Visionaries Club

🌎 It’s OpenAI’s world and we’re just living in it. Few people could have predicted the unstoppable rise of ChatGPT. Sam Altman is the most in-demand CEO in the world. It may have started as a side-project but it has since become a hugely influential company that is changing the tech industry and the world from the inside. Who better to take us through what the next 12 months have in store at OpenAI and beyond than COO Brad Lightcap? In conversation with Poppy Harlow at Visionaries Unplugged: Dare to Ignite 2025, here is what Brad had to say: 💡Deep reasoning will be transformative: ChatGPT was just the beginning, OpenAI’s Deep Research will have an even bigger impact. Instead of passive interfaces, prepare for Deep Research to think about the quality of its response and ask follow-up questions — a paradigm shift in how we interact and work with AI. 💡 Smarter models unlock bigger opportunities: We’re only scratching the surface of the application layer of AI. With more intelligent models, founders can tackle complex products previously out of reach by leveraging these capabilities for their customers. 2025 is the year we will see this in action. 💡 Human experience is irreplaceable: Every wave of technological change has transformed society, from jobs to how we communicate. Yet humans always have a desire to build, to contribute, to create things and care for each other. Human empathy and creativity will always have a place.    💡 Infrastructure is destiny: Models are driving AI consumption exponentially. The more you can lower the costs for AI, the more access will increase and the more consumption will grow. The companies and countries that can scale infrastructure will stay ahead of the race. Are you ready to thrive in OpenAI’s world? Watch the full session here: https://lnkd.in/ejsEKwU6

Tomorrow at #STARTSummit2025! Join Vay’s CTO, Fabrizio Ugo Scelsi, and Robert Jäckle, Partner at Visionaries Club, for a fireside chat as they discuss the innovations driving the next era of transportation. 📌 The Road Ahead: How Tech Is Redefining Urban Mobility 📅 March 20, 2025 🕜 1:45 PM 📍Opportunity Stage, Olma Halls, St. Gallen Looking forward to seeing you there! More details 👉 https://lnkd.in/ehx4N8E6 #UrbanMobility #FutureOfTransport #TechInnovation #RemoteDriving #STARTSummit

How is the next generation of visionary WHU startups taking shape? At Smartup WHU, we’re guiding tomorrow’s entrepreneurs. Last week, 30 participants embarked on a deep dive into Berlin’s dynamic startup scene. Here are their stories (1/2). 1.⁠ ⁠When a product is very good, your customers will call your phone number to express gratitude. Bastian Meyer and Till Schäfers from handly receive calls from craftsmen that are thankful they can use handly's platform to operate their business. 2.⁠ ⁠Impact startups only succeed if revenue goals & impact KPIs are "interlocked". Robert Stoecker from the climate tech VC AENU will pass on investment opportunities if financial success is misaligned with impact KPIs. 3.⁠ ⁠Turning scientific innovation into a product requires careful orchestration. At C1 Green Chemicals AG, Christian Vollmann combines his business acumen with the work of top chemnists & engineers to make green methanol production scaleable. 4. VC funding comes with outlier expectations. Robert Jäckle from Visionaries Club argues that 1) in Europe each year there are very few new companies capable of €100m ARR and 2) Service-as-a-Software is a promising model for the next €100m+ ventures. 5.⁠ ⁠When enabling an industry with a 10x better technology, getting customers is easy. Etienne-Noel Krause from autarc (YC S24) built a sensor technology to plan heat pump installations in days, not months. 6. Complementary cofounders are the ultimate cheat code. At terralayr, Ludwig Wurlitzer highlights how crucial it is to find a business partner who balances you. He and Philipp Man, cofounders since CHRONEXT (2013), credit their success to matched strengths—a synergy they now bring to terralayr. 7. Failed founders are optimal hires for leadership positions According to Achim Bönsch, there is no better preparation for management positions than having previously managed one's own company. We from Smartup WHU are very grateful for everyone mentioned above for hosting 30 ambitious WHU students in Berlin and sharing their wisdom. Also a warm thank you to Heike Hülpüsch from the WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management Career Center Maximilian Eckel the WHU Entrepreneurship Center for enabling the trip to Berlin!

