Zur Person: Mali M. Baum hat sich u.a. durch ihr Engagement im Bereich der Start-up-Förderung, insbesondere für Frauen und diverse Teams, einen Namen gemacht. Als Seriengründerin u.a. von WLOUNGE, einem Netzwerk für Gründerinnen, als Innovatorin, Investorin sowie zuletzt als European Innovation Council Board Member trägt sie zudem aktiv zur Stärkung des Tech-Start-up-Ökosystems in Deutschland und Europa bei. Das Interview wurde in Englisch geführt:
As an entrepreneur, you have founded and successfully built up numerous companies. What drives you as a start-up enthusiast?
As an entrepreneur, the thrill of starting and building something from scratch is definitely a driving force. There's a unique satisfaction in seeing an #idea evolve into a #thriving business, overcoming challenges along the way. But beyond this, there are a few factors that probably continue to fuel my enthusiasm:
Innovation: Innovators/ strong founders are often at the forefront of innovation. They have the agility to experiment with new ideas, technologies, and business models that can disrupt industries and drive positive change, if its financial, social or environmental, this is where my passion is.
Impact: Many startups are founded with a mission to solve real-world problems or address unmet needs. Being part of something that has the potential to make a meaningful impact on society or the environment is incredibly motivating, as a successful founder we gained tons of knowledge and know how, this is my time to invest forwards and give back the access/ network and the knowledge, local and globally I'm able to share.
This continuous growth keeps things exciting and bring 'change makers' to their maximum potential, this is my drive for my public role I added recently to my daily work, when public and private work together, big things are on the rise, this is what we are still lack in Germany.
Community, Global and local: Be local with local roots while having a global reach is the key for success, The startup ecosystem, WLOUNGE as a key player, is vibrant and supportive. Being surrounded by like-minded individuals who are passionate about innovation and entrepreneurship fosters collaboration, networking, and mentorship/ role models opportunities, I believe I made a career switching from talking about it to doing it.
Legacy: Building successful companies that endure beyond your involvement can create a lasting legacy. Knowing that your work has contributed to creating jobs, driving economic growth, and shaping industries is incredibly rewarding.
When I talked on stages about #Diversity in tech and business and #impact investment 10 years ago people thought I'm the crazy elephant in the room, what became a mainstream these days, but still the majority are only talking, less doing, so it’s important to keep being the disruptor, the leading player in your category/ industry and this is the drive I have.
The special drive I have for Germany, the family history is Germany, my role here is important and continuing the heritage and the contribution of our past family entrepreneurial in Germany.
Overall, the combination of passion, purpose, and possibility is what drives me 'beyond' just building companies, all my companies were mission driven, It’s about being part of a larger movement towards impact, and meaningful solution for concrete pain. One of your core concerns is promoting diversity and equality in the tech industry. What strategies are you pursuing in this regard and where?
Promoting diversity and equality in the tech industry is crucial for fostering innovation, driving economic growth, and creating a more inclusive society.
My strategy is, first, define diversity, I'm having many startups under my wings that are guys, we nurture them how to become diverse team, the crucial thing is women on the cap table or women on the lead, not just pink washing (like we see too much and all over) Education and Training Programs #WDL: WLOUNGE DARE LEADERSHIP and our Female Angel Accelerator, are both raised and raising success stories, from student became founders, from Vc ladies. Women in corporates became a strong voice or raised companies of their own or ladies with not too much available capital become a business angel with our corporate's partners and network of startups.
Investing in education and training programs that target on women and minorities, can help bridge the skills gap and increase diversity in the tech workforce. Our mentorship and scholarships are available for those who believe we can help them grow on a personal and professional level.
For our corporates partners, Implementing inclusive hiring practices that prioritize diversity help them attract and retain talent from diverse backgrounds, our access to pull talents and the corporates needs is a big plus to implement our value of Diversity.
Supporting Diverse team/ women on the lead/ co lead: providing access to funding, mentorship, make them magnet for success, be on all WLOUNGE stages and forefront as success story to learn from, including our Tech Awards by WLOUNGE including our partner in all formats, like venture capital funds, accelerator programs, and corporates innovation or CVCs, family offices, all are aligned with the values so we are all on mission!
This is the basis for a great partnership I established with all my companies through the years, Business is people to people is my motto and I live up to it.
Advocating for policy changes at the local, state, and national levels, EU level, that promote diversity and equality in the tech industry can create a more equitable playing field, this is part of my role at the European Innovation Council as a board member. Let's stay at the EU level: What do you see as the biggest challenges and opportunities in the European (tech) start-up ecosystem?
In the European (tech) start-up ecosystem, the biggest challenge, and the biggest opportunity, both are Scale, Scale, Scale!
As a board member at the EIC, European Innovation Council, European commission, the startups investment instrument, includes Horizon, the fund and activity that investing and supporting startups at the European markets,10.7 Billion euro fund, the biggest investor in Europe, developing the policy and advising for European sovereignty and excellence in investment I can say that the opportunities are enormous, startups are very attractive, also for US investors, validation and innovation wise, we have a fantastic researchers and innovators here, developing deep tech for impact, the focus on ESG and SDG are a big added value as Europe is leading the sustainability and Green deal approach and goals against other ecosystems, the scale globally is NOT common enough, we also see, still, less collaboration between east and west, the way it should be for gaining maximum potential for European sovereignty.
The biggest plus is the EIC funding opportunities and the support for the portfolios/ beneficiaries along the way, still the risk averse attitude is very common here in Europe, as I worked and raised my companies at the US and Asia in the past, the mindset of the majorities here in EU is not on the scale, becoming a category leader, disrupting the market, inventing new category, become global, change the world, and this is a big part of our work and on a personal level, my work daily basis.
