DealMatrix CEO: “In My Work I Definitely Look For Challenges.”

Christoph, describe yourself in 50 words or less.

I am a highly self motivated person and base my activities on the two following priciples: “Do what you love and love what you do, so you will never work a day in your life again” and “winners never quit and quitters never win”.

What are you currently working on?

DealMatrix offers efficient software and service solutions for investors (business angels, venture capitalists, accelerators, incubators), events, corporates, networks and startups.

We have developed a platform that makes startups more comparable by analysing them according to standardized criteria that is relevant to investors and company scouts. Accordingly, investors quickly see whether an applicant matches their portfolio while company scouts find startups that fit their innovation focus. DealMatrix’s software further supports real-time pitch competitions and startup conferences from the application and selection of startups to jury/public scoring and data analysis. Startups receive anonymized feedback regarding their jury/public scores at pitch competitions. On the platform the startups themselves create a profile via which they can apply to investors, corporates and events.

What led you to this?

With 20 years of experience in various international companies and positions such as Project- , Sales-, Product Manager, Managing Director of a foreign subsidiary with 150 employees and Member of the Board I had been working as an intrapreneur most of the time. At some point I decided to use all my experience to establish my own company. I love to work with people and have a strong focus on leadership as well as mentoring to grow people’s talents. In April 2015 I met my current co-founders and after a few weeks of discussion it was clear that we would start DealMatrix together.

What drives you?

In my work I definitely look for challenges. People tend to be quite risk-averse, but I believe the truly extraordinary projects lie in the areas where most are too afraid to act. Interesting tasks give me the energy I need to power through the high-intensity work days of a founder and CEO. Based on my positive results in my projects and companies I built so far I would describe myself as a very focused person with a strong tendency to keep a good balance between time, cost and quality constrains. Leadership and “a reason” is the key to why teams perform or fail. I like the feeling when my team gets in a mode called “flow” and everyone’s work aligns really well.

Describe your typical day from waking up to going to bed.

There is no typical day and I am very thankful for that. The most boring thing for me is to have a run-of-the-mill day where there are no challenges. The only thing that is really typical is that I go to bed normally rather late e.g. btw. 01:00 am to 03:00 am and that I do not need too much sleep. I take my energy from the positive results I achieve. But to sum it up there is always something to work in the company (task management) and to work on the company (strategy).

7 years from now: Where do you see yourself?

At that point in time I will be 47 years old and I am proud of the company and my team who built it together with me. As usual there will have been hard and challenging times, but also a lot of success and always pleasure to build something we are proud of. It is quite probable that a competitor will have bought DealMatrix by then and I can use my knowledge and experience to mentor other young founders even better than today. Financially, I am independent and can efford the risk to invest in one or another company as a Business Angel.

Tell us about your best idea and worst execution.

Bad execution is most likely when you don’t have a plan B. What I learned in other countries with different cultures is that deadlines might not be as relevant to them as they are for us. Often, a deadline is perceived as if the task is done the day after or even later. This is an issue for me, as I expect people to stick to what they promise the same way I do. The alphabet gives us at least 26 options for plan B to Z. Use them if there is no other way to achieve your results.

Tell us about your worst idea and best execution.

There really is no “worst idea” I can think of. I always adapt my plans to all currently available information and make sure to have a plan B to Z on the sidelines, in case something doesn’t go according to plan.

What trends would you bet your money on? And how will it influence everyday life?

If we look back at what humanity has achieved the last 100 – 150 years and at the speed with which especially the last decades were driving innovation and new products / services, I am convinced that Robotics and Artificial Intelligence will be drivers of the future. The question is only if mankind is clever enough to use all inventions in a positive way as the history has shown that people never lived in peace for long periods. So we can only hope that we have learned from the past and influence politics together in a way that solves the really big problems such as undernourishment, air pollution, crime and war.

What seemed to be the most important thing in the world when you were 10 years old?

I think that when I was 10 years I started to recognize what’s going on in the world. It was the time Tschernobyl happened and although it was far away it influenced our lives in Europe. Due to television and radio this drama was broadcasted directly into every household and people started to reconsider what clean energy means. With 10 years I was still a child but by choosing your next school you set already a basis for your further path. I was always very much driven to understand electronics and always wanted to repair broken things. I learned that my skills lie in the combination of my technical understanding and leadership.

Do you have a “hero”? If so, who is it you look up to?

No, there is not one hero but I always tried to get in touch with people where I could learn something or those who inspired me. I was lucky enough to chose very carefully which offers I took and got superiors who I could respect because of their knowledge, experience and success. Observe others and find out what characteristics fit your own personality. This is a good starting point to create own uniqueness without necessarily making all mistakes on your own.

What advice would you give first time entrepreneurs?

Research, read, listen, talk and ask for feedback. Anything you do for the first time might be hard and difficult in the beginning but there are people around you who have done similar things before. Many of them share their experience as mentors or work pro bono on certain topics. Most valuable are not the stories how good people are or how positive the press reports about them but how they failed, how they nearly failed and how they got out of it. Find people you trust and vice versa. This will be really beneficial.

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