Fayl Tales

first exit at 21, next goal is $10 billion ~ Moritz Lechner

• Loveth Ochayi

Share episode

Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.

0:00 | 33:06

Moritz Lechner started his first company at 14 with 100 euros of pocket money. At 15, he pitched on Austria's version of Shark Tank and raised €170,000. At 21, he sold the company he built to 50 people and millions in revenue. He is now 22 and already planning the next one.

What could possibly go wrong along the way? A lot, actually.
The subscription box business that never quite took off. A product launch where they spent a fortune, did the full campaign, and then, well, nobody cared. The overnight shift from three people to 50 and having absolutely no idea how to manage that. And trying to run a real business while your voice hadn't broken yet and clients kept calling you Mrs. Lechner.

We get into 👇:
★ Starting with €100 and a self built website at 14
★ Pitching on 2 Minuten 2 Millionen at 15 and tripling the business overnight from TV coverage
★ Why the subscription box model hit a ceiling and how they spotted the pivot early
★ Managing 50 people at 19 with zero experience of ever being an employee
★ The structured M&A process that led to the exit and the closing party that went until 7am
★ Why he thinks the next company has to be a $10 billion generational company

Let's keep the crew together 🤝
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fayltales/
🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fayltales
💼 LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/loveth-ochayi-a67491152

On the move? 🎧
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/64449Kq2PDzlkVyCjlN5U8
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/fayl-tales/id1797274868

Follow us on all platforms!

Instagram ~ @fayltales

Tiktok ~ @fayltales 

LinkedIn ~ @fayltales

the teaser

SPEAKER_00

Now the goal is maybe not anymore not to start the next business, but now it's like the next one has to be like a generational company. It has to be at least a $10 billion company. So it's like the goals get higher and higher and higher. But I just love winning. Australia's youngest entrepreneur, like 15-year-old pitching a tract and getting investment. It was a really, really, really good story. Even if I talk to, let's say, a hundred investors now, I'm gonna hear like 10 different kinds of advice, and one is like that's the thing, and the other one is like the idea is terrible, and at some point you just gotta believe in your own.

SPEAKER_01

Trusted your gut, yeah. Moritz, let's talk about the climb, not just the peak. It's great having you here with me.

SPEAKER_00

Thanks for the invitation.

SPEAKER_01

So you started your first company at 14 with just 100 euros and you pitched investors on TV at 15. You pivoted and you pivoted many times when things weren't working. You even scaled a company to 50 people, which is insane, and then sold that company. And now you're 22. Like that sounds like a lifetime of experience. Congratulations. What does someone your age feel about all of that?

SPEAKER_00

I think honestly, it kind of gives me perspective because it's like everything just happened. You know, I never really had a plan. It wasn't like I started with You never had a plan. Not really. You know, it wasn't like I didn't start with a business plan that was like, yeah, in like a year I'm gonna be a millionaire and then we're gonna do this, and then I'm gonna pivot, and then this and then that. It's more like, I mean, I was 14, so it was basically I was interested in startups, like I would say younger than maybe most of the other people. Um, and I was just like, let's try it. And I had like a hundred euros of pocket money, so I was like, okay, taught me how to build my own website and like try to build something, but I mean, it wasn't it, there was never really like a plan behind it. So that's why I said it gives me perspective because now it's like okay. I mean, even after selling the company and like getting to to quite good revenue numbers and good and employees and like building a real business, it's it still feels like day one, you know. I'm gonna start something new again and I'm gonna start from zero again. It's just what it what I love doing. And I mean, now the goals, I think the goals just keep getting bigger and bigger. You know, you you start out and you're like, if I got 1,000 euros in like revenue, it would be amazing. And then you like achieve that, and then it's like the next goal and the first employee, and then it's like 10, and then it's 50. And now the goal is maybe not anymore, not to start the next business, but now it's like the next one has to be like a generational company, it has to be at least a 10 billion dollar company. So it's like the the goals get higher and higher and higher, but I just love winning.

