab - As part of Stax’s partnership with XPRENEURS Incubator. I can't wait to see several of the Early-stage founders we've mentored this year pitch their startups to the industry's leading VCs. 🔑 Key topics driving tomorrow’s discussions include the areas that we at Stax are embedded within in the Deeptech and Greentech space: - Sustainability, Entrepreneurship, Applied AI, Mobility and Female Entrepreneurship. Some exciting keynote speakers! Verena Pausder, Annahita Esmailzadeh, Maximilian Schmidt & Eric Beißwenger. 60 startups pitching, matchmaking and networking opportunities, Demo Day promises to highlight cutting-edge solutions shaping Europe’s future. I’m looking forward to connecting with founders, VCs, and fellow innovators to discuss how we can drive impact in these most vital sectors. Let’s connect if you’ll be there! 🚀 #DemoDay #Startups #Innovation #Xpreneurs #Sustainability #AI #deeptech #greentech

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A question I like to ask founders: How does your company look like in 5 years, if you are successful? Which companies are not going to exist? Which market or user behaviors are going to change? What does your product look like? The answer does not have to be a true prediction of the future, but it is a strong indicator of the founder's vision and strategic thinking.

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Founders who have raised VC funding I need your advice on a potentially tricky situation with an investor. I was engaging with what I thought was a VC firm based in Berlin to learn more about their thesis and investment categories. When I asked if they had their own fund or were an intermediary, They responded: "No, we do not have our own fund but we know investors that invest and as a result for the investment round of £1M we will ask for 10% ownership." This response raised some red flags for me. I'd greatly appreciate your thoughts on: 1. Is it common for intermediaries to request equity in exchange for connecting founders to investors? 2. Does a 10% ownership stake for a £1M round seem reasonable or excessive? 3. What potential risks or pitfalls should I be aware of when dealing with intermediaries rather than direct VCs? Your insights and experiences would be incredibly helpful as I navigate this situation. Thank you in advance for your guidance! #startup #venturecapital #fundraising #founderadvice

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This is insane! In Germany 🇩🇪, if your startup has closed a VC funding round a notary will read every single word of the docs out loud in front of founders 😳 I couldn't believe it, so I had to verify it. It's 100% true: "In Germany, a notary is required to read out the entire document aloud to all parties present during the notarization process, ensuring everyone fully understands the legal terms and implications before signing". It seems Germany isn't serious about startups... h/t Nathan Benaich for calling this out P.S. check out 🔔linas.substack.com🔔, it's the only newsletter you need for all things when Finance meets Technology. For founders, builders, and leaders.

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