Christian Eckhardt

The culture you create within your business will directly impact the talent that you can attract. And how well you can keep that talent. But where do you start? Find out how to build a winning culture for your startup in Berlin here 👉 https://bit.ly/4cD6Zbb 🐺💜 #sales #startups #recruitment

4

1 Comment

For this role, YOU should apply quickly if … 🙈 You want to work not only with me, 🥰 But also with Ali, Maggie, Matthias & Laura 🤗 and briefly with Eva ➡️ Head of Product at Swat.io with a passion for strategy and an absolute hands-on attitude wanted ⬅️ Since Eva is temporarily leaving us for a project in her private environment (🍼), I am looking together with Jane for the ideal replacement for Eva. What is the role all about? 🤩 Lead our Product Team, consisting of two Product Owners and two UI/UX Designers (4 people) 🤩 Develop strategic product roadmaps and align regularly with our strategy group to ensure our product fits within the overall company strategy 🤩 Further develop our product to ensure our users have the best possible experience while driving our business forward 🤩 Coordinate our product owners, developers, and designers to develop solutions and ensure great UX 🤩 Serve as an internal link, aligning our Customer Support, Development, Marketing, and Sales Teams to analyze user problems, develop solutions, and work on user acquisition strategies 🤩 Actively stay informed about changes in the market 🤩 Allocate 50% of your work week to strategic tasks and 50% to hands-on projects and teamwork 🤩 Work closely with the Development Team, enabling the development of value-adding features 🤩 Define and monitor key KPIs and derive improvement potentials 🤩 Support the Sales, Marketing, and Support teams in effective communication with customers and customer acquisition This is how we role: Iterate Agilely: * We prefer small iterations over waterfall. * We ship often & early. * We embrace continuous change. Simplicity Wins: * Simplicity is in our DNA * No project is too small, but there is definitely a „too big“. * We value clear and simple design. * Simplicity also means no technical debt. Collaboration First/ one for all, all for one: * Arguments before ego. * We are one team that supports each other. * We are managers of ourselves. Data-Driven Excellence: * Data is a strong argument. * Challenge the status quo. Positive Team Culture: * We are the good & fun people. * We assume the best intent. * We give feedback because we care about each other. In case this sounds great, let me close with the following: 😮 No Bullshit 😮 No Company Politics 😮 Full Hybrid Work (office in Vienna, but most people in the unit are working remotely) 😮 Impact, Impact, Impact 😮 Amazing Teammates In case you’re now even more excited, just drop me a PM! It doesn’t get easier to apply for your next dream job. #swatio #jobs #productmanagement #remotework #socialmediamanagement #saas

52

6 Comments

What happens when two precision and planning developers join forces to start a company? Both Andreas Sauer and I are all about detailed planning. We carefully map out: 👉 Resources 👉 Timelines 👉 Money 👉 Processes This is awesome.  Our clients, freelancers and partners love us for this. BUT. We've learned there should be at least some room for flexibility. An example: Initially, we'd get caught up in planning the minute we got a new lead, focusing more on potential issues than on the opportunities themselves. This often led to stress instead of excitement. Now, we've adjusted our approach. When a new opportunity comes along, we see it for what it is: An opportunity. We go for it and combine it with our precise planning. Do you see yourself in this? How do you manage to balance planning and flexibility?

8

To all founders, here's a very detailed overview and comparison of VC investors in Germany 💸 Who's your preferred VC, what should they bring to the table and what are their preferences? Also: Excellent portrait of First Momentum Ventures 😉

13

Always asked myself, if I can be happy …always? As an entrepreneur you are in the natural habit of optimizing all aspects of a project so why don’t optimize your life? After many years of learning about what makes us happy, I think it is only a transient state. But maybe we can feel even better … when we are in Flow! Flow is the state of consciousness in which we forget space and time, are maximally happy, motivated and efficient. In this state, we feel our best and achieve the most. What do we need to achieve this flow? Why is it so important for founders and managers? I talk about this in the podcast with editor Elena Todeva Listen in and share your best flow moments. #flow #flowmoment #success #performance #motivation #alignment #leadership #newwork #startup #vc #entrepreneurship

