The Real Deal - Inside Entrepreneurship

A podcast and a platform for those of us in the middle of it, who build, decide, doubt, try again and keep going. Founders talk openly about how they start, how ideas become products or services, how they find people, structure work and deal with pressure when things do not go as planned. It is about everyday reality, about choices that hurt, small wins that keep a company alive and moments that change the direction of a business and those when  “polishing your crown” simply means managing to get out of bed.

The conversations give room for stories that normally stay offstage: long nights, strange turns, unexpected help, wrong turns that later turn out to be useful. In short: Inside entrepreneurship.
The Real Deal is a place to listen, to recognise parts of our own path in others, and to take ideas and courage back into our own work.

Episode 6 mit Pablo Castillo: „𝐖𝐢𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐮𝐟 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐧, 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐝𝐚 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐭𝐞.“

Pablo Castillo hat Unternehmertum von einer Seite erlebt, über die selten so offen gesprochen wird.

In der neuen Folge von 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐥. 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐄𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩. sprechen wir darüber, was passiert, wenn man nach Jahren in der Konzernwelt plötzlich selbst ein Unternehmen aufbaut.

Pablo war mit 33 Jahren bereits Mitglied der Konzernleitung der Hotelplan Group. Später verliess er die Konzernwelt und wurde Co-Founder von Chain4Travel.
Ein Unternehmen von Grund auf aufbauen. Ein internationales Team aufbauen. Mehrere Millionen Funding einsammeln. Investoren überzeugen. Und gleichzeitig einen Markt für eine Technologie gewinnen, die viele erst einmal erklärt haben wollten.
Blockchain war neu und laut. Dann kam Künstliche Intelligenz.

Und mittendrin die Frage: 𝐖𝐢𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐝𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐬𝐚̈𝐜𝐡𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐭?

Auch beim Fundraising musste Pablo lernen, dass mehr nicht automatisch mehr bringt. Welche Investoren passen überhaupt? Wann ist der richtige Zeitpunkt? Und was bedeutet ein «Wir schauen es uns an» eigentlich wirklich?
Und es braucht vor allem eines: ein dickes Fell, denn:
„Man hört zehnmal mehr Neins als Jas.“

Schliesslich wollte ich wissen, was nach vier Jahren Unternehmertum bleibt, wie Pablo heute auf diese Zeit blickt und wie er eine Frage beantwortet, die sich dabei fast zwangsläufig stellt:
𝐖𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐄𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐠?

🎙️Eine wie immer sehr offene neue Folge von The Real Deal. Inside Entrepreneurship.

Vielen Dank, Pablo, für dieses tiefgehende Gespräch und dafür, dass du deine Erfahrungen so offen mit uns teilst. Es war wunderbar, dich bei mir im Podcast zu haben.
Jetzt aber genug verraten. Rein in die neue Folge!

▶️ YouTube
🎧 Spotify

Episode 5 with Ramona Tudorancea: 𝐃𝐀𝐎𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬. 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬.

In the first international episode of "The Real Deal. Inside Entrepreneurship.", I have the great pleasure of speaking with my dear colleague Ramona Tudorancea.
Ramona is a Venture Architect, Legal Engineer, Founder and Managing Director of JupiterBlock Ventures and Co-Founder of Ixian.

She is one of the thought leaders in the field of Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) and the future of organisational design.
I first met Ramona through our shared fascination with DAOs.

Since then, we have had many inspiring discussions about entrepreneurship, emerging technologies and entirely new ways of organising people and creating value.
In this episode, Ramona shares her journey from international lawyer to entrepreneur. We talk about following a vision before the path is fully visible and why building something new always requires courage.

We also explore Legal Engineering, Network States and Agentic AI before diving deep into one of the topics we are both most passionate about: DAOs.
During our conversation, Ramona shared one of the most thought-provoking statements I have come across in months:
"DAOs are real things. Corporations are legal fictions."

This is where the true transformative potential of DAOs lies.
Together, we discuss why they require us to fundamentally rethink corporate structuring.
That, instead of trying to fit DAOs into existing legal concepts, we need to develop structures that reflect their unique nature.
They are their own "legal beasts", much like the extraordinary creations of Dutch artist Theo Jansen.

Intrigued? Want to learn more about these "strong beasts"?

🎧 The full first international episode of "The Real Deal. Inside Entrepreneurship" is now available on:
🎙️ Spotify
▶️ YouTube
❤️ Thank you, Ramona, for this wonderful conversation. Every time we speak, I learn so much from you.

