AGENDA 2024
DINNER
Wednesday 12th June 2024
Soho House, Berlin
18.45 Dinner | 23.00 Carriages
Opening Remarks
Uday Singh
CEO, Fast Growth Icons
Welcome Address
Falk Müller-Veerse
Partner, Bryan, Garnier & Co
MAIN DAY
Thursday 13th June 2024
Hotel de Rome, Berlin
08.00
Breakfast & Networking
09.00
Host
Uday Singh
Founder & CEO, Fast Growth Icons
09.10
Opening Remarks
Ben Fletcher
Founder & Chair, Fast Growth Icons; Founder & CEO, The Mothership
09.30
Welcome Address
Manoj Asnani
Managing Director, J.P. Morgan
Saleem Mida
Vice President, J.P. Morgan
09.35
Luisa Haxel
COO & Co-Founder, Evernest
Founded 2019 | Staff 250+ | Funding $23.1m
Managing the shift in expectations
As the bar for raising money has been raised, and investors are increasingly looking for a plausible path to profitability, growth businesses are adapting. Luisa will talk about how Evernest handled this transition, how they maintained motivation and confidence, and how they managed reducing headcount and other frustrations. As we come out of the other side, she’ll also look to the future and give her view of why now is a great time for companies to win in their markets
10.00
Martin Ott
CEO, Taxfix
Founded 2016 | Staff +400 | Funding $330m | Valuation +$1.0b
Developing personal and institutional resilience
Times are definitely harder for founders now. The economy is sluggish, interest rates are higher and funding is harder to come by. How do you maintain a positive mindset and create a company that can deal with the inevitable ups and downs? Martin has a wealth of experience – from developing disrupting business models, navigating businesses through banking and economic crises to successfully scaling high growth companies.
10.25
Roundtable networking and discussion session
11.10
Morning Break
11.35
Lubomila Jordanova
Co-Founder and CEO, of Plan A
Funding the Future: Sourcing capital in troubled economic times
Lubomila will explore crucial strategies for navigating IPO preparations, highlight the pivotal role of sustainability in modern fundraising efforts, and discuss the burgeoning opportunities within the climate tech sector. She aims to shed light on innovative pathways to secure funding and drive growth amid economic challenges.
12.00
Roundtable networking and discussion session
13.00
Seated Lunch
Enjoy three courses from Hotel de Rome’s exclusive menu
14.30
Welcome Address
14.35
Lukas Zörner
Managing Director Germany, Qonto
Founded 2016 | Staff 1,400 | Funding €486M | Valuation €4.4 billion
Exiting your company: personal impact and learnings
When Lukas sold Penta to Qonto, he stayed on as part of the team. In this session he will share how he made the transition, what he would have done differently, and the insights he gained from seeing product development & growth across multiple markets.
15.00
Roundtable networking and discussion session
Select one topic most relevant to you and join a moderated discussion
Table 1 – Exits, pitfalls and deal breakers
If you’ve been through several processes, you know all the things that can turn out to be deal breakers –
this session will tell you what they are and how you can mitigate against them
Table 4 – International expansion
When are you ready for expansion? How do you choose the right geography? Should you expand by acquisition?
How do you manage and integrate the teams?
Table 5 – VC Funding B, C, D
If you know you are doing VC, what’s different about later stage rounds, what are the mistakes people make before, during and after funding
Table 7 – Growth stage financing and funding options
A session looking at other options to VC – e.g. PE, Debt, IPO
Table 8 – Share options: how do you maximise the value, and what are the new rules?
2024 ESOP update – real shares for employees? A chance for people to discuss how they offer employee incentive schemes,
and find out how the new rules will change things.
Table 9 – Growth through acquisitions; do’s and don’ts.
Do you grow organically or through acquisition?
When are acquisitions better?
Speed to market?
Geographic expansion?
What are the reasons acquisitions fail?
16.00
Fritz Trott
CEO, Zenjob
Launched 2015 | Staff 300+ | Funding $105m | Valuation $300+
Operating a high-performance culture
The key to success is effective execution at speed. So what goes into an effective execution strategy and how do you get the most out of people? Fritz will talk about how they combine objectives, values, management principles, and effective feedback to create a dynamic working environment.
16.25
Closing Address
Uday Singh
Founder & CEO, Fast Growth Icons
16.30
Champagne Reception