18

1 Comment

Let's dive into how we at s16vc approach '𝐇𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 & 𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬'—the most frequent request type, which accounts for about a third of all requests from our portfolio founders. Typically, it goes along the lines of, “Do you know a stellar [product designer] based in [Berlin]?” So, most often it's an opportunistic ask for candidate referrals. Occasionally, founders ask to refer a trusted hiring agency or an advisor to help build their internal people function. On even fewer occasions, it's a request for a reference check of candidates through our community. At s16vc, we've chosen to do a lot deals vs. 1-2 big-bucks bets a year, support all portfolio companies vs. the chosen few, have many individual LPs vs. a couple institutional ones, engage our large community to help founders vs. rely on an in-house group of operators, host a lot of community gatherings vs. one AGM. We appreciate it’s very ambitious. Three years & two fund generations into s16vc's existence, we already have 59 portfolio companies, 92 portfolio founders, and 152 LPs. Now, fast forward ten years into the future? No wonder one of our founding principles at s16vc is “Do things that scale.” This principle pervades everything we do. In the context of 'Hiring & References' support, we ask ourselves, “Can a VC fund help source candidates at scale?” And next, “Should it?” Our belief is that, yes, it can—with the right investment of resources. But should it? As with any strategic bet, you have to focus on your unfair advantage. For some funds, it's a sizable AUM, allowing them to get some great minds to work with their portfolio companies. For others, it's a strong brand name that drives traffic to job boards on their websites. s16vc’s biggest asset is our community. As I often say, we do everything as a community. Hence, for us, the real question is, “Can we source candidates at scale through our community?” The answer is, we may or may not be able to do that; for now, we haven't yet found a scalable way to assist with candidate sourcing. This explains why 'Hiring & References' requests comprise the largest portion, 38% of all requests that didn't progress past the 'Qualification' stage. However, there’s still plenty we as a community can and do help with: * Sharing the most precious people who we have worked with within the community; * Connecting to the most relevant and trusted recruiting agencies and freelance recruiters; * Job description & scorecard review; * Finding a bar raiser for the final interview; * Connecting to advisors who can help build the in-house hiring process; * Finding a trusted connection within our community for a reference check.

20

1 Comment

🎙️Podcast alert: Had a great catch-up with Kai on 🤝𝑪𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑫𝒆𝒂𝒍🤝 this week (🇩🇪) After our first session last year, we again talked about the latest developments in the SaaS and M&A market. Topics we've covered: ➡️ Our approach with saas.group, ➡️ Where we stand and what our goals are, ➡️ Current SaaS and M&A market trends, ➡️ How to properly value a SaaS business, ➡️ Role of AI in SaaS and M&A, ➡️ And more... You can check it out on all relevant podcast platforms. Links to Spotify and Apple below: 🟢 Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gn8RaVpD 🟣 Apple Podcasts: https://lnkd.in/g3kBWSBW Enjoy listening! 🙌 @ Kai, Anja + team: Thanks again for having me. Happy to speak again next year and see how good or bad my predictions were.

27

9 Comments

🚀 Being a visitor at OMR = Wow For us with our startup booth = Boo 😞 Why? See below. And at the end, what really annoys me. 👍 First, the good stuff: A lot went really well at the OMR: The organization beforehand was spot, accreditation was quick, food areas had short wait times, our master class ran smoothly, and the speakers were really impressive. 🌟Overall, it was much emptier, which can be both good and bad. 💔 For us as a startup, that was bad and our stand wasn't worth it at all. We booked a stand relatively early in the startup hall and chose the best possible spot. Additionally, we booked a masterclass and bought tickets for employees. Then we got a stand "upgrade" and of course, we were happy. Sounds good at first. The background was that due to underbooking and many cancellations from exhibitors, the entire area we originally booked was cancelled. The downside of the upgrade was that we had no influence on the position anymore. => The bottom line was that we got a stand at the end of a pretty dead aisle where hardly anyone passed by. Even more stupid was that all upgraded stands were forgotten to be offered to print all stand advertising spaces. 🤯 That means, at the counters where stands normally show logos & claims, there was nothing to see for us (see foto) 😞 Sure, we could have done things better to connect with the few people who had wandered into this remote corner of the hall, but it was really bleak and wasted money. Some stand neighbors had completely empty stands where no one came by for 2 days. One stand neighbor completely gave up after a few hours on the first day and left the stand. Also on the 2nd day, only a few team members were at the stand briefly in the morning. Imagine that! Apart from the appointments I had made, hardly any visitors came by. It was much more effective for me to walk around the fair myself and connect with companies. I understand that you can't please everyone. But there still has to be a minimum amount of "foot traffic" for everyone. Otherwise I don't need a stand since I can meet my contacts anywhere. And where I feel screwed over: When I talk to some other exhibitors in the same hall and find out that they booked very late (April), only pay a fraction of the money AND then get much better spots than we do!?! If so many exhibitors drop out that there are still places available, I would have expected the better spots to be offered to those who pay more, book early, or also do a masterclass or similar. Instead of "upgrading" them to the last places, and selling better, vacant places for a fraction of the money to absolute latecomers. That not only feels unfair, but makes me feel taken advantages off... So next year I will do it like others I talked to who also tried having a stand once: Enjoy the festival as a visitor; gladly hold another masterclass; and also arrange many appointments... just not at my own stand. #OMR #OMR24 #exhibitionwoes #lessonslearned 🚶‍♂️ 🚶‍♀️ 💼🛠️

