Felix Wagner, the Co-founder and CEO of Circunomics sat down with me to talk about what it has been like to partner with a venture studio, and what advice he has for others looking to jump into the ever growing world of sustainable mobility entrepreneurship.
Always believe in what you're doing because I don't know how many times I’ve been told no, and heard, “that’s not a business model, no one needs that.” - Felix Wagner
How was co-founding Circunomics with Next Mobility Labs?
In general, it's very helpful to have an experienced partner at the beginning of starting a business when all you have is a rough idea.
It always starts with this infant idea, but then there's the strategic questions of, at what point should I actually mold this idea into a company, at what time do I need to get in contact with investors, how do I build out a team, simply what is the best next step?
So to have a partner to speak to about all these crucial entrepreneurial topics brings significant advantage. But with a venture studio, you also have the benefit of being guided through the various stages and simultaneously connected with their deep networks of lawyers, investors, tax companies etcetera.
Starting a company always also comes with and incredible amount of administration stuff that Next Mobility Labs took over so that we as the founders could really focus on what is important, building a product and bringing that to the market and not with all the other busy work that comes along with it.
So I would say that the main benefit for us partnering with Next Mobility Labs is that we always have a 24/7 sparing partner to ask questions, make decisions, and hold our hands along the way.
You mentioned the clear benefits of launching Circunomics with Next Mobility Labs, but what would you say the main advantage of maintaining the relationships is today?
Of course the level of involvement and relationship dynamic has changed over time.
At the very beginning it was an operational partnership, but as we’re now able to support that role internally our key focus and support from Next Mobility Labs is the fundraising and the internationalization of our company. It is about helping with growth and international networks like yourself in the US.Growth is certainly critical for any start up.
Could you speak about the types of shareholders do you have? And also, what has your experience with fundraising been?
We have multiple investors also with various different backgrounds. We started at the beginning with a few business angels like the former CTO of Audi who also came on board. But then in the next round we had a larger family office like Collodion join us. Collodion led the the seed round with almost a million dollar investment. We also recyclers on board such as TES who have been immensely helpful with domain knowledge in the recycling industry. Last year we also had quite a large utility here from Europe join. At this point we’ve intentionally and strategically built a diverse team of investors that help us with the multi-faceted angles of the market.
What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs who starting their fundraising journey?
One thing that I always share with with early stage founders is to be on the one hand patient, because things take time (especially with a B2B business model)…but on the other hand be be hungry, go out there, meet people, build a network.
I would say minimum 50% to 60% of my job is networking and sharing our mission, telling everyone what we do and why we do it.
Also, always believe in what you're doing because I don't know how many times I’ve been told no, and heard, “that’s not a business model, no one needs that…”
Believe in what you're doing and simply just do it.
You and Nike have great advice!
what words of wisdom do you have for startup founder in sustainable mobility?
I have two tips.
One is to try to find a business model where you strategically combine sustainability with the model itself. In our experience, it has really helped draw the attention of corporates.
You have to prove that your business model generates money.
Sustainability alone isn’t enough.
The other advice I have for every founder, especially in the mobility space, is that it is an industry that's been here for decades, so there are many people out there that have a great knowledge in the business who will be open to help you.
If you identified the sector you're working in, go look for mentors in that space. Go to LinkedIn look up people that work in that specific industry and write them a smart message or go to a conference where you might be able to to meet them in person and ask them for help.
I’m pretty sure 9 out of 10 times the former senior managers from large corporates will be very happy to talk to you, to help you, to make introductions, to give you guidance on the business model etc.
But just do that, ask them, don't be shy because they are also just humans.
We were very lucky to secure the senior people we have on board with Circunomics. As I said, the former CTO and CEO of AUDI. But if you would have asked me 10 years ago, if I would ever work with these sorts people I would probably said no way. But now we’ve been working with them for four years and they're very, very nice people.
So do that, go out there and ask for help.
What has and still does motivate you to, “get out there,” or “just do it?”
Personally, it’s not just Circunomics in general… like founding a company.
I'm simply the the type of person that couldn't do a nine to five job, a normal job.It's not that I need to be in the driver's seat, but I need to be in a position where I have an influence on progress and well with a start up you definitely have a very good influence on on the progress.
But with Circunomics in particular it's the challenge.
I want to show the market that you can actually combine a sustainable business model with making money because in the past sustainability was more of a marketing tactic.
That is the big thing that we can teach the industry.
We can combine both profit with sustainability and that's what gets me out of bed every morning…even though I really like to sleep.
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