SPEAKER_01

The sky's your limit. Well, let's dig back to the Austrian version of Shark Tank.

🤝 interned at a vc at 12

SPEAKER_01

What inspired you to be on that show? Did you watch it when you were young and did you have a company in mind already to pitch on there?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I mean, actually the the story behind is that how I ended up getting into startups at at that age was basically we had back in high school with like 12, we had the possibility to do some kind of like a small internship, you know, spend a week at some company of your choice, basically. And most of my classmates went to like their parents' company or their uncles or whatever. And I love to watch Shark Tank, even then. I always watched it every every week. And I was just like, okay, I'm I'm gonna just like write an email to one of the jury members and just uh try and and get like my my internship there, and that's what I ended up doing, and that's how like I ended up spending a week at a VC with 12. Um, and I mean back then it wasn't clear for myself that I want to start something, but I think after this internship, I spent all my summers in like different startups. I was yeah, I was a 12, 13, 14-year-old. Wow. And then was like, okay, I had the first idea and was just like, fuck it, let's just let's just try it.

SPEAKER_01

That's such a good initiative. I wish Australia had that. And amazing that VCs allowed a 12-year-old to just join them on an internship.

SPEAKER_00

I mean, you know, I didn't

💡 €100 and a website at 14

SPEAKER_00

really add any value. I was just like sitting into meetings and was like, I'm amazed. That's like crazy. Like people are starting their own businesses, and you know, from the outside, as a 12-year-old, you you don't have this perspective, right? It's something like completely new. So it just blew my mind and it's it's what started my urge to start my own company later.

SPEAKER_01

I wonder if there was something that was the biggest factor because like the difference between starting a company and entering a more safe career is like widely different. So for you, was it the excitement of building something or the achievement? Or because it's completely fine to want a stable career, but it seems like there was something that really sparked that drive and interest in you.

SPEAKER_00

I think honestly, it's mostly about just creating something on your own. It's just like, hey, it's like you're gonna be your own boss. You can decide what you gotta do if you got an idea, you can just like do it, you know, you don't have to ask anyone for permission. Yes, it's just like I want to do something on my own. And I think that's that's what what drove it. And you know, also because like people keep asking, yeah, was it you? Just wanted to make money and stuff like that. Honestly, like money was never even a topic at that stage, you know, because it's like I didn't pay myself anything, I didn't need money. I mean, I lived at home, I was 14, so so I didn't care about money, you know. Um and I think it's also important to not start something just for the money, it's just you you gotta do it because you love building.

SPEAKER_01

Agreed. So, what was your first proper startup that eventually made it to the Shock Tank?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I mean, actually it's it started. The first one was called Freebie Box, and it started out of my own, you know, any every child loves Christmas. And I wanted to basically build this Christmas experience, but just for every month of the every month of the year. And that's how Freebie Box back then started. It was basically like an individual subscription box, which was sent what like monthly sent out to our customers, to our subscribers with like different products, different categories. So, for example, in cosmetic space and some products in the fitness space and foods and and stuff like that, and was always individualized on the people

📺 pitched on tv at 15

SPEAKER_00

um ordering it.

SPEAKER_01

Cool. And what was the experience like pitching it on TV?

SPEAKER_00

I mean, I you know, I was uh it was a great experience. Um, I was really excited. I mean, you're you're being there and it's you have never talked to the people sitting there. It's like hundreds, a hundred cameras pointing at you, right? And you're just there and the door opens as you see it on TV. That's that's real. Like the door opens and you just step in, you're like, okay, now it's your time, you know? It's like, okay, now now I gotta give it give it my best.

SPEAKER_01

Were you a shy child or were you quite an extrovert?