52

8 Comments

I'm thrilled to share that @Smart Reporting has successfully closed a financing round of 23 million euros, with TVM Capital Life Science leading this Series C funding. A warm welcome to our new investors, including Bayern Kapital, as we bolster our resources to expand further into #NorthAmerica and #Australia. This significant capital infusion will accelerate our #mission to revolutionize medical reporting with advanced, AI-supported products. As we step into the #future, our focus is clear: to enhance healthcare IT markets globally and introduce cutting-edge, AI-based solutions that transform radiological and pathological reporting. The power of #genAI and large language models (#LLMs) is redefining what's possible in the healthcare sector. At Smart Reporting, we're harnessing these advancements to provide crucial support to radiologists and pathologists, making their work not only faster but also more accurate. As we gear up for this growth phase, I'm also pleased to announce the expansion of our management team, welcoming Christian Matzen as our new CFO and COO, and recognizing Sigrid Auweter's expanded role as CPO. A big thank you to our existing #investors for continuing on this journey with us and to our new investors for believing in our #vision. The road ahead is exciting, and I look forward to what we will achieve together in making #healthcare more efficient and effective worldwide. #HealthTech #Investment #ArtificialIntelligence #MedicalReporting #Radiology #Pathology #GrowthStrategy #Innovation #AI

625

97 Comments

I have to confess that I have been nervous: Standing on this massive stage in front of an 11k people audience and speaking to no one less than Mateo Price, Chief Strategy Officer of MrBeast. 🤯 What a beast of an experience… 😉 During our interview on the OMR Conference stage this Tuesday, Mateo shared fascinating insights on how AI is transforming their creative process. My biggest three take aways: 1. Mateo outlined their creative process, spanning ideation, design, production, editing and localisation. AI tools are already being utilized broadly! 2. AI’s biggest benefit is saving time: As MrBeast reinvests every single dollar back into new video production, their main constraint is time. AI tools enable  them to work faster and more efficiently. 3. Their favourite AI tool is Aloud, Youtube's dubbing feature, and multi-language-audio: MrBeast's content is already available in 15 languages around the globe. And now the best news of the week: Soon, there will be a 16th language available – GERMAN! 🎉 This is a perfect example of what I believe: AI will significantly enhance creativity. 💪 At YouTube, we're thrilled to see how top content creators like MrBeast experiment with AI tools. At the same time, we at YouTube are committed to develop AI responsibly. This means carefully considering potential benefits while proactively assessing and addressing challenges and risks. We adhere to our principle-based approach and collaborate closely with industry partners. ➡️ What was your favourite talk at #OMR24?  Let me know in the comments! #OMR #AI #Creators #YouTube #CreativeAI

167

3 Comments

📣 Google Consent Mode v2: Did you miss our recent webinar with Google on that topic? If you'd like to deepen your understanding of GCM v2 and learn how to implement it effectively, you can now watch the full video here (in German): https://lnkd.in/dceY4UnZ #consentmanager #webinar #google #googleconsentmodev2 #dataprotection #cookies

