Christian Wolf shares lessons learned from mistakes made in his entrepreneurial career. He discusses 5 major blunders: 1) assuming partnerships are always the best strategy for growth, 2) underestimating the importance of legal contracts, 3) overestimating how much can be outsourced, 4) reacting poorly when upset with others, and 5) starting a company with his spouse without clear discussions and expectations. The overall message is the importance of reflection and learning from failures to improve future decisions.

1. What the heck was I thinking?
Lessons learned from an entrepreneur‘s blunders
Christian Wolf @
cc by-nd/2.0/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/ambernectar/

2. Involved in 3 startups since 2007 from Berlin to Helsinki
Founded WIRKAUFENS (asgoodas.nu GmbH) in 2008
> 100 employees, in Germany, Austria, Spain, Poland
8-figure revenues
Capital raised to date 10 m EUR
vertraulich |November 10 2
Christian Wolf / photography by http://christinefiedler.de/

3. When looking at the most successful people and
organizations, we often imagine geniuses with a
smooth journey straight to the promised land.
3
http://www.fastcompany.com/1826976/dirty-little-secret-overnight-successes
cc by/2.0/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/noppyfoto/

4. So let‘s have a look at my personal top 5 blunders,
what I was thinking and my take aways

5. 5. The best strategy to grow is through partnerships - always
Lessons learned
Some partnerships work, others don‘t, usually hard to foresee success
Partnerships are usually hard to manage & scale up since all depends on the partner‘s behavior
Especially with very large organizations, partners lose motivation or set new prios with time
Success ALWAYS depends on the people you work with in the partner organization
Works best if they are (1) highly motivated AND (2) senior, i.e. can decide on their own
cc by/2.0/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/dvids/

6. 4. Let‘s leave the contracts to the lawyers - that‘s probably
most efficient
Lessons learned
NEVER EVER LET LAWYERS DO SOMETHING WITHOUT SUPERVISION. PERIOD.
REPEAT: NEVER!
Instead: always aim at detailed term sheets, take time for briefings, have somebody mentor you
who has been through this before & try to learn the legalese...
cc by/2.0/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/buddawiggi/

7. 3. The more I outsource, the more efficient and cheaper
Lessons learned
You cannot outsource core activities where quality is key. Quality can also mean fast, reliable,
friendly service, not only product quality.
Learn all you need to know or hire experts in all relevant fields to fulfill your core services at high
quality & low cost.
Any service provider will do what he is paid for, but neither he nor his employees will really burn to
provide exceptional service and go the extra mile. Your employees will.
cc by-nd/2.0/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/machotels/

8. 2. When somebody pisses me off, I have the right to complain
like I feel
Lessons learned
Don‘t bite the hand that feeds you.
Don‘t crush the people working for you.
Don‘t wait til everything goes to pieces before seeking help or communicating
the facts that make you frustrated. Once committed, your investors are there to help,
or find mentors. But they are people and want to be treated nicely as well.
cc by/2.0/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/walkadog/

9. 1. Running the company together with my spouse is great
Lessons learned
Always talk to your co-founders in great detail & with great care about their motivation, willingness
to put in work, „hang in there“ & what happens if things go wrong.
And do it before starting the company.
cc by/2.0/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/lel4nd/

10. Thanks for listening – hope it will serve you well one day
Blog: http://www.nu-technologies.de
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