Good news for us: We are happy to announce another new starter and welcome Benjamin Kleinschnitz who joins us as an Investment Manager. Prior to starting his journey at Capnamic he has worked for Allianz X as well as BMW i Ventures where he was supporting more mature companies. Luckily he is excited and eager to jump into the seed- and pre-seed game with us. Read our Q&A with Benjamin to get to know him better.
1. You have been at Allianz X, BMW i Ventures, and Rocket Internet before. What was it that made you realize you have found a perfect match in Capnamic to start a new journey?
Benjamin: During the last years, I had the opportunity to support start-ups both from an operational as well as an investment perspective and gained valuable insights on challenges and success factors for early-stage and later-stage companies. In my previous role at Allianz X, I focused on supporting mature companies with growth equity investments and closely worked with the management team, e.g., as a Board Member, towards a successful exit.
While I really enjoyed supporting later-stage companies, I am even more excited about supporting founders right from the start of their journey as the collaboration with founders has been the most insightful and rewarding part of my work. I am very much looking forward to connecting with exceptional early-stage founders and working with them on their growth path from being a small company with just a few employees to becoming a category leader in their respective field.
Moreover, I had the chance to get to know everyone at Capnamic before joining and instantly felt that there was a great personal and cultural fit. It’s a pleasure to become a part of Capnamic’s team of very smart and driven individuals who established a highly collaborative and fun culture. I’m excited about getting to know everyone even better and working together on identifying and supporting the most promising start-ups in the DACH region.
2. What is your biggest learning from your times at your previous experiences?
Benjamin: The biggest learning I drew from the previous years of working with start-ups is that both the individual founder personalities as well as the fit between founders and the culture they create are the key factor that separates successful start-ups from those who don’t excel.
While there are clearly other very important factors, such as the business model, market, scalability or technical expertise, which are relevant for a company to grow successfully, the team (composition) is the most decisive factor in the long term.
Due to my background in Psychology, identifying successful founders and coaching teams on their growth journey, has been something I am really excited about, and I look forward to further building my expertise in this area.
3. What will you up to at Capnamic? Tell us a bit of your role and scope of work.
Benjamin: As an Investment Manager I will be responsible for screening and analyzing deal flow opportunities, conducting commercial and technological due diligence, modeling business cases and preparing investment memorandums. I will support portfolio companies in strategic and operational topics, such as building their customer base, growing their organization and developing strategic positioning.
Finally, I will focus on building relationships with start-up founders and fellow investors to extend my and Capnamic’s network and be on top of current market developments and promising start-ups.
Want to get in touch with Benjamin?
benjamin@capnamic.com
LinkedIn
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