SPEAKER_00

Or I would say maybe a mix. I would say I was always an extrovert, not not really shy, but also, I mean, you know, in a situation like that, who is like an extrovert then? You know, it's like a hundred cameras pointing at you and like five investors like triple UA just sitting there and I like grilling you, you know. Um and I remember the moment I stepped in, I was like extremely excited. Um, but the moment I started talking, it kept like getting better and better, you know, like the first words, and I think it's it's always the same, I would say. It's like the first words always a bit like, okay, I need to like find my groove basically, right? And then also with the questions that came, I mean, they're like basically like grilling you and and giving you questions, and they were quite harsh, I would say. I mean, it was 14 and they uh 15 back when I was when I went on the show. Um and they were like basically was asking the same questions for for anyone else, right? So also like some critical questions, all of that. But I think like the questions were never my I wasn't really the questions weren't a problem because the question is something something I knew my product, I knew my business, like my my plan, I knew what I wanted to build, the idea, everything. I had built it myself, you know? So like the the questions weren't a problem, just like the pitch, you gotta be there at 100%.

SPEAKER_01

Sounds like you were you ended up raising 170,000 euros, which is insane. How did you manage that? And what did your parents think? Like, were you they very supportive? Were they worried for you? Like that's a lot of pressure as a teenager.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, it definitely is. I mean, um

💰 raised €170k, everything changed

SPEAKER_00

also I think this like first real investment round pretty much changed a lot for me because before that it was mostly like, okay, I can do whatever I want. I mean, I started with 100 euros and that's it. I was just on my own, you know. I was going to school, and after school, I went sometimes went to an office where I could like have a place and sit and basically work and do my stuff. But like if I wanted to go home and I don't know, like play soccer, I could do that, right? There was no one like really telling me, hey, you have to work now. Um but of course after the investment name went completely different pressure, right? Because people are investing like their own money in you to like go build on something. And also with the money, I mean, we we got the first employees, so it's like it really developed into a real business. Yeah, and I mean about my parents, I think they were always supportive, but like not pushy, I would say, in a way, you know, they're still like especially my mom was. I mean, that's that's I would say that's how mothers are, and maybe maybe how they're supposed to be, is like a bit protective, right? So she was like, I mean, do you really want to work that much? You don't want to enjoy your childhood and just go out and play and have fun. And I mean, she was right to some extent, right? So I think uh in in hindsight, it was a good thing to not have her like push it too much because I wanted to push it on my own. And I think basically you have to do it, it has to be like your intrinsic motivation doing that.

SPEAKER_01

I agree, I agree. I think kudos to them for supporting you, but also reminding you that you're still a child and you made the decision to continue. So there that's that's you. If you've made it this far, we are basically friends watching on YouTube, hit the like and subscribe button, listening on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you stream your podcast, hit the follow and like, and so that you can tune in for more next week. So Freebie Box didn't actually end up performing as

📉 why freebiebox hit a ceiling

SPEAKER_01

well as you would have liked. When did you realize that things had to change or you had to pivot?

SPEAKER_00

Um, I mean, the the story is we we went on Shark Tank, and that basically, I mean, we we like tripled in like a few days, you know. Well, really, like for us, it was also like in Austria, and some in Germany were like the main newspapers, everybody wrote about it. Yeah, it was really good marketing. You know, the story of like Austria's youngest entrepreneur, like 15-year-old pitching at Shark Tank, getting investment was a really, really, really good story. Um, and I mean that helped us a lot. The business grew, we hired the first employees, all of that stuff. But and I mean we grew, but it wasn't like exploding, you know, it wasn't this like a hundred X that you in a venture case you would you would hope for. Also, we encountered the um just the challenge that the bigger we grew, like it became harder and harder because we always had to have like both sides. We partnered with B2B with the companies that basically gave us the products, and then we had to have like the customers, the B2C customers we had to sell to, and that's how we made our revenue, basically, right? And like having this like kind of platform model was a bit of a challenge because sometimes like you were we did good B2B sales, and then we had amazing partners with amazing products, but we didn't have enough B2C customers to like give the products to basically, and then it was the other way around. So that's that's a bit like the tricky of the business model. And actually, at the end of the day, um, it didn't end really end up failing, but we just um discovered something new which just grew way, way better for us. Um than the story was we we did a lot of online marketing for ourselves, right? It was like a B2C, it was an e-commerce subscription business, so we did a lot of online marketing, and we basically found for ourselves that influencer marketing was the most efficient channel, and that's how we got into that. We like we tried all like different agencies, platforms, and we weren't really satisfied with anything. And then we were like, okay, let's let's just

