The 2025 WHU Founder Lecture and the Secret to Entrepreneurial Success

How do I found my own start-up? What factors will determine its success? And how can I avoid any pitfalls along the way?

The students of WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management received answers to these questions and many more at this year’s WHU Founder Lecture—an event that has become so popular that not even the largest lecture hall on the Vallendar campus could hold all attendees.

The lecture series was initiated by Dr. Marco Vietor (D 2004; PhD 2009), WHU alumnus and co-founder of hearing aid manufacturer audibene (hear.com), who once again shared his own experiences at this year’s event. He explained to the students how to successfully support people and their mindset and develop a strong team. “Traditional ways of thinking are poison if you want to scale your start-up,” he said. “Hire people who have no previous experience in the industry, because they still think unconventionally and without restrictions. And that will produce the best results.”

When the event first debuted a few years back, one lecture hall had sufficed for the 80 participants who attended. But over time, the appetite for the insights of successful founders has grown, with this year’s event requiring a larger venue—the Stadthalle Vallendar—to accommodate the some 200 students who had registered. What initially started as a lecture series aimed primarily at students enrolled in WHU’s Master in Entrepreneurship has since expanded to welcome those from other degree programs. 

Those who speak at the event are required to have already found success with their respective start-ups. Only those who have built up a company that now makes an annual turnover of €100M—a feat achieved by only 0.2% of all start-ups within their first ten years of operation—are invited to the lectern.

One founder who has reached this benchmark is WHU alumnus Roman Kirsch (BSc 2010). He founded Casacanda and Lesara, was CEO of Fab.com in continental Europe, and is now active as an investor. He showed the students how to generate an idea for a start-up and develop a successful business model. “Even if you make a mistake, taking action is always better than not taking action,” he said. 

“We once had a competitor who went online with his e-commerce business a week after we had already sold ours,” he explained. And, as it turned out, the founders’ perfectionism had serious consequences: “They ended up going bust because they had taken too long.” For that reason, Kirsch recommended that the aspiring entrepreneurs “choose speed over perfectionism.” Another tip he offered was to pay close attention to the selection of the team and establish a good culture right from the start, as that same culture will eventually be handed down to future employees.

During the four-day WHU Founder Lecture, prospective entrepreneurs received valuable and practice-oriented first-hand information. There were also opportunities to ask personal questions. This year will also offer those interested an exclusive look behind the scenes: Two lecture-filled days will take place in the Berlin offices of business unicorns Zalando and Enpal in mid-April.

WHU Start-Ups Presenting in 2025:

Christoph Cordes (Home24, Flink)

Christian Gaiser (Kaufda, now Numa)

Ferry Heilemann (AENU)

Jan Kemper (N26) 

Roman Kirsch (Casacanda/Lesara)

Niklas Plath (Flaschenpost)

David Schröder (Zalando) 

Stephan Schubert (Onvista)

Marcus Stahl (Tonies)

Michael Stephan (Raisin)

Marco Vietor (audibene/hear.com)

Jochen Ziervogel (Enpal)