Frank Motte as speaker for start-up financing as guest at the HfG
In a presentation on „Start-up Financing“ on May 11, Frank Motte reported on his more than 20 years of experience as an investor. The Gründungsoffensive goHfG had invited the experienced investor to give students interested in founding a look behind the scenes of start-up financing.
How can experienced entrepreneur investors support and finance start-ups in their founding and later growth? How do you distinguish business angels from business devils?
Based on his experience from screening more than 5,000 business ideas, he showed participants how business angels analyze startups and how to get in touch with them. During the subsequent discussion, the students and guests were able to ask questions about the topic of financing start-ups and founding projects.
Rockstars & Angels
What does a start-up need? Frank Motte identifies three factors that make up a potentially successful start-up:
- A solid business model
- A rock star team
- A suitable financing
In an environment where, according to Mr. Motte, „about 70% of university start-ups fail and 50% of start-ups go bust in the first 5 years,“ he believes the team is central to the company’s success. The reference underscores this with his observation, „Over 60% of startups fail because of team breakdown!“
The long-time companion of countless start-ups, some of which have already been featured in the successful TV format „Die Höhle der Löwen“, also explored the question of what business angels actually are and what they do for start-ups.
Investors play an important role for start-ups in three areas: they bring capital, know-how, and their respective networks to the start-up. This is exactly why it is worthwhile for start-up teams to take a close look at potential investors to see how their respective networks can be of benefit to their own company.
A business angel, as Frank Motte explained, is a private investor or a private investment company that takes a financial stake in the company and supports the founders without any further benefit of their own.
„If you’re not on fire for your idea, you should leave it be.“
About Frank Motte
Frank Motte is a long-time experienced investor, business angel, and currently managing director of INVESTORIA GmbH and board member of Motte Consult AG. His professional experience includes working as a banker for a major American bank, a partner in a management consultancy, partner in a large German investment company as well as managing director in industrial companies. Most recently, he was a substitute professor for company formation and HR at Aalen University for five years. Since 1999, he has been active as a business angel in young and medium-sized companies and was elected to the „Heaven of Fame“ of German business angels in 2010.
Today, his focus is on investments as a co-entrepreneur in technology companies and guiding several companies as an advisory board, such as SDZ-Verlag in Aalen. He is also a partner of Matuschek Design & Management, a leading industrial design company in Ostwürttemberg. In addition, he is on the board of Business Angel Region Stuttgart, where he heads the screening committee. He co-founded the Impact Hub Stuttgart and the M. Tech Accelerator and has also been a jury member of the CyberOne Awards for many years.