🔄 the pivot to new fluence

SPEAKER_00

build it on our own. And honestly, like at that moment, the e-commerce subscription business, like Freebie Box, it wasn't really growing as we had hoped for. I mean, it was kind of like profitable, but but not really profitable. It was kind of like going flat like like this, right? And then we basically ended up saying, okay, like let's let's focus on on on new one on our influencer platform, Newfluence, 100%. And um basically we ended up selling, but it wasn't really an exit, it was just like a revenue share deal. We ended up selling like the B2C business, the freebie box business to a German competitor, and that and pivoted. And pivoted.

SPEAKER_01

Amazing. Wow. Okay, so there's a lot to unpack there. Um, did you have guidance from the investors to do that pivot, or did you just kind of like know innately that this was the right next step? Because that's it's sometimes really hard, and for some founders, there's a lot of ego to admit that, oh, this isn't quite working, and I see the opportunity here. I know I've sold you this dream, but I actually think like we need to change. What was that like, especially as a young person? I can imagine that maybe, but also maybe it's good that you were young and maybe you were just very audacious and bold. Could have gone either way, but what was your experience?

SPEAKER_00

I think honestly, it was more like when like it was our decision. Like the good thing was our investors were always like quite hands-off. I would say we're always like, I mean, at the end of the day, the founders are the company, right? And especially at like an early, really early, early stage, is basic you just need the founders to to like love what they are doing, right? And for us, it was just okay, we it was our gut feeling that it was the right move to do, but of course it was still a big decision and also quite hard because as you said, like it is your baby, and you're like, I built that the past couple of years. I mean, we we built free books for around, I think it was like three years, something like that. End of 2020, we we ended up pivoting. You know, you put your heart and soul and energy and you put anything everything into that company, and then you end up realizing like, okay, it it didn't end up working as well as you thought and like hoped for it to work, right? Yeah. Um, but I think yeah, ultimately, like you you gotta put your ego aside and just be like, what's the best decision for the company? And I mean, it was definitely 110% the right decision in hindsight.

SPEAKER_01

So of course, as you said, because new fluence grew super fast, it grew to 50 people, millions in revenue within three years, and which is incredible, amazing. How much of that was strategy versus luck?

SPEAKER_00

I would honestly say it was mostly just good execution. Wow, you know, I think it wasn't really. I mean, of course, you always have to have luck, right? And yeah, we were at the right time, at the right place, 100% sure. But also there were a lot of competitors around us which did pretty similar strategies, similar concepts, and ended up failing. And I think like the biggest differentiator at the end of the day was just our operational execution. We just, I think we just ended up hustling harder, we ended up doing a few things maybe better than them. And at the end, at the end of the day, it's just like that that's how you win a market, right? And we just gave it our best. We ended up out-executing every everyone else. And I think that that's what helped.

SPEAKER_01

Did you have any co-founders or were you?

SPEAKER_00

I had one late co-founder, the same one I had for Fringy Box. He joined like a year or something, similar age or actually was 10 years older than me. Yeah, which is now it it doesn't really matter anymore, right? Because if you're like, let's say I'm 22 now and he's 30, so it doesn't really matter. But back then, if you're like 14 and you are interviewing someone as like a co-founder and he's like 10 years older than you, it's like, okay, that that's a real difference, right? It's actually quite funny because he started as my like my first intern, you know. Um and he basically he came for the interview, and he was like, I greeted him and he was like, Hey, like, where do I get to to like Morris, you know? And like another funny thing back then was, you know, yes, it was just like everybody thought also, like when I was talking to people on the phone, everybody thought I was a woman basically because of my voice, you know.

