Why Every Business Is People Business

Sparkr Podcast

In the age of Google and other powerful search tools, finding the right answer becomes increasingly easy. What grows as a challenge on the other hand, is asking the right questions to cut through the abundance, the noise, the BS and actually move the needle – be it as an innovative entrepreneur, as a CEO, strategist, team leader or personal friend. Asking the right questions is at the core of Sparkr's various business activities (www.sparkr.ch/en). This Sparkr Podcast is really valuable for entrepreneurs who are at the beginning of building a team, a company and that are looking for investors. If you are an entrepreneur or want to go down that path, take your time to listen to the complete conversation because it uncovers many insights on how to approach and work with investors, the importance of open, sometimes tough conversations as well as the importance of reflecting on your goals and character. In this conversation you get insights from a longtime investor and founder of one of the largest and oldest venture capital firms in Europe. For this episode of the Sparkr Podcast I initially set out to learn more about the art of asking the right questions. For that I met with successful and thoughtful investor Florian Schweitzer who started young as an entrepreneur and along the way founded b-to-v – a venture capital firm managing about EUR 330m in institutional funds, partner funds and direct investments of private investors. B-to-v’s portfolio included hits such as Facebook or Xing and now features companies like Volocopter, Sum Up or Outfittery. As our conversation for the Sparkr Podcast evolved, it turned out that the chat we had was actually not only about asking the right questions but also about being present, seeing behind the curtain of people’s motivations as well as the importance of intuition, trust, relationships and passion. That’s why eventually I decided to title this Sparkr Podcast episode “Why every Business is People Business - The Importance of Listening, Being Present, Intuition, Passion, Trust and Relationships”. Learn more about Florian and b-to-v here: https://btov.vc/people/florian-schweitzer/ *** The Sparkr Podcast If you've liked this format, make sure to check out the other available episodes of the Sparkr Podcast which unveil the mindsets and tactics of great minds in business, innovation and leadership. Listen to more episodes of the Sparkr Podcast on http://sparkr.ch/podcast/