Josef Brunner is one of the most successful startup founders in Germany. He founded his first company at the age of 16 and can look back on several successful exits to date. These include the sale of "JouleX" for 107 million US dollars and the sale of "Relayr" for 300 million US dollars. Today, he is a committed business angel, author and mentor and founded a new company, Nutri United, in 2024 to fundamentally transform the food industry.

Mr. Brunner, your career is impressive. How would you introduce yourself to other people?

I would introduce myself as a proud baker's son and entrepreneur who puts his heart and soul into his work.

You are one of the most successful startup founders in Germany. Who have inspired you on your professional journey?

There are several people. The first is Tom Noonan, who taught me a lot about corporate culture during our time at JouleX. Another person is John Chambers, who as CEO for many years led Cisco to become the most valuable company in the world and taught me how important it is as a CEO to always pay attention to your employees and be there for them. The third person is Henry Kravis, the co-founder of the financial investor KKR. He showed me that you can be active well into old age and how to stay passionate about what you love doing every day.

What was the most important lesson you learned from a mistake?

Like everyone, I have made mistakes in my career. Without them, I wouldn't be where I am today. However, my most formative mistakes have always been when I have gone against my gut feeling. We often think that because we collect data, we are smarter than our gut feeling. I think that's nonsense. That's why I rely heavily on my gut feeling. It often makes things much easier and less complicated. Because I can usually sense very quickly whether people, projects, partners or similar things are a good fit for me or not.

When did you start dealing with the topic of finance?

That was very early on, as my father had to give up his bakery when I was 16 years old. As a result, my parents lost their house and we were left with nothing. In a situation like that, you quickly start to think about money. Not down to the smallest detail and with all its facets, but money and the topic of finance were a driving force behind my decision to pursue an entrepreneurial career at such an early age.

In your opinion, are there any special asset classes that you yourself are convinced of?

I think the most important asset class as an entrepreneur is entrepreneurial capital. This is often underestimated here in Germany. Americans have significantly more wealth than us Europeans because they reinvest a large part of their wealth in entrepreneurship. Many Germans prefer to park their money in the bank. I can understand that from a human point of view. Economically, however, this is not profitable. That's why the asset class that interests me most is entrepreneurial capital.

What does wealth mean to you?

When I think of the term wealth , I don't automatically think of the financial wealth, but of everything that I have built up myself. If I had to start from scratch again today, nothing would stop me from founding a new company tomorrow. I've learned so much in my career and built up a solid network. You can't destroy that so easily. Many people underestimate this aspect, because here in Germany we are often not brave enough. For me, the real wealth is the ability to build viable companies from ideas, not a certain number in the bank account.

What do you want for the future?

I wish that we in our society would stop living and thinking in camps and bubbles. We should not prejudge people who think differently and develop creative ideas and put obstacles in their way, but listen to them and exchange ideas with them.

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Thank you very much for the interview.