SPEAKER_01

Because you were so young. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

It was before puberty. So I was like, they were like, hi, Mrs. Leshna, how can I help you?

SPEAKER_01

You didn't let that stop you, you kept going. How did you manage that age difference as co-founders?

SPEAKER_00

I think honestly, it was very much he just was the right choice, and it didn't really matter. You know, he all he took me for like a full person. He took me for like the same age as him, you know. There wasn't really, there was never a difference. It was never like he gave me the feeling of, yeah, I'm like 10 years old and you and I'm more experienced. It was always that we were already always head to head, basically. Yeah. And I think that's that's important. Um, you just gotta find the right person.

SPEAKER_01

Agreed. And how do you distribute the responsibilities between the both the both of you?

SPEAKER_00

It was always very, very clear. I was always the one doing everything to the outside, and he was always the one the CTO basically. I mean, then for Newfoundlands he developed all of

👥 managing 50 people at 19

SPEAKER_00

the tech infrastructure, the platform, everything, and I basically did pretty much everything else, I would say all like operations, sales, leading the teams, hiring, stuff like that. So basically taking over the whole business, and he did like everything in the in the background, so it it can work.

SPEAKER_01

That's that's incredible. You ended up running and managing 50 people at the age of 19, 20. What was that like? Especially as you had limited experience of being an employee yourself. How did you manage that? Because that's a lot of people.

SPEAKER_00

Honestly, I think it was easier for me back then to like manage 50 people than maybe the first ones to like manage five three years earlier. Wow. Because, you know, of course I was just like 19, 20, and now I'm 22. But it's like, I mean, still I have like seven years in entrepreneurship expertise now and seven years in experience basically like building companies. So I think now I would say I'm I'm very chilled and like, yeah, you know, I'm not excited. It's it's not nothing new anymore to like hire someone or maybe fire someone. It's like, okay, you you have done that like quite quite some time, so it's like okay, it has become like a regular thing, you know, not nothing new. But I think at the beginning, of course, it was a very new experience. And the challenge was also the main difference between like going from five to let's say 50 people, it's just like you suddenly need structure. And at the beginning, it's just you and you're managing everyone, and you're like, hey, let's do this. Yeah, that there's like no no structure, nothing. And then we with like 50 people, it was like, okay, we really gotta think about like we we gotta have some team leads, and we gotta have some like yeah, people just like leading their own teams and giving them more opportunities inside the teams and giving them responsibilities, and yeah, I think that was all of like a learning journey. It's like a step as I would say I learned on the job, you know. I I had no experience to learn outside, so it was always like just learning by doing.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. And obviously you're doing a really good job because in November 2024 you sold New Floor New Fluence, um, which is amazing. Congratulations. How did that feel and how did it all happen? Because I find that acquisitions are usually a bit on the DL, and it'll be good to get some insight into what that process was like.

SPEAKER_00

I mean, um honestly the whole

🥂 the exit and the 7am party

SPEAKER_00

process was a really we really did like an MA process, like a really structured process. I mean, ultimately it was like we we kept growing really nice. We were like tripling every year, we were very profitable, so it wasn't like a regular startup anymore because at that time we did more than a more than a million in yearly profit. So it was a really good prof profitable business, distributing dividends, all of that kind of stuff. But ultimately for me, it was like, okay, what's gonna be the next step now? You know, you maybe as like a small startup, you s you get to a certain ceiling, or at least for us, it was we we felt like okay, we won't be able to keep that momentum in terms of growth if we're gonna do it on our own. And that's how basically we're like going out in a structured M ⁇ A process and like talking to different strategic partners to see hey, maybe that could like help us to grow even faster. And at the end of the day, we we ended up doing doing an exit in end of end of 2024. And honestly, I mean, also because you asked about the feeling. I mean, of course, it's always like you know, as a child, that's that's somehow like the dream. I'm I'm not sure if it should be the dream, but of course, it's always like what you read in the media, it's always like okay, someone is selling their business for this and that much amount of money, you know. And of course, it was a bit of like a dream come true because it was always like, okay, in sometime I'm gonna be the one, like you're you're gonna the the one like that can tell this story. And honestly, like also in terms of experience, it was just a really great experience to do the whole process.

