Gyde Gilgen

Europe has the talent — now it’s time to bet on ourselves. When Sandra Navidi and I met in Davos during World Economic Forum, one question kept coming back: What will it take for Europe to build global tech champions? We continued that conversation on ntvNachrichten’s BIZ & beyond podcast with Ulrich Reitz. From building Europe’s first venture studio, finleap, in Berlin to now leading early-stage investing at Motive Ventures in New York, that vantage point shapes how I see Europe’s path forward. Here’s what I believe: ▪️ Europe has great ideas — but we lack the structures, speed, and capital to scale them. ▪️Especially in later stages, we hesitate to go all in — and when capital finally comes, it’s often not European. ▪️We should learn from the U.S. — but not everything that shines is gold. ▪️Our real strengths, like quality of life and global talent, are already here. ▪️Capital matters. But culture decides. If we want to build global champions, we need belief. Belief that we can build big — and the urgency to work for it. That mindset is one of the few things Europe should take from the U.S. In short: If Europe wants to become a true tech force, the time to act is now. And it starts by betting on ourselves. A big thank you to Sandra and Ulrich for an insightful, thought-provoking discussion. And about that headline calling me “Tech-Wunderkind” — it made me smile. Feels good to be young again 😄 🎧 Listen via the link in the comments (German only). #Capital #Entrepreneurship #Europe #Leadership #Fintech

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Spoke with Brevo's Chairman of the Advisory Board. Steffen Schebesta led Brevo's M&A for 3+ years. Here's their acquisition playbook: Steffen founded Newsletter2Go back in 2011. And he kept building it for over 7 years until it became: One of the top email marketing platforms in the German-speaking market. In late 2018, Sendinblue (now Brevo) acquired them. (but it was almost like a merger) At that time, they were both figuring out how to merge the companies. And that's how Steffen became in charge of Brevo's M&A strategy: Phase 1: Geographic Consolidation (2018-2019) → Started by acquiring Newsletter2Go to crack the German market → But Europe isn't one market - each country needs localization → So they bought local players over organic expansion Phase 2: Product Extensions (2020+) After raising €140M, they shifted the strategy: → E-commerce focus: Chatra (chat), Push Owl (notifications), Metrio (analytics) → CRM expansion: Yodel (telephony), Meet Fox (scheduling), Captain Wallet (mobile) → Infrastructure: Mail Clark (email parsing) TLDR: Early on, they focused on geographic expansion through local acquisitions. When scaling, they shifted to product capability expansion. Now, they're into platform consolidation plays. And their next M&A activity? Likely after their next fundraising round. If you were leading Brevo's next acquisition strategy, what would you focus on? #acquisitions #saas #strategy

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𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 Apple 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐲𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 Last month a Frankfurt Regional Court blocked Apple from advertising its Watch as “carbon neutral.” (Reuters News Agency) This ruling is more than a legal footnote. If even Apple—one of the world's most powerful brands—is being held to account for vague sustainability claims, it shows how quickly tolerance for offset-driven marketing is eroding. At yesterday’s “Awe Dropping” launch, Apple highlighted progress on recycled materials, renewable energy in its supply chain, and packaging. But was there any mention of “carbon neutral” or offset-based claims? 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐢𝐭 — 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮? That absence would mark a significant shift in tone from last year’s messaging... #Sustainability #Greenwashing #Accountability #EU