5

For those who missed our webinar "LLMO: How to gain visibilty in results of generative AI like ChatGPT, Gemini or Copilot." The recording is online now. Only in german but you can use Youtube Translation... https://lnkd.in/dGTj9rqy

8

2 Comments

🤖 🛒 Digital shopping turned into something good 🚀 According to the Gartner B2B Buying Report, most (43%) purchasing decisions in B2B purchasing are made without the influence of the salesperson. Gartner calls this "self-service digital commerce". The problem with these purchasing decisions is that there is a 1.65 times higher probability of regretting these decisions. This is probably due to the fact that many vendors do not publish sufficient descriptions of the products and product value on their e-commerce sites. In other words, it can be said that shoppers have a tendency to use digital shopping channels, possibly to avoid what they perceive to be too much influence from sellers. However, if buyers regret these decisions, the tables should be turned and they themselves should use digital procurement tools to get the ideal price and terms after researching the product or service beforehand. In this way, the seller can once again clearly emphasize the value of the product/service, but is limited to the value for the customer due to the competitive situation with other suppliers. Modern procurement and especially sourcing software combines the digital purchasing process with strong negotiating advantages through the creation of competition (aka Game Theory). 💯 Contact me if this sounds interesting to you. #sourcing #procurement #digitaltransformation SourcingDNA https://lnkd.in/dtzMntQ4

8

1 Comment

Our pre-OMR event is scheduled ✅ On May 6, we will kick off the intensive online marketing days in Hamburg with a get-together in our Remazing office. What’s on the agenda? ✔️ The latest AI trends ✔️ Updates from Amazon ✔️ Interesting discussions with other brands Plus: ✔️ The legendary Don Jaime tacos ✔️ And the Remazing drinks menu 👉🏻 How to join? If you represent a brand, comment below or DM me. Can’t wait to see you there! #remazing #event #amazon #amazonmarketing

76

Amidst all the Sturm und Drang about #AI doing away with #SEO and #websites, it occurs to me there is a more fundamental problem to address. What if that's all a big distraction from the real business, which is connecting people, fulfilling wants & needs, and getting paid for products & services? If I step back and try to see the forest for the trees, my chief takeaway is that the real problem is the lack of focused, well-run online #marketplaces where like-minded buyers and sellers can meet and conduct mutually beneficial business. #Google thoroughly trained everyone on search as the answer to every need. The cheap efficiency of big box online stores like #Amazon convinced consumers that easy and fast was more important than originality and quality. It seems there is a void that could be filled by entrepreneurs. #Etsy was a fantastic marketplace that blew it. I am now building a line of educational products on Teachers Pay Teachers, which is a platform that I think could be a good model for markets serving other sectors. Novica.com is fantastic market for artisanal folk art. I am envisioning the development of more niche marketplaces that represent independently-made products and services in well-established sectors like #travel, #art, and #education. In this scenario, Google and AI would be irrelevant. The comments on this CNBC piece by Natalie Rice seem to be a strong indication that there is a market for keeping commerce human. What's your take? Tony Carne Stuart McDonald Matthew Barker Hannah Ben-Shmuel Angelica Estrella Simran Patel Jayesh Panigrahi Robin Dilley

13

7 Comments

You attend OMR in Hamburg on May 7th or 8th? Interested in AI, especially AI-based solutions for digital commerce and media? Schedule a meeting with me or a Retresco expert! ➡ Book a meeting here: https://lnkd.in/dJEEV4Wd #AI #CustomizedAI #GenAI #GenKI #GenerativeAI #CotentAutomation #Textautomation #DigitalCommerce #Media #OMR24 #OMRfestival

39

3 Comments

I can't believe it, but it’s already been more than three years since Rolf Hermann 🤘🏻 asked me to participate in a podcast episode about Data Segmentation in Email Marketing. Listen to the episode 🎧: https://lnkd.in/eZ7q79Tg (German only). While we’re not in the midst of COVID anymore, many of the topics we discussed back in 2020 remain relevant when it comes to data management and segmentation to enhance email marketing. Agree or disagree? Also, it might have been three years already, but I remember like it was yesterday how nervous I was to speak and afraid of blurting out nonsense. It was, I believe, only the second podcast episode I ever recorded. #emailmarketing #emailstrategy #clv #segmentation #podcast #omr

14

1 Comment