SPEAKER_01

How did you celebrate?

SPEAKER_00

I mean, at 21, like I think it was pretty much the wildest party we ever had. It was it was really crazy. Yeah. I mean, usually you have like you're you're it's called the closing party, you know. So it's like um also our our buyer, they all including like the the lawyers and the MA advisors, everyone flew to Vienna, and we ended up really, you know, celebrating until like seven in the morning or something like that. I'm not sure if I was if there was a time I was that drunk in my life.

SPEAKER_01

No, very, very well deserved. Uh so after the amazing exit and party, you ended up moving to San Francisco for a bit. Why why why that move?

SPEAKER_00

I mean, you know, it was always a dream for myself to at some point live in Silicon Valley. And I think it's just like now that I'm officially, I mean, I was maybe too for some context, I was CEO at the company until end of 2025, so end of last year, and then at the end of the year I decided to step down as CEO and continue a role as like in a consulting position basically. Um and I think it's just a dream that I have to basically. Of course, every founder has that dream. I just I had that dream, so now I'm yeah, I'm in the we in the process right now of moving there, and it's definitely the goal of moving there full time to just like build build something new and really fulfill myself.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, do you have any ideas of what the new thing is?

SPEAKER_00

I'm working on I'm working on on a bunch of very interesting, cool stuff right now. Yeah, nothing to share right now at that moment. Um, but but it's gonna be there soon.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, so it sounds like you will become well, you are a lifelong entrepreneur.

SPEAKER_00

I don't yeah, like honestly, I don't know what else I would do. Yeah, and you know, also the difference for myself, I mean, I'm I'm 22. So it's like way, I'm way too young to like now rest and be like, okay, that's it. I'm just gonna chill on the beach and and go party.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

So it's like, I mean, maybe if you sell your company at like a very different age, it's like, okay, I'm gonna focus on family and retire and just enjoy my life. But for me, I wouldn't do, I wouldn't know what to do all day, you know. Like, I I gotta really show show myself and I'm I gotta do it again. And I'm really like right now, I'm really excited to get back into the hustle, you know, and really like start from scratch again. I also like personally, I really love this like zero-to-one experience. It's like pretty much, I would say it's like one of the best phases because it's just like the phase you can shape the whole company and you can just give it your best. And um, yeah, really excited to to get back to building.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, no, it takes a very special type of person to enjoy it because it's the hardest time. Um, you're more likely to fail during that period. So yeah, no, that's amazing. I also before I ask the other question, what did you how much did you sell it for, if you don't mind me asking?

SPEAKER_00

Uh we we didn't publicate that, it was yeah, for an undisclosed amount. But I would say like everybody like we made more than a million in profit at um yearly at that rate. So you can basically everybody can think, well, it was a good thing, everybody made money, let's let's call it that, and I don't have to worry about uh a few things now, so it was a it was a good exit, and we didn't have to sell. I mean, nowadays, you know, you've got a lot of like fire sales, all of that. That definitely wasn't the case for ourselves. It was because we were profitable, it was our our decision to do so, and I think everybody's is happy.

SPEAKER_01

No, that's amazing. Do you I think it's incredible that you were able to build and achieve what you did in Austria because oftentimes um like the US founders look down on other ecosystems, they say, oh, especially Europeans, there's this tendency to say Europeans are lazy, they're just like a really good lifestyle, they don't work hard. And you have showed that that is not the case at all. So, what was it like building in Austria?

