Business related differences

Transcript

1. Business Related Differences Germany and the US (Not an Issue of Right or Wrong) Michael Kelly Dirk Lueth
2. Guess which country 7/12/2013 German Silicon Valley Accelerator Inc. 2
3. Attitudes Toward Risk: a Mindset  Downside entrepreneurial risk higher in Germany  Business/legal issues • Resume, employment  Social issues • Family, community  Upside potential vs where we are  Example: forecasting based on burn rate vs potential  Example: funding based on the above  Risk mitigation  Emphasis on market analysis vs market entry 7/12/2013 German Silicon Valley Accelerator Inc. 3
4. Guess which country 7/12/2013 German Silicon Valley Accelerator Inc. 4
5. Formalities: More than Du & Sie  Names, titles, the handshake  First names common, Dr. = MD  The BBQ invitation  Not a sign of lifelong friendship  Small talk vs zur Sache  Being direct – is there a “no”?  I’ll get back to you …  Personal questions  Family, money, tell me about yourself 7/12/2013 German Silicon Valley Accelerator Inc. 5
6. Guess which country 7/12/2013 German Silicon Valley Accelerator Inc. 6
7. Management  Consensus vs individual responsibility  Management boards, Vier-Augen-Prinzip vs president , CEO, chairman • Co-CEO, Geschäftsleitung  Shareholder, stakeholder issues  Unions, supervisory board, social responsibility  Employment  Salary & guaranteed bonus vs salary & performance based bonus • Options, warrants, profit participation  Vacation(S) • 24/7 availability  Hire & fire rules & customs • “At will” vs formal period of notice (Kündigungsfrist) • Resumes  Contracts 7/12/2013 German Silicon Valley Accelerator Inc. 7
8. Guess which country 7/12/2013 German Silicon Valley Accelerator Inc. 8
9. Bad Ideas, But Many Tempted to do It  Paying people to get introductions  Pitch to VCs with no customers in US  Move to the Valley but your industry is ticking somewhere else  NDAs  Titles with C  Recruiters  Cold emails  Advisor shares / retainer… 7/12/2013 German Silicon Valley Accelerator Inc. 9
10. 7/12/2013 German Silicon Valley Accelerator Inc. 10
11. The Good News: More Similarities  More people identify German ancestry than any other country  The would have spoken German fable  Work ethic  Social & economic mobility based on merit  No overt class system based on external factors (accent, clothing, auto, etc.)  Americans like Germany! 7/12/2013 German Silicon Valley Accelerator Inc. 11
12. What’s this? 7/12/2013 German Silicon Valley Accelerator Inc. 12
13. Some Useful Resources  Events  Orrick, Rocketspace, Churchill club, Commenwealth club, Meetups, Tie conventions, High Street Partners, VC taskforce, SVB, Gaba  Web services  Angel List, Ekwity, Startup Digest, Gaba  Books  Venture Deals by Feld and Mendelson  Handbuch Venture Capital by Wolfgang Weitnauer  VC Blogs  AVC, Both sides of the table, Feld.com, Mixergy, 7/12/2013 German Silicon Valley Accelerator Inc. 13