Episode 4 with Jacqueline Kucera: From Parliament to Tokyo. AI and the Human Question.

For the first international episode of The Real Deal. Inside Entrepreneurship, I had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Jacqueline Kucera live from Tokyo.
She is a Research Fellow at the University of Tokyo. As former Head of Swiss Parliamentary Library, Research and Parliamentary Data, she played an active role in introducing AI into parliamentary workflows.

What followed was one of the most thought-provoking conversations I have had on this podcast.
The episode began in Japan and with an exploration of how technology is integrated into society.
It led us to entrepreneurship.
And ultimately to a much bigger question.
Artificial intelligence is advancing at extraordinary speed. AI agents are beginning to perform tasks that only recently required human intervention.

For entrepreneurs, this opens possibilities that would have seemed unimaginable only a few years ago. Or as Jacqueline explained:
"I believe it is actually the best time to become an entrepreneur."
A single founder can access capabilities that previously required entire teams.
Ideas can move from concept to execution faster than ever.
The barriers to building something new are falling.

And we talked about the human factor. I asked Jacqueline the question she raised in her book "Fearless Mind: How Your Human Brain Beats Artificial Intelligence":
"Do you remember who you were before the world told you who you are?"
I have been thinking about that question ever since.

The more capable our tools become, the more important it becomes to understand the role we want them to play.
Japan offers an interesting perspective in this regard as I learned during the conversation.

Rather than viewing technology solely through the lens of disruption, there is a stronger focus on how it can be integrated into society and daily life.

That perspective runs through the entire episode.
Not fear.
Not blind enthusiasm.
A deliberate reflection on what we are building and why.
A fascinating conversation and one I thoroughly enjoyed recording.

Thank you, Jacqueline, for joining me live from Tokyo and for such a thoughtful conversation.

Check it out for yourself.
🎧 Listen on Spotify
📺 Watch on YouTube

Episode 3 with Elisabeth Henning: 𝐌𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐭 𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐜𝐡

Die Expertise: da.
Das Angebot: durchdacht.
Der Preis: gesetzt.
Und dann: Funkstille.
Nicht sichtbar werden.
Nicht auffallen.
Lieber unter dem Radar bleiben.

Darüber, was hinter diesem uns doch allen bekannten Muster steht, habe ich mit Elisabeth Henning in der dritten Folge meines Podcasts The Real Deal. Inside Entrepreneurship gesprochen.

Elisabeth ist Business-Modell-Architektin und Gründerin der nXt chapters GmbH, Karriere- und Transformations-Coach für Menschen 50+ und sie weiss genau, wovon sie spricht.
Eine Aussage von ihr ist mir besonders geblieben:
Viele haben ihre Angebote, ihre Preise, ihre Pakete längst vorbereitet. Aber sie gehen trotzdem nicht zu hundert Prozent in die Sichtbarkeit. Warum? Weil dieser bewusste Entscheid, mit dieser Message in die Sichtbarkeit zu gehen, auch bedeutet, ein Stück weit die alte Identität loszulassen.
Und wie schwierig dieser Schritt sein kann, das weiss ich aus persönlicher Erfahrung.

Im Gespräch gehen wir dann auch darauf ein, was Sichtbarkeit bedeutet und was nicht und weshalb es eben nicht einfach Marketing ist. Und wir diskutierten darüber:
🔹 was eine echte Portfolio- oder Fractional-Karriere von einem blossen LinkedIn-Alibi-Profil unterscheidet,
🔹 weshalb viele Menschen zwischen Corporate-Welt und Unternehmertum hängen bleiben,
🔹 warum Sichtbarkeit keine Marketing-Spielerei, sondern wirtschaftliche Grundlage ist,
🔹 weshalb Reichweite alleine noch keine kaufkräftigen Kunden bringt,
🔹 wie man beginnt, den eigenen Tribe aufzubauen,
🔹 warum der Markt häufig zuerst das Angebot korrigiert, das wir ursprünglich verkaufen wollten,
🔹 und was es emotional, wirtschaftlich und persönlich wirklich bedeutet, unter dem eigenen Namen etwas aufzubauen.