SPEAKER_00

I think Austria is a good startup ecosystem, maybe not the best, to be to be honest and transparent. I think we have a lot, a lot of work still to do, but I think there is an ecosystem, and there are a lot of people supporting founders, and I mean that's what helped me, you know. Without like my mentors and my like early angels, I wouldn't have been able to achieve any of that, right? So I have to be really thankful for that, and I am a hundred percent. Also, like to everyone, like trying to build the Austrian ecosystem and trying to help it, I think that's that's amazing. But still, on the other hand, there is still a lot of work to do. I mean, it's very, very far away from like Silicon Valley, you know. I think it's just missing a bit of capital, it's missing of the great founders. And also, I mean, one of the challenges is, and it the same goes for myself. I mean, the challenge is always if there is a better ecosystem out there and you have the possibility to build there, to basically move to the Champions League, it's yeah, it's hard because you're like, of course, I love my country and I would love to build something in Europe. Yeah, but then on the other hand, there's just so much opportunity in the US right now, and there's so much open, and it's like, I mean, it's it's the place to be if you want to build something in AI, and it's just uh as of now, it's the Champions League for startup founders. And um, if you want to play there, you gotta be there, and that's well, that that's the hard thing. But apart from that, I think Austria is is becoming better and better. Um, and let's see how it uh develops in the next couple of years. Maybe maybe it's gonna be the startup um bubble of the euro.

SPEAKER_01

That's cool. I think it would be great if you one day come back and then you bring some of that SF um vibes.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, that's that's something too, for example, that's something that really helps the ecosystem. And we just need more like role models, we need more like large exits.

SPEAKER_01

Yes.

SPEAKER_00

And I think one of the challenges, and you you told me before when we talked in Australia, it's pretty much the same that a lot of founders move when the companies get to a certain stage. I think that's the hard thing. You like you want to keep

😬 launched it, nobody cared

SPEAKER_00

them here and like build thousands and thousands of tech jobs that are well paying and like people that should basically like also spin out new founders. Yes.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Should be the goal.

SPEAKER_01

Okay. Well, looking back in hindsight, what was one of the biggest mistakes you made during the building phase?

SPEAKER_00

I think honestly, I made the mistake more than once to not listen enough to customers and not go out and talk enough to like your target group and potential customers. I think I wouldn't make that mistake now anymore because I've spent a lot of a lot of money like for a for that mistake. It really cost me a lot because it's something, you know, it's very I think it's very hard for a founder, at least if if you're not really thinking about that. If you always feel like, okay, your your own ideas, they're great, you know, and you always I got quite a high level of, I would say, high level of self-belief, you know, and like high level of belief in my own ideas, and you got it, you need that as a founder. I would say you need to believe in yourself and you need to be like, okay, I'm gonna do that thing and it's gonna be successful, but also like listening to your customers is the number one thing. Yeah, and I think um, especially for Freebox for my first business at the early early age, we just should have talked to customers more, yeah. That would have helped and it would have saved us a lot of money because, for example, we I mean, one of one of the biggest like fails of my career basically, um, until that point at least, was we we at one point we launched a completely new product line and it was just a hundred percent uh it was like not for the I mean the customers just ended up not loving it, you know. At the end of the day, it was like we spent a lot of money developing it, we were really hyped, we did all of that marketing, a big marketing launch campaign, all that stuff. Yeah, and then at the end of the day, it was like, but nobody cared.

SPEAKER_01

So you didn't test it first before going all in? Not enough.

SPEAKER_00

I mean, we did, but but not enough. And I think you really gotta go out and really get like raw feedback and also be open for critics. Yes. But then the hard thing is it's a very, very small line because you also don't want to talk. I mean, you want to talk to as many people as you want, but at some point you gotta decide, okay, now that's that's what I'm gonna do.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

I mean, you know, even if I talk to let's say a hundred investors now, I'm gonna hear like 10 different kinds of advice, and one is like that's the thing, and the other one is like the idea is terrible, and at some point you just gotta believe in your own.