Of course there is a deference between west/ east, mainly access to funding, acceleration activities and the maturity of the market. This is still a challenge compared to other global tech ecosystem like the US. However, the EU is also an opportunity for access to a large and diverse market, strong talent pools (which is very much needed), and initiatives from public and private sectors that I could dream about when I worked in the US or in TLV, by addressing regulatory barriers and fostering collaboration among member states, we can unlock the full potential of its tech startup ecosystem and compete on a global scale. What role does the German ecosystem play in this?
GERMANY OPEN UP! When we want to address the role the German ecosystem play, we must stick to facts, same as the situation with (lack of) female founders, unicorn/ scaleups amount, Germany is behind, very much behind, even comparing to the EU market, Saying this, Germany plays a significant role in EU innovation due to its robust economy, strong industrial base, and thriving startup ecosystem, as mentioned at the beginning, we hold our family heritage of successful entrepreneurial, this is something we need to empower, make the founders, the risk takers WINNERS, those are the people who created and re-create every day the economy and the society here in Germany.
The culture here is not nurturing this mindset enough, you can see more about the TECH AWARDS we've created for this mission exactly. When I'm speaking in universities or running WLOUNGE activities, like you can quickly see the difference, people here are more comfortable, in general its good for living, but it’s not good for innovation and disruption, we don't need a nice-to-have companies, find a paid and develop a true solution for it, dive deep, take it to the extreme for maximizing your growth/ success.
Innovation is coming from a real pain, challenge that can be solved by technology.
Some of the strongest key factors we are building and supporting here in Germany for making Germany a key player for innovation even more:
Research and Development (R&D) Investment: universities, and corporate R&D centers driving innovation across, the Deutsche engineering?!
Mittelstand and Industry Leadership: The Mittelstand are the form the backbone of the German economy. These agile and innovative companies often serve as key drivers of technological advancement and export growth.
Corporations and family offices, as a big partners within our network, we can see their needs for innovation that will help them grow and survive the market competition.
Startup Ecosystem and Collaboration and Networks, we need this more into culture, business culture, the understanding that without network support and strong partnerships you can't grow, we also support startups expending to a global markets, if they are NOT willing to scale significantly, they are not interesting enough, unfortunately we have too many like this, still, in Germany.
The key word is: dare to do, scale it up. What role should or must our start-up ecosystem play in the EU context in the future and what, in your view, needs to be done by whom specifically to achieve this?
If we want to be successful, significantly successful, not like it is today; although Germany is the strongest economy in our region, to outside players, Germany looks like a 'black hole', no access, why bother.
This is exactly what my mission is here in Berlin, in Germany, it is creating business culture of openness and partnerships. This is exactly my role here, Germany to be open for business, for co-funding opportunities, the MUST kay factor is public and private sectors must work together and to be aligned for achieving this goal.
We can promote startups and then regulation is killing it, so they go outside for POC, pilot or faster and bigger fundraising, we can attract talents (even our very own) but then we are not good enough in maintaining them here, those topics are crucial for Germany to strive and succeed. Berlin is the key as a center hub but its beyond Berlin.
We should provide an environment that fosters creativity, experimentation, and risk-taking, enabling startups to thrive and innovate. Entrepreneurship is the engine of economic growth, creating jobs, driving innovation, and fueling prosperity. Network as support services to help them turn their ideas into viable businesses and scale them up, in WLOUNGE we have startup we took from zero to exit, leveraging the experience, access and the network I hold for making it a good deal, 2 women, 2 men, diverse team, sustainable, green product, the way we love it made a beautiful exit with us due to these community inner-circle services and hands on support. Attract and retain top talent, including skilled workers, entrepreneurs, investors, and mentors, who can contribute to the growth and success of startups. Access to capital is essential for startups to grow and scale, most of VCs here are unable to support the scaleup’s needs, when they need 10-15 million euro funding round, they must search outside. And last but not least: What advice would you like to give (tech) founders from your own experience?
Certainly! I’m happy to share key factors I learned define a success! as a serial entrepreneur, impact investor, we often possess a wealth of experience in business that can be invaluable for aspiring entrepreneurs. First, find your calling and stick to your values.
Starting and Scaling Businesses, maybe due to the fact that my previous company was global from day 1, it looks natural for me, but in fact, this is the way for delivering significant scaling and success.
Navigating Failure is a big GO/ NO GO factor, if you still do not know how to deal with failure, you’ll never be able to recover and learn from it for the good things to come, while dealing with failure, learn from me, never take a no as an answer there is always a way. Have a keen sense of market trends, customer preferences, and industry dynamics that enable them to capitalize opportunities, this is coming only from building Network: as a successful entrepreneur and investor you have extensive network of collogues became friends became collogues, you must know how to leverage these network to help drive business goals and delivers. Financial Management is critical, understand the importance of financial management and have experience in budgeting, financial planning, how to manage cash flow, optimize profitability, and make strategic investment decisions, all successful ones are having it, I learned that by doing. Adapting to Change: understand the need to stay agile, flexible, and innovative in order to remain competitive in dynamic markets. Leadership is to build high-performing teams and inspire others to achieve their full potential, I love my team and partners of WLOUNGE and all my activities, this is happening thanks to them! I learn to deploy leadership skills, communication abilities to enable them to effectively manage the biz and their passion.
Big topis for mindset drive success is Exit Strategy, I understand the importance of exit strategies and have experience in exiting businesses through mergers and acquisitions, this is to know how to maximize value for yourself and your stakeholders.
Lessons learned are the key for success, have the passion, feel it burning from inside to deliver 10X and stick to your values, there are no shortcuts for success. Good luck on your jouney.
Thank you, Mali, for your exciting insights.
The interview was conducted by Hans Luthardt, Editor-in-Chief of StartingUp
