21. December 2016

Scouting and Investing

How investors can scout the best startups? IEG - Managing Director Stefan Heilmann knows: "There is no such thing as a sure thing"

ON DECEMBER 7TH 2016, THE VERY FIRST NKF SUMMIT took place in Berlin. Stefan Heilmann joined the event and was part of the panel: "Scouting and Investing - how to select the best startups for your investment". Together with Florian Schweitzer (Founder of B-to-v) and Mark Schmitz (Co-Founder of Lakestar), Stefan Heilmann discusses the scouting process of startups and business models. All agree that it can be quite troublesome to select the best investment opportunity, especially considering the sheer amount of various business models of young and innovative startups.

This is the dumbest thing ever. It will never work.

SELECTION IS KEY - all panelist have agreed on that. They also confirm that often it is best to stay in the background as an investor and trust the founders and their visions. Still, even with all the experience, scoutings and analysis - there is the chance to "miss" the next big thing. Stefan Heilmann states that he underestimated the impact airbnb would have. "A couple of years ago, I was introduced to the business model of Airbnb and I was convinced that this is the dumbest thing you can think of. I was sure that this will never work."

Read first insights about the NKF Summit and the panel "Scouting and Investing" in Berlin Valley News (German): Investoren unter sich!

NKF Summit was hosted by NKF Media, a publisher of the startup magazine Berlin Valley and the Hundert. More than 200 representatives of startups, mid-sized enterprises and holdings got together to discuss great examples of cooperations between startups and corporates.