🚀 AGI is coming faster than we think… And when the future of intelligence is at stake, you want to hear from the leaders shaping it. At Visionaries Unplugged 2025, we brought together Demis Hassabis of Google DeepMind and Dario Amodei of Anthropic — "the AI equivalent of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones" — for a conversation that left the room stunned. In their electrifying discussion with Zanny Minton Beddoes (The Economist), they broke down: 💥 Nobel-level AGI is arriving in five years or less: Systems mimicking the capabilities of the human brain will finally deliver the holy grail of artificial general intelligence. What happens next is up to us.  💥 Balancing speed and danger: Careful AGI development is critical to managing risks while staying ahead of authoritarian regimes that could weaponise this technology 💥 We could be walking into an AGI disaster: Dario and Demis, like Eric Schmidt and Reid Hoffman before them were clear: despite the hype, we haven’t fully grasped how dramatically AGI will transform our entire world — for better or worse. It’s not “just another technology”. 💥 AGI needs a robust governance structure: New institutions such as a “CERN for AGI” and international collaboration will help balance innovation with responsible development. While AGI’s full potential remains unpredictable, these pioneers envision breakthroughs in mathematics and scientific theory that could revolutionise humanity’s future. Thankfully, Europe’s brightest minds are leading the charge! Watch the full session here: https://lnkd.in/g2cyJ-YF

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮 𝗡𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗮𝘁 Visionaries Club 𝗛𝗤! For the first time, we took five.degrees 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗜𝗥𝗟, bringing together exceptional European founders and ambitious early-stage talent. We didn’t know exactly what to expect—but the energy in the room was incredible. Founders pitched their open roles, and the conversations between talents and founders went long past the event’s official end. 𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝘁: for most, this wasn’t just about jobs. Many in the room will build their own companies one day. And one of the best ways to get there? 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆, 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲. Massive shoutout to Linh, Antonia, and Visionaries Club for making it happen. See you next time! Olivia, zoran

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮 𝗡𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗮𝘁 Visionaries Club 𝗛𝗤! For the first time, we took five.degrees from online to IRL, bringing together exceptional European founders and ambitious early-stage talent. We didn’t know exactly what to expect—but the energy in the room was incredible. Founders pitched their open roles, and the conversations between talents and founders went long past the event’s official end. One thing stood out: for most, this wasn’t just about jobs. Many in the room will one day build their own companies. And one of the best ways to get there? Work with great founders early, take real ownership, and learn what it takes to scale. Thanks to Linh, Antonia and Visionaries Club for making it happen. See you next time! zoran & Olivia

More than money: rethinking philanthropy for real change... European founders aren’t just driving economic growth - they’re redefining what it means to give back and have an impact. At Visionaries Unplugged 2025: Dare to Ignite, Personio founder Hanno Renner and Founders Pledge co-founder David Goldberg, delivered their thesis on building a fairer, more equitable world through strategic, data-driven commitments. ⚡ Think about legacy: The most successful founders understand that true impact extends past profit margins. While tech can't solve everything, structured giving creates lasting change alongside business success. ⚡ Look to the data: Founders Pledge operates like a sophisticated multi-family office for philanthropy, using rigorous analysis to maximise long-term impact - bringing overdue efficiency to charitable giving. ⚡ Commit early to scale giving: Since 2016, every Personio shareholder has made a 1% pledge, funding the Personio Foundation's climate initiatives and nonprofit accelerator. By embedding giving into its DNA, impact scales with success. ⚡ Perfect partnership: Personio's approach combines the strategic patience of foundation work with the ambitious drive of a scaling tech company, proving philanthropy and business growth strengthen each other. For founders driven to solve problems, strategic philanthropy is the ultimate extension of your mission. What will your legacy be? Watch the full session here: https://lnkd.in/e8CgNVBZ

