MilliOnAir Magazine July/August | Page 267

My experience is that you will not find all the right people in your own company. In that case, it is a good idea to look for corresponding key competences from outside sources for a certain time.

However, the overall goal remains the same: to increase added value in the company.

We tend to focus on success, but what about mistakes? Can you share with us one of your business mistakes in the past and what you learned from it?

First of all, it is important to understand that mistakes are good because they provide us with the opportunity to learn and to improve ourselves.

I was born and raised in Germany. So, I know well that this point of view is not very widespread in my home country. The motto is: "Whoever fails is a failure!"

This is quite different in the USA, where the "culture of failure" is part of entrepreneurial life, just like binary code is part of the computer. And that brings big advantages. Especially in light of the rapid speed in the global markets.

I have already experienced this in my projects: For the new product of a software company, we had developed a go-to-market strategy. Although market research provided positive feedback, the product definitely could not prevail on the market. After a few months, we decided to no longer pursue the go-to-market. That was disappointing for us personally. However, the company saved several million dollars over the medium to long term from this "rapid failureā€.

I agree with your last statement, I feel companies sometimes keep going for longer than they should, even though they know they need to cut their losses. What do you know today that you wish you would have known when you first got into business?

As a young entrepreneur, I too often focused on the product or service we developed with our team. At that time, I assumed that the rest of the world would respond as enthusiastically as we did.

Of course, that was not the case [laughs].

Today I know that it is all about people: customers, employees, business partners, shareholders, journalists, etc. They all need to benefit from a win-win situation under one hat. This is often enough strength to act. But one that pays off to make the company successful.

Spot on Mike! That thinking comes with age, wisdom and experience. We need to learn that just because we think our product/idea is the best thing in the planet, that not everyone might think the same.

Like myself, you are also a global thought leader for Fortune 500 companies. What does it mean to you?

To be an acknowledged global thought leader, I associate first and foremost with responsibility and the task of sharing my own view and knowledge with others.

I am convinced that we can only solve the challenges of the future - whether digital or analogue - together. Collaborations between people and between companies are an important key to this.

''Mike is not your typical entrepreneur and angel investor. Together with talented teams he builds digital businesses worldwide. He believes in emerging technologies, mutual appreciation, and values diversity to accelerate digital growth and develop the successful companies of tomorrow.''