You can change your goal anytime, but don't live a day without a goal.

Carsten Maschmeyer.

Visionary. Mentor. Investor.

Visionary

Investor

TV Lion

Die Höhle
der Löwen

Mentor

Author

Speaker

Big things start small. The road from an initial idea to a successful business is hard and rocky. But there is no one more beautiful. I see myself as a partner, advisor and mentor for founders, whom I support as much as possible in realizing their vision.

click here

The overall team with the best teamwork wins.

The whole is greater than the sum of the parts. This also applies to teams. Because the best individual players and experts are of no use if the communication, chemistry and cooperation are not right. Pay attention to the ability of your employees to work in a team — this is crucial.

Distribution ensures survival.

Without turnover, everything is nothing. It is a hard truth, sales ensure survival. If no money comes in, neither rents nor salaries can be paid. Customer acquisition and, at least as important, customer loyalty must always be the first priority. Sales create independence and leeway.

Everyone's ideas are conquering the future.

Many companies spend a lot of money on consultants who say things that their own employees know just as well or even better. Listen to your team and create an atmosphere in which everyone dares to express their ideas and thoughts. Idea management or suggestion system — in the end, it is simply a trusting communication that can take you a long way.

Retaining employees is even more important than finding them.

Someone who doesn't go doesn't have to be replaced. Because when you go, you take away know-how that can't simply be replaced quickly. There are many studies on how expensive high turnover is for companies. It is clear that growing companies in particular need a stable team.

We're always dealing with people.

Social competence is the A&O. No matter how digitalized the business can be — in the end, it is people who decide. Customers, employees, business partners, and many more, whether they want to work with your startup or not. Appreciation, attention and genuine interest in the other person win sympathy and enable trusting cooperation.

Good companies only exist with good employees.

Team over product. That is my credo, I firmly believe in it. Because the commitment and passion of the team, including the willingness to go the famous extra mile, will make the decisive difference on the way from a small idea to a big company.

Continuing education guarantees progress.

The development of technology, digital and AI is happening at breakneck speed. Not losing touch here is essential for survival. In my experience, far too little attention is paid to continuing education because so much else is supposedly more important. Further training in marketing, PR, negotiation management, leadership and many other so-called soft skills is also essential.

Founders must be — and remain — top sellers.

It is not enough to set up a company first and leave sales out for now. Sales must play the decisive role right from the moment of founding. Growth can only be achieved through early initial sales.

The best founders retain their core portfolios.

There are certain tasks that, in my experience, should remain the responsibility of the founders. Delegating is important and it is also something that many people have to learn first. But it is just as important to retain responsibility for the decisive things: This includes sales, figures, but also development.

You achieve your overall goal with the sum of the individual goals.

As a founder, you will experience many setbacks that will make a big goal ever farther away. Set yourself smaller interim goals in order to reach the big goal at some point.

Get that
Best of
Get out of here.
My 10 tips
for founders

I invest in female founders
and founder. Not in business plans.

From idea to exit.

Big things start small. The road from an initial idea to a successful business is hard and rocky. But there is no one more beautiful. I see myself as a partner, advisor and mentor for founders, whom I support as much as possible in realizing their vision.

The pitch of your life

Creativity
meets capital.

Die Höhle der Löwen brings passion for business into the living room. Have you founded a start-up that will make the world of tomorrow

faster, better, healthier, more sustainable or more digital?

Then dare to enter Die Höhle der Löwen.

Ideas, visions and strengths lie dormant in all of us. I really enjoy helping to wake them up. Whether as a speaker, as an author or as a sparring partner for founders, I share my knowledge, thoughts and assessments. I also share my convictions, tips and advice on my social media channels.

click here

Bring the best
out of yourself.

Only shared experience
moves forward.

Ideas, visions and strengths lie dormant in all of us. I really enjoy helping to wake them up. Whether as a speaker, as an author or as a sparring partner for founders, I share my knowledge, thoughts and assessments. I also share my convictions, tips and advice on my social media channels.

Good books inspire readers, continue writing it yourself.

Success, financial freedom or the desire to start a business: I am most pleased when my books inspire you to open a new page in your own life.

The six elements of success
Order now
The start-up gang
Order now
Selfmade
The formula
for success
Order now
The
millionaire formula
Order now

I regularly give lectures or keynotes on entrepreneurship, success and similar topics. It is important to me to offer added value: concrete advice and experiences instead of beliefs and hollow phrases.

click here

Raise the words,
but never the voice.

Knowledge. Motivation. Live.

I regularly give lectures or keynotes on entrepreneurship, success and similar topics. It is important to me to offer added value: concrete advice and experiences instead of beliefs and hollow phrases.

Vita

Together
through the years.

2019

“Studydrive” is taken over by Stepstone. The investment of the Berlin-based fintech company “barzahlen” is also being sold. At the same time, new startups are being added — especially from the fields of artificial intelligence, fintech, blockchain, cyber security. The number of startups in the USA is also continuing to grow and “Modern Health” takes first place among the “50 hot tech companies globally.”

2012

In my book “Selfmade,” I describe the principles of success and thus end up in the bestseller lists. I advise major international corporations on strategic issues.

2015

With seed+speed, I am founding an investment company that specializes in early-stage startups in the pre-seed and seed phase, especially in the B2B software sector. The team is growing rapidly and is now (2024) seed+speed invested in more than 50 startups.

2013

With the newly founded Paladin Asset Management InVag, I am now investing in companies that are undervalued on the stock exchange. The Paladin ONE mutual fund (securities identification number A1W1PH) has received several awards in recent years due to its outstanding performance, for example with the Fund Award 2017 from the magazine €uro.

2021

The six elements of success are what I call my third book, which goes straight into the SPIEGEL bestseller list. Because success is more than just making a lot of money.

2017

The Maschmeyer Group is becoming more and more international and is also investing in companies outside the German-speaking region. I am often in Silicon Valley myself and am now very well connected in the American startup and investment scene. In South Park in San Francisco, we are opening our own office for our US fund Maschmeyer Group Ventures (MGV).

2014

Professional success is followed by my personal happiness. In France, I marry my great love, actress Veronica Ferres. My wife brings a daughter to the marriage, and I bring two adult sons.

2023

The discussion about home office and new work accompanies me throughout the year. In numerous interviews, I plead for giving employees as much freedom and trust as possible, because: If I don't trust to work from home, I shouldn't have hired them in the first place. That's why I like to invest in Deskbird, a Swiss startup that supports hybrid work models through desk and room booking.

2020

My return to the insurance industry is completely digital. Because I am investing in Neodigital AG, the first completely digital insurance company.

2022

It has been bothering me for a long time that there is no enough space for business start-ups and self-employment neither in curricula nor in children's books. That is why I am publishing the book “The Startup-Gang” together with my co-author Axel Täubert.

2016

My first season as an investor in the TV show “Die Höhle der Löwen”. Founders can present their startup to an audience of millions and, in a pitch, convince investors to join. The show is VOX's most successful in-house production. I'm also publishing my second book this year: The “Millionaire Formula.” I want to help people achieve financial independence.

2011

The founding of the Maschmeyer Group marks the beginning of a new chapter in my life. As an investor, I now passionately support founders in future companies.

2018

Finanzguru is coming to Die Höhle der Löwen and I am so convinced of the business model and the two founders that I am making the largest single investment in the history of Die Höhle der Löwen: one million euros.