SPEAKER_01

Trusted your gut, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

So so that's like I think that yeah, ultimately you gotta like it's uh it's a learning process, I would say. You gotta talk to as many potential customers, as many people as possible, yes. But at some point you gotta be like, okay, and now I believe in in myself, in my own idea, in our company, and now it's go time.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, for sure. And with new influence, what was one of the biggest challenges or mistakes?

SPEAKER_00

I think honestly, it was managing the growth.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Because it's just like it got beyond the zero-to-one phase by by what you've said, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

100%. And it's just like so much changes when you go from this like one, two, three people to more than 50. Um, and I think there, of course, I made a lot of management mistakes. I mean, I was I was young and unexperienced and never never have done it before. And I would say now when I'm gonna start something new, of course I'm more experienced. I have like seen a lot of situations, and I would also be more chilled about a lot of things that can happen. And I think honestly, I think

⚡ rapid fire

SPEAKER_00

I'm a better leader now as well.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, no, sounds like you are. So we're gonna finish with some rapid fire questions. Um, the first one, what's the worst piece of advice you got as a young founder?

SPEAKER_00

I think honestly, the the worst piece of advice I ever got was probably spending a lot of time for your business plan. Like you gotta send us a big financial sheet and stuff like that. And honestly, now I'm I'm doing angel investments on my own now, and I just don't care. You know, nobody cares about your presentation or stuff like that. If you're investing in a pre-seed phase, for example, like it doesn't matter, it's just about the team. But back then it was a lot of yeah, yeah, you gotta send us some like pitch decks and then a good financial structure and this structure and this. And I think it's something very European in the US. It's more like it's it's just about the founder, and here it's more, yeah, we but we need this documentation, this and this and this. And yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, so what do you look for now as an Intel investor?

SPEAKER_00

I just look for great founders. I look for people where I'm like, that's gonna be someone building the next generation company. And I think honestly, that's the only thing you can look for because everything else can change, you know. I I know it from my own experience that your business can do at 180 and just like become something completely different. But team is usually the thing that stays or hopefully stays.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, agreed, agreed. Best decision you made in building new influence that had nothing to do with the product.

SPEAKER_00

I would say my my co-founder of our early team. I mean, we really had an extremely amazing work culture where everybody was giving it their best and like really believing in the vision, and we just yeah, and also we ended up developing great people. So we ended up starting with a very, very young, inexperienced team, but we ended up giving a lot of people the possibility to develop with us, you know, and and that's something I'm very proud of.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, that's amazing. And you were managing 50 people at the age of 19, 20. What's one thing you learned about managing people that nobody tells you?

SPEAKER_00

I think it's very important um to give people room to grow. I think that's probably the number one challenge, is always to keep people excited and really get people that are just believing 100% in the vision and that just like they have to love it as much as you do as a founder. And I think that's like the number one challenge and advice I would give now is like find people that believe in the vision as much as you do to like be a team of all just founders, you know. This it's just an amazing energy that this can set free. If like everybody in a room in an office is like intrinsically motivated to get this business to like a billion-dollar business, you know, that's something you can't just buy with money, that's just something you just gotta really hire the best people. And I think also hiring is just yeah, it's a skill. One thing to learn is hiring the right people.

SPEAKER_01

Agreed, agreed. If you could go back in time and tell 14-year-old Moritz something, what would that be?

SPEAKER_00

I think just believe in yourself and do it even faster. I think in hindsight, you're always like, you've you could have done it even faster and be even just more outgoing and give it your best and risk it all. And I think that's what I would say like believe in yourself, believe in your ideas, and just do it.

SPEAKER_01

Amazing, Moritz. Thank you. This has been really great, and congratulations again. You're off to San Francisco soon. How exciting! When do you leave? Do you have a date in mind?

SPEAKER_00

Or um it's it's still open for no, I'm I'm still here, but uh what the future brings.

SPEAKER_01

Amazing. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_00

Thank you very much.