Ein Satz, den Elisabeth und ich beide sofort unterschrieben haben:
„Wir sind keine Influencerinnen. Wir sind Unternehmerinnen.“

Das ist keine Abgrenzung gegen Sichtbarkeit.
Es ist das Bewusstsein und die Klarheit darüber, weshalb wir sichtbar werden.
Viele Likes allein bedeuten noch nicht, dass daraus ein tragfähiges Unternehmen entsteht.
Dafür braucht es ein solides Geschäftsmodell.
Eine klare Positionierung.
Ein Angebot, das am Markt wirklich funktioniert.
Und vielleicht fast am schwierigsten: Geduld.
Das Gras wächst halt auch nicht schneller, nur weil man daran reisst.

Darum geht es auch in unserer neuen Webinar-Reihe:
Exit & Aufbruch
Mut allein macht nicht reich. Über Geschäftsmodell, Steuern und Vermögensaufbau.
An dieser Stelle: Vielen Dank für das wunderbare Gespräch, liebe Elisabeth.
Jetzt hört selbst rein:
🎧 Spotify
▶️ YouTube

Episode 2 with Fiorella Larissa Erni: Suit up - walk the talk - and just keep going.

Oder: Afach macha. Ötschis isch immer.
Talking with a professional negotiator.

For the second episode of my podcast, I had the honour of speaking with none other than Fiorella Larissa Erni, professional negotiator and founder of Cheetah Stories.
Well, I can say, I was a bit nervous.

A little like when you spot a cheetah in the wild, I guess.
Perhaps not quite that dramatic, but still.

For the second episode of my podcast, I had the honour of speaking with none other than Fiorella Larissa Erni, professional negotiator and founder of Cheetah Stories.
And you feel very quickly that she knows exactly what she is talking about.
Fiorella shared how important it is to find what gives you that bit of extra confidence when you walk into rooms where it really matters. Coming from a negotiator who has worked in high-pressure conflict settings such as South Sudan, the Congo and Palestine, that carries a different weight.

We spoke about standing tall.
About high heels as a power suit.
About how you stand differently, enter a room differently and carry a different confidence.
Physically, emotionally and psychologically.
And for founders, this matters - big time!

Because when you build, every detail matters. How you dress, how you speak to yourself. Suddenly, you realise that those sayings on refrigerator magnets actually do make a lot of sense.

It is decisive:
How you show up.
How you speak to yourself and to others.
How you keep showing up when everyone has an opinion.
And how you keep your eyes on your own goal.

We also spoke about what happens behind the scenes of building a fashion brand.
About patience.
About how it feels when things shift suddenly or do not work out as planned at all. Because: Ötschis isch immer.
About those times when you negotiate with yourself and decide to continue no matter what.
About moments when you find yourself starting again, and still moving forward.
And of course about how important it is for us to support each other and share such stories. As always, when I speak with Fiorella, I leave the conversation in full spirits.
But hear and see for yourself.

🎧 Listen on Spotify
📽️ Watch on YouTube
Stand tall.
Walk the talk.
Und: Afach macha. Ötschis isch immer.
Keep your crown on. Build anyway. 👑

Why these strong "Legal Beasts" are the Real Deal.

Episode 1 with Karin Lorez: Strength is built in the moments nobody applauds 

I am beyond thrilled: Episode One of The Real Deal – Inside Entrepreneurship is live.

And I have the great pleasure of opening this podcast together with Karin Lorez – Senior Legal Advisor, CEO and Co-Founder of Scale Compliance, entrepreneur and builder of multiple ventures.

In this conversation, we explore a reality many founders experience but rarely articulate: There is a difference between being on your own and being alone.
Building means taking responsibility when decisions are yours to make.

It means carrying a vision before it becomes visible to others.
It means accepting that not everyone will understand it, support it or follow it.
We speak about female entrepreneurship.
About the different vocabulary applied to women and men.
About the necessity of developing thick skin.
And about building, growing, following your dreams and believing in yourself anyway.

We also speak about protection: reputation, credibility and people.
About choosing long-term credibility over short-term revenue. That decision requires courage.
About showing up day after day, even when it looks uneventful from the outside.

Entrepreneurship tests who you are before it rewards what you build.
This episode is especially important to me.
The week I recorded it was personally challenging.

I now literally understand what the expression means: hitting rock bottom.

It reminded me that strength is built exactly in these situations, when you are on your own, making your own experiences, taking your own decisions and facing harsh realities by yourself.

You build strength in the moments nobody applauds.
My favourite part of the conversation was when I asked Karin:
What would you tell the founder you were at the beginning?
But what should I say? It is best to hear it for yourself.

Thank you for the amazing conversation, Karin. It is an honour to open this series with you.

Listen on Spotify
Watch on Youtube