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After running a bunch of workshops with our portfolio companies and giving multiple keynotes on "how to get the most out of AI", I'm now 100% convinced of two truths: 1️⃣ 𝗔𝗹𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 + 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗟𝗢𝗧 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘄/ 𝗔𝗜. Everyone is playing with these tools - but hardly 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 has embedded them into their everyday work. Most people are only scratching the surface. And the teams willing to spend the time to play around with AI and find what works for them are going to lap their competitors. (Also, this isn't about replacing people. It's about making your entire team more productive. It's about giving everyone on your team a robot sidekick who can't wait to help and never gets sick of your feedback.) 2️⃣ 𝗚𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 (𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗜) 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸. From what I've seen, sharing/mutual experimentation is as important as teaching people how to use this stuff. So as you and your team are experimenting with AI, find time to screenshare and cross-pollinate. Sharing what's working might be the most critical part of building an AI-enabled team. And most companies aren't doing nearly enough of it. (Want a simple way to start doing this? Just create an "AI Ideas" slack channel and start sharing prompts, workflows, and articles with your team. It's a no-brainer way to start making AI a thing for your business.) I created a dedicated "AI 101" page for my newsletter (5k+ subscribers and growing) with all my best stuff on this topic: ✅ Prompt libraries ✅ Keynote materials ✅ Workshop ideas Check it out at the link in the "Featured" section of my profile. It's free. 👍

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Everyone Talks About AI – But What Is Its Real Impact? Together with manager magazin, Porsche Consulting is launching the new AI Impact Award to make the value of artificial intelligence more visible for business and society. In spring 2026, the AI Impact Award will be given for the first time to companies from the DACH region that successfully apply AI in practice and generate significant impact. AI is widely recognized as a key driver of innovation — but what about its real value? The true impact of new technologies only becomes clear when they are applied. That’s exactly what the AI Impact Award is designed to highlight: the real-world transfer from idea to impact. 🏆 Awards will be presented in three categories: ➡️ Product & Customer Experience ➡️ Production & Supply Chain ➡️ Organization & Administration Winners will be selected by an independent jury of leading personalities from academia and industry. I’m excited about this new partnership with manager magazin, and the collaboration with Deputy Editor-in-Chief Simone Salden and her team. We encourage companies from the German-speaking region to apply: 🔗 https://lnkd.in/eaG7F7MH #AIImpactAward #AIIA #ArtificialIntelligence #Innovation #DigitalTransformation

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🔍 🇩🇪Germany’s Grocery Giants: Who’s Really Leading and Who’s Ready for What’s Next? Germany’s grocery market remains one of the most consolidated in Europe, with just four groups dominating consumer food spend nationwide. Here are the Top 4 Grocery Retailers in Germany (2024) ranked by revenue, along with the key brands they operate: ⸻ 🥇 1. Schwarz Group – €175.4 b revenue 📊 ~30–35% market share 🏬 ~4,800 stores Brands: Lidl in Germany (discount), Kaufland (hypermarket) ⸻ 🥈 2. REWE Group – ~€96 b revenue 📊 ~13% market share 🏬 ~6,300 outlets Brands: REWE (supermarkets), Penny (discount), Lekkerland SE (convenience/forecourt) ⸻ 🥉 3. EDEKA Group – €75–82 b revenue 📊 ~25% market share (Germany’s largest by consumer spend) 🏬 ~10,800 stores Brands: Edeka, Netto Marken-Discount, E‑Center, Marktkauf, NP 🧮 Important context: ➡️ Revenue counted by Edeka Group is only the wholesale margin, not the full shelf price the customer pays at the store. ➡️ In contrast, REWE books the full consumer-facing sale as revenue, since most stores are centrally operated. 📌 Result: Edeka has higher market share but lower reported revenue. ⸻ 🏅 4. Aldi Group (Nord & Süd) – ~€35–40 b revenue (Germany only) 📊 ~10–11% market share 🏬 ~4,000 stores Brands: ALDI Nord Group, ALDI SÜD ⸻ 🧭 So what? A Quadrupole System —> Stable or Stifling? These four groups control nearly the entire German grocery sector. That raises a timely strategic question: 🛒 Is this structure pluralistic and agile enough to support long-term growth in online grocery, quick commerce and digitally native formats? Or is the market’s stability potentially a barrier to the innovation Germany needs? Is that offline grocery status quo agile enough to sustain the emerging online grocery pressure?! 👇 Curious to hear your thoughts. #Retail #Grocery #Ecommerce #FMCG #Germany #Lidl #Aldi #REWE #Edeka #OnlineGrocery #RetailStrategy #SupplyChain #ConsumerGoods

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