Looking forward to speaking with Fabrizio about how tech is redefining Urban Mobility and with fellow investors Cornelius, Sofia and Alex about the State of Early-Stage Investing in Europe at Start Summit. (20th and 21st of March in St.Gallen, Switzerland) Excited to meet many ambitious entrepreneurs at the conference! Visionaries Club, START Global, Vay

💪Europe is a tech powerhouse in waiting – so what’s holding us back? Few people have shaped European tech as much as Taavet Hinrikus and Sonali De Rycker. They’ve seen the ecosystem evolve from its first unicorns to 300+ billion-dollar companies. At Visionaries Unplugged: Dare to Ignite 2025, their message was clear: Europe has everything it needs to lead the next wave of global innovation — but we need to take bolder action. ⚖️We’re closer than ever to closing the gap with other global tech hubs. Fintech proved that Europe can build world-class companies — Wise, Revolut, Adyen & many more. AI will be next, but only if we invest in the infrastructure to support it. ⚖️ We have the talent — now we need the capital. European tech is booming, yet foreign investors still reap most of the rewards. It’s time for our pension funds to bet on homegrown innovation. Why should a Canadian endowment fund receive all of the profits from European tech? ⚖️ A stronger culture of risk-taking. Failure isn’t the end — it’s a step toward success. The US and China are moving fast in AI. We need early adopters who are willing to take bets and scale big. ⚖️ Europe’s data advantage is unmatched — let’s use it. We have vast, high-quality industry data that could fuel the next generation of AI-driven companies. Now’s the time to harness it. Europe’s founders have the ambition, vision, and talent to lead. Now, we need bold moves to match. Watch the full session here: https://lnkd.in/eaRJH7TS

🚀 BIG news at Visionaries Club! We’re teaming up with Judith Dada, one of Europe’s most talented investors and builders, as she joins us as General Partner. Judith and our Co-Founder Robert Lacher started their venture journeys together with La Famiglia’s first fund, which backed some of Europe’s most successful startups from Deel to Personio, Forto, Vay, and Arculus. Now, they’re reuniting with even bigger ambitions. At Visionaries, we’ve built a team that mirrors the founders we back: hungry self-starters with intellectual honesty, an obsession for excellence, and an unrelenting drive to win. Few embody this ethos more than Judith. In the last several years, we’ve seen firsthand how she operates – Judith is one of the most authentic, energetic, talented and hard-working yet humble individuals in European VC. She has partnered with some of the continent’s most ambitious founders, including Hanno from Personio, Malte from Parloa, Julian and Bernhard from EthonAI and Lennard from Langdock. But more than that, Judith is not just an investor. It is her entrepreneurial drive and joy of building that sets her apart. At a very young age, she played a pivotal role in shaping one of Europe’s most successful early-stage funds. Now, we’re doubling down together to build the VC firm we always wished existed. Visionaries Club was built to do venture differently: 🔥 We reject detached, high-level advice and theoretical playbooks. Instead, we believe in the wisdom of founders who’ve weathered the storms — sleepless nights, brutal obstacles, and game-changing moments.  🔥 Through the luminaries we bring together at Visionaries Club, we create the uncommon room — where humility meets boldness, and ambition meets execution, with no compromises on integrity. 🔥 We operate with the agility, hunger, and risk-taking mindset of a startup. Because we are a startup ourselves.  🔥 For us, venture is about skin in the game. We don’t ‘spray and pray’ – instead we partner via meaningful investment with only very few founders each year.  🔥 We have a profound belief that Europe can lead in the next wave of AI & industrial innovation. The opportunity in Europe has never been greater. Let’s build. Read more about this next chapter for Visionaries Club 👇 https://lnkd